Modern CGC collectors: How do you collect?

[COI]

I've recently decided to start picking up some of my favorite modern books that I grew up with(late 70's to late 80's) slabbed, and I was wondering about the habits of you modern collectors.

 

The reason I decided to start now is because of some of the bargains I'm seeing. Many CGC 9.6 books in this era are barely selling for CGC submission fees, while their 9.8 counterparts can sell for huge amounts and ridiculous multiples. Like Batman #404 for example.

 

So how do you guys collect this era? Do you try to get the best, or are you content with a nice 9.4/9.6 copy. I personally will probably not bother with 9.8's if they're going to cost 10X the price of a 9.6, but that's me. But who knows? I make make an exception on particular books.........

 

 

[Prophet78]

I can't remember if you had responded to the invester thread in the other forum, but buying 9.8 or higher cgc copies right now, is pretty much setting yourself up for a fall. The best thing to do is buy raw copies and hope that your grading is up to snuff. Even though I have been around only a few months, my opinion is that sooner or later CGC is gonna go bust (the market, not the company)and the prices will return to a reasonable level. Moderns have always been a tricky area to collect in for multiple reasons. A few being the obvious over printing, hoarded copies and the ability to pull a 10 MNT out of many places. The best thing to do, like all other ages is to collect what you like. If you are in it for investment get out of moderns.

 

Having said that, here is what I do. Most of my collecting is of moderns because that is when I originally started. I collect what I like, so no matter what happens, I ain't getting burned. I collect Uncanny X, Batman, Robin, Wolvering and a few others. I also have a subscription service from Mile High and I get all the new titles, 10 in all.

 

Right now, I am going to try and complete runs of Batman and Wolverine. Once I get Wolverine finished (which shouldn't take to long) I may try for the X-men, starting with moderns and move down. Getting Key moderns cgc'ed if I can. Otherwise I will try and get the best copy available raw.

 

To sum it up. Don't try and get a CGC 9.6 or better in modern, because chances are you can find that book in muliples and have them cgc'ed, but you would still be sitting on a high grade modern that chances are you can't sell. SPECULATORS ARE EVIL!

 

-Jeremy-

[Darthdiesel]

AK - when buying CGC'd moderns for flipping, I put a low bid on key modern CGC 9.4 and 9.2's (like Hulk 340, thor 337, asm 238, 252, 300, spidey vs wolverine 1 - and other books that were hot when I was growing up) that don't get as much attention as their elite high grade counterparts and if I win then it would have been for close to a steal. then I take them out of the case and sell them as NM/MT raw and make about 4 x as much... Just kidding there...I actually clean and press them and resubmit for higher grades...

 

I just hold onto them and use them for trading or off ebay deals and sell/trade for more than I paid and it all works out in the end...

 

Sometimes I pick up CGC's won under $10 and then relist later down the road at $19.99/$24.99 start...my advice would be not to list CGC'd things starting at 0.01 unless you know it'll get enough bids to recoup at least your costs...

[dam60]

AK - I have a slew of modern slabs. I have the entire WLS series in 9.6 twice over, a #1 in 9.8, W RS 1 and 10 9.6, ASM 252 in 9.2,9.4,9.6, ASM 298-300 9.6, Web 1 9.6, SW 8 9.6, Hulk 340 9.6, X-O Manowar #1 in 9.6, etc independent from my Batman moderns cgc'ed (don't get me started )

 

These were the books that were "holy grails" when I was younger and collected and I am happy to have them now. I went for 9.6s for most of them. I have multiple raw copies of all of these books (less ASM 300, recently sold my last one)and wanted something CGC'ed more for display than for anything else. To me, I can not see the difference between a 9.6 and a 9.8 most of the time (all of the time from displaying purposes), so why go for the more expensive 9.8? Also regarding price, a 9.6 you can usually get (as you pointed out) for just about the grading fee - with many times as if the comic were free! Right now I am having a hell of a time finding a Batman 427 cgc 9.6. It's not a tough book to find by any means, but nobody submits that stuff anymore since in a 9.6 it would only go for $25. I also have a slew raw, but if they came back sub 9.6, I would just crack the slab again and be out $25.

