The Green Ghost

Here's what I assume are absolute keys:

100 Anniversary issue

101 First Morbius

121 Death of Gwen Stacy

122 Death of Green Goblin

129 First Punisher

135 Second Punisher

149 First Ben Reilly

162 First Jigsaw

194 First Black Cat

Am I missing anything or overrating one of them? I don't know if I would consider 102 (second Morbius) THAT much of a key, same for 151 even with classic cover, but I'd like to hear.

6 hours ago, bronze_rules said:

There was only about 5 pages of returns. You can further filter with Genre: Superheroes, for example.

This returns only 2 pages and 86 titles for all of the 70s decade. I think the first was exactly what you originally asked for.  What exactly is your relevant criteria? Keys? There might be other ways to approach it, but this is a very simple and accurate method with little work. Keep in mind you'll lose other keys like Conan (Sword and Sorcery), and they do not allow you to logicially index by OR. You'd have to do each Genre you want, separately. If you knew how to wrangle data, there are other ways, as they provide data files, but a bit more complicated.

e.g. Genre/Superheroes

Yeah, mainly just keys, which includes Conan, Star Wars, etc. I did go through the list but it's hard to ascertain whether things like Night Nurse, The Cat, Godzilla and Omega are "keys" worth having, even after consulting a price guide, or just nonsense. In the same way, I suppose, if somebody wanted to know about great television series of the '00s, they'd have a hard time scrawling through an entire list by genres to know which were worthwhile to binge or not.

12 hours ago, bronze_rules said:

You can do an advanced search at GCD (grand comics database).

You can also download to .csv file and wrangle however you want.

include in advanced search query

Search For: Covers

Issue Fields/Issues: 1

Start Date: 1970-01-01

End Date: 1980-01-01

Order By: Date FIrst, Series Name Second

Publisher: Marvel

Publisher Field: United States Issues: It should return something like this

 

 

Default would sort by name

 

 

This was great, but is there any way to cut out the funny animal comics and redundant annuals? I still have to go page by page to discern which are relevant, which is why I hoped for a comprehensive list that eliminated that.

I'll do that, it's arduous to go through month by month though. Has anyone ever just compiled a straight chronological list of all Marvel series, before the glut of the '90s at least?

I'm trying to find a complete list of all Marvel first issues in order, but can't find anything. Since there were no miniseries until Contest of Champions, all #1 issues were, by default, ongoing series. It's easy enough to remember things like Ghost Rider and Luke Cage Hero for Hire, but then there are the licensed comics, and the horror titles, and it becomes more confusing. Most #1s were keys so I just wanted a sense of what I'm looking for. Link anywhere?

I got both this and Hulk 181 recently in grades I could accept, but wish I had acted sooner to have possibly paid substantially less. I just wasn't as fluid with cash. Just to not torture myself, how much could I have gotten each for a year ago, or two years ago? In 7-7.5 grade as a median, I guess. I'm happy with the copies I got though and they present well, so it wasn't a total loss.

Is it better to order with bags and boards, or not? Condition of the comics aside, it seems far easier to do this than buy them separately, unless they're so terrible they'd need replacing, like Midtown's.

On 3/26/2019 at 9:52 PM, Supa-Bad-Mofo said:

@brentdevilI'd take it to them and see what they say. You can't go wrong. If they do it for free, perfect.  If not, you can decide what you want to do. (Personally, I would at least reholder it without a press. There's too much value there not to do it. Whether or not you want to press and regrade is another story...there are risks there.) FYI, when reholdering (whether you pay, or they do it because of an issue like you're having), they will remove the book from the existing holder and inner well. They remove and replace the microchamber paper they put inside the books (this is used to mitigate further deterioration of the book from the natural decomposition of the paper and ink)  and then place the book in a new well and current holder. 

The book I had issues with had similar bending, but was at a higher grade. I would bet that with the small amount of bending and the grade of your book, they wouldn't even think twice about reholering at the current grade...no questions asked. I would just ask them. They are pretty reasonable and tend to stand by their products. 

You'll have to prepare to be separated from your book for a while. It'll take some time to get it pressed and/or reholdered and/or regraded.

