2 Copies of Hulk 181 - which one to sell? 1 1

[cranky's]

19 hours ago, valiantman said:

Those collectors are wrong, in the long term.  When all the artists and creators are dead, there will be tens of thousands of unsigned books and who knows how many reprints of reprints of early books like first Wolverine which are printed long after the creators are gone.  They'll all be unsigned.  The ones that are signed now may seem like they're "everywhere" but every single example of a collectible of any kind (painting, etching, lithograph, first edition book) is worth more when the original artist/writer/creator signed it versus an unsigned one that's otherwise identical.  Imagine pretending that Mickey Mantle "defaced" an otherwise great example of a 1950s American League baseball with no writing on it.

There's no reason comics will be any different... our "hall of famers" are mostly still alive, and we're ridiculous if we're thinking they're "defacing" their own creations.

I have to disagree.  I think the market will eventually be more discriminating.  This business more akin to a geriatric Micky Mantle signing a perfectly good 1950s baseball six decades after his heyday, with a fat sharpie-  if said baseball was already an example of a highly sought-after key collectable.  In the long term, collectors will seek out unsigned books or contemporary signatures, which are a far cry from the artificial, CGC-condoned defacing of already-valuable vintage books that is going on now.  There are many collectors now who won't even consider paying money for these things.  I predict a glut of unwanted SS copies that will be viewed for what they are, the fruit of money-grabbing promoters and grading companies, produced decades after the creators' relevance to the work at hand.

OP, sell the signed copy.  While you still can.  Rant over.

[scooter99]

19 hours ago, valiantman said:

Those collectors are wrong, in the long term.  When all the artists and creators are dead, there will be tens of thousands of unsigned books and who knows how many reprints of reprints of early books like first Wolverine which are printed long after the creators are gone.  They'll all be unsigned.  The ones that are signed now may seem like they're "everywhere" but every single example of a collectible of any kind (painting, etching, lithograph, first edition book) is worth more when the original artist/writer/creator signed it versus an unsigned one that's otherwise identical.  Imagine pretending that Mickey Mantle "defaced" an otherwise great example of a 1950s American League baseball with no writing on it.

There's no reason comics will be any different... our "hall of famers" are mostly still alive, and we're ridiculous if we're thinking they're "defacing" their own creations.

Those collectors are not wrong, they simply don't like looking at a signature on the cover of their books.  Sig books are a niche market, yes, some people that like sig books will pay a premium, but the majority of the collectors I know want a clean book without sigs on it and wouldn't even consider buying one.  I don't mind a sig on the splash page.  Different strokes for different folks.

[justafan]

Here's a test.  Of the 2 copies, which do you pull out and look at more?  Is it the slabbed autograph one or is it the raw copy.  How many times have you read the raw copy?  How many times have you showed off the graded copy?  If you have them on display, take them down and put them both away for a while.  Over the next few days or hours, which of the 2 do you miss more?  Keep the one you miss most, sell the other. 

 

Another option: put both online with ridiculous BIN prices and review all offers.  See which one garners the highest offer and decide.

 

[valiantman]

3 hours ago, skrank said:

I have to disagree.  I think the market will eventually be more discriminating.  This business more akin to a geriatric Micky Mantle signing a perfectly good 1950s baseball six decades after his heyday, with a fat sharpie-  if said baseball was already an example of a highly sought-after key collectable.  In the long term, collectors will seek out unsigned books or contemporary signatures, which are a far cry from the artificial, CGC-condoned defacing of already-valuable vintage books that is going on now.  There are many collectors now who won't even consider paying money for these things.  I predict a glut of unwanted SS copies that will be viewed for what they are, the fruit of money-grabbing promoters and grading companies, produced decades after the creators' relevance to the work at hand.

OP, sell the signed copy.  While you still can.  Rant over.

My rebuttal:

[cranky's]

19 minutes ago, valiantman said:

My rebuttal:

Oh damn. That is cool.  

[badback83]

20 hours ago, StarkEnterprises1 said:

Though I like that idea, I live in the UK and the cost of getting the raw copy slabbed and then having it shipped back to me is too prohibitive at this time. As I said in my original post, I need to raise some cash and I need to figure out which one of my Hulk 181s do I sell in order to get some decent coin. 

Oh.  Hmmm.  That is a tough one.  I would assume the CGC copy would get the most money, but I'd have to see pics.  

[Buzzetta]

Just get the raw book graded to allow your already complicated situation to get more complicated. 

Edited October 29, 2017 by Buzzetta