silverseeker

Congrats on the sale! I can only imagine what it feels like to sell a book for six figures...must be quite a rush.

What a great gift...happy birthday!

Happy Birthday, Harley!

Interestingly enough, Flash #140 was one of my more recent purchases, and I picked it up from Bob Storms at SDCC in 2019...man, I miss going to shows! I totally agree with you on your assessment of this particular book, as it took me a very long time to find this nice of a copy.

This is also pretty much it in a nutshell. When I got back into collecting in 2000, CGC was relatively new to the hobby and the majority of key books (or any books, really) available at cons and on eBay were raw, so I pretty much collected raw books and cracked out the few slabbed books I purchased for my personal collection. Things have obviously changed a lot since 2000, but I thought this bears mentioning...

Welcome to the boards, @Grant Carstensen! If you can share the CGC serial number of the book (it's tiny on those original generation slabs), someone may be able to look up the graders notes and see which defects were mentioned... If the color rub and the spots in the white area were called out as defects, I agree with everyone else in that a press would not improve this book.

Thanks! The #137 and #139 are probably the nicest copies of the five books I posted, although the #140 comes close... I bought most of these books 10-20 years ago, and wonder if higher-grade copies just happened to be more available back then...it's been a lot harder to find nice copies of the books still on my want list these days.

Thanks!

Last up is Flash #151...the final book in the mini-run (#105-151) I'm trying to put together. The black outline on the Shade and the Flash really pops against the gray background...

Next up is Flash #140...iconic cover for the first appearance of Heat Wave. Love the colors on this cover as well...

Next up is Flash #139...such a simple concept to create a villain with the same costume as the Flash, just with the colors reversed. Always loved Professor Zoom, even before he showed up in the Flash TV show...

Next up is Flash #137...let's just say I'm a huge fan of the Flash crossovers. Love the colors on this cover...

I know I'm a bit late to the party, but here are my five favorite Flash covers of the books I own (I currently do not have a #123, or it would definitely be in the list)...sorry for the shoddy iPhone photos. Let's start with Flash #129. Two Flashes? Two villains? What more could you want? I also like the look of the iceberg that's engulfing the Flash...

Congrats on the sweet FF #48, @GrasshopperFF! To answer your question, I've bought books from ICE twice over the last few years, and they were great to deal with...

I've cracked books out of 50-100 slabs over the years, and only recently started to keep a fewer higher-dollar books slabbed...

Will this dealer be setting up at your show?

Very good points…books with pieces missing have always been tougher for me to grade, for some reason...

I had a hard time grading the Rex Dexter, and this thread from last year led to me giving it a higher grade than most... If that Spidey #1 got a 3.0, I figured a structurally nicer copy of the Rex Dexter book would grade higher, especially taking the "Golden Age bump" into consideration...

I wonder if the PQ would actually be better than C/OW if you cracked this book out to see for yourself? That cover is so white... I'm not sure if you submitted this beauty yourself or bought it already slabbed.

Yeah, there are some interior defects you're hoping the book doesn't have when you crack it out...I've been burned at least 10 times by stains and interior page tears that were not disclosed in the graders notes when I've cracked books out of their slabs. A detached centerfold should always be noted!

I've been burned by some of these things as well over the years, and think some graders may omit defects that can be seen with the book in hand. This works well when you can go to shows to check out CGC books, but when most purchases nowadays are made online it makes detecting these things much more difficult, if not impossible...

What a great story...thanks for sharing! My friend's son also loves Paw Patrol...that tower looks pretty cool.

Very sad news...RIP

I purchased a Strange Tales #104 CGC 7.0 last year, and when I cracked it out I discovered it had two extra staples just like this book... Unlike this book, the extra staples were not noted on the label.

Comparing this book to the Star Wars #1 from the current grading contest that also graded 9.0, I'd say the CGC grade (based on the scans provided) for this book seems accurate...