CKinTO

I'm sure this is a different strokes for different folks area, but I'm more in the @ADAMANTIUM camp on this one. While my PC of keys are all books that I tell myself are ones that I tell myself are "forever" books (and that's 95% true!), I'd be lying if I said at least some part of my buying decision doesn't consider what I could eventually sell it for wayyyy down the road.

Interesting topic... I don't consider myself a "speculator". I buy a couple books every week for reading, and my personal collection has graded key books that I personally like / enjoy (usually 1st app of characters I liked growing up). However, I've more recently started to dabble in some mild "speculation" in 2 ways: 1) picking up a copy or two of a book (at cover price) that I have no interest in reading, but I think might go up (ie. Totally Awesome Hulk 22); or 2) buying a graded key book from a "motivated seller" or a cheap Ebay auction on a book that I think has become undervalued or I can get way on the cheap. On 1), it's fairly cheap, so I feel it has low risk. I go to my LCS every Wed morning anyways, pick up an extra book or two (choosing a high-grade copy) that I have no interest in reading, and just stash it away and see what happens. On 2), this is a bit more murky, and I try to limit this to: i) only if I can get a significant deal, and ii) I think has the potential to go up again. This of course has a lot of subjectivity / personal opinion built into it. Interesting that a few posters above mentioned BA12 / 1st Harley, which is a book I think could be a good buying opportunity now after price has dipped somewhat after Suicide Squad movie-hype has died down, but before hype builds around the Gotham City Sirens movie and the new Joker / Harley movie that was announced at SDCC.

Agree with this - I bought just 1 copy at cover price and will hold for now. Like you said, selling now for $40-50 profit while %-wise is great, is still just $40-50 in actual dollars. Not exactly a lot of money. I'd rather hold, see what happens with the new on-going series and whether it's a character that gets more popular or not. If it does (and even if it's that a fairly low probability), it's got good technicals (relatively low print run, no variant covers) that price could react fairly strongly. I'm ok giving up potentially $40-50 (absolute worst case scenario if it's a total bust and years from now it's back at cover price) for a chance at that high upside, even if not that likely.

I'm a high-grade collector, but as someone in their mid-30s, I only collect what I like / am nostalgic of (so that's typically copper / modern, with some bronze) which is relatively more affordable in high-grade. For my personal collection of slabs, my sweet spot is 9.6's for copper and 9.8's for modern. The premium to jump from 9.6 to 9.8 in copper keys is not worth it to me given the dollars we're talking. The current high-end keys on my list are GSX1 and X-Men 94 - I've made the decision to go with 9.2 for those (they're the lowest "NM" you can get at NM-, and I like the "value" sweetspot based on pricing for these books - ie. the price jumps from 9.0 to 9.2 to 9.4 to 9.6) For me, if I were to get a key "mid-grade", I know the desire to upgrade would always be there. And then for me, I don't enjoy the ownership of it as much. Whereas if I decide beforehand what makes sense for me (based on cost and wanting high-grade), I know once I get it, I won't yearn (enough to matter anyways!) for a higher-grade version. Obviously this is a different strokes for different folks situation, but this is how I'm wired.

I also wonder if the new Star Trek Discovery show on Space is hurting / cannibalizing some viewers. I'm watching both (and actually am liking Discovery quite a bit so far - which has an 86% on RT btw), but I like them both for different reasons.

All - apologies if there is a thread on this already, but couldn't find it with a search. I know at some point with the older v2 CGC cases (the ones right before the change in mid-2016 to the current newer-style cases, but without the inner-well), CGC changed its recommendation around getting slabs re-holdered every 7 years. I think the original rationale for the 7yr reco was that the micro-chamber paper may get "used up", or maybe something to do with the plastic used for the inner casing, I don't recall exactly. Anyways, I've recently bought a "v2 slab" (graded in 2005), and wanted to see if this was pre-reco change, and whether it would be wise to get re-holdered. Let's put value of the book aside for now, purely from a "maximizing longevity" perspective (it's only worth about $100, but it's got sentimental value, so the cost to ship/re-holder to me would be worth it assuming it's advisable). Thanks

thanks Rich!

