THE AMAZING FANTASY #15 CLUB 39 39

[Jordysnordy]

Just listed on eBay and I give the seller credit for writing “trimmed” in the item description as it would be easy to miss with the yellow SS label.

[Jordysnordy]

What’s with this sale 

Sold on HA with BP for $21600.00 today.

[KCOComics]

21 hours ago, Heronext said:

This isn't a typical 0.5 & if you look at GPA anything with such a notation gets a separate entry.

My thoughts were, two or more people have the centerfold, or see the value in potentially marrying this to one.  Anyone care to value a 6.0-6.5 with a married centerfold?

 

So, I've got a similar dilemma to this and would be curious for others to weigh in. 

If someone does have CF, what would you do? Pop it open, place the CF inside, resub for a Qualified 6.0?  How much would that increase the value? 

 

[KCOComics]

21 hours ago, Heronext said:

This isn't a typical 0.5 & if you look at GPA anything with such a notation gets a separate entry.

My thoughts were, two or more people have the centerfold, or see the value in potentially marrying this to one.  Anyone care to value a 6.0-6.5 with a married centerfold?

Here is my .5 missing a back cover.  And I have an original back cover. 

I've kind of decided I'm not going to crack it and resub for a green label.  I just figure there isn't a lot of upside for a low grade green vs a .5 blue label.  But there is a level of risk to the comic with shipping, cracking and grading.

 

Edited June 7, 2021 by KCOComics

[Dark Knight]

Also a risk of having your package lost or stolen. Yeah so many variables to take into consideration when resubmitting.

[snitm]

3 hours ago, Jordysnordy said:

What’s with this sale 

Sold on HA with BP for $21600.00 today.

First post on these forums (requires mod approval)! HA makes it super easy to refuse to lose. I obviously overpaid (yes I'm the high bidder on this book!). My premeditated maximum was $13K..but others forced it higher. I _really_ regret not buying a 3.0 back in ~2019.. and this 0.5 presents beautifully (2.5? 3.0? 3.5?). So this book is my "poor-man's 3.0 blue label".

Will I ever get my money back? No, but my 6yo daughter who loves comics likely will when I'm long gone. Who knows.. but don't much care because I don't intend to sell. I plan to cherish it.

Reality is AF15's centerfold isn't related to Spider-Man at all.. I put serious value in cover/slab presentation over the missing "Man in the mummy case!" page 😂 and other associated pages/ad irrelevant to Spider-Man. Crack the slab open and the book has what matters to me: complete origin and first appearance of Spider-Man.

Yeah.. I'm still in shock too 😲

Doubt I'll pursue marrying a replacement centerfold.. but never say never (hit me up via DM if you, or someone you know, has one).

Edited June 8, 2021 by snitm

[jeffreyk]

23 hours ago, Heronext said:

This isn't a typical 0.5 & if you look at GPA anything with such a notation gets a separate entry.

My thoughts were, two or more people have the centerfold, or see the value in potentially marrying this to one.  Anyone care to value a 6.0-6.5 with a married centerfold?

Looking at the book, the cover doesn't look close to a 6.0 to me.  This was one crazy sale!

Edited June 8, 2021 by jeffreyk

[Dark Knight]

With that kind of $, might as well buy a 2.0 blue label 

[KCOComics]

13 hours ago, snitm said:

First post on these forums (requires mod approval)! HA makes it super easy to refuse to lose. I obviously overpaid (yes I'm the high bidder on this book!). My premeditated maximum was $13K..but others forced it higher. I _really_ regret not buying a 3.0 back in ~2019.. and this 0.5 presents beautifully (2.5? 3.0? 3.5?). So this book is my "poor-man's 3.0 blue label".

Will I ever get my money back? No, but my 6yo daughter who loves comics likely will when I'm long gone. Who knows.. but don't much care because I don't intend to sell. I plan to cherish it.

Reality is AF15's centerfold isn't related to Spider-Man at all.. I put serious value in cover/slab presentation over the missing "Man in the mummy case!" page 😂 and other associated pages/ad irrelevant to Spider-Man. Crack the slab open and the book has what matters to me: complete origin and first appearance of Spider-Man.

Yeah.. I'm still in shock too 😲

Doubt I'll pursue marrying a replacement centerfold.. but never say never (hit me up via DM if you, or someone you know, has one).

Congrats on joining the AF15 club and welcome to the boards! 

I'll be curious to see what other nice looking .5s go for as we move forward. 

I bought my .5 about 6 months ago.  It was the first time I had ever held an AF15. I bought it more because the opportunity was right and I got to work in a trade with an awesome boardie. 

Once I held the AF15, I decided to try to get a second one. I wanted a complete 2.0 and my plan was to keep the .5. I knew prices on AF15 wouldn't stay flat forever and this would be my only window to get a complete one.

Unfortunately, that window closed before I could get it. So I'm somewhere between being upset with myself for not buying a complete book over the years and being really happy I decided to get my .5 when I did. Because if your purchase is an indication of where this book going, I'm pretty much priced out...

