WELCOME TO THE BOARDS! New members, please introduce yourselves here! 24 24

[palvaran]

Greetings Everyone.  I am a follower of all things Marvel as many of you are.

 

I think I must have started when I was barely out of diapers with the Sunday newspaper and seeing Spider-Man in it.  The artwork was energetic, colorful, and I wanted more.  One day as a child I went into a convenience store and saw my first comic book.  It was GI Joe Issue 39.  The cover looked amazing and as I left the store I kept thinking about that book.  I remember deliberating many times going to the store before I convinced my mom to let me get it.  It's in rough shape, but I still have the comic and thought about sending to CGC to preserve it.  It's not valuable from a monetary perspective, but it is the one that got me started, like Scrooge McDuck and his first dime.

 

Comics led to cartoons which led back to comics similarly to how movies led me to get comic book adaptations.  Much of my collection from when I started was based on that circular logic, but there are some key moments for me as well.  One early Saturday morning Fox played the X-Men pilot, Pryde of the X-Men.  I had no idea who the X-Men were, but they looked so cool.  That led me to explore Mutants which led me deeper into the modern mythology of Marvel.

 

Growing up my jam was probably X-Factor because it had the original X-Men in it and once I hit the storyline on Apocalypse and Archangel, I knew Walter and Louise Simonson had me as forever fans.  My other jam was probably New Mutants.  They were younger and more relatable to me, but the artwork of Bill Sienkiewicz is still some of the most magical artwork I have ever seen to this day.  His gifts are obviously legendary, but in the late 80s, he was so far ahead of what everyone else was doing that when I saw the covers, I had to get them all.

 

My comics were and are one of the most treasured items I have as I took them with me wherever I went.  From military school to between divorced parents homes to my own divorce or marriage I always had those comics.  If I was a Peanuts character, I would probably have been Linus van Pelt.

 

In the mid-90s when the comic book market started to crash it was around the same time I was heading off to college.  The last pulls I had were in May 1996 for Spawn #48 and Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire #1.

 

Fast forward 23 years and while at work I noticed one of my colleagues had a cool X-Men shirt on.  I commented on it and it turned out he was a collector and did a lot of business with CGC.  He told me he was sending off some comics to CGC for the Todd McFarlane signing and if I wanted to tag along to just let him know.  I thought on his words and started to do some analysis.

 

I took a look at my own collection and estimated that my most valuable comic from a financial perspective was probably my Amazing Spider-Man 300.  I remember purchasing 298, 299, and 300 at my first ever comic convention in 1991.  I had just turned thirteen and was afraid to ask what they cost, but I loved Spider-Man.  I remember being shy and timid especially to ask an adult dealer his price for those 3 comics.  He wanted $60 which for a thirteen year old is a lot of money, but I only had $40.  He thought on it and then when I showed him it was all I had he agreed and this tiny kid will never forget that moment for the rest of my life.  In 2019 issue 300 would be the first comic I would send to CGC for the Todd McFarlane signing.  I guess with Spawn 48 being one of my last comics that I collected it was poetic to get back into comics via Todd McFarlane once again.

 

Around this same time, Disney announced they were making a Moon Knight series.  That news was a catalyst for me and changed my perspective from preservation to expansion.  Before I left the hobby, I had gotten all of the Marc Spector: Moon Knight issues when Stephen Platt did the series, but I had never gotten the original solo debut of Moon Knight so I decided to pick up Moon Knight #1 that day as a NM for $40.  For a comic that was nearly 40 years old it seemed incredibly cheap at the time at a rate of about dollar a year and it was a good save for the future when the show released.

 

That peaked my curiosity and led me to look at what other titles were priced at and what my own collection was worth.  As I looked around I started noticing that comics from my youth and even before that were unattainable were suddenly attainable now.

 

By the fall of 2019 I had decided it was time to try some data analysis and for over a year, I turned Sundays into a hobby of comic auctioning.  I tried to estimate comic grades and would spend the week watching the auctions I was interested in.  I created spreadsheets that had the significance of an issue and the maximum I was willing to bid which would be no more than 70% of the actual estimated value.  This way, I would not make a purely emotional decision, but one rooted in logic as well.  In the worst case scenario if I estimated incorrectly on the estimated value, I would be able to make back what I had spent.  It turned out to be a pretty good strategy as I was not a very astute grader at first.

