The lips

On 12/28/2022 at 2:51 PM, Conali said:

I would bet dollars to doughnuts that everyone on this forum has had an interaction (and probably multiple interactions) with someone deriding their passion or hobby.

  Love what you love, and don’t ever let someone else tell you what you should be loving.
  
   I tell my kids at least once a week to stay a kid as long as they can…

 

One of the best pieces of advice I ever read was

”it’s important to remain childlike but never childish” 

I’m incredibly proud to collect comic books and gladly talk about it. 
If say people are taking about hobbies or personal interests I’ll happily talk about my love of it and people can be surprised that a grown man and father is still in to super heroes. 
once though I’ve explained my love of it and the artwork, storylines, cultural significance, investment etc I’ve sold it to them pretty well !! 

On 12/8/2022 at 12:23 AM, gunsmokin said:

Picked up this one too

Two absolute classics. 
Im a proud owner of 33 and 31 is high on my list for 2023. 

I love the timelessness of it and how I loved superheroes as a little boy, and now my little boy does to. 
it’s something that’s so accessible to people of all ages all over the world. 
 

7

one of my favourite Bronze Age covers. 

On 11/1/2022 at 11:15 PM, THE_BEYONDER said:

Miss my copies.  Always preferred 122, but that Spidey booty on 121 is indeed hard to resist...

Apologies  I hit the wrong numbers !

i much prefer the cover to 122 but I think the ending of 121 with the death is peak of the story. I actually think the death of Gwen is a bigger wow factor than the death of Norman. 
i also love my 123 with a great Luke Cage cover. It’s a superb trilogy of books. 

On 10/30/2022 at 7:26 PM, Off Panel said:

 

I still think of those two as the pinnacle, even though others are worth more money today.

Yes, I agree. 
Everything about them is iconic and I’m very grateful to own both. I prefer 121 but I do love my 122 signed by both Kane and JRS. 

On 10/18/2022 at 1:27 AM, Sweet Lou 14 said:

Fantastic accomplishment.  I won't be surprised if you eventually decide to stretch it further ... #325 gets you to the end of the MacFarlane run (plus there is #328) and of course #361-363 is the Carnage trilogy which is frankly overrated.  By the end of the 300's you're into the truly awful clone saga stuff and #400 is the "death" of Aunt May.  I ended up going through #400 slabbed, and I also have #401 through #700 raw since I bought them in real time.

I’m currently about 70% complete on a ASM run. I’m bowing out at 375 for the reasons you mention. 
375 with the Venom foil cover seemed the right issue to stop at for me. 

On 10/18/2022 at 4:28 PM, mephistopheles said:

I got out of comics in high school, 1990. Recently bought a new house with my gf and went through my old comics and rekindled my interest. Thank god I was into early wolverine, and bagged everything. Maybe it's just nostalgia for my childhood, but I really dislike modern comics. From the photoshop covers, to the terrible stories...hard pass.

Similar here. I stopped around 1992 then rekindled during lockdown when I went looking for the long box I hid away at parents house 30 years ago. 
Im still very silver, bronze and copper but I do pick up moderns where the cover catches my eye. Mainly the Patrick Gleason or Skottie Young stuff. 

Hi all, delighted to have landed a personal grail of mine for what I thought was a decent price. Thoughts please ? 

That’s a beauty. 8.5 from me. 

On 10/9/2022 at 3:06 PM, DocHoppus182 said:

I understand it can be intimidating sometimes.  But it’s really all about the fun of collecting and there’s no wrong way to do it.  Everyone’s collection and knowledge starts at the same place.  

Oh yeah I’m definitely more a fun collector and certainly don’t but to sell on at profit. 
I’d actually class myself as quite knowledgeable but not in same league as some. 
i know I’ll never enter the world of the serious blue chip issues ( unless win lottery ) but I’m very much proud of my collection. 
I’ve literally today just pulled the trigger on ASM 122 which has been a personal grail of mine for a while and I’m delighted. The buzz of knowing it’s bought is great. 
once landed I’ll be sharing on all the relevant threads !  

I like to contribute where I can but a lot of the time I do t like to interfere with people who have both far superior collections and knowledge than I do. 

On 10/8/2022 at 3:28 PM, alexanderjk said:

You do realize that very rich people also collect comics, right? Paying $9K over a books’ value is nothing for someone making millions a year (or a month). And art and collectibles buying is a common method of washing money. (See: Billion Dollar Whale, which chronicles one billionaire’s massive overpaying for art and property to launder his money. Absolutely happens in the comic collecting world, too.) 

Yeah undoubtedly very affluent people collect comics and of course they have the means to buy the big keys many of us can only dream of. 
However in my experience of working closely with the mega rich, they hate paying over the odds for anything so comic books will be no exception. 

On 10/1/2022 at 9:58 AM, The lips said:

My Gill Kane on ASM 121 

 

EDIT - Note the John Romita on the cover also ! 

On 9/27/2022 at 7:20 PM, Get Marwood & I said:

Have a read of Part Five here, Lips:

http://www.awe4one.com/NDS-MJ Inserts/Insert webpage.html

The insert came with the Mark Jewelers copies and is a first printing.

Here's the CGC label from my old liberated copy:

Thanks very much. I was actually going to tag you in original post as knew you’d be able to answer !

cool, feel safe in buying now. 

Hi, I’ve been in the market for a ASM 122 for a while now and just noticed one being advertised as a Mennen Jewellers insert which I’ve never seen before. 
is this a variant or it a first copy ? 
Anybody advise please, much appreciated

On 9/19/2022 at 10:48 AM, Ironhart said:

Hey all

As the title suggests I'm wanting to know if anyone as any recommendations for other sites that I could purchase comics from? I mainly use eBay as I've used it a lot in the past.

If this as been asked before, please could you link the post so I could check it out

I use 30th Century comics. Great selection and service. 

I’ve two signed Books. Both done personally in front of me and signed to my name. One a Silver Surfer 1, the other the 30 years of marvel hardback book. 
I’m delighted to have both. 

On 9/17/2022 at 8:40 PM, Professor K said:

Hey everyone, I was hoping to hear some thoughts on a move I've been thinking about for some time. I have an AF 15 .5 Blue. It looks not so good but it is complete (which many .5's are not). It's kind of like the John Merrick of AF 15's. 

Because of the grade it doesn't really fit with my other big early Marvel keys which are at least 3.0's. I have been thinking about selling and buying an ASM 1 (which I don't have) with the proceeds. I figure I could get an ASM 1 4.0 with the funds form the AF 15 or put out a few more bucks for a 5.0. Low grade AF 15's are, as we know, unpredictable. I've seen low grade, really bad looking raw copies go for more than many  .5 cgc graded copies in the same time frame. 

Anyway, what do you think? Keep one of the worst looking graded examples of the King of the Silver Age or sell it and get a decent looking ASM 1? Another option I've considered was selling the AF 15 .5 and wait for an AF 15 1.5 or possibly a 1.0 to come around. Of course that would take at about 5K to 8K more to acquire.

A- Keep it and be happy I have one.

B- Sell it and get a comparably priced ASM 1.

C- Sell it and dish out extra dough for a 1.5 or 1.0 

D- Something else

Thanks, 

Personally I’d upgrade for another AF15. As you say it’s the king of the silver age and as you already own, it’d be a real shame to not own and you’d miss having it in your collection ( I presume ) 

I don’t own slabs so everything is in its run