jimbo_7071

I like the Seven Seas books. They run hot and cold, though. I own a VF/NM copy of no. 4. I paid $3,450 for it in 2001 (about $5,166 in 2021 dollars), and in 2004 I tried to sell it while I was out of work. The highest offer I got was $2,000. I'm glad I didn't accept the offer.

Great book, but man oh man, I don't know whether I would have traded a Tec 31 for it!

One thing that may have triggered the run up in prices was the sale of the Ohio copy on CConnect. It was slabbed as a 6.0, but it looked very strictly graded; I think that bidders realized that and bid accordingly. So it looked like a 6.0 was worth $12K or $13K, but the real situation was that a book that would be an easy 8.0 if pressed and resubmitted was worth $12K to $13K to the top two bidders. That's one problem with GPA; you can't tell which sales were for books with obvious upgrade potential and which ones were for books that had been maximized.

I have to disagree with Mitch about 85% of the grades being spot on; most of the books I've looked at closely have been significantly overgraded. It looks to me like an auction where a lot of collectors with deep pockets are going to pay top dollar for books in the 8.5—9.2 range with labels in the 9.4—9.8 range. I would strongly advise any buyer in this auction not to ever crack out the books.

It's tough to say. I know that many Mile Highs were ruined when the basement of Greg Manning Auctions flooded, but I've never been able to find out which ones. I'm sure that some have been lost in other floods and in fires, too, unfortunately.

I think you'll agree that the Miss Fury isn't in that 85%! Most bidders seem to put their faith in the label, though, so it will probably fetch an 8.5 price.

The manipulation in the high-grade books—manufacturing 9.6s out of 8.0s, etc.—has left me jaded. I'm leaning towards sticking with mid-grade books that haven't been manipulated as much. I don't particularly like putting my collecting money into the pockets of con artists like Mark Wilson and Doug Schmell.

One word: money!

Striped ball to striped ball.

Some of the books do look overgraded. This one looks like a 7.5. They're still very nice, books though.

"Who finds the name Larson or Okajima a problem?" The writing wouldn't be a deal-breaker for me, but I don't agree with the way the books were graded. I would have graded them much lower. In the case of the Okajima camp books, the writing adds to the charm, but that's a separate issue from the grade. Writing on the cover should reduce the grade, period. It might make sense for an Okajima camp book with a grade of 4.0 to be worth more than a non-pedigree book in 9.0 because of the historical significance of the former, but the grade on the camp book should still be 4.0. Damage is damage, whether it occurred in 1945 or 2015. (I also find the whole "Signature Series" concept absurd; to me, any book that has been signed on the cover is low grade—but assigning low grades to autographed books would hurt CGC's profits, so they call low-grade books high grade, and the sheeple go along with it en masse. Mind you, there's nothing wrong with collecting autographed books, but the grade should be no higher than if a comparable amount of random writing was on the cover.)

I understand the appeal to some collectors because of the headlights, but that cover has never really done anything for me. I don't think it's by Baker; if it is, it's one of his most poorly-drawn covers. He could have produced better artwork in his sleep, which is why I'm certain it isn't his work.

Sled to sled.

Brown horse to brown dog.

The Phantom and a white horse in the background to the Phantom on a white horse.

Phantom Lady to Phantom Lady.

Danger from the sky to danger from the sky.

Creepy predator to creepy predator.

I almost never see early Ace books with white pages.

Most of my books will never be sold unless I upgrade—and I rarely upgrade—but here is a sampling:

9 to 10.

Monkey on a log to bear on a stump.

Coy girl to coy girl.

Torture to torture.

Raggedy Ann and Andy and a dog to same.