Wreck-It Ralph

On 12/8/2021 at 3:09 PM, alexgross.com said:

no disrespect intended, but in my experience, many major dealers have a hard time lowering their expectations on pricing for keys from recent all-time GPA highs, as has happened in 2021 on many books. this past spring saw new records set on so many books, but the market is different now. that's hard to come to terms with for many sellers. often they may just wait and hold the books, hoping prices move back up this coming spring. 

of course this does not pertain to all of them, and there are other places to buy, like auctions and stores. though many store owners are similar in this respect, in my experience. 

As a less experienced and less knowledgeable collector I find buying very confusing at present as sellers frequently mention GPA but seem to ignore it when it comes to their pricing. I found a Daredevil 8.0 on a site for $22500 but the GPA 90 day average is $15600 and last one sold is $14400. It seems like the bigger keys that I have the opportunity to buy are all priced above what they are currently selling for, Is this normal or have I just been unlucky?

On 12/5/2021 at 5:56 PM, Wolverinex said:

Do it.  That's why I'm here.  

Thanks

Are Signed Comics (Yellow labels) worth more than unsigned ones (Blue labels) assuming same grade and page colour?

When a seller says the GPA price is a certain figure do they mean the last price shown on GPA?

On 12/5/2021 at 6:08 PM, Roger66 said:

I am not sure where to begin with this open-question  but it begs questions first - such as:  1) what is your budget each month or are you just looking for a few books only? 2) What is your collecting niche? 3) are you collecting for your own personal collection or are you planning on speculating, investing and-or flipping books? 4) do you really understand GPA and how it is but one-spoke in the valuation-wheel of comics and certainly shouldn't be the end-all. 5) Do you understand price-compression and market manipulation in comics and how GPA is often wrong? 6) Finally markets are typically about perception and comics are no different and no one can definitively answer your question, thus observing, understanding, being perceptive and ultimately intuition are your best tools in your bat-belt  etc etc etc - my 2-cents 

Thanks for the response.

I am only looking for a few books and I only collect first appearances, origins and number 1’s, have not sold anything yet but may do in the future.
 

I use GPA but not really sure if I am using it properly, I just look at the last price paid and assume that is the current value so long as it is a recent sale, not sure what to do when there are no current sales. Don’t know much about point 5 but it sounds interesting.

On 12/4/2021 at 6:23 PM, Math Teacher said:

Well, our long national nightmare is over.

I contacted the dealer yesterday via text, and he replied almost immediately. He wanted to accept my offer of $900 for the two books, but I said that I had to wait six days for a reply (and technically, he didn't reply - I contacted him), and I felt that I deserved a discount. He offered me a $25 discount, and I accepted. I picked up two Flash books that I had been searching for, and, once the dealer removes them from the company's website, I'll tell you what two books I got.

I know that some of you are thinking that I am being obstinate for not naming the dealer, but I explained my reasoning above. And I also know how some of you have great detective skills.

Thank you for all your advice. You guys are the best! 

I would find the lack of response irritating and although you could argue that maybe the dealer was busy with life he could have also been busy trying to sell it to someone else.

I don’t think you are being obstinate by not naming the dealer, you are simply keeping your cards close to your chest, very sensible in collecting from my experience!

I also need some advice is it OK to ask it on this thread?

Do you think now would be a good time to buy and can you negotiate prices down from the last piece sold on GPA?

On 12/5/2021 at 6:14 AM, speedcake said:

I hear ya, buddy. I didn't buy one at the same time I picked up my X-Men #1 and I'm literally paying for it now. ugh.  Great copy though!

Thanks

You bought the X-Men 1 that was a smart move!

On 12/2/2021 at 10:30 PM, Sweet Lou 14 said:

Is it X-Men #1 through #4 or some other group of four?

X-Men 1,4,129 & GSX 1. Sebastian Shaw is one of my favourite villains so 129 was a must have for me.

On 3/26/2021 at 10:34 PM, Poekaymon said:

Perhaps my biggest regret of this whole run up is not getting a Star Wars #1 early last year.  Was a very obvious hole in my collection and Mandalorian buzz was afoot.  So I was actively looking for it and passed on several in the $1500 range because I was bargain hunting.  Then when I decided I'd man up and go to $1500, it was $2000.  Then when I decided I'd man up and go to $2000, it was $2500. 

Then it tripled.

I did the same with Volume 42 and 68 could have bought those for pennies before the Mandolirian came out, obvious things to buy but I still didn’t do it!

On 4/15/2021 at 11:07 PM, canickus said:

Here is the reason.  CGC doesn't differentiate between direct sales copies and news stand copies.  As you get later into the X-Men 94 -143 run, there are many more high grade copies of the direct sales version than the news stand copies.  

For example, if you search the Heritage archives for past sales of X-Men 129 CGC 9.8 - you will see 27 sales.  26 direct sale books and 1 news stand book.  That should give you an idea of the relative rarity.

There are 300 or so CGC 9.8s of that issue.  I don't know, but I think that at most 15 to 20 of those are news stand issues.  All in all, as strange as it seems, that was probably a pretty good transaction for both the seller and buyer.

