Jesse-Lee

Here it is, on eBay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/The-Amazing-Spider-Man-300/293777885690?epid=85528898&hash=item446686c9fa:g:lM8AAOSwyZNfg5bC It was a $250 OBO, and sold for $240

People collect barbed wire?

Cool idea for a thread and congrats to the winners! I might have to seek out a copy of this book now that I'm aware of it; it's pretty neat! And I'm completely serious in this: I'm a writer and also act as editor of a small university publication (not specific to or appropriate for this topic, but just stated to say I have the experience), and if someone every truly wanted to take up the mantle of organizing a second volume or companion to this piece, I'd definitely volunteer to help wherever possible. Thanks again @SOTIcollector!

Professor Gilman? I seen him in Bisbee, he catches stuff...

Knowing the history of it/meaning behind it, it's pretty neat. But if I saw it without any context at all, I have to admit it's kind of ugly...

Well, a 2.5 sold for $240 yesterday, and a 5.0 PLOD went for $350. So who knows with this book where people's value line is. If a 2.5 is selling at $240 and the GC FMV on a 7.0 is $350, that's a lot of tight price compacting in between.

Honest question - would pressing make the staple area pop-through worse on a square-bound, stapled book like this and other Giant Size books of this era? I'm no expert and relatively new, but I think with the corners as they are and some of the other issues noted this is a solid 8.5, and with the cover overhang on that bottom right front, I wouldn't want to take chances. It's a beautiful book though, congrats!

Which also calls to question the idea that highest grade is always better - I see a lot of books that see higher overall percentage returns in mid- to mid-high grades. Of course hindsight is 20/20, but I personally like to spread my money across more books in a presentable grade than all in one high-grade basket because of that.

Not to keep hammering home the IH 181 comparisons, but I did find this post from 2010 (from these forums) interesting: yep but if you buy one copy today for a thousand dollars, the odds are it will still be worth a thousand dollars 5 years from now, the profit for this book is 9.6 and up. Same thing can be said for Giant Size X-men 1 and X-men 94, you can spend your grand on them now and only expect that same grand back after holding them for the next 5 years. They are great books but the profit has sailed on these if now bought at current market prices. In 2010, $1,000 would have probably gotten you a VF or 8.0 copy of IH 181. FMV on that copy today - 10 years later - is more than 4x that at about $4,300. That's if you're able to get a copy at dead-on current GoCollect FMV (which, if their FMVs of ASM 300 is any indication, is spotty at best). My point is that this same argument is always made about key books like this that start to catch fire.

I've never been fully on board with the comparison of overall census to value, simply because I feel like the true measure (or at least a large measure) should be current copy supply available for sale. I think if there are 23,000 in the census, but only a few hundred readily available copies at any given time, then the supply of copies vs the demand of people who want them is what will determine the market, not the total of all existing copies. That's why I made the comment that we're starting to see increased supply on eBay and other auction/sales sites, which to me signals that the price will soon level out or potentially dip. But I still see this as a longer-term hold personally.

Yeah, it's remarkable, but it's just like anything else really - I'd love to own a Mercedes, but I can't really afford it. But I still have a car. People buy what they can afford (hopefully), and there are a lot of people out there who can afford a lot more than others. And you can say that at any level really; I know a lot of people who would - and do - think I'm crazy for spending $400 on a comic for example.

I would've said Star Wars 1, but that Raiders book would be pretty sweet with those three sigs on it!

I also can't believe that a purple label 5.0 is set to sell for at least $350 two hours from now. Hopefully it's not a less-than-scrupulous buyer who plans to crack it and try to re-sell it raw...

Yeah, I was hoping to see a big run-up at the end, kind of a let down.

That's a sweet-looking book. Looks like it'll break $7k...

I'd do a chapter on Plop! and its crossover appeal in the horror and satire genres - DC horror books, MAD, etc. Basil Wolverton is already in there so it'd be a great segue, and "The Gourmet" story from Plop! #1 still haunts me - and that'd give Bernie Wrightson some due props too. This is a super cool book!

I'm not saying it's right or wrong, but I'm just saying that most (newer?) collectors would probably rather buy the first full Venom in a top grade than Hal Jordan's first appearance in a mid to low grade.

Another good rule is "buy the book, not the grade." I have books that I just want to have in my collection that present as nicely as possible, and I don't necessarily care about the grade. Take for example my recent Batman 244 purchase. I'd wanted this book for a while, and I saw an auction on eBay for a 6.5, but this is the book: There was some sun shadow on the back of the book, on the bottom cover and a bit on the side - apparently CGC knocks that down quite a bit, because it's seen as staining. But the cover presentation honestly looks like a 9.0. As it was, I paid easy 6.5 money for the book, and it's so much better looking in-hand, just a gorgeous copy. I was seeing 7.5-8.5 graded copies that didn't look as good on the front, and I was seeing raw copies going for $120-$140 that easily looked worse. I paid $99. This is one of my favorite covers ever, and the front looks beautiful. So to me, I thought, who cares what the number at the top says? I got a great looking copy at what I looked at like a deal price. And if I ever need to sell, I'm not going to get a blockbuster deal probably, but I should at least break even. So ask yourself if you want a gorgeous book to admire, or need to have the top-rated copy.

Very true - and I hope he's able to reach his goal - I really do think this is a unique book along the lines of a Hulk 181 and I'll hold to that. But the fact is that all grades are seeing increases and I don't think that can be explained by the fact that 9.8s are moving higher. Partially explained, sure - once 9.8 becomes unattainable for the general collector, they move to 9.6/9.4 and then those start to balloon. But the fact remains that this book is seeing an explosion in all grades that is a little crazy.

I read it like this, I didn't think you were implying anything - I think it just got lost in translation. Honestly, this book has been outpacing FMV for weeks or more now, almost to the point where I want to call "shenanigans" on places like GoCollect who haven't significantly updated their FMV listings in a while. When I bought mine (an 8.5) on 9/16, FMV was listed at $350 and I paid $380. But prices haven't been that low in a long time, and if you look at 8.5 specifically, they probably shouldn't have even been that low then. There were 8.5 sales of blue label CGCs of $455 on 9/6, $475 on 9/5, $478 on 9/4, etc. It seems I just got lucky, right place at the right time. Now though, there's a 2.5 (!) for a BIN of $250... If that one sells I think it's really an indication of the fact that people really want to own this book in any way they can. But for some reason I also see that listing as "jumping the shark" a bit somehow (sorry if it belongs to someone on here, and hey, get your money).

Just so I'm clear, I believe this book is a long term hold that has the potential to be a Hulk 181 type of book in its desirability, collectability and ultimately value. However, we're getting to a point on eBay and other sites where supply is starting to outpace demand. I don't think this upward trend can or will continue in the short term - I think prices will start to stabilize and maybe even dip a bit soon. I think it'll bounce back in the long term, but I think @jjonahjameson11 had it right a few posts back when talking about the plateaus and rebounds.

I can help you recoup those losses, I'll buy any of your remaining Thor 337s at $3 a copy...

This book is crazy. An 8.0 Newsstand auction just finished at $530. I paid $380 for my 8.5 just three weeks ago.

Yeah, I used to have the TPB of Son of the Demon and read that thing to tatters. This copy is really very clean overall - little bit of "crinkling" on the top of the jacket and a little color rub on the back, but overall it was kept really nicely! The dust jackets are super tough to keep in high grade.

Thanks @AnkurJ!