justafan

ASM 403 Carnage Cover VF- SOLD

ASM 402 Copy A VF/NM $9 ASM 402 Copy B NM- $10

ASM 401 Copy A VG/FN $2 ASM 401 Copy B NM- $10 ASM 401 Copy C NM $12

ASM 400 Embossed Die Cut Cover "Death of Aunt May" Copy A VF/NM $22 ASM 400 Copy B NM $25 ASM 400 Copy C FN/VF $12 ASM 400 Copy D VF+ $15

ASM 396 NM/NM+ SOLD

ASM 394 Copy A VF- Flipbook $6 ASM 394 Copy B NM $12 ASM 394 Copy C NM $12 ASM 394 Copy D NM $12 ASM 394 Copy E NM SOLD

ASM 393 Copy A FN/VF $3 ASM 393 Copy B VF- $5

ASM 390 VF- $6

ASM 388 Copy A VF/NM $8 ASM 388 Copy B NM $15

ASM 387 NM Gatefold Back Cover SOLD

Well this sale is almost over. I'm going to let these babies go briefly for 25% off all listed prices before moving them to ebay, facebook or IG. Payment via paypal, check, or money order. (I can do cash if you're in Northern Virginia or DC) Shipping via USPS is at cost for 1-3 books (about $3-5) in the US. Shipping to Canada, Mexico or anywhere else is at cost and likely a bit more. Shipping is free for 4+ books in the US. Returns accepted within 14 day's of receipt based on tracking. Buyer pays return shipping. PM's welcome. First in the thread wins and trumps all PMs. No HOS buyers. Below is the list of books by page grouped by year with listed grade and prices. Also listed are the theoretical or referenced market percentage for each year group. Take 25% off all listed prices. Page 1: March - Dec 1994 Newsstands are at ~ 20% of market (extrapolated) April - Oct 1995 Newsstands are at ~ 19% of market Jan - Dec 1996 Newsstands are at ~ 18% of market Page 2 June - Oct 1997 Newsstands are at ~ 16% of market SEPT - NOV 1998 Newsstands are at ~ 15% of market JAN - MAY 1999 NEWSSTANDS MAKE UP 14% OF MARKET (as cited by Bill Jemas Marvel VP of Publishing) SEPT 2000 Newsstands make up ~ 11.5% of market FEB - SEPT 2001 Newsstands make up ~ 9% of market 2010 - 2011 Marvel ends Newsstand distribution to all but Barnes & Nobles and Books-a-Million (as cited by David Gabriel, Marvel VP Sales) AUG 2011 Newsstands are at ~ 1% of market extrapolated ASM 664 VF/NM SOLD (none on ebay and none sold in last 3-6 months)

Yes there will be exceptions, definitely, and as long as you can do it within the ebay 45 day return period. Not sure if anyone has ever been successful at a return beyond 45 days for something like undetected/unlisted restoration, YMMV on that one. If you respond quickly they usually don't have a problem. If you hold onto the book for a 2 months and then come back to them it gets iffy. Then again, if I'm buying a raw book for big money and I am not good at detecting restoration, I have no business buying that book online or in a store. I've had a couple of dealers willing to give me their word and offer full refund including restoration check fees but even then I found it more convenient to just buy it already graded at a premium and yes, online with less hassle. But if they had that same book already graded, I would have bought from them instead. So yes, contrary to what I'm saying about convenience and all that, the Walmart like guarantee of a no-questions-asked type of return with free return shipping is one of the biggest benefits of buying online, though many stores do offer it as well.

