Ones that got away

[BSideLogan-migration]

hi, i wasn't sure how to search if this thread's been done before, so i figured i'd just throw it out there.

 

what about it? any good stories about a prized book(s) that slipped through your fingertips?

 

i have two:

1. i became interested in comics in the mid-late 70s. so one saturday my parents took me to a big comic convention in NYC. i picked up a few books that i don't remember, but i do remember the table that had Avengers 1-50 NM for $200. i begged my parents to buy it. they didn't see the sense. ain't that always the case?

 

2. 1985. i was stationed at MCAS Beaufort, SC. i drove an hour into Savanah, GA to visit the only real comic store in 300 miles. they had Daredevil 1 in Mint condition and were asking $105. i didn't have that much on me and didn't have a credit card yet. i never made it back. i still kick myself for that one.

[BSideLogan-migration]

i guess i should have realized that times have changed and between boards like this and ebay, nothing does get by anymore.

oops. my bad.

[Steve_HOCP]

1. i became interested in comics in the mid-late 70s. so one saturday my parents took me to a big comic convention in NYC. i picked up a few books that i don't remember, but i do remember the table that had Avengers 1-50 NM for $200. i begged my parents to buy it. they didn't see the sense. ain't that always the case?

 

 

They were selling Avengers #1 - #50NM for $200 in mid - late 70's?? I mean, how collectible was a 10 year old comic back then? It wasn't even a collectors item, and $200 in the 70's was a of cash.

 

I bought...and still have...MANY of my X-Men #5 - #63 that I needed back in the early 80's for a few bucks each...tops. My allowance was $5 a month and I could get 3 new books for $1.05 and one of the books I need from #5 - #63 for the change I had left over.

 

...just seems odd, Not as odd as you replying to your own thread like that...but odd.

[BSideLogan-migration]

now i'm trying to remember. i don't think it was 1-100. i think it was 1-50. regardless, i wish i could have brought them home.

 

and yes, i'm an odd chap.

[Silver Surfer]

I remember back in 1978-1980 and the Miller Daredevil's were smoking hot. I think issue #169 was going for about $15-$25 which for a 10-12 year old kid was a fortune. Still have those very same issues but from about #160-190 but I mainly bought these fresh off the rack. Issues like 151 and ones that were only 6 nonths old were hitting the $15-$25 dollar range and there was just no way I was going to shell that much out for just one comic. Anyways those comics have been well read and poorly stored over the years but still look half decent.

[Solar]

I passed up a NM TMNT 1 for $550 last year at my local shop.

 

OT - Nice sig. Brotherhood of the Wolf rocked.

[Stronguy]

This is one that didn't get away -- X-Men #1, $20 back in 1985...

[BSideLogan-migration]

that is a truly well loved book.

 

i'm going to saskatoon on business in a few weeks. there must be a comic store some place in that city. i would if being isolated means better back issues prices, and would they be US versions or are there Canuck versions? just a stray thought.

[kryptonitecomics]

I didn't start collecting until 1991 so there really wasn't much chance of me getting any great deals on older stuff. I only picked up current stuff back then and didn't really move on to back issues until late 90's early 00's, when most SA and GA had already appreciated quite a bit.

 

I have done quite well with some of my Bronze Age purchases over the last few years

[Jayman]

that is a truly well loved book.

 

That looks like "rough love" to me

[dgillock]

In the middle of the 1980's, there was a paper dealer in PA who had a copy of Superman #2 in the GD/VG range. If I remember correctly he wanted $300 for it... I was a teenager and I didn't have access to the cash at the time.

 

What I didn't let get away from the same dealer were copies of New Fun Comics #2 and #5 in FR for $35 each ($70 I could put together). I traded them soon after at a con in Central Jersey for some nice SA books (FF#4, #5, #6, Flash #105, & more). Wish I still had those New Funs...

