X-Men #141 CGC 9.8 = $1,200.00 ?!?!?!?

[Steve_HOCP]

First of all, there is no bigger X-Men fan than me...I am certainly not critisizing this comic...

 

but DAMN...$1,200.00 !?!?!?!

 

 

I know it is the "highest graded book" and all that, but isn't that a huge gamble? What if a slew (5 - 10 more) pop up over the next few years, you will certainly be OUT that money.

 

what about that whole "highest graded copy" thing...unless it is a GEM MINT 10...and even then more of those "could" pop up.

[delekkerste]

That's the Buy-It-Now price and the high bid is currently less than 25% of that amount. Very wishful thinking on the part of the seller.

[comicwiz]

First of all, there is no bigger X-Men fan than me...I am certainly not critisizing this comic...

 

but DAMN...$1,200.00 !?!?!?!

 

 

I know it is the "highest graded book" and all that, but isn't that a huge gamble? What if a slew (5 - 10 more) pop up over the next few years, you will certainly be OUT that money.

 

what about that whole "highest graded copy" thing...unless it is a GEM MINT 10...and even then more of those "could" pop up.

 

If you could get a book like this at a bargain price (and by bargain, I mean buying raw, and achieving a NM+ or higher grade), then do it. Otherwise, I'd steer clear of buying up books that are all too likely to get some stiff competition on the census over the next couple of years (there are currently 35 with the same grade on the census). This book is fairly common, and although its a dark cover, I've got 5 copies that are NM 9.4 or better (one of which is CGC graded).

[wrcomics]

this is beyond gamble... this is sheer stupidity. I'd place my money on another 9.8 or better turning up in the next couple months than not. "highest graded" is such a temporary condition. I've handled TC books before and they're nice but their value is predicated too much on being "the best so far". It might be more sensible to me if the book had been much older like a silver or golden age book. This issue I would think has far too many outstanding ungraded copies to make it worth the price.

 

*** OOPS sorry folks. I assumed from Steve's post someone PAID that much for it. If a seller has the chutzpah to put a BIN of $1200 on that book, more power to him! I sure wouldn't do it though!***

[joe_collector]

this is beyond gamble... this is sheer stupidity. I'd place my money on another 9.8 or better turning up in the next couple months than not.

 

Ummmm, there's 35 CGC 9.8's in the Census.

 

I've said this before, but Byrne X-Men's (while being my fave books) are a HORRID investment, as these were hoarded in mass quantities and the Census will absolutely mushroom in the coming years.

 

This isn't "doom and gloom" but a statement of reality that few could disagree with.

[s-man]

I love the "immediate payment required" part of this sale...is that so the seller will get the money before the buyer comes to his/her senses and changes his/her mind!!??

[wrcomics]

this is beyond gamble... this is sheer stupidity. I'd place my money on another 9.8 or better turning up in the next couple months than not.

 

Ummmm, there's 35 CGC 9.8's in the Census.

 

I've said this before, but Byrne X-Men's (while being my fave books) are a HORRID investment, as these were hoarded in mass quantities and the Census will absolutely mushroom in the coming years.

 

This isn't "doom and gloom" but a statement of reality that few could disagree with.

 

I agree with you JC. But even to further the point why place so much value or attempt to place so much value on a book that is a little over 20 years old where the entire production process was refined to an almost exact science. I've only been back in comics for a little more than a year and I've seen so many white paged, nearly perfect QP copies of UXM 141. The clock is ticking on these and any other modern books that are TC. I'm waiting for CGC to pull a "Spinal Tap" with moderns and start grading perfect books as "11"

[Apotheosis]

These over inflated prices are why I keep selling my 266's off. Every time I get a 9.8 I immediatly put it on ebay for the sheer fact that people will pay $250 for a modern comic that has 787 graded copies with 97 of those being 9.8. It's not going to get much more common than that. I'll just keep selling off my 9.8's while the price is high. Then maybe I'll buy/keep one when their price comes down to reasonable prices.

[Steve_HOCP]

whew...you guys reiforced what I was thinking. It is pretty confusing to the n00b (like myself) simply because you see SO MUCH of it, and it all SELLING. This one will have an unfortunate "item ended early" I'm sure if his reserve is not met...but damn.

 

I am perfectly happy having a complete X-Men run with an average grade of 8.0 - 8.5 (average) but I know a lot of people out there are only buying the 9.4's and up.

 

I figure in 25 more years, a complete CGC'd collection with an average high grade will still be worth bank ...regard;less how many copies "rank higher".

[wrcomics]

whew...you guys reiforced what I was thinking. It is pretty confusing to the n00b (like myself) simply because you see SO MUCH of it, and it all SELLING. This one will have an unfortunate "item ended early" I'm sure if his reserve is not met...but damn.

 

I am perfectly happy having a complete X-Men run with an average grade of 8.0 - 8.5 (average) but I know a lot of people out there are only buying the 9.4's and up.

