MAY1979

Hulk 234 not a first app not even close.2 panels of Wendall Vaugn talking to dudes in suits who call him Marvel Man and he answers call me Quasar. Which at the time was the name of a reasonably price TV set. sarcasm-Gee how historic...-end sarcasm Amazing the prices uninformed rubes have paid for this true nothing burger over the past several years Book is sinking like it should but stll more than 3x surrounding issues. Call me Quasar -- more like call you a moe ron for paying 400-500 in the pandemic bubble for this less than common issue.

Thankfully no stickers. I've not bid on items in past because of that. Hey Josh, if you read this, while it may seem solid business move it is not. To your customers the sticker is a true dee-bahg move!

About 400 Road Travel Miles

Folks who have read my postings are aware I avoid purchasing comics unless I can view in hand first. However if I did that with DC Digests slabs I'd pretty much never acquire any of them due to virtually non-existent populations. BTW for those that know where I won these 2 CPV's, I did not bid on the other Canadian Adventure Digests from the same collection. I'm not a "variant" completest and bid only on the 2 issues that had the most meaning to me. Hoping to see those other issues on display here by whomever did win them. Both of these pair very nicely with my "regular" USA copies. Displaying them here side by side #502 has been a favorite cover of mine since childhood!

Tues Night I purchased/"won" a few small items at ComicLink auction. Invoice was in my email's inbox early Wed morning. I paid online yesterday/Wed before I left for work. Package arrived today/Thursday at 9:30am! Not sure if this was total luck or CLINK has improved their order processing and shipping operations? While I'm not a fan of ANY of these auction houses I will give credit where credit is due, this experience was outstandingly great! Not to mention one that is impossible with Heritage. Josh - if this was due to improvements on your part then keep it up man! Now you just need to bring your website out of the 1990's

Avengers 181 - Lang is merely icing on the cake. Cover is Stone Classic, the Crown Jewel of Perez Avengers covers. Not to mention a full page Byrne splash with the same cover imagery. For many it is the key Avengers issue of their comics generation in this case the children readers of 1978-1982. Back then a generation of comic readers was approx 4 years. So yes agreed Overrated as 1st Lang, but Underrated as a generational Avengers cover and story.

Lead times were what they were the only way to meet earlier dates it to start earlier. Again I could be off by 1-2 weeks, but no more, in either direction. If the book had been printed + given away or sold in 1981 - which it was not, the indicia legally would have had to reflect at least one 1981 reference In addition as a double-size new release the art phase required double effort and close to double time to produce. Then add additional time for the first time used by Marvel - Baxter Paper and abnormal thick stock cover. Appears you want to have the existance of the published comic crafted to fit a childhood memory. Hey I understand that well but the fact remains the bathroom encounter between Galton and Hasbro did not occur until well into 1981. Best barely plausible case would have been 6 months of intense effort just to have time consuming contracts finalized then large double art effort completed before package arrived in Sparta (or wherever Baxter coukd be done). I/we welcome any evidence to contrary.

Yes but not by much. The book hit Direct Sales early March 1982 and Newsstands late March/Early April. The gap back then was 2-3 weeks. Finished Colored Art would have arrived at printers 3rd-4th week of Jan 1982. The earliest plausible date "samples" of the finished printed product would have been in hand at Marvel was perhaps Mid Feb. All based on the standards of the time. Sure my estimate could be off by 1-2 weeks in either direction but certainly no more slack than that.

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Gi Joe was #1 most subscribed Marvel Comic in May 1985 by a large amount over ASM

Contract between Marvel and Hasbro was not in place until after Summer 1981. Please note while dated June 1982, the issue first was on sale March 1982. http://jimshooter.com/2011/07/secret-parts-of-origin-of-gi-joe.html/

9.4 with a quality press, but most pressings are not quality.

Eventually the piper gets paid. My last and final causality 20+ years back was an Invaders 39 that was an easy 9.8. Lesson learned. Got off very lightly, It could have been much worse! I now use 2 mil mylites, tucked flap, no tape, that I place inside larger 4 mil mylars. I keep the full back board in the mylar not in mylite with the comic. BTW I still have a bunch of the boards w/activated charcoal layer I got from Cole in the late 90's they are now called Life-X-Tender's. I use them on some of my Silver and Early Bronze. Given in my case the board and comic are not touching I am doubtful the charcoal it make any real difference, still it gives me positive vibe.

Great point. While issue 1 lags way behind IM1, Subby1, the Stersnko covers keep interest high on 2,3,4,5,7 . Almost no one seeks IM3 or Subby 4 its 1st issue only. Subby 8 of course is a FF112ish situation

Sounds like they turn strong 9.8's into borderline 9.8's

337 is sinking and regardless but NTT2 is a DC. Tough call but when in doubt go with the Marvel if in higher grade.

Of course Fury 1 is only on the list I have a raw 9.8 candidate. This ensures it will never reach half the heights of the other books mentioned.

Most of first half of 2022 was final days of bubble. Smart sellers adjusted to the market and lowered prices in the fall and did nice in effect on sort of similar to a dead cat bounce. As Ive mentioned those with true business accumen will be fine. As for me in past 4 weeks Ive purchased a slew of 9.8 books for $300 or less, which a year ago this week commanded $1k-$2k each. Some of these books were lower than 2019 price. Smart buys on my part i dont know, but i collect and dont sell. There are many sectors of comic market thus no one health statement covers all. Still as with any business sellers/dealers who lack the skills to adapt to a non bull or bubble market will be in for very lean times.

As things continue to worsen we'll see if the method of many dealers continues to "put food on the table" and "make the rent". It's easy to make money in a bubble or good economic times. In a buyers market we will see which dealers actually have business acumen - my guess is only a small percentage.

was it pressed?

Sadly this is common with CGC since purchased by Blackstone. Firms like that will not spend a single dime on q/c and firmly demand speed speed spend from their employees. If business, in this case CGC, takes a hit to the point it starts to affect some Exec's potential bonus they simply sell off the business unit (CGC)

Trying to think of an auction house that deal with Comics or Trading cards that isn't shady... Heritage, Goldin, ComicConnect are totally shady, and eBay does not care what goes on as long as they gets their cut. Seller manipulation aside, perhaps MyComicShop is the closest thing to honest currently in Comic Auctions? Kudos to them if so Fix is in pretty much everywhere the only way to not get stung is to avoid all of them

They wants to be paid and want to cherry pick the scraping to only show their auctions they feel did very strong. They want money for self-skewed data that puts them only in perfect light. Wisely GPA said no to their nonsense. Also it may involve updating their seemingly circa 1998 website.

Sadly this is the way it is in registry - same in trading cards with PSA. Registry's exist to increase revenue by having more common run of mill books slabbed. While not foolproof this can be applied across the board ; grant bonus points when a full set, regardless of grade, is achieved. CGC does not do this neither does PSA so probably reasons?

agreed the idea of CGC getting stuff correct is entertaining