oatcrunch

I'm sorry to hear that. I hope they turn up! I had FedEx lose a package of mine as well. Even though it said signature required, it's likely the driver signed it himself (our property manager tells me that they do that sometimes, and we even had a tenant post a note on the front door imploring the driver to use the signature service as it's intended). Of USPS, UPS, and FedEx, they seem to be the worst. Sorry again about your lost book!

I've heard this from women I've dated before. My girlfriend loves that I collect comics (she's a huge plant nerd so I think she "gets it"), but I've been told by others that they don't want to date gamers because of past partners whose time and focus on that hobby was to the detriment of other aspects of their lives. Shame, but we all have our preferences I suppose. Congrats on finding someone who supports your enthusiasm!

Yes I’m very happy with the appearance and really want to keep it. Hard to find raws that look this nice so I can live with the issues as long as I’m not taking a total bath on it. Thanks!

Thanks, very helpful. It seems it's worth keeping, which is a relief because I love the cover on this copy.

I don't slab my books so I'm just trying to figure out if I should return it. If it's oil and if I get a consensus on a >5.5 grade (I'm going to a comic con this weekend and am hoping to get some feedback there too), then I'll just hang on to it. But we'll see!

Interesting, thanks for the feedback! I thought the answer was going to be "of course that's a water stain, what else could it be" so I've definitely learned something here. I paid about a 5.5 price for it, so I'm hoping it's at least that with the minor tears along the spine.

Hi, I recently purchased a raw Fantastic Four #49 on eBay and would love an assessment of some of the issues I'm seeing with it. Although the seller told me that it was not water stains, there does look to be staining on the front (inside only) and back covers (inside and out). I am questioning it because it doesn't look like typical water staining to me, but I don't have any experience with older books with water stains. If it is water stain, then I am going to return it. Any thoughts on whether this is actually water staining? If it is, what grade could I expect if I keep it? Any assistance is appreciated!

I purchased a halo slab a few months ago and had a bit harder time cracking it than I do cracking CGCs, but I was able to without damaging the book.

Great thread! My first comic was Thor #347. Thor has been my favorite character, and Walt Simonson my favorite artist, ever since. When I started collecting again, I focused on getting the whole Simonson run before anything else and 347 was the first issue I purchased for that run (I lost all my old comics unfortunately).

Thanks y'all. This was helpful for setting expectations when I'm evaluating potential future purchases. Appreciate the feedback!

@Ahsoka Tano Jedi Apprentice I took a few more pics of the spine from above and the bottom back right corner. Thanks again for taking a look.

Thanks for the feedback! I'll add a couple more pics of the spots you mentioned in your post, @Ahsoka Tano Jedi Apprentice.

Hello, I purchased this off eBay for a pretty penny a few months ago and am interested in getting a better idea of the grade. I don't intend to get it pressed or send it into CGC any time soon, I just want to post some of the books I have so I am able to get a better sense of grades for when I shopping around. The most apparent defect is the top staple has torn the cover slightly. Thanks!

Here's the 4.0.

Here's the 4.5.

Thanks, I spent a minute looking at it trying to figure out what was wrong with it to warrant the current price. Usually I would spot those red flags, but I guess I wasn't in a very observant mood.

What is questionable about this?

I had the same problem so I cleared my cookies, logged back in and haven't had a problem since. Hopefully that works for you!

I can't say I disagree. There are so many now that I'm just not interested in, so going forward I'm only considering characters or series that I care about. When I started buying them I didn't really think about how many they would produce and ended up buying quite a few just to round out the collection. In hindsight I would have skipped quite a few over the more unremarkable ones.

Ha, you must realllly hate this part of my collection: In all seriousness, I think your points are fair. For me, I just find them fun to collect. Cheers!

Thanks, the rich color is what convinced me to finally pull the trigger on shelling out the money for this one!

Very happy to get such a nice copy of one of my grails this weekend.

I've been slowly collecting my favorite hip-hop variant covers, but this one will never be a part of my collection. I could at least understand why they went this route if the inspiration album had similar art, but the Grandmaster Flash album is a fairly un-stylized photo!

About a month ago I saw a Werewolf by Night 32 facsimile sell for more than $600 (don't remember the exact amount)! I think they mentioned it was a facsimile, but it was buried in a wall of text in the description. I felt so bad for the buyer. I know we have to do our due diligence before bidding, but I understand how someone can get caught up when they see lots of others also bidding large amounts for the same book.

Thanks for the recommendation, I'll check it out! Regarding this new story line being pandering, I hope - for the sake of good storytelling - that you're wrong, and we get something we both enjoy. Cheers!