jools&jim

Alex Toth and Doug Wildey!

Dave Cockrum kiddie space opera!

GREAT STUFF...!

I do it all the time! For better or worse (mostly worse! ), I'm not a millionaire, and thus can't possibly afford everything I want to have in my collection. So...if I can sell a higher grade book for several multiples of what I paid for it, and can then afford a lower grade copy of the same book, plus several others that I want, what's the downside?

What, exactly, is a "serious" collector? Someone who spends a lot of money on comics? Someone who knows what they want and who knows how to get it at the right price? Someone who only collects "blue chip" books? Someone with a small collection but a deep knowledge of the hobby and its history? Someone who carefully curates a large but (relatively) worthless collection of lower grade comics to read and enjoy, or for research purposes? Someone who collects for investment only? Someone who collects only certain kinds of books (ducks; classic covers; modern keys; esoteric stuff; variants; foreign editions; etc., etc., etc.) in any/all grades? Autograph chasers? Run collectors/completists? People who simply accumulate stuff they like and don't give a toss what it's worth? Trade paperback afficianados? Oddball kids with two shoe-boxes full of Archie Digests who cherish them as much as an Action 1? All of the above? None of the above? Multiple combinations of the above? Sorry...but I call this (i.e., the title of the thread) a flawed premise, and highly CGC Boards-centric. There's a wide and wonderful world out there of people who read, love, obsess over, and stockpile comic books for all sorts of "serious" reasons that have NOTHING whatsoever to do with anyone's "grading scale". Has 3rd party grading changed the hobby and transformed the habits of many collectors? Yes, absolutely -- there is no doubt about that. Still, my sense of it is that there are many VERY serious collectors out there, broadly defined, who don't give damn about 3rd party grading, and never will...

Been on vacation all week and just got back today -- did anyone ever challenge this guy's story in the Fecalbook group?

Unexpected vacation finds...

As I said much earlier in the thread, I believe that the INTERIORS of these copies are bog-standard FFE reprints, wrapped in newly produced (possibly from existing HD scans of the real thing) and "distressed" repro covers.

I'm still not sure why we're generally assuming that these 2 copies, whatever they are, were printed and produced in the standard-size for late 1930s golden age comics. None of the pictures produced so far to document this find give any reliable sense of scale, except for one: the one with the guy's thumb holding open the front cover. And in that picture, the book clearly appears to be treasury sized...same as in the b&w picture of Siegel and Shuster holding an FFE reprint with the outer card-stock cover removed. Has anyone in that Facebook group asked the guy to measure the books, or (better) to photograph them next to a yardstick?

Same here...

There's an echo in here! Again, judging from the scale I see in that picture with somebody's thumb opening the front cover of one of the copies, I think these are the same old FFE interiors dressed up in "distressed" modern oversized repro covers...

Judging from this pic alone, these look to me like roughed-up '70s FFE reprints with the outer cardstock covers removed, though possibly with newer, more accurate repro covers. Look at the length of the book compared to that guy's thumb. Golden Age comics from the '30s and '40s are bigger than what came after them, but (with the exception of a few titles) not THAT big! See here for useful data: http://www.bipcomics.com/showcase/fakes/

Here's something I sold on the boards several years ago...wish I still had it!!!!

Not a stupid question at all. Just having some goofy, late-night fun...

How 'bout various former members of the Eagles: Don Felder, Don Henley, Don Johnson, Don Knotts, Don Ho, Don Rickles, and Don Corleone? Have you ever seen any four of them together? In the future, everyone will be a Don for fifteen minutes...

Here are the individual prices for each of the books in the Starlin lot. Please see above for scans and complete descriptions. Please also add $6 for insured Priority Mail shipping (US only) for 1 - 4 books, and $12 (US only) for 5 or more. ============================================== Captain Marvel #25: Coverless. FREE with any purchase from this thread. Captain Marvel #26: Fair-. 2nd appearance of Thanos. $15.00. Captain Marvel #27: Good. $7.50. Captain Marvel #28: Good. $7.50. Daredevil #105: Fine. Origin of Moondragon (4.5 pages of Starlin art). $15.00. Captain Marvel #29: G/VG. $8.00. Marvel Feature #12: Fair. $6.00. Captain Marvel #30: G/VG. $8.00. Captain Marvel #31: G/VG. $8.00. Captain Marvel #32: VG/Fine. $12.00. Captain Marvel #33: VG. $20.00. ==============================================

Such an easy answer: don't buy a "price guide" which is largely irrelevant these days. And if you do buy it, don't read the dopey market reports! I mean, who gives a toss what a bunch of so-called "experts" think? Buy what you dig, love, and can afford. If you make a little scratch on it down the line, great. If not, you've still got a collection that means something TO YOU! That's the real "money" -- the one genuinely important thing the "experts" can't and shouldn't advise you on, and the one thing they can never take away from you, either. Screw 'em. Do your own thing...

Weekend 50¢ and Dollar-Box Winners! The highlights for me are some groovy '70s Charltons chock-full of Ditko, and a whole bunch of higher grade BA/CA GLs and Supermans that nobody gives a damn about. Woooo!!!!

Who is "Dan Adams"? Maybe Don's brother?

Wasn't able to do the update on Weds as planned -- spent most of the evening fighting to keep my basement from flooding due to a week of heavy rains here in the Baltimore area! I may add a few new listings tonight, and will definitely price the books in the Stalin lot for individual sale. In the meantime, everything is still available -- any/all PM offers will be cheerfully considered...

It was part of a big collection I bought 6 or 7 years ago, and sold here on the boards. The owner was a baseball card dealer who died suddenly. What his wife didn't know is that he also had a HUGE secret stash of comic books tucked away in several large storage units. He started buying baseball card collections back in the '80s, and continued through the early '00s. And in the '90s in particular, he was buying out whole sports-card stores which were either closing or in financial trouble, and also cleaned out show dealers who were getting out of the trading card business. The comics were an after-thought, and were often bundled into bulk deals he made -- i.e., if he wanted the cards, he had to take all the comics, too. His sports card stock was huge and insanely deep, with complete sets from the '50s and '60s of very high quality. From what I heard, his wife sold it all at auction, which netted her quite a tidy sum over several years. But the comics just got dumped into storage and were completely forgotten, until his wife learned about the storage units. By the time I got to the collection--a sprawling mess which nearly filled an entire 2-car garage--she had already sold 10-20 long white boxes at a yard sale. Who knows what was in there? But the absence of marquee Marvel titles from the '70s on (Spidey, UXM, etc.) was not a good sign. What I did find was 150-200 long white boxes, 50 or so magazine boxes, and another pallet stacked with short whites, all heavy with '80s and '90s overstock (lots of multiples), but also plenty of decent BA runs from all publishers, including a healthy supply of 30 and 35-cent Marvel variants. It was a long time ago. But if I remember correctly, the Nick Fury distributor bundle was in a magazine box, which also contained multiple (un-bundled) copies of the same issues of Playboy and Sports Illustrated from the early '70s. It was a great find, and I'm glad it found a good home!

Close enough...!

Hmmm...looks familiar....