RockMyAmadeus

Yes, you're missing something, and here's what it is: This information is useful for historical purposes, so people can understand what market existed for these relative to the entire market. It does not matter what you paid for them as it relates to future sales, but it gives everyone an idea of what they were worth at one time. The Mile High Action #1 sold for $25,000 in 1982. We know this, and it gives us a good idea of what Mile Highs were worth relative to their respective markets. John Verzyl will tell you what he paid for all his Timely Mile Highs, but you can't touch them for 20 times what he paid. And a bonus? If you scored these for $10 each, we can all be jealous.

My, what a nice set of tools you have there....

That is a fair analogy. Original comic art covers and pages do a fraction of the asking price for these books. I'd say the original art to Maxx 1/2 would be about $5-7K. Albert Moy has the cover to Detective #656 for $4500, and the cover to MCP #99, the Byrne homage, for $8K. If these were official, released books, I'd agree, but prototypes always do a bit less than official books.

Relax, grandma. Everyone realizes that you're trying to hype what you have, so you can squeeze the most you can get. No one has tried to diminish what you have (despite your clumsy attempts to try and diminish the ashcans, an argument no one here is buying.) What you have is genuinely rare, and genuinely neat, and worth about $200-$500, as stated in this thread. You need to get a little perspective and realize that you're talking to probably the most dedicated CORE of Maxx collectors that exists and also understand that "$200-$500" for a prototype of a comic that normally sells for about 50 cents...if that...is a really good thing. Saying something is "subjective" over and over again doesn't make it true. Of course you're not going to say how much you paid for them (even though such documentation is VITAL in the collectible fields for establishing value, history, and whatnot) because, just like every other hypster, you're afraid someone will come back at you and say "well, you only paid such and such for it"... Fair enough. It's not true, but such behavior is to be expected. Wanna know what I paid for my eleven Maxx Blacks? $1 each. Does that change what I'm asking for them, or what I'd accept for them? Not one bit. This was my favorite line in your post: I'm sure it would be quite the arm twist for you to "settle" for $20K. (thumbs u

For the record, there is one seriously major difference between the ashcans and the 1/2s....the ashcans are all (mostly) signed and numbered. The 1/2s are not.

I don't think you know what that means. That means you're not willing to sell them for less than YOU paid. Are you trying to say you paid about $300 each for these....?

(thumbs u Ol' Spreads here is right...and he's the proud owner of a Maxx #2 Black CGC 8.5, highest graded of only 2. That was my copy, and I let it ride in an auction back in 2008 at 99 cents, just to see how much it would end. It sold for $510. Now, could I get more than that for this book NOW? Maybe. I sold another for $310, and another with a NPB for $179. I have 8 left. Would I be willing to sell another for less than $500? No. But...if people REALLY want one, they know where to ask, and they have something to work with...and more importantly, I have a price that I am willing to accept for one (think somewhere between $1000-$1500.) Like he said, if you're not even willing to come up with an asking price, afraid that you might "set the bar too low", no one is going to ever want these. And no, $20,000 is not anywhere within the same galaxy, sorry.

Hi Fufat! Nice to have you here. 1. You're high. 2. Please pass some of that sweet, SWEET ganja you're tokin' on. Look, I understand you have something to sell, which shades how you approach this. I get it. And what you have is legitimately rare, and legitimately desired by the collecting community. However. You need to understand that the difference between a test printing and a book that was actually released is pretty significant in the eyes of the collecting community. Now...that said, there are people here who have stated that the books are worth $200-$500...which seems about right. But do you think people are going to even bother making a $200-$500 offer on a book listed for $20,000? And...here's the kicker...would you even entertain such an offer? With numerous non-sales at the $300-$350 price point, what makes you think this is worth substantially more? Let's be clear: your books are NOT "variants." They are PROTOTYPES. They were not made to be sold to the public at ANY price, and since they were not offered, they were never released...until they were tossed up on the Wizard site a decade later. Also...if I may, how much did you get these for from Wizard? This info is for scholastic purposes only, and will not be used to "drive down" the price. All of us here know...or should know...the value of the genuinely rare. As to the ashcans...yes, they are Image ashcans...but they are unique to that "program", being (mostly) signed and (mostly) numbered, without a "regular" edition. As well, the severe limitations placed on the Yellows and Blacks, as well as #2 and #3 all colors, have created a substantial value for these books in the aftermarket. You said you had "opportunities galore to buy all you wanted on the bay"...but I (and others) have been looking for these books for many years. Myself, since the late 90's when I discovered their existence. The ONLY Maxx Ashcan which has shown up with ANY regularity was #1 Blue. The rest have been sparse, at best. There have been approximately 7-9 sales of the #1 Black, about 5 sales of the #2 Black (including 3 of mine), and ONE sale (the sale mentioned here) of a #3 Black...that's going back 10+ years. So, is it ok to assume you have a complete set of all 12...? This may not be true. For some reason, the #3s did not achieve near the distribution that #1s, or even #2s did. For this kind of stuff? Doubtful. You would be surprised how tiny niche markets are, especially for uber rare items like the Maxx Ashcans and whatnot. When items don't show up for years...maybe never...people give up and move on to something that is attainable. There are rarer coins that the 1804 $1 (15) and 1913 Liberty Nickel (5)...in fact, there are probably 20-30 US coins alone that are rarer. But they don't command the multi-million dollar prices that those two command because they are TOO rare. Take the 1822 $5. There are three pieces known. Three. Two of them are locked up in the Smithsonian. That makes only one available on the market. Should be worth $5M+, right? It's not. It's too rare to be obtainable, so people don't bother, even when it came up for sale in 1982...the last time it was for sale. That would be me. Got one? Finally..... "They're" I saw you use BOTH "their" AND "there" in place of "they're", in the same paragraph! Impressive! But, it impedes the flow of the post, and makes it harder to understand. (thumbs u

