Silver age comics that are heating up 26 26

[GrasshopperFF]

On 3/18/2022 at 5:55 PM, alexgross.com said:

both of them have completely opaque bidding, so you can't really be sure that the house is not bidding against you. but only heritage has actually been sued by a former employee alleging that they do this exact thing. (settled out of court) 

i recommend never pre-bidding on either site, but especially on heritage, to at least avoid this as best you can. if you can bid in the live session, then at least you may be less likely to feel inclined to increase your max bid should you be outbid. comiclink does not add time, so it ends when it ends. if you bid right before the end, there is no chance to up your max later, unlike heritage. i like the fact that it ends when it ends with comiclink. it prevents you from making angry, escalating bids at the end for more than you should, if you are being consistently outbid. 

both of them consistently have some of the most amazing books around, as far as auction sites go. and both are totally professional regarding shipping, etc. i buy from both, despite my concerns. and i have sold with both, too. 

I now have one Heritage auction under my belt. I doubt I will try another. The FF52 (9.2) ($21,600) and X-Men 4 (8.5) ($14,400) both got away. I truly believe someone overpaid (did any of y’all end up with these awesome books?) and I am genuinely thankful I did not hit that bid button one more time! I enjoyed the ComicLink experience much more. 

[dikran]

On 4/10/2022 at 8:59 AM, GrasshopperFF said:

I now have one Heritage auction under my belt. I doubt I will try another. The FF52 (9.2) ($21,600) and X-Men 4 (8.5) ($14,400) both got away. I truly believe someone overpaid (did any of y’all end up with these awesome books?) and I am genuinely thankful I did not hit that bid button one more time! I enjoyed the ComicLink experience much more. 

There are rarely any deals to be found on Heritage…

[GrasshopperFF]

On 4/10/2022 at 9:13 AM, dikran1 said:

There are rarely any deals to be found on Heritage…

I think I knew that going in and was ready to pay a premium for high grade awesomeness. When the price got to premium+ I was ok w/ walking away. 

[Straw-Man]

On 4/9/2022 at 10:35 PM, KirbyJack said:

I think he gets lost here due to the coloring.

My favorite is Strange Tales 146.

 

and, knowing you felt that way, steps were taken to fix it.

[Bird]

On 4/10/2022 at 9:41 AM, Straw-Man said:

and, knowing you felt that way, steps were taken to fix it.

Doc does seem more lost here than in the original I think.

[Straw-Man]

On 4/10/2022 at 8:45 AM, Bird said:

Doc does seem more lost here than in the original I think.

the coloring is better, but in the mcic it looks like his dulcolax is kicking in at exact WRONG time.

Edited April 10, 2022 by Straw-Man

[Sweet Lou 14]

On 4/10/2022 at 8:59 AM, GrasshopperFF said:

I now have one Heritage auction under my belt. I doubt I will try another. The FF52 (9.2) ($21,600) and X-Men 4 (8.5) ($14,400) both got away. I truly believe someone overpaid (did any of y’all end up with these awesome books?) and I am genuinely thankful I did not hit that bid button one more time! I enjoyed the ComicLink experience much more. 

You're right, it's a completely different experience.  I go back and forth on which one I prefer.  With Heritage, you know you'll win the book if you're willing to just mash the button longer than anyone else, but you also know you're going to pay the absolute max because everyone else is thinking the same.  (ComicConnect is similar by the way, but with them you get a full three minutes which I feel is too much time -- there's always some insufficiently_thoughtful_person who doesn't understand how the format works and thinks he's being super clever by waiting the whole three minutes before upping the bid again.)

With ComicLink (or eBay), there's no extra time so everyone snipes with their best and final bid in the final seconds.  I do agree that resulting prices can be lower in some cases -- especially on less "special" books where people are expecting a modest result.  As a seller, you can sometimes get poor results on ComicLink (or any auction house) with "ordinary" books and you're probably better off consigning them to a great dealer like Bob Storms and just being patient.  But getting back to ComicLink / eBay, for any book with lots of interest there will usually be at least a couple of bidders who are willing to go "nuclear" and the results can be crazy.

