joe_collector

That's why I asked - it can either be a plastic cover providing the illusion or a spine crease + slight imperfection in the plastic artificially extending it.

Agreed, but that's still firmly at the tail-end of the Bronze Age.

Please tell me that's not a massive spine split in the middle of the book.

I have a couple of MVS books and probably own the comic-based stamps several times over, but no way am I assembling them all. As it should be. My collection is unclipped, no way am I cutting any stamps. I meant "assembling" as in "dragging out my comics boxes, collating the MVS issues, displaying all the comics, taking photos, etc.".

I have a couple of MVS books and probably own the comic-based stamps several times over, but no way am I assembling them all.

I forgot to mention that I'm Canadian and we have different distro up here, and these collections/lots missing ASM 162 were bought in Canada, except maybe for one.

That's what happens when your readers all have ADHD. "The fools can't remember more than 5 issues in a row!" - Axel Alonso

I always liked that red cover and tend to pick it up when I could, which was a LOT in the olden days.

But for some reason ASM 161 is out there in mass quantities and 162 is much harder to find. I used to buy ASM sets and lots, and out of maybe ten runs in the 130's-180's, I would find two ASM 162's and 8-10 of the other issues. Some were complete runs except for 162, and I know they weren't taking out Punisher issues because 134-135, 161 and 174-175 were all there. I've often wondered if ASM 162 was a lower distribution issue.

I think it's his 5th appearance, along with being a B&W mag, that really cuts into its value. A book I really like is ASM 135. P.S. Anyone know anything about the origin cover to ASM 135 with the "Origin of the Punisher" on the cover? Did they intend to give away his origin, then switched it to Tarantula?

That's what everyone said about every Marvel/DC Copper Age book, but the speculators don't seem to be listening. I didn't listen to all this BS from maroon GA/SA jerks who kept saying "no one thought BA comics would be worth anything" as that is simply not true and even during the BA, there were plenty of books that commanded a significant premium at the time and no one was bagging and boarding off the shelves. I still remember as a little kid, looking at a copy of MTU 1 sitting on the wall of a LCS priced at $25, which would be like $500 today. Same with GL/GA 76, the Starlin Captain Marvel's, MP 15, etc. But Copper is a different animal and lots of people were hoarding, bagging and boarding, buying cases of certain titles, etc., but the market is still very hot at the the high end. The only real difference, is due to scarcity, BA still sells in all grades, while lower-end Copper is a lot tougher to move.

Damn, those were the good old days, where you could pick up piles of stuff for peanuts, simply because eBay hadn't taken off and they also hadn't chased off the smaller sellers in favour of thousands and thousands of vast Chinese stores all selling the *exact* same thing. Today, eBay is like having access to a massive shopping mall... but it's filled with Dollar Store after Dollar Store.

Then your overly-wide definition of a "key issue" is much too lax for me and most of the hobby. That's why I brought up the Flash Thompson "key issues", not to have you nerds debate their "keyness" but to demonstrate perspective and show that you feel the same way about Flash going to Viet Nam (an important issue at the time) as I do about Peter and MJ getting hitched.

Nope, because no one in their right mind cares a whit about Modern drek. I mean, just look at the latest "Marvel revamp" - barf!

Exactly, and this was also Marvel's opinion (as well as many of his creators) who thought it was a very bad idea to have him married to a supermodel, but didn't want to have them divorce and make things worse. That was also quoted as a reason for the Ultimate Spider-man line, to get Peter Parker back to his base of being "a nerdy outsider who had girl trouble and money problems. Things that most average teenage boys can relate to."

Who cares? You're using your own specific criteria to describe everyone (a common fault on here) when there are various "key" issues that do not involve " the star of his own top selling comic book of a flagship title", right? The point is that there are Flash Thompson fans in the world, and that sub-section of the hobby would certainly view his life-changing moments as "key" to their own collecting viewpoint. To me, Spider-man getting married doesn't amount to 2 dead flies, as the character design just doesn't work with a hot model-wife, kids, mortgage, etc. - that's why Marvel killed off the baby, got rid of MJ for a bit, then retconned the entire marriage into oblivion. The exact same thing will happen with this latest retcon, and years from now, they'll be retconned apart again.

Depending on your view of Peter's genetic parentage, Aunt May and Uncle Ben did appear earlier, so....

Man, with the manure spewing out of your mouth on a daily basis, you'd have to be insane to be complaining about "board rules".

The problem with Moderns is how freaking expensive the cover prices are, having been priced into the stratosphere multiples above inflation. Add in the fact that 0.00000000000001% of published comics even become valuable, that makes it virtually impossible to make any cash just buying comics generically, as the hits like BA 12 are going to be eaten up by the thousands of other misses.

So, by this logic, every single book ever printed could be deemed a "key issue" by a sub-section of the hobby? Fine, but we're talking about "hobby-wide keys" that have been accepted as important books by a significant portion of the collecting base. I don't see how the first point is true. It's not even close to every first issue that features a first appearance or some other milestone event in a character's history. Of course it can, as once you get down to pure minutiae like this, virtually *every* comic printed is special in some way. First, second, third appearance, artist, writer, cover appearance, large/medium/small event, co-star appearances, etc. There are many different types of "key" issues. It all depends on your point of view, just like the Spidey-centric collectors who believe the MJ marriage is the be-all-end of keys. I bet there are some Flash Thompson fanboys who believe the issue he went to Viet Nam, graduated college, or got married are big keys too, again, from their POV.

Exactly my point. I don't care what people read, what people collect, etc., but when some yahoo comes on and says the "experts" are telling newbies to "spend $80 on a crappy Modern" then I've got to toss in my 2-cents. No "expert" (unless he's an expert on crack) would recommend such a strategy.

Hardly, and posting that same snippet over and over doesn't make it true.

Uh, no, I don't see too many "experts" recommending you buy volatile Modern drek. "Quality over quantity" means that rather than buying huge lots of generic books or longboxes to get "perceived value" (and then toss out 99% of it) collectors should zone in on the character, series, era, artist, etc. that they like and pursue books using a more structured approach.

So, by this logic, every single book ever printed could be deemed a "key issue" by a sub-section of the hobby? Fine, but we're talking about "hobby-wide keys" that have been accepted as important books by a significant portion of the collecting base.

Yeah, it's like Doc;'s heading out to fight crime, and he thinks... "Hmmm, maybe I should take my Battle Axe with me?" And if Doc has an axe, then naturally Cap needs to get a sword and wrap a pile of cloth strips around his arms and feet, right? Can't go out without those thin strips of cloth. This is bad, like New Universe-level bad. Who's the hoodie? Lizard? Elektro? Probably someone more prominent, but I can't think of anyone. Looks more like Lobo than anyone Marvel. I wonder how long it takes Cap to wrap up his boots?