Pantodude

Hmm. I would trade up a 5.0 for THAT book any day of the week! Are we talking about the same book -- the Heritage IH#1 7.0 that was minimally scraped along spine to remove some CT? At the end of the day, structurally that's a 7.0 with white pages, which also happens to look pretty darn good despite the minimal scraping at the spine. Not only does IH#1 have low census numbers compared to other mega keys, a 7.0 is top 9.5% on CGC census (41 7.0s total), whereas a 5.0 is only top 28.8%. Anyway, this book sold in July for $43,200, highest paid for a 7.0 that I know of up to that point, at least during the last two years. Hulks above 5.0 don't come up for sale that often. But again, regardless, this books looks nice for a 7.0 (particularly the black and dark areas overall of the FC), so I just disagree with the hate. Congrats to whoever bought that book.

Only $1000 to spend? Rick and Morty #1, regular First Print 2015, in a 9.8, if still obtainable at that price point. Smash hit show still going strong, cult following, and, most importantly, low, low print run. Only 695 CGC universal slabs total, of which only 156 are 9.8 blue/universal -- interesting proportion for a recent modern book.

Worth the wait. I have a some key first appearances with date stamps, but recently realized they only sometimes coincided with actual publication date....just a day or two off. Still cool, but I get a bit tingly all over when it matches, if you know what I mean.

Happy Halloween folks! I posted this in Spidey thread, but seems more at home here! I like date stamps (ideally neat and subtle), especially on keys and particularly when it matches the official publication date. For AF15, that's June 5, a date worthy of being a national holiday! Yall already know this, but also real cool how date stamps negate the misleading "fresh-through" dates that appear on all front covers, which for AF15 is "AUG." Does anyone have a sense of the odds of finding an AF15 with a "June 5" date stamp on the front cover? Especially in grade above 4.0? I have rarely seen one in any grade, whether front or back cover.

Happy Halloween folks! I like date stamps (ideally neat and subtle), especially on keys and particularly when it matches the official publication date. For AF15, that's June 5, a date worthy of being a national holiday! It's also cool how date stamps negate the misleading "fresh-through" dates that do appear on all front covers, which for AF15 is "AUG." Does anyone have a sense of the odds of finding an AF15 with a "June 5" date stamp on the front cover? Especially in grade above 4.0? I have rarely seen one in any grade, whether front or back cover.

Thank you!

I would have expected (from stuff I saw on internet) that the remaining two cities would have included at least one Texas city. Perhaps test cities numbered at least 7, including a city in Texas?

I posted this in the Star Wars club, but it should do double-duty here. The 35-cent variants were sold only in Memphis, Toledo, Tuscaloosa and Wilmington, and possibly two more test areas, perhaps in Texas. is there a definitive statement about which additional cities, if any, sold these price variants? Fascinating stuff.

That was a good nap. So what I miss? Everything, apparently. Again.

Hi. For what it's worth, I recall recently reading somewhere that early issues of Silver Surfer, including SS#4, came a bit wavy right off the printing press, for whatever reason. I also recall reading elsewhere that certain earlier CGC slabs (which I think the fellow alluded to above) were a bit tight with the inner well, which resulted in an apparent waviness that disappeared once the book was removed from the inner well (either immediately or after a few days). But hopefully more experienced folks could chime in and confirm either or both.

Take Hero for Hire #1 - 7.5 OW

I also got this Batman 49, but not in a CGC slab. I had been waiting like forever for the right opportunity on this (and the Bat 11), so I'm a happy camper.

Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in! I couldn't resist this grab. Structurally conserved but not cleaned or color touched. From the many pix available on Heritage and elsewhere, this issue's cover, whether in mid-, low- or high-grade, rarely avoided significant tanning or dust shadows, especially at the edges. So I was intrigued by how clean this cover appeared to be, and took a leap of faith. Now in hand, as you can see, it does not disappoint. At the center, the white of the King card just jumps out you, like 3-D!

SW#1 is a must-have, because of its ridiculous importance (so many key first appearances; staved off Marvel's bankruptcy; captivated so many minds; etc.). SW#1 35-c variant is even more so because of the legit scarcity. According to Overstreet, it is the #1 bronze key. There are only 256 slabbed copies of SW#1 35-c variant in TOTAL for all grades combined, whether blue, yellow, green, or purple. Overstreet estimates that only 1,500 copies were printed to begin with (!), and that only 500 might have survived in any condition to this day. By comparison, TMNT#1, a super-rare copper-age book in its own right, has 950 CGC slabs on census, which is twice the expected number of slabbed and raw SW#1 35-c books combined. Include raw TMNT#1s, and the disparity is even more remarkable. If the market frenzy turns to SW#1 35-c next (in addition to 30-c SW#1, which is already heating up), it could be some ride, even though the book is already pricey. The SW#1 35-c has been relatively stable of late, so I got one recently. I had been focusing on other ages. Glad to show some overdue love to my bronze PC.

Creases, especially in the darker or logo areas of the cover, can have more visual impact than other defects. Location, location. As with anything else, it also depends on how bad the creases are. Not all are created equal. Page quality appears to be mattering a bit more nowadays, more of a phenomenon in the highest grades.

Ironically, NYC has been a bit fragile of late due to the pandemic, civil unrest, etc. But it survived this startling adversity (July, 1942), so we'll be fine!

My only pulp. Quite fond of it though, hailing from NYC as I do.

I was going to post pix of a UK price variant of an early Marvel superhero grail, which are very difficult to find too. This thread is just for GA and PA? But I hopr an exception can be made for this VICTORIAN age special guest.

These two took me a while to find in any shape.

TOS #43. Thank you.

Tales to Astonish #90 (Marvel, 1967). CGG 7.5 OW/W. $180. Heating up a bit? A 7.0 sold last month for $230, but an 8.0 sold last month for $200, and an 8.5 sold for $258 in August.

Tales of Suspense #43 (Marvel, 1963). CGC 6.0 OW/W. $215. Below 90-day GPA and last 12-mos avg of $226-230.

RESERVED

Hope you are well. Just two books for now. No Probation List or Hall of Shame members. The first "take it" posted in the sales thread wins, trumping any private message activity. If we reach a deal via PM, please be sure to mark the book as “taken via PM”. Payment by PayPal please. Shipping to North America only. In the United States, $15 for one slab and $20 for 2+ slabs. For Canada, $20 for one slab and $25 for 2+ slabs. If you need more info/pix, please ask. No returns on CGC graded books.

Nice books everyone. Hope to be posting soon if I can get a couple more books of the set. Was gonna post a pix but too soon.