Getting my Amazing Fantasy 15 signed

[ickwinzs]

I have been wanting to ask this question for a long time and I am in a place where I think going to get the best information concerning this. Here goes.

I have a AF 15 Graded as a 3.0 and wanted to know if it is worth it to have it signed and regraded? I am not sure how this would work.

[whitelanthawkeye]

If you want to get it signed contact NYComics or Anastasia Collectibles. As far as is it worth it, I can't tell you.

[thatdudebooks]

First off WTTB

 

You're going to find arguments for both on either sides of the fence here. Some purists love the blue label while others are sig fanatics. Ultimately it boils down to what you truly want in your collectible. Considering that you mention "worth" I'd recommend checking GPA stats or eBay solds to see what historical prices show.

[ickwinzs]

I guess I should have mentioned, I had hoped to get it signed By Stan Lee before its to late. Not that I am thinking for resale at this point but after I kick it, I am wondering if the resale for who I leave it for will it be worth more.

Thanks for the welcome!

[matty_kay]

for someone who signs as much as stan, i personally don't think it will up the value.

 

with that being said, i have some key captain america comics signed by him because its what i wanted for my collection.

 

either way you'll still have an AF 15!

[mschmidt]

for someone who signs as much as stan, i personally don't think it will up the value.

 

with that being said, i have some key captain america comics signed by him because its what i wanted for my collection.

 

either way you'll still have an AF 15!

 

Low-grade AF #15s are pretty much the perfect SS book for Stan Lee - across the board they command a premium over their blue label counterparts :thumbsup:

[AnkurJ]

I was debating getting mine signed as well, but the fact that sharpies aren't acid free swayed me to leaving the book in a blue label.

[ickwinzs]

concerning the acid pen, once is slabbed and graded it is what it is forever isn't it?

[GAMBIT]

As said before, Low grade AF 15's are perfect for Stan's sig..

 

a 3.0 would be the perfect grade to have signed as well

 

( as for value. That book, at that grade level, with solid placement will absolutely increase the value. )

 

just my

[rtecbot]

Also weigh in that the grade is not guaranteed since you are cracking the book out of the slab to get it signed. Book may go up or down in grade.

[AnkurJ]

concerning the acid pen, once is slabbed and graded it is what it is forever isn't it?

 

Yes but the ink can cause deterioration of the paper long after its slabbed.

[seredynskib]

It's all about personal preference. I'm a signature collector, so I got my AF15 signed by Stan. Other collectors would never want to alter a comic cover from its original unsigned form. Just make sure that whichever decision you make, to do it for yourself and what would make you happy!

[50/50]

I love Stan to pieces, and every interaction I've had with him has been great, but (and I hate saying this), do be careful with high value older books. He is getting up there in age, and on my DD#1 his hand shook (maybe he was bumped, i can't remember) but in trying to correct it he wrote to S's and he had to have someone help guide him to finish the sig, flustered by the whole thing he sort of slid the book to the side in order to sign my ASM 700 variant, well the table had some residue on it unfortunately.

 

 

Now this is completely anecdotal, and could be a one time thing, and I personally love Stan Lee's signature on AF15s, also that same day I got a beautiful Stan Lee signature on all 4 other books, but I now have a 2.0 Daredevil (was a 3.0) that says SStan Lee.

 

I don't hardly mind though, its a great story for the kids/grandkids, and he truly felt bad about it.

[miraclemet]

for someone who signs as much as stan, i personally don't think it will up the value.

Low-grade AF #15s are pretty much the perfect SS book for Stan Lee - across the board they command a premium over their blue label counterparts :thumbsup:

 

FYI: GPA does not agree with mschmidt's bolded statement (disclaimer: GPA doesnt contain EVERY sale, just a larger collection of data than anywhere else). Im not trying to argue, just trying to show data so the OP can make an informed decision vs one based on opinion.

