CycleGirl

X-Men #1 - 15 Median = 6.5 X-Men #16 - 66 Median = 8.5 Does that help? Here are a couple of graphs that I made. It shows the grade breakdown of the census for issues 30 - 66. This first one shows 9.2 to 9.8 . This graph really shows the difference in population from issue to issue in the high grades. The second one shows 8.0 to 9.8 . Comments? It is interesting to see which issues are hard to find or the lack of ones slabbed. Thanks phoenix. That's what I noticed too! There is a lot of variability in the CGC population from issue to issue. Did you notice, for example, how issue #45 is almost 3 times as common as #46? Why aren't there more #46s and so many #45s? Here are a couple of more graphs. The first is of issues #1-15 . I expanded the grades shown all the way down to VG. I also lumped the grades together 4.0 & 4.5 are combined, for example. I've noticed that issues #11 and #15 tend to be hard to find in CGC. I guess this explains it. CGC just hasn't slabbed that many. Here are issues 16 - 29 CycleGirl

X-Men #1 - 15 Median = 6.5 X-Men #16 - 66 Median = 8.5 Does that help? Here are a couple of graphs that I made. It shows the grade breakdown of the census for issues 30 - 66. This first one shows 9.2 to 9.8 . This graph really shows the difference in population from issue to issue in the high grades. The second one shows 8.0 to 9.8 . Comments?

Thanks phoenix, shadow, worldsbestcomics, mutantkeys, october and beancurd for replying with your collecting goals. I was struck by how many of us had similar goals in terms of grades. That is, most of us demand higher grades as the issue numbers increase and accept lower grades on low-numbered issues. I suppose that we all normalize the cost curve to an extent. For the majority the run, most of us are trying to stay at VF or higher. Anyway, in light of this, I've been looking at the CGC census. I actually have entered it all into an Excel sheet. Why look at the census? Well, the grade and the census give us a measure of scarcity. And we all know the demand/scarcity = value. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to advocate collecting for the sake of investing. However, when I spend significant money on a book, I would like to have some confidence that I'm not buying too much into a "bubble" of unsupportable value. The value will remain as long as demand/scarcity remains high. Oops, I'm getting preachy. Let me just get some statistics. I'll post more if it's of interest. X-Men Issues #1 - 66 Total CGC Graded books = 11766 Average grade = 7.49 (1 - 66) Grade _ Avg # in Grade per Issue 9.8 __ 0.9 9.6 __ 6.8 9.4 __ 16.1 9.2 __ 17.6 9.0 __ 21.8 8.5 __ 17.9 8.0 __ 16.6 7.5 __ 13.8 7.0 __ 12.6 6.5 __ 9.2 6.0 __ 7.4 5.5 __ 4.9 5.0 __ 7.2 4.5 __ 5.9 4.0 __ 5.9 3.5 __ 3.2 3.0 __ 3.6 Just in case this isn't clear. There are an average of 17.9 books graded exactly 8.5 in each issue #1 - 66. I cut off the histogram at 4.0, there are a few books below that level. It won't surprise anyone to hear that the census looks quite different for issues 1-15. Obviously, these issues have many more mid-grade books in the CGC census. X-Men #1 - 15 CGC Graded books = 4462 Average Grade = 6.18 X-Men #16 - #66 CGC Graded books = 7304 Average Grade = 8.29 Do people find this of interest? Is this information compiled somewhere that I don't know about? I have some graphs that I could share too, but it's late and I have to work in the morning. CycleGirl

Nice books! Especially that #3. I never noticed it before... Is Iceman throwing a snow airplane?