I went to Wondercon and they took care of it, I guess I explained it sufficiently. I hope it made it clear that I want them to just do whatever they think is necessary (rather than re-use the inner well or downgrade it), but they didn't charge me a fee so I can't complain. Thanks to everyone for their input.

13 minutes ago, Supa-Bad-Mofo said:

@brentdevil I would reccomend asking CGC to RE-HOLDER your book. You wouldn't want to get into a pistol duel at the show with all the holster talk.  On a more serious note,  I had a book that was damaged (the bottom of the book was quite bent, non color-breaking and no tears, most bending on the back cover) while in the slab. I owned the book, but the damage was done before I bought it. Keep in mind, the slab was pristine, with no external damage, lending to the proof the the holder itself was not protecting/supporting the book like it should.

This ties right in with 3rd party grading and the integrity of CGC's grading service. Once graded and encapsulated, the book should, under normal conditions and handling,  retain its grade. A book that slides around excessively in the well and causes damage, will not retain the grade, and in a way, nullifies the purpose of grading and encapsulation.

I contacted CGC and they asked that I ship the book to them ASAP. The agent working on my claim hand carried the book in for a quick press, to repair and mitigate the damage. She then, hand delivered the book to the graders for a "review", to ensure the book retained its grade. (Even in this scenario, there was a chance that it could have dropped if there was damage that warranted a reduction.) Fortunately,  the book retained the original 9.6 grade. It was reholdered in the newest slab design at the time and sent back to me. All of this was done for me at no cost and in only a few days. 

Thanks- I take it you're saying you weren't the original owner. How did you get in touch with them to make an official claim? I called but was at the whims of the one person I talked to, who wasn't exactly encouraging me to "Bring it in, we'll take care of it." He basically didn't want to advise me what to do at all, which was the worst answer.

I'm going to be at Wondercon this weekend, but don't want to bring it if they'll just play dumb and I'll have to flip a coin as whether to pay to press or not. Advice on how to proceed, based on the pics etc, would be appreciated. TBH I don't know if a simple reholdering is even possible, as it's slipping in the inner well, and my impression is they just transfer the inner well without adjustment in these cases.

6 hours ago, The Lions Den said:

*sigh*  

?

3 hours ago, The Lions Den said:

This problem may not have been caused by CGC. It's possible the holder may have been damaged while in someone else's possession, yes? In any event, if the book is "flying around" inside the holder, you should probably get it back to CGC as soon as possible. I wouldn't advise leaving it as is. The problem is, if it's as loose as you describe, you may end up causing more damage if you try to ship it back. It sounds like your best option is to take the book to WonderCon and deliver it to CGC personally. Keep it as stable as possible on the journey there. When you get there, calmly explain to them what's going on and see what they can do. I would suggest having it pressed and then regraded---that would smooth out the damage that's already been done and hopefully get the book back to the original grade of 6.5. The page quality should stay the same, but you never know---that's just a chance you'll have to take. Plead your case and maybe they'll cut you a break on the cost. But for the amount of money this book is worth, it should be given the best possible treatment. That includes a press, regrade, shiny new holder and a night on the town (OK, that last one's for you). Good luck, and may the force be with you...  

Thanks. I'm assuming that CGC evaluates on a case to case basis what they'd be willing to cover. I don't think it's been "damaged" by the previous owner, but I have no idea why it's sliding (slightly, not like flubber or anything) the way it is. Maybe missing the microfilament?

Can anyone tell, based on the pictures, that the mild creasing on the back would or would not be enough to bump it down half a point? Rest of the book honestly looks better than a 6.5, so I'm hoping it's not a case of the value stamp missing or anything 

2 hours ago, Kevin76 said:

Just sell the book if you're not happy with it and buy a new one. There is no clear evidence that the book was damaged inside the case or not, Do you have close up pictures of when you bought the book to see any difference?  The front cover has a slight overhang anyway but still looks centered in the holder. They sell new holders for $15? they don't regrade the book every time someone replaces a holder, if that was the case, we'd all be paying $15 to have pre 1975 books graded instead of $40-$70 

It's flying around inside the case at the slightest tap, creating the damage at the top seen in the pics. I can move it just by shaking it slightly and I don't think it's supposed to do that.