 

The second auction I ever did was with an auctioneer with many Tales to Astonish issues.  That Sunday I was able to get 4 key issues including a 2^nd appearance of Wasp for under $40 and the 4^th appearance of Ant-Man for under $80.  It seemed like a steal at the time.  Little did I know that a pandemic was about to be unleashed on the Earth which would throw all prices into an increasing slope of unknowability.

 

As the pandemic got worse and life changed to a one of being remote, it did something unexpected by bringing new people into comic collecting.  It was unfortunate what so many of us had to endure and what some of us still are enduring, but in that bleakness it showed us that many of us have common interests and that unifying factor allowed us to come together to do something constructive and thanks to the MCU it renewed interest in moments from history.

 

For me, that renewed interest meant that I looked back at some ideas from my youth and started to see how I could use my love of Marvel comics to fuel my desire to learn computer programming.  I combined the two and started a blog where I charted my progress of learning to code in Python and built 3 different programs – Combat Simulator from the New Mutants 2019 Issue 7, the Marvel Super Heroes Character Generator from the 1986 RPG, and the Marvel Super Heroes Character Generator combined with the Ultimate Powers Book.

 

As I look back and reflect on my collection from my youth it is by no means nearly as impressive as many others here, but my treasures are now my children’s interests and maybe it will be their own treasures too.  After all, if the Promise Collection showed us anything it is that the love of one’s family can help to preserve familial interests and bonds and by extension a part of that person.  For me, that is a romantic ideal.

 

Here is to you everyone.  Excelsior!

[Galen130]

On 6/27/2021 at 7:22 PM, Big K said:

I am brand new to this board and I am trying to get an idea of what services I should look for to increase value to my comic books. I am actually more into the Marvel & DC movies however I do have a few comic books. I was actually going through a book that I have put away since 1993 and now opened it. I found 4 Superman Back From The Dead Green Covers all in plastic and cardboard backs. Of course I have seen prices all over the board however none of the graded. Looking for recommendations to see if worth getting graded and which services do you think I should purchase. 

Thank you.

Scott K

Welcome to the club!! 👍

For grading services and general questions, I would suggest checking out this forum first:

https://www.cgccomics.com/boards/forum/93-newbie-comic-collecting-questions/
 

There’s another forum called ‘Comic Book Grading and Restoration’…lots of good info in either forum.  Check them out, or post your questions.  Lots of good info and experience around here. 😊

[Galen130]

15 hours ago, palvaran said:

Greetings Everyone.  I am a follower of all things Marvel as many of you are.

 

I think I must have started when I was barely out of diapers with the Sunday newspaper and seeing Spider-Man in it.  The artwork was energetic, colorful, and I wanted more.  One day as a child I went into a convenience store and saw my first comic book.  It was GI Joe Issue 39.  The cover looked amazing and as I left the store I kept thinking about that book.  I remember deliberating many times going to the store before I convinced my mom to let me get it.  It's in rough shape, but I still have the comic and thought about sending to CGC to preserve it.  It's not valuable from a monetary perspective, but it is the one that got me started, like Scrooge McDuck and his first dime.

 

Comics led to cartoons which led back to comics similarly to how movies led me to get comic book adaptations.  Much of my collection from when I started was based on that circular logic, but there are some key moments for me as well.  One early Saturday morning Fox played the X-Men pilot, Pryde of the X-Men.  I had no idea who the X-Men were, but they looked so cool.  That led me to explore Mutants which led me deeper into the modern mythology of Marvel.

 

Growing up my jam was probably X-Factor because it had the original X-Men in it and once I hit the storyline on Apocalypse and Archangel, I knew Walter and Louise Simonson had me as forever fans.  My other jam was probably New Mutants.  They were younger and more relatable to me, but the artwork of Bill Sienkiewicz is still some of the most magical artwork I have ever seen to this day.  His gifts are obviously legendary, but in the late 80s, he was so far ahead of what everyone else was doing that when I saw the covers, I had to get them all.

