Readcomix

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.)

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.

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

I think he was being generous because he asked to undo a trade. And he had buyers for the Dr Stranges. The mid-grade ASM 300 went to work in a trade for some GA with an LCS. The best thing is we kept the friendship. Since then, he's gotten pre-Hero Marvels, Surfer #1, X-Men #6 from me; I've acquired TOS 41, Batman 232, Strange Tales Ann. 2 from him. Point is, lots of separate subsequent deals, books both ways, that would not have happened otherwise.

..and this hit the doorstep today!

Found in the wild on Friday...

Sorry, looked for my notes but it was a while ago. From memory, I gave him (all raw, most lower grade VGish) ASM #51 and 75 (this book more like a 7.0) bronze and new Dr Strange #1's (nm on the modern), TOS 55 and 59, X-Men 38 and 55 and $25. It was a slabbed 4.0 Showcase 34. I agreed to undo the deal. He then gave me a mid-grade ASM #300 for the two spideys and dr stranges.

I probably wouldn't use it but I don't get this whole negate the grade perspective. How many raw books get shipped for purchase in less than mylars and arrive in the same condition sent? And conversely, slabs are not force fields, nor are they Mylar (lacking those stable and UV-blocking properties?) Of course, I don't know exactly what the slabs are made of, so I cannot be sure. But the properties of Mylar for paper collectibles are well-known.

Dead men grin to carrying a dead man in

Thing in the cave to thing in the subway

Thank you! I thought long and hard about it and wasn't happy at first, but he gave back the biggest 4 of the 8 I gave him and the small cash portion of the transaction, and gave me an ASM #300 instead of the four lesser books from the original 8. So he clearly felt the original deal was fair after all (which was an important consideration to me), he really was just being fickle about parting with the first silver key he acquired. (I've since sold him a Surfer #1 and Strange Tales #135 so it isn't lonely.) This hobby isn't anything other than reading and art appreciation without camaraderie and friendship, so I figured why not?

This thread has fallen way too far

Ack! Well, at least I can go be tied up at work the next few days and not worry if I can't check in as regularly..... Of course, as someone also looking for one, you know this is just sour grapes from me.....

There wouldn't happen to be a Roly Poly #12 coming, would there?

For our #1 skull cover boardie....skull to skull

Man who would burn to woman about to burn