 

 

What sort of percentage price differential would there be between direct and news stand? Do Mark Jewelers inserts affect the price by much?

Is Star Wars 1 only available as a Newstand release in 30 and 35 cent?

On 4/2/2021 at 7:47 PM, Sweet Lou 14 said:

Yes, I'm just giving you a hard time for naming Marvel Girl and Jean Grey in the same list.

Sorry I thought they were different, ignorance on my part.

27 minutes ago, dikran1 said:

Marvel Girl = Jean Grey

It's 7 first appearances.

OK. 

8 minutes ago, Sweet Lou 14 said:

Oh that's right but then you also forgot Scott Summers.

10 minutes ago, Sweet Lou 14 said:

Oh that's right but then you also forgot Scott Summers.

I thought that was Cyclops?

9 minutes ago, Sweet Lou 14 said:

Professor X, Cyclops, Beast, Iceman, Angel, Marvel Girl, Magneto, and ... ?

Jean Grey.

12 hours ago, drotto said:

I think XM1 is benefiting more than other books from a perfect storm scenario.  We are having a massive collecting run up, which is effecting all the keys.  You have new collectors coming into the market.  You have a key that has been relatively undervalued. The end result is the new buyers are looking to find important and undervalued books that have a lot of room to gain value. XM1 fits that bill, it is the "value" stock that has the potential to explode. It has.

It also has 8 first appearances which some people may think gives it more value and future growth potential than books with only one like TOS 39.

On 3/25/2021 at 1:00 AM, Pantodude said:

Hold your horses!   You did not understand what I wrote, and consequently wrote an irrelevant retort.  But I forgive you.  Anyway, unlike the books I listed (AF15, IH1, SC4, FF1, JIM83, etc), which introduced a character or group that remained unchanged in its membership or identity over time, X-Men#1 introduced the X-Men -- a fluid concept/team whose members change over time.   You love Spidey, you will always be hooked on AF15.   You like Hulk, IH#1 is your book.  You dig Fantastic Four, then FF#1 is your bible.  But the X-Men?   Like I thought I had already explained clearly, it depends on whether you are new school and relate to new members (so GSXM1 and XM94 is your thing) or old school, in which case X-Men #1 is your thing.  This is what X-Men fans have explained consistently over the years.  Don't shoot the messenger (or twist what he says!), please.  

I am sure all of the points listed above are applicable for comic book readers that collect comics but not so much for comic collectors that are motivated by the films and don’t actually read the comics. If like me you watch the films then they don’t differentiate between old school and new school as they morph them both together, take X Men  1 the movie it includes Magneto and Prof X, Jean Gray from XMen 1, Wolverine and Storm from GSX1 (Wolverine 3rd Appearance GSX1). XMen First Class includes Magneto, Prof x plus many others mixed with Sebastian Shaw and Emma Frost who do not appear until XMen 129 so there is no old school and new school in the movies, so collectors motivated by the films will want both XMen 1 and GSX1.

2 hours ago, Rip said:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/STAR-WARS-1-CGC-9-8-WHITE-PAGES-1977/274720529818?hash=item3ff69e9d9a:g:BiYAAOSwhvpgTrPP

That's over 7.5K with tax.

If that carries on my 30 cent will be worth more than my 35 cent which is crazy!

32 minutes ago, Gruson said:

I sold most of my carded collection in 2005...makes me sick seeing how much some are worth now. I had some rare alternate photo ones too.

I only collect Palitoy which have not seen the same increase as Kenner, the 12 back Telescopic figures have shot up in value since the Hakes Auction.

34 minutes ago, PKJ said:

As a SW collector, think of it like this. Would you rather have a Yellow Bubble POTF Luke Stormtrooper or a crystal clear Luke Stormtrooper, both say AFA80. The clear bubble will always bring a premium, when Jim Bull  Dogatuna turned up all those clear bubble Luke Stormtrooper's in 2000-2001 they were all scooped up and later on sold for enormous prices at that time simply due to the bubble.

Interesting point! So would a X Men 7.5 White Pages be worth more than a 8.0 OW?

3 minutes ago, KCOComics said:

The B word is what you want to avoid. (Brittle pages).  It will effect value and your resale market.  Some feel cream is to close to brittle and will steer clear. 

I put less weight in PQ personally. I only buy brittle on rare GA books you might not get a second chance on.  

For big SA books PQ will have an impact on price, but the grade will be the bigger factor. If two books are the same grade, a white page copy will command a premium. 

If you do resell the book you'll have a wider audience with better page quality. 

Now, the current X1 demand is big enough to support any and all books and command a premium. But things can change and white pages offers greater desirability. 

Does Marvel Chipping on a Darker graded book like AF15 or IH1 affect price much?

I presume there is not much price difference between OW/W and OW?

Thanks for your help.

12 minutes ago, Hollywood1892 said:

So this is on Clink right now

Those are 2 different grades but the 2.5 with white pages is higher bid because of the white pages 

I always thought the grade would trump the page colour, is it normal for page colour to be deemed more important than grade?

I generally go for OW or better does C/OW make much difference to the price?