LowGradeBronze

I wish there was a flea market near me that you could buy SA FFs at. The last time it was possible to rummage a box of silver age anything in my home town, (about a year ago now,) the guy put such unrealistic prices on them it was laughable. He'd put a sticker saying VFN £45 on something that was barely GD/VG and worth maybe £10 being generous. My mouth waters to hear folk say "picked this up at the flea market..."

I think it's a low enough grade that the writing won't affect it much. Even without the writing it's a 3.5 to 4.0 range to my eyes. Don't get me wrong, it's a handsome copy with a good deal of eye appeal. I would gladly own that book! And you know that someone once got a very good deal when they paid 6 cents for it!

An enjoyable 40 minutes of banter as the pamphlet is unpacked and explored. Some surprise appearances too in those pages!

On the subject of White Pages, (in proper newsprint comics,) how long will the pages remain white? Surely over time all newsprint pages will start to go off-white, cream, then tan to some degree? Does a CGC slab offer any degree of protection against the effects of time in that regard?

Only loosely related so I apologise in advance: A friend and I discovered a shop selling fabulous SA comics (this was in the 80s) but they were sold loose, no bags, hanging in the window on bulldog clips and with a big old sticker smack on the front cover, with the price on. Indeed we saw the owner pricing up when we entered. Sticker on cover, then press firmly with biro to write the price. We tried to explain that he was reducing their value to a fraction by this unnecessary act, but he wouldn't listen. And those stickers wouldn't come off without a tear. One was a GL by Neal Adams!

I just dug out my FF issues 59 to 66 to compare: What I found was pretty interesting. 59 to 63 are all the same size. In particular my 61 and 62 are exactly the same size as each other. But my 65 & 66 are both about 4mm less tall than the rest and have def not been trimmed. They are very low grade. Sadly I haven't got a 64 to see whether the shorter size started with 64 or not. Likewise I don't have a 67 to see if 67 continued the run of shorter issues. Certainly by issue 73 (the next one I have) they were back to regular full height. The same height as 61 & 62. Hope this helps and can anyone else compare their 63 64 & 65 to see if my findings are valid and if 64 was regular height or shorter by 4mm? Also can anyone else confirm when the shorter issues stopped and returned to full height?

If there's no evidence the staples have been removed and repositioned I wouldn't suspect foul play. Probably someone had the vile and despicable habit of folding the front cover then the pages round to the back as they read. My brother in law did that to one of mine, but he only did it the once!!!!! Personally I wouldn't mess with it. Its original insofar as its history of wear and handling has got it to where it is now. Its a nice looking copy. All this pressing and meddling can only lead to the wringing of hands and terrible remorse when it goes wrong. IMO.

Can't see what you'd be achieving here. You bought a certified 8.5. Don't forget that grading starts on the inside of the comic at the centrefold, and now the inside is invisible to you. I'd be satisfied I got what I paid for: An 8.5

I'm thinking 1.5 to 1.8 doesn't make Good in my opinion. Based on description as well as pics.

Definite 7.0 maybe even 7.5 to my eye.

For me this is solid VG territory. Wow imagine that as your reader copy! Best of luck with your upgrade search. That's a nice looking book.

A handsome 2.5 I'd say.

No higher than 5.0 with the accumulation of defects. Still a nice solid handleable copy, which is what it's all about. You want to be able to handle it without fear. (If you'll permit the corruption of a tag line...)

It looks to me like this would fit the corner perfectly if carefully unfolded. If it turns out to extend beyond the edges of the comic when unfolded, then it would be a bindery 'defect' (is not really a defect.) But I think you just have a regular creased/folded corner. Im guessing the bodybuilding secret was a powdered protein shake of some kind.

Gotta love the fact that the coolest ASM cover is matched up with THE coolest back cover ever! Drawn by Joe Sinnott if I'm not mistaken. I'm at around 5.5 on this copy. I think the back cover damage and the dink/bend top right just stop it from being fine. Lovely copy though!

Traditional shares, with a certificate digital or paper, are a financial measure that runs parallel to the business in question. For example, Coca Cola shares are not actually made of Coca Cola. They are a legal instrument. It's not the same with an actual tangible item like a comic. Who is going to decide when the GA comic in question is going to be sold to realise a profit for the owners? Will they all have to vote? Because if it gets sold out from under you, (against your will,) you just get your profit (or loss,) and someone else is the new owner. Would there be a dividend each year the comic rises in value and who sets the level? Who decides how much it's gone up by? I just don't see how it would work without horrendous legal fees to safeguard high value articles. What happens if it gets stolen or lost or burnt? Is everyone paying a few cents on the dollar for fire & theft insurance every year?

I'm glad they didn't. I enjoy the uncluttered look with no captions or blurbs. Pure and exciting, timeless. (Maybe I misunderstood: You may have meant on the CGC label.)

Squarebounds are harder to find in high grade, due to the issues of stapling and gluing the cover on. Very few made really high grades, even when new compared to 'traditional' 36 pagers.. Welcome to the boards!

A slightly forgotten reprinting of Red Nails from 1983 that works well on the Baxter stock, especially now that it's yellowed slightly!

I'm at 5.5 and I really wouldn't risk anything happening to it in a C&P. (I find C&P an unnatural thing to put a comic book through.) I would leave it exactly as is. Very pleasing copy!

This looks like a 5.0 VG/FN to me or maybe 5.5 FN- Thanks for sharing! Nice looking book.

When I snagged this one, I was also bidding on the Battle of The Billboards issue 104 too, but that one got away! Colours inside are simply gorgeous! So bright.

Every Every now and then I grab a pen and see what happens.

It's great that CGC and others are there to preserve archive grade examples of comics (of all kinds) for the future. But I'm glad I started collecting in the playground where we swapped and loaned our comics with each other. The real pleasure of Strange Tales 180 is in Jim Starlin's amazing artwork. It's not in seeing the covers behind glass. It's in handling an original newsprint copy not some slick papered, recoloured reprint in a Milestone Edition. I feel a little sorry for collectors coming into the hobby now if their primary experience of comics is in a slab. Slabs have their place, but I want newsprint pushed up under my nose. I want to smell 1972 as well as touch and see it up close. (I will buy a second copy if I can so my best copy can stay in shape.)

Check out other folks posts in the PGM section. That's the way to go. Drag and drop the photos. Couldn't be simpler.