Glassman10

So, the pressers want me to bring it on a monday morning and to not include other books. If it's minor it can go to the other side of the building that day.That can be a walk through. . Big kids books. Everything else could take up to two months. So I fly to Tampa, Not Ft Lauderdale and visit my friends while I sweat it out . High risk for Melanoma. Hilarity ensues. I could maybe get to auction by Summer , sooner if I don't press more. Trying to combine pressing with grading is a slow process. Maybe not. I'm continuing to learn here.

what keeps me sane is that I don't know that for sure.

OK, I went back and read the entire thread. I haven't said how I actually came into having this comic. So, here it is: I was at an automotive wrecking yard owned by a friend back round 1969-70 I don't recallexactly. I was poking around in this old school bus which no longer ran and these were the days of Ken Keesey and "Further" which ran around Taos and the hog farm in a less than sober mode for quite some time. There was this box of comics on the floor in the bus and the man who owned the bus knew I liked comics. He just said "take them". I did. They sat in my truck for about a week. I was trying to get a used rear end for a dodge Power wagon I owned and life was going poorly. Eventually, I took the box into my apartment and began to poke around. On top were some early x men, number 4, 7 and 40 in pretty poor shape I thought. These days I think they call it very good. There were also some avengers early, a FF12 in terrible shape and I still have all of them. But there, in the middle of it all was this Amazing Fantasy 15 and it was just perfect. Never really read. At that time, I think it sold for about 80 bucks and 80 bucks was a lot of money to me but I chose not to sell it off. Years have gone by, recessions have come and gone and everytime I thought maybe I should sell these but I never did. After every recession, the value increased. I did buy on the newsstands as I 've said but once things hit .20 cents I was out of there. My life changed directions. I had them in a file cabinet for a number of years until I found my employees taking them to the bathroom for reading so then they went to boxes and a select few were bagged. Remember CGC would not come into existence for another 25-30 years. Bags were a novelty. So, All this time, they've been sealed up carefully. Some indeed got dinged doing this. I just have to accept that. It's funny though. With today's find. It's complete. I finally know where the Kingpin went. When I look it all over , if I took advice on keeping just a bit, I think it would be the Conan's. That Artwork is really wonderful. I have two number one's. I may sell one of those and just keep the rest of them . The hardest part now is that I would like to just sit and read them all one last time. It's worse than binging on Breaking Bad. I hate the idea of slabbing. I can see why it happens but all that really happens is converting a love affair to dollars. Again, in Africa, the majority of people own the clothes on their backs and no more. So if doing this gets my son, a great kid, a down payment on a place of his own where he can accumulate dubious stuff and my wife a rebuilt kitchen, I'm all in. I'll just get the tractor when they aren't looking. .

I had already talked to CGC and they won't take a book like the AF15 except through the front door as a hand carry. Those spidey 129's might have the same reaction. I still love my thor but I've always been stupid that way. Sif is hot. My learning curve has been enormously steep here given that we've only had the books out for about eight or nine days now but I have a call in to Matt on pressing and cleaning. I joined this group. I joined the analysis subscription board. I have read tons of thread here. It is still so far a cinderella kind of story. I wish I had bought some more number ones when I had the chance. But back then 80 dollars was a month's rent. Seeing what the newsstand one have done is really remarkable. I've always asked questions when I don't know the answers. I expect to be trolled since it's a tough job but someone has to do it. I'm listening except I don't like the idea of cheap seat on a plane much.

I have the resources and the luxury of time to do this right. If I get real about the photos, I'll quit using the phone and go to the SLR Canon where we shoot pictures of our glass. This is very down and dirty stuff right now.Dave was great about forwarding these shots, but keep in mind, they're just fast record shots. Each took about fifteen seconds. I'll talk to the folks in Sarasota and fly down with I am guessing about 20-25 books initially.

we'll indeed see what the grade comes in at. Three people have looked at it close up and read overstreet and they feel it's a lot better than your estimate, but I did expect to be picked apart. . I am going to have it pressed. I appreciate the help I've been given getting the pictures up. I have about 4-500 to shoot.

I do not have any of those. My Spidey has a lapse of six issues from 149-154. Those were books I purchased from that one dealer and I got what he had. That again was around 1970. All in all, it's been a good day.

