Charles Munro Posted July 13, 2018 Share Posted July 13, 2018 I recently cracked open my comic collection from my childhood. Initially didn't think they were worth much since the vast majority are from the 80's-mid 90's. Then for shts and giggles I looked up a few of the books that caught my eye (Iron Man #1/ Wolverine #1/ Batman # 428/ Mad # 35 etc.). I saw that these issues were sold for high prices at various auctions. Vast majority are what I consider mint condition, obviously my interpretation of mint may be different than others, and have been kept in sleeves + back boards + hard plastic cover. What steps do I take to see if I should sell (Do I get them graded?) and how do I go about doing it? When I see a mint copy of Iron Man #1 selling for close to 20K, is it worth paying the 3% CGC price for grading or do people purchase these comics at similar prices without the grading? Thanks in advance for any help. If pictures are needed to answer better let me know. I have 9 cases of comics and have only cracked open one case so far Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revat Posted July 13, 2018 Share Posted July 13, 2018 There's a service called GPA Analysis (google it) that helps track the sold prices of GRADED comics. You can use that to get some idea of your possible realizable prices. And no, you typically won't achieve the same price with the grading as without the grading, especially in the higher grades. One of the things provided by the grading (especially valuable for older comics) is a restoration check. As for raw prices (and graded prices), you can get a ballpark of prices by looking at SOLD items on ebay. As for seeing if you should sell, its really pretty subjective on how much you want the book, how much you want the money that you might realize, what your financial situation is, etc. Every person is different and has different financial and collection preferences. There is a 'please grade my comic' subforum on these chat boards, you can post pictures of books and compare everyone else's grades with your own to get an idea of how accurate your own grading is. A lot of this will depend on how much time you're willing to invest, and how much comic stuff you're willing to learn. The Lions Den, Keys_Collector and Charles Munro 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bomber-Bob Posted July 13, 2018 Share Posted July 13, 2018 (edited) We seem to be getting this same 'newbie needs help with his newly found comic collection' almost on a daily basis. Rather than respond to these requests individually, there has to be a way of having a standard, cut and paste, response . Iron Man #1 for 20K ???? Dream on. How do I get a book graded ? Read the CGC website, everything is there. Edited July 13, 2018 by Bomber-Bob Keys_Collector 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mystafo Posted July 13, 2018 Share Posted July 13, 2018 I guess its called Newbie Comic Questions for a reason? Even if there was an all-encompassing cut and paste response, do you really think they would stop asking? Another alternative would be to not respond at all...Sink or Swim! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExNihilo Posted July 13, 2018 Share Posted July 13, 2018 (edited) 1 hour ago, Bomber-Bob said: We seem to be getting this same 'newbie needs help with his newly found comic collection' almost on a daily basis. Rather than respond to these requests individually, there has to be a way of having a standard, cut and paste, response . Iron Man #1 for 20K ???? Dream on. How do I get a book graded ? Read the CGC website, everything is there. The worst to me is the "I have an signed book (with COA), can I get a yellow label?" question. EDIT: also, most of the books are from the 80s and 90s. Are we sure OP's Iron Man #1 isn't the Jim Lee Heroes Reborn volume that's worth about $1? Edited July 13, 2018 by ExNihilo Keys_Collector and paperheart 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bomber-Bob Posted July 13, 2018 Share Posted July 13, 2018 2 hours ago, Mystafo said: I guess its called Newbie Comic Questions for a reason? Even if there was an all-encompassing cut and paste response, do you really think they would stop asking? Another alternative would be to not respond at all...Sink or Swim! I like that idea ! I think Revat or somebody once responded to a newbie with a 'call CGC' response. The newbie said he did call CGC and they told him to post the question here ?!? So, if we don't respond, they will have to call CGC. I just get annoyed when they don't even look at the website. Help with grading is a legit question but 'how do I submit' is not. I'm all for helping Newbies but we shouldn't have to do all the work for them. Mystafo and The Lions Den 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Munro Posted July 14, 2018 Author Share Posted July 14, 2018 22 hours ago, revat said: There's