Infinite Marvel Picture Frame books 23 23

[underthebigw]

I'm with JC on this. My "motto" has always been similar, and I throw it in the face of dealers and collectors who ridicule my purchases. "Go where the money aint".

 

Last year in NY, Jamie Graham was laughing and asked "Do you buy anything worth money?". I explained that I've been collecting 30 years, long enough to know everything is cyclical, so I decide what I like, and then pick out what I feel is undervalued and lacks demand.

 

Ten years ago, very few cared about picture frames, to the point they were difficult to find. Now they're on the market, and the prices are often inflated even for mid-grade copies. So I stay away unless it's a deal. Seven years ago, prices on even 9.4 BA Marvel and DC were ridiculous. So I began focusing on Archies and cartoon books until prices on Marvels and DCs began to return to earth. Now that I can find an increasing variety of non-key Marvel and DC in 9.4 and 9.6 at reasonable prices, I find myself returning to them if the price is right. Ironically, now truly HG Archies and Harveys are easily 3-4x what they were a few years ago.

 

Still comes back to the low hanging fruit. Pick up what no one else is looking at. When you have to climb higher or spend more you simply move on to the next tree and pick what hanging low.

 

I just don't see it that way. To me, it's about enjoying the hobby, and spending more on a book than I feel it's worth takes the joy out of it. If I feel a book is worth the $, I'll pay it. But, if I feel what the market currently dictates is too high, I'm more than happy with another era or genre. I collect high grade Looney Tunes 1-100, and will shell out a couple hundred bucks for super nice books. I feel they're undervalued. I will probably never own a Hulk 181, because I feel they're incredibly common and overpriced.

 

Like JC, I'm glad that I'm just as psyched to find a NM BA copy of Betty and Veronica as I am to find a JLA or Avengers or Weird Wonder Tales. It gives me options, but doesn't make it any easier.

 

And it's not about laziness, low-hanging fruit, or easy-pickings. I think I dig through boxes as much as you do. I just pull out different stuff. Ask Greggy how hard it is to find HG BA romance books. Then add my criteria. It becomes even tougher (not the best example, since I will pay for HG BA romance). That doesn't mean I stop looking for the superhero stuff, either. I just wait for the right price and pass on lots of super-nice copies that are too expensive. Finding the right HG copy at the right price is certainly not "low-hanging fruit". And some of the stuff I look for is probably the hardest BA material in grade.

 

Now, Joey, let me tell you about the braciole I made last weekend. How's the food in FL treating you?

[underthebigw]

MC, those Rosa picture frames of yours are unreal. Just beautiful.

[MasterChief]

Who cares where the money is going, or what books are being overlooked? How about collecting the books you think are cool?

 

My introduction to comic collecting came in the winter of 1971-72, and the first books I read and saved to this day were picture frames: Thor 200, Avengers 100, FF 123, Premiere 3, Conan 15, Hulk 153, Cap 153, Tomb of Dracula 2, Spotlight 5 and Spidey 110 the first month alone. What better month for comics was there in the BA than that? Now, I enjoy being able to read these books again, and find as many high grade slabs as I can. There's neither money nor a bandwagon in that kind of collecting.

IMO, the charm of collecting these cool covers has nothing to do with collector eccentricity or mainstream exclusivity. Not in my case anyway.

 

For me it has everything to do with nostalgic memories and a connection to a cherished past. These are the objects of my youth. Cool books with cool covers. The stuff my brothers and I bought, collected, and traded between ourselves and our friends.

 

Several years ago I was reminiscing with my brother and talking comics. I asked if he remembered what comic was the first one he bought off the rack. Without pause he said "Spider-Man #107". I then asked if he had a copy and he said no. He went on to describe what the cover looked like and explained its layout. Our conversation was right about the time that the Rosa collection was selling and, oddly enough, the CGC copy of SM#107 was on eBay. So I bought the book and gave it to him as a present for his 45th birthday. Needless to say the gift hit the mark -- as he was completely blown away by it -- and he continues to cherish his "first book" to this day.