I respectfully disagree for likely the very reasons you hate Ebay: 1. convenience fee of having it in stock at a store vs ebay online: I still have to wait at least 2-3 shipping days to receive my items. No matter how fast their shipping might be, I still can't enjoy it right now vs at a shop where I can enjoy it right there (after paying of course unless you're one of those people that start eating the snacks you intend on purchasing while in the checkout line.) 2. Certainty fee of condition in store vs ebay: Yes and No. This can also apply to graded items as well. Yes, if you buy a graded book on ebay you can be certain that the grade represented on the label is what is assigned to that particular slab and possibly the book on the particular day it was graded. But No, you cannot be certain of the actual condition of the book in the slab, the slab or holder itself, the hidden defects that don't/won't always show up on scans/photos (especially if intentionally hidden/photoshopped). I've received many graded books with defects that were only visible with the slab in hand such as: faint stains, popped staples, spine wear and fingerbends that breaks color (yes, even on a 9.8's with no grader notes), cracks on the CGC case, 1-2 posts broken, label swapped, and of course hidden SCS damage. 2b. The other side of this is that when you buy in a store even after inspecting for condition satisfaction YOU can at least try to control the preservation of the condition you bought it in from the store to your house. With ebay it's a roll of the dice with the shipping service and seller packing. I've gone through so many ebay purchases where I've asked all the right questions, had the seller send multiple photos, verified the condition of the item and paid extra for higher shipping only to have the comics ruined so often in transit that I seriously considered not buying anything on ebay to prevent further reduction of the population of HG books. 3. Accuracy fee of item in store vs ebay: 1st print, newsstand, direct, 1st edition, with Tattooz, coupon intact, white pages, 1st generation, 2nd generation, good knockoff vs bad knockoff. Sorry but unless the item is sealed in a black mystery box in the store, you will still guarantee the accuracy of the item in store far better than you can only relying on the word of the seller that the item and photos listed is what you will actually get from ebay. I've received direct editions when the seller listed a newsstand copy thinking they were the same, or 3rd printing when listed as 1st and using a stock photo, or the wrong item entirely. Sure ebay allows for hassle free returns (unless the seller is a real piece of work), but now I'm inconvenienced by having to go through a return process that could take up to 5 days to resolve and repack and ship the item back to the seller costing me time and money. No, when it comes to buying an item in store vs online where condition, accuracy, and instant gratification are important I find I'm willing to pay a bit more in store for the convenience, certainty, and accuracy of what I'm getting. For all else, nothing beats online shopping.

The single biggest advantage any store might have over Amazon or any other online retailer (until they eliminate it) is that you can see it in hand and get it right now. That is why I and anyone should expect to always pay more at a store than online. The difference in price is the convenience fee for having it in stock + certainty of condition + accuracy of item purchased. What I choose to pay for that difference is the deciding factor between whether I'm willing trust that the item arrives as described by the online retailer and wait for it to be shipped to my house. That argument might not help the shop owner but that is the understanding that all customers need to have when comparing in-store vs online pricing and negotiating. Customers should know that to meet or even beat the price online means that the store is losing money on that sale and you're not actually "supporting" the store but instead hurting it more than you would if you had bought it online. I think rather than reference Amazon, a better approach by customers might be to simply state I know I can buy it for $x online and I don't expect you to be able to meet or beat that but I'd like to buy it from you, what's the lowest you could go and still be worth selling it to me? I don't know maybe that sounds douchy too but everything should be negotiable. It's just not always easy to be tactful.

open registration is on the 10th. Im willing to buy tix for up to 2 other member IDs. PM me if you want to exchange Member ID info to improve chances of snagging tix? I will only need tix for myself so I can add up to 2 member ID's when I buy.

I find it surprising you found 3 opportunities like that where I've heard of some seasoned dealers talking about collections drying up. the first example you cited is how many of the better finds are starting to end up. when the collector/heir understands the value of their comics, they tend to end up at auction with between 10% down to 5% commissions depending on the value of the collection. that's your biggest competition with large quality collections unless you've carefully been cultivating that relationship like many dealers. the halcyon days of nabbing a collection of SA/GA from an unsuspecting widow or grandma seem pretty much over. every now and then you might get lucky but it's usually feast or famine with long periods between feasts. 100k net annually means you'll either need to be hustling a lot of high margin comics or doing a bunch of high end low margin sales. 7 years ago at my peak with a busy day job I was clearing about 20k net annually for 2 years which of course I poured right back into purchases but I was doing that strictly to fund purchases for my collection. that was me driving around answering every lead, capturing arbitrage opportunities from weekly and monthly auctions on ebay and all the major comic auction houses, and pulling speculation hits at conventions. however there's a lot of collateral, expenses, and losses too that need to be accounted for with all that effort. I've stopped for 2 main reasons: my job now pays me more than the time cost of selling comics and the number of finds and arbitrage opportunities have become harder to come by. Good luck. it's fun to work at for a while but once the thrill of a big score wears off, it just becomes another daily grind.

What I'm getting out of this thread is buying PGX is a great way to get a key book for a lower price with a bit of risk. At 50% of the GPA price some books may be worth the risk/reward curve if the book at least appears to be close to the assigned grade but possibly restored AND IF the market for a restored book is roughly at 50% the unrestored price as it seems to be with AF15's with A or B restoration. YMMV. For the OP, instead of having the book cracked out, just submit it as is to CCS and get their opinion on it. They'll evaluate it inside the PGX slab and if they detect something, they will tell email/call you to explain what they found and ask what you'd like to have done with it: return back to you, recommendations on grading or restoration removal, etc. If they don't detect anything it's up to you if you want them to go further by having it cracked out for further inspection or possibly pressing. I'd be more concerned about older books for restoration issues but moderns may be a safer bet. I have a copper age ASM PGX 9.9 with White pages that just looks like a really nice CGC 9.8. I won't crack it out for the same reason I wouldn't crack out a CGC 9.9 or 10.0. Chances are neither would achieve a 9.9 or 10.0 on a resub. I bought that book strictly for the novelty of the label as I find it both cool and funny owning a PGX 9.9. At the time I bought it, if it were in a CGC 9.9 I would have had to pay 3x the price. Of course it could have some restoration, trimming, or missing pieces from the interior, I'll never know until I get it cracked out but I don't really care because I'm not planning on selling it. Until then, I'll just giggle every time I see it in the middle of a blue sea of CGC 9.8's in the CGC box.

