My own personal GRAIL story !!! WARNING SUPER LONG POST

[comixcroz]

I'm not asking what you paid, but what could a collector expect to pay for something similar?

Too much to spend on a funny book - expect to pay somewhere between $6500 and $7500 on the high end. Prices seem to change often. I would think anything lower than 6500 would be a great deal for a 5.5 ow/w

[djpinkpanther67]

I'm not asking what you paid, but what could a collector expect to pay for something similar?

 

Pretty clear to me

"...So I continue the long walk except now I am soaking wet to the bone and carrying a 7 thousand dollar comic. "

[comixcroz]

I'm not asking what you paid, but what could a collector expect to pay for something similar?

 

Pretty clear to me

"...So I continue the long walk except now I am soaking wet to the bone and carrying a 7 thousand dollar comic. "

(thumbs u

[comixcroz]

Hi Jason,

 

Excellent story and congrats on the book! Good luck with the continued success on putting that run together!

 

Steve

keep providing me with the High Grades Steve and I'll have my set complete in no time!!

[VintageComics]

Dude, that is such a great story. Nothing better than a great book with a great story. Definitely one you'll be able to share for times to come.

 

I've said it many times on here....Fantastic Four #1 is ground zero for Marvel. Not AF #15, not ASM #1, not any other title. I know there will be people who chose AF #15 but this is not the place to argue it.

 

FF #1 is THE ultimate Marvel book in my opinion and I know exactly how you feel.

 

Having just secured my greatest grail (though not paid it off yet) I can relate. Congrats!

[rube11]

Hi Jason,

 

Excellent story and congrats on the book! Good luck with the continued success on putting that run together!

 

Steve

keep providing me with the High Grades Steve and I'll have my set complete in no time!!

 

 

 

 

[Karma23]

Congratulations on your grail. It's a great story.

 

There's nothing like finally getting that childhood dreambook. (thumbs u

[Claudio]

Stories like this make this forum a cool place to visit. congrats!

[Sal]

congrats! buying a ten cent Marvel superhero book is not a common thing!

 

 

(thumbs u

[thehumantorch]

I'm pretty sure it is his first

[Guest Grails]

Thanks for sharing that. Made my day. Reminds me of some adventures I had travelling with comics in the 80's. I've acquired a few of my grails in the last few years but no cool stories about the pick ups. Unless giving out my credit card number over a cell phone is exciting and risky... yeah, I got nothing.

[Dark Knight]

It seems as if a lot of people are getting their grails.. Mac Man, rd1970d, and now comickroz.. I still have yet to get mine and when I do, I'd definitely put in my own thread and my story. Only time will tell when I can afford it... All I can do now is just dream .. But congrats to comickroz! Great to hear stories like this.

[Chespirito]

FF1 has been on my mind for a good while now. I actually remember the first time I saw an FF1 in person. I was about 8 years old and my Uncle was into comics. He took me to a LCS in the suburbs of Pittsburgh every so often and let me pick out one book. He was a big X-men fan and so I would always follow suit and pick the same book he picked up.

 

The one day I was there with him I spotted the "High value" comics. Instead of being up on a wall, he had them in a glass case and there was an FF1. I remember asking my Uncle about it and he told me that it was the most expensive comic book in the world!! I was in awe at the price of this comic (I can't remember the asking price now) and it was the first moment I remember ever hearing of the Fantastic Four. I'll never forget the image of that book in my head. I saw that book about 20 to 30 times after that day and I remember it being perfect. I doubt that it was even a Fine copy but the image I have stuck in my head is that of a 9.4 beauty.

 

 

The LCS is now long gone by a good 15 to 20 years, but the influence that book had on me still exists to this day. Over the years I have built a rather impressive collection of FF raws. I have almost the complete Jack and Stan run with the exception 1, 2, and 4. Mind you, everything prior to issue 30 looks like it's been the toilet paper of a rhino, but I have them and they are complete. I just recently started upgrading my collection. 3 years ago I was at a con and bought a second copy of FF72 for $60. After holding it in my hands and seeing the glossy goodness of High grades I became addicted to not only having every issue, but now having them in VF or better. You all can relate I'm sure.

