Aman619

Well, I’m impressed that a someone at CC took personal responsibility in blaming it all on their consignor, and felt strongly enough to sign it personally. I have never met Mr Staff, but he sure seems like a decent fellow.

He was a character alright. Not particularly trustworthy, always exaggerating, but sad to see him gone.

if the Church copy is ONLY a 9.4, and ends up below the Promise copy, the owner will STILL be way ahead of the 90 bucks he's into it for (or a grand, whatever) And chances are he owns lots more Church "highest graded" copies" that he has been sitting on, so its all good!! even if they aren't Highest graded in the final analysis. Another aspect is that after YHIS auction copy sets a wild new record, he will have made (on paper) a ton of dough more than it was worth (in our estimation) BEFORE the Promise copy was unearthed graded and sold. Ive got a few High Grade raws that the Promise copies stole my thunder... so this is my viewpoint on the subject.

Comics better than stocks? I’ve owned plenty of comics that have tripled in value. But that over 30 years. Not a great return! Yes the BEST stuff has done better than the S&P... but the best 10 stocks have appreciated way more than the best 10 comics have, even Tec 27 etc.

I never bought from Marnin’s CBG ads. Prices were through the roof. But many years later, I picked up a nice looking Action 32 he graded as 7.5. I was happy cause it was a sharp copy. Years later I had it slabbed. Got 9.0. I never thought Marnin was such a conservative grader!

That’s what I was trying to say! Thank you. Lol

Let’s just say that I refrain from telling others, go ahead, jump in, waters fine! It’s always been fine and always will BE fine. Just as I don’t advocate or predict a crash in comics or other collectibles. Everyone has to assess their actions, do their homework, and make their best decisions. however, after the year we have seen in all collectibles due to too much money and too much idle time. It does not feel like the right time to go all out competing wildly for these 5000 books. Especially because there are few real mega keys in the Promise collection that will survive any downturn. You always promote a giddy carefree excitement for the future of the hobby, that’s great! It reads like cheerleading to me, but sure why not, we love comics collecting and have for decades. But I’ve always been more cautious. Even when setting records it was doable because I felt there was enough run up left to come for what I was buying and that they were still cheap given their future prospects.. it just feels too frothy right now.

Yes I considered adding all that to my post ... yes the church prices were nosebleed back then. And sure, maybe the gravy train keeps chugging along for all the reasons you state. But you and I both bought our stuff years ago, so this is academic at best. We aren’t putting skin in the game in 2021. Past performance is no guarantee of future gains.. I prefer to preach caution to the new whales rather than cheerlead because it does benefit me when they push prices higher and higher.

Those were crazy times in banking. Interest rates topped over 10% (was it 15%?). My accountant borrowed 20K and put it in 15 year savings bonds. Interest rates fell soon after, but he paid off the loan and kept earning his 15% for years Smart guy.. of course, too bad told me years later. Also a very different world in comics. So much more upside buying Church runs then compared to ponying up for Promise copies in 2021. Unless you believe values will keep rising at same rates of return?

what is a TCBC? True Comic Book Collector? Terribly Crass Babe Chaser?

That’s what I’m implying. Or saying. Pointing out …. Just making the purchase even more expensive .

Here’s the credit card fee. I don’t think it’s waived for Promise books, is it? So paying with a card AND using their time payments offer will add up.

Well, fuzzy as in out of focus? It’s unavoidable on many scanners that focus on the scan bed glass. Cause in a slab the cover is further away. Just run a little unsharp mask. It compares adjacent pixels and increases contrast, which adds sharpness. Just don’t run it more than once! It eliminates any mid tones pushing them all lighter or darker, and gets more and more pixelated

That’s the finance charge. Using a credit card has an additional charge as opposed to wires or checks.

I’m not saying it’s a great scan that looks like the book in hand,! —- just that it doesn’t appear amped up, meaning unrealistically white or with saturated reds and yellows etc. as we see so often. To get a great scan, you must have an eye and know how to manipulate what your scanner has created to work with... and understand RGB or CMYK color to know what to increase or reduce to achieve a realistic color palette.... and the book in hand to go by. Takes time... too much for nearly every auction house or dealer. and most often, universal adjustments (curves, levels, auto brightness etc) just won’t be enough and you need to make selections to work on areas separately. While being careful to not make the final image a Frankenstein of areas that don’t look right together. I think it’s fun! Until a reach a point that I realize that the scan I’m working with just can’t be changed to match the book as I want it to.