 

I figure in 25 more years, a complete CGC'd collection with an average high grade will still be worth bank ...regard;less how many copies "rank higher".

 

My Steve... there's nothing average about a collection that is all certified and averages an 8.0-8.5. Remember the average book (at least going back to the 60s and 70s) grades out at 4.0, so you've got quite a set there. I'd be curious to know if many of these 9.9s and 10.0s from today's stock get cracked out of the holder or destroyed when the market falls out of them. It seems to me that by today's standards it is too easy to produce a mint or almost mint condition book.

[Steve_HOCP]

yeah, I figure once they are all done....then I can spend a year or so cherry picking / replacing any of my currently slabbed books.

 

OT: FedEx visit you yet? I noticed your "2 Day" package I sent took longer than that. They kinda hosed my man Darth Diesel too....his 2 day package is taking 7 days

[jbud73]

Even though I hate using very isolated specifics to generalize. As a collector I have purchased 3 collections in my life (not alot I know but they are harder to come by if you not a dealer) each is excess of 2000 books and in 2 out of 3 collections there were multiple copies of 141. It is a classic cover and one of the best stories ever - even if I hate the continuity madness that it set off, I will give the original its due. But me, by all standards an average collector with 12,000 books has about 23 copies of 141 and I did not overtly look to hoard it so I'd imagine that there are ALOT of nice raw copies to be had for waaaaaaaaaaaaay less money.

 

thats my 2 cents

[BassGMan]

This is a little OT but does tie in with some of the posts above. About a year or so ago when I decided that I wanted to really make some money on Ebay by flipping comics, I thought that I would concentrate on what I knew was popular, had staying power, had alot of hype due to ongoing comic series and movies, had a huge fanbase and that I knew was readily available and at cheap prices for large lots. What other two titles fit this criteria better than Uncanny X-Men and Amazing Spider-Man? Plus I personally enjoyed both titles anyway. I was good to go.

 

Making a long story short, I bought thousands of each, maybe ten collections of each (mostly above #100 on each title) and had quite a stash, still have most of them now. Anyway, what I am trying to say is that these Uncanny books have proven to be not nearly the investment of the ASM books. It seems to me that there are more Uncanny readers than there are investors looking for high grades. ASM on the other hand has turned out to be a much better bet. I'm just not that impressed by either raw or slabbed sales of Uncanny books these days. Spidey, however does live on. -------Sid

[Steve_HOCP]

Making a long story short, I bought thousands of each, maybe ten collections of each (mostly above #100 on each title) and had quite a stash, still have most of them now. Anyway, what I am trying to say is that these Uncanny books have proven to be not nearly the investment of the ASM books. It seems to me that there are more Uncanny readers than there are investors looking for high grades. ASM on the other hand has turned out to be a much better bet. I'm just not that impressed by either raw or slabbed sales of Uncanny books these days. Spidey, however does live on. -------Sid

 

It does make things difficult for people like me who are X-Men only collectors. Either I find stuff that I don't need in BULK or the stuff I do need is outrageously priced and in short supply.

 

...wait-a-damn-minute...I just described ALL comic collecting.

[wrcomics]

OT: FedEx visit you yet? I noticed your "2 Day" package I sent took longer than that. They kinda hosed my man Darth Diesel too....his 2 day package is taking 7 days

 

Last time I checked expected delivery was 6/1 which is OK with me because I got inundated Friday and Saturday with other packages and there's still 3 more I'm waiting on. As long as it gets here in one piece at my door, I'll be happy. It did say they made a delivery attempt on the 28th but no notice was left. I may have to grab a delivery dude and rattle his cage a bit. The FedEx driver in town is sharp as a whip but the one that delivers out my way is an insufficiently_thoughtful_person. It amazes me so because at his intellect level, he shouldn't be able to walk upright! (I just made up that insult today and have been dying to use it!)

[blowout]

But me, by all standards an average collector with 12,000 books has about 23 copies of 141 and I did not overtly look to hoard it so I'd imagine that there are ALOT of nice raw copies to be had for waaaaaaaaaaaaay less money.

 

 

It really goes without saying that these kind of price levels CANNOT and WILL NOT be sustained.

[wrcomics]

But me, by all standards an average collector with 12,000 books has about 23 copies of 141 and I did not overtly look to hoard it so I'd imagine that there are ALOT of nice raw copies to be had for waaaaaaaaaaaaay less money.

 

 

It really goes without saying that these kind of price levels CANNOT and WILL NOT be sustained.

 

Agreed. And it's not a matter of if or when but rather how far will they tank!

[Silver Surfer]

Hey its $2,000 cheaper than issue #266 currently on Comic Link.

[wrcomics]

I read about that one too. But I wonder if the #266 is a real offer to sell or just a hype listing to get people talking about the website. If it's being posted to get people to talk, whether it sells or not it's done its job.