LowGradeBronze

Prices remain firm on Doctor Strange (169 to 183) series. I'm trying to fill a few gaps and sellers have pretty tall price tags on mediocre copies and anything genuinely above a VG is out my range. No one seems to want to auction them to see what buyers will pay! The 178 to 183 end is where Gene Colan's art is at its very best, ever!

Looks 3.5 to me with just that little bit too much wear and tear at the staples and spine wear/discolouration as seen on the back cover pic for me to go higher.

When I saw the pics on an angle where you could see the play of the light across the book I revised my initial thoughts. I had thought it was 8.0+ but now I see more like 5.0 to 5.5 top. Interesting to see if marvel maniac and scburdet reconsider. It's not near mint by any means with those creases and handling marks across the surface. Those angled shots are very revealing. For one thing, look how textured (for want of a better word) the bottom edge of the back cover is and across the title logo on the front.

Give me a book with glue over a book with colour touch. I can live with glue. What's done is done and resto removal can be very aggressive leaving a book with far less eye appeal. What you have here looks great.

Looks 3.5 to 4.0 poss toward the lower of the two, since CGC lay more weight on appeal of front cover. Here the front has a lot of visible defects. Still a great book!

I see this a little higher than previous posters. There is an area on back cover at the top near the spine I'm uncertain of and the colour breaks along the spine but feel overall it should be a 6.0 if not a notch higher. Nice cover gloss and colours!

Certainly looks 8.5 to 9.0 with just the softer looking corners on the front cover 'letting it down'. Nice sharp copy!

Looks just shy of 7.0 to me, so 6.5

3.5 here I think.

5.0 or 5.5 possibly the lower due to the smudging/soiling back cover.

I'm leaning towards 5.5 or possibly 6.0

Buying additional copies of books you like is always a good plan.

Photographed in the bag as it was in my LCS: This J&P stamp is quite a big bigger than a T&P. Seen here on Not Brand Ecch 11. Any info on a J&P stamp? (The Baron clearly likes it!)

Inside a binder sleeve in a safe deposit box. Unsupervised and unchecked over time the binder sleeve has not done the book any favours. I'm betting that's where the waviness has come from with fluctuations in humidity perhaps.

Around 6.0 I'd say. Would be higher but for stain.

Looks like colour touch in the 1 of 12c. Something weird has been done to or has happened to this comic that so far, no one has mentioned. The extreme waviness across the surface (moisture ripple?) yet when viewed at an angle the book has obviously been pressed or flattened afterwards. There is a line pressed or flattened into the top edge from remedial action of some kind. This was a higher grade copy, suffered moisture damage and now flattened again certainly with regard to all four outside edges. Although the ripple across the surface remains strongly in evidence. The crease now heavily pressed into the corner is also evidence of amateur attention. I know this comic gets a bump at CGC for being a major (!) key but this copy won't grade higher than 3.5 or 4.0 in my eyes due to the moisture damage and attempts to remedy it. There is something unnatural about the way it presents. Unnaturally flat at the edges, yet strong moisture ripple across the surface. Has the present owner been experimenting on it? Would be a very expensive mistake.

Maybe some sellers are so greedy they think "if mine sells before these others I must have priced it too low." There is also some future proofing in items listed while prices were on the up. They stand out now though, 'as the tide goes out' again.

Thanks for the update! Congrats, a good result. Helping me too, with my grading skills. Not a bad set of grades you've had from this batch.

Maybe something related to Cap's best villains, so Red Skull or Baron Zemo? Bust, figurine, funko pop?

@marvelmaniac Thank you! That's great!

This panel is shown in the Penguin Book of Comics. (A book I blame for my whole obsession with comic collecting.) Book gives no reference to which issue this panel's taken from. Any help gratefully received...

Agreed, especially if you stand up to pee.....

Isn't that Bender from Futurama on the cover of Human Torch 23?

Good condition, as in 2.0, looks to be correct. At which grade the top staple being detached from centrefold has zero impact. Nice to have a copy you can handle!

Nice looking 4.5 too much spine wear for me to go higher.