CKinTO

I dropped my Marvel reading a few years ago, but picked it back up earlier this year during the "ResurreXion" push, starting with X-Men Gold & Blue. Over the past few months, I've picked up Venom (starting at 150, enjoying it, especially as it remains outside of the Secret Empire cross-over), Edge of Venomverse (which has honestly been pretty terrible, just finished issue 3 and dropping it, might try Venomverse #1 in a month...), Spectacular Spider-man 1, and just this past week Astonishing X-Men 1 (which I liked)... I didn't pick up any of the other X titles (Cable, Jean Grey, Iceman, or Weapon X, though I've heard the latter's been pretty good), or any of the Secret Empire books. From what I've read on CBR / Bleeding Cool etc., I'm probably not going to pick up any of the Generations one-shots... From a Bleeding Cool article a few weeks ago:

Based on the latest creator appearances thread, looks like dscott and kevlar are taking subs for Fan Expo Canada. https://www.cgccomics.com/boards/topic/221733-appearances-find-your-favorite-creators-and-celebs-here/?page=78

Agree with the above. Only other point I'll mention is there are a few books that I get slabbed for sentimental purposes, just to keep / showcase / display. ie. books that meant a lot to me when I was younger, but don't have a lot of value slabbed (ie. $50 - $100). I think of this as less of grading cost, and more of a "framing" cost like you would a piece of art. If your main purpose is to slab for selling, then all the other replies makes sense. One thing to note is that most Modern Keys only really make sense to slab if it'll be a 9.8 (and maybe 9.6 for some of the higher end ones). Certain "ultra-high-end modern keys" (probably an oxymoron for some, heh) are still net positive to slab at 9.2 / 9.4 (ie. BA12 1st Harley, NYX3 1st X-23), and if you have any of the ultra-rare modern variants. I think the $100 minimum is a pretty good rule of thumb though. And I like the advice if you're first starting out to get a few books slabbed to start - you'll get a feel for the all-in cost to slab, how tough shipping / packaging is, how good your grading skills are and the risk you take a book comes in lower than what you though, etc.

Wow what a story and amazing photos! Definitely echo others, good for you guys in doing the right thing. I'd like to think I'd do the same, but certainly the temptation gets higher as the $ signs get bigger! But at the end of the day, it's not what you can get away with, it's the kind of a person you want to be. And even $100k (or any amount of money) isn't worth becoming that kind of person. Cheers!

Will let Kevin confirm, but at least with Jim, he's historically done a 1hr free public signing per day that he's there. I think this was the case at FanExpo Dallas, but at SDCC for example, there's a lineup in the mornings each day to get wristbands / tickets for that free signing. Those can't be slabbed though as a witnessed sig.

Thanks for the heads up Kevin. Was able to get my Jim Lee CGC package - noticed and appreciated that the $189 price is basically a 1.27 FX rate (compared to the US$149 price at Fan Expo Dallas), nice to see a fair conversion for us Canadians given the recent strength in our dollar!

That's an interesting theory, hadn't read that one. It's possible, and I agree if true, he'd be above both Jon Snow and Daenarys, given he'd technically be Daenarys' older brother. It's an interesting theory - similar to Jon Snow's parentage (both parents being dead now), the only person who could see this would be Bran, who can look into the past (like the flashback that confirmed Rhaegar and Lyanna were Jon Snow's parents). I had forgotten about him... Gendry, the blacksmith kid. Yes, that would put him ahead of Cersei for sure as Robert Baratheon's , although he would have a similar problem in that only Melisandre seems to know that...

Yea, if you google "R+L=J", that was a fan-theory for a few seasons now. So the way I see it, these people have "legitimate" claims to the throne: - Jon Snow - son of Rhaegar Targaryen, who was the eldest son of the Mad King (Aeris), and older brother of Daenarys. Assuming the throne passes through sons first, than Jon would technically have a more legitimate claim than Daenarys (who's Jon's aunt) - Daenarys - the last "Targaryen" assuming people never find out about Jon's parentage - Cersei - now that all the heirs of Robert Baratheon are dead, and Stannis and Renley are both dead (with no heirs), Cersei's got the throne Not that the most "legitimate" claim will necessarily get the throne of course...

The North always remembers... amazing opening scene!