 

I think you would actually have a tough time finding moderns in 9.4. I would say that the majority of the modern books being sent in for submission right now are being pre-screened for 9.6 at a minimum. A 9.4 of almost any modern is a one way ticket to a loss.

 

These books are all more late 80s and early 90s. The late 70s and early 80s you might find more of a 9.4 market. I would imagine that ASM 238 would allow you to more than break even in 9.4, etc. Still you should throw your hat into this ring - you can get some really nice books (at least from a sentimental aspect) for next to nothing.

 

DAM

 

[COI]

I'm not worried about geting burned on Moderns. If I buy/sell high, it's on Silver. I personally would never spend $400 on a Batman 404 9.8, when I could get a 9.6 for $30. I was just wondering how others decide to collect late 70's to late 80's books.

 

As for submitting, for the most part that would be a waist of time/money. Many of the books I'm interested in sell for higher $$ amounts in 9.8, but cost around $19-$40 in 9.6 now that the market has deflated at the 9.6 level. For me to take the time to find and submit raw 9.6+ copies of the 80's books I like would be a waste of time and effort. And after buying, selling and studying the HG silver market for so long, these books seem so cheap. I would rather pay an extra $15 and forego the search/waiting time for CGC submissions, especially on late 70's/mid 80's books were a microscopic blemish will bring a book from 9.8 to 9.4. For these moderns, it does end up becoming just a # on a label. I simply just want nice slabbed examples of my favorite books.

 

BTW, the only moderns I would submit are current books, where I have acess to fresh/untouched cases of uncirculated copies.

[COI]

Hey Dam, as you can tell by my post above, we have the same train of thought.

How old are you? I'm 24, and by the sound of it, you're around my age.

 

I literally just started today, picking up an ASM #251 and 276(hobgoblin issues/covers) in 9.6 for $29.99 each. Because I've been primarily buying silver, I haven't really followed these moderns, and I was surprised to get them for opening bid, which is very close to what it would have cost me to submit copies myself. But when I did past searches, I saw 9.8's of similar books were going in the $100-$120 range. Personally, it isn't worth the label. Unlike Silvers, the Moderns I've seen in 9.6/9.8/9.9 are almost totally identical in appearance. Like you, I'm mostly picking these up for nostalgia, and posterity, so I'm not really interested in getting the "best" copies. But I have decided to try to go for 9.6's mostly, unless 9.8's come cheap for that book.

[delekkerste]

So how do you guys collect this era? Do you try to get the best, or are you content with a nice 9.4/9.6 copy. I personally will probably not bother with 9.8's if they're going to cost 10X the price of a 9.6, but that's me.

 

I'm a huge early-to-mid-80s fan, and was buying up CGC'd Paul Smith X-Men, Simonson Thors, Miller Daredevils, Miller Batmans, etc. in 2000-2001. At the time, 9.8s were very uncommon, even on these books, and so most collectors, like myself, were content paying $35-$40 a pop for 9.6s. Of course, in hindsight, this turned out to be a terrible move as the high prices led to a flood of submissions, resulting in numerous 9.8s on many books and extremely plentiful 9.6s.

 

Over the past year, prices on most 9.8 non-key Moderns have plummeted, largely due to a few warehouse/collector finds that were slabbed by dealers like Comgeek, Flcales, Barginbox, etc. I no longer think it's worth going for 9.6s when you can get many 9.8s for $15-$35 (don't believe you can get a 9.8 for $15? That's the starting price on Barginbox's X-Men/Alpha Flight #1, featuring Paul Smith art - not the lame 1988 mini-series, with a $20 BIN. Comgeek sold a Thor #342 CGC MINT 9.9 for $24.95 last night as well).

 

The only problem with picking up these cheap 9.8s is that it's almost impossible to sell your existing 9.6 or 9.4 copy once you've upgraded...I have a lot of Modern 9.4/9.6 duplicates that I just can't move at any kind of reasonable price. Because of that, I've decided to only upgrade the books I really, really want in 9.8.

