GFS Grail Frustration Syndrome?

[Mac Man]

I sometimes like to entertain the idea that some day I'll make enough money as a prof. that I'll be able to afford a low grade copy PR to FR, but even that I think will be out of reach.

[JiveTurkeyMoFo]

I have but one grail, Batman 1. I've owned quite a few copies in my life, but always had to sell them when one financial disaster or another came along. The quest was for the "the" copy that would fill the goal. Solid, mid-grade copy with nice pages, at a price I could live with.

 

Those days are gone, unless I find one at an estate sale or something. I once had a 2.0 - 2.5 that just about fit the bill perfectly, but like a doofus, I sold it thinking that 4.0 or 5.0 was just around the corner. Never made it to the end of the block to turn that corner though.

 

I imagine I could sell a bunch of my books and buy a restored copy, and that would scratch the itch for a little while. But that's fools gold really. I've been there and done that. The grail for me is the 5.0ish white pager. The kind of money it would take to land such a book can't be justified in my household, so it will remain the unttainable goal for now.

 

Sometimes it depresses me a little. as my collection would be complete if it only contained that one book. But, as others have mentioned in this thread, comics aren't meant to be depressing. They are meant to grant us escape from real life and and fun and diversion from the mundane. So, I don't let it bother me most days.

 

 

I approach things a little differently; I have no "must-have" grail books. This makes getting frustrated in obtaining one a non-issue.

 

Sure, there are books I would love to own (or own again, depending on the book)....like F.F. 1, 5, ASM 1, 5, AF 15, Marvel Comics 1, Marvel Mystery 9, 14, etc., but since I'm a high grade snob, many of those books in the grades I desire are out of my league. I've been flirting with buying a nice ASM # 5 in 9.0, but inevitably, the price becomes a factor. Not that they're out of my league, mind you, but just that some guy always wants it more then me when one comes up for auction.

 

Right now, I've content in collecting HG Classic Golden Age covers...and whenever I view my collection, I always view it as a whole and never as the individual parts that it contains (or more germane to this discussion, the individual parts that it is lacking).

 

Its been three years this August since I've moved away from Silver and Bronze and into GA, and my collection is the best its every been. I don't feel the compulsion to upgrade from 9.2 to 9.4 to 9.6 like I used to, simply because I'm lucky if the books I covet come around in 9.0 once every couple of years. And when it comes to "grails", I keep myself very flexible and never fixated on any one book....I'm sure if we're having this discussion in another two years, I'll still be looking for certain books in high grade and I won't be finding them (or affording them), but in the end, the collection that I have will still be better than it is today.

 

 

[JiveTurkeyMoFo]

Fixed that for you Jive!

 

If you look at the lower grade copies, you'll see that this book is already in the midst of its price correction. Economists are projecting an uptick in the markets toward the end of the year with unemployment rates to decrease soon thereafter. My guess is once this takes place, we'll see these books begin picking back up again (though not to pre-recession rates).

 

Now's a good time to buy one if you're able to do so while the market's cooling down and buyers are no longer realizing the prices from a few months ago. Try selling off some of your current key books that you CAN live without to raise some funds to help defray costs (sounds like ASM 300 would NOT fit that bill)--you'll appreciate it in the long run.

 

 

 

AF # 15 can't (and won't) is no longer maintaining its current level of price acceleration heading into the next couple of years. I believe a major correction in prices is inevitable. And as Jimbo mentioned, a restored copy is a wonderful option to consider.

 

I remember selling this book in Dec of 2007 (before the book really took off) for $3,600. Don't know what it would sell for today, but it was a much more cost effective option.

 

 

 

Yeah, I've been noticing a little weakness in the mid grade category for the last couple of months...simply too many copies out there and not enough buyers to keep the train rolling forever.

 

Not really sure I understand the market for 6.0 and 6.5 copies either....sure they are wonderful books, but we're talking nearly $30k here. If I had that extra blow, I'd invest it in the stock market during the next downturn (August/Sept. of this year), and wait until it nets me 30-50%.

[Subliminal]

Once a Grail is obtained it can be lights out for some in the hobby so I think some avoid acquiring it, unconsciously or not, to not get to that point.

 

For others it's just Grail changing time.

[ChasingKingKirby]

Once a Grail is obtained it can be lights out for some in the hobby so I think some avoid acquiring it, unconsciously or not, to not get to that point.

 

For others it's just Grail changing time.

 

That is pretty much what I'm saying. If I gut my collection and get that Cap 1, well guess what, the chase is over. I'll have my grail, but without selling it, I wont be able to buy anything else. Making it a hobby dead-end for me. Which means, that not only obtaining my grail the goal, but HOW I obtain it. Without having to gut my collection and making the grail the centerpiece and not the whole collection. But I'm sure we all probably have different goals and end-games.

 

 

[fantastic_four]

I've been flirting with buying a nice ASM # 5 in 9.0, but inevitably, the price becomes a factor. Not that they're out of my league, mind you, but just that some guy always wants it more then me when one comes up for auction.

 

I bought a #5 back in 2004, and looking over GPA the average prices on that book, as well as several other Spideys in the 1-10 range, have remained almost constant for about five years. I constantly see copies of this issue on the market in 9.0--seems like you should be able to grab one at around $3000 without too much of a wait.

[fantastic_four]

That is pretty much what I'm saying. If I gut my collection and get that Cap 1, well guess what, the chase is over. I'll have my grail, but without selling it, I wont be able to buy anything else.

 

You retired or something? You might have to wait a year or two or three, but you should eventually be able to keep buying. If your grail is a key like Cap #1, from a purely financial perspective, it's always a better idea to get the key first and the non-key issues later, as the key appreciates more. You'd save yourself money in the long run if you did gut your collection to get the key.

 

That's my only regret from the last 8 years of my collecting--I shoulda bought FF #1 and AF #15 first and gotten everything else later. Ah well, I don't dwell on it, because I completely understand why I collect the way I do--it sucks waiting on a single book for years, always more fun to get a few every few weeks or months.

[ChasingKingKirby]

That is pretty much what I'm saying. If I gut my collection and get that Cap 1, well guess what, the chase is over. I'll have my grail, but without selling it, I wont be able to buy anything else.

 

You retired or something? You might have to wait a year or two or three, but you should eventually be able to keep buying. If your grail is a key like Cap #1, from a purely financial perspective, it's always a better idea to get the key first and the non-key issues later, as the key appreciates more. You'd save yourself money in the long run if you did gut your collection to get the key.

 

That's my only regret from the last 8 years of my collecting--I shoulda bought FF #1 and AF #15 first and gotten everything else later. Ah well, I don't dwell on it, because I completely understand why I collect the way I do--it sucks waiting on a single book for years, always more fun to get a few every few weeks or months.

 

Nope. Not retired, actually in my thirties, but I've got a wife and three kids and my expendable income comes strictly from the sale of comics and the occasional windfall. So, the point I was trying to make is if I gut everything and buy the Cap 1, then the engine that allows me to buy comics, (Comics to sell.) disappears, because I won't have anything left to wheel and deal with. And you're right, I could probably afford to start buying again after a few years, but who the heck wants to wait three years?!?!? This is my hobby, my distraction, my escape. My way works for me, I'll get it sooner or later, I've got time. And until then, I do HAVE an FF1 to admire, an ASM1, Avengers 1, Daredevil 1, Avengers 4 and some other stuff. You know it's like that old song, "If you can't be with the one you love, love the one your with"