LordRahl

Still climbing on X Men books I guess. X12 in 9.4 for $24K and 14 in 9.6 for $34K  that has to be a record for the 14 right?

Not sure how I got the warp speed treatment but whatever I did to get on this list, please let me know so I can keep doing it. 3 modern slow tracks received 12/7 and shipped 12/9 and 12/10. That's a 2 and 3 day TAT  

I had CGC ship back 5 boxes of books a couple of weeks ago and 4 of them arrived safe and sound but unfortunately FedEx has lost the 5th box. I called FedEx and they told me to have the shipper (CGC in this case) open a claim with them. I called CGC and had them open the claim. Problem is since they are shipper and they opened the claim I have no visibility into the process. Anyone gone through this with FedEx and CGC and can give some clue on what to expect? Thanks in advance.

There is absolutely ZERO rhyme or reason to whatever CGC is doing right now. 125 book modern SLOW track that was received 10/22 just shipped today. That is 5 calendar days for those of you keeping score at home. Granted they were in CGC's possession in early September but since the box didn't get opened till last week they were only "received" 5 days ago. My standard sub received at the same time is SFG. The TAT on modern slow track is 3x longer than standard. I think people are just picking boxes at random these days and throwing 'em over to the graders... "this one looks about ripe, grade this one".

These numbers are heavily skewed by the McFarlane private signing.

On 8/19/2021 at 12:56 PM, BabaLament said:

I just sold a set of X-Men 1 connecting covers, all 9.8, for $200/each. Based on reading the comments here, I don't know if I should feel bad about it, or if I found the guy who was born during that legendary minute. I have four more 9.8 sets, so I'm not complaining either way, it just feels weird.

I donated all 50 copies I had a few years back when they were regularly selling for around $30 in 9.8. Every other book I've slabbed that I bought off the shelf back in the day has come back as 9.8 so I'm pretty sure most of those 50 would have as well. But I thought "who would pay more than $30 for one of these, they's millions of them out there".... 

On 8/13/2021 at 4:34 PM, Sweet Lou 14 said:

I think there is also a widening gap between adjacent grades.  It used to be a decent rule of thumb that a 9.8 will fetch twice what a 9.6 gets, and a 9.6 in turn about double a 9.4.  Depending on the book, and the scarcity of the upper grades, that gap can be much more extreme.

2005 called, said it wants its 2x multiples back ... but seriously that 2x multiple for the .2 jump in grade hasn't been a thing for many years. At least not between 9.6 and 9.8

On 8/14/2021 at 8:28 AM, skypinkblu said:

I started as a low grade collector. I was taught all about GA comics by two "bottom feeder" friends.  I used to buy boxes with pieces and try to figure out what books they belong to. 

It also allowed me to collect without ever owing money on comics.

A friend of mine laughed because a few times I accidentally got books that were too high grade and I sold them to downgrade.

I have upgraded a lot of books over the years, but I've always enjoyed coverless, books with no centerfolds, just about anything that's not brittle (or rat chewed). 

Everyone has their own collecting parameters I guess, but being able to read books that I don't have to worry about accidentally damaging, is a great pleasure.

@LordRahl

Good for you for donating the ones you don't love. I'm sure the kids will enjoy them.

 I've only donated high grade modern books, because I'd rather read the older "junky" ones;)

I have as well but I struggle with this sometimes. Stuff from the 90's and later can be a little too sexualized and/or violent for anyone younger than a teen. Some of it at least, not all but I have had books where I thought long and hard about where I was going to donate them because I didn't want 6 year olds reading them.

On 8/13/2021 at 9:59 PM, PeterPark said:

$100 is not valuable enough? I guess a certain number do need to be destroyed so supply cannot meet demand....

Can you point me to where I said that? And valuable enough for what? To keep? I don't care about the value when deciding whether to keep or sell a book. If I want the book, I'll keep it whether it's $1 or $10,000. If I don't want the book, I won't keep it... again irrespective of its value. People seem to keep acting as if I said they shouldn't collect beaters. Someone please point to where I said that and I'll shut up. What I said is, I don't collect them and have no love for them. I don't care if it's a Hulk 1 or AF 15... give me one in Fair or G/VG and I don't want it for my collection. I'd of course sell it, I'm not stupid but just like it's cool if some people want to collect beaters there is nothing wrong with not liking them. I won't own a book in a condition that I don't like looking at it in just to have a copy. For reading purposes there are so many avenues to read a book without having a beater that I don't really get that thought process either. Not to mention that you can read a VF book without bringing the grade down.

