FF 1 9.4

[Aman619]

54 bids and $100Gs even...

 

im getting the feeling that you can bid anything up to 149,999 safely w/o busting the reserve.

A real Thrill-bidders paradise!!

[Aman619]

I keep reading comments about Euro bidders buyiing the highest priced books of late. Isnt this just a guess? or do you know of actual sales ??

[garthgantu]

If it is the same book, why re-holder it? The old copy didn't have any 'discouraging' grading notes on the label, is it just that JP missed out on a 9.6 on this one?

 

Sometimes cleaning and pressing don't do much in the way of improving a book that's already high grade... (And you're laughing now 'cause it sounds like a loopy idea, to even risk taking this FF 1 9.4 outta the vault, but if you've got JP's money, and ego, it might be worth rolling the dice to try for that 9.6...)

 

Can you imagine having this book re-slabbed and it coming back 9.2 ? Why do I just know deep down in my soul that such a thing would never happen to a BSD like JP ?

[rob_react]

Can you imagine having this book re-slabbed and it coming back 9.2 ? Why do I just know deep down in my soul that such a thing would never happen to a BSD like JP ?

 

I remember talk of something like that happening to some gambling BSD with the Pacific Coast Hulk #1. I don't know who the submitter was but I believe it went in as an 8.5 and came back 8.0. Cost them a pretty penny. Comgeek was the seller.

[Murph]

This book wasn't re-graded. If it was, the date graded would correspond with the time after CGC changed the label. They didn't have these labels in 2002.

 

Brian

[tth2]

Hey Tripps, what's it like being the only person in the world who can look down on a FF #1 in 9.4?

[JohnBull]

Pretty darn good, I would imagine

[joe_collector]

Hey Tripps, what's it like being the only person in the world who can look down on a FF #1 in 9.4?

 

I don't think that's quite accurate, unless you're referring to the insulated, small numbers CGC market.

[JohnBull]

Hey Tripps, what's it like being the only person in the world who can look down on a FF #1 in 9.4?

 

I don't think that's quite accurate, unless you're referring to the insulated, small numbers CGC market.

 

Hey, that's true. We forgot about the other 57 copies in 9.6 that haven't been slabbed yet. Boy, I'd hate to be holding Tripps' puppy when they all come on the market.

[joe_collector]

Hey, that's true. We forgot about the other 57 copies in 9.6 that haven't been slabbed yet. Boy, I'd hate to be holding Tripps' puppy when they all come on the market.

 

Hey, and people call me out for predicting a YEAR for the crash, and you're essentially stating that there will NEVER be another 9.6?

 

They're probably a few being cleaned and pressed as I type this.

[JohnBull]

Hey, that's true. We forgot about the other 57 copies in 9.6 that haven't been slabbed yet. Boy, I'd hate to be holding Tripps' puppy when they all come on the market.

 

Hey, and people call me out for predicting a YEAR for the crash, and you're essentially stating that there will NEVER be another 9.6?

 

They're probably a few being cleaned and pressed as I type this.

 

Nope, I wouldn't say never. There may or may not be others, but if there are, I think it's safe to say the numbers are tiny.

 

The best argument against intelligent life on other planets is that if it exists, it would have dropped by to say hello by now. I don't agree 100% with that, but it's fairly cogent. I find it hard to subscribe to the "I've got a 9.6 but couldn't care less line, so I won't slab". It may be true for the odd few, but for most the potential gain would surely get them out of the woodwork. Plus, there aren't exactly a lot of copies of any books in this grade from around that time.

[joe_collector]

Nope, I wouldn't say never. There may or may not be others, but if there are, I think it's safe to say the numbers are tiny.

 

Well, if you want to disagree with my statement that Tripps is NOT the "only person on Earth who can look down on a 9.4", then that's an erroneous reply. Even one potential 9.6 in the entire world proves my point.

 

And I might have agreed that 9.6's would be extremely rare, but all these "clean and press" & expert resto resubs are becoming quite worrisome. The more money these comics are bringing in, the higher the probability that along with the Heritage boyz, serious resto experts from other fields (paintings, books, museums, etc.) are taking notice.

[Aman619]

JC - -I thought you only meant that 285 million Americans also look down on the three FF#1 9.4s!! I thought that was a clever retort, not just another snipe at the censes and CGC collectors, etc...

[joe_collector]

not just another snipe at the censes and CGC collectors, etc...

 

Why does stating what I feel, automatically translate into a "snipe"?

 

You don't honestly believe that everyone thinks the CGC Census numbers will stay low?

[Aman619]

ive been away from the boards for awhile and I guess I got out of the rythmn and just thought it was a funny comment, only to realize it just another typical retort. I guess I also thought the question to Tripps was a good one! Just how good DOES it feel to have the BEST!?? and dint need to be besmirched by bringing up the census.

