comicginger1789

 A nice cover! Could I ask what you particularly love about it? Yes Superman is drawn well and the colours pop with the orange but the background for me is very weakly drawn. Again, just interested to see what someone else sees and is drawn to

On 2/23/2022 at 11:14 AM, Get Marwood & I said:

Stop it. You're making me blush, Eric 

If I can ever contribute to anything Canadian related don’t hesitate to ask!

Amazing stuff!

YOU should be publishing books. Your level of detail and research on yet ANOTHER price variant that no one knew of is just the best to read about. It really is. Applause all around, I am a fan!

On 8/9/2021 at 5:59 PM, axiom94 said:

Just letting you know I am interested in your project.

Thanks! I will post another update soon however this month has been more of a bummer to be honest! Maybe that will change ya never know!

Alright so here are books that were acquired at one point or another, but were either traded or sold for cash in order to be at the point I am at currently. This list does not include the original 2 books I started with.

1. Spawn #1 CGC 9.4 Newsstand 

2. Spawn #2 CGC 9.4 Newsstand 

3. Hulk #449 NM- range (already owned)

4. Hulk #340 NM- range 

5. TMNT #1 4^th print VF range, TMNT #5 second print VF range, 2009 TMNT #1 Color Edition VF/NM range, Tales of TMNT #2 VF/NM range

6. ASM #40 in GD/VG range 

7. Marvel Spotlight #12 6.5/7.0 range undercopy (a reminder that undercopies can enter this challenge, I just have to take into account the cost it took me to acquire the undercopy and factor that into my costs)

8. Marvel Premiere #2 in Fine range (already owned)

9. ASM #275 CPV in Fine range (already owned)

10. Voltron #1 in VF/NM range CPV

11. Booster Gold #1 in VF range CPV

12. Batman #251 VG- range, undercopy 

See anything you would have kept that I did not? Keep in mind that moving these allowed me to get where I am (and I still have room to continue, although the quality of books for sale/trade are much lower than initially, as you can see from my original post). The challenge now will be maximizing the profit off the books I have and using the cash to make some smart buys that can be traded OR somehow turn what I have into better books via trade. 

 Besides I had the book at 6.5-7.0 tops with the back cover the way it was and some of the other flaws. Was floored to get an 8.0 and who knows a clean could push to 8.5-9.0 so maybe someday I’ll resubmit. But I’m happy as is right now. 

2 hours ago, Heronext said:

When you say it was pressed, pressed by CGC/CCS?  Because if they did press it, they should have also dry cleaned that X-Men back cover

No not by them. Had it done independently 

3 hours ago, thirdgreenham said:

You did well!

And your pressing did well! Another batch will be coming your way when I get around to it. Thanks Andy!

13 hours ago, boomtown said:

Congrats on the grades! That ASM 252 getting a 9.0 is kind of scary.

A bit. I mean it’s not gonna get sold and it’s eviden”ce to me that CGC def can have off days. That or because the front grades 9.4 and the back is more 7.5, they cut it down the middle at 9.0. Not saying that’s how I have ever graded but maybe that’s how this was viewed. Or else it was rushed or mixed up with another book 

Yeah not to sound mean but $200 is nowhere near what I would expect to get for all those books pictured. Personally, and this comes from someone who buys and sells frequently enough, if I had all those comics, I would hope for $100 and likely jump at $75 if it came my way. 
 

Another indicator is have you had anyone reach out to you about buying them? If the desire isn’t there the value isn’t either. As others have mentioned, a lot of these books are only valuable if they have a first appearance, a double entendre cover or are simply classic old archies from the 50s. This all seems to be 60s and 70s stuff which, while old, does not hold a ton of value.

2 hours ago, Professor Pecora said:

Thank You! I totally agree with you about loving yellow covers because they POP nicely in high-grade! This is one of the reasons why ASM #129 is one of my personal all-time favorite covers in all of comics!

An interesting fact is that ASM #121, #125 and #129 all share bright yellow covers AND they are all spaced out between "4" issues! 

-Professor Pecora

Ah but what is the meaning of that number 4, professor sir?

Even better than yellow cover though? Deep purple covers like Captain Marvel 4!

And I thought my copy (which I self grade around 8.5 or so) looked sharp....killer book! I love books with yellow covers they just pop especially when high grade. 

5 hours ago, 1950's war comics said:

i bet your DD #1 is going to look great in the slab.........

Thanks!

And yes I plan on not viewing anything until they are returned. Partially because this is what I would do anyway but mainly because I sent them to @thirdgreenhamand he graciously pressed and submitted! So I won’t know until they are on my doorstep!!!!

Also, my friend submitted his GI Joe 21 (a Canadian price copy) and ASM 210 so when the books are back we plan on having a physically distanced reveal party in the garage (and maybe a few celebratory pops!)

1 hour ago, the blob said:

Book 10: Spawn #1. Anticipated 9.2-9.4. Another one I am curious to see if higher happens and one that I may sell if it hits this grade or better as I do have a regular Spawn #1 and for me, the sale could go towards some much better stuff!