I'm curious about how people on this board have decided what grades to target for their collection. I mean, it's taken me a long time to figure out where I want my 1-66 run to be. I started out just wanting one of every issue (generally raw). Then I wanted a complete collection of graded issues. Now my goals are #1 to #10 Fine or better #11 to #20 Fine/VF minimum, average of VF or better #21 to #66 VF minimum, average of 9.0 or better for the group For the near term, I won't be spending a lot for high-grade, single-digit issues. I'll save those for later. I've also been cautious about buying a lot of high-priced 9.4 and 9.6 issues. The money doesn't go very far buying the ultra-grades. For now, I think it's more fun to pick up a few 9.0 and 9.2 books every month with an occasional 9.4 or 9.6 when the right book (at the right price) comes along. I've found that setting these goals has really helped me to collect with more of a purpose. For example, when kc listed two 9.2 books this weekend, I knew that they were PERFECT for my collection. Exactly where I wanted those issues to be. Someday, when the run is more filled-in, I'm sure that I'll work on upgrading the lowest-grade issues. Anyway, thanks for reading this far. For those of you who have been at this for a while, I'm curious. Did you start out just trying to own one of every issue and then, in a series of steps, evolve your goals ever higher? Oh, and to finish off this message, here are two issues I bought back in November and hadn't gotten around to posting. I got a fairly good deal on them from lawyerboy on Ebay. CycleGirl

Congratulations on a nice pick-up!

X-Men vs. Frankenstein...what's not to like about it Nice book! Hey, wasn't X-Men the worst-selling Marvel title at the time? They were probably ready to try anything!

Looks like a book that was well-loved.

Okay.... Take a look at this one. Have you ever seen so much spine roll? CycleGirl Wow, getting it graded? This would be a great one if we had a competition for the most worthless slab of all time! A $0.50 book in a $25 holder!

Okay.... Take a look at this one. Have you ever seen so much spine roll? CycleGirl

Did someone say "dupes?"

A really nice looking book! I can't see the cut you're talking about though. Does it go through the paper or is it more of a narrow gouge? If you don't mind me asking.... How much is he asking for the book? CycleGirl It goes from about the right cheek of cyclops up in the top left hand corner to the start of X in X-Men. From the scan it looks like a very slight indentation, but it goes through the cover. And as for how much, since he is one of those souls who is a great guy and i've been friends with for about 10 years, he sould it to me for $45 Aussie...conversion would be about $40 US. Will you submit it to CGC? I'm thinking yes because it should still grade out well Plus i'll have to keep an eye out when my LCS has a little sale of all the stuff he has acquired. Good luck on the submission Be sure to let us know how it comes out!

A really nice looking book! I can't see the cut you're talking about though. Does it go through the paper or is it more of a narrow gouge? If you don't mind me asking.... How much is he asking for the book? CycleGirl It goes from about the right cheek of cyclops up in the top left hand corner to the start of X in X-Men. From the scan it looks like a very slight indentation, but it goes through the cover. And as for how much, since he is one of those souls who is a great guy and i've been friends with for about 10 years, he sould it to me for $45 Aussie...conversion would be about $40 US. Will you submit it to CGC?

A really nice looking book! I can't see the cut you're talking about though. Does it go through the paper or is it more of a narrow gouge? If you don't mind me asking.... How much is he asking for the book? CycleGirl

1) Fill in half my holes in my 1-66 CGC run. 16 books - currently 34/66 - goal is 50/66 (+16) by end of 2007 - at least 2 in 9.4 or 9.6 (currently own 4 books in this run at 9.4-9.6) - at least half of new books in 9.0+ 2) Fill in 5-10 holes in my CGC 94-143 run. 3) Make the registry top 10 with either the 1-200 or 1-66 run.

Kudos to divad phoenix215 for fast payment and generally being great to deal with

Thank you! Perfect both ways!

Well, KC and mr_highgrade kind of raised the bar. I'm reposting the 98 because the scanned image was awful. Okay, you're probably saying "She bought ANOTHER #50, and in 9.6!?! Is she nuts!" What can I say? When I bought the 9.2, I wasn't thinking that I was actually going to win the Comiclink focused auction. But here it is Another favorite cover and with White pages! CycleGirl

Beautiful.

very nice!

Nice Beancurd!

Here ya go. This is with the scanner. I think that the digital camera does a better job, but I have to play with the lights a lot. CycleGirl click image to enlarge

Sure! I won't be home until late tonight. I'll get it in tonight or tomorrow. CG

Here is one that the postman brought today! This is my absolute favorite Steranko cover. A Masterpiece CycleGirl