But you still have to pay the credit card surcharge, adding 2.5% to your price. Or is that now part of the 6% interest? 6% is pretty steep, no?

I dunno. That likes like the “dirty cyan” common to GA books to me. What are you seeing?

And the scan doesn’t look amped up. The books cover is white, but in the scan it’s far from white, or even an “off-white. Amped scans don’t have any dots/tone in the white areas. Most of the time.

Looks to me more like the books is a 9.4 structurally, tight, clean unread with white pages, but has a 3 point demeriting dust shadow.

That video is kinda interesting, cause the non bearded guy has been promoting modern books heavily for a few years. Sure he’s also touted bronze kegs etc, but I’ve never seen him go on about or be interested in Golden Age books... has he? If he is a voice for the modern crowd, has the ears of the new guys, perhaps they listen and start getting into GA??

we have seen the need for wider artwork before.. they make the art smaller in proportion to fit a taller masthead/logo above it. So they run out of art on the left or right, and have someone just scribble /extend the art. usually simple lines etc. Cant figure out why they changed Rawhide Kids leg though. Everything else in that area lines up same as the Marvel cover.

Rough estimate, how many people collect these foreign editions? And how many of you are getting them slabbed? I see a lot more raw copies than slabs. Given the font issues in using the actual comics names as the title and issue, and then juryrigging new database fields (after 20 years) for a second title name, and then making them easy to find in the census? Good luck. But if some American collectors want all foreign reprints of certain key books, covers and/or stories, it’s fine as is... but not perfect for every foreign comic (run) collector.

Okajimas do have a compelling back story. Compared to the rest, they have real world consequences (although Reillys and Promise do too). As for the little girl, a surprising aspect Ive learned about life in the cams is that it was generational in impact. By that I mean that older Japanese Americans were hurt most. Adults too. Having been born here as Americans, and only lived here, it was bewildering and humiliating. However for the kids it was a different story. Especially younger kids. This was just their life. You had to be older and lost your way of life, and house and possessions to have been deeply impacted. The kids were just like all kids, finding things to do, playing, and they had their families with them. When talk of reparations comes up within the Japanese communities, it is also generational. The people who were kids then just don't feel so slighted, and want to move on while their parents are still angry! This puts a strain on them because the elders are dying out and if the kids don't care to fight for justice (their homes were forfeited! businesses gone) justice will never come. anyway, Great story: so watch the movies, read the books and bios. Whats it got to do with which copy to add yo your collection? Though it is cool to have Pedigree copies. I left out one factor in my decision making, I may pay a higher Pedigree price if Im confident that OTHERS will want to as well when Im ready to let them go. But, in the first years of CGC, the grade was a leveling of Pedigree importance. Before independent grading, you bought the Pedigree copy over a no name copy because it had added significance = value in the hobby. When no name copies showed up in higher grades, they were more desirable. Theres been somewhat of a resurgence in Pedigree copies, even lesser grades.. which is a surprising show of strength!

It’s past time for a universal numbering/naming system to be used by the entire hobby/industry. Like an ISBN. Maintained and updated online, once every dealer, auction house etc links the IDs (not easy but doable) they can keep their existing in-house numbering as is. The goal is everyone to be able to search for the unique name/number and find copies. but I’m not holding my breath... ; )

I like pedigree copies because they usually mean a high grade copy. That’s what I’ve collected. Unlike many of you, If offered two copies same book, one a pedigree in one not but in same grade, same price, I’d choose the pedigree. Higher priced? Maybe not. A LOT higher priced? Nope. But if the non pedigree was a higher grade, I’d go for it over the pedigree. Because as I stated up front: I like pedigrees because they usually mean a high grade copy. If it’s a lower grade, why? Does not compute. as for the back story? Doesn’t do anything for me. Found in Santa’s workshop? Ok. In an internment camp? Cool. Whatever. Don’t we always say “buy the book, not the label?”