---

Is this a newsstand? Slabbing a regular 9.2 may not make economic sense.

Yes it was I edited that in my entry thanks:) I’m not silly enough to slab the regular copy

With dry cleaning, I probably cleaned 30 books or so before I felt comfortable cleaning one from my PC that had value (my white She Hulk 1).

31 minutes ago, the blob said:

you're the one who asked about pressing. it is insane for a neophyte presser to work on expensive books. i think you understand that. you press junk ones to get practice.

 

Yes sorry I wasn’t clear. If I did take the time to learn how to press I was wondering how long it takes to become competent enough to start pressing any book? 100 books? 500? I was curious as to the learning curve. 

2 hours ago, the blob said:

Don't even think about pressing an expensive book on your own. No harm in practicing on junk books. Heck, I have turned $1 books into $2 books simply by putting them under 2 or 3 heavy magazine boxes for a couple of years!

Well I don’t see the point in pressing cheapo books and really for me, my copy in 9.0 is fine. I don’t need to press it just to make it a 9.4 raw. Maybe if I were selling but not my intent. I’ve happily sold raw all my life and it worked for me

3 minutes ago, axiom94 said:

Well done. If you get into pressing your books yourself, you will find another excellent value stream.

I am hesitant to dive into pressing...is it that easy to do? I have stacks of "junk" books for practicing cleaning, which I started doing. Pressing though would be the next level and I don't know if I am there yet. My fear would be that if I went to try and press some key issue, I would destroy it and never find a way to replace it. For example, my ASM #300 is probably a 9.4 as is and mayyybee a press makes it a 9.6 but since I would just be selling raw some day anyway, I don't think pressing is needed for me. 

Update!

I replaced a couple books with upgrade (93, 165, 166, 167) and added a few I was missing including 32, 70 and 86.

46 minutes ago, littledoom said:

a lot on ebay was cheap a decade ago.. I remember those fun times.. convincing my dad to create an ebay/paypal account.. I still use it as my main today... $20 was like a million to me back then..so unfortunately I would never splurge... I knew back then what I was buying was incredibly good stuff.. like ASM 100, Watchmen 1 CGC 9.0, and he knew it.. paid no more than $20 each for those total.. so the ASM 100 was like 10 plus 9 shipping lol.. Although I didn't need permission, I asked for him to sign off on what I bought even on Midtown Comics website... I wish I would have taken great advantage of his generosity like he wanted me too.. key issues were dirt cheap back then.. I remember passing on Gotham City Sirens 1 because I thought it he wouldn't be cool w a cover like that.. boy was I wrong lol.

Yes, my dad is not a big comic guy, but he supported the fact I collected. He did not usually let me spend much more than $30-40 so when I was allowed to buy stuff early on, I tried to make it count by buying lots. You could get great Bronze Age stuff...like 40-50 comics...for like $20 or less. It is how I grew my Spidey collection and collection as a whole early on. Sometimes, I have to remind myself that those days are gone. That dollar bin books back then are now legit $5-10 books...which still pains me to have to pay sometimes for fillers but tis the way it is. 

Yeah it was my first time helping someone else sell stuff. Has happened one other time which will also appear in this journal series:) It was fun and I set a goal at the start off what I thought I could get and was pretty much spot on. He also had a two issues with original mailers which at the time I should have maybe kept. They weren’t key books but was kinda need to see how they had been sent to him.

At times I wonder if it would have been better to have stuck to my goal but then I look at how diverse and interesting my collection is because I branched out and it makes me happy. That’s the key if you love your collection and loved acquiring it all then you are doing it right!

Your collecting sounds like most collectors...

One starts out with a character or title they love most. For me, it was Spider-Man. So I started with PPTSS, ASM and Marvel Team-Up. Then it slowly branched into his appearances in other titles and then the occasional other Marvel title from the Bronze Age. But still just Marvel, no DC for me.

Then, a movie happens that gets you excited about DC (for me, Dark Knight Returns). And you get into Batman and start buying key Batman moments and covers and stories. And then you start buying any and all great covers and stories. To a point where you are just accumulating. Eventually, you get to a point where you re-refine your focus, usually back where you began. I could likely have ASM issues $1-50 and 129 (key chunks I am missing) by now had I stuck to the plan. I don't. I am close. But I do have a wealth of other great stuff...some Golden Age books, some runs, some high grade first appearances, some epic stories that all collectors should read. I could part with it but then I wouldn't have it. I also know that to get the books I could have had, it is gonna cost more now than 10 years ago.

So in the end, I am back hunting ASM books. It is slow as I like a deal and deals require patience and maybe only purchasing a small handful of books a year. If you are happy with this, this seems the road you may be about to embark on with your own collecting

So you are saying I should peruse the comics in a local shop here where I know some of these titles are because I am in Canada? Ok will do!