Yes, once you get it graded, it's pretty easy to get a sense for what current market value is. If you don't buy a subscription to GPA (if you're just selling one book, probably not worth it, though it might be at $10/month), the easiest thing is to search Ebay (ie. "Batman Adventures 12 CGC 9.2" or whatever grade it ends up being), go to the advanced settings and choose "SOLD" listings, and you'll see the last 3 months of sold transactions (don't use what's currently offered for sale, those will all generally all be too high - if they weren't, someone would have already bought it by now). You can quickly calculate what fair value is (low, high, and avg / medians). Once you know that, you can figure out how you want to sell. Know that if you're selling to a store / dealer, they're generally going to want anywhere from 10-25% off the market price (depends a lot on popularity of the book at the time, whether they have multiple copies of it already, etc.). You'll get your money right away, but they won't pay you fair market price (since they have to turn around and sell it themselves). Depending on their offer and how patient you're willing to be, you could try listing it here in the forums, or on Ebay as well (note you then have to pay Ebay selling fees, and the hassle of packaging / shipping etc.), or maybe take a shot on Craigslist or an FB group or something similar.

This is brutal and the stuff nightmares are made of... hope you're able to salvage most of the books (at least the valuable and sentimental ones!)

Thanks and cheers!

Yea, a rare combo when both the story / characters and the art are top-notch! One of the few books that I actually stop for a few seconds after reading each page to really look closely at the art! I've got a #1 9.8 1st print for my personal collection, and now that I'm caught up, will probably buy the individual issues going forward. Probably my favorite book I've picked up in recent years! Thanks to this thread for the suggestion!

I see what you mean, it's a bit "rough around the edges", although I think the style generally suits the content here (this being the whole anti-christ after all).

BTW, picked up the 2nd trade this Wed (was wrong in previous post, came out July 5th, not July 11th :P). Loved it, basically couldn't put it down. Re-read the 1st trade just to get everything fresh in my mind again before starting the 2nd. I wasn't sure whether this was going to be a 12-book mini-series or not, but... (very small spoiler below) Anyone heard of when book 13 is supposed to come out? 12 came out May 31st, and no mention of upcoming next book, so must be on a hiatus? Given Monstress' popularity, I'm sure Image will pick it up for continuation... no?

Picked up Issue 2 yesterday, liked it. They're definitely starting to dig in and develop the story and characters. Liked #2 better than #1, planning on sticking with the book for now.

It is! I'm kinda regretting not getting the Virgin now as well... having to get both thouhg, made $100 become $200! Eek Still gonna love the regular colored cover graded and signed by Natali! They said all pre-ordered SS would be in gold pen and would note in the CGC label "Signed on first day of release"

Are you sure about that? I tried googling and only recent news that I found was: http://www.ecommercebytes.com/cab/abn/y17/m05/i11/s01 Which says that because Ebay Canada is switching its contracting entity (ie. I think that's the actual corporation you as a seller enter into a contract with), from an offshore corp to a Canadian corp, just the Ebay seller fees (ie. The 10-12% commission) will be charged GST now. If I missed it and they are now going to charge all Canadian buyers sales tax on full purchase price, I agree that's a pretty big deal... to be clear, are they charging Canadian buyers who buy from a Canadian seller on Ebay (in which case customs duties and FX isn't a factor), or to all Canadian buyers period (even if purchased from someone in the US on Ebay.com but shipped to a Canadian address?) in which case that would really hurt to your point re: customs and FX!

Haha, indeed, you weren't joking, that was a legitimate wall! Agreed it was a great show, packed (but not so crazy you couldn't move), and a good range of dealers with a wide selection of books. Was my first TCBS, but bought a nice NM87 slab from Jim, made a few trades, bought a few $20-30 books and a whack of $2 books. Definitely plan to be back at the next one!

1x $25 raw NM+ or better (9.8 candidate). If you could combine with my MegaCon Venom 150 CGC SS Mattina, would be great. Thanks Dre

I plan to be there on Sun at opening - looking forward to seeing this wall!

For what it's worth, there's a scene at the end of Batman #25...

2nd printing was out today, and looks like it was announced a 3rd printing (sketch cover) will come out in 2 weeks.

I'm also of the opinion that I'd like to showcase my "wall-worthy" books in person, although my most expensive books are just cracking 4 figures (and I wonder if my attitude would change once I got into $10k+ books). I like the idea of: - Keep in a room with no natural light, where lights (non-UV LED bulbs) are rarely on (to me, lines up well with the "mancave" ideal, no family room / living room) - Put slab in some kind of UV-protective glass for extra protection Is this a good as locking away in a box / vault that never sees any light? No, but I have to think the impact is minimal enough to outweigh the "benefit" that I get from looking at the actual comic more easily. Everyone has different "utility curves" though in terms of that cost/benefit analysis.

There were a lot of recent ASM 25 variants (con variants from JSC, etc.) but my favorite is the ComicXposure variant by Artgerm with a great Black Cat version. Color and copic covers below (there's also a color virgin one) - I got a nice copic version that I'm hoping to get signed by Artgerm at an upcoming con.