 

My comics were and are one of the most treasured items I have as I took them with me wherever I went.  From military school to between divorced parents homes to my own divorce or marriage I always had those comics.  If I was a Peanuts character, I would probably have been Linus van Pelt.

 

In the mid-90s when the comic book market started to crash it was around the same time I was heading off to college.  The last pulls I had were in May 1996 for Spawn #48 and Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire #1.

 

Fast forward 23 years and while at work I noticed one of my colleagues had a cool X-Men shirt on.  I commented on it and it turned out he was a collector and did a lot of business with CGC.  He told me he was sending off some comics to CGC for the Todd McFarlane signing and if I wanted to tag along to just let him know.  I thought on his words and started to do some analysis.

 

I took a look at my own collection and estimated that my most valuable comic from a financial perspective was probably my Amazing Spider-Man 300.  I remember purchasing 298, 299, and 300 at my first ever comic convention in 1991.  I had just turned thirteen and was afraid to ask what they cost, but I loved Spider-Man.  I remember being shy and timid especially to ask an adult dealer his price for those 3 comics.  He wanted $60 which for a thirteen year old is a lot of money, but I only had $40.  He thought on it and then when I showed him it was all I had he agreed and this tiny kid will never forget that moment for the rest of my life.  In 2019 issue 300 would be the first comic I would send to CGC for the Todd McFarlane signing.  I guess with Spawn 48 being one of my last comics that I collected it was poetic to get back into comics via Todd McFarlane once again.

 

Around this same time, Disney announced they were making a Moon Knight series.  That news was a catalyst for me and changed my perspective from preservation to expansion.  Before I left the hobby, I had gotten all of the Marc Spector: Moon Knight issues when Stephen Platt did the series, but I had never gotten the original solo debut of Moon Knight so I decided to pick up Moon Knight #1 that day as a NM for $40.  For a comic that was nearly 40 years old it seemed incredibly cheap at the time at a rate of about dollar a year and it was a good save for the future when the show released.

 

That peaked my curiosity and led me to look at what other titles were priced at and what my own collection was worth.  As I looked around I started noticing that comics from my youth and even before that were unattainable were suddenly attainable now.

 

By the fall of 2019 I had decided it was time to try some data analysis and for over a year, I turned Sundays into a hobby of comic auctioning.  I tried to estimate comic grades and would spend the week watching the auctions I was interested in.  I created spreadsheets that had the significance of an issue and the maximum I was willing to bid which would be no more than 70% of the actual estimated value.  This way, I would not make a purely emotional decision, but one rooted in logic as well.  In the worst case scenario if I estimated incorrectly on the estimated value, I would be able to make back what I had spent.  It turned out to be a pretty good strategy as I was not a very astute grader at first.

 

The second auction I ever did was with an auctioneer with many Tales to Astonish issues.  That Sunday I was able to get 4 key issues including a 2^nd appearance of Wasp for under $40 and the 4^th appearance of Ant-Man for under $80.  It seemed like a steal at the time.  Little did I know that a pandemic was about to be unleashed on the Earth which would throw all prices into an increasing slope of unknowability.

 

As the pandemic got worse and life changed to a one of being remote, it did something unexpected by bringing new people into comic collecting.  It was unfortunate what so many of us had to endure and what some of us still are enduring, but in that bleakness it showed us that many of us have common interests and that unifying factor allowed us to come together to do something constructive and thanks to the MCU it renewed interest in moments from history.

 

For me, that renewed interest meant that I looked back at some ideas from my youth and started to see how I could use my love of Marvel comics to fuel my desire to learn computer programming.  I combined the two and started a blog where I charted my progress of learning to code in Python and built 3 different programs – Combat Simulator from the New Mutants 2019 Issue 7, the Marvel Super Heroes Character Generator from the 1986 RPG, and the Marvel Super Heroes Character Generator combined with the Ultimate Powers Book.

