Doug Schmell cashing in his vaulted massive collecion. Poll: Is this the top?

[fantastic_four]

I wonder if a couple of BSDs are going to step up and win significant portions of this collection, or if they'll just get spread around.

 

I can't imagine it not getting spread to the wind.

[fantastic_four]

what I mentioned fascinated me most about this collection is seeing what implications it will have on the ultra high grade Marvel market in the months after the auction ends. That will certainly depend on how these books get absorbed.

 

They'll all get bought, but a significant portion won't be held onto as long as Schmell held them and will get flipped multiple times in the upcoming years, so the net effect is that the availability of nosebleed copies will be somewhat higher than it has in the past.

[fantastic_four]

I can see the appeal of buying up an entire run for someone who has the cash. I'd already mentioned it in this thread a few weeks ago and Cheetah confirmed that Metropolis brokered the sale of his entire Avengers collection in one fell swoop. That was no slouch of a collection as Cheetah went head to head against Doug many times while putting it together.

 

For someone with the cash to spare and not the time (and there are a few people like that), it's a cool piece of Americana to pick up in one fell swoop.

 

People just don't use the term "fell swoop" as much as they used to...I applaud your tireless attempts to revive it!

[r100comics]

I've just had a close look at the J.I.M.s for the first time, and I'm a little disappointed.

 

Doug's tendency to squeeze the grade out of every copy means that very few of these are strong in grade.

 

I'm seeing quite a few gift grades, as well as one or two WTF's (as you do with any large sampling of books), but more of a concern are a few very high grade books with obvious slab damage.

 

Having said that, there are some absolute stunners amongst them but those are mainly the ones that were already a 9.6 when they left Metropolis, like the #95.

 

There are so many interesting aspects to this auction, but I wonder if the softer books in grade will suffer or whether people will buy the labels ?

 

 

[VintageComics]

I can see the appeal of buying up an entire run for someone who has the cash. I'd already mentioned it in this thread a few weeks ago and Cheetah confirmed that Metropolis brokered the sale of his entire Avengers collection in one fell swoop. That was no slouch of a collection as Cheetah went head to head against Doug many times while putting it together.

 

For someone with the cash to spare and not the time (and there are a few people like that), it's a cool piece of Americana to pick up in one fell swoop.

 

People just don't use the term "fell swoop" as much as they used to...I applaud your tireless attempts to revive it!

 

I'm just a vintage guy through and through.

 

[COI]

what I mentioned fascinated me most about this collection is seeing what implications it will have on the ultra high grade Marvel market in the months after the auction ends. That will certainly depend on how these books get absorbed.

 

They'll all get bought, but a significant portion won't be held onto as long as Schmell held them and will get flipped multiple times in the upcoming years, so the net effect is that the availability of nosebleed copies will be somewhat higher than it has in the past.

 

I see that too, but you also have to consider the inventory that will be sold off to pay for Schmell winnings. If I had a significant inventory of high grade silver, I might be compelled to sell a lot of it to take a run at some pedigrees or one-of-a-kind books.

[fantastic_four]

I see that too, but you also have to consider the inventory that will be sold off to pay for Schmell winnings. If I had a significant inventory of high grade silver, I might be compelled to sell a lot of it to take a run at some pedigrees or one-of-a-kind books.

 

There will definitely be ripples of upgrade sales and straight flips from this auction happening for at least the next six months.

[bluechip]

I've just had a close look at the J.I.M.s for the first time, and I'm a little disappointed.

 

Doug's tendency to squeeze the grade out of every copy means that very few of these are strong in grade.

 

I'm seeing quite a few gift grades, as well as one or two WTF's (as you do with any large sampling of books), but more of a concern are a few very high grade books with obvious slab damage.

 

Having said that, there are some absolute stunners amongst them but those are mainly the ones that were already a 9.6 when they left Metropolis, like the #95.

 

There are so many interesting aspects to this auction, but I wonder if the softer books in grade will suffer or whether people will buy the labels ?

 

 

People are cattle, and label numbers are cowboys

 

[Trev]

Money laundering through comics. I'm coming around more to the idea every day.

 

I didn't even begin to entertain that scenario. I was thinking more about some rich Arab prince who thinks Jean Grey is hot.

 

 

I've said it as a joke a bunch of times. But if people keep spending millions of dollars on comic books, it gets less tinfoil-hatty. It reminds me of the way that Joe Pesci explains it in Lethal weapon II - You pay dirty cash to the auction houses for the books, then immediately relist them and get a nice clean check from a legit company.