I am not trying to do anything to them. The AF 15 has a very small chip from one corner that had fallen off. I still have the chip in yet another small envelope. Again. I don't plan to handle them until the bags and boards come. But today just makes this all seem more unreal. I knew there was stuff missing. It seemed too unlikely that the collection would have fit perfectly in these two boxes. So, after all these years I went looking in the loft of the old part of the house (1792) and after about an hour, there came out another box, just the same size as the first two. It said "Comics" in small letters. I probably packed it in New Mexico in 1975. I never actually got down the stairs. I just sat there being frozen at 48 degrees and started in on the box. It confirmed my memories. It coughed up spidey 38-125 or so plus a bunch of multiples. I still have to collate them, all in exceptional condition. There were all my missing Conan's There's a huge pile of Capt America and the falcon which never did that much for me so they're pretty much unread even once. . My death of Gwen Stacy was one I knew to be special and it went into heavy mylar and stayed there. It's pristine. These's some x men, nothing terribly old but then again, it's all old, Daredevil going back to around # 24. There's more I just haven't accounted for. It's all at the top of the stairs right now. The cat is having a wet dream. One of the members here is going to post some pictures for me that I'm emailing to him. This is a lot like going to a baseball game, which I love being a red sox fan from the 1950's and on. When you go to the park, there, you're surrounded by people who absolutely love baseball and they really know the game. They'll tell you Ted Williams average on the last day of the 1939 season. at the drop of the hat. The enthusiasm I have felt is remarkable if you look at the PM's. This is like that. It's really remarkable to pull all this stuff out even though the plan is to sell it. Doors open and they close. Thanks again.

well, your homepage doesn't seem to work...I can relate to that.

I have certainly been able to take pictures of them with the phone to email them to myself to put in a spreadsheet. How to get them to here, I don't know. When I emailed them, I reduced the size to 10%. So, yes I could use help with the procedure. Then, I'll send some photos to verify the piles. The cat thinks it's the best thing to happen in years. nw I need a service that kills cats for a modest fee ( and makes house calls). .It will take a few days since I don't want to handle anything again until the new bags and backer boards arrive, which should be tomorrow. Looking at them certainly is bringing back a flood of memories.

I'm just trying to not leave money on the table out of pure ignorance. I got my joy out of them when I was a kid. The advice has been great.

and to add: no one seems to be buying them expecting the value to drop. Consider how much the methods of buying and selling have changed since I was that 18 year old . I would find an ad in the mid pages of a book and there would be someone selling books in some far off place. No photos, no real correspondence to speak of. Only once did I drive anywhere to meet a seller and I did buy some of the books I'm letting go of now. I paid cash, they went in a box, I went home. I never bought that way again. They're worth a lot more now than they were apparently. I remember when the mile high collection was first reported in Overstreet and changed everything. Ebay has brought it into real time as to value. You can see how many crazy people there are out there. You can see this disposable income at dizzying levels. Overstreet clearly shows me value increase in a year for a lot of books. A buyer's premium is nothing compared to the risks buying on ebay as near as I can see. I have read horror stories here which make me really shy of ever doing ebay. I can genuinely see why a comic store flourishes. You can hold it in your hand if you are willing to take the time to go to the store. There's tons of stores out there. That was not the case when I was young. Very few choices then.

In any auctions I have ever participated in, mostly for building materials, old rugs machine tools,, whatever, it's pretty standard that the buyer pays a fee to the auction house up to 13% So if I bought a tractor for 10,000 dollars, I would be writing a check for 11,300.00. In my other world from this one, it's been that way for ever. That's how they make their living and probably why they talk so fast. Real time auctions are really different than on line ones. You don't have a lot of time to think in real time and the adrenaline is way up. You really have to know your limits when you go after something.. The part in the comics is the percentages added on in the act of first slabbing, then grading, then if you sell on ebay, their fee. It really adds up quickly, especially on high grade material and much of that is paid up front. I will have plane tickets, a car rental , a motel, two businesses looking the books over and that has real cost. .

