justin

Got thIs beautifully aligned Green Lantern 76. The white left edge actually centers the logo as it was actually drawn off centered. It always bugged me that a “true” alignment meant that there was too much white between “green arrow” and the right edge and that the “L” in “green lantern” was too close to the left edge. This book corrects that

In the late 1960's my uncle amassed a large Silver Age collection of all the major Marvel and DC comics at the time. He even had a Hulk 1 and Fantastic Four 1. Well, when he went off to college, he left them behind in his closet. His mom (my grandma), thinking they wee junk, took them outside and burned them all. Except one survived, which he gave to me and I had it graded. Though this event was sad, she did have an impact on my collecting goals (not to get them burned) lol. I love my Grandma!

Early last year I did a big sell-off here, getting rid of nearly my entire collection (about 200 books). You might remember it as the “buy one, get a bunch free” post). In its place I picked 2 storage boxes and made a goal that I would fill these with slabs and when they got full, I would be done. This meant that I had to choose exactly 16 slabs and a few raws that would be the most important to me. And each book had to be the best of what I can afford. I did this to de-clutter my life and I also knew that I would be moving to a smaller place with my wife and kids. Here is what I ultimately got:

Exciting Comics 36 CGC 1.0: I bought this raw and sent it in to be graded. I always wanted a WWII Schomburg cover and Black Terror is a great, affordable way to get one.

Fantastic Four 9 CGC 1.5: This book was handed down to me by my uncle. He used to have full runs of every Silver Age comic. Yes, he had all the keys too. But, long story short, his mom burned all his comics when he went to college. This was the sole surviving book. I sent it in to CGC

Daredevil 111 CGC 9.0: this is a rare “Mark Jewelers” copy. I freaking love the Silver Samurai and this is his first appearance. I used to have OA from this book too. Bought off eBay.

Daredevil 115 PG ad page: I got this page slabbed because 1, it is the first ad page for Hulk 181 and , 2, the letters part talk about Daredevil 111. Love it!

Incredible Hulk 181 CGC 4.0: I’m a big Wolverine fan so this book was a must. I wanted the most affordable, complete copy with the best alignment I could get.

X-Men 173 CGC 9.8 SS: this book has the best fight scene ever drawn/written and it just so happens to be between Wolverine and the Silver Samurai. Was looking for a blue label 9.8 but I just had to get this SS version when I saw it on eBay.

Ultimate Wolverine vs Hulk 1 CGC 9.8 Sketch variant: This book brought me back into comics after a 15 year absence. I also own the OA of page #19. Bought this as a CGC 9.6 off eBay then got it pressed to a 9.8.

Wolverine 145 Nabisco CGC 9.4 SS: I originally bought a 9.2 SS but it got stolen from my front door. Luckily I got this 9.4. I love Sienkiewicz and this is my favorite cover of his.

Amazing Spider-Man 300 CGC 9.2 SS: I feel that this comic is the perfect comic in every way. It is my ultimate favorite book. I had a 9.8 but sold it to pay debt and get this SS instead. 

Marvel Super Special 22 CGC 9.8 SS: Bought this as a 9.8 blue label then I sent it to Rich Henn to be SS’ed by Jim Steranko on 2/22/20. HTF in high grade and now I have the only SS in 9.8. This is the jewel of my collection.

GI Joe 21 CGC PG SS: this one is crazy. I love GI Joe 21 and I always wanted it signed by Larry Hama. However, I don’t like the cover to GI Joe 21. So I bought a beat-up 21, cut out my favorite page, gave it to Rich Henn and he got Larry so sign it.

Star Wars: Tag & Bink 1-2, and II 1 CGC 9.8: such an amazing and funny series if you are a Star Wars fan but dang if there are hardly any graded copies. There’s less than 6 of either of these in 9.8. I bought II 1 off eBay but I had to send in raw versions of 1 & 2 to be graded.

Green Lantern 76 CGC 7.5: I always loved this cover. It’s a great story too. Tried to get the best alignment and centering as I could as most copies are crooked. 

Daredevil 187 CGC 9.8: As far as I can remember, this was the first comic book I ever bought.

The raw books I have are: Superman 199 (best reader story ever), The Sword in the Stone - Gold Key edition, Wolverine 2 (1988), Looney Tunes 122 (I have OA from this book) and Detective Comics 405 (great read). 

so with that, what books would you pick if you only could choose 16?

I also did the same for my video game collection. But that is for a different forum.