alexgross.com

1 hour ago, Buzzetta said:

As someone who uses GPA I can easily tell you how GPA can be manipulated and there is really not much that can be done about it.  I am not mocking GPA.  I find it to be a valuable and more importantly fun tool to have. As someone who looks at things in multiple angles for how someone can scam the hell out of it, I can point out a few things. 

1 - Lower priced books and free shipping.  I recently bought a book for $30 on CLink and flipped it on eBay for $50 + shipping. What is the real value of the book?  What is the value of the book if I had included shipping in the ask price and marked the listing as free shipping? The market sees the recorded price of my book and then as Joe said, my book becomes the new norm instead of the outlier it really is.  

2 - Want to manipulate sales with GPA?  Let's play movie hype.  Let's take multiple copies of Comic Book X which everyone knows is in development.  I will sell a copy of Comic Book X for $115 to Joe over eBay.  Previous sales are usually $50.  I sell another to my neighbor for $135. (Joe and my neighbor are in on this btw - this is make believe btw)  Then I offer all the rest of my copies at $100.  GPA has a few sales at $115-$135 all manipulated by me.  Now I take a stack of books and sell them all at the low low price of $100.  Wasn't there someone on the boards who was caught doing this?  He was faking sales to manipulate GPA... was it 1st Iron Fist?  Why is that standing out? 

 

GPA is a far better guide than overstreet but it is not the end all be all.  Common sense should always prevail. 

This is what I texted someone today regarding current pricing trends during the Heritage Auction: "Judging by what people just paid for Buster Brown, I say that the ASM 100 cover ends at $427,000,000."

 

When it comes to buying things and 'guide', as a collector I offer you this...  Pay what you are comfortable paying, buy what you like, buy it with the understanding that you may never get any money back on it.  It is there for your enjoyment.  After that anything you get for something is icing on the cake. 

 

K I am rambling... 

just to be clear i am not saying that GPA is perfect by any means. simply observing that the collectible toy/ action figure market seems like it could use a similar database available to all. i have been documenting comiclink sales results of interest to me  privately for awhile now due to GPA not including them, among others, in their database. but it's still a valuable tool, especially going back 12 years on key books. 

i've got a buddy who is huge into the world of star wars toys and artwork. i was surprised to learn that there is no GPA equivalent for graded action figures. he said that he just estimates fair pricing on AFA graded figures on past recent ebay sales, which seems sort of nuts to me when you are talking about price ranges in the mid 4 figures and even over 5 figures. it seems like there's a real opportunity for someone to start compiling sales results for AFA graded figures and making them available to collectors. god knows this field is not going away, much as comics collecting isn't either.  even if you are going by just ebay sales, dont you want to see the prices going back several years, like GPA does with comics? 

almost nothing has done better than hulk 181 the last several years in all grades but the highest. in your price range it seems like a sure bet. i got my 9.0 three years ago and it's already just about doubled. 

On 2/20/2018 at 4:34 AM, entalmighty1 said:

A lot of people have said the same about Hulk 181.   

this is true. but i think wolvie has shown far more mainstream appeal, as proven by hollywood. he translates well to the silver screen too. this price jump is speculation that surfer will now attain new levels of popularity thanks to james gunn. could happen...but he rides a surfboard. not really the same as claws and killing people. should be interesting. 

4 hours ago, GoldCap said:

Exactly my thoughts.  How is that a 3.0?

among other things the photo is taken in shadow with backlight. i agree it looks great but a real scan with proper lighting would likely reveal a heck of a lot that this photo does not. 

i'm sure some of you are very familiar with this seller on ebay. always has great key books, often several copies. also always priced really high over GPA and auction prices. i've never had a response to any message ever sent him/her about any book for sale and i've never seen one of their books actually sell. what's the deal? anyone here actually acquire one of his/ her books?

