Math Teacher

I just got this book from Heritage Auctions. As I have said before, the Trickster is my favorite Flash villain. With this book, I now have all the Trickster covers done by Carmine Infantino in the Silver Age. My SA Flash collection is almost complete. I need to get my copy of Flash #139 graded, and I am still looking for a high-grade copy of Flash #174. There is a CGC 7.5 of this issue on Ebay for $110, but it has Cream/Off-White pages. In addition, the seller and I had a disagreement. I made offers of $75, $90, and $99 for the book, but they were all rejected. The seller told me that he rejected the last offer because it was made on the final day of the auction. I stated that he should not put up a "Best Offer" notation if he was going to reject any reasonable offer. I am sure that I am going to get lectured in regard to expecting a seller to offer a discount, which I guess is true.

Flash #121 CGC 6.5 from Heritage Auctions.

Tales of Suspense #39 - #50, #52, and #57. I regret that issue #39 is not included with the other books, but it is stored in my safe deposit box.

The first fifteen issues of the Metal Men. This one of my favorite series when I was growing up. Metal Men #11 was the first comic book that I purchased through the mail. Metal Men #1 was the first CGC comic I purchased. I was just fascinated by the cover of Metal Men #1. The first piece of artwork that I commisioned was a recreation of that cover by Mike Esposito, back in 2009. I think he did a GREAT job.

Hawkman #1 - #10. I regret that I did not include Brave and the Bold #34 - #36 and #42 - #44. I think I may have posted those in an earlier post.

The Atom #1 - #10. I regret that I did not include Showcase #34 - #36. I think I may have posted them in an earlier post.

Avengers #1 CGC 5.5 from an IG user.

Avengers #1 CGC 5.5 from an IG user.

Avengers #1 CGC 5.5 from an IG user. I was hoping I could press it up to a 6.0, but I don't see that happening. At some point in time, I will upgrade to a CGC 6.0, but that is not a high priority for me right now. This book is a SIGNIFICANT upgrade from my CGC 1.5 with slightly brittle pages.

One of my favorite Flash covers!

Quite a feat!

I started reading comics seriously near the end of Steve Ditko's run. When I saw the cover of ASM #39, I thought, "What the hull happened?" Opening the cover and finding a new artist was the explanation. Look, I love Ditko's run, but John Romita will always be my Spider-Man artist of choice. RIP to one of the greatest artists of all time!

Well, my order was confirmed today, one day after I sent my e-mail. Just a coincidence? I guess we'll never know.

Unfortunately, when I looked in my tub of comics, all I found were some ratty newspapers at the bottom. I've got to get a magic tub like yours.

Spider-Man is also my favorite super-hero. At one time, it was my goal to have every Spider-Man comic ever printed. I had ASM #1 - #700 along with all non-reprint annuals. I had Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #1 - #263 along with the annuals, and I had Spider-Man #1 - #98 along with the annuals. I tried to keep up with the variants, but I finally realized how ridiculous it was to buy multiple copies of the same book, considering the insides were the same and only the front cover was different. After Dr. Octopus took over Spider-Man's body, I just decided that was enough for me. I pretty much decided to stop buying new comics at that point. After a while, about 2020, I decided that I was never going to read any of those issues again, so I sold off a large amount of my collection, including all my TPBs. My collection is now reduced to ASM #1 - #400, DD #1 - #200, and FF #1 - #300. I used a lot of these proceeds to obtain X-Men #1 - #16 along with Avengers #1 - #16; in both of these series, issue #16 was the last Kirby cover. Currently, I am working on obtaining the first ten issues of the early Silver Age Marvel books. I am quite close now, as I am only missing six issues. Once I complete that, I would like to upgrade my ASM Annuals #1, #4 - #6 and FF Annuals #1 - #6. I would like to re-obtain copies of IH #181 and GSXM #1, books I sold to help pay for my AF #15. There are five Batman books that I would like to get: DC #140 (first Riddler), Batman #9 (such an iconic image), Batman #171 (first SA Riddler), Batman #189 (first SA Scarecrow), and Batman #232 (first Ra's al Guhl). Those first two books are probably a pipe dream. I would also like to get a decent copy of MiS #53 (first Adam Strange) in the title. At some point in time, I will decide that there are no other issues that I want to pursue. I will continue to try to upgrade some of my current issues, but obtaining nicer copies of FF #1 (I have a CGC 2.5) and ASM #1 (I have a CGC 3.0) probably is not in the cards. If someone had told me that I would own IH #1 - #6, X-Men #1 - #16, Avengers #1 - #16, Sgt. Fury #1 - #10, and Tales of Suspese #39 - #50 back in the mid-2000s, I would never had believed it. Those early SA Marvel issues were books that I had always dreamed about. After all that, I don't know where I will proceed. My wife and I have really enjoyed traveling, and there are still many places we want to go. I guess that at some point, I will decide that my collection is "good enough," and I will cease adding items to my collection.

I got this reply from Heritage today. Thank you for your email. It typically takes 30 days from payment received to finalize all transactions such as yours. As it’s been 20 days, please give us another 10 business days to complete. Thank you for your patience and have a wonderful day.

I have had the same response more than once!

On May 22, I placed an order for a copy of The Flash #121 CGC 6.5 with Heritage Auctions. It was a "Buy Now" item. The seller originally had listed this book for $170. I made an offer of $155, and the seller countered with $168. By the time the next day had rolled around, the seller increased the price to $180. I then offered $168, and he countered with $170, which I accepted. As soon as I accepted this price, I was prompted to enter my payment method. I chose having it taken directly out of my checking account. At the end of May, I had not received any information about the book being shipped, nor had any money been taken out of my checking account. I tried calling Heritage multiple times, but each time I was transferred to a customer service agent, s/he could not hear me. Finally, someone from Heritage called me, and I expressed my concern about the delay. I was told, "This is reputable and regular seller, and we believe that the book is on its way to us." It is now June 11, which is 20+ days since I originally placed my order. In my opinion, I believe it is clear that the seller has no intention of shipping the book to Heritage. Of course, it could have been "lost" in the mail. I feel that the seller may have sold the book using another venue, and is just stalling. I sent an email to Heritage today, and I asked that this order be cancelled. Since today is Sunday, I haven't heard back from them. Has anyone had a similar experience with Heritage Auctions? If so, how was it resolved? Thank you in advance for your replies.

This is a book that is high on my want list. Would you accept $100 a month for the next 8 1/3 years?

Journey into Mystery #87 from Ebay. Pretty decent colors for a book that is 61 years old. I am now only six issues from reaching my goal of obtaining the first ten issues of the eleven early Marvel Silver Age issues. Titles Completed Amazing Spider-Man #1 - #400 Avengers #1 - #16 Daredevil #1 - #200 Fantastic Four #1 - #300 Incredible Hulk #1 - #6 Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos #1 - #10 Tales of Suspense #39 - #50, #52, #57 X-Men #1 - #16 Incomplete Titles Journey into Mystery - #88, #89, and #91 Strange Tales - #106 and #107 Tales to Astonish - #36

Tales of Suspense #45 CGC 4.5 from Heritage Auctions. This completes my Tales of Suspense collection, Tales of Suspense #39 - #50, #52, and #57. I will post a group shot this weekend.

WITH a spider emblem on the front of his costume, no less!

You and me both, @Jordysnordy!

I'm not a tax expert, but if you don't have a receipt, I would think the purchase price would be assumed to be $0.12. I bought my copy of ASM #1 back in May, 1980, for $250. I'm not even sure if I got a receipt. However, assuming that I did, who keeps receipts for 43 years?