Pantodude

Respecfully, your does not make any sense! Isn't the whole point that the "foreign" bit is a misconception that has resulted in an irrational price imbalance? The Marvel pence "Type 1a" price variants were made HERE at the same time (and on the same machines, and using the same ink, and by the same workers) as the cents version but were slated for distribution in the UK, much like the Canadian variants, which were slated for Canada. If the Canadian variants are not considered foreign and fetch a premium due to relative scarcity, then clearly the same should hold true for the Marvel pence "Type 1a" price variants. (Of course, if the Canadian variants ARE considered foreign and fetch a premium anyway, then the disparate treatment of the pence variants is even more irrational!) In other words, like the Canadian variants, whose price relies on the established sales history of the regular cents version plus a premium, the price of early SA pence versions should rely on the established sales history of the 12 cent versions plus a premium due to relative scarcity. Not very difficult at all! So the risk aversion, if that is the reason, is irrational. [Edited to remove incorrect reference to 35-cent versions...we're only talking about Canadian].

Take Vamp 1. thx

belatedly, yes that is correct about Silver Streak Comics #1. That is also the first comic book by the company that would soon be known as Lev Gleason Publications.

I hear ya. Ultimately, if the price is right...then it is! It's a balancing act, and it's all okay. Todd McFarlane has many (i think predominantly) restored books in his collection, including an AF15, and they all looked nice. McFarlane! So who am I to judge. Just try to be nice to books. Cuz they have been nice to us. I mean, GRRR!

Ah....I goofed...thought it was a done deal, which to me would have suggested a penalty. So strike the implicit assumption of my original statement above. I too am curious at the result. $7K would have been too harsh a penalty, and arguably a geat deal for the purely spec-oriented. The book is special regardless and may yet garner a 3.0 blue price, especially as it looks okay. It does look presentable! Because most folks grade books as they find them, arguably this legit blue 3.0 should garner a blue 3.0 price, potentially subject to further adjustments up or down for any of the many reasons folks haggle on final prices of any book. Some folks could reasonbly prefer this book's appearance over one that has other issues warranting the 3.0. Like I said, this book is rather nice-looking for the grade, although some folks prefer to avoid this book's issues, like some avoid CT to begin with.

deleted [based on misunderstanding that sold for $6.9K...had not sold yet!]

Folks, that is just the cover of your 4.0. Remember, before the slabbing craze, people actually cared about the condition of the entire book! I assume that is what is reflected by the 6.0 grade achieved by the recent 6.0 book that sold at Heritage for $48K despite extensive MC. The non-cover/structural integrity aspects of the book (extent of stains, tears, or creases, and other issues to interior covers and pages, condition of staple areas, etc) likely justified a 6.0 grade. By the same token, there were likely non-cover-related reasons for your book receiving a 4.0. But even your nice-looking cover, I notice at least one but apparently three tears on your front cover's top edge -- an at least 1/3" tear, plus to right of that a 1/4 inch tear and a 1/8" tear. I also see a water stain on the bottom front cover, and I've read grade takes a big hit for water stains. If that was not enough to make your book's grade a 4.0, then it was likely the non-cover characteristics. If only CGC could "slab" a book in way that allowed opening and seeing the interior....I expect that would address much of the "mystery" surrounding the grades. For folks that crack open slabs anyway, they might care more about the book being a 6.0 structurally than 4.0 eye candy, since they have access to the whole book and enjoy the eye candy from within too, not just without. Just sayin. No need to judge the purchaser of that 6.0 without knowing the condition of the rest of the book, for which he paid a discounted price anyway (6.0s have been going for 55K recently). In short, the 48K for that book looks like a good deal all things considered. Wow...editing b/c further inquiry shows that a 6.0 reflects top 13.4% of the CGC census for blue/universal AF15 slabs! Top 13.4%! A 4.0... "only" top 40.7%. That alone justifies the $48K paid for the recent Heritage 6.0 even w/ extensive MC, and like a I said, even suggests a good--if not very good--deal for an almost 60-year-old book with that structural integrity.

I am shocked. Went back to June 5 on this amazing thread and....it's still hard to even think about .... no one celebrated June 5th! So, belatedly, I must say, HAPPY BIRTHDAY SPIDEY!

I dunno. 6.0s have gone for a lot lately. Seemed like a decent deal.

Thx!

Grrr! I am arrived. I am worthy. I have creds: Never got around to joining this club b/c I was too lazy to scan my stuff. Hope to join more clubs...I have more creds!

Take per PM. thx

take B171 per pm

Take PC33 per PM. thx

Late to the party, but just caught up. So disappointed. Went through it all, and he never posted the darn scans of the books! WTH. At this point, I'd PAY to see the damn scans. Wait, would I really? .... Yeah, I would! At least a nickel.

Sorry to hear about letting the currency go. But it's all part of the journey, I guess. I think we all dream about Action 1 (and Det27 and AF15)!

Personally, I am glad your fun was limited to stamps, because I could also go on and on about coins and currency! Folks either forget or just don't know how many varieties there are for a given classic coin or note. Take the Fugio Cent of 1787. It seems like just one "issue," but that coin has like 50 known varieties that, like stamps, one could use a magnifying glass to sort out! I had a LOT of fun identifying my varieties. Just saying stamps and coins and currency are each potentially VERY multi-dimensional (to address one of your more recent comments).

