What's that 'one that got away' or that 'one you can't believe you did'? 2 2

[drdonaldblake]

i had the dd 7 pac coast cgc 9.2 for $1200, i turned it down becos of a big transfer stain on the back

 

2 yrs later i find out its been resubbd and got a 9.4!!!!!!!!! thats a $5000 book easy rigth now!!! prob even more cos fo the pedigree

 

 

ARGHHH!!!!!!!!!

[pastandpresentcomics]

I was on vacation when USM started and when I got back, issue 2 was on the shelf and issue 1 was sold out. I hit all the LCS's in Orlando area and could not find a 1. Finally at one LCS, the guy says he's out of the regular issue 1 but has the white variant cover. He said there was a problem with them though as they all had that printers scratch on the foot. I really wanted to read the book so I said I would look at them. He went behind the counter and pulled out 10 of them and said they were 7 bucks each. The bad news and good news is I only bought one but CGC'd it later for a 9.8 and sold it for about 650.00 but left 9 more behind.

[Steve_HOCP]

I can't believe that I scribbled on an X-Men #37 when I was a kid...that was a forehead smacker if I ever saw one.

 

 

 

I love the strategic placement of the GS X-Men # 1 in your pic, Steve!

 

Old picture actually. I had posted that picture along with this one:

 

 

 

when I first joined the forums. The GS #1 and the X-Men #1 have been graded since then. I only have 45 books left, out of the 1 thru 200 run, that need to be graded.

[*paull*]

Anyone have any more sob stories? This was a great thread...

[dem1138]

The ironic thing that no one has mentioned yet is that if you went to conventions in the 80s/early 90s - practically every Golden Age, Silver Age, and Bronze Age key was obtainable and 'got away.' I can remember MANY conventions in the 80s where dealers had tons of keys and if you stayed around until 3:30/4:00 - the dealers would start to slash prices. However, until prices started to really jump in the early 90s - I never remember seeing really 'High Grade' gems...

I was remarking to a friend the other day that when we were younger - we "knew" that this hobby was going to take off but we really didn't "know."

Though I look back with some regret with everything that I sold off, I know that if I take the potential financial benefits out of the equation, that the comics I owned provided thousands of hours of enjoyment and escape - and there is no way to put a price on that. It really was a fun time to be 12-16 and reading TMNT, Fish Police, Boris the Bear, and X-Men, Watchmen, The Dark Knight, etc...and then discovering Miller's run on Daredevil and other great stories from the past...

[The Black Hand ®]

Several years ago Comiclink had two Pep 22's in around vg for 2200.00 each if I remember correctly. They were up for a while but I was such a short sighted cheapskate that I couldn't pull the trigger. About a year before that I had the chance to buy Archie 1-10 all in g to vg condition, the 1 being in g, for a grand, and I said I'd call back tomorrow... and they were gone. On the other hand, I bought an Archie 3 from an antique dealer who said it was in"good shape" for 199.00 and it ended up being a vf to nm with white pages. Doesn't make up for the other boneheaded mistakes, though.I sold the A3 for a huge amount of money, enough to have bought both Peps and half the Archies. But I'm still a great big stupid head for not jumping on those babies.

[Zanarkand]

I lost a Visions #5 awhile ago on Ebay because I set my snipe stupidly low. No reason at all except I figured it wouldn't go for much anyway. Haven't seen once since, anywhere.

[clobberintime]

This is a pretty fun thread as I am constantly re-thinking deals. The good - bought a cgc 8.5 FF 1 a few years ago for $19,000 and Hulk 1 8.0 pac coast for $10. That was a lot at the time for the books but has turned out to be a very good move. The gut wrencher - had a chance to get a Hulk 1 cgc 9.0 just before the movie for $20k but only wanted to pay $18,000 so someone bought it for $20 after I couldnt pull the trigger. about a month later, Blazin had one and offered it to me for $26 and we got into a huge fight about it because i thought the price was insane. When he listed it, it sold within an hour at his price! And the price now is about the cost of a new Hummer. The really bad - bought a Hulk 1 from a "friend" / dealer in 1995 for $1500 graded as vf. it was one of my first big purchases. It was allegedly given to him by his grandma when he was 7 and he had stoered safely etc. It looked pretty darn nice to - very glossy and ow pages. Well when cgc came about, I decided to get it slabbed. To my horror, it came back as a frankenstein -purple label of death mess! It had extensive resto including - trimming, color, re-gloss, pieces added etc. I had Josh sell it and I think we got like $500. looking back i should have just kept the book to be able to look at it because I still hate to think about that $1000 hit - much more than that if you take into account the passage of about 8 years.

