Readcomix

Found this in an LCS

9 hours ago, batman_fan said:

Here's one that fits the original description for the thread.  It was a Sunday night and I was watching the auction on HA when this book popped up.  I thought "oh yeah, that's a cool cover".  I had seen it several times over the years.  Well the price was pretty good so I got into the bidding and ended up winning.  Once I had it in hand and could see how truly amazing the book was I knew it was a permanent addition to the collection.

I have always been curious about that book and liked that cover....I could see how it could sneak up on you, especially after Jimbo described the interior! (National 16 the same way...please don't tell me I'm going to love that one cover to cover too!)

3 hours ago, tricolorbrian said:

I don't own any books that I didn't plan on buying because I really liked them...Every GA book I've ever bought was methodically searched for and coveted, or found by accident and immediately coveted.  I feel left out in this thread...

What about one of the accidentals that has gotten better over time with you?

War of the worlds to Korean war

6 minutes ago, lou_fine said:

If you are looking for the full complete grading service with the restoration check, then you should be sending it in for the regular service that includes the resto check.  Sounds as though you guys are asking for the full regular service and yet only expecting to pay for the discounted raw grading service. 

Unfortunately, the real world doesn't work like that. 

I get that. I'm just thinking most of the cost is in slabbing materials and labor to slab safely. Whatever the price point is for complete check, that's the right # to make raw grading work is all I'm saying. That said, I have pretty narrow and infrequent use for slabbing; some guys will slab anything. There's a whole range of perspectives. Even with 2 levels of service it's hard to please everyone. But there's certainly room for it.

2 hours ago, Chadwick said:

Just the spine of the cover is split, the book itself is tight and ow.

Worth a call; you may have a shot at better than 0.5 I'd think. Especially if not brittle too.

From Bushmiller and Ritz to Feldstein and...

On February 22, 2017 at 4:50 PM, ThothAmon said:

Here's one I've rediscovered. Until Captain Sprocket appears on Riverdale I'll say the back cover is more desirable.  

I had the book advertised on that back cover! Lots of Archie SA GGA goodness in that one. Sold fast when I offered it.

2 hours ago, Chadwick said:

Nice brother  

No insult intended but is the spine split? I'm thinking of slabbing a book with a fully split spine. It's a book I've been hunting for years, and in the highest grade I can afford right now. But I want to take care of it, it looks beautiful in the Mylar, but I want it slabbed. Has anyone had a split spine slabbed? Would the book or cover separate once in the slab?

I bought it the day my son was born, it'll be his in 16 years, 5 months.  2034 

Fully split, as in pages as well as cover? Due to brittleness? Likely 0.5 in that case. Less severe, dunno but you may have a shot. What is the book?

2 minutes ago, Ricksneatstuff said:

No Problem at all.  Didn't take it that way. 

I'm glad, I'm just trying to buy one and thought I might find it here, base on the firepower you had deployed thus far. Great books! 

16 minutes ago, Zolnerowich said:

Fantastic! I love how the lady is completely unfazed by the brawl, calmly poised with knife in hand.

Thx! Comicjack posted one in the GGA thread and I instantly started researching ... Gerber 7, hmmm..... Found a few sales, mostly over guide....found this copy available from DTA, graded fine by them, and though I am more inclined to call it a 5.0 than a 6.0, it was a reasonable ask either way based on what I had seen, and they came down a bit. Great to do business with! Just a handful on the registry.

On February 24, 2017 at 10:57 PM, Ricksneatstuff said:

I think that one is tougher than the 12!

Rick & Solar,

i really wasn't doing this

I honestly thought, with the heat Rick is bringing in this thread, that there may be a shot of a Roly Poly 12. I mean, geez...Dizzy Dames, so it was no more a stretch than that

1 hour ago, Sqeggs said:

Nice pickups!

Thx Sqeggs!

1 hour ago, 1950's war comics said:

 i just love how when even a low grade comic comes back from CGC it usually looks so much better in the slab !!!

That's for sure! If you pick one with the right flaws making it low grade (basically, the major stuff is anywhere but the cover) it is like Mylar on steroids, from a presentation perspective.

8 hours ago, Ricksneatstuff said:

Yes, that is exactly my intention and thought, although I would LOVE to have a Batman 1 sneak up on me any day of the week 

Oh, I agree! If I ever am able to acquire a Batman #1 (or a National #18) I'm sure I'd feel overwhelming happiness. But not of a surprising sort!