a service called GPA Analysis (google it) that helps track the sold prices of GRADED comics. You can use that to get some idea of your possible realizable prices. And no, you typically won't achieve the same price with the grading as without the grading, especially in the higher grades. One of the things provided by the grading (especially valuable for older comics) is a restoration check. As for raw prices (and graded prices), you can get a ballpark of prices by looking at SOLD items on ebay. As for seeing if you should sell, its really pretty subjective on how much you want the book, how much you want the money that you might realize, what your financial situation is, etc. Every person is different and has different financial and collection preferences. There is a 'please grade my comic' subforum on these chat boards, you can post pictures of books and compare everyone else's grades with your own to get an idea of how accurate your own grading is. A lot of this will depend on how much time you're willing to invest, and how much comic stuff you're willing to learn. Thanks revert, I coughed up the member fee and subscribed to the GPA Analysis site yesterday. Very interesting info to say the least. I see the major difference in prices of graded Vs. non graded. I'm heading out to FloridaSupercon today and will be dropping off 5 books to the CGC booth to be graded. I've guesstimated the grades. Hopefully I'll be pretty close on the estimates (each purposely in different conditions); that way I will be able to get a sense of the rest of the collection. When I referenced to if I should sell, simply meant the "True Value/ ROI" of my comics i.e cost of packaging/shipping/ grading/ commissions etc. Vs. potential sale value Vs. value of time (price history trends. Are values steadily increased, are they inflated, have they decreased etc.). As far as my personal preferences, obviously theres an emotional connection solely based on it being a hobby I did as a kid. Regardless of selling or not theres certain books I'd keep (Incredible Hulk 181 for example, as Wolverine was my favorite character growing up). That being said, I live in the world of investments and whenever I have a commodity in hand I have to understand it's value, risk vs reward etc. Thanks for the info on the subform. I very much appreciate you taking the time to answer my question too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Munro Posted July 14, 2018 Author Share Posted July 14, 2018 22 hours ago, Bomber-Bob said: We seem to be getting this same 'newbie needs help with his newly found comic collection' almost on a daily basis. Rather than respond to these requests individually, there has to be a way of having a standard, cut and paste, response . Iron Man #1 for 20K ???? Dream on. How do I get a book graded ? Read the CGC website, everything is there. Bob... honestly you should follow your own advice and simply not respond. Especially if you have absolutely nothing to add to the convo besides berating a new member for questions. Bomber-Bob 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Artboy99 Posted July 14, 2018 Share Posted July 14, 2018 6 minutes ago, Charles Munro said: Bob... honestly you should follow your own advice and simply not respond. Especially if you have absolutely nothing to add to the convo besides berating a new member for questions. I can't blame you for your response but Bomber-Bob is one of this forums more helpful guys. I like to think this was just an off day for him. Charles, welcome to the boards! Wolverine was one of my favorite characters when I was a kid as well. When I was 9 I rode my bike to the local corner store to buy my copy of Hulk 181. It was a mile from my home which in those days was a farm, and the store was a convenience store at the front of a trailer park. The lady that ran the store got to know this 9 year old kid and actually ordered the books I was looking for. She set them aside for me once she got the orders in...it was my first comic "file". When I got home I read the book and really liked the character. I figured if I liked him then so would most everyone else. I gathered up what was left of my newspaper delivery money and biked back to the store and I bought all 5 copies of Hulk 181 they had. I was going to corner the market and everyone would have to come deal with me to obtain a copy! Bomber-Bob and Not A Clone 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Munro Posted July 14, 2018 Author Share Posted July 14, 2018 21 hours ago, ExNihilo said: The worst to me is the "I have an signed book (with COA), can I get a yellow label?" question. EDIT: also, most of the books are from the 80s and 90s. Are we sure OP's Iron Man #1 isn't the Jim Lee Heroes Reborn volume that's worth about $1? ExNihilo... This will be my last response to you guys in this thread, as some of you seem way too sensitive for someone