I've heard stories about people getting bumped down half a grade, so I'm not sure if CGC would just re-holster assuming it couldn't possibly be damaged in the case- since it WAS damaged due to not being secured properly.

4 minutes ago, faster friends said:

You would have to pay for a press and regrade.

even if you reholder it you will have to pay. And the grade may go down with the damage.

you should press and have it graded again.

Do you (or anybody) know under which conditions they cover reholster-ing for extreme shaken cases, or do they never ever re-do a case for free even with obvious fault?

1 minute ago, faster friends said:

Have it pressed before sending back to be graded.

you may get a grade bump.

Would CGC be willing to cover that? I don't really want to pay them to press and reholster and risk a lower grade (or lose the "White Pages"), since the case is technically not secured properly by them.

Hi, I recently got a Hulk 181 6.5, for a fair price from a major comic vendor. Upon receiving it, it seems the comic is not just "shaken" in the mildest sense, it's pretty loose, as the slightest love tap on the top or bottom sends it flying all over the case. The top left corner of the back (as pictured) has been damaged by this in the case, as well as creasing one of the overlapping pages when it flew over the the other side. There's barely any room for the length of the comic in the case, as you can see. The good news for me is, the staples seem unaffected so the cover didn't come loose, and it was clearly this way when I bought it so the damage was already done, rather than occurring through shipping.

It seems like it clearly needs to be reholstered, but I do not want to risk losing the current grade. The comic honestly looks better than a 6.5 to me, but is the slight damage enough to knock it down more than half a point? I would rather leave it and keep it static if CGC would be difficult about helping with this, but it's such a high ticket item that I would hope they would at least offer a free reholster as the problem is self-evident. I will be going to Wondercon later this month and can show it to CGC in person; it was graded in 2013 so hopefully a new case would help. What should I do?

I have no idea where these pages have gone but I'm looking for something from this issue. There are a few for sale online with a private dealer, but the prices are way too high for what they are. Title page is what I'm most hoping for, just throwing it out there in case anyone has it. Thanks!

18 hours ago, MyCameo said:

http://www.comichron.com/

Where are the shipping lists please, as opposed to the sales data? Can't find it.

13 hours ago, telerites said:

Also if it is helpful, you can see books by month and year by both on sale and cover date as well as other sort options.  Plus you get a pic of each book and some details like cover price.

http://www.mikesamazingworld.com/mikes/features/comic.php?comicid=188438

Mike's is great, but it has some inaccuracies, like going by cover date even if the comic shipped completely different from the date listed. For example, it's totally off about the books that were delayed by 9/11.

Hi all, is there some site with an archive of comics that shipped a certain week, dating back to the early '00s? Obviously Previews had them at one point, but I don't want to do an internet archive search for every single week. If not the entire century, as far back as 2004 or so?

I know it must be difficult, as we can't even come to a consensus on what the Birds of Prey first appearance was in 1996.

So which are the most desirable of the blind bags, besides 19 of course? Is that the only one? My shop has a bunch of everything left, but there's zero info on what's moving.

Ironically, the rarest issue by far seems to be the free one, I couldn't find it anywhere. People have no idea what I'm talking about. No big loss, I'm sure it'll show up for $1 online soon.

13 hours ago, Jerkfro said:

And it's because of attitudes like this that help CGC justify not completely eliminating the rings. I'm not trying to single you out solely or be an a s s to you but we should all be demanding a higher standard from them and not just accepting the status quo. If we don't demand improvements, we will never get them. Perhaps CGC should start following the Lean tenet of Continuous Improvement. 

I really just don't know... before I decide if I want them or not, could anyone please tell me if they damage the book? It's impossible to tell from the comments so far, it seems like a yes.

I know, I know, "none of them"... just wondering, as I haven't a handy online price guide to tell me these things.

I'm wondering about not only most accurate, but ease of convenience? Comicpriceguide.com is way off on the pricing, and Key Collector comics is a nightmare to navigate, they don't list any variants to non-subscribers.

Do they damage the book, in any way? I don't mind looking at them if it doesn't affect condition.