otherworldsj33

I certainly didn't mean to offend anyone. They were mine, I owned them, and I burned them at my junkyard. They are not rare or scarce in just about any grade, so it is not like I was committing a crime against humanity.

I have to find it. I know it's around somewhere. I'll get a scan up when I do.

Yeah, I destroyed them. That was in my "I'm disgusted with the grade manipulation" phase.

I have burned three 9.6's and one 9.4 because they were pressed. No kidding. I even had Adams sign a 9.4 227 in 6 different places on the cover, as it adds a uniqueness to it I could not get from any other 227.

All these years of collecting, I still look on the 1950's, to mid '60's DC covers so fondly. It's because of the covers themselves, and the characters, and sometimes even the stories, yes, but to me the DC covers of that time seem to so perfectly mirror and reflect the "innocence" of America in those days. Usually brings a smile to my face. Thanks for posting them.

Aesthetics would be number 1 on my list, most of the time. The art has to be at the least what I would deem aesthetically acceptable, for me to want to purchase it for my collection. While the importance of the Wolverine page is obvious, whatever it ends up selling for, I wouldn't (if I could) have been a bidder. I could think of probably dozens of other pieces, if available, I would rather spend the same amount of money on. The only way I would buy that page is if I had so much money, it would be as a financial investment. Buy it, tuck it away, probably rarely look at it, or even give it much thought. No fun in that.

I wonder if the owner came up the Hero Initiative idea, or if Borock told him about it?

"...only the diehards of the hobby have the capacity for rationalization and self-delusion required to bid this material deep into record territory." Ha-ha. Gene, one of the funniest descriptions about OA collectors I have read in a while. That it will break a record for a panel page, is probably a given. The question is how high will this page go? Its a no brainer to soar past the 150K barrier. Will it hit 300K? 350K? As far as any panel pages that still exist that would be valued higher, well, they are on Jefferson Drive in Washington, DC. That being the case, maybe a panel page from Spider-man 1 would go for 200K or more? On a somewhat related note, I went to a San Diego con around 2001, and Irwin Donenfeld was on a panel speaking about his dad, growing up with the comics, etc. At one point, he was talking about how his dad would ask for his opinion, being a boy of similar age as the target, or supposed target, audience, and he would ask his son to look at the comics before they came out. And his dad would do this before the comics were printed. He very casually said he vividly remembered reading Action comics #1, cover included, in its original art form, and told his dad he thought it was a good story. He was about 12 at the time.

The Dutch/Baker romance comics are some of the very best. .

I like Detective 395. Believe or not, I think the cover is a stunner, close to 227, heresy, I know, And it has the bonus of one of the better O'Neal/Adams stories. January 1970, start of the decade, first Detective or Batman (not counting B & B, or WF, which were team-up books) comic with Adams interior art. In it's own league, when all the positives considered.

Not really. I don't like how things evolved with the CGC grading, and pressing. I'll stick with my low grade raw copies, bound volume's, collected editions, and books about creators, and books about comics themselves. And of course, OA. If I was to do graded copies at this point, it would be just to flip, make a few dollars.

Nicely centered.

That seems like a logical way to look at it. But cities defined as what, 50,000 or more people? When the population is divided in sub groups such as kids, college students, poor people, etc, it may be that not every city has a copy. Especially if a city is defined at less then 50K people.

A short story on a Batman 238 I had graded around 10-11 years ago, and sold a year or 2 later. I was purchasing runs of quite a few DC series in the late 80's, early 90's from a CBG adv., from a fella in Connt., I forget his name. Anyway, he was advertising a Batman early bronze age run, from around issue 215 or so, to around #250, 255. Average grade was nm, according to his adv., and having purchased from him before, I knew he was mostly on target. So I get the comics in the mail, and going through them, I am satisfied with the grading, everything was there, and I just put them away, content that I was on my way to completing my second set of the run. Years later, after CGC became established, I noticed that 238 was rare, or maybe at that point, maybe did not even exist, at 9.4 on the census. So I had it graded, this was when the old style labels were still in effect, and it came back 9.4. As I said, I sold it about a year or 2 later, for what was, at that time, a record price, I forget the exact number, maybe around $1200? And quite frankly, I was shocked it did that well, around $400-$500 more then I believed it would. But for me the real sweet part was that, not including the grading fee, I paid, with postage, about $25 for that comic. Talk about Gone with the Wind!

This lady sounds like she's expressing sentiments shared by many of the anti-abstract art members of these boards. Like they say, everyones a critic.

Good for me I'm not the jealous type. I am envious though !

I like that format. Looks great with the CGC'ed book.

Love that frame. Oh, and kick asz art too !

Personal descision. If I had the money, I would get raw copies from reputable sources, as reading copies. If I spend with wisdom, I would think, in due time, at the least, I would be able to recoup my money, if I ever wanted to sell. I have most of the reprints, in color and black and white, but I prefer reading and holding the actual comics, takes me back. But thats just me.

Do you prefer to read and hold them? Or is the display and security of a certified grade more important to you? It is probably safer to purchase the more expensive books, i.e., #1 to #12 CGC graded from reputable sources.You'll pay more initially, but you'll be secure in the grade with a restoration check. If your the high risk gambling type, you could make (or lose) more if you buy them raw, if you ever decide to sell. If I was looking to purchase 3.5-ish grades, I would tend to look for CGC graded books and go for as best page quality as possible, with the nicest presentation of the book as possible. Shopping around and patience is a must for the most bang for the buck.

Nice ! Congrats.

I've been saying for a while now that in the long term this press and flip is eventually going to harm the hobby. In fact I beleived it would have occured already. I'm not judging anyone for doing it, money being what it is, but just that these press created grades and the ensuing prices can't be susatainable.

Link to the OA cover of the Batman...Mad Monk #1 issue. http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=518885&GSub=82083

Nice !

I never saw this thread till now. Some real talent on these boards.