Heck, I look at Jimbo's Fox book with Samson on the cover and remind myself that there are whole swaths I do not start on for fear of being unable to stop, such as those and big 5 DC war books. But some you just cannot predict the impact of; like that early True that Jimbo posted. I have a couple and they have grown rapidly on me, quite unexpectedly.

5 hours ago, comicquant said:

What I meant by negate the grade was there is a significantly higher potential for damaging a book in a Mylar/board setup than a slab.  When I look at a slab that says 9.4 and the slab looks like it hasn't been cracked or the book doesn't move freely within I'm pretty sure it's still a 9.4.  You don't have that luxury with a Mylar and backing board.  I'm sure everyone on these boards has added a spine tick to an otherwise pristine book while unpacking one in a bag/board, but unless you're unpacking a slab with a hammer there's a good chance the book arrives unscathed with grade intact.

Gotcha. And I agree. I've damaged books in and out of bags and mylars, as we all probably have. I just think the protection gap is overstated, in practical reality. Books in boards and mylars in boxes are generally as static or moreso than slabbed books. Handling is high-risk; other than those times, it's off the table.

18 minutes ago, mschmidt said:

If that's correct, that's insane - I guess they have zero problems providing legitimacy to scammers passing off restored books as unrestored.

18 minutes ago, mschmidt said:

If that's correct, that's insane - I guess they have zero problems providing legitimacy to scammers passing off restored books as unrestored.

Good point....how's that a complete grading service?

Trapped in time to thousand years in a glacier

Yes it is! Thanks guys!

Funnies to Funnies

This just in

Great thread, Rick! I'm interpreting it as the ones that sneak up on you. Maybe you buy it without too much thought then later decide its home is in the "can't part with" box.....through this lens, I'm seeing a GA horror books pattern for me. My answers are Chamber of Chills #6 (famous woman melted alive panel), Frankenstein #30, and Marvel Tales #96. They have been acquired on a whim over the last year or two and each one has grown on me immensely.

On February 22, 2017 at 9:26 PM, zosocane said:

This pretty much sums it up.  Depends on your risk tolerance.  AF 15 is safe.  It's a blue chipper, Too Big To Fail.  FF 1 riskier, but a ton more upside when (not if) those movie rights (or at least production rights) flip to Marvel Studios.  I think it will happen, after 2020, as Marvel Studios will want to exploit the incredibly rich FF universe for a future phase.

I agree with this, and what Buzz said afterward. I really don't think one can go wrong owning either book, for different reasons. I think there's enough whales and future whales and a few well-to-do whaleabees who can stretch on occasion, to drive both. I see plenty of both of these following mindsets out there: 1) I missed the boat on Action #1 and Detective #27; Spidey is the only other character to achieve that level of iconic stature; 2) FF#1 is the beginning of the Marvel Age; this book is at least as important as Showcase #4, probably more. (Dedicated Marvel fans especially, and there's plenty.)

One mindset is slightly more character-driven, the classic big first appearance argument; the other is more the historian's context. There will be enough of both to continue driving both books. 

But I don't think there's any question FF#1 is now off pace and therefore as much a bargain as it'll be. AF15 is more like you've missed the rocket ride, if you want the rest of the (very long) steady climb, pony up.

If you don't see FF that way, if you truly believe they are fading into obscurity, take the Spidey ride. But as long as they come back in print and kick around even as a mediocre property, they will resume their role as Marvel's Superman. His titles have not been must-buy in forever, but his continued presence keeps his iconic status as the first superhero chugging along. As Marvel's first, FF can replicate this effect and keep FF1 relevant. (And 9.0 is rare air for that book.)

8 minutes ago, Patriot6 said:

That is how it should be. Sometimes greed ruins this hobby. A friend of mine traded a New Mutants 98 for a full run of The Nam and regretted it so bad he almost quit collecting.  

Thanks; I agree with you about the effects of greed. It can easily skew one's collecting focus. As much as I love the books, I love the interaction about books with others who love them as well. Without that, "comic collecting" becomes a quite literal and narrow description of the hobby.

On February 19, 2017 at 10:15 PM, Readcomix said:

Oh, I am and it's still days from arrival Thx again; will post it after I get it.

As promised, here it is! Thx Comicjack for putting it on my radar!