On 8/11/2021 at 4:19 AM, Pantodude said:

Beaters are useful as readers if you own a higher grade, as folks noted.  But borrowing  from other hobbies where it’s done ALL the time, low grade copies may also serve as placeholders. This has been the primary reason behind my beaters when they are my sole copy.  Why deprive yourself of owning a cool issue because it’s expensive to upgrade and/or not on your short want list and/or just rare in higher grades?    No reason to, unless an all-or-nothing approach is your thing, but good luck growing your collection before the next rising tide with that approach.  Disparaging beaters seems like just a collector vs investor thing, too, to the extent the owner doesn't really appreciate the book for what it is except insofar as it has status as an investment.  A collector would never suggest junking a beater of any important vintage comic book, let alone an established key like TOS50, whether or not he required a higher grade or sought only slab-worthy books.  Hold or sell  the book, yes, but junk?  Nope.  Anyway, this could by symptomatic of the hobby growing by appealing to non-collectors, and you need to take the good with the bad.  I like my beaters enough that I don’t plan to upgrade, especially if they were already expensive!   The TOS50 wasn’t one of those.  It just wasn’t on my want list but still cool to own.   Enjoy the hobby in your own way, of course, but it's sad any one (a long-time boardie no less, LordRahl!) would say it's okay to destroy vintage comic books.  

I would not advocate that anyone actually destroy comics regardless of condition. I know I said "junk it" but I honestly didn't mean I'd destroy it. I have had many low grade books picked up in collections that were not worth selling and all of them have been donated to kids charities. I simply have no desire to own low grade books, they don't do anything for me and if they aren't valuable enough to sell, I get rid of them (but I get rid of them by donating them). 

On 8/10/2021 at 3:55 PM, BrooksR said:

Is it weird that I love beat up silver age books? It’s a lot like vintage guitars, they look cooler when they’re well used 🙂

Is it weird that I love beat up silver age books - yes! 

they look cooler when they’re well used - no, no they don't

But to each his own as the saying goes. Honestly for me, if someone gave me that book I'd either sell it or junk it. I have absolutely zero desire to own low grade beaters. They do absolutely nothing for me. Doesn't mean other folks shouldn't collect them, if they work for you great... I just never saw the appeal in beaters.

On 8/8/2021 at 6:25 PM, bpc3qh said:

First appearance of The Mandarin.

I know that part but I'm not seeing the ties to abomination or Shang Chi. Is Mandarin in the movie? As in a "real" Mandarin and not that BS from Iron Man 3?

On 7/5/2021 at 6:09 PM, AJLewandoski said:

Also I didn't see anyone mention it when they were talking about Abomination in the Shang Chi trailer, but Tales of Suspense #50 seems like it should be pretty hot.

Sorry what am I missing here? How does ToS 50 relate to either Abomination or Shang Chi?

On 8/8/2021 at 1:00 AM, lou_fine said:

Looks like you might have missed all of the discussion we had on this very topic back on Page 3 of this very thread here.  

The max charge cap was indeed only $3K way back in the day before being bumped up to $5K several years ago.  With the latest price increase as of the end of April, the cap has now been removed and the max charge is now simply 3% of the estimated value of the book in question.  

BTW:  If I remember correctly, that $60K fee was for a book valued at $2M.  So, not very many books would be paying this kind of fee.  But if it did qualify, the real charge would probably be more like over $100K because with the way books are currently being graded, it could cost you very dearly if you dare to have a book graded without it being pre-screened for pressing at a minimum.  So, if it did go through both the pressing and grading process, you would now be looking at $120K (i.e. $60K or thereabouts for pressing and another $60K for grading) to have the book certified on the first go round.    

Like I had pointed out, much more expensive than the 2.6% with a max cap of $2,600 for members or 2.75% with a max cap of only $2,750 per book for slabbing their high end books with the other guys across the street.  So, I totally agree with you that no way in heck will CGC be waving that fee because they feel that their brand is strong enough that submittors will continue to pay this huge difference for their label.  

I would think at least part of this would be insurance related, no? Don't get me wrong, I'm not naive and I'm sure it's mostly just good old capitalism however with the comic market exploding over the last year and given CGC's massive backlog on TAT's, their liability must be massive. They must be holding 10's of thousands of books in their facility if not 100's of thousands. The value of those books given current market conditions has to be in the 100's of millions. What's the insurance bill on a few hundred million dollars of collectibles?

If the CGC facility were to be destroyed, improbable but not impossible, they're on the hook for a huge bill. Prior to Backstone purchasing them, they'd just go out of business and good luck suing them to recover but now there is a much bigger entity with a lot more money to go after.

On 8/8/2021 at 2:37 PM, lou_fine said:

Pretty close, but not quite right and as a result, please note the corrections which I have made for you above.  

