MAY1979

Thanks that was unknown to me. I've been getting lucky then I was keeping it to pre-2008. Still I'd bet i have one or 2 that were affected although if I can't tell by looking at it then at least it was done nicely. Tell you what, in person it's getting difficult to find unpressed even on inexpensive books. Amazing how many $75 or under slabs I've seen with pressed books. IMHO is simply not worth the money to do so on those - go figure

Agreed. If Blackstone purchases a rice paper factory then restoration methods that utilize that will no longer be restoration. BTW: I too consider pressing restoration. If I'm not buying an item in person, tend to seek older slabs that predate CGC and CSS getting all snugly.

At one time art from the 2nd series (v2 1979) was seemingly everywhere and reasonable. Covers were reasonably priced as well. I've noticed since approx 2015 supply has dried up. IMHO the v2 stories were very enjoyable. All were scripted by either Fleischer and Claremont. Good luck in your search!

It already had a dead-cat bounce. Both are very high census pop books. 361 however will always be a cheap-jack poor collectors ASM 300. A NYCC 2021 I'd witnessed a sale of Direct Sale 361 (NON Signature) CGC 9.8 for $2,000. It was at one of those so called investor booths , you know the ones with the fancy black linen table cloths, to some rube. Yep this guy was a true rube ,as at that very moment there were several buy it now's on eBay for $1000-$1100. I know I looked. There were what seemed like thousands of CGC 9.8 copies of that book at the con with asking prices from $900-$1500. This was a rube's rube! As for stamps Supply and Demand 101 both are required. A lot of the folks collecting them have sadly disappeared via attrition over the years vast reducing the demand. Between them passing away and low interest in those younger than retirement age seems a natural organic slowdown to what was once the largest hobby in the world. Too many straws on Camel's back... For those that think it can't occur with comics well no way to know but it won't be happening anytime on the horizon.. Still its wise to remember Western's ruled the pop-culture Film and TV roost for decades!

All are welcome. As mentioned in my first post. I'm OK with Silver,Copper as well Modern in this topic Thought about putting this in Silver and in Copper but have settled in the middle. Show off your Photo Cover Comics! Partial Photo Covers too! Only rules are it must be at least a partial photo cover and NO Rifleman

Question: Sandman #4 is 1st appearance of Nada, easily determined by reading the book. https://sandman.fandom.com/wiki/Nada Why is Sandman 9 being referred to as 1st appearance? First full appearance perhaps but the way the Sandman series work for all other characters a full appearance is not denoted. Example #22 is 1st Daniel but all we see is an infant... Perhaps #4 as first Lucifer is already a key, so some have figured a way to "manufacture" another semi-key with issue 9?

Those willing to do do that and have hustle talent will do well. But those are folks who are likley to succeed in whatever they do. Those folks are outliers.

How about Obscure stuff OR Obscure artist. If it's neither then price won't be "low", if it's both then prices agreed can be reasonable. The folks I see trying to get into art however want well known characters by more well known artists. Which bring us back to in 2022 unless they are wealthy the boat has sailed. It used to be lower priced pages were a dealer's bread and butter sort of like slot machines in casinos. However in current day there are folks whose tables have nearly nothing under 4 figures, in Albert's case very little under 5 figures. Anthony still follows the old model to a great degree and Burkey as well. Still they don't need to...The reason i say that is when you have war chests with over 100 MILLION (a very conservative Number) in art you really don't need to sell pages that costs a few hundred dollars unless you simply enjoy the game. Haggling is almost like a sport It's way off-topic but you know how Fortune and Forbes has their annual lists... What about a Comic Art Top 15 with estimated worth in art holdings? I'm sure it would go over like a lead balloon, but seeing rough estimates in digital ink might be an eye opener for many. #You can't kill an idea

What gets me on that is by the point in time SW8 was issued and that page appeared there were already a couple of hundred pages of Spider-Man in the black costume already published. Some of which in books that by that time had been on-sale for nearly 3/4's of a year. I'd bet at least some of the folks bidding thought it was the first actual page in the black.