Same - just watched it off DVR today and liked it quite a bit. I know what the reviews above meant by a lot of "family stuff" but I actually enjoyed those parts.

Adrianne Palicki (and her brother Eric) also wrote a 4-issue comic called "No Angel" published by Black Mask. It wasn't bad, I actually had my LCS back-order it for me a few months ago (2nd print on #1, but 1st printings all still available for #2-#4) to read it. Don't think it sold that well, but was decent enough. http://ew.com/article/2016/09/08/adrianne-palickis-new-comic-no-angel/

I finally sat down to "binge-read" the whole series thus far, 1-6. I got NM+ copies of #1 (ashcan, gold and silver foil) that I'll probably hold onto until I can get a Donny Cates sig and yellow-label it, but had my LCS order me reader copies for 1-6 (3rd printing and 2nd printing for #1 and #2) so I could finally read the damn thing! Really enjoyed it - think it's an interesting take on the typical "vampire" story, and as usual, Donny's great at making you care about the different characters and easily empathize with where they're coming from. Based on the letters pages, looks like Donny had already written Issue 11 when Issue 2 or 3 came out (forget which now), so look forward to seeing the next story arc play out!

I remember when Preacher 1 in 9.8 was fetching >$1000 in mid-2016. Just checked and recent Ebay auctions in the mid-400s (there was one that just closed at $393 2 weeks ago!)

I liked it - while a lot of it was small teases from a lot of different storylines, I thought it was a good set-up book for the Legacy titles going forward. A couple key take-aways for me: As usual, a lot of variants on this one... I picked up the Quesada Lenticular for cover price (which I heard got changed to be a regularly orderable cover vs. having to qualify a certain % of previous Secret Empire book like the other Lenticulars coming out starting next week).

Eric / Jim - this is such awful news, and couldn’t have happened to 2 nicer guys... hate that things like this happen in our hobby. Really hope that whoever did this is found, brought to justice, and the books find their way back to you

I have only bought on Ebay, never sold, and for slabs, generally prefer it as I can usually get a better price than at a store or at a con (where dealers are looking to recoup significant fixed costs). It's really sad to hear stories on these boards of how Ebay is tilting towards overly favoring the buyer, buyer fraud (returning different items, etc.), or non-payment. While sometimes buyers do need to be protected (ie. sellers having multiple accounts shill-bidding, etc.), it has to be a balance - IMO sellers are more important than buyers in the marketplace. If there isn't good product, at good prices, buyers will go elsewhere with so many other options today. There will always be buyers willing to buy if the product / pricing is there - buyers are easier to come by than good sellers.

Yah I noticed that - saw a commercial for it that it was moving to Thurs nights going forward. Don't know if that was always the plan or not, but I prefer it on Thurs nights so it doesn't conflict with Sunday Night Football I usually DVR my shows anyway and watch it later that night or over the weekend.

I've also enjoyed both episodes so far. I've always a big Family Guy fan (as well as enjoying Star Trek, though not a hardcore fan). I saw Seth on a few talk shows leading up to the premiere, and he was describing it as a "legit sci-fi show, that's funny" - similar to how Guardians of the Galaxy takes its "sci-fi-ness" seriously, but is also funny, he said it's like GotG but for TV. I think that's been a good description of the first 2 episodes so far - slightly cheesy/corny humor, some jokes that hit and some that miss, but also "reasonably legit" sci-fi. +1 to the OP that I'm a fan of the bridge banter.

Maybe it's the photo, but that looks like a really well-presenting 7.5! Corners look sharp, and spine looks pretty clean? Do you have the grading notes? What did you get dinged on?

Unreal, people do that? How can they do that with a straight-face? What do they say when you mention that it was clear this was cash-price? Under slightly diffent circumstances, I've heard dealers say if you pay credit card, then they have to charge sales-tax? That could work here too? I only ever bring cash to shows / conventions, and make it clear as part of the negotiating / deal.

