Ablation Steve

$0. That's the hobby part of it. In short, if I were not doing this, I would not be engaging in a per-hour side hustle, because that wouldn't be fun like the hobby aspect of this. And I hate not-fun!

I wonder, could I get you to concede that a person could make $20 on a $100 comic after all fees and costs are taken into account?

You're going on your gut and saying, "no, that can't be." I'm going off numbers that show I've long since paid for all of the dreck I invested in and am making strange money, even after taxes and fees. If you net $70 for two Magneto cover, that covers 50 copies you purchased in 1991 (even accounting for inflation). The multiples seen between the $1.25 ($2.50 with inflation?) I paid wholesale and the $70 net I'm getting are so vast that it far outweighs all of the $1.25 missteps I've had, like X-Force #1. Wait, that's worth $100 ($50 net) too? Then Robin II #1, perhaps. I think X-Men 1 is the perfect example. In 1991 it was a terrible investment because of the sheer number. But it turned out it was a fine investment thanks to slabbing. Again, this whole thing is about "maybe the speculators (like me) were dumb for investing, but dumb luck has paid off for the patient." Basically, I was dumb but now I'm trying to revise history and tell you I'm smart! Plus I'm having fun with the whole process. Part of the hobby.

No, didn't only pick winners at all. But when a single slab can offset the 28 copies of X-Force #1 that I bought back in the day — and I still get to keep the X-Force #1 for later — then "the few worth something" that I sell beyond the first slab is profit. I can understand some of the backlash. A lot of it is "I can't believe people are buying 90s stuff, what fools!" I feel that way about the 1980s GIJoe #1, which will always be a $10 book for me, or ASM 361, or Lethal Protector which I'm surprised anyone will give more than $40 for, or Lethal Protector that I don't think is worth $3 (but it's actually just regret that I didn't buy more of them), or X-Men 4 Omega Red which many people on this board recently had a good laugh about because, to many of us, it's worthless. It can be difficult to accept what's actually happening even if we can't / don't want to believe it. (Regarding X-Men #1, recent sales of 9.8s range from $70-130 [Magneto cover seems the most desirable]) Just remember, this whole idea wasn't about "early 90s drek was the best place to put you're money." It's about "its is possible to make pretty good money from them given volume, patience, and some hustling."

That was not me...and still isn't!

Here are my quick thoughts on those. CGC membership fee - breaks even with the slabbing credit you get submission form fee - $5 for 25 books, split out that's really nothing. Packing cost is a few cents in tape, as I just use free shipping boxes or recycled materials Shipping cost to CGC - Totally legit cost. Don't forget cost of insurance! Grading - also legit. Was cheaper in the past when I was doing most of this. But even if you get a 9.6 you can still sell it and break even Return shipping - You're right on that. But if I make $70 on just one slab, it pays shipping on the other 24. Ebay runs about 13%, but I've since learned the wonders of MCS at 10% (though there's also the cost of sending to MCS) Cost of paper and ink - And printer! Amortized (did I use that word right?) these costs are negligible. $300 over 5 years? Packaging materials - I usually use recycled, or free from PO The time I spend - It's all part of the hobby, the fun of it all, the thrill of the sale. I was either going to send to CGC or play another 10 games of Halo. Cost of car - PO drops off free boxes on my doorstep and picks up boxes from my doorstep Capital gains - Absolutely. Huge. But also factored in. Storage costs - I have a nice basement Inflationary losses - True. But this is easily offset by the profit. I've run the numbers, and it's worked. If I spend 15 minutes per comic to send to CGC, take pics once it's back, list it (or just send to MCS), then it's not bad money per hour. Oh, and the 30 years of holding onto them. Can't forget that!

Not disagreeing with you in the slightest. There were maaaaaaaany better ways to invest, but I certainly wasn't thinking of those at the ages of 16-18. And I got to "play adult" by investing in something. My only point in all of this was to prove that the idea of "sending my kids to college on these" wasn't as silly as it's often made out to be.

I bought 51 copies of X-Men #1. Let's say $30 of that went into slabbing and ebay fees and taxes, sell for $100 and I'm making $70. $70 X 51 is $3500 just for those. Spider-Man 2099 #1 is now $250, but unfortunately I only bought five of those. 10 Spawn #1, even after fees and slabbing, can get you $2000 today. That's just a square foot of space (in unslabbed form) that got me $6500. Average college would be around $13,000 a year if it followed normal inflation, so that's not a bad chunk from 66 books. You don't need a warehouse, I've done all this on about 2 dozen long boxes (and yes, still have a bunch of drek...but the way things are going and how Marvel is launching series, everything will be valuable eventually! Cross your fingers for X-Force for me!) Again, I know that the entire idea of slabbing was the only thing that made this happen (i.e. it didn't go the way I planned but it still happened anyway), and while people can scoff at people paying $100 for a common 9.8, that doesn't stop it from happening. It's certainly not the efficient way to make money, but it's been fun as part of the hobby. I guess I just like challenging the idea of the foolish early 90s speculator. (Even though, in some ways, I was one)