 

Personally, I never touch 9.4 Moderns anymore, and would only go for select, harder-to-find 9.6s (or if I can get them dirt cheap). It's clear that most just aren't going to hold their value in the long run.

 

Gene

[COI]

Hey Darth, do you collect for yourself or just flip?

[COI]

I talk a lot about Silver, but I'm also a huge early to mid 80's fan, as they were the "unatainable" back issues and wall books I looked at when I was a little man. I also believe they contained the last morsels of quality before the [!@#%^&^] storm called the 90's.

 

Over the past year, prices on most 9.8 non-key Moderns have plummeted, largely due to a few warehouse/collector finds that were slabbed by dealers like Comgeek, Flcales, Barginbox, etc. I no longer think it's worth going for 9.6s when you can get many 9.8s for $15-$35 (don't believe you can get a 9.8 for $15? That's the starting price on Barginbox's X-Men/Alpha Flight #1, featuring Paul Smith art - not the lame 1988 mini-series, with a $20 BIN. Comgeek sold a Thor #342 CGC MINT 9.9 for $24.95 last night as well).

 

This was the reason I held off mostly until now. Right after the "birth" of CGC books on ebay, I signed up(one of my older ID's) for the first time to jump on a Wolverine LS 1-4 set in 9.4, thinking(like many others did in the beginning) that 9.4 would be hard to find. Suffice it to say, learned my lesson very fast and backed off to observe. I then got into the Silver buying a while after, every once in a while checking out what was going on with moderns. After seeing some of the insane prices, I laughed, knowing full well it wouldn't last.(This is not hindsight. Before today, I had only pruchased 2 other modern books since the Wolverine fiasco).

 

I have noticed some cheap 9.8's I want in the $35-$50 region, and will definetly get them at that low cost. But I have decided that I will not go lower than 9.6 on ANY 80's book. Even though I'm not delusional about their value, I don't want to be stuck with immovable books either should I upgrade or need/want to sell for some reason.

[FlyingDonut]

I just paid WAY WAY WAY too much for CGC 9.8 WHITE Fantastic Four 149,

153, 161, 163, 169 and 170. And you know what - I'm not upset about it. These are MY books, the ones that I grew up on. Its hard to say that I'll never sell them, but probably not. I might flip the 149 and 153, if a 162 or 167 shows up, but these are MINE!

 

 

[dam60]

AK, I didn't realize how close we are in age! I will be 24 on May 12 (everyone please PM me for my home address so you can all send gifts and or cash )

 

Your post is 100% accurate:

 

I literally just started today, picking up an ASM #251 and 276(hobgoblin issues/covers) in 9.6 for $29.99 each. . . I was surprised to get them for opening bid, which is very close to what it would have cost me to submit copies myself. But when I did past searches, I saw 9.8's of similar books were going in the $100-$120 range. Personally, it isn't worth the label. Unlike Silvers, the Moderns I've seen in 9.6/9.8/9.9 are almost totally identical in appearance. Like you, I'm mostly picking these up for nostalgia, and posterity, so I'm not really interested in getting the "best" copies. But I have decided to try to go for 9.6's mostly, unless 9.8's come cheap for that book

 

I have both ASM 251 and 276 both raw. $30 for these is probably even a little rich (you might be able to find it for $24.99) but regarding the time, energy, and cost it was a great find! As you pointed out, the 9.8 counterparts would go for at least one c-note.

 

And I totally agree with you regarding the label factor - I really can't tell the difference without a magnifying glass between a 9.6 and a 9.8 for some of these modern books. And as we've established, since they are for nostalgia, why spend more?

 

The only thing to pay close attention to are the books that have tons in super high grade being 9.8/9.9/10.0. Take at look at the census for the Killing Joke

Here there are 4 10.0s, a slew of 9.9s, and almost 100 9.8s. I got a great copy from Matt (bonds25) in 9.8 for a good price. Here there are so many in HG that even a 9.8 can come cheap. I would also point out a Spider-Man #1 (McFarlane) as a good counterpoint for Marvel. I got a silver 9.8 for around $29.99 over the summer. If anything, the price has come down a bit to the $25 mark.

