MAY1979

The book's I had from the 80's I collect the way I remember them some are newsstands, some are direct sale. For years before "newsstand " was a thing I was picking up the one's recalled having had as a child/kid. Good luck , may it be only a short wait.

Scanned a few more. Oddly I had WCA Limited Series 1 in the same box, no idea why. Great how ROM is pictured on the WCA cover so Marvel must alter for reprinting. Also had 238 in Spidey Mylar box that I purchased as a back issue for 75 cents in 1985. I'm proud to say I almost never have a book pressed- limited to 1 of 150+ book submitted over last 5 years, but I think the 238 will respond well insuring a 9.6 and potential for a 9.8??. Will do that at a future date as I'm taking a rest from gathering, scanning, packaging, and shipping efforts for a while. All Spidey's pictured in my posts, and the WCA for good measure, have now been shipped to CGC, reckon I'll have them back 'round this time next year, or the next Special thanks to myself as 1980s/early 90's kid for being far more of an OCD-ish collector then than now and for storing things safely!

Still though you may have hit the nail on the head The hobby has become a speculative joke courtesy of the Social Media crowd. Speculation in Comics has not been good as those of use who lived through the 1990's know. Sure a few do profit, but most in the end lose.

So it that officially ASM 252? SW 8? ASM 299? or ASM 300? No matter which all have been hot books for 30+ years are are some of the highest populated books all time on the CGC census - although early on 299 was less so than the others. Still the time to pick up these books was in the 1980's or 1990's certainly not at full market price in 2021. Given the copious amount of each book on the census and growing exponentially every year how much room for fiscal growth do they really have? Which is a question not a statement

it should be graded as qualified as they are nothing more than pages removed from a comic. SMH,CGC should know better than this!

Anyone without at least 3 copies of Action 1 is a slacker.

My opinion is any advice based on the image presented is simply not valid. Unless you are flipper not worth taking a chance. If you not happy with a 9.6 you certainly won't like 9.4 to the point just looking at it in a 9.4 slab might disgust you. Still any who ask the question likley all ready have their mind made up anyhow - so good luck with re-subbing it.

Bad things (like mold, warping) could happen to a 2 year old CGC slab stored in a damp cellar. Or a book could fade in a 1 year old slab if in direct sunlight for many of those days. As to how much fading if any has occurred that takes some legwork or experience to know the product. IMHO it boils down to Buy the book, not the slab. I know the social media crowd are just purchasing based on the grade shown on the label, but serious collectors know to look at the book before forking over the cash.

And Chedder is the most scarce cheese

1978 Drakes Hulk #21 Trading Card produced by Topps. Set is truly rare and cards near impossible to find in high grade (Near Mint or above) as they were inserted (usually crammed) unprotected into boxes of Ring Dings, Yodels, and Devil Dogs. Back then the former 2 snacks were individually wrapped in foil not in plastic and many times the foil would scratch the cards or allow a bit of chocolate to stain them. It's 44 years since Drakes Cakes Hulk cards were issued and no "warehouse" finds have ever come to light. The opinion of many non-sports card collectors is they are the rarest USA Marvel Cards ever distributed. Still they are in low to no demand but yet 1990/1991 Impel Marvel Cards which were produced in the tens of millions now go for big money - go figure. Sample card back

Does this count?

While not new acquisitions they feel like they are to me as I had not opened my 80's "Spidey in Mylar" boxes in approx 15 years, but decided to cull some for submissions. All were purchased by myself when new. Had multiple copies of all but 316. 252 was the first ever comic I purchased multiples of in my life. I recall having to pass on other books that week to do so. It was a heavily hyped book in it's day and my Mom even cut out some newspapers articles back then for me. Copy is perfect on front and spine but a tiny color rub (app 20% the size of a standard pencil eraser in diameter) on top of the back, I've seen and have purchased many worse books in 9.8, but I seem to get Graders of Doom who just had a fight w/their significant other on all my submissions thus expect only a 9.6. Sadly have no recollection why I never purchased 301, 302 , 303 and 304 back in the day I scan all my books before subbing, but not sure if it would ever actually make a difference in the event of CGC mishandling? Still have more to scan. I probably put way too much effort into each submission to the point it's become a chore. BTW: Those seeking McFarlane era newsstands are truly missing out as they lack the B/W pencil and ink "doodles" in the UPC area. Love those things!.