 

As I look back and reflect on my collection from my youth it is by no means nearly as impressive as many others here, but my treasures are now my children’s interests and maybe it will be their own treasures too.  After all, if the Promise Collection showed us anything it is that the love of one’s family can help to preserve familial interests and bonds and by extension a part of that person.  For me, that is a romantic ideal.

 

Here is to you everyone.  Excelsior!

Hello and welcome aboard!! 

It’s great to see another individual come back to collecting comics, and grading them.  I didn’t start with graded comics until 2017, after collecting almost 20 long boxes of raw books for three decades.  I was a reader, not a collector.  Now, I try to find books from my collection to have graded, i.e. Devil Dinosaur #1.  It is now slabbed and on display.  Lots of good info here…we look forward to seeing your posts. 👍🖖

[ADAMANTIUM]

18 hours ago, palvaran said:

Greetings Everyone.  I am a follower of all things Marvel as many of you are.

 

I think I must have started when I was barely out of diapers with the Sunday newspaper and seeing Spider-Man in it.  The artwork was energetic, colorful, and I wanted more.  One day as a child I went into a convenience store and saw my first comic book.  It was GI Joe Issue 39.  The cover looked amazing and as I left the store I kept thinking about that book.  I remember deliberating many times going to the store before I convinced my mom to let me get it.  It's in rough shape, but I still have the comic and thought about sending to CGC to preserve it.  It's not valuable from a monetary perspective, but it is the one that got me started, like Scrooge McDuck and his first dime.

 

Comics led to cartoons which led back to comics similarly to how movies led me to get comic book adaptations.  Much of my collection from when I started was based on that circular logic, but there are some key moments for me as well.  One early Saturday morning Fox played the X-Men pilot, Pryde of the X-Men.  I had no idea who the X-Men were, but they looked so cool.  That led me to explore Mutants which led me deeper into the modern mythology of Marvel.

 

Growing up my jam was probably X-Factor because it had the original X-Men in it and once I hit the storyline on Apocalypse and Archangel, I knew Walter and Louise Simonson had me as forever fans.  My other jam was probably New Mutants.  They were younger and more relatable to me, but the artwork of Bill Sienkiewicz is still some of the most magical artwork I have ever seen to this day.  His gifts are obviously legendary, but in the late 80s, he was so far ahead of what everyone else was doing that when I saw the covers, I had to get them all.

 

My comics were and are one of the most treasured items I have as I took them with me wherever I went.  From military school to between divorced parents homes to my own divorce or marriage I always had those comics.  If I was a Peanuts character, I would probably have been Linus van Pelt.

 

In the mid-90s when the comic book market started to crash it was around the same time I was heading off to college.  The last pulls I had were in May 1996 for Spawn #48 and Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire #1.

 

Fast forward 23 years and while at work I noticed one of my colleagues had a cool X-Men shirt on.  I commented on it and it turned out he was a collector and did a lot of business with CGC.  He told me he was sending off some comics to CGC for the Todd McFarlane signing and if I wanted to tag along to just let him know.  I thought on his words and started to do some analysis.

 

I took a look at my own collection and estimated that my most valuable comic from a financial perspective was probably my Amazing Spider-Man 300.  I remember purchasing 298, 299, and 300 at my first ever comic convention in 1991.  I had just turned thirteen and was afraid to ask what they cost, but I loved Spider-Man.  I remember being shy and timid especially to ask an adult dealer his price for those 3 comics.  He wanted $60 which for a thirteen year old is a lot of money, but I only had $40.  He thought on it and then when I showed him it was all I had he agreed and this tiny kid will never forget that moment for the rest of my life.  In 2019 issue 300 would be the first comic I would send to CGC for the Todd McFarlane signing.  I guess with Spawn 48 being one of my last comics that I collected it was poetic to get back into comics via Todd McFarlane once again.

 

Around this same time, Disney announced they were making a Moon Knight series.  That news was a catalyst for me and changed my perspective from preservation to expansion.  Before I left the hobby, I had gotten all of the Marc Spector: Moon Knight issues when Stephen Platt did the series, but I had never gotten the original solo debut of Moon Knight so I decided to pick up Moon Knight #1 that day as a NM for $40.  For a comic that was nearly 40 years old it seemed incredibly cheap at the time at a rate of about dollar a year and it was a good save for the future when the show released.