In any event, congrats on the purchase. You now own the biggest book of the SA and that's pretty awesome in any condition.  

[Wipple]

I thought about going after the .5 as well. Swapping covers and hoping for the best. Congrats on your pick up! 

[Cushing Fan]

14 hours ago, snitm said:

First post on these forums (requires mod approval)! HA makes it super easy to refuse to lose. I obviously overpaid (yes I'm the high bidder on this book!). My premeditated maximum was $13K..but others forced it higher. I _really_ regret not buying a 3.0 back in ~2019.. and this 0.5 presents beautifully (2.5? 3.0? 3.5?). So this book is my "poor-man's 3.0 blue label".

Will I ever get my money back? No, but my 6yo daughter who loves comics likely will when I'm long gone. Who knows.. but don't much care because I don't intend to sell. I plan to cherish it.

Reality is AF15's centerfold isn't related to Spider-Man at all.. I put serious value in cover/slab presentation over the missing "Man in the mummy case!" page 😂 and other associated pages/ad irrelevant to Spider-Man. Crack the slab open and the book has what matters to me: complete origin and first appearance of Spider-Man.

Yeah.. I'm still in shock too 😲

Doubt I'll pursue marrying a replacement centerfold.. but never say never (hit me up via DM if you, or someone you know, has one).

Congratulations and welcome to the club! I bought my AF15 CGC .5 earlier this year as well after selling my high grade FF48. The book really feels magical to me and I don't plan on ever parting with it. 

[peewee22]

16 hours ago, snitm said:

First post on these forums (requires mod approval)! HA makes it super easy to refuse to lose. I obviously overpaid (yes I'm the high bidder on this book!). My premeditated maximum was $13K..but others forced it higher. I _really_ regret not buying a 3.0 back in ~2019.. and this 0.5 presents beautifully (2.5? 3.0? 3.5?). So this book is my "poor-man's 3.0 blue label".

Will I ever get my money back? No, but my 6yo daughter who loves comics likely will when I'm long gone. Who knows.. but don't much care because I don't intend to sell. I plan to cherish it.

Reality is AF15's centerfold isn't related to Spider-Man at all.. I put serious value in cover/slab presentation over the missing "Man in the mummy case!" page 😂 and other associated pages/ad irrelevant to Spider-Man. Crack the slab open and the book has what matters to me: complete origin and first appearance of Spider-Man.

Yeah.. I'm still in shock too 😲

Doubt I'll pursue marrying a replacement centerfold.. but never say never (hit me up via DM if you, or someone you know, has one).

Congrats! Your first AF15 looks much better than my first. Bought mine in '86 in Little Rock, Ark, at a comic store for $75 and it had 2 rolls of scotch tape on it. Loved it though! 

Edited June 8, 2021 by peewee22

[snitm]

13 hours ago, Dark Knight said:

With that kind of $, might as well buy a 2.0 blue label 

CGC Grade really isn't everything.. I'd take my 0.5 over this 2.0 _every_ time:

[DST]

While your point is well taken that not all copies within grade are created equal, your example is an extreme case.  Sure I'd rather have your 0.5 over that particular 2.0.  But there are also an abundance of 2.0 copies out there that I'd rather have over your 0.5.  Brian's point was that for the same amount of money (and a little patience or expanding your search beyond Heritage) you could have found a well presenting complete copy 2.0.  But instead you severely overpaid and made it that much harder for other people to get a copy in this current market climate of "last sale = going rate".  That being said, I do wish you a sincere congratulations as I am happy for you (and anyone) fortunate enough to be able to buy my favorite book in the entire hobby.  I just feel for those that are being priced out from buying because of sales like this.

 

Edited June 8, 2021 by DST

[snitm]

15 minutes ago, DST said:

While your point is well taken that not all copies within grade are created equal, your example is an extreme case.  Sure I'd rather have your 0.5 over that particular 2.0.  But there are also an abundance of 2.0 copies out there that I'd rather have over your 0.5.  Brian's point was that for the same amount of money (and a little patience) you could have found a well presenting complete copy 2.0 for the same amount of money.  But instead you severely overpaid and made it that much harder for other people to get a copy in this current market climate of "last sale = going rate".  That being said, I do wish you a sincere congratulations as I am happy for you (and anyone) fortunate enough to be able to buy my favorite book in the entire hobby.  I just feel for those that are being priced out from buying because of sales like this.

 

Thanks for the judgement, but I've been pretty patient. Maybe I didn't look hard enough, but I've been looking for a while, I'm content with my decision. And my decision was influenced by how hard it is to get this book over the past few years. You cannot get a 3.0 for less than $30K now. I don't _need_ it to say "3.0".. having a book that looks like a 3.0 is perfectly fine by me. So yeah I took it on the chin and paid nearly $22K for an AF15 that presents like a 3.0. Sorry (not sorry!)

