Pantodude

Short but sweet works! I can definitely try that more often. You could have listed Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies Comics #1. That's another biggie that seems immune so far, with most recent 7.0 sale in Nov 2022 for $18K, compared to $6450 in 2019. But GA has so few sales, any book could experience big swings without necessarily meaning a pull back. Low sales could just reflect an imperfect market, with a high one just around the corner. Maybe that happened w/ the recent Supe1.

Sadly, apparently not. You could have answered your own question with a little digging with those same books, although not so bad really for a couple of those (and HT5 seems immune so far). Overall, still not shabby since 2018, but certainly off peaks in some cases. Archie Comics #50, 6.5 grade, sold for $2040 in 2019, and then $4200 in 2022. 6.5: $4000 in Feb 2023 Doll Man #37, 6.5 grade, sold for $780 in 2019, and then $1680 in 2022. 4.0: $759 in Mar 2023; $618 in Apr 2023 Haunted Thrills #5, 4.5 grade, sold for $1425 in 2019, and then $4920 in 2021.: nada contrary Marvel Family #1, 3.0 grade, sold for $2520 in 2019, and then $11,000 in 2021. 4.5 sold for $20K in 2022 but $7500 in Mar 2023; 5.0 sold for $17K and 6.0 sold for $36K both in July 2022, but 7.0 = $15600 in Mar 2023. Punch Comics #9, 3.5 grade, sold for $3450 in 2018 and then $9600 in 2020. 3.5 sold for $6600 in Apr 2023 Rangers #31, 6.0 grade, sold for $721 in 2018, SAME BOOK sold for $1920 in 2021. If this is Rangers Comics #31 (1946), 6.0 sold for $739 in June 2023.

Agreed as to first part. What did you mean by the highlighted part?

Just a bump on a more festive but belated note. AF15's official release date is June 5! So a belated Happy Birthday to you, Spidey!

Living in one of the test market cities is almost as cool as living in Hell's Kitchen! Just a case in point. The huge multiples paid for Star Wars #1 35-cent variants exists at ALL grades (from 1.8 to 9.4 per GPA). So much so that in 2017.2018, a 35c variant in 1.5 or 1.8 in 2017/2018 went for about as much as the 30c version in 9.8! Lower to mid grade 35c books routinely fetch over 20x premium over same-grade 30c books nowadays, with more extreme multiples at the high end (e.g., in 9.4, $50K vs $500). So the premium phenomenon in the context of vintage price variants is not limited to the high grades, as it might be with modern cover variants (i dunno). Also, unlike modern cover variants that are marketed and hyped (not judging here) as rare counterparts prior to sale, which of course tends to incite interest when released and thereafter, the vintage price variants did not receive premiums until many, many years after release. When they were sold, the rest of the country outside of the like 4 test cities knew nothing about their existence, let alone how rare they were! It took time to realize their scarcity, but once it happened, the premiums for 35c price variants have stuck (in all grades). That's another big difference.

This is just not true. Price variants (whether experimental price variants like this Eternals book and Star Wars #1, or the country price variants like the pence and australians) are NOTHING like the modern cover variants. They were fundamental for pegging realistic newsstand pricing or achieving sufficient market penetration in the intended foreign market, and they are a very cool, unique part of SA and BA history. There are great threads discussing their unique and special role already, so I won't say more on that. Please do some research before spreading misinformation regarding entire genres like price variants! It is not good for the hobby.

Pleasant transaction with Thomas negotiating a recent purchase of a cool raw book.

Howdy! And welcome to the Boards! My concern about the water heater, especially in a small room w/ poor air circulation, is that the room might get too warm, particularly with the door closed. Keep in mind that a dehumidifier will (often) blow out warm air, which could compound the situation particularly on very humid days when the unit might do double duty. A dehumidifier also produces water (in a pan/tub) that will need to be emptied periodically, perhaps daily with a decent dehumidifier in a very humid environment. The unit will turn off once the pan is full until emptied, so you want to also make sure the storage location is not one of those "out of sight, out of mind" kind of places, where the unit might remain off for too long w/o you being aware of it. If your situation allows, it might be best to find a "normal" room, both in size and air flow, and put a dehumidifier there. If kids/pets/guests are a concern, you could get a dedicated a dedicated, lockable cabinet, etc., in such a room.