 

That peaked my curiosity and led me to look at what other titles were priced at and what my own collection was worth.  As I looked around I started noticing that comics from my youth and even before that were unattainable were suddenly attainable now.

 

By the fall of 2019 I had decided it was time to try some data analysis and for over a year, I turned Sundays into a hobby of comic auctioning.  I tried to estimate comic grades and would spend the week watching the auctions I was interested in.  I created spreadsheets that had the significance of an issue and the maximum I was willing to bid which would be no more than 70% of the actual estimated value.  This way, I would not make a purely emotional decision, but one rooted in logic as well.  In the worst case scenario if I estimated incorrectly on the estimated value, I would be able to make back what I had spent.  It turned out to be a pretty good strategy as I was not a very astute grader at first.

 

The second auction I ever did was with an auctioneer with many Tales to Astonish issues.  That Sunday I was able to get 4 key issues including a 2^nd appearance of Wasp for under $40 and the 4^th appearance of Ant-Man for under $80.  It seemed like a steal at the time.  Little did I know that a pandemic was about to be unleashed on the Earth which would throw all prices into an increasing slope of unknowability.

 

As the pandemic got worse and life changed to a one of being remote, it did something unexpected by bringing new people into comic collecting.  It was unfortunate what so many of us had to endure and what some of us still are enduring, but in that bleakness it showed us that many of us have common interests and that unifying factor allowed us to come together to do something constructive and thanks to the MCU it renewed interest in moments from history.

 

For me, that renewed interest meant that I looked back at some ideas from my youth and started to see how I could use my love of Marvel comics to fuel my desire to learn computer programming.  I combined the two and started a blog where I charted my progress of learning to code in Python and built 3 different programs – Combat Simulator from the New Mutants 2019 Issue 7, the Marvel Super Heroes Character Generator from the 1986 RPG, and the Marvel Super Heroes Character Generator combined with the Ultimate Powers Book.

 

As I look back and reflect on my collection from my youth it is by no means nearly as impressive as many others here, but my treasures are now my children’s interests and maybe it will be their own treasures too.  After all, if the Promise Collection showed us anything it is that the love of one’s family can help to preserve familial interests and bonds and by extension a part of that person.  For me, that is a romantic ideal.

 

Here is to you everyone.  Excelsior!

That ASM#298,299,&300 story was great!

I wonder if it'd be possible today, even if the price was higher, would the dealer give the kid a break! Rest assured there are good people in this hobby, and I'm sure there are people paying it forward to this day.

 

[ADAMANTIUM]

On 6/27/2021 at 8:22 PM, Big K said:

I am brand new to this board and I am trying to get an idea of what services I should look for to increase value to my comic books. I am actually more into the Marvel & DC movies however I do have a few comic books. I was actually going through a book that I have put away since 1993 and now opened it. I found 4 Superman Back From The Dead Green Covers all in plastic and cardboard backs. Of course I have seen prices all over the board however none of the graded. Looking for recommendations to see if worth getting graded and which services do you think I should purchase. 

Thank you.

Scott K

Yes the new to forum or "newbie" section, may already have a lot of the info you seek! And welcome!

[Wazdakka]

Hello, I'm new to the boards and back into comic book collecting after being out of it for 15 years. Never stopped reading comics, but put the collecting aspect on hold for the years I lived in Japan. Started with Conan as a little kid in California, got seriously into X-men and Wolverine in high school, and have loved comics ever since.

After renting a VHS about Art Spiegelman and Robert Crumb I spent a whole month's after-school line-cook pay on a RAW #1 and collected that title for a while. I remember being thrilled when I found mylars that would fit those giant issues. Traded my RAW collection and about 12 short boxes for a Giant-Size X-men 1 before moving to college in NY. After landing my first big job, started collecting Lee and Kirby's Fantastic Four and other Marvel silver age - that was right when CGC was taking off. I lurked the boards all the time back then but never posted.