 

12mo/90day GPA vs most recent SS Lee (there are fewer of them so they sell less often)

4.0 $13,815/$13,050....$13,145

3.5 $$13,248/13,167....$12,700

3.0 $11,464/11,404......$11,500

2.5 $9695/10,250....... no lee sales since 2010

 

I dont know if these type of increases constitute a "premium"

in 4.0 +$95 vs 90 day gpa

in 3.5 -$467 vs 90 day gpa

in 3.0 +$96 vs 90 day gpa

 

Last I checked it cost more than $95 to get Stan to sign and then resub a book. so even those sales in the + column still lost a bit of money....

 

At these grades the possible increase in return is not worth the decrease in audience market.

 

What I mean is FEWER people collect Signature Series books. They arent as widely understood (as in people dont know the difference between a SS and any other Lee signature other than the plastic case). So down the road when you are looking to sell you are dealing with a smaller market. And if it were to be listed in an auction you would be dealing with a smaller pool of bidders. Fewer bidders, less competition, depressed prices (or at least to get far over universal value). Also AF15 is a very SSed book. There are over 200 copies SSed already.So there's not a lot of "rarity" in a Stan Sig (and the signed copies tend to focus on the lower end ones) so bidders tend to bail out rather than push prices higher (working from the mindset of "well I'll just wait for the next one to come to auction")

 

What will these prices do after Stan stops signing? (Either due to death or just needing to get off the autograph circuit) I dont know. But the market will be flooded after he passes for sure thanks to the number of people "investing" in getting a Stan book signed then trying to cash in. Will the buyer market be big enough to absorb the available inventory? I dont know.

 

To me if I viewed the book as an investment I would keep it universal so I knew when I did sell it I would be marketing it to a wider customer base.

 

[Solar]

concerning the acid pen, once is slabbed and graded it is what it is forever isn't it?

 

While the CGC label grade won't change, people will judge with their own eyes and it'll probably take a hit if the sig has faded or badly discolored.

 

Or not, since some people only seem to buy the label. It would still be in the back of my mind on a book that valuable.

[manicnerd]

I love Stan to pieces, and every interaction I've had with him has been great, but (and I hate saying this), do be careful with high value older books. He is getting up there in age, and on my DD#1 his hand shook (maybe he was bumped, i can't remember) but in trying to correct it he wrote to S's and he had to have someone help guide him to finish the sig, flustered by the whole thing he sort of slid the book to the side in order to sign my ASM 700 variant, well the table had some residue on it unfortunately.

 

 

Now this is completely anecdotal, and could be a one time thing, and I personally love Stan Lee's signature on AF15s, also that same day I got a beautiful Stan Lee signature on all 4 other books, but I now have a 2.0 Daredevil (was a 3.0) that says SStan Lee.

 

I don't hardly mind though, its a great story for the kids/grandkids, and he truly felt bad about it.

Use this method next time - wouldn't fix the sig but the residue wouldn't have been an issue

[revat]

I would say there doesn't appear to be an obvious 'sure thing' large sales bonus for having the sig, probably not more than the slab/signing costs. Plus you risk a bad sig or lowering of grade. If you were having it pressed and cleaned anyways...it might be something to consider. But just for the $$... doesn't seem like a sound decision at this point.

 

But please also note that many of the posters here might have a light (or heavy) vested interest when giving their opinions, as they may own, sell, or buy these comics now or at some point in the future.

 

As always, follow your heart.

 

 

[mschmidt]

for someone who signs as much as stan, i personally don't think it will up the value.

Low-grade AF #15s are pretty much the perfect SS book for Stan Lee - across the board they command a premium over their blue label counterparts :thumbsup:

 

FYI: GPA does not agree with mschmidt's bolded statement (disclaimer: GPA doesnt contain EVERY sale, just a larger collection of data than anywhere else). Im not trying to argue, just trying to show data so the OP can make an informed decision vs one based on opinion.