Unless someone has an irrational screw-the-government-at-all-costs mentality (maybe some do?), it should be irrelevant that you'll pay more in capital gains tax as the books appreciate in this inheritance plus anticipated appreciation scenario. Worrying about Uncle Sam doesn't make cents. This is why employees generally want promotions--more for Uncle Sam, sure, but more importantly, more for you, too!

The OP's book is also "slightly brittle," not "brittle," which is a separate designation. As discussed in many places on these Boards (mostly in the GA section), there is a significant difference between the two, borne out by experience with (1) submissions of raws that ended up surprising by getting SB pages (instead of higher PQ) and/or (2) cracking out SB slabs and being pleasantly surprised w/ mostly supple and bright pages. In a nutshell, those boardies explained that SB is often due to fragile corners with most of page and pages remaining supple. Like when a portion of a book sticks out of a pile and is more exposed to unfavorable environmental conditions. Just food for thought.

I agree one needs to be wary, but "disregard [all] eBay sales" might be going too far. I would expect there are many buyers, including comic book collectors, who simply don't like auctions. They would prefer to avoid the extra fees, delay and/or uncertainty associated w/ auctions in favor of buying outright (either BIN or via an offer), buying in person, buying only from a familiar or trusted (to them) source, buying from a source that could provide more or better images or explanation, and/or buying from a source that would accept returns. I might be one of those guys despite participating in many auctions myself! But even putting all that aside, there are many people with deep pockets who are impatient and/or impulsive and/or simply know what they want and want it quick, especially if the book is uncommon. That would account for at least some of the seemingly outlier eBay sales. If I'm a seller who is not in a rush to sell, I wouldn't completely ignore such sales history. All that said, it looks like the sale in question is gone from GPA already! Safe to say DISREGARD (this time)! Good call.

bald winged man back to bald villain

Me? No, no. I just proposed a hypothetical scenario where the $13K+ could make sense, but it was in jest. I, like you, am not aware of any news/event that explains the $13K+ sale. BTW, this $13K+ sale is now on GPA. Let's see if it sticks, I guess.

There is no longer any dispute that Supe4 was on the newsstands a week before AC23. So Supe4 is the first appearance of Luthor on newsstands and anywhere actually, but he was supposed to be the second appearance because Supe4 took place after AC23 story-wise. So CGC is incorrect calling Supe4 Luthor's 2nd appearance on the label w/o further qualification. It is also pretty established that the bald guy on the cover is a henchman, not Luthor. But interestingly soon after Luthor (who originally had HAIR as per AC23 on the videoscreen) ended up looking like that henchman! Probably b/c so many folks (mistakenly) thought he looked like that already or preferred that look?

Um, yes it would IF the most recent sale was AFTER the hypothetical revelation re Luthor. It's called causality? Here purely theoretical and in jest, but the logic still holds.

No, I was remarking what if recently was confirmed that the dude IS supposed to be Luthor, and always was supposed to be him, and not just a henchman. That would be a game changer.

I have edited this post several times now. Thought I could explain the result, but time will tell i guess. Maybe very recent news that the bald guy on the cover is in fact Luthor!

early effort at bondage to earliest suicide attempts (from Adventures of Mr. Obadiah Oldbuck, 1841)

last war issue to last cardboard cover issue

Bad guys struck by wall from the front to good guy struck by drawer from behind.

True, but mine's bigger.

Page quality is distinct from cover tanning. Both are noted separately (the former on the label, the latter in the notes). I should add that the OP's book is a good example of that. The cover is bright, including the title, the expansive sky area, and the white price circle and publication date. The back cover could be nice, too, but hard to be sure w/ images provided.

Page quality is distinct from cover tanning. Both are noted separately (the former on the label, the latter in the notes).

That is quite a bright and clean cover for a 4.0, especially the title and sky areas. Some MC, but no creases or stains to speak of for this grade and none in any important places, and well-centered. Look at enough comps and hopefully you reach a comfort zone. There might be previews for upcoming auctions or eBay listings that could help you determine if a better presenting copy is in the near-term horizon at that price point, depending on your window for the spend.