Joosh

Love it!!!

Wonder if he could get that on sig series
That will be a wicked hunt

... he shows his favorite on display front and center. 
This was a snapchat from my brother who recently bought his first two slabs upon my recommendation based on his likes, then hands me his Superpro 1 to get graded with my latest submission.
 Anybody out there with books they got graded solely because they wanted to? It’s kind of beautiful.

Like a lot of this hobby, and like you said, it depends on a lot of factors and variables - your goal, your collection philosophy, your budget, etc. As someone who "collected" comics as a kid in the 80s and early 90s (I use quotes because really I just bought to read, and a lot of the books I bought back then are either gone or super low grade) and then got back in recently (within the last few months), here's my outlook. I've been buying books on a few different criteria: raw books that I used to have and want again in as high a grade as I can accept and afford; books (raw or graded) that I always wanted, again in as high a grade as I can accept and afford; and "blue chip" books - books that are universally sought after, typically in the bronze/copper age because that's what I lean toward, that should continue to perform well because their status as a collectible is fairly cemented. These books are the ones I buy graded, and again, an intersection of affordability and grade is what I look for.
Personally, I don't chase 9.8s. A lot of people probably disagree with this, but I've looked at a lot of book trends, and I've noticed a pattern of books in the 9.2-9.6 range (and in some cases, lower) that are high performers, in that the percent gain on upward price mobility often outstrips that of a 9.8 on the same book. Meaning, in the same time a $1,000 9.8 sees a 20% increase to $1,200, the same book in a 9.4 at $200 might increase to $300, which is a 50% increase - these are hypothetical numbers of course and are an extreme example, but you can find real examples of this in a lot of books. Obviously there are advantages to 9.8s - owning what is practically the "top grade" in a book, relative scarcity, the ability to potentially set the top end of the market. However, if you're seeing a disparity in percentage increases, it allows you to diversify across titles - you could buy 5 $200 9.4 books for the same price as 1 $1,000 9.8 book, for example. To me that means if one title tanks for some reason, you're potentially protected by not having all your eggs in one basket.
I also  try to find deals below current Fair Market Values whenever possible in order to make my dollar go farther. Not through nefarious means, but just through targeting a couple of specific titles at a time and really watching sales on the auctions, eBay, etc. to hunt the best deal and find under-priced anomalies. So far the only graded book I've paid above FMV for is Amazing Spider-Man 300, and the upward movement of that book has been so fast-paced that the current FMV already adjusted to be greater than my purchase price, and I bought in only a few weeks ago.
I'm not saying my way is better than anyone's, and I'm sure many seasoned collectors here could probably argue against what I'm saying and poke holes in my reasoning. But so far it's worked for me and I've bought a number of CGC graded books in what I consider really nice grades that I'm proud to own, potentially display, and that should show gains or at least get me my money back if I ever decided to sell.
When I started a couple of months ago though, I tried to limp into the hobby with a really low budget and high expectations, and in doing that, you may find yourself unsatisfied or under-equipped. I'm sure if you looked at my earliest posts here you'd see I made a lot of mistakes and had a lot of bad preconceived notions at first. Since then I changed my philosophy, studied, and diverted investment dollars from some other areas I had money in (I'm a long-time domain name trader for example, and I sold off a few of those recently to re-invest in comics).
At the end if the day, like a lot of things I like to invest in or collect, I typically only buy/collect what I personally like, but with an eye toward also protecting myself from losing out. I also love the quality of a nice encapsulated book, especially when it's something I've always admired or have some kind of memory/experience tied to it.
Sorry, this was a longer post than I intended, but hopefully it helps in some way. And good luck on the journey!

He knows exactly how valuable those two are, I helped him pick them out a few months ago. The Spawn was purchased through the CGC selling forum. 
His next goal is to get a Superpro #4 signed by Lawrence Taylor, the NY Giants player featured on the cover. 

... he shows his favorite on display front and center. 
This was a snapchat from my brother who recently bought his first two slabs upon my recommendation based on his likes, then hands me his Superpro 1 to get graded with my latest submission.
 Anybody out there with books they got graded solely because they wanted to? It’s kind of beautiful.

He knows exactly how valuable those two are, I helped him pick them out a few months ago. The Spawn was purchased through the CGC selling forum. 
His next goal is to get a Superpro #4 signed by Lawrence Taylor, the NY Giants player featured on the cover. 

I’d send him the money back and tell him he sucks at being generous, nice try.
weird, to say the least.

... he shows his favorite on display front and center. 
This was a snapchat from my brother who recently bought his first two slabs upon my recommendation based on his likes, then hands me his Superpro 1 to get graded with my latest submission.
 Anybody out there with books they got graded solely because they wanted to? It’s kind of beautiful.