Edited June 8, 2021 by snitm

[Math Teacher]

10 minutes ago, DST said:

While your point is well taken that not all copies within grade are created equal, your example is an extreme case.  Sure I'd rather have your 0.5 over that particular 2.0.  But there are also an abundance of 2.0 copies out there that I'd rather have over your 0.5.  Brian's point was that for the same amount of money (and a little patience or expanding your search beyond Heritage) you could have found a well presenting complete copy 2.0.  But instead you severely overpaid and made it that much harder for other people to get a copy in this current market climate of "last sale = going rate".  That being said, I do wish you a sincere congratulations as I am happy for you (and anyone) fortunate enough to be able to buy my favorite book in the entire hobby.  I just feel for those that are being priced out from buying because of sales like this.

 

There have been numerous times that I have overpaid for a book. I decided that I wanted the book badly enough to help justify my purchase. However, I wouldn't have factored the "you made it that much harder for other people to get a copy in the current market climate of 'last sale = going rate'" at all in my decision. I'd like to get a replacement copy of JiM #85 that I sold to finance my AF #15 purchase. But I don't blame people that have purchased for what I consider to be an extravagant price for pricing this book out of my range. I'm sure that if I brought this point to a buyer, the response I would get would likely be, "I don't give a rat's rear end about how it affects you." Nor should they.

[peewee22]

15 minutes ago, DST said:

While your point is well taken that not all copies within grade are created equal, your example is an extreme case.  Sure I'd rather have your 0.5 over that particular 2.0.  But there are also an abundance of 2.0 copies out there that I'd rather have over your 0.5.  Brian's point was that for the same amount of money (and a little patience or expanding your search beyond Heritage) you could have found a well presenting complete copy 2.0.  But instead you severely overpaid and made it that much harder for other people to get a copy in this current market climate of "last sale = going rate".  That being said, I do wish you a sincere congratulations as I am happy for you (and anyone) fortunate enough to be able to buy my favorite book in the entire hobby.  I just feel for those that are being priced out from buying because of sales like this.

 

A shrewd collector may deem this as an "outlier". I don't think someone needs to be finger-pointed or labeled for buying the comic of their dreams (at any price).

In 2011 I paid $83k for an 8.0 at HA. I told the personal bidder to take it at any price. At that time, it was a record for an 8.0 and was probably "severely overpaid." Really, I could have cared less if it "made it much harder" for other people to get a comparable copy. 

What about the buyers of AF15, Action 1 and Bat 1 as of lately? Records were set in those grades.

 

[DST]

1 hour ago, Math Teacher said:

There have been numerous times that I have overpaid for a book. I decided that I wanted the book badly enough to help justify my purchase. However, I wouldn't have factored the "you made it that much harder for other people to get a copy in the current market climate of 'last sale = going rate'" at all in my decision. I'd like to get a replacement copy of JiM #85 that I sold to finance my AF #15 purchase. But I don't blame people that have purchased for what I consider to be an extravagant price for pricing this book out of my range. I'm sure that if I brought this point to a buyer, the response I would get would likely be, "I don't give a rat's rear end about how it affects you." Nor should they.

No where in my post did I say he should feel bad or concern himself about what this sale does to the market.  I was simply stating facts and the reality of the situation.  For the record I don't think he should care, I certainly don't, I've overpaid for just about every book I own.  I also realize it's not his fault and it takes two to drive up the price of an auction, but I'm still allowed to feel bad for people that are being priced out from buying big books because of sales like this.  It's his right to pay whatever he wants for a book, just as it's my right to shake my head.

Edited June 8, 2021 by DST

[snitm]

1 minute ago, peewee22 said:

A shrewd collector may deem this as an "outlier". I don't think someone needs to be finger-pointed or labeled for buying the comic of their dreams (at any price).

In 2011 I paid $83k for an 8.0 at HA. I told the personal bidder to take it at any price. At that time, it was a record for an 8.0 and was probably "severely overpaid." Really, I could have cared less if it "made it much harder" for other people to get a comparable copy. 

What about the buyers of AF15, Action 1 and Bat 1 as of lately? Records were set in those grades.

 

I understand the sour grapes "look what you've done!?" mindset in response to this outlier...

But I think most avid comic collectors have been dealing with various examples of severe price inflation over the past year for all "key" comics. The broader inertia to the market _and_ the steady increase to AF15 pricing in particular really did influence my "FOMO" moment on this book. And yeah, it might seem like I created a self-fulfilling prophecy but some other nut(s) were bidding against me!

[peewee22]

17 minutes ago, snitm said:

I understand the sour grapes "look what you've done!?" mindset in response to this outlier...

But I think most avid comic collectors have been dealing with various examples of severe price inflation over the past year for all "key" comics. The broader inertia to the market _and_ the steady increase to AF15 pricing in particular really did influence my "FOMO" moment on this book. And yeah, it might seem like I created a self-fulfilling prophecy but some other nut(s) were bidding against me!

Consider only BINs instead of auctions. I hate auctions. I can never win auctions due to erratic bidding (yeah, my 2011 HA win was really a BIN) or someone just wants it more. Some Board members sell privately and are well respected.