Glassman10

The spine has taken a beating certainly and the cracks emanating from it are not insubstantial. The cover was not aligned when it was stapled which caused some small tears at the top over time . It has a fair amount of staining on the back cover and a staple that appears to be rusting. It has one bad color break on the cover. I give a 4.0- 4.5. I loved this cover as well.

I'm really squinting trying to see the problems here. Square corners, no real color breaks, Tiny edge at the back spine top but not significant. Tiny breaks at the spine on the front, but tiny, I see a 9.0 Nice book.

In GPanalysis a 4.0 has brought $170 bucks as has a 4.5 in recent sales. A 5.0 has brought $200-215. I don't know what the shipping will run you or the CGC cost and return shipping but it eats up a lot of potential profit given all the barnacles that will attach to the hull of the sale of the book. . The book has a lot of color breaks that are really long on both the front and the back. The staples didn't really center well and that exacerbates the problems it has. You can see how the cover on the back doesn't seat well on the pages. It appears there are a few small tears on the back off of the spine. As was stated by comicquant, laying it flat would help evaluate it better. I certainly would not press it. The census suggests there are about 300 books in this range of condition and over 2,300 total unretored which in my mind is a lot of books. If it's for your private collection, I wouldn't slab it. If you're trying to prep for selling I can understand doing it. I'm wrestling with a lot of books where they aren't premium but the values do add up so I'm sympathetic to the circumstances. I would give it a 4.0

I would say a 2.0-2.5 The chipping is really pretty severe and there are a lot of creases that are three inch or more. The spine is worn and cracked at the staples. The color is not bright and nothing is said about page color. It's also rolled at the spine and exposes the inner pages as seen at the back cover. The back cover appears to have a small group of tears at the bottom and cracking along the spine as well. I don't know what pressing gets you on that book. If you look at auction sales, the low grades seem to be pretty indestructible as to bid value. It's around a five that things get weird. Restoration sales are doing poorly in my estimation. Pressing is really pretty slow right now. I've had three books in for over a month and they have yet to come out for grading. The pressing fee for the three was $275.00.

what did walk through plus value costing set you back if you don't mine? I will be having one done as well in very similar condition.

Matt, are you willing to describe the process of evaluating a book submitted for pressing. If you could, describe the red flags. I will be sending down an AF15 in the not to distant future which is a bit better than the one shown in this thread. It seems to me, you are suggesting that a screening process is necessary prior to pressing it. The amount if information as well as disinformation on the subject abounds. To be cautious about submissions, one needs education. When I look at grades on this particular book, I have to honestly say that the grade seems all over the map in a process where every half point changes the monetary results. While 9/2-m 9.6 is touchy, the area I really continue to have issues with is from 5.0 to 6.5 particularly in the fifty year old books. Thanks

I think that occasionally it's worth remembering that these things sold for .12 cents, at a profit after shipping them all over creation. Your observations are really good but will also make you crazy. I have a number of FF4 copies in triplicate and they were all bought off the newstand racks fifty years back and each one is different than the other. They seem to pretty much have consistency within the print run as to page width but then the positioning of the staples come into play. Each one is different and not by a small amount. There's up to 3/16th inch difference in how it went together. That, long term can have an enormous affect on how well your book holds up to time. If the cover is hanging off the right hand side of the inner material, you can expect some serious deterioration of the cover and subsequent value loss. Much of the time actual cover centering is what keeps a cover in decent shape over the years. Staple centering also has a lot to do with the center fold holding together at all as well. These were simply not concerns of a 19 year old kid buying comics. I never looked at the dozen or so in the rack that were the best and in retrospect, I should have, but keep in mind- .12 cents. Who'd have ever thought AF15 could bring $450K if it was perfect. To throw you off even more, I have books I bought, again off the rack and they look like they were trimmed, really badly. The Comics code authority label is almost cut into in one book I ran by last week. If I put it up here, the response would be immediate that it was trimmed. It wasn't. Your book has light but classic Marvel Chipping which was a systemic flaw in production. For some, the claim is that chipping of that nature doesn't devalue a book because t was a production flaw. Then, you have to of course ask "Well what about all those copies that don't have chipping? My biggest concern with your book is the lower front cover, all the way across to te spine and it's hard in the photo to tell if the cover is high centered or abraded. We're now up to whistling by the graveyard. If your book is perfect, It's going to do really well at auction. If it's yet another well loved and cared for copy, not as well, but it sure is more than your mom ever thought of it. Looks like a nice book to me. In grading I suspect, but don't know, is whether there have been attempts to alter the book's presentation in any way that did not stick to the absolute original presentation. Trimming is a big issue on that or, adding color. Essentially, the owner is trying to hide a defect of some sort. Restoration is in the same boat and keep in mind these issues are true with any collectable out there be it a comic or a car. Original is important if you're monetizing. What I do know is that restored books don't bring good auction prices to people who know what they're looking at. I have no problems with cleaning or pressing. Pricey though on a good book. Now that comics have been effectively monetized, all collectors are looking for a perfection which was not easy to find in the first place. My MGB is like that. It had dents on the showroom floor. I think it will tend to wreck any hopes of seeing modern day books develop as "rare" Our mom's took car of a lot of the rarity issues in the interests of house keeping in 1964 but now, those people are banking on this as retirement cash. Better to just buy them cuz you love them. My .02 cents.

