thehumantorch

Welcome to the boards. How did you discover collecting GA comic books.

God, I've had some naaaasty virtual hangovers after a night on the virtual town

Likely there are many customers out there that we don't know about or who don't know about this thread.

Interesting discussion. My wife would certainly agree with you that I'm nuts to spend thousands on a comic book. First off, scarcity does affect comic book values. It's harder to see in titles like Amazing Spider-man or Fantastic Four where the print runs were massive and the surviving number of copies is relatively high. You can see that in Fantastic Four #44 versus similar issues like #43 or #42. There was a warehouse find of FF #44 so the scarcity of high grade copies is low compared to #43 or #42 and prices reflect that. #44 is worth about 1/3 of #43 or #42. You'll also see that scarcity matters when collecting GA. There are some GA books out there that have few surviving copies and there are many long time GA collectors who can identify those issues and when and if they come up for sale those collectors will pay up for them knowing they may never see them for sale again. You'll see the same market forces for popular MA variant books with great covers and low print runs. Some of them are selling for insane prices and that price is based on a lot of demand for a great cover but few existing copies - J Scott Campbell comes to mind. You'll even see scarcity matters for BA Hulk where there may be few copies of a certain issue graded 9.8 and prices for those issues in 9.8 are much higher than surrounding issues that have lots of graded 9.8 copies. Let's come at this in a different direction. Price is related to supply and demand. Demand isn't uniform for comic books. The cover artist can greatly increase the demand for a book. Some artists are more popular and that increases the demand for books they've worked on. Subject matter will also greatly affect demand for a book. Well drawn women, Nazi symbols or Hitler on the cover, bondage, skulls, classic imagery all drive demand. And the reality is that demand is higher for keys. The introduction of a character, death of a character, a change in the character's powers, or a classic story line is just more important and interesting. Out of the 10,000 or so published issues of Spider-man his first appearance is just a lot more interesting and important than his 4500th appearance where nothing really happened. And don't ignore the power of the internet. There are a lot of guys posting big keys and classic covers and valuable books online and that strokes their ego and that helps to drive values higher. They won't get that attention posting Spider-man's 4500th nothing appearance. And to be fair it wasn't that different in 1975. I had a couple copies of X-men #1 and I valued it higher than any other X-men issue because even back then I understood that a first appearance of X-men was important. But I will agree with you. There's a lot of speculation in this hobby and much of it revolves around key and valuable books. But the demand from collectors came first and the speculation followed because speculators understand that they're more likely to make money speculating on books that are in high demand. The speculators wouldn't be here otherwise.

Perhaps those are for future dishonest acts?

Sorry, will have to disagree. The way you collect isn't the way I collect or other people collect. Early Fantastic Four and similar 60s Marvels are what I read as a kid and that's what I'm drawn to. I have an emotional attachment to that era and I'm willing to pay for those books. I'm not rich but I can pick up a few nice books a year and I'd prefer that over buying piles of newer books. Sure I know what these books are worth and yes, someday I'll have to sell them, but in reality I just like old comics. And I'm thrilled that prices have recently dropped on most SA books, time to buy.

I’m aiming to be in the top 95%

Does that count as a field goal?

Grades in bump. I'd like to own every book in this round.

I understand that mistakes happen but mixing up submitters books is unforgivable

As bad as it is I enjoy collecting comics and will continue to collect and purchase what I want. Because I’m not focused on any one era or title or genre there always seems to be something I want at a local show. And I still continue to buy from the US

There's a lot of information out there right now and not all of it is good. And there are a lot of guys pressing books who really don't know what they are doing. I assume you're talking about the book written by KaptainMyke? If you're rubbing off colour you'll need to keep practicing on beaters until you have more control.

You haven't missed anything. When you collect something that's hard to find you're probably not gonna find it locally so auction houses, ebay, or the bigger dealers in the US are your only option. And you're gonna pay expensive shipping and customs and exchange, it really does take the fun out of it. For years I've been having Heritage Auctions hold my wins and then ship once I have a box full. Last shipment was a couple oddball GA lots and a slab, weighing about 15 lbs, and Heritage charged me $185 usd (insane) or $250 cnd plus fully declared for duty. I haven't looked at a Heritage auction since. Your best bet is to have your books shipped to a friend in the US who will examine each shipment as it comes in and then ship to you once he has a pile. But shipping is expensive and you'll never get around the exchange rate.

Liftoff

We won in 1812 and might very well win again.

Thanks Mike. Grades are in. I feel very confident about my grades which means an awful round...

I'm glad you got your book back. And I'm absolutely not placing blame on you in any way but we all have to be very careful whom we trust with our books and our money. I think about all the guys who have recently set up shop pressing and/or submitting books and I wonder how many of them are a hairs width from disappearing with customer's books and money. And I say that knowing of a couple local stores that went under and customer's books and money disappeared. One was predictable but the other was around for a while and I really liked the guys who ran it.

Sadly that's not a surprise.

I'm enjoying this thread. Please continue.

Thanks for all you've done.

I'd also like to suggest that you post some of your books in the grading forum. https://boards.cgccomics.com/forum/42-hey-buddy-can-you-spare-a-grade/ One book per thread. Good pics or scans of the front and back covers plus any close ups of anything out of the ordinary and a few shots of the interior covers and staples. The boardies who post in that forum are very experienced with CGC's grading and are surprisingly accurate grading from pictures

Welcome to the boards. Based on your one picture I'd guess your Spectre #10 is at best a 5.0. A 6.0 sold last year for $30. My last submission of 25 books cost me $79 Canadian per book. Shipping costs to Canada are higher than to the USA and the exchange rate also increases my costs. I typically don't send in a book unless I believe it'll be worth $200 or more after grading. If you're in the USA it'll cost you less. $37 to grade a book of that value and era plus a invoice fee plus shipping both ways - shipping has become very expensive. Pressing is an additional cost if warranted. I'd suggest that on a financial basis that book just isn't worth getting graded. If it has sentimental value perhaps it is worth submitting for you.

Congrats on the sale. That's a lovely book and a book I still remember reading and loving as a teenager. You've marked it as sold which is wonderful. Some sellers will post the name of the seller but most don't as some buyers would prefer to remain anonymous.

Love the stuff. I can't live without my fix

But but but , he's a businessman...