posting a question in a newbie forum. The utter presumptive arrogance is mind-blowing. Way to welcome in new members. BTW the comic I referenced to is Iron Man # 1 from 1968. A copy that has been well preserved and in preteen/ mint condition. A similar copy sold for $19,120 in Heritage Auctions back in Aug. Mystafo 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mercury Man Posted July 14, 2018 Share Posted July 14, 2018 40 minutes ago, Charles Munro said: ExNihilo... This will be my last response to you guys in this thread, as some of you seem way too sensitive for someone posting a question in a newbie forum. The utter presumptive arrogance is mind-blowing. Way to welcome in new members. BTW the comic I referenced to is Iron Man # 1 from 1968. A copy that has been well preserved and in preteen/ mint condition. A similar copy sold for $19,120 in Heritage Auctions back in Aug. In all honesty, your question was a little confusing. You said childhood- '80's and '90's, I mean there were actually 2 Iron Man #1's printed in the 1990's (Heroes Reborn, Heroes Return, and probably some mini series thrown in there). So, cool if you have a nice copy of a 1968, but MINT is a tough word to throw around on a comic book, unless 2 parties *buyer and seller, or an outside grading service *like CGC can agree on it. If you plan on selling, it may be best to go the CGC route to get max value on ebay or auction for your higher dollar books. Welcome to the boards, hope you can find answers to your questions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehumantorch Posted July 14, 2018 Share Posted July 14, 2018 On 7/13/2018 at 9:39 AM, Charles Munro said: I recently cracked open my comic collection from my childhood. Initially didn't think they were worth much since the vast majority are from the 80's-mid 90's. Then for shts and giggles I looked up a few of the books that caught my eye (Iron Man #1/ Wolverine #1/ Batman # 428/ Mad # 35 etc.). I saw that these issues were sold for high prices at various auctions. Vast majority are what I consider mint condition, obviously my interpretation of mint may be different than others, and have been kept in sleeves + back boards + hard plastic cover. What steps do I take to see if I should sell (Do I get them graded?) and how do I go about doing it? When I see a mint copy of Iron Man #1 selling for close to 20K, is it worth paying the 3% CGC price for grading or do people purchase these comics at similar prices without the grading? Thanks in advance for any help. If pictures are needed to answer better let me know. I have 9 cases of comics and have only cracked open one case so far Welcome to the boards. Kinda cool when you dig into your old collection and realize there's some value there. I'd imagine you also reconnected to your childhood in the process. GPA is a useful service but only for CGC graded books. Ebay is also a useful resource, click on sold items to get real sales data. The Iron Man 1 that sold for close to $20k was a 9.8 and it was an old label book. Old label books can sell for more as pressing was a little less common back then and the buyer may be gambling he can turn it into a 9.9. Yes, you won't realize that kind of sale price unless you grade the book and get a similar grade. It isn't easy to get a 9.8 and most books fresh off the stands and into a bag and board won't grade out as a 9,8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Not A Clone Posted July 14, 2018 Share Posted July 14, 2018 5 hours ago, Artboy99 said: I can't blame you for your response but Bomber-Bob is one of this forums more helpful guys. I like to think this was just an off day for him. Charles, welcome to the boards! Wolverine was one of my favorite characters when I was a kid as well. When I was 9 I rode my bike to the local corner store to buy my copy of Hulk 181. It was a mile from my home which in those days was a farm, and the store was a convenience store at the front of a trailer park. The lady that ran the store got to know this 9 year old kid and actually ordered the books I was looking for. She set them aside for me once she got the orders in...it was my first comic "file". When I got home I read the book and really liked the character. I figured if I liked him then so would most everyone else. I gathered up what was left of my newspaper delivery money and biked back to the store and I bought all 5 copies of Hulk 181 they had. I was going to corner the market and everyone would have to come deal with me to obtain a copy! What did you demand in trade for those hulks? Cover price + a free slurpy? That would have been a solid trade back then! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Not A Clone Posted July 14, 2018 Share Posted July 14, 2018 5 hours ago, Charles Munro said: Thanks revert, I coughed up the member fee and subscribed to the GPA Analysis site yesterday. Very interesting info to say the least. I see the major difference in prices of graded Vs. non graded. I'm heading out to FloridaSupercon today and will be dropping off 5 books to the CGC booth to be graded. I've guesstimated the grades. Hopefully I'll be pretty close on the estimates (each purposely in different conditions); that way I will be able to get a sense of the rest of the collection. When I referenced to if I should sell, simply meant the "True Value/ ROI" of my comics i.e cost of packaging/shipping/ grading/ commissions etc. Vs. potential sale value Vs. value of time (price history trends. Are values steadily increased, are they inflated, have they decreased etc.). As far as my personal preferences, obviously theres an emotional connection solely based on it being a hobby I did as a kid. Regardless of selling or not theres certain books I'd keep (Incredible Hulk 181 for example, as Wolverine was my favorite character growing up). That being said, I live in the world of investments and whenever I have a commodity in hand I have to understand it's value, risk vs reward etc. Thanks for the info on the subform. I very much appreciate you taking the time to answer my question too. In addition to eBay & GPA I also use gocollect to check books that don't have many recent sales on GPA. I use the free version currently which is good for older books. Newer stuff requires a membership which I plan on getting around to. Welcome to the boards! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Artboy99 Posted July 14, 2018 Share Posted July 14, 2018 18 minutes ago, Not A Clone said: What did you demand in trade for those hulks? Cover price + a free slurpy? That would have been a solid trade back then! well the truth is they all got wrecked or read to death. 1 copy ended up floating in the bath tub when I was reading it and nodded off... 1 copy was accidentally used as a cutting mat. Put some cardboard on my desk to cut it and made several long cuts with a box cutter and a metal ruler and when I picked the cardboard up lots of small little bits of red colored "confetti" fell through the air and when I looked down I saw a copy of Hulk 181 I had left there.... 1 Copy got left on the floor of my bedroom as I was reading it while in bed and I would put it on the floor to go to sleep and my dog decided to chew it up in the middle of the night. Yes Jsilverjanet that does happen! I shared my comic collection with my best friend at the time. Every once in awhile we would do a "trade" a bunch of the comics I had acquired in exchange for a bunch of the comics he got. I am sure he ended up with at least one of them when we stopped being friends. the last remaining copies all got read and read and then read again over and over. I had a younger brother who I shared my bedroom with and he liked to read my comics as well so I would often find MY COMICS in amongst his pile. Oh well. I was 9, what do you expect? Cozmo-One and Not A Clone 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExNihilo Posted July 15, 2018 Share Posted July 15, 2018 9 hours ago, Charles Munro said: ExNihilo... This will be my last response to you guys in this thread, as some of you seem way too sensitive for someone posting a question in a newbie forum. The utter presumptive arrogance is mind-blowing. Way to welcome in new members. BTW the comic I referenced to is Iron Man # 1 from 1968. A copy that has been well preserved and in preteen/ mint condition. A similar copy sold for $19,120 in Heritage Auctions back in Aug. First off, it's a "teach a man to fish" sort of thing. Stick around the boards and you'll see how often the question about yellow labels on comics with COA's comes up. It's one of those things that's clearly stated on CGC's site as well as elsewhere on these boards. It's an issue that's all too prevalent on forums similar to this (such as reddit) where people aren't willing to put in the leg work and simply jump on the boards seeking a quick answer. Secondly, I think there's always a healthy dose of skepticism when a new person comes in claiming they've unearthed a treasure trove of books. How often have you heard stories about some mother who's cleaning out their sons closet and thinks his X-Men #1 (vol 2) could be worth something simply because it was a #1 and was nearly 30 years old. Heck, there was a thread on here about a shop owner who was buying up collections and how a lot of uninformed owners think anything old = . (wow, that emoji is huge.) And then they (the buyer) has to delicately inform them that the amount they're seeking is simply unreasonable. (Sometimes this doesn't go off well when the seller just assumes the buyer is being disingenuous and is trying to rip them off). Lastly, welcome to the boards. (geez, that's also huge...though, can't complain about some oversized pints) Keys_Collector and bentbryan 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
