comicginger1789

I mean, it is great that they fixed it. But the fact that they missed that tells me that they are super swamped with books and just grading based on cover alone. Quick front and back inspection, little flaws here and here, budda boom a 9.2, send it along and grade more books.

9.0-9.2 Pics are a little bowny/yellow which I assume is the lighting. So long as the whites are not slightly discoloured on that cover, 9.0-9.2 seems right. Otherwise, if slightly discoloured, it could sink into VF range.

I mean, I am not a CGC grader so for me, when I set up to grade my own comics I just have a flat black shelf top and a good lit room. I inspect with my eyes (thankfully still young and working well enough) and assign a grade. I don't fine the need to go over it with a magnifying glass. At the end of the day, I feel grading is subjective. I feel confident in my abilities to assign a solid grade that most collectors would agree with just by me looking at the book. If anything, sometimes I am a bit harsher on my own books and when I am curious, I welcome feedback from others on the forums here. But no, never used a magnifying glass.

Living proof that you are not hardcore unless you live hardcore

No one is ever happy when they miss their train...choo choo! They just need to be happy with the one they get to/chose to ride...Todd McFarlane image boxes station, here we come!

Yup. I think the huge sale and potential to cash in on newsstands really applies to 9.8 copies. It seems the market is there for big money to be spend while lower grades see very small, if any gains in the sales. Who knows, maybe that 9.6 can magically transform into a 9.8 and a $1800 pay day for someone

Agree

$1910 technically So if anyone is hoarding pristine raw newsstand copies...now might be the time to ride the money train! Like I said, I think this may be extreme and the pendulum could swing back to a more reasonable amount but ya neverrrr know

I will disagree with people who think this is a passing fad. I think it is an evolution of the collecting mentality...and while I am not gung ho caring about it, I think there are enough who are. Granted, the pendulum may be swinging far in that direction but I don't think it will settle back down to where it was 10-15 years ago with no one caring. It will settle somewhere in between with enough people caring to make newsstands more valuable but maybe the market for a $2000 9.8 ASM #299 will be slightly softer, thats all.

CGC 9.8s of this issue can be had for under $100 (and sell for $60-80 usually) so if you or anyone really wanted one, they would just go with that rather than this one with the production flaw. Basically, why risk grading it because if they do hit the flaw and it gets a 9.4 or 9.6, it really is all a waste.

I'll be a tad harsher at 2.5 but then again, GA books in lower grade always seem to get graded higher than what I think :P

8.0 as is. Outside shot at a tad higher but that small piece off top edge BC might keep from 9.0

As is, I am at 8.0. As long as those are just wrinkles and not stains on the bottom of the back cover and the top edge. If stains, could bump closer to 7.0. If they are wrinkles and a press can smooth, I honestly would not be shocked at a 8.5-9.0. Great copy and if you are a "slabber", I would def be curious to see what it comes back at.

I will agree with this. I would much rather the former than the latter. At the end of the day, can you really fault those who love the former (plus inserts, double cover, etc, etc.) or those who love the same issue with a million covers? There is a collector for everything. At the end of the day though, I think that it is WISER to put money towards things like MJ/National Diamond inserts, double covers, price variants and newsstand than it is variant covers. Generally, if you are investing (or even collecting with the hopes of recouping whence you "retire" or move on from your books), I think you will find more people willing to buy the first photo than the second.

The thing I would like to know more about is the supposed "experts" saying that 50-80% of newsstand copies "did not survive". A recent video by a Youtuber and some info on a certain app have stated that for some 90s books, print runs of direct copies were around 1 million copies, with newsstands being anywhere from 20-30% of that, or say 250 000 copies give or take. How they come up with more than half being "lost, destroyed, damaged or just gone" is interesting. If I see some hard data, okay that makes sense. But some people speculating, thus driving up prices, concerns me. I get that it could very well be, I just don't know if it is truly that high. That being said, I do believe that very high grade newsstands are scarcer but I am still blown away at the prices people are willing to spend for a barcode.

For me, I don't really care about newsstand vs direct edition. If I have the issue for my collection or run or whatever, great. If I happen to have doubles, I try to take the nicer copy (obviously) and keep it, choosing to sell the other. If I have two copies and one is newsstand and one is not, I apply this principle. If they are close in grade, I will keep the newsstand and sell the direct. The same applies to price variants. At the end of the day, I would rather a VF/NM regular ole US price copy than a VG/FN Canadian price copy. And as I am not someone to hoard multiple copies or "variations" of an issue, I will sell them. The ONLY exception is a Marvel Superheroes Secret Wars #1 that I have in both US and Canadian price...both were $1 so I figured I will keep both. As for other niche things (as they have popped up in convo here), I like double covers and price variants (from the 70s only) and inserts but I would not say I go out hunting and paying a premium for them. Basically, if I can get for the same price (or maybe a few bucks more), sure I will spend $10 on an otherwise $5 comic if it has something neat about it. But moreso, I acquire price variants and double covers and the like by accident whilst buying and keep some for the novelty of having a truly unique collection

That is what I asked myself but hey...I have seen random issues trimmed for no apparent reason. I will get some back cover pics to maybe help solidify the "no trim" assessment. Thanks all!

So another one from the PC that I have owned for a long time. Going back and looking at it it appears off. I took as many pics as possible. Wondering what some thoughts are here...kinda a random book to trim. Thanks for all opinions!

I believe it should say "Shut Up and Take My Money" haha Alas...time to scrounge up some coin!

Sweet grade!

I scrolled down til I saw this and now am guessing before I scroll a tad further. I think 7.0 is where it is at. A 6.5 would not surprise me and a 7.5 would be rather high but what do I know!

Solid 5.0 from me. That book length crease bumps it out of the Fine range.

I think it looks better than a lot of 2.0's but it is definitely in that range. I don't think it would make 3.0 at all, with the amount of wear showing. 2.5 seems right.

I think 2.5 is a tad harsh. The chunk missing sucks. If it were not missing, I think you have a 4.0-4.5 copy in hand. With it missing, I think it gets bumped down to around 3.5. Much nicer than a lot of 3.0's but the piece missing keeps it from being VG outright so 3.5 is where I settle.

I mean, I wouldn't buy it but people are gaga over this book. A restored 9.0 (had trimming) sold recently for $3500....so if this is somewhere near that with the resto, even if someone dropped $2500 on it, they could make a small profit after grading even with a purple label. Not something I would buy but there is obviously a market if reselling is the goal. However, I would not bank on a restored book growing in value if the goal is to sell in the far future.