 

Honestly, I'd be shocked if it isn't already happening. You can spend a mil easily just buying a bunch of high grade Marvels; you don't even have to touch the mega-keys.

 

You think that Meth dealer they found with the big collection was doing it bec. he loved comics?

 

It's gotta be happening. A large cash business with relatively easy liquidity via the auction houses?

[JohnFranklin]

Given the the direction this thread has gone this will appear off-topic, but I got a HA promotional in the mail which I have precieved is primarily to tout the "Doug Schmell" auction and in it is a CGC "Tales To Astonish #36" graded as a 9.8 and given the condition, I am not sure how it got a "9.8", any thoughts, maybe I am way off base? I should mention I am far from a professional grader but I have heard it said, grading, is as much as an art as a science.

 

http://comics.ha.com/c/item.zx?saleNo=7063&lotIdNo=67353#Photo

[Silver Surfer]

I've just had a close look at the J.I.M.s for the first time, and I'm a little disappointed.

 

Doug's tendency to squeeze the grade out of every copy means that very few of these are strong in grade.

 

I'm seeing quite a few gift grades, as well as one or two WTF's (as you do with any large sampling of books), but more of a concern are a few very high grade books with obvious slab damage.

 

Having said that, there are some absolute stunners amongst them but those are mainly the ones that were already a 9.6 when they left Metropolis, like the #95.

 

There are so many interesting aspects to this auction, but I wonder if the softer books in grade will suffer or whether people will buy the labels ?

 

 

Its a bit sad, just take a peak and the upcoming auctions [Heritage, Comiclink, etc] and there are already tons of Twin Cities books that are back on the market with grade bumps. Most high grade copies will get the squeeze treatment eventually.

[dr_manhattan]

I wonder what the cheapest book will be in the auction?

[COI]

Given the the direction this thread has gone this will appear off-topic, but I got a HA promotional in the mail which I have precieved is primarily to tout the "Doug Schmell" auction and in it is a CGC "Tales To Astonish #36" graded as a 9.8 and given the condition, I am not sure how it got a "9.8", any thoughts, maybe I am way off base? I should mention I am far from a professional grader but I have heard it said, grading, is as much as an art as a science.

 

http://comics.ha.com/c/item.zx?saleNo=7063&lotIdNo=67353#Photo

 

Persistence?

[VintageComics]

Given the the direction this thread has gone this will appear off-topic, but I got a HA promotional in the mail which I have precieved is primarily to tout the "Doug Schmell" auction and in it is a CGC "Tales To Astonish #36" graded as a 9.8 and given the condition, I am not sure how it got a "9.8", any thoughts, maybe I am way off base? I should mention I am far from a professional grader but I have heard it said, grading, is as much as an art as a science.

 

http://comics.ha.com/c/item.zx?saleNo=7063&lotIdNo=67353#Photo

 

Persistence?

 

Am I missing something? The book has 3 strong corners and a perfect spine.

 

Are there defects that I don't see?

[delekkerste]

Am I missing something? The book has 3 strong corners and a perfect spine.

 

It sure does - if you're only looking at the scan of the back cover.

 

 

Are there defects that I don't see?

 

:facepalm:

[1koko]

 

Are there defects that I don't see?

 

 

[VintageComics]

Am I missing something? The book has 3 strong corners and a perfect spine.

 

It sure does - if you're only looking at the scan of the back cover.

 

 

Are there defects that I don't see?

 

:facepalm:

 

There is some micro wear along a few edges and the top right corner is a touch soft...I've seen some soft 9.8 books but I can't say this is one of them.

 

I mean, the scan is massive. Everything is going to look worse than it is.

 

 

[Old Fashion PB and J]

Am I missing something? The book has 3 strong corners and a perfect spine.

 

It sure does - if you're only looking at the scan of the back cover.

 

 

Are there defects that I don't see?

 

:facepalm:

 

There is some micro wear along a few edges and the top right corner is a touch soft...I've seen some soft 9.8 books but I can't say this is one of them.

 

I mean, the scan is massive. Everything is going to look worse than it is.

 

Soft corners and 9.8 should not coexist.

[TheWatcher]

Am I missing something?

 

Just the top edge

[fantastic_four]

I can't tell if the upper right corner is soft or slightly bent over without a crease making it look soft. The scanner light is also making the top edge look a ton worse than it is, the top overflash looks solid but the glare on the non-color-breaking indents makes it look damaged. Looks like it could be solid, hard to tell from the scan.