As near as I can see based in GPanalysis, the signature won't really increase value. If it had everyone's signature, it seems it does increase it but not significantly. I've been told the fee for signature is $100 dollars to Mr Lee. I wouldn't deface it myself and I own one in a bit better condition than this one. One chip, some micro checks in the ink, no tears and a really good interior A press would make yours look better. If you are going for grading, the fee is based in value not degree of difficulty. 3% of the retail value is the number I hear up to 3K. Expect to spend more money than you really want to. Then, get yourself a copy of the marvel tales with the origin story since you won't read this one again. 4.0 at best based on my recent intimacy with this particular book. The tears really take it down. The staples are a distinct source of small tears and the lower front is quite abraded and chipped most of the way across and particularly at the spine. The cover centering is hard to read and when you look at the window of the building where the man is standing on the right, most copies show a number of windows, This barely shows one. Given that it cost .12 cents, I'm not sure we don't make the expectations pretty unreasonable but the whole thing is just monetizing it now. I like to read them. Still a nice thing to own. I'm not at all sure where the value on AF is really going. Marvel can only make so many movies about Peter Parker.It certainly has gone through the roof since 2012. I too have a very thorough Journey into mystery and that $100.00 for #83 makes me cringe. I currently have ASM 16 out of pressing and over to grading for which we think we have a shot at a 9.6. One like that has not surfaced in some time. I really hate selling it all, but it's time.

Based on what mine looks like, I'd say it's a 5.0, perhaps a 5.5 but the writing on it both front and back are a downside. It's also showing some sort of creasing on the back cover migrating from the middle under "Wallace Brown" and working it's way to the lower spine corner. It has writing on the "A" in Amazing on the front as well. I don't know what CGC will do with that. Currently I don't see quite what pressing would do for the grade. Does it lay flat and are all of the interior pages well connected? This is the only comic I really know .

Exactly, There are so many people that come on here with a 1st post saying they have the end all , be all collection. Oh, and by the way it's for sale! Fancy that..... ************ Not once did Bill Brown suggest it was for sale. Go back and read the entire thread. I think his observations hold quite true. That's a lot of comics in boxes. I tend to sense some envy here maybe. It was absolutely unnecessarily rude that's for sure. I think an apology is more in order. Everyone dreams of finding a big collection somewhere and then one is presented to you and you take a big dump on it. He only asked for help.

I'm reminded of this great ad from Amway. It involved a product they use for detergent that apparently keeps PH down.It was called Basic H. It was pretty expensive stuff at about $22.00 a gallon. They then had a section on lowering the PH of your garden. They recommended that you buy the stuff and just pour it on the ground. I thought that was some of the best Chutzpah I've ever seen in advertising. Somehow, I was reminded of this story. I haven't thought about it in years.

I moderate a board in my real life on technical issues in glass manufacturing and when I took it over, it was a complete mess with trolls, bad feelings, bad information blah blah blah. The first order of business was to shut down and restart. The primary insistence I had was that people had to use their real names and I indeed checked them out. I agreed with the actual owner of the site that I would be very hands on and I am. It has about 800 members, mostly professionals in the field and about the same number of lurkers. Lurkers can't see the entire board nor can the google spider. Generally, I'm astounded at how well behaved people are. I can inevitably tell when I'm getting someone who uses the internet for aggression and they simply don't last long. In the 15 years I've run the board, I've banned about seven people and even then, not permanently. Some seem destined to life sentences however. I do have classified ads. People happily buy and sell tools. There's no charge. We have an antiques and classics section for the best of the best posts.'It's OK to trash products but you have to back it up. I do run a business in the background selling certain types of tools but I allow the competition space. There's room for all. I'm the only one giving free advice. The board is brutal with people making claims that don't hold water particularly with energy efficiency. Defending the security of the board is a non stop issue. Robot spiders, Denial of service attacks and crashed servers are part of the routine. What I do believe is that you have to let the light in if you expect things to grow. Every field I've ever run into has its own politics and jealousies. This one is no different. The trick is making sure the ball gets moved forward.