I have to admit of the two very extreme scenarios presented, yours is the more realistic one however I think the chances of anyone paying $120K to get a $2M book graded are pretty close to zero. Even if it's simply because there are many more options for pressing than CCS. CGC may be the only legitimate option for getting a $2M book graded but CCS does not hold a similar distinction on the pressing side.

On 8/8/2021 at 1:53 PM, RareHighGrade said:

Can anyone confirm whether Heritage or any other auction house has covered the grading fee for a submitter?  I didn't realize that was possible.

I can't confirm as I've never been in this position... unfortunately... however if you are giving an auction house tens of millions of dollars worth of consignments as the promise collection owners did, I imagine everything is negotiable, including grading fees.

Let me see if I can sum this up real quick.

a) some big books got graded recently

b) future state - (according to one guy who has never submitted a multimillion dollar book) CGC is going to pay the submitter for the privilege of grading his multimillion dollar book

c) future state - (according to another guy who has never submitted a multimillion dollar book) CGC is going to charge $120K for grading a multimillion dollar book

Did I get that more or less correct?

On 8/7/2021 at 7:17 PM, Professor Chaos said:

I feel like that is a indirect yet witty way of saying that you disagree. You asked what I thought the 7.5  tec 58 looked like if it didn't have the sticker. I said 6.0 to 7.0. Judging by your response I take it you you think it looks better than that.  I'm not sure why you asked my opinion on the grade , I guess because I said to me (judging by the pics) the 7.5 Promise looks nicer than the 8.0 on CL. What do you think of the 7.5? Just to be clear I'm creating a debate, just wondering now based on your indirect yet witty response. 

Guilty as charged. I think without the sticker, that book gets an 8.0/8.5. Given that I know the sticker figured into the grade, I'm inclined to think that CGC would have given it an 8.5 without as a .5 grade drop doesn't seem like enough. I think the residue on the back cover is from the sticker as well so I would imagine without the sticker on the cover, the back cover glue residue wouldn't be there either. I can see an argument being made for anything from 7.5 to 8.5 with and without the sticker but that book without the sticker is not a 6.0 on even the graders worst day. But seriously if that is how you grade, I would like to know when you are selling  I may not agree with your grading but it doesn't mean I wouldn't be a buyer. 

On 8/7/2021 at 7:20 AM, Tghutcn said:

Why would you pay more for Xmen 120 when Xmen 100 is a lot better of a issue than 120 either way I wouldn’t pay anywhere near those prices for both of them I don’t care if it’s 9.8

Probably because 120 is a first appearance and 100 isn't any sort of key. But yeah those prices are a bit nutty

On 8/6/2021 at 11:26 PM, Professor Chaos said:

Oh ok it usually does. I wasn't sure but I figured if they noted it on the label that may mean its not figured in the grade. Then again I believe when the label says "cover detached" that must be figured into the grade so yeah I believe you are correct. And I do see that staple, looks oxidized and pitted a little.  I would take the 8.0 if I had the choice  because of the sticker on the 7.5. I think the corners look about the same on both but the colors, surface and spine , at least from the pics, to me look much nicer on the 7.5. 

No. I think it looks more like a 6.0 to 7.0 even without the sticker. I don't think the 8.0 looks any better than a 7.0 either to be honest. But like they sometimes say, "I am not a professional grader". 

Cool. When are you holding your next sale?

On 8/6/2021 at 2:32 PM, Professor Chaos said:

Nice. I hadn't seen that yet. I know you can only tell so much from photos and scans, especially when comparing them from different auction houses. To me the Promise example looks better judging by the cover. And that's the 2nd Promise Detective I've noticed with that kind of sticker on it. The sticker looks terrible but I don't think it figures into the grade.

You think that book looks like a 7.5 without the sticker? 

On 7/20/2021 at 4:57 PM, Count D. Monet said:

Good lord, don't get him going again 

Sorry, just read the first post and this was so obvious I just had to chime in. Didn't read the rest of the thread before I replied 

On 7/12/2021 at 5:16 PM, sfcityduck said:

Until a little while ago, the max value cap on Modern was $200, right?  Modern has always been the lowest tier and the prices reflect that.  While I understand your rationalization for CGC's slow grading, THEY have never taken that position, and I really don't think there's a reason to think that a 1975-1980 book is any more fragile than a 1970-1974 book.   If Modern began in the 1990s, after comics had generally all abandoned newsprint, you might have a point (if foil, holographs, textured covers, etc.,  don't cut against that point).  But, that's not how Modern is defined.

I'm also not convinced by this statement:  "more likely to have defects therefore more time consuming to grade."  Do you really think it is easier to tell a 9.4 from a 9.6 from a 9.8 than to tell a 3.0 from a 3.5 from a 4.0?  

Ummm.... YES absolutely, far easier to differentiate at the top end than the bottom end.