Hey there G G. I did sense it was tongue-in-cheek, so I kept it light. I appreciate your follow-up post too. But that was the point of MY post. This is a comic forum...no need to disparage stamp collecting here. Anyway, enjoy what you love!

First, I am appalled that the thread title changed from using “hobby” to “collectibles”! I go to sleep and look what happens. Regardless, even though “hobbyist” is the correct generic term for the comic book enthusiast, let’s go with “collector” or panelologist if folks are more comfortable with that. Second, someone, and it might as well be me, should address the disparaging remarks directed toward stamp collecting. I love comic books like many of you, but there is no reason to knock stamps here. To each his own, but some of the remarks were just wildly wrong (as in inaccurate but also mean-spirited). Don't mean to single you out G G, but I need to single you out G G. You said, “I don't think you can compare stamps to comic books.” Really? I, for one, much prefer reading PAPER comic books and don’t see the appeal of the digital format (unless it becomes the ONLY way of reading a comic book). Similarly, my stamps are a creative pursuit as an escape from my screen-based life, and I prefer the old-school gum-backed stamps over the stickers of today. Also similarly, you can spend a lot of money on rare stamps or enjoy it inexpensively, and some collect stamps simply because they are intrigued by the various pictures, designs, and colors they see on them. For example: I'm pretty sure there are comic books that are valued at least in part due to their iconic or otherwise super-cool cover? Silver Surfer #4 anyone, or Web of Mystery #17? The entire process of searching for stamps (including trading for stamps to complete a run or set or just get that one issue) sounds familiar too, doesn’t it? And like with comic book collecting, you need to focus on what you really want to collect, for financial reasons but also sanity! You might not need a magnifying glass to appreciate the finer details of a comic book, but using a magnifier to identify and/or confirm varieties (which exist with comic books too) is part of the fun! There are many more similarities, but I need to get started on my weekend! You also said, “But stamps are small, fairly uninteresting and not very tactile.” Have you seen the jumbo stamps (both regular and back-of-the-book) out there! For example, this interesting 2.5” x 4” specimen that is on card stock (!) and fairly robust for a tactile experience: Or this almost full-page commemorative beauty measuring 6” x 8”: Or related smaller, but still not “small” examples: Then you said, “Stamps you sometimes lick and stick on an envelope and throw into a red box to be sent wherever and never to be seen again...or you stick them in albums.” Wrong again. Much of my stamp collection is unlicked and otherwise original gum! And my stamps have never been thrown anywhere. I keep them on a table in my mancave, along with my comics on the walls, to be looked at periodically. In fact, I am particularly fond of my Captain Marvel Jr. #21 precisely because of its connection to my complete and colorful set of U.S. War Savings stamps introduced during WWII, so I display them together (note the not-so-small $5 stamp in the middle, which is quite a specimen): Finally, you said, “In short, stamps suck.” Stamps might not be your cup of tea, but they definitely do not suck. Anyway, enjoy what you love, whatever it is.

Grrrr! Hulk smash take-bots!

The thread that keeps on going, and going, and going.... Yeah!

If this whole thread (“Where do you see the HOBBY in 25 years?,” emphasis added) was supposed to be premised on the notion of a “hobby,” readers perhaps should focus on what the “hobby” means to them, not other people. It seems like some of you identify yourselves as hobbyists but instead come across, particularly in this thread, as investors. Investing necessarily must account for other people. That places undue constraints on how one should be thinking about and pursuing their HOBBY, within reason of course. If the concern is how deeply one should be pursuing the hobby depending on its future prospects, then the question might be, when do you want to start living your life? Is it going to depend on whether something is a good investment or whether all your debts have been paid off first? Do most people hold off going on vacations, enjoying nights out with friends or family, or buying the latest technology or clothes or cars just because they still have a mortgage or potential college bills for children? Of course not. That’s what keeps this great country of ours going. I try not to worry about whether an individual book is a good investment (except for paying fair price at the time I buy it). One's interest and respect for certain titles/issues might compel one to obtain the highest grade he/she can afford at the time (AF15 anyone?). And I am okay with that—both now and likely also in retrospect when the time comes. Because that is how the hobby should be enjoyed. 10, 20, 30 years from now, after having seen a cherished book on my wall all those years, I am not really going to care how it fared price-wise. Like a custom renovation to a house--you do it to enjoy it during your life, hardly expecting a dollar-for-dollar recoupment upon sale of the house years later, let alone a financial gain. To be clear, I am talking to the true collector/hobbyist, not someone who approaches comics as an investment. Appreciation or at least preservation of capital, although nice, should largely be beside the point in a hobby that is pursued within your financial means. In any event, comics offer (some more than others) at least a possibility of appreciation, unlike the sunk costs of vacations and most fancy cars! In short, to the true hobbyist, you’ll be fine now and 25 years from now if you buy what you enjoy. Just don’t over pay (in the present), which pretty much goes for anything you can put your money to. So sit back, grab a cold one, and enjoy the hobby or anything else you fancy.

take

Take per PM. thx

I'm late to the thread. Nice, well-presenting copy. Congrats!