So far, the advice I've gotten has been really sound. At this point, I'm contacting the presser in Sarasota and will take about 20-25 books there for his opinion on what is worth pressing. Then, it's over to CGC to have some of the higher dollar ones graded. I'm joining GPAnalysis for a few months and have pretty much decided that the AF15 should go to auction. Deciding on the auction house is now the issue. I don't need the money desperately at all so I have the luxury of time. If the book indeed pulls a 7.5 and I think it certainly could, it takes things to a new level. I do not believe it can pull an 8 over the simple issue of off white pages. Everything else would be good. Somehow restoring it doesn't appeal to me. It's so beautiful now. The other books help pull the over all value up, particularly the spidey 129's of which there are two . The iron man 55 is excellent. Luke Cage #1, blah blah blah. The ones I hold more dear are the 84-90 journey into mystery and I will have them slabbed. The FF4 group may get slabbed but it remains to see what that costs on books of more marginal value. Someone asked about the prices. I really get taken literally too much. When I said that it was a 15 cent biz, I was waxing eloquent. Much of what I bought on the newsstand was .15 cents. I got some at .20. Way back, I got some at .12. When I was a little boy, it was a dime. One person wanted my xmen and I simply quoted Overstreet as a starter and that seemed to really put him off a bit. . If I sold off a title, I would sell the whole title that I own. As many have said, "Don't get cherry picked" Thank you all who have been so generous with your time and knowledge. The Internet is really quite an amazing thing. High tech info at your fingertips with an ample dash of bandits. .One of my favorite ads from an early book on the back cover is "Amaze your Friends! Become popular and the life of the Party! LEARN TO PLAY THE PIANO! nuff said.

The Dr strange was indeed a reprint. I think we're now looking at reprints of reprints of reprints. At this point, If it doesn't have a cover, I feel no immediate guilt.

that's correct. We're still in inventory world. Just the pure sorting is hard enough. The ASM are 2 (two) one has centered staples in the 129 , the other doesn't. In Iron man I have one ( 1) 55 and no more sadly. I do have a LOT of Jack Kirby Mr Miracle, Forever People and New Gods . All excellent. I Always felt badly for Kirby making the move from Marvel to DC and starting those books and having them not really work out that well. Kirby for me was the best artist Marvel had.. I just have a lot of books here. I don't want to handle lot until the backing boards come. It's like a drunk trying to get back on the wagon. I had a great time reading Dr Strange in bed two nights back. That's actually what it was supposed to be about.

well, I got multiple spidey129's in fact. I only have one of the iron man 55. It was an accident actually. It's a great example of being careful at the news stand. One of the 129's has the staples set perfectly. The other has the staples set about 1/8th in up off center. That caused the spine to roll. Only one was ever read and it, once. The difference in value is not insubstantial. These were not fine art contributions. It was a low ball biz.at .15 cents. I had about eight copies to choose from at the bus depot. Since at the time it never occurred to me that this kind of anal retentive stuff would go on. I was not exactly selective. At this point, maybe I wish I had been a bit more of a snot. I just took it all home and loved it to death waiting for the next first tuesday of the month. That is what it once was all about after all. When Silver surfer # 4 never showed up, we had a really bad month. ( low distribution) . I just want to really thank all of you responding.

Sorry paper decomposes too fast. Mom's everywhere are responsible for this. I remember once being at my aunt's house in Michigan as a little little boy and she passed all these comics through the car window to us in the back since we were leaving on a multiple day drive west. My dad saw we had them and he was so pissed off , he took them, stopped at the next Howard Johnson's and threw them all out. Remember this stuff was going to rot the minds of the youth of America. Who knew it would become their nest egg for retirement? The end of the silver age defined the time period where even Mom's finally knew to not chuck this stuff. Everybody was buying multiples off the news stand by 1972. The next age? Maybe buying stuff that cost $3.75 each was too much of a financial burden for a lot of people. I still can't explain Amazing spiderman 129 or Iron man 55. I have them both in multiples. I won't argue, I just don't get it. I want to know how much Stan Lee charges for a signature. Now do you want to know which Howard Johnson's?