That is one of worst referenced valuations I have ever seen. Those $3,000 to $7,000 numbers you just threw out are based on art where the primary artist is someone else entirely like Gil Kane and that is why people are paying $7,000. The solo Sid Greene pieces on there are all well under $,1,000. ******* Well, Bonnie wasn't looking for cash value as it seems is so frequent here but it made her really happy to see those drawings! So, Thanks!

There's also such a thing as timing. Sometimes ebay is flooded with a specific listing. Sometimes it's not. Some weeks 9.8 AF15's sell for $450K, usually they don't. In general, if you were to talk about an overpriced AF15 in a 4.5 in 2012, the prices you see today would seem to be over the moon. What I watch out for on ebay is people who list shipping charges that make it unnecessary to price the merchandise at all. Just get the shipping money and you're in clover.

That guy is a hack. It would be cool if you could post a picture of that drawing he did for your daughter ******* It's a big drawing, 20x30 and would have to be scanned or photographed. It's on a wall in Canada right now and on its way to Cyprus in the Spring. My daughter's with the State Dept. I knew Geisel when he lived in Southern California, although he spent time with my dad. I was a kid way back when. He did the particular drawing around 1976 as I recall, before his death.Initially it was for a charity auction but it fit right in. If he had done the drawing after his death it would be worth more. ******* Grammar sequencing for me sometimes difficult is. You're well taken . Even. So far the photo's sucked have. He did put out at least one book after he died though. So there.

I'll ask my daughter.

That guy is a hack. It would be cool if you could post a picture of that drawing he did for your daughter ******* It's a big drawing, 20x30 and would have to be scanned or photographed. It's on a wall in Canada right now and on its way to Cyprus in the Spring. My daughter's with the State Dept. I knew Geisel when he lived in Southern California, although he spent time with my dad. I was a kid way back when. He did the particular drawing around 1976 as I recall, before his death.Initially it was for a charity auction but it fit right in.

She mostly just wanted to know more about him. This is a great help. Thanks!

I was doing a wire transfer this morning and while talking to my banker, we got onto the comics. She said she had an uncle named Sid Greene who drew Batman and also the Hornet in the 1950's. She said that she was allowed to go to his office then and got to read comics which were all over the place.She had always asked him to draw Batman for her and much time passed. For her High School graduation, he made her a full sized poster with batman coming crashing through a doorway saying "Hi Bonnie, sorry I'm so late!". She still has it framed, under glass, out of the sun. It's entirely a pencil study. I told her I would ask to see where she might go for an appraisal. I know that original artwork is of interest here. All we have is this Ted Geisel drawing done for my daughter of a bazillion identical characters lined up to get their diplomas, all in cap and gown. So, anyone know where to go looking for history on this?Wikipedia had a nice biography.

I have one exactly like that one. It's a 9.0 too!! Wait! I have to find the cover....

I'm having that exact book cgc'd this week on a walk through. The person who is managing the disposition of my ASM is quite sure it's a 9.0-9.2. (Ivegotneatstuff) It may get pressed before grading but we are waiting for Matt's reaction. That's a beautiful book. Selling the collection is hard after having it for over 45 years but it's time. The AF15 is perhaps the hardest of all. I'm keeping my marvel tales since it's permission to simply read those stories with no guilt.

I'd call them "Tinsel". But, if it's like the "Chrome" I see corroding off of modern pickup trucks, I can see Chrome. It's just not like the Chrome on a really old Mercedes grill.. That was chrome.

OK, I'm the first to admit my ignorance but if a reprint is done of something like an AF 15 and then the mode turns to cutting up books for single pages, How is one to tell if a book is original, or simply a reprint? I appreciate the education. Something must give it away.

well don't insure it... or better yet over insure it and pay someone to have an accident.

I kind of like the Abs 32 pack here