(thumbs u

I sent my #1 Yellow to be slabbed, and they...of course...hammered the offset pages. Only got a 9.0, when the cover itself is flawless. Considering CGC has seen all of about 10 of these total, they don't really have a good handle on grades...or, they do, and 9.0 is about as high as they will ever go. I have never, ever seen a #3 Yellow...which is odd, becaue they are ostensibly twice as common as #3.

I passed when he was trying to sell the raw for $325, and the 9.2 for the same amount. He's fooling himself. If there was no buyer at $325 for a 9.2, $20,000 is about $19,500 more than he could fairly get for this book. These aren't Silver Age Marvels, where a 9.2 is worth $200, but a 9.8 is worth $20,000, because there are 367 9.2s, and 1 9.8. Grade simply doesn't matter much for books like this, when you're dealing with "10" total. Don't get me wrong, I'd pay $200 for a red and a blue, on a book that's worth maybe 50 cents as a regular, but $325+ is just too much for a book that has interest to..what, the five of us? Maybe? I wonder how much he bought these for from Wizard....

1. Plain ol' money. 2. That would depend on who the suspects actually were........

Since the COAs are numbered and I have seen one in the 6000s, I'm going to assume the numbers are independent. So total =6,500+1,000+300+325+79 Yeah this is correct. It's how all DF signed/unsigned book work. (thumbs u

DD and Magneto don't have the sketch boxes on the "regular" covers either. SpiderWoman doesn't have an outlined box for either version. The box covers were just overruns that didn't get sketched. But are all the ASM covers with boxes, or were there some produced without them (regular covers). All the ASM covers I've seen (and a quick check of eBay supports) have the sketch box, whether sketched or not. Same with Gambit.

DD and Magneto don't have the sketch boxes on the "regular" covers either. SpiderWoman doesn't have an outlined box for either version. The box covers were just overruns that didn't get sketched.

I agree...most of the Authentix sell for too much money, but the Spideys are the worst. These aren't rare books, by any definition. But then, the DF Amazing Vol 2 #1 sells for silly money ($20-$50) too, so...who knows.

There was. It's noted in one of the OPGs from the late 80's/early 90's.

This is perfectly natural, too. The vast majority of the members of this board are Silver/Bronze age collectors, with another large chunk for Gold. I'd be really, really surprised if "Copper" collectors comprised more than 5% of the regular contributors of this board. This is evidenced by the many discussions focused on Gold/Silver/Bronze, and the lack of same here.

CGC ∞ > PGX I sent the seller an offer... I bet you would never guess for how much..... -slym Three fitty?

CGC ∞ > PGX

Do it. DO IT.

Anyone know? I don't think so, officially, but they were commonly used by the time CGC came around.

I'll pay the resub fees.....

The conversation...like all good conversations....veered off into a broader discussion. This sale became the springboard for that broader discussion, but once it veered off into that discussion, the specific sale ceased to be the point. Boston Corbett has already come along and given his rationale. You keep implying that I somehow think he shouldn't have spent his money this way, or he didn't have a right to, or he's harmed somebody. That's simply not true. As far as I'm concerned, he's aware of the negligible difference, and more power to him. But not everyone is, and there are still people telling buyers that this 9.9 is substantially different from this 9.8, and it's worth the big money. I don't want people to be burned because they don't know. I don't want people to be burned because someone has convinced them that there's a substantial difference between these grades. Conversations like this help prevent that. Paying the huge premiums for 9.9 and 10s is madness. But..so long as everyone KNOWS it's madness, by all means, bring it on! Yeah. Ok.