Left for Japan and learned Japanese well enough to read Dragon Ball, Galaxy Express 999, and other comics. Now I live in Montana, got my old collection back from my brother's storage room, and have sent (almost) everything off to Heritage except for my Fantastic Four collection - so glad to have that back. It's a pretty scrappy collection - mostly mid and low grade - but I love it.

I've started saving a little bit each month for my grails (FF 5, and FF 1). I'm hoping I can trade my small MTG Alpha collection for at least a portion of one. It will be a couple of years before I have saved enough to start seriously looking though. 

Also am getting more and more tempted to collect pre-code EC. Those were mythical items when I was a kid - we would skip high school in Bakersfield and drive to LA to go to the shops - they were so distinctive up on the top shelves of the big LA stores - nothing looked like them. Maybe after I get the first of my grails I can get one.

Anyway, I'm glad to finally post after all these years. The boards have been such a wealth of knowledge. The older I get the more I enjoy seeing others add to their collections. I'm thrilled to be here and hope I can add something useful and enjoyable like so many of you do.

[CEEEEE]

Hello. Just by doing some quick research, I believe I just came across a couple hundred Golden age comics(before 1980). I was wondering how I know which ones I should get graded by CGC and which ones are not worth much. Can anyone help me with this question? 

[ADAMANTIUM]

19 hours ago, Wazdakka said:

Hello, I'm new to the boards and back into comic book collecting after being out of it for 15 years. Never stopped reading comics, but put the collecting aspect on hold for the years I lived in Japan. Started with Conan as a little kid in California, got seriously into X-men and Wolverine in high school, and have loved comics ever since.

After renting a VHS about Art Spiegelman and Robert Crumb I spent a whole month's after-school line-cook pay on a RAW #1 and collected that title for a while. I remember being thrilled when I found mylars that would fit those giant issues. Traded my RAW collection and about 12 short boxes for a Giant-Size X-men 1 before moving to college in NY. After landing my first big job, started collecting Lee and Kirby's Fantastic Four and other Marvel silver age - that was right when CGC was taking off. I lurked the boards all the time back then but never posted.

Left for Japan and learned Japanese well enough to read Dragon Ball, Galaxy Express 999, and other comics. Now I live in Montana, got my old collection back from my brother's storage room, and have sent (almost) everything off to Heritage except for my Fantastic Four collection - so glad to have that back. It's a pretty scrappy collection - mostly mid and low grade - but I love it.

I've started saving a little bit each month for my grails (FF 5, and FF 1). I'm hoping I can trade my small MTG Alpha collection for at least a portion of one. It will be a couple of years before I have saved enough to start seriously looking though. 

Also am getting more and more tempted to collect pre-code EC. Those were mythical items when I was a kid - we would skip high school in Bakersfield and drive to LA to go to the shops - they were so distinctive up on the top shelves of the big LA stores - nothing looked like them. Maybe after I get the first of my grails I can get one.

Anyway, I'm glad to finally post after all these years. The boards have been such a wealth of knowledge. The older I get the more I enjoy seeing others add to their collections. I'm thrilled to be here and hope I can add something useful and enjoyable like so many of you do.

Off to heritage? Ah but I guess reuniting for a bit meant you wanted to get bigger stuff if you're selling. Glad to see you're sticking around regardless and prices are high so fair time to sell at heritage.

 

Those early board days must have been fun! Glad to see the books survived! 

[Wazdakka]

5 hours ago, ADAMANTIUM said:

Off to heritage? Ah but I guess reuniting for a bit meant you wanted to get bigger stuff if you're selling. Glad to see you're sticking around regardless and prices are high so fair time to sell at heritage.

 

Those early board days must have been fun! Glad to see the books survived! 

Thanks ADAMANTIUM! I'm glad they did too!! : )

[Cat]

On 7/8/2021 at 3:44 AM, CEEEEE said:

Hello. Just by doing some quick research, I believe I just came across a couple hundred Golden age comics(before 1980). I was wondering how I know which ones I should get graded by CGC and which ones are not worth much. Can anyone help me with this question? 

