Sig vs. Grade

[CollectingStanLee]

I thought it might make for an interesting thread to see what everyone thinks about the importance of having certified sig vs. grade. What do you feel is more important, having a signature on a low-grade book (silver age) or a higher grade unsigned copy of the same book?

 

Personally I don't mind mid to lower-grade books and have built my CGC SS collection around them. A couple of reasons for this. 1. Buying lower-grade books means I can get more books into my collection and 2. The sig changes the book, and for silver age keys, like Amazing Fantasy 15 for example, there is a point where I probably wouldn't want to change the book. I recently saw a 6.0 go for big money with Stan's sig on comiclink, but he signed it in blue, which I thought pretty much wrecked it. I know this is subjective, and I apologize to the owner or previous owner if they find that comment offensive.

 

I did get some high-grade silvers with Stan Lee's sig, but that was because I converted my entire collection to CGC SS regardless of grade. I think Stan Lee's sig is actually worth more than the book in most cases, but that's just me, and admittedly, I'm a little crazy. I'd rather have my Tales of Suspense #39 4.5 CGC SS Stan Lee than a 7.0 unsigned. Without the sig, it's pretty much just ink and paper to me. The exception, like I said before, would be high-grade keys.

 

The mainstream comic book collector market certainly cares about grade, that much I know. I'm just curious to see how sig collectors view it.

[Pirate]

I prefer grade on moderns as they are easier to move. From a collector standpoint, if it's one of my compilation books, I don't mind grade so much as the book speaks for itself.

 

I personally don't get HG silver and Bronze signed as I'm on the fence about what books should and shouldn't get signed, but have gotten all types done for customers.