silverseeker

5.0 for me as well, but the back cover staining might knock it down to 4.5 since there's quite a bit...

I miss Lee's Comics! While I never scored any books that look as sweet as your FF #48s, they always had a nice selection of books and tended to undergrade, which meant you were happy with your purchase.

This is what I would do for a book of this value, unless you want to get it graded ASAP so you can sell it while the market's hot...

I don't think CGC will recognize signature verification done by the other guy and grant the book a yellow label, so it'll need to remain in the other guy's slab.

2.0 for me as well...

4.5...nice book!

3.0 for me as well...

1.0 for me as well...

That was very cool...thanks for sharing! Since he's a self-described completist, I wonder what runs of books he has to go along with those two mega-keys?

“L@@K” always seems to magically lure me in...these sellers are smart!

I totally agree with this, and saw that you just purchased the Annual #1...congrats! If prices go up, you have a lower-grade copy that's also gone up in value that you can sell to make upgrading less painful. If prices go down you can upgrade for less and still make some money back from your lower-grade copy. It feels like a win-win, provided you have the funds to buy the books you want now...good luck!

Totally agree...and the scans are super-clean so the books really pop!

This is what I think they are, and I once bought a copy of Daredevil #14 that had similar indentations on the front cover...

I was thinking the same thing...apply minimal pressure and check often to make sure the gloss isn’t being affected and the ink isn’t getting smudged. Depending on the type of stain it may have slightly penetrated the paper, in which case there may still be something left behind when the crusty surface part of the stain is removed. Good luck!

I think there could also be a psychological element, especially when seeking more expensive books. It took me almost 10 years of collecting before I made the jump from spending hundreds on a book to spending over $1,000 on a book, and I'm going through the same psychological process now as I contemplate buying some of the massive keys I need to complete some of my runs...am I ready to make the jump to spending over $10,000 on a book? That's a lot of cash, but unless the comic market completely crashes and burns in the next 10-20 years you should be able to recoup most of your investment at worst, and make a nice profit at best. Compared to other hobbies, comic collecting has been both fun and financially rewarding...

This is great news...about time we're getting a convention back up in San Francisco proper! @Kevin Boyd, have the other FAN EXPOs been well-attended by vintage comic dealers?

When I got back into collecting, ASM #1-400 was on my want list...after I determined I didn't want to pony up for #121, #122, #129 and #194 I decided to give up on this goal and shoot for #1-102 (I'm missing #1-3 and #5)...it's worked out pretty well because I was able to sell quite a few of my books between #103 and #400 for a decent profit. My Daredevil run is pretty small compared to most people...#1-20 and #158-191 (I have #1-20 but am missing four books in the Miller run). My FF run is looking very rough from a completion standpoint...I wanted to get #1-60, but only have #8 and #20-60.

I love how Romita penned his signature to go behind Doc Ock's leg...very creative!

This is some impressive coordination by all parties...I hope it ends up being a win-win-win situation!

From looking at GPA, issues #28, #31 and #42 seem to be the most valuable, and then it's a toss-up between #37 and #51. Since you already have #50 graded, I agree that choosing #51 as the fourth book makes a lot of sense...

This one's easy for me with what's currently going on in the market...not picking up a copy of X-Men #1 in 6.0ish between 2000 (when I got back into collecting) and 2019, when Marvel acquired Fox...I had so many years...

I checked eBay last night and it appears to be flooded with copies graded 6.0 and lower...wonder how many of them are selling?

First Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine...she was introduced in last week's episode of Falcon and the Winter Soldier. It's the MCU money-making machine hard at work again for comic speculators...

#2 for me as well, and the fact that you may need to pay a premium for white pages makes this decision that much easier...