In articles about the speculation in the early 90s, many articles mock the new comic buyers by saying they thought that "buying these will put my kid through college." At the time I was 18, and I bought into a lot of it (though I was already a collector). My whole paycheck went into Death of Superman, Spawn 1, Spider-Man 1, X-Force 1, X-Men 1, Spider-Man 2099. I've made a couple thousand dollars slabbing and selling X-Men 1, same with Spawn 1-5, same with Spider-Man 1-13, Lethal Protector, Spider-Man 2099 and ASM 365. Even made a few bucks on Superman and Knightfall and Wildcats. Some money from post-Unity Valiant variants. Even if I only see $60 returns on something like an X-Men 1 9.8, I'm doing that in bulk because I bought in bulk, and it actually adds up. And now I have a kid who's 18, and he's in college — so it seems like a good time for a check-in. If I do a rough tally...the idea of speculation comics paying for college wasn't so far off. If college stayed on track with inflation (instead of rising about 4X inflation), yes, I'd have at least a couple of years of college paid for. Tuition rising so much more than inflation was the only thing that got in the way. If slabbing hadn't come along, it's true, I'd have never made my money back. But I've lucked out with the current situation, and so could have everyone else who was roped in by the speculation, so long as they didn't dump and kept everything in good shape. Yes, it took nearly 30 years, but that's typical for nostalgia to kick in. (And true, it took a lot of time and work and moving dozens of long boxes across the country to ensure I made a profit.) Just putting this here to start a conversation...curious as to your take.

My thinking is that most of them from the 1990s-up are commanding some sort of premium right now, so they would sell faster and/or at a higher price...good for you and the seller.

I like stupid money!

I split the difference, four 9.8 and four 9.6. Definitely worth the risk. On the 9.6, even after fees and taxes and shipping I'll still make about $50 per, and actual work time was probably an hour for the whole lot. Worth it to some, not worth it to others. I can certainly understand either way.

I too have had good experiences with MCS, having just started in the last few months. Nothing beats the benefit of not having to deal with returns. Suggestion for the MCS representative that's been stopping by: would you consider adding "newsstand" to items that might benefit from it (like anything 1985-2013). Like it or not, people are searching by that term and I feel kind of silly putting my stuff up at a premium if it isn't distinguished from the others in some way. S

Honestly, I was being serious. Last year I was buying a bunch of those Pedigree 5-packs that came out back in the 90s. Could usually get Spawn #1-5 for about $45, and while they certainly weren't guaranteed to be 9.8s, they had about a 50/50 chance. Considering even a 9.6 will get about $125, and any #2-5 9.8s were also worth it, it was a pretty good scheme.

I was disappointed for about 10 second before I started thinking the same thing. Since CGC won't do something like this by request, it certainly makes it probably one of a kind (including compared to the other 7 copies that I sent in at the same time!) I do plan on auctioning it, probably closer to when the inevitable reboot movie comes out.

...but CGC beat me to it!

Page 1000 must be my lucky page, as stuff I sent to CGC in July (and received by CGC on 10/4) just shipped after spending seven weeks in GEI. Not the best grades, but I'm just glad I can stop checking eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeevery day. Now, the stuff that I sent in to CSS the day before the price increase...I'm just going to pretend those don't exist and be surprised when they show up on my door. ("Aww, isn't that nice, Past Steve sent me a present!")

It was a batch of 50 that got broken up into two orders. 25 is the max they send back per box, so it's the max that a submission number can have. S

I hate the short answer! These were books from the same submission and I've had the first half back for a month and a half. How things get so separated, I'd like to know. S

Just bumping my question, because my first Grading/Encapsulation/Imaging batch took 6 days and my second (sent in on the same day) are still in G/E/I after 2 months. Is it common for them to sit in G/E/I for so long? S

So what's the average that stuff tends to spend in grading/encapsulation/imaging? CGC got my moderns from CCS on 10/4 and they're still still sitting in grading/encapsulation/imaging after 45 days. (The other sets of books I sent in at the same time were only in there for 21 day before shipping)

An excellent point. I'm not new to comics, but very new to the idea of cleaning/pressing, so I was just seeing if there were any easy solutions out there. It's still going to need a thorough press. Any suggestions? (again, very new to this!)

I've never had any comic professionally worked on, so if I'm looking for a cleaner to give it a go and a thorough press (it has pressure writing marks from when someone wrote a note on another piece of paper on top of it), I'm looking for suggestions on who to send it to. And knowing that a VG/FN went for $200, a FN/VF went for $540, a 9.0 CGC went for $1000, and a 9.8 CGC went for $8,000...what should I pay to get the grade bumps? S

Thanks for the responses, everyone. What would anyone suggest the next plan of action should be? Just get it pressed and sell it as-is? (or pressed and graded and just accept the inky grade)

Maybe both! Someone reading the CBG, getting ink on the fingers, and rubbing their fingers on the comic. I should check the interior