Not sure most see that as a selling point? The average collector has lower interest in obscure stuff. But yea those who enjoy less popular stuff or pages by artists with very low limited following can live the "high life". Those who collect what they like never lose as the old saying goes.

recall watching reruns on the Sci-Fi channel in the mid-1990's

Seems like every con I go to I hear some potential new collector exclaim they plan on "Collecting 70's Marvel Covers" I do wonder how long some of them remain the hobby? BTW yeah there are some folks who have the hustle to succeed in whatever hobby or endeavor in which they participate.. However those with that type of "wiring" are the exceptions. Appears you are one of the fortunate outliers, but do not assume everyone is capable of accomplishing the same. The mass of men live lives of quiet desperation - Henry David Thoreau

Glad to hear he is still around! Lost track of him a decade ago. 22/23 year back he was one of the first dealers I purchased art from. Still have most of the pieces from my first buy off of him. back then you could get 2-3 1970's DC covers, 2-3 1970's Marvel Splashes for $1500 in total and still have money for lunch. Which describes my first deal with Saul. Later on as art jumped in value virtually all dealers became more difficult. A natural byproduct of big money. But those early days for me were very special (and may be funding my potential early retirement) and Saul was part of it.

IMHO it's currently hobby for those who got in earlier or are wealthy. It's also not hobby that needs to have large influx of new collectors to say strong. Due to the one-of-kind nature even small or tiny number of those getting into the hobby are more than adequate to keep prices a jumpin'. Simply put it's not a hobby that needs a constant flow of new blood a few drops every now and then is more than enough. I don't want to appear cold, and apologies if I do, but unless you have wealth the time to get into most OCA has long, long since passed and finding other hobby interests are recommended. Or go the sketch route, I know people who only do that and they seem very happy. In fact they appear to be more at peace compared to pretty much any art collector I know including myself.

Early bidding means more of a chance a wiener* measurement contest occurring. *There are many words the more they are used or overused becomes less and less funny, wiener is not one of them.

From my signature one of my most "treasured" comics

A self-submitted sequential CGC Cert Buffy 2-shot:

Charlton cheap-ed out with a Black and White of what was a Color promo still

My numbers over the years are pretty consistent since my first sub in 2000. I keep a record of my estimated grades and grades received from CGC. I am correct approx 70% of the time, receive higher than estimated approx 20%, receive lower than estimated approx 10%. I will say virtually all my subs are high grade where I feel it's easier to be accurate. Mid grade presents a challenge for me to estimate. BTW most of the time I receive 9.8's for books that I estimate are 9.6 are on Bronze. My guess is the difference resides in the negative value I place on certain defects compared to CGC's standards.

I see very similar things written over at the PSA boards. It does seem the pandemic was catalyst to mine as much over-produced modern excrement from ones storage closet as possible and send it for professional grading. Still someone is buying when it hits the social media magical number of 9.8. Seriously there are over 11,000 Spawn #1's in 9.8 or higher, yet rubes buyin' them for few hundred bills as an "investment". Spawn #1 census data 9.8 Universal = 8,568* 9.9 Universal = 69* 10.0 Universal = 6** 9.8 Signature = 2,392* 9.9 Signature = 7* --------------------------- Total 9.8 or higher = 11,042** * = Highest All-Time ** - 2nd Highest in census Venom Lethal Protector #1 is next most categories and rubes spending a couple hundred bills or more on that. Be interesting to see as those pop numbers jump in leaps and bounds this year and demand likley wanes how much basic economic cornerstones come into play on those 2 books. http://cgcdata.com/cgc/cgctop/ Why are TAT's practically one year? Perhaps part of the reason is your books are sitting behind a K2 size mountain of stuff like Spawn #1, Venom LP #1, ASM 365, ASM 361, X-Men #1, X-Men #4 and soon a monsoon of Ultimate Fallout #4 to add to #'s already less than 35 away from 3,000....

The question is which Auction Houses are honest. While it's plausible one may exist, none does. There are plenty of Auction House defenders on this forum I actually feel that is more disturbing that the auction house practices.

Good lucking your search that is as long your not just f-in around like you know who