Doctor Dositheus

At least the spine of cover wasn't "sompletely spit" (from next week's HA auction):

That center crease unfortunately is going to have a large influence on the grade. Without being able to see for certain how long it is, I have a hard time going higher than 6.5.

The problem with the Price Guide is you're looking at prices and sales from a half a year ago at least. It's just a different world, with keys moving with movie and media momentum all the time. It still has its place, and iI stlll love reading it cover to cover, but probably not the best source for how much copies of a title are selling for right now.

Search "comic lot" on ebay to see what's out there and get a better idea of the value of a dozen longboxes.

You just mentioned 3 of the top 4 ways to check. The only other one is another website called gpanalysis. It's subscription based with some tryout functionality like GoCollect. (I didn't comment on the OCBPG because, well, let's not have that discussion here)

Sell them in small lots with a relevant "sweetener" in each lot to help move the drek.

Okay, I looked at the sales history a little closer and it looks like it has been steadier than I thought. It is of course undervalued though. I'd like to see it closer to at least half the value of Showcase 4 but we'll have to wait for a more successful movie appearance probably.

I think FF49 might be climbing some more again. You know what's not hot? Showcase 22. Poor GL fans.

That might actually fetch a premium for cream page quality.

I should offer on the spot pressing removal services. Hand me your comic and I will remove any trace of it being pressed. Grade guaranteed to drop or your money back.

Nick definitely knows grading. He may not be the most popular guy with everybody for his "flipping" (I don't know this for a fact, but there is some anti-flipping sentiment around here), but he is an accurate grader.

I like to believe by honoring the offer good karma will come back to you.

The big curved trapezoidal thing holds the book in place better if that's what you're referring to. They use them on an as needed basis, if they feel it needs to be more secure.

I'll second the vote for Vision and the Scarlet Witch (1982-3), and give honorable mention to Hawkeye (1983).

I knew if I waited I could find what I wanted, but I was a mixture of impatient and curious. Looking at slabs as well as raw just widens the field. I had never owned one, and I knew it was only a matter of time until I wanted a big enough key that a slabbed copy would be likely. I don't feel forced, and that first slab purchase, I actually considered cracking it out, but once I got it in hand I kind of liked it in the slab. The two main ways I see slabs playing a role in my collection is 1) for comics I intend to or may sell, and 2) for protection for high value keys. For instance, I have a near complete FF run except for some lower issues. When it's complete I anticipate 1-12 maybe being in slabs, but I may slab further out. 48 & 49 will probably remain in slabs. But most will remain raw. I don't anticipate slabbing past 52 in any case.

I did not buy my first slab until this year. I loved to gawk at them on the walls at the cons, but I never envisioned buying a book expensive enough to be on the wall, and the slabs not on the wall were what most here would call not slabworthy. But then it got to a point where I just wasn't seeing the books I was looking for raw. I was looking for an FF 72 for my FF run and did not like the raw copies I was seeing. Being impatient and wanting it now, I bought my first slab. Of course once I bought one, more were to come. My desire for slabs now rises and wanes. Except for keys I lean more toward raw copies now. I'm definitely going to be sending some of my original owner stuff in soon to get slabbed. I expect to get a clearer idea of what I'm going to keep and how much of that will be slabbed as I start to get those back. Generally speaking, if I can get a book I'm looking for raw in the 5.0 - 8.0 range for under a hundred bucks, I'll take that over a slab. But there are definitely a set of books that I would like to have in slabs for my "personal wall".

I would vote for updating the label as described (but if you ask me the FF weren't superheroes until FF3 ).

2.5

Maybe instead of calling trimmed books restored we can shut down the non-additive argument and just call them mutilated.

Some already do, but as usual it seems completely random which copies get notated and which ones don't.

I have a full run of Warlord bagged and boarded when they came out #1 to up past 50, with the first issue special too. 1980s me thought they would be worth thousands by now, and that people of the future will definitely pay extra for full runs! I still am working on my Marvel Two-in-One run to this day.

You can use that hair to clone your own CGC grader who will grade comics all day for you.

Their primary competitor is GPAnalysis. Both sites have their own strengths and weaknesses. GoCollect I find really slows down late at night, which can suck for an ebay night owl.

I was just thinking about this very issue a month or two ago when I was looking at JLA 21-22. In my opinion the first JLA-JSA crossover in 1963 is his first SA appearance. Don't sleep on Bouncing Boy he will wreck you. Definitely don't try to wrap your head around "pre-Silver Age" Martian Manhunter stories which came before Showcase #4.

The grading robots might be proprietary tech.