 

I even sold that SA stuff for college funds. I let them go out of necessity in the early 1990's. The FF#4 was an easy VF.

[Solar]

This is one that didn't get away -- X-Men #1, $20 back in 1985...

 

maybe you should have let it get away...

 

 

j/k, cool book

[Stronguy]

This is one that didn't get away -- X-Men #1, $20 back in 1985...

maybe you should have let it get away...

j/k, cool book

Actually, I had only been collecting for 2 or 3 years at that point and I already had X-Men 1-3 and 94. Everyone else was trying to get a copy of DD 168 but I focused on "better" stuff.

[BSideLogan-migration]

that is a truly well loved book.

 

That looks like "rough love" to me

whatever turns you on

[143ksk]

They were selling Avengers #1 - #50NM for $200 in mid - late 70's?? I mean, how collectible was a 10 year old comic back then? It wasn't even a collectors item, and $200 in the 70's was a of cash.

 

 

$200 would have been a bargain in the late '70s and a pretty good deal in the mid '70s. I bought my first Avengers 1 (VG) in 1975 for $10. My second one (VG/FN) I bought for $40 in 1979. If the books were truly high grade, then I don't think that $200 would have been out of line at all (It all looks much better in retrospect, though...)

[NewtSamson]

This is one that didn't get away -- X-Men #1, $20 back in 1985...

 

Looks like everyone's favorite Tiger got to that copy of X-men #1

[Stronguy]

Looks like everyone's favorite Tiger got to that copy of X-men #1

The story I was told a/b that book is that it was found pressed b/t 2 encyclopedias. When the books were pulled apart most of the color was pulled off the cover. I initially thought it was water damage but this actually makes sense b/c the guts of the book were in really good shape -- no stains, etc.

[Illiterati-migration]

Looks like everyone's favorite Tiger got to that copy of X-men #1

The story I was told a/b that book is that it was found pressed b/t 2 encyclopedias. When the books were pulled apart most of the color was pulled off the cover. I initially thought it was water damage but this actually makes sense b/c the guts of the book were in really good shape -- no stains, etc.

 

So it's RESTORED, too?!?!?!?!

[Silver Surfer]

I'm just curious what planet you and Steve were buying your Avengers #1 on back in the late 1970's. $40 for a FN copy? While its a bit foggy in my mind after all these years, there is no way I ever saw comics that cheap back in the day especially given the prices of new DD's and X-Men at the time. I can still remember looking behind the counter at a local comic shop where they had a bunch of their gems displayed on the wall or in a glass case at the front. I remember seeing prices like $300, $400, $325 FF#12 (CAD prices), etc. I think I paid $40 CAD for a copy of FF#7 (probably would grade at a 4-5) in 1980? Probably not the best purchase I've made (investment wise) but I still have it.

[r100comics]

This one's going to be hard to top.

 

About four years ago I was offered a Hulk #1 VF+ 8.5 for £4,000 ($7,000) but did not know a detailed provenance of the book except that it was purchased in a U.K. auction from an apparently reputable consignor.

 

The trouble was, the seller was only offering the book because he had dire need of free cash for his business at that precise moment. However, I had recently just purchased an ASM #1 VF+ 8.5 (that turned out to be restored), a Hulk #1 VF 8.0 (that turned out to be restored), and many thousand dollars of a tech stock (that turned out to be severely overvalued).

 

This Hulk #1 VF+ 8.5 looked amazing to me but I just could not risk another financial hit. Besides which at that point I did not know the home or work address of the seller.

 

I decided to do what any sensible person would do, and asked the seller to submit the book to CGC (then a fledgling company), purely to do a restoration check and offered to do this on his behalf. He decided to submit the book himself and it came back..........unrestored........CGC NM- 9.2 !!!!!! Now a $70,000 book !

 

Needless to say, the seller's financial problems had straightened out by the time the book returned from CGC, and he decided to hold on to it after all. He still has the book to this day.