Hi, the Golden Age is actually a looong time before 1980, it actually ended around 1956. Does that change the era on the books you have? If so you may want to double check their eras again. After Gold came Silver. A find of a couple hundred Golden Age books could indeed be something worth looking at. 

First thing id suggest is sharing what titles you have, as that'll give us some idea of what you have, and some issue numbers, eg Fantastic Four #45-63. Pictures are even better. 

And welcome to the boards. 

[Namtak]

On 7/7/2021 at 1:44 PM, CEEEEE said:

Hello. Just by doing some quick research, I believe I just came across a couple hundred Golden age comics(before 1980). I was wondering how I know which ones I should get graded by CGC and which ones are not worth much. Can anyone help me with this question? 

Hey welcome to the board!what@Mecha_Fantastic wrote is accurate but id add go to hey buddy can you spare a grade collumn and show detailed pics of the comics you have questions on,great folks will answer with wisdom and add if its a must to press and/or send to cgc!its a great place to learn and goof around welcome again

[Galen130]

On 7/6/2021 at 7:25 PM, Wazdakka said:

Hello, I'm new to the boards and back into comic book collecting after being out of it for 15 years. Never stopped reading comics, but put the collecting aspect on hold for the years I lived in Japan. Started with Conan as a little kid in California, got seriously into X-men and Wolverine in high school, and have loved comics ever since.

After renting a VHS about Art Spiegelman and Robert Crumb I spent a whole month's after-school line-cook pay on a RAW #1 and collected that title for a while. I remember being thrilled when I found mylars that would fit those giant issues. Traded my RAW collection and about 12 short boxes for a Giant-Size X-men 1 before moving to college in NY. After landing my first big job, started collecting Lee and Kirby's Fantastic Four and other Marvel silver age - that was right when CGC was taking off. I lurked the boards all the time back then but never posted.

Left for Japan and learned Japanese well enough to read Dragon Ball, Galaxy Express 999, and other comics. Now I live in Montana, got my old collection back from my brother's storage room, and have sent (almost) everything off to Heritage except for my Fantastic Four collection - so glad to have that back. It's a pretty scrappy collection - mostly mid and low grade - but I love it.

I've started saving a little bit each month for my grails (FF 5, and FF 1). I'm hoping I can trade my small MTG Alpha collection for at least a portion of one. It will be a couple of years before I have saved enough to start seriously looking though. 

Also am getting more and more tempted to collect pre-code EC. Those were mythical items when I was a kid - we would skip high school in Bakersfield and drive to LA to go to the shops - they were so distinctive up on the top shelves of the big LA stores - nothing looked like them. Maybe after I get the first of my grails I can get one.

Anyway, I'm glad to finally post after all these years. The boards have been such a wealth of knowledge. The older I get the more I enjoy seeing others add to their collections. I'm thrilled to be here and hope I can add something useful and enjoyable like so many of you do.

Welcome aboard!!🖖

[Galen130]

On 7/7/2021 at 11:44 AM, CEEEEE said:

Hello. Just by doing some quick research, I believe I just came across a couple hundred Golden age comics(before 1980). I was wondering how I know which ones I should get graded by CGC and which ones are not worth much. Can anyone help me with this question? 

Welcome!!🤙

[divad]

On 7/7/2021 at 10:44 AM, CEEEEE said:

Hello. Just by doing some quick research, I believe I just came across a couple hundred Golden age comics(before 1980). I was wondering how I know which ones I should get graded by CGC and which ones are not worth much. Can anyone help me with this question? 

Sure, I can help . . . 

[Reddmoon]

Hello,

I'm John, AKA Reddmoon. I am just now getting into comic book collecting. I attended my first con back in the spring and was the lucky winner of a TMNT The Last Ronin with a 9.6 grade. Not bad for just getting the one raffle ticket with my paid entry. My primary interest and fandom is Doctor Who, and I am starting off my collection with comics featuring the 12th Doctor. I'm here because I have very little idea of what I'm doing. Fortunately, I do have friends with pretty impressive collections. 