Just saw it. Well I guess the best thing I can say is that I did not throw up in my mouth like I thought I would after seeing only the trailers to judge by. Hard to say what I liked and didn't like without spoilers so I will just be as general as possible. Things I liked: 1. easter eggs, references, and homages 2. Venom symbiot form and movement when not in a host. 3. Explanation of the symbiot-host relationship, compatibility, and sustainment 4. All the examples of creative venom weapons and venomization especially that 1 scene towards the end. 5. fight scene at the end. Things I didn't like: 1. The acting - from any of the characters. 2. The plot and all plot vehicles. 3. The Venom form when on Eddie. 4. To me the interaction and relationship between Eddie and Venom was awkward, ill paced, and just not authentic, felt rushed and forced. 5. The reason for the alien symbiot changing its mind about its ulterior motives. Just felt weak and contrived. It was kind of like the BvS Martha moment. 6. Lack of more gore but I'm ok not having seen too much blood and carnage but it would have made for a bit more of a thrill. 7. The pace of the movie. 8. The forced suspension of disbelief. Really, you're going generate that many explosions in the middle of downtown SF and not have DHS, FBI, and every major CT task force hunting Venom and the antagonist? 9. The lack of spider-man in this movie 10. The lack of the white spider on his Venom form. 11. The lack of any webbing used - I get it this is not a Spider-man origin Venom but the stuff used instead of webbing looked goofy 12. Plot holes and errors. I'm glad it's doing well enough to gain support for a sequel but I hope they spend more money on CGI and improvements on the acting, plot, and just about everything else. It wasn't a terrible movie but is was a B-movie superhero. I put it on par with Hulk 1. I think most Venom fans are just happy to see the character they love on the big screen and doing the vigilante lethal protector badass things that Venom does. The next movie may have potential with the first credits scene but man they need to spend some of that profit money on getting a better wig for Woody.

No one touching this with a ten foot pole either, eh? I don't blame you. I can imagine this is something CGC might miss or might see and downgrade and fail to note. However, once in a slab in an inner well it might be difficult to see and then you'll wonder why isn't it a 9.6 or even a 9.8? (without the stains I'd give it a strict 9.6). As is I'd call it NM- or VF/NM. Ok, now someone disagree with me but you need to explain why. shouldn't be too long for that to happen.

The 2014 edition of the OS Grading guide doesn't mention staining being acceptable until we get down to the FINE + grade level but that also includes an accumulation of other allowed defects. Yet it references an example of a Marvel Team-Up #54 on p164 with small stains to the top right FC as an example of a Very Fine / Near Mint book. And again on page 140 a Marvel Two-in-one #50 cites the defect of Slight Staining along with corner not squarely cut and abraded corner as an example of a Near Mint book. My question isn't about the semantics of the Grading Guides references to stains at different grades. I can appreciate that the type, appearance, and severity of the staining plays a role in the overall grade determination but those examples and others in the book are ones that are visible. What about those "invisible" or less obvious stains? You know the ones I'm talking about? The ones that sneak up on you and bite you in when you least expect it. Say you're looking at a nice book. Shining a bright light on it, opening it to every page, checking the spine and it's a beauty. Looks Near Mint with maybe a pressable spine tick or bend here and there and the price reflects that. However, you get home, take it out to accurately document its minor flaws and hold the book at an angle to your headlamp and voila, there it is. On an otherwise NM/NM+ book 3 stain spots/blotches subtly hidden within the colors of the book invisible when you shine a bright light on them but at an angle you can easily see and even feel something is there if you know where to touch. Take a look for yourself. Can you spot the stains from this photo? This is what the book looks like from all angles until you allow the glare to reflect off the cover. And here's what you find when you allow the glare to reflect at the right spot Anyone have experience with what CGC typically grades for this type of defect?