 

12mo/90day GPA vs most recent SS Lee (there are fewer of them so they sell less often)

4.0 $13,815/$13,050....$13,145

3.5 $$13,248/13,167....$12,700

3.0 $11,464/11,404......$11,500

2.5 $9695/10,250....... no lee sales since 2010

 

I dont know if these type of increases constitute a "premium"

in 4.0 +$95 vs 90 day gpa

in 3.5 -$467 vs 90 day gpa

in 3.0 +$96 vs 90 day gpa

 

Last I checked it cost more than $95 to get Stan to sign and then resub a book. so even those sales in the + column still lost a bit of money....

 

At these grades the possible increase in return is not worth the decrease in audience market.

 

That's just not true.

 

Your analysis is skewed due to the fact that SS copies come up for sale far less than blue label copies and that, in general, there's always going to be a price difference between strong & week copies of any given book in any given grade. Eg. if a 3.5 copy has glue or tape, it'll command far less than a 3.5 copy without these two things - no matter whether it's SS or not.

 

I've sold numerous low-grade SS keys over the years and have always found the ROI to be worth it - there are plenty of books where a Stan Lee signature does absolutely nothing for the value, low-grade keys that he actually worked on isn't it.

[ickwinzs]

This is exactly the type of info I am looking for, I even posted the book in the give me a grade section, and its definetly getting mixed reviews. So its giving me food for though for sure.

[miraclemet]

for someone who signs as much as stan, i personally don't think it will up the value.

Low-grade AF #15s are pretty much the perfect SS book for Stan Lee - across the board they command a premium over their blue label counterparts :thumbsup:

 

FYI: GPA does not agree with mschmidt's bolded statement (disclaimer: GPA doesnt contain EVERY sale, just a larger collection of data than anywhere else). Im not trying to argue, just trying to show data so the OP can make an informed decision vs one based on opinion.

 

12mo/90day GPA vs most recent SS Lee (there are fewer of them so they sell less often)

4.0 $13,815/$13,050....$13,145

3.5 $$13,248/13,167....$12,700

3.0 $11,464/11,404......$11,500

2.5 $9695/10,250....... no lee sales since 2010

 

I dont know if these type of increases constitute a "premium"

in 4.0 +$95 vs 90 day gpa

in 3.5 -$467 vs 90 day gpa

in 3.0 +$96 vs 90 day gpa

 

Last I checked it cost more than $95 to get Stan to sign and then resub a book. so even those sales in the + column still lost a bit of money....

 

At these grades the possible increase in return is not worth the decrease in audience market.

 

That's just not true.

 

Your analysis is skewed due to the fact that SS copies come up for sale far less than blue label copies and that, in general, there's always going to be a price difference between strong & week copies of any given book in any given grade. Eg. if a 3.5 copy has glue or tape, it'll command far less than a 3.5 copy without these two things - no matter whether it's SS or not.

 

I've sold numerous low-grade SS keys over the years and have always found the ROI to be worth it - there are plenty of books where a Stan Lee signature does absolutely nothing for the value, low-grade keys that he actually worked on isn't it.

 

But the smaller sample could just as easily skew high right? All it takes is one sale. Except the available recent sales are all skewing at best even-ish (when factoring in costs of signing and slabbing).

 

Yes SS will ALWAYS have less data than universal, since there are fewer of them. and yes that can make the data skew up or down by one sale. I just find it interesting that around the grade of his book, all of the data is skewed in the same direction, not one skewed the other way.

 

The data did skew upward for uber low grades (1.8 and lower) as well as for sales at 4.5, 6.5, 8.0

skewed even to lower for 5.5s, 6.0, 7.0

 

And for some of these I had to go back and compare the sales at the time of the SS Sale since they are so infrequent (ie. SS sold in 2011, so I looked at what blue was selling for at that same time). This does add the further variable of "available SS" which has only been increasing over the last 5 years. So Lee SS books were rarer back in 2011 (though still not rare) than they are today.

 

Im neither a dealer, nor a facilitator, heck Im not even a SA collector... I just like to look at data.

 

Schmidt, as a dealer I'll defer to your greater hands on experience, Im just saying what the data shows.

 

As a dealer do you find that your SS books sell at the same pace as your universal copies of the same book?