[DR.X]

On 7/22/2021 at 1:26 PM, Reddmoon said:

 I'm here because I have very little idea of what I'm doing.

   You're going to fit right in.

Welcome.

[Get Marwood & I]

On 7/22/2021 at 7:26 PM, Reddmoon said:

Hello,

I'm John, AKA Reddmoon. I am just now getting into comic book collecting. I attended my first con back in the spring and was the lucky winner of a TMNT The Last Ronin with a 9.6 grade. Not bad for just getting the one raffle ticket with my paid entry. My primary interest and fandom is Doctor Who, and I am starting off my collection with comics featuring the 12th Doctor. I'm here because I have very little idea of what I'm doing. Fortunately, I do have friends with pretty impressive collections. 

Welcome John 

[ADAMANTIUM]

On 7/22/2021 at 1:26 PM, Reddmoon said:

Hello,

I'm John, AKA Reddmoon. I am just now getting into comic book collecting. I attended my first con back in the spring and was the lucky winner of a TMNT The Last Ronin with a 9.6 grade. Not bad for just getting the one raffle ticket with my paid entry. My primary interest and fandom is Doctor Who, and I am starting off my collection with comics featuring the 12th Doctor. I'm here because I have very little idea of what I'm doing. Fortunately, I do have friends with pretty impressive collections. 

velcome your Doctor Who, is its? Well veddy well  

jk

Have fun, lot to learn and absorb, there is a new person part of the forum for questions  ask away!  

[SovereignSushiLover]

Hey all, I am new here.

I picked up Comic Collecting as a new hobby in the midst of the Corona Virus Pandemic.

I attended Free Comic Book day a couple of years ago as a friend invited me to go. It was only until the year after I started reading my old-ish comics and becoming passionate about it. It was just a random day when I remembered I had comics lying around so I figured I would look at them. What was meant to be a quick overview turned into a fun time. I have a Bob's Burger's issue from Free Comic Book day I have re-read several times. I found the book to be exhilarating, fun, funny, and inspiring. It was only after reading all of the free comics, I decided to pursue collecting/reading comics as a new hobby. I have grown up watching superhero movies (Marvel and DC) as a child, now I want to embrace these roots even more with the origins of comics. I have been reading manga myself for years but I can say with certainty I am much more invested into comics as a whole.

You could say I am passionate about the lore and new world's comics bring to the table while being very interested in the investment aspect.

So far I have a new and rising collection and I am still actively learning about comics while making accounts in sites like these. I am eager to see how far I can get with this new unique hobby of mines.

Edited August 6, 2021 by SovereignSushiLover
grammar edit a little

[ADAMANTIUM]

On 8/6/2021 at 1:32 AM, SovereignSushiLover said:

Hey all, I am new here.

I picked up Comic Collecting as a new hobby in the midst of the Corona Virus Pandemic.

I attended Free Comic Book day a couple of years ago as a friend invited me to go. It was only until the year after I started reading my old-ish comics and becoming passionate about it. It was just a random day when I remembered I had comics lying around so I figured I would look at them. What was meant to be a quick overview turned into a fun time. I have a Bob's Burger's issue from Free Comic Book day I have re-read several times. I found the book to be exhilarating, fun, funny, and inspiring. It was only after reading all of the free comics, I decided to pursue collecting/reading comics as a new hobby. I have grown up watching superhero movies (Marvel and DC) as a child, now I want to embrace these roots even more with the origins of comics. I have been reading manga myself for years but I can say with certainty I am much more invested into comics as a whole.

You could say I am passionate about the lore and new world's comics bring to the table while being very interested in the investment aspect.

So far I have a new and rising collection and I am still actively learning about comics while making accounts in sites like these. I am eager to see how far I can get with this new unique hobby of mines.

Sweet!

I think that is the given function of free comic book day, so I'm glad they did something for you!

Still, you must have stumbled onto new comic book day because someone told or brought you. If true, you have someone to share with, and along with collectors here, is half the fun, imo

Glad your having some questions, and I hope you like the answers, comics is a big universe!