 

I also believe the census is not complete..... but Cmon, do you REALLY think that his 9.6 is in the same jeopardy census-wise as 99% of the other books? Do you really think there is another? Remember that that book was one of the first 12 books CGC graded and is, in all probability if sent in today after CGC has seen 100,000s of books, NOT a "9.6" either....

[JohnBull]

You don't honestly believe that everyone thinks the CGC Census numbers will stay low?

 

On books like this I do. With later issues (maybe post 63/64) I think there may be mountains of certain issues out there, but FF1 has been valuable for a long time and is a fairly prime slab candidate. If I had bought a raw 9.4/9.6 20 years ago (1K? 2K? you tell me) you can be darn sure I'd be slabbing and quite likely selling.

 

Sometimes a class of collectors who have left the hobby and may be unaware of CGC gets mentioned. I doubt there are many of these. I also imagine that if one of the big dealers knew that they had sold an amazing raw copy at some time past, that they would probably have tried to move heaven and earth to contact the buyer recently and see how they were doing. If JP had sold a stack of 9.4's over the years, would he have been willing to shell out $100k (or whatever the figure was) for the copy mentioned in this thread? I think he'd be a little more circumspect.

 

I'd love to hear from some big, long-time Stateside dealers here. How many 9.2+ FF1's or AF15's or 'other big book' do you reckon you've seen over the years?

[joe_collector]

Remember that that book was one of the first 12 books CGC graded and is, in all probability if sent in today after CGC has seen 100,000s of books, NOT a "9.6" either....

 

You may have a point, as the CGC 9.6 and up grades can really be controlled by CGC, just like PSA did with their "above NM" grades. So yeah, due to outside factors totally unrelated to actual grade, Tripps may find himself the sole owner of a 9.6 for some time to come.

 

One reason I tend to voice my opinions is that we all seem to be giving WAY too much weight to the CGC Number. It's like some people on here have lost their ability to process info as rational individuals, and now allow CGC to think for them.

 

A while back BronzeBruce posted an absolutely beautiful CGC 9.6 copy of Hero for Hire #1. It's QP was blazing, and the book was a real beaut. Then someone popped on and posted a CGC 9.8 copy, which had a huge white border and really didn't look in the same league at Bruce's.

 

Everyone was gushing over the BIG NUMBER, when in reality, CGC would be the only organization on Earth to grade that one better than Bruce's. Now we can argue all day about QP, but that scenario made absolutely no sense, assuming you can still think for yourself and haven't signed your brain over to CGC.

 

CGC is not the be all, end all of the comic collecting world, and those that think they are, may be in for a rude awakening if a large company like Beckett brings a competitive service into the market.

[joe_collector]

I'd love to hear from some big, long-time Stateside dealers here. How many 9.2+ FF1's or AF15's or 'other big book' do you reckon you've seen over the years?

 

But this ignores all the "clean and press", expert resto, then resub BS that's going on right now. I agree that finding a raw 9.6 today might take a lot of work, but producing one might be a tad easier.

[Aman619]

I agree with your conclusion but differ on the cause a bit. I dont think all collectors necessarily have sent in their big ticket hG keys for slabbing yet. BUT - - I no longer think that all that many of these books bought years ago as HG will hold up in todays eyes as 9.4s and higher. So whether they send them in or not they will not affect the census in these grtades! I thionk you ARE correct that dealers have been tracking down their previous nicest copies... but falling short nearly every time in getting 9.4s.

 

On the BIG keys like FF#1 and AF#15, I nearly convinced weve seem 90% of the c opies out there. 2 years ago I would have arrogantly argued otherwise.

[Timely]

ive been away from the boards for awhile and I guess I got out of the rythmn and just thought it was a funny comment, only to realize it just another typical retort. I guess I also thought the question to Tripps was a good one! Just how good DOES it feel to have the BEST!?? and dint need to be besmirched by bringing up the census.

 

I also believe the census is not complete..... but Cmon, do you REALLY think that his 9.6 is in the same jeopardy census-wise as 99% of the other books? Do you really think there is another? Remember that that book was one of the first 12 books CGC graded and is, in all probability if sent in today after CGC has seen 100,000s of books, NOT a "9.6" either....

 

I'd bet my life on it that there is at least one other 9.6 copy, if not many more. My friend has a full run of FF that are all 9.4 to 10. He bought a full Marvel run from a guy who kept them in a trunk. Only the book damaged was the one on top due to the locking mechanism of the trunk, the rest were PERFECT! Also of note, these books were found 3 miles away from the home of Edgar Church! 99.99% of his personal collection is raw. He has no intention of EVER selling and has no need for them to be graded. I'm sure he's not the only one.

 

Timely