I get the strong impression that you're still surveying the landscape and that you're potentially interested in a broad range of books.  That's a good thing.  My advice for anyone who's got a long list of books they'd like to collect is -- be patient, shop around, and buy when there's a deal to be had but don't chase.  Save the chasing and desperation bids for when you have your heart so set on a book that the overpay will be worth it to you.

Edited April 10, 2022 by Sweet Lou 14

[GrasshopperFF]

On 4/10/2022 at 10:33 AM, Sweet Lou 14 said:

You're right, it's a completely different experience.  I go back and forth on which one I prefer.  With Heritage, you know you'll win the book if you're willing to just mash the button longer than anyone else, but you also know you're going to pay the absolute max because everyone else is thinking the same.  (ComicConnect is similar by the way, but with them you get a full three minutes which I feel is too much time -- there's always some insufficiently_thoughtful_person who doesn't understand how the format works and thinks he's being super clever by waiting the whole three minutes before upping the bid again.)

With ComicLink (or eBay), there's no extra time so everyone snipes with their best and final bid in the final seconds.  I do agree that resulting prices can be lower in some cases -- especially on less "special" books where people are expecting a modest result.  As a seller, you can sometimes get poor results on ComicLink (or any auction house) with "ordinary" books and you're probably better off consigning them to a great dealer like Bob Storms and just being patient.  But getting back to ComicLink / eBay, for any book with lots of interest there will usually be at least a couple of bidders who are willing to go "nuclear" and the results can be crazy.

I get the strong impression that you're still surveying the landscape and that you're potentially interested in a broad range of books.  That's a good thing.  My advice for anyone who's got a long list of books they'd like to collect is -- be patient, shop around, and buy when there's a deal to be had but don't chase.  Save the chasing and desperation bids for when you have your heart so set on a book that the overpay will be worth it to you.

Thanks for this analysis. Spot on! It’s good to develop the right hunting skills and advice like this is helpful. From the category of good advice, I must add that KCOComics was a good sounding board yesterday!

[supapimp]

On 4/10/2022 at 5:59 AM, GrasshopperFF said:

I now have one Heritage auction under my belt. I doubt I will try another. The FF52 (9.2) ($21,600) and X-Men 4 (8.5) ($14,400) both got away. I truly believe someone overpaid (did any of y’all end up with these awesome books?) and I am genuinely thankful I did not hit that bid button one more time! I enjoyed the ComicLink experience much more. 

That was a fugly FF52 CGC 9.2

[GrasshopperFF]

On 4/10/2022 at 2:35 PM, supapimp said:

That was a fugly FF52 CGC 9.2

Glad I missed it then. 

[GrasshopperFF]

On 4/10/2022 at 2:35 PM, supapimp said:

That was a fugly FF52 CGC 9.2

Could you please tell me what is fugly about this book? I need to learn. 

[MattTheDuck]

On 4/10/2022 at 12:55 PM, GrasshopperFF said:

Could you please tell me what is fugly about this book? I need to learn. 

Can't speak for da pimp, but there's something going on with the top right corner and the top left corner, and the top staple.  I'd like to see a "top" view of the top of this book because I wonder if the cover folds over a bit along the whole top except in the right top corner and above "The World's"

Edited April 10, 2022 by MattTheDuck

[GrasshopperFF]

On 4/10/2022 at 4:14 PM, MattTheDuck said:

Can't speak for da pimp, but there's something going on with the top right corner and the top left corner, and the top staple.  I'd like to see a "top" view of the top of this book because I wonder if the cover folds over a bit along the whole top except in the right top corner and above "The World's"

Graders notes: “Top front cover crease. Top front cover wear”. The top staple has a slight indent. So does all this make it a funky/fugly 9.2? Undeserving? I was pretty pumped about the White Pages and overall grade. And the black cover is hard to grade out this high, right? I’m not trying to defend this book, by any means. If I won then I’d probably be a little defensive. Just trying to learn. 

[Sweet Lou 14]

On 4/10/2022 at 3:55 PM, GrasshopperFF said:

Could you please tell me what is fugly about this book? I need to learn. 