Yep, fair point. And that's partly why I said as the "price of the con goes up", I'm more wiling to "share the savings" with the seller. And you're right, there's definitely benefit to the buyer, but also benefit to the seller too (cash in hand, don't have to go through hassle of packing / shipping, no risk of buyer / ebay return scams, etc.). I guess it's really a spectrum - for example, if I'm buying a book through Craigslist (or frankly, over these boards), I think the "EBay fee savings" should generally go to the buyer as the incentive to buy. As the "listing costs" increase (whether that's Ebay, Clink, Heritage, or at a Convention), I agree that theoretically, the "fair" thing is that the "savings" is split between buyer and seller. Don't forget there are "costs" to buyers going to conventions as well (entrance fees, maybe airfare, accommodations etc.) - just like I wouldn't expect a seller to care what my "costs" were to get to the con (and give me a break on the price accordingly), in some ways (though not exactly the same), the seller shouldn't expect the buyer to care about those costs (and pay more accordingly). I don't think it's exactly the same thing, but making the point more illustratively. Yes, agree on the overthinking, this was really more just an exercise in the theoretical. General negotiation, how in-demand the book is (and availability), all will likely make a much bigger impact. And I definitely agree that a deal needs to make sense for both sellers and buyers.

My experience has been that most dealers at cons / shows who also sell on EBay (at least the ones that I buy from) are willing to negotiate a lower price in person than what they have listed for on EBay, to basically net the dealer the same amount than if they had sold on Ebay (ie. deduct the Ebay fees). Dealer gets around the same net amount (with slight benefit of getting it in cash straight up without any risk of ebay buyer fraud, chargeback, arguments over shipping damages, etc.), and customer gets a lower price (as it cuts out the Ebay "middle-man"). That's generally my policy when doing in-person transactions. The benefit to the buyer to incentivize buying then and there should be they get a slightly lower price than if bought on Ebay (as well as not having to pay for shipping) - seller gets the same amount they would have if it was purchased over Ebay (at the higher price). Now, as the price of the book goes higher (and rarity goes up), or price of the con goes higher, I do see some rationale for there being some sharing of the savings over Ebay price being "split" between buyer and seller, but generally, I think the bulk of the benefit should go to the buyer. Especially under a normal seller / buyer power dynamic (ie. seller is trying to sell books, buyer deciding whether or not he wants to buy). Others may disagree...

So the NYCC convention variant for Metal 2 will be a very different cover than the Wonder Woman one? (ie. it won't be like the Metal 1 LSCC convention exclusive, where only difference was lack of Bulletproof logo at the end?). Look forward to seeing it! Also, you mentioned Metal 2 virgin cover is delayed, and will arrive Monday (and ship next week). Just saw on the website that it's now showing shipping date of Oct 11, 2017... is that a typo? Or are they just being extra conservative? Thanks for the info!

Bump! Any thoughts appreciated, thanks

I think if they really went this route, you could make it all much easier and just change the slab in a way that's obvious (ie. maybe there's not top portion of the slab where the label would usually go), without changing it so much that it would effect costs.

Agree that if it's for personal reasons, get the book most sentimental to you. For me, while there are some books that are 100% sentimental, a lot fall in between (sentimental, but also some hope for potential price appreciation and selling down the line)... I personally don't like getting any key of a certain level CGC SS - prefer blue label. ASM300 falls into that category. If it were me, it'd probably be a Spawn #1, ASM298 (first McSpidey art), or McFarlane's Spider-Man #1. And yes, I'm pretty sure McFarlane doesn't allow any CGC SS at any con - only via his private signings (I think NYComics is the only ones who have these private signings, but not sure)...

I did this for the first time a few weeks ago. Before that, every SS book I bought was either already slabbed, or done through a facilitator. The only others things I'd add to revat's post is: 1) it helps before you go to the CGC booth to check if the creators are signing at that time. Each will have their own schedule, and you can always just stop by quickly, talk to their handler, and ask how long they're currently planning to sign for (if they're currently signing), or when they'll be back (if they're away from the booth, often there's a sign that says what time they plan to be back). That way, you avoid the letdown of getting a witness (and potentially having to wait for one if it's busy), and then getting to the creator only to find out they're not signing... 2) sometimes, CGC has private signings with certain creators. In those cases, you can just drop your books off with CGC and they'll be put into the pile to get signed. In general though, unless you're getting a lot of books / lot of creators signatures, I enjoy the process of actually meeting and talking with the creators in person. You also get to handle your books yourself for as long as possible.