I referred to the green lantern as stuff I had as a 10 year old in 1959. I acquired the AF15 in 1969 in a way no one will beleive. I bought the spiderman 17-40 in 1970 and also the FF4 stuff. Same with Journey into mystery for the earlier ones. Most of my buying off the rack occurred starting in 1968 and continuing to about 1972-3 My early comics from 1959 all went to the dump. Thanks Mom. . It indeed is the real deal. I can see why you might think otherwise .

right now, we're just doing inventory. I had to order backer boards from garmin and several different bags. Some boards are beefier than others. I want to handle the books just once, first photographing, then checking what I think the grade is based in Overstreet, then into the bag, then to ebay to confirm sold auction prices, with an estimate of retail value. Then into some water tight containers. When I think of all the times this collection could have been destroyed but wasn't. My Mom got my first attempt back in 1959 when I would get a Green Lantern, a Challengers of the unknown, , an Orange Crush and head for the beach. . She got them all. Nanny Swoop. Without those mom's none of us here would have anything of value at all. I'm kind of computer challenged as to posting pictures. I'd have to get my son to help I think and he's very secretive about this project. I'm not. . Right now, the basic work load is overwhelming. I think I have five weeks before I fly them to California and I have to go to Sarsota in the interim. I had no idea that the post would create such a response. Thank you to all.

It lays flat as a pancake. I can't see where pressing would change the value. It has one chip in it from the upper right hand corner and the chip is actually in the bag. Otherwise, no chips. no restoration, nothing. I've had it almost fifty years. It is not an 8 though. As to insuring, The ones to grade will go in my carry on to Sarasota. I had no idea how to ship them but was told with hi value books that I have to walk in the door with them and have an appointment. It's really just te one book that qualifies for this. The others just add up. At this point I'm beginning to think the romance comics that are mysteriously in the group may have value. I try to put this in perspective that in Africa, most people own the clothes on their backs and no more. .

well, don't leave out the John Deere.

I collected Marvel comics in the late '60's and faithfully went to the newsstand at the beginning of every month and bought about five bucks worth of titles. Eventually they were stored away and I quit buying in 1973 for the most part. They were simply stored in cardboard boxes with about 50 of them going at least into plastic bags. The rest were simply stacked and put away. After around 15 years, I did get them out and considered selling them but didn't and they were stored away again until last week when my son inquired about the group. So, we got them down and began to go through them. Most were an act of love. Watching Thor fight south american revolutionaries was something Marvel did well and I have a pretty good representation of journey into mystery on up to issue 210 or so in varying degrees of grade. I have FF4 from about issue 65 through 120 in mostly a very fine grade based on Overstreet guidelines. There are a lot of number ones some of which went places and some did not. I have things I don't understand like Amazing spiderman 129 multiple issues where the grade difference is really how the staples went in the book. Iron man 55 is here and I think was read once. Spiderman from 17-40 are here in varying conditions But a lot of this comes down to generic pricing falling in a retail 27- 40 dollar range. Hundreds of books. There's one notable exception and that is an Amazing fantasy which is going down to CGC with me to be graded. Anyone who looks at it here says it looks to be a 7-7.5. I have not seen books in a while in that grade being available. It carries enough value that a CGC grade seems appropriate even given the premium they will attach to evaluating a high value book. I collected as a young man. I'm an old man now and it's time to let it go. No good can come from keeping it at this point. I imagine the AF 15 to have a street price around 60-65K. If I just sell it to a dealer I will maybe get 75% of that. I do not under any circumstances want to go to Ebay. I would like to divest of the whole pile at one time really . But here's the real question: Should this book just get sold, take the money or should it go to an auction house. I don't know much about the meat and potatoes of sales, particularly of a valuable book. Scams seem way too common on this. Indeed I have other stuff of value but nothing like this one. And, don't beat up on me for the way they were stored. In 1968, CGC was thirty years from existing. Bags would have been a novelty. I saw at one point an entire Journey Into Mystery that had three ring holes punched in them so they could go in a binder. The guy did that to the FF4 as well. At that time the AF15 brought $80.00. That was a lot of money. I do appreciate the advice. I'm listening to everything anyone says to me. I am going down to Sarsota and then to an unnamed dealer in California whose attitude I really like. I'm not in a hurry. The money? It's going to go to a down payment on a house for my son. I'd like another tractor though. A second John Deere I hate changing implements.