I’m just looking at it on my phone so maybe I’m missing something. I see perfect centering and very bright colors. There are a number of small defects including noticeable spine ticks and a distracting crease along the top edge. So I guess the debate is whether those things added up should push the book lower than 9.2.

[MattTheDuck]

On 4/10/2022 at 1:29 PM, GrasshopperFF said:

Graders notes: “Top front cover crease. Top front cover wear”. The top staple has a slight indent. So does all this make it a funky/fugly 9.2? Undeserving? I was pretty pumped about the White Pages and overall grade. And the black cover is hard to grade out this high, right? I’m not trying to defend this book, by any means. If I won then I’d probably be a little defensive. Just trying to learn. 

I wouldn't describe it personally as "fugly" - it has a couple of problems, as all 9.2's will.  Sometimes those problems aren't visible on the front cover, though, and I'm sure that might cause concern for some.  Other than that top section, it looks pretty good I would say.  But to each his own - collectors have individual things they look for in books that please them - or that they won't accept.

[pickycollector]

That FF #52 is a very weak 9.2, I have seen many 8.5's and 9.0's that look much better. With CGC grading's inconsistency, it's all about buying the label or buying the book..

[mcduckz]

On 4/10/2022 at 9:13 AM, dikran1 said:

There are rarely any deals to be found on Heritage…

There are rarely deals,  period.  If you want a good key SA book... I mean a key that presents well regardless of grade and has some kind of connecting significance... then you are going to 99% of the time not going to get a deal when you buy it.  Best bet is to set a comfortable limit on how much above average market price you are willing to pay.  For me that's about 10-20% depending on the book and my liquidity at the time,  but I've found if you are not short term flipping,  you always come out ahead. 

[GrasshopperFF]

On 4/10/2022 at 5:04 PM, mcduckz said:

There are rarely deals,  period.  If you want a good key SA book... I mean a key that presents well regardless of grade and has some kind of connecting significance... then you are going to 99% of the time not going to get a deal when you buy it.  Best bet is to set a comfortable limit on how much above average market price you are willing to pay.  For me that's about 10-20% depending on the book and my liquidity at the time,  but I've found if you are not short term flipping,  you always come out ahead. 

It’s that last point that seems to be so true. 10 years ago those who were buying up the right keys, for high dollars at the time, likely had folks scratching their heads in wonderment (like my wife is currently). The passage of time shows them to be way ahead. No one knows what the future holds, of course, but the long term play is solid in my opinion. 

[KCOComics]

On 4/10/2022 at 5:23 PM, GrasshopperFF said:

It’s that last point that seems to be so true. 10 years ago those who were buying up the right keys, for high dollars at the time, likely had folks scratching their heads in wonderment (like my wife is currently). The passage of time shows them to be way ahead. No one knows what the future holds, of course, but the long term play is solid in my opinion. 

This is very true. 

It does make me second guess some of the choices I made in my youth! Like should I really have prioritized completing my Punisher War Journal run over grabbing big SA keys????  And I'm still playing the long game on my Spawn 1!!! I think my Death of Superman comics are balancing our kitchen table right now.  

But honestly, I can't complain. I was fortunate to grab many books that if I didn't buy years ago, I know I would never own. 

So I still try to upgrade my SA keys where I can, but constantly having to spend so much money to do so takes some of the joy out of it. So I find myself dabbling more and more in less popular genres. I'm sure they'll never pay off like Marvel Superheroes, but I'm content with that. 

 

[MGsimba77]

On 4/10/2022 at 4:43 PM, Sweet Lou 14 said:

On 4/10/2022 at 3:55 PM, GrasshopperFF said:

Could you please tell me what is fugly about this book? I need to learn. 

I’m just looking at it on my phone so maybe I’m missing something. I see perfect centering and very bright colors. There are a number of small defects including noticeable spine ticks and a distracting crease along the top edge. So I guess the debate is whether those things added up should push the book lower than 9.2.

The suspicion is the top edge might be folded down a little bit. No way of knowing without seeing it from a top angle. It could be a production flaw so who knows? I'd say this copy qualifies as a "tweener" between 9.0 and 9 2, possibly maybe 8.5. This issue is chronically miswraped in both directions and lower than white pages so the good wrap makes it worthwhile. I'd take it in a second!