Neither. I only collect White pages. However, IF, the book had white pages, I would go for book 1. Normally I'd go for something where the defects were only on the back cover, but the exception would be things such as shadow and tanning. The tanning and shadow concern me that the book has suffered humidity damage or sun exposure further damaging the paper putting it's lifespan a bit further along than it's front cover defect counter part. Also, #1 has a better chance at getting White pages on a resub. Since eye appeal may be winning the day with most bidders for book #2, I'd also go with #1 if the 2 books were at auction and Book #1 is trailing in bid price which might allow me to get it at a discount.

has anyone whose seen it yet able to recommend if this movie is worth paying extra to see in IMAX or extreme HD or Dolby theaters in AMC etc? or should I just movie pass it?

I know it's a bit last minute but a last minute change of plans has left me with 2 Thursday and 3 Friday badges I no longer need and would be looking to sell at what I paid for them. If anyone is interested in them feel free to PM. If you already have a Fan Verified account I can transfer them to you or just activate/transfer them and meet up with you at the show or nearby. If you want to do an overnight shipping option I'd be ok with that too but you'd need to pay for shipping and obviously pay with enough time for me to put an address label on and get to the shipping carrier. I'll be at the show starting at 10am on Thursday so feel free to hit me up if you'd rather do a local pickup. I do have 3 saturday badges as well but was thinking of taking the family to see the cosplay folks and check out a panel. However, I could be persuaded to sell the 3 saturday badges if you also buy the 2 Thursday and 3 Friday badges at a slight discount. Thursday badge: $58 (x2) Friday badge: $61 (x3) Saturday badge $66 (x3) will only sell if buying all the Thursday or Friday badges. If you purchase all my Thursday and Friday badges ($299) I will discount them to ($250) If you purchase all 8 of my available badges I will discount the total to $460. Payment accepted via paypal or cash if picking up locally. If no responses by this afternoon (10/3) I'll be posting on ebay, CL or wherever.

I apologize in advance if this should be put on the for sale section but figure it might reach a more relevant audience here. I know it's a bit last minute but a last minute change of plans has left me with 2 Thursday and 3 Friday badges I no longer need and would be looking to sell at what I paid for them. If anyone is interested in them feel free to PM. If you already have a Fan Verified account I can transfer them to you or just activate/transfer them and meet up with you at the show or nearby. If you want to do an overnight shipping option I'd be ok with that too but you'd need to pay for shipping and obviously pay with enough time for me to put an address label on and get to the shipping carrier. I'll be at the show starting at 10am on Thursday so feel free to hit me up if you'd rather do a local pickup. I do have 3 saturday badges as well but was thinking of taking the family to see the cosplay folks and check out a panel. However, I could be persuaded to sell the 3 saturday badges if you also buy the 2 Thursday and 3 Friday badges at a slight discount. Thursday badge: $58 (x2) Friday badge: $61 (x3) Saturday badge $66 (x3) will only sell if buying all the Thursday or Friday badges. If you purchase all my Thursday and Friday badges ($299) I will discount them to ($250) If you purchase all 8 of my available badges I will discount the total to $460. Payment accepted via paypal or cash if picking up locally. If no responses by tomorrow afternoon I'll be posting on ebay, CL or wherever. If this needs to be moved/removed due to violations I'll post the link to the auction in ebay or sales thread.

I don't necessarily have another qualifier/disqualifier bullet to add to either but perhaps a better indicator of scope/ratio could be obtained by keeping a running count at a large comic oriented convention. Harder to show evidence unless video documenting your searches but you could probably improve the accuracy by minimizing a lot of the over-representation factor for Newsstands on ebay (your last bullet above) as dealers tend to not spend a whole lot of time cultivating their long-boxes with regards to newstands/direct editions especially for non-key books. Longbox distribution of comics tend to normalize the importance of the issues for the sake of the run. A dealer may pull 194 and 300 from his ASM run and put on his wall/ebay but he will leave ASM 193 (June '79 issue) and 192 (May '79 issue) whether Direct or Newsstand. You can then keep a count of how many ASM 193 DM vs NS you come across vs ASM 192 DM vs NS and see what the ratios look like at the end of the show. Of course mentioning that on here I've thus disturbed the quantum particle that may now change the state of the ratio from what it was to what it now is. I'm hoping that those issues are relatively unimportant enough to keep anyone from "manipulating" the distribution in every dealer's longbox from here on out. Too late to try this in Baltimore but I might try this exercise with ASM 192 & 193 or any other popular long box title from May and June of 1979 at NYCC and keep a count as I dig though each longbox and post findings on here. Just from my past experience longbox diving for ASMs I can honestly say I have come across DM editions of those 2 books WAY more than 6% of the time. I'd be willing to hypothesize it will be closer to 50% of the time. I think Rozanski is mistaken about the year for when the percentage DM distribution was at 6%. I'm more inclined to believe that DM distribution was 6% the first year they began a DM edition. I think it steadily increased until going full bore in 1979. Very cool exercise.