LowGradeBronze

My response to this sort of crime would involve rope, the thief's testicles and a lamp post.

Today's prices certainly make you look at ''yesterday's opportunities" in a very different way. I used to hunt down local newspaper ads that just said old comics for sale and you never knew what you'd find when you got there. Or cutting someone's grass for £1 and then they say, would you like these comics instead? Today's value of that small pile of comics is now well over £500. Crazy. I'm just glad I still have some of them. But yes, I would press the reset button as I want the comics, not the money or some theoretical wealth I'll never realise. It's pricing too many collectors out of the market and leading to the dreadful whining griping we see on these boards about whether some microscopic mark will degrade someone's comic from 9.8 down to 9.6. That's not comic collecting, sorry!

So glad I bought multiple small batches from MCS over the last 7 or 8 years. Prices have hardened so much on the low grade end I could afford that I'm very pleased with my targeted purchases. (MCS have nothing like the stock on hand they used to have. Now it's nearly all on consignment with prices that blow OSPG out of the water.) I don't need to visit the LCS for kicks, just go to one of my short boxes and dig out something I haven't spent enough time with. That feeling is priceless and possibly comes with age. I never fail to surprise myself. "Oh yeah, I forgot about this Silver Surfer 3."

Without wishing to lower the tone, (something I always do at some point,) can you imagine the comments in the PGM thread on the Playboy & Hustler Forum? "Spine roll, staple tears, CF missing, slight stains on pages 3, 4, 9 through 13, 51..67..."

You'd be better off loading the pics to this site rather than linking to those weird colour shots of yours! Can't grade from what you're showing us!

Nice clean book! Presents very well, spine roll not really an issue if pressed, a slight indentation down the front cover but the top edge of the back cover is the biggest set back grade wise. LH edge of the back cover looks a little ragged too but it could be the pages I'm seeing not the edge of the cover. (In absence of a CF shot, we have to assume the CF is firmly on both staples.) From what I can see I'm at 5.5 to 6.0

I'm not so sure you can retract a bid with only minutes on the auction left to run. The latest you can do it is something like an hour. After that, your bid sticks. The only real issue for the OP is if the guy doesn't pay. Even if he paid, I'd block him afterwards. If he was the only person bidding and his final bid was at or above the starting bid you could argue he has done nothing wrong, although it's hardly behaviour to be encouraged.

I hope you have over compensated for it since...?

Notice how they recycled even back then? This joke from the cover of 154 resurfaces on 201 (shown above.) Mine isn't strictly Bronze, sorry! Hope you don't mind seeing it though.

Why is the Watcher holding an Etch-a-Sketch?

Isn't it great when a comic has both interior art and cover by the same team? I calls 'em thoroughbreds, and here's one that turned up today in my mail. Post your bronze dream team thoroughbreds below!

And lets not forget, tanning that brown can also mean brittleness in which case you may only be looking at 2.0 What we can't tell from any photo is the smell: Just how acidy brittle has that paper gone where it's brown... (!)

Easier to post it rather than try and analyse: I'm not sure it does give the split you're after...

So we go from the sublime to the ridiculous...HTD1 is proper S&S though, right? At least Brunner plays it straight. This is my own copy, treasured since 1976.

Marvel seemed to have a deliberate policy with Epic to get it mainstream. I used to find it regular as clockwork in NSS newsagent (ie a large chain newsagent,) in the next town, not in my own town. Number 2 was the first UK distributed copy, I had to go to Fantasy Unlimited in Islington in late 1980 to get my number 1 with its dollar only price. Numbers 2 to 9 were printed up in UK price only at 75p then from 10 onwards you got dual pricing. When it went up to a whole pound from number 11 they rather charmingly put the UK price as "1£" (later "1£ UK") and it wasn't until number 20 that they got it right at "£1 UK". Incidentally, number 1s were produced with just 2 staples which helps account for why so many are in poor shape. It's quite a weight of magazine to pick up and with the slick stock the middle can slip out from between your fingers! The switch to 3 staples from issue 2 helped keep it in shape. There were many more number 1's printed than other issue (including a whole bunch of advance promo copies,) but typically print runs were circa 300,000 with almost half being shown on the statement as 'returns from newsagents' so there is a potential mountain of warehouse stock Epic mags all out there somewhere! (Statement of ownership/distribution referred to there was in number 10. There's another in number 23.)

Here's one that fits the bill, and I get to say Crusty Bunkers too! (Howard Chaykin and the...)

These are two of my favourite Gulacy issues. A great two part story line. Had these since 1976 and bought in the local newsagent's for 9 pence! This was before I discovered bags, let alone boards, so they've survived well.

Doctor Strange, Howard the Duck & Deathlok. (With a mention for Cap'n Quick & a Foozle.)

Current collection is a mere 1,000 or so, (mostly marvel, the marvel to DC ratio is 8 to 1 in Marvel's favour,) plus maybe a hundred other items like magazines, treasuries etc. (Used to have a collection of around 6,000 to 8,000 back in the 80s/90s but we won't talk about that, sniff)

57 and also enjoy researching and reading about comics & comics creators as much as reading the comics themselves. What a fabulous hobby! I love newsprint, even the smell of it, especially the smell.

A comic that would suffer damage just from opening it is not a 9.8! Grading is a reflection of the structure of the comic. A sound structure won't be damaged by one opening, however a comic that is so fragile it is damaged on one opening could not ever be a 9.8. Welcome to the boards BTW.

I love the early issues for the Mike Golden/Armando Gil artwork. Such a great combo. Not enough Armando Gil out there in the world but some of his work is deservedly sought after. I'm thinking Avengers Annual 10 for one.

If you're sure the highest grade possible is going to be one that allows repairs, like 2.0, then I'd use 2 tiny pieces of magic tape to "hang" that piece in place. Other tapes are available.

Moderns on that slick paper can have that waviness.

One question is "how old is your son?" because if he's five then his budget should arguably be a lot lower than $200. On the other hand if I'd been allowed to spend that much at that age, then I would have bought the first appearance of Spiderman & I'd be a very happy bunny right now! If he's 18 or above and earns his own money then he could be making an informed choice.