10 minutes ago, SECollector said:

Hi Alex! Check it out now, I have edited it and it should work.

great article, if perhaps a bit long. thanks for sharing that! i totally agree w that assessment too. the birth of punisher and wolverine very clearly spring from this moment in comics. question: did the whole gwen stacy clone storyline undo some of the power and permanence of gwen stacy’s death? did it foretell marvel’s inability to ever let a character really die? (see elektra, phoenix, gwen, etc) 

5 hours ago, SECollector said:

There is a really interesting essay written by Arlond Blumberg about the death of Gwen Stacy and the birth of the darker Bronze Age. There are probably many factors that define a soft border between ages, but I really liked this analysis of an event that really ended in some ways an age of innocence and idealism and started another one of more realism. I would definitely recommend this read: The Night Gwen Stacy Died, by Arnold T. Blumberg 

that link is not working for me...

how bout some pics from this show? anyone?

will dealers still be selling on sunday from 2pm on? i dont think i can make it before about that time. i know it says it goes to 5, but just want to see if people are starting to pack up their stuff early like at other shows. thanks. 

3 hours ago, s14roller said:

Anyone following that Hulk 1 3.0 WP on CL?  Looks nice, a bit pricey.  I also can't tell if there is tape on the cover even though it's not noted.

yeah the white pages are very attractive. 10k is a nice price too. i agree it looks like tape was there but overall it presents great for a 3.0 

and i dont know who thinks the kids dont love spiderman anymore. my kid cant get enough. wouldnt even let us wash his face the night he got this. they even make these little golden books for kids about spiderman. they're not that great, but my son loves them. 

sold for more than a slightly better looking 3.0 did last november. perhaps because of the cool vintage non-intrusive signature, or perhaps the market is recovering a bit? see pics below

On 8/13/2017 at 2:17 PM, Dark Knight said:

Still waiting for the market crash so I can load up on several copies 

definitely not a crash, but a good time to load up on copies i would say at this point, compared to last august! 

8 hours ago, mdean2437 said:

My lawd!  Get that regraded!  Time payments?

big hole on the back cover. cant upgrade that. does present great though

9 hours ago, mrmitchgro said:

ASM 1 is SOLD!

congrats! it was a good price-- tempting for me, but all my extra cash is going to bitcoin these days. 

congrats to both buyer and seller! great book at a great deal too! 

24 minutes ago, Dark Knight said:

Not 100% sure if it was done, but I didn't like the color touch removal marks at the top of the book.  Just a turn off for me.

how can you deduce such a thing from such a small size photo? it doesnt even enlarge to the size of a real comic book, much less larger so one could see real details. 

16 hours ago, Bomber-Bob said:

This thread has suddenly got quiet. I guess the party is over. 22K for the 4.0 CC copy with Marvel chipping.

this thread has pretty much been the same couple of folks arguing back and forth. it doesnt really encourage thoughtful commentary about the current or prospective future state of the market for this king of silver keys. and yeah, the big drop has been a big disappointment too. but lets keep arguing about chipping.

i think his art looks like dan panosian, who's been at it since the 90s. 

looked like all the certificates of authenticity were from PGX. how are they still allowed to keep their doors open? shocking they havent yet been sued out of business. 

8 hours ago, zhamlau said:

You know, 39k for a 5.5 with no chipping seems like a steal to me. It had  eye appeal yeah, but still it was a solid copy. That might have been a mistake to let that go.

i agree totally with this, if i had 40k lying around i certainly would have bid on it. it's hard to believe this wont be a 50-60k book within a few years, at most. 

1 hour ago, SC22 said:

ComicLink:

CGC 7.5 sold for 130 000$

CGC 5.5 (beet up top right corner) sold for 39 111$.

in spite of the down market for mid lower grade copies, still a shockingly low price for a nice 5.5. this market has changed in a hurry. and what an enormous spread between 5.5 and 7.5.

5 hours ago, CheeseFrog said:

That's all that I have for this morning, folks... next post should have first Hammerhead, death of Gwen, death of Gob, first Punisher, etc...

Thanks again for the patronage!

 

when will the next post be? do you have a schedule?