While Logical, it's nowhere near absolute. Of course without CGC displaying or even possessing up to this point that Direct vs Newsstand data it's speculative. Lets take some examples: 1) Thor 337 in CGC 9.8. Those who have monitored this book the past 5 years as i have on eBay will likley have noticed there are a plethora of newsstand copies for sale, at times outnumbering the directs. Back in the day 337 became a hot book the moment it hit the Comic shops. Dealers, flippers and collectors of the time flocked to the newsstands 2-3 weeks later and grabbed all copies they could find, even if they had to intimidate a few children in the process As result that book as a newsstand copy is not scarce in 9.6 or 9.8 and probably should not command a cent more as newsstand copies back then still outnumbered direct sale. 2) Early DC and Marvel direct sales. Newsstands accounted for all but a tiny fraction of the market. "Warehouse Finds" of newsstands of that era are still unearthed every now and then. Also back then there were venues other than actual newsstands that would carry newsstand editions. While there are exceptions of course newsstands from the early Direct Sale era in high grade are not scarce. 3) Later era's, I've low interest in books issues after 1990, but I do agree those newsstand pop's are probably very low in high grade. Keep in mind I've no skin in this game unlike Mile High Comics I do not sell Comic Books. My guess is any attack on my comments that drip with venom (or carnage ) are from those with a fiscal concern. P.S. There are several late 70's Marvel Books I prefer newsstands as they are what I recalled as small child. The different between the price area on the 40 and 50 cents Marvels is quite different as the direct sale has the diamond. Once the only real difference became the Spidey vs UPS i could not care less. As for DC, only difference from the get go was the UPC area so no real interest to me which I have (or get). However some direct sale had art while newsstands had the UPC (like Crisis 1) on those I want only the Direct Sale.

Everything Chuck sez aligns with profit motive. Take his words carefulllllllly

As long as demand maintains so too will price. However with so many copies in high grade it won't take much of a demand drop to change that. Then again I could say same thing about Infinity Gauntlet 1 and Amazing Spider-Man 300 and Killing Joke #1 and Dark Knight 1, etc. Guess what I'm attempting to convey is Supply and Demand 101 eventually will reign supreme Although "a market can remain irrational longer than many can remain solvent" - to paraphrase Wilde.

I was going to write 9.6 then I saw grading was completed. But 9.8 was not out of the question as the quality of the pics were not so good Congrats on the 9.8. #361 back in the day was a heavily ordered and hyped book. Not usual in that situation for a book to actually live up it's alleged at the time potential.

They are in Texas, the buyer is is stuck with it. Between their policy's and shill bidding from the house is legal in Texas one has to be prepared to pay their max amount of their bid for every item and more importantly eat the loss if said item has some flaws never mentioned in the auctions description. -----------------

Also in Collectibles like Trading Cards, Comic Art, Boxed Video Games condition is KING. With OCA condition is an afterthought. Thus no room for the alleged WATA / Haspel brand of nepotistic fix-is-in manipulation. i would not be surprised if an investigation led to numerous counts of outright fraud - for now we'll just say alleged fraud. Of course with Comic Art there is the OCA dealer merry-go-round If you are one of Goldin's or Cohen's buddies there is money to be made, if you are not then you will play the part of the rube.

Perhaps. Also possible that "The Promise Collection" has a hint of alleged nepotistic impropriety.

It was not accurate. Simple stuff like the way Marston met Peter was depicted was fiction. They played it very loose with accuracy to make it entertaining (Hollywoodization) but the way the film portrays the history is nowhere close to gospel. I do agree not truly a straw-man so I've edited the post.

Huh? If you were to research the 3 people you will find nearly all the chain of events never occurred anywhere near the manner they were portrayed nor even in the correct chronological order. Including the way the 3 first met. Again very entertaining and well done film that merely weaves a story around non-fiction people and events in a wholly fictionalized manner. I've not read the book perhaps that was more true to the actual history? Regardless of fact or fiction still a great movie.

Enjoyable movie, I really liked it, however its nearly all Hollywood fiction based on actual people.

Same thing happened in Trading Cards with the 1986 Fleer Jordan earlier this year as a prime example of Alleged fraud and market manipulation. Of course what is not often mentioned is nearly all dealers and majority of collectors seem to condone this type of fraud and manipulation. Dealers OK makes sense logically, but for collectors its a strange Stockholm syndrome variation. Case in point nearly every collector I have spoke to knows how crooked (insert name of well large state auction house or Banned northwest eBay entity here) are, not to mention (insert name name a left or right coast warm state grading firm here) but continue to do business with them unabated and often will defend them to the hilt. If the bulk collectors stayed away the schemes would have minimal success, if not failure, but those behind the scenes know that ain't ever going to happen. Earlier in this topic there was mention of OCA shenanigans going on, no surprise.. Anyone have a link or willing to provide info. Here is one of those posts.

The last Major con I attended in Oct 2019 i heard dealers say the same thing over and over regarding raw books; "Get it pressed and you will have 9.6 or 9.8" . Heard one of them say that about a book missing a small piece of cover approx half the size of dime, and the potential customer agreeing - seriously. Some dealer's I'm sure make a fair amount of bank selling to "rubes" and the "greedy".. I'd really like to see a guide out there with before and after of what can and cannot be solved by CSS pressing. If some of the mystery was removed it might encourage more folks to give it a go.

Yeah it's gamble alright. Since at least up to this point in life I'm not a seller, not sure costs and risk of re-submitting are worth it to me. If it came back with less than a 9.8 I'd have to put it away for 40 years Perhaps 10 years ago i should have revisited the book? I do agree grading more consistent today. Still though I have purchased many new slabs and scratched my head wondering how it garnered a 9.8 which is why I prefer to purchase in person so i can truly view the book. That said anything under $100 I still roll the dice. I will say at 1 place I'm a regular customer if the book does not meet my grade they will take it back but I do have to pay return shipping costs. In today's age of "buy the slab not the book" many dealers have low tolerance for a return. P.S. you still have the Scooby 1?