 

Then I started buying slabs and the disease progressed. I can register my collection online and compare them to other collections? I don't have to worry if the book is restored or the seller is an overgrader? you get it....

 

For the past 3 years I have been saving for my grail. The almighty FF1. I even opened a seperate savings acct just for the FF1 funds. Well last month my funds reached a level that seemed do-able for a nice copy. The seller finds me from a WTB thread I started and sends me some scans of a nice 5.5. I looked around a while and could not find one that was as nice as this one that I could afford. So I asked if I could fly into Manhattan to see it in person first before making a decision. The seller was completely fine with it and I made the reservations. At this point I had started to get cold feet. Prior to this purchase, the most I had ever spent on a single comic was $650. I started asking for advice about future value and most said not to do it, especially the people that are not comic nerds. Ultimately, none of that mattered, because I HAD to own this book at some point in my life. Period.

 

Here I am on a plane to NY, NY. Flight left at 11:00am and I am to depart later that night at 9:00pm. I have nothing but a backpack and myself. In the backpack I have a Bone TPB and my travel papers. I paid in advance to have a small van take me from LaGuardia to Manhattan for $12 bucks each way. This turned out to be much cheaper but a very slow way to get anywhere. I was meeting the seller at 1:00pm at a Barnes and Noble across the street from where the seller works. I get their before the seller and I can tell immediately who the seller is because when he walks in to the entrance he is carrying a box tightly secured in between his armpit. We say are hellos and we go to an empty table right outside of B&B. He whips out the FF1 like it was a beat up Sports Illustrated and hands it to me.

 

This is the first time I had ever held an FF1 in my hands and the first time since I was a tiny tot with my uncle that I had seen one in person. I tried to act like it was no big deal. I had plans of heavily negotiating for a lower price. I was going to walk if I did not get my offer and that is it!!!

 

I handed him the cash and we went on our marry ways. His smile was grin to grin. I don't think he expected to be leaving with a nice wad of cash that day. Honestly, I could not be happier.

 

I told him I had some time to kill before my return flight and asked him what to do. He replied "You'd be doing yourself a disservice if you did not check out Mid-town comics." To which I replied "Cool!" He told me how to get their and I warned him that I am terrible with directions. I nodded as he told me the directions and then minutes later I had forgot them. Luckily, I had my iphone so I just typed in Midtown Comics in to the GPS and BAM 2 locations show up instantly. I set my course and start walking. It's cold out but the sun is shining, I have 5 hours to kill in NYC, and I have the HOLY GRAIL of my life under my arm. Life could not be better!! It isn't until 90 minutes later that I start to wonder "How far of a walk is this?!" I look down to my iphone and I realize I had been walking in the exact opposite direction. At this point, I am pretty frustrated but life is still grand because of the book in my hands. I turn around and make sure I am going the correct way. About 20 minutes into going the right direction I feel a single drop of rain on my head. please dont rain. Not with this FF1 in my hands. Mind you the book is wrapped in bubble wrap and then put into a box - but it is in no way water proof. 10 minutes later I am walking in a downpour. I run into the first store I find and ask for a large plastic bag. 4 stores later I am actually given one. I check the book for any moisture and Whew! there is none. So I continue the long walk except now I am soaking wet to the bone and carrying a 7 thousand dollar comic.