 

 

 

[MasterChief]

MC, those Rosa picture frames of yours are unreal. Just beautiful.

Thanks for allowing me the opportunity to share. (thumbs u

 

BTW... figure out how to get some of those picture-frame monsters on your tumblers and you'll have a new customer.

 

[awe4one]

 

Jim

[awe4one]

Buy where they ain't

 

But Vince...does it really apply to Bronze anymore? Pretty much all publishers and genres from the Age has their collectors, and speculators, these days. As the market has matured there are many collectors looking for exactly what you're implying. What's the next desired avenue and let me get on-board before the masses follow? I'm not sure that the ship hasn't sailed on the whole Age.

 

Personally, I think the Bronze Age is tapped out in this regard. Archies? The collectors have always been there. Same with Harveys. Charlton used to be a comfortable area until people realized how rare true high grade copies were before CGC. Gold Keys? Was before the Random House file copies in multiples hit the market...

 

Again, if it has a 20-35 cent price on the cover, collectors, even if they're not into the genre/publishers, are on board if the issue is high grade. Frankly, the days of ignorance concerning Bronze is over...

 

Jim

[joe_collector]

Again, I'm not looking to make a mint on these books or find undervalued copies to speculate or invest in. I'm just looking for "unwanted Bronze" that has nostalgic value.

 

I was at a small show a few months ago, and bought a pile of high-grade PPSSM's from the 20's into the 30's for 50-cents each. These are pretty well dead issues, but I remember them with fondness, especially the Clone Saga bookends, which incidentally were some of the last comics I bought in my "kid phase".

 

I also bought a pile of similar MTU's and FF's for a buck a piece, and had a blast re-reading them. Filled some gaps in the collection, and no one was fighting me for MTU 72 or FF 188.

 

No one is going to get rich on these, but I sure appreciate owning them - there are lots of books like this, ~NM warehouse copies of 30-35 cent books that virtually no one buys.

[joeypost]

I'm with JC on this. My "motto" has always been similar, and I throw it in the face of dealers and collectors who ridicule my purchases. "Go where the money aint".

 

Last year in NY, Jamie Graham was laughing and asked "Do you buy anything worth money?". I explained that I've been collecting 30 years, long enough to know everything is cyclical, so I decide what I like, and then pick out what I feel is undervalued and lacks demand.

 

Ten years ago, very few cared about picture frames, to the point they were difficult to find. Now they're on the market, and the prices are often inflated even for mid-grade copies. So I stay away unless it's a deal. Seven years ago, prices on even 9.4 BA Marvel and DC were ridiculous. So I began focusing on Archies and cartoon books until prices on Marvels and DCs began to return to earth. Now that I can find an increasing variety of non-key Marvel and DC in 9.4 and 9.6 at reasonable prices, I find myself returning to them if the price is right. Ironically, now truly HG Archies and Harveys are easily 3-4x what they were a few years ago.

 

Still comes back to the low hanging fruit. Pick up what no one else is looking at. When you have to climb higher or spend more you simply move on to the next tree and pick what hanging low.

 

I just don't see it that way. To me, it's about enjoying the hobby, and spending more on a book than I feel it's worth takes the joy out of it. If I feel a book is worth the $, I'll pay it. But, if I feel what the market currently dictates is too high, I'm more than happy with another era or genre. I collect high grade Looney Tunes 1-100, and will shell out a couple hundred bucks for super nice books. I feel they're undervalued. I will probably never own a Hulk 181, because I feel they're incredibly common and overpriced.

 

Like JC, I'm glad that I'm just as psyched to find a NM BA copy of Betty and Veronica as I am to find a JLA or Avengers or Weird Wonder Tales. It gives me options, but doesn't make it any easier.