... he shows his favorite on display front and center. 
This was a snapchat from my brother who recently bought his first two slabs upon my recommendation based on his likes, then hands me his Superpro 1 to get graded with my latest submission.
 Anybody out there with books they got graded solely because they wanted to? It’s kind of beautiful.

... he shows his favorite on display front and center. 
This was a snapchat from my brother who recently bought his first two slabs upon my recommendation based on his likes, then hands me his Superpro 1 to get graded with my latest submission.
 Anybody out there with books they got graded solely because they wanted to? It’s kind of beautiful.

I've added them to the table - I'll sort it alphabetically at some point:

 
These are the remaining titles:
Captain America: Living Legend #2 Cataclysm #0.1 Daredevil #32 Daredevil: Dark Nights #5 Deadpool Kills Deadpool #4 Fantomex Max #1 Fearless Defenders #10 Hunger #4 Indestructible Hulk #15 Infinity #5 Infinity: Heist #2 Infinity: The Hunt #3 Kick- 3 #4 Marvel Universe Hulk: Agents of S.M.A.S.H. #1 Marvel Universe: Ultimate Spider-Man #1 Marvel: Now What #1 Mighty Avengers #2 Painkiller Jane: Price of Freedom #2 Punisher: The Trial of the Punisher #2 Superior Foes of Spider-Man #4 Thor and the Mighty Avengers #1 Thor: God of Thunder Halloween Comicfest #1 Ultimate Comics X-Men #32 Ultimate Comics X-Men #33 Uncanny Avengers #13 Uncanny X-Force #13 Uncanny X-Men #13 Venom #42 Wolverine & the X-Men #37 Wolverine Max #12 X-Men Legacy #18 X-Men: Battle of the Atom #2 Young Avengers #11

The mystery of the newsstand with double cover?  That sounds like a hard case!

 

Here’s what I have in my collection that are on the TBD list. None are 12-10-13, bummer. 
Deadpool 18: 11/19/2013
New Avengers 11: 11/26/2013
Superior Carnage: 12/03/2013
Wolverine 10: 11/19/2013
Thor: God of Thunder 14: 11/19/2013

This. Not just a great suggestion, but the perfect and proper ending. 

I think it's fantastic that there are different types of the same comic out there to research and collect. I love comics full stop and delight in all their variations, quirks and nuances. If every comic ever made was its own only version, that would make collecting 1,000 times less interesting for me. Personally, I think the person that doesn't thrill to the discovery of a National Diamond Sales lingerie insert, swoon to the touch of a pence copy, drool over a double cover, delight over a production error, salivate over a near impossible to find newsstand and palpitate over a price variant just doesn't understand comics. Or collecting even. 
Just my view though, you don't have to share it 

I really can’t tell from the angle but the before picture shows a deep crease that may have been hiding the color break. After pressing out the crease the break is now much more pronounced. 
 
The before picture does not show any color loss, but it could be present and minimized by the angle the photo was taken and shadow cast by the crease. 

CBCS verified signature will cost significantly more than Qualified CGC label, and if it’s not a clean typical sig it may not be verifiable, even if it is authentic. 
Unless the signature’s verification adds more than $50 in sale value, I wouldn’t bother. Jack Kirby sig would be worth it, Tom Lyle, probably not.
I use both CGC and CBCS depending on a multitude of factors; they each have their quirks. Unless I’m a paid spokesperson I see no incentive to hate on one or the other.
 

I would go for modern facsimile reprints, like the FF1 as shown.
For more $ you can get the Golden Record reprints of some Marvel #1’s that were printed back in 66. Their covers are nearly identical to original; just missing cover price marking.

I would go for modern facsimile reprints, like the FF1 as shown.
For more $ you can get the Golden Record reprints of some Marvel #1’s that were printed back in 66. Their covers are nearly identical to original; just missing cover price marking.

well I was a sucker  
I bought ASM #603 9.8 newsie on the bay for full price, that cover looks like the girl from Natural Born Killers someone said LoL
And Number 559, which at least is a 1st app and is the only on the census, but it's a 9.2 
so dark side,
Bright side? 
They'll be here Tuesday!   

It’s not in the best shape, but at $20, I couldn’t pass on it...
 

This has 9.8 written all over it.  Not literally.  It was in such nice condition that I couldn't pass it up, plus it was dirt cheap.
 
 

Had a few $1 and $2 finds at a local festival. 

ASM 615 in the middle has “FRIENDLY NBHD SPIDER-MAN” as its UPC caption.