 

Walking in NY, I imagine, is like driving NASCAR. I always thought that I was a fast walker until this day. I am being passed by everyone!! Women, children, the ELDERLY!! Not to mention, everyone has umbrellas and I almost lose an eye every other block. Here I am sopping wet wearing a leather jacket and dodging pointy umbrellas all the while carrying my grail. After an hour of walking I get to Midtown Comics. I wait for 5 minutes more in the rain as people walk down the stairs at the entrance. (There is only room to go up or down - not both) I finally get inside and it really is a cool shop. You can see Time Square while you're browsing back issues. The only complaint I have is they don't have hardly anything SA in High Grade. Which is pretty much all that I buy now - so I went up stairs and looked at possibly the largest collection of Bowen and Sideshow Statues I have ever seen. I wasted an hour looking around the shop but bought nothing. I did ask one of the workers for a new plastic bag and I swapped out the sopping wet one. The whole time I was thinking, I wonder what people would think in this shop if they knew what I had in my bag....

 

I get a call on my iphone - it's the cab company that is riding me back to the airport. I have to be at 3rd and 52nd at 5:30 to make sure I get my 9:00pm flight on time. well ok... I guess traffic is that bad round these parts. I head to the pickup location - right where I started. Another hour of rain/speed walking and stopping several times to make sure no water is getting through the bag, I get to the pickup address. After 6 calls to the operator and a fight between a dude on a bike and someone in a benz, the cab arrives at 7:15pm.

 

I arrive at LaGuardia in no time and I am through security in 5 minutes. I get to my terminal about 30 minutes before boarding and sigh. That is until, the flight Attendant announces over the intercom that my flight is canceled!!! I ended up staying in an airport hotel, on US Airways dime ofcourse, with no change of clothes and no tooth brush!!

 

The FF1 and I stayed up all night lovingly staring into each others eyes in our crappy hotel room.

 

Congrats on your grail, pretty awesoeme, I know it's jsut not the same but, my personal grail is Spiderman 1 and FF1 original prints from La Prensa, the Mexican versions of the Marvel ones, I hope to one day get them, any condition will suit me just fine.

[comixcroz]

Congrats on your grail, pretty awesoeme, I know it's jsut not the same but, my personal grail is Spiderman 1 and FF1 original prints from La Prensa, the Mexican versions of the Marvel ones, I hope to one day get them, any condition will suit me just fine.

Do you have any Mexican Versions of any of the SA Fantastic Four books? If so I'd love to see some scans.

[Chespirito]

Congrats on your grail, pretty awesoeme, I know it's jsut not the same but, my personal grail is Spiderman 1 and FF1 original prints from La Prensa, the Mexican versions of the Marvel ones, I hope to one day get them, any condition will suit me just fine.

Do you have any Mexican Versions of any of the SA Fantastic Four books? If so I'd love to see some scans.

 

I don't have too many, my favorite (#75 or to us, FF49) is at cgc as we speak. I have 4 which coincides with the American FF4, #72 which is the inhumans cover, and some other ones that don't come to mind right now. I also have some x-men ones, my favorite x-men 1 and 12, also at cgc, guess I 'll have those babys in a couple of months, SS !! Yeah!! Getting them is slow but, exciting, collector's in south america aren't willing to let go of key issues so easy, the hard ones to get in FF la prensa are the numbers 1, 4, 12, 75, 76. which would be 1, 4, 48 and 49.

[comixcroz]

Congrats on your grail, pretty awesoeme, I know it's jsut not the same but, my personal grail is Spiderman 1 and FF1 original prints from La Prensa, the Mexican versions of the Marvel ones, I hope to one day get them, any condition will suit me just fine.

Do you have any Mexican Versions of any of the SA Fantastic Four books? If so I'd love to see some scans.

 

I don't have too many, my favorite (#75 or to us, FF49) is at cgc as we speak. I have 4 which coincides with the American FF4, #72 which is the inhumans cover, and some other ones that don't come to mind right now. I also have some x-men ones, my favorite x-men 1 and 12, also at cgc, guess I 'll have those babys in a couple of months, SS !! Yeah!! Getting them is slow but, exciting, collector's in south america aren't willing to let go of key issues so easy, the hard ones to get in FF la prensa are the numbers 1, 4, 12, 75, 76. which would be 1, 4, 48 and 49.

I'd love to see your 72 cover (the inhumans cover 45) - can you post a scan?