 

And it's not about laziness, low-hanging fruit, or easy-pickings. I think I dig through boxes as much as you do. I just pull out different stuff. Ask Greggy how hard it is to find HG BA romance books. Then add my criteria. It becomes even tougher (not the best example, since I will pay for HG BA romance). That doesn't mean I stop looking for the superhero stuff, either. I just wait for the right price and pass on lots of super-nice copies that are too expensive. Finding the right HG copy at the right price is certainly not "low-hanging fruit". And some of the stuff I look for is probably the hardest BA material in grade.

 

Now, Joey, let me tell you about the braciole I made last weekend. How's the food in FL treating you?

 

braciole

 

[joe_collector]

Still comes back to the low hanging fruit. Pick up what no one else is looking at. When you have to climb higher or spend more you simply move on to the next tree and pick what hanging low.

 

Hey, enough with the insults - not everyone can artificially create HG books in their basement like you.

 

And BTW, even though you keep repeating the same "pay up you poor poverty-stricken suckas!" comments over and and over, price has virtually nothing to do with it in my case.

 

The VCC is a great example - previously I could snag most of the high-grade PF books, but lately, I PM right at the beginning and they're usually ALL gone. The cost doesn't matter, as I'd easily pay the asking price, but I just don't have the time to waste fighting the other Johnny-Come-Lately's for the books.

 

Plus, it's much cooler to collect something non-mainstream, then pick these PF books up when the market cools down.

[joeypost]

Still comes back to the low hanging fruit. Pick up what no one else is looking at. When you have to climb higher or spend more you simply move on to the next tree and pick what hanging low.

 

Hey, enough with the insults - not everyone can artificially create HG books in their basement like you.

 

Wrong I live in Florida...no basements. I am setup in the loft.

[VintageComics]

If that isn't "going mainstream" then I don't know what is.

 

Why is mainstream always thought of as a negative thing? The entire reason something becomes mainstream is because a large group of people find value or appreciation in something. Just because it becomes popular does not necessarily mean that it has lost it's value.

[Silver Surfer]

Who cares where the money is going, or what books are being overlooked? How about collecting the books you think are cool?

 

The point is, that I think a LOT of BA books are cool, so I can move around at will and not lose anything.

 

But then you are a puppet of the very fanboys, etc you so despise because as soon as they lock on to certain titles you bolt? As others have pointed out there isn't really anything in the BA that hasn't been toiled already. Are you more worried about someone calling you out because you spent $100+ on one book or are you just waiting to say "see I told you so" years down the road (the crash predicitons didn't work out too well for you). Lighten up JC, just buy what you enjoy and stop watching what us "fanboys" are doing, no one is going to accuse you of being anything but a bargin hunter. I think I'm starting up my high grade BA FF's run for the third time and while they are cheaper and more plentiful today I enjoy the journey just as much as the first time I started it, I don't care what the fanboys are after. (thumbs u

[nmtg9]

If that isn't "going mainstream" then I don't know what is.

 

Why is mainstream always thought of as a negative thing? The entire reason something becomes mainstream is because a large group of people find value or appreciation in something. Just because it becomes popular does not necessarily mean that it has lost it's value.

 

We had this attitude at school with bands we liked.

 

We would moan that everyone else had poor taste for not recognizing the genius we had discovered, then when they became famous it was no longer cool to like them.

 

I was 14 though!

[awe4one]

To try to get this back on track...

 

 

Jim

[joe_collector]

(the crash predicitons didn't work out too well for you).

 

Ummm, where exactly have you been the last few years?

[MasterChief]

Jim, those Westerns are remarkable!

There's just something about spaghetti four-colors embellished by the Marvel Masters.

 

 

 

 

 

[awe4one]

Here's one I had forgotten I owned. Don't even remember where/when I bought it...

 

Gil Kane's Western covers were among the best of his Bronze Marvel output...

 

 

Jim

[joe_collector]

Yeah, that image just leaps off the cover.

[MasterChief]

Some finds from the 2006 San Diego Comic-Con...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[MasterChief]

More from the SD CC '06 expedition...