[paperheart]

Had the OA to an Perez Avengers cover that my buddy had bought from George for $25 and I had bought from him for $125- traded it for a double page Miller DD spread. Should've just plunked down the cash for the Miller and lived happily ever after.

[sfilosa]

This is a pretty fun thread as I am constantly re-thinking deals. The good - bought a cgc 8.5 FF 1 a few years ago for $19,000 and Hulk 1 8.0 pac coast for $10. That was a lot at the time for the books but has turned out to be a very good move. The gut wrencher - had a chance to get a Hulk 1 cgc 9.0 just before the movie for $20k but only wanted to pay $18,000 so someone bought it for $20 after I couldnt pull the trigger. about a month later, Blazin had one and offered it to me for $26 and we got into a huge fight about it because i thought the price was insane. When he listed it, it sold within an hour at his price! And the price now is about the cost of a new Hummer. The really bad - bought a Hulk 1 from a "friend" / dealer in 1995 for $1500 graded as vf. it was one of my first big purchases. It was allegedly given to him by his grandma when he was 7 and he had stoered safely etc. It looked pretty darn nice to - very glossy and ow pages. Well when cgc came about, I decided to get it slabbed. To my horror, it came back as a frankenstein -purple label of death mess! It had extensive resto including - trimming, color, re-gloss, pieces added etc. I had Josh sell it and I think we got like $500. looking back i should have just kept the book to be able to look at it because I still hate to think about that $1000 hit - much more than that if you take into account the passage of about 8 years.

 

The $1K loss on the Restored Hulk #1 was made up in spades with the PC Hulk #1 purchase.

 

Sounds to me like you've done quite well.

[Silver]

1986 San Diego Comic Con, my first time there. Saw a Sugar and Spike #1 in NM (no kidding) for $400. The only book I ever regretted NOT buying! Now books I have sold....I regret all of them!

[benz]

hi all, i just showed my brother in law my collection of golden/silver age comics and he told me about this story. we live outside USA and comics are hard to comeby way back in 60's but he distinctly remember having a ASM#14 on his collection. He remembers the yellow cover and green goblin...he took good care of it...Fast forward to 80's, they were moving houses and somehow they had alot of stuff...a neighbor volunteers to get the stuff for FREE...so He GAVE them away...he just went to heritage and couldnt believe the prices of that particular comic of his that got away!

[krazykat-migration]

Well, here's my story.

 

I was at a bar when this cute little red head in a tight leather mini skirt and a really tight knit sweater came up to me and said she would like for me to do her from behind. She must been about 19. Unfortunately, I was with my girlfriend at the time, so I had to pass.

 

I still kick myself every day.

Edited August 12, 2005 by krazykat

[chrisco37]

I can't believe I'm going to encourage you, but

[FlyingDonut]

[ft88]

I trimmed the top edge off of a Spidey 14 since I didn't like the overhang. I bought it for $54 back in 86 as a "NM" and 10% discount off the $60 price. It was probably a VF+ unrestored and I sold it for nearly $600 fully disclosed about 3 years ago. Not a sob story but sad none the less.

 

A few years ago I bought a collection of Avengers and X-men and didn't look through then very closely but made a lowball offer which the seller accepted. It turned out that there were about ten 12 cent Avengers that graded 9.2 or better and about 20 Bronze X-men grading 9.4 or better. There were also hardback books from the 70's and by Frazetta and other artists of his ilk. The capper was an FF 48 in VF with signatures from Stan Lee and Jack Kirby on the interior. I added Sinnott later.

 

Ed

[RCComix]

As a newcomer, thanx for the bump...great story about the Detective #1. .

 

I am going to read the rest later tonight and then perhaps a story of my own...

 

Russ

[ajaxfarrell]

Well, I still haven't read a horror story worse than mine, as far as potentially financially life changing..

 

...even if I did do the deal, I probably would have flipped them for next to nothing....

 

like I did with most of my blue-chip comics, in the mid-1980's....JEEZ....AS FLYING DONUT stated...

 

PAINFUL MEMORIES OF WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN THAT I CAN"T BEAR TO TYPE AGAIN

[MegaMatt]

I once passed on a nice copy of Incred. Hulk #180. At the time I didn't know important issues #'s by heart and therefore didn't realize that it was basically the first apperance of Wolverine (on the last page). Worse thing was it was for .50 cents.

 

Also, didn't pick up Ultimate Spider-man #1 or Ultimate X-Men #1 when they came out because I was absolutely sure it wasn't going to take off. Kick myself for passing on those.

[justin]

Ultimate X-Men #1 isn't worth all that much though unless you try to get that sketch cover. I got my NM copy of the regular issue for $8.