 

This actually creates quite a niche market. The existing copies are the only slabbed ones out there. Why would someone risk submitting one of these 1mm+ print run books if they weren't sure of a 9.8? As a result, I forsee the books trading in a tight band between $25 and $40. Once it losses $25 people just won't list them anymore and once it breaks $40 more people will start to slab em. If you can operate in that tight a range, you can even make some money. I personally really haven't done this. The only thing that I have done with modern CGC books is taken a bath on my Wolverine Limited Series books ( ) , but for these books in the $25 - $40 range, there are enough people out there that would spring for it.

 

Welcome to the wonderful world of moderns,

 

DAM

[dam60]

AK, I hadn't read you post before I posted my last one - looks like we share a loss on WLS books too!

 

DAM

 

[Darthdiesel]

Hey Darth, do you collect for yourself or just flip?

 

I collect for myself because I read the series and put it away. The books I keep in my personal collection are nothing to show off or be proud of. They are readers. My high grade modern stock is meant for prescreening and selling. Tougher now that anything less than 9.8, even 9.8s as Gene mentioned, for non-keys are currently depressed.

 

Flipping is fun and challenging. And provides more $$$ for other purchases

 

So I do both, collect and flip. For the right price, I'll sell stuff off....like that book I have waiting for you - I love that story arc off FF but I know you would enjoy it more than me for your collection

[yertle]

Great topic AK. I was trolling ebay this morning with this sort of thing in mind. I recently got back into the comic collecting scene and since I'm only 25 I'm mainly interested in books from my childhood which would be the 80s and 90s.

[COI]

I have both ASM 251 and 276 both raw. $30 for these is probably even a little rich (you might be able to find it for $24.99) but regarding the time, energy, and cost it was a great find! As you pointed out, the 9.8 counterparts would go for at least one c-note.

 

Funny thing was I wasn't even looking. I ws just checking on what CGC books were ending today, and I stumbled upon them with 7 minutes left on the auction. The extra $12 bucks is nothing, and is definetly not worth waiting for those books to pop up again. I've been known to spend 10X that much on lap dances.

[ist102951]

Which Wolverine's do you need - I had a complete run of Wolverine from 1 - 90 and some numbers after that. Missing a few from 91 - 160 - I have always been a NM nut so most of my Wolverines are NM 9.4 and above. I had my #2 graded and sold it - it came back as a 9.8. My Wolverine run is not graded and maybe we could work out something for the one's you need. LEt me know by repyling in this thread. Izzy

[Darthdiesel]

What I meant about getting CGC'd deals...

 

and...

 

What I meant about breaking out of the slab and selling for NM

[Prophet78]

Darth! YA BASTIGE! I was gonna snipe those! But I didn't have the nuts and bolts to do it cause I had class! Good pick up!

 

-Jeremy-

[Ariamus]

AK,

 

The first several runs I'm working on filling for my graded collection are modern runs. They are the books I grew up reading in the 1980's and truth be told, they're about what I can afford at the time. I'm working on a complete Simonson run of Thor in high grade CGC and a similar graded complete run of Miller Daredevil. I'm targeting Byrne's run on Alpha Flight as my next probable venture, but that's somewhat in the future. For these runs, I'll take nothing less than a 9.6 and I'd like as many 9.8s as possible.

 

In the future, I can see myself working to put together a complete run of Straczynski Amazing Spider-man, a truly modern book. For something that recent, I won't accept anything less than a 9.8 for any one issue.

 

Either way, I don't envision it will be all that expensive to complete any of the above runs and I suspect it will only get cheaper.

[valiantman]

Here's evidence of the insanity caused by the "unattainable" books from my childhood.

 

 

Ahhhh...they make me feel so good.

Will I ever get my money back? Nope! 'Cuz I won't ever sell!