Heritage's Next Event Auction has started posting books ! 32 32

[lou_fine]

On 9/29/2024 at 9:26 PM, pmpknface said:

However if the time ever did come when I'd need / want to move them and I have 400 books I'd want to slab (very low estimate) I'm not going to want to front $16k to do it. 

Well, if they are truly slab worthy vintage quality comic books, I highly doubt you would have to front even a single penny to have them graded and slabbed as any of the current Big 3 comic book auction houses would be more than willing and happy to front these costs for you in order to acquire your books.  

If they aren't, then it's probably an indication that what you are offering to them is not really slab worthy in the first place.  From my own personal POV here, probably over 90% of the books that's being sent into CGC for certification falls into this category once you factor in grading fees, CCS "prep" fees if applicable, shipping, your labor time, and any other ancillary charges that you get hit with.    

[lou_fine]

On 9/29/2024 at 11:01 PM, Aman619 said:

just a thought, but the cost to slab keeps going up, along with shipping. And for the most valuable books the fee is a % of its current value, and it too keeps rising.  So, makes sense to just get it over with now.  

Totally agree with you 110% on your point of view here, but probably a bit too late now if you haven't done it already.  

Looking back now, sadly not only from a rising cost POV, but also from a grading certification point of view.  Knowing what I know now, probably should have gotten them all done right when CGC first opened their doors.  I remember having Bill Hughes send in about a dozen of my GA books into CGC to test out this new grading concept in advance of the big Greg Manning Auction back in 2000.  Let's just say they all came back graded in CGC 9.2 to CGC 9.6 slabs and my bet is that if these same books were submitted today, there is absolutely zero chance they would get close to these same grades without some additional revenue generating work (for CCG that is   ) done to them in advance.  

Yes indeed, possibly higher grades at definitely and clearly would have been far cheaper prices.    

Edited yesterday at 08:23 PM by lou_fine

[jimbo_7071]

On 9/30/2024 at 12:12 PM, Crowzilla said:

Can't you look at your books yourself and tell if they have had restoration?

Most, perhaps, but I have not learned how to detect a cleaned cover.

It's on my bucket list—right behind learning how to create a Wikipedia entry for myself even though I'm not famous. I've heard that it's been done.

[lou_fine]

On 9/30/2024 at 12:32 AM, tth2 said:

There's no way Fishler was offering $7k for a book that Guided for $1400.  

Well, now that you mentioned it and after giving it some thought, you are probably right..............even my better half was probably being far too generous at a whopping $70 because Fishler really meant only $7.00 tops.    

Seriously though, that was during a period of what I would call irrational exuberance in the GA marketplace.  I still remember being offer $10K for a Denver book sight unseen that was guiding for just over $2K back then by Dan Greenhaugh who was one of Fishler's quasi-partners in the big East Coast Triumivarate at the time (i.e. Fishler, Greenhaugh, and Rogovin).  I asked him why in the world would he pay that kind of a price for a book that was guiding at only $2K or thereabouts, and he said that was no problem at all as he already had a ready buyer(s) for it at $15K based solely upon the reputation of the pedigree.  

Looking back at it now, I probably should have taken him up on his offer because I highly doubt the book would grade out into the 9's today , even though it should easily sell for much more than $15K if not even a small multiple in today's marketplace.  

 

[lou_fine]

On 9/30/2024 at 7:22 AM, jimbo_7071 said:

but judging from Dean's comments over the years, it sounds like his collection is essentially complete.

Most definitely NOT a completist in any collecting sense of the word at all, but "complete" from the POV that I've basically stopped buying due to the high prices and leaning much more to the far right of the collecting life cycle curve.  

Actually, with the budget that I had back even in the days when I was much more into buying, my collection is really much more of a "sampler" collection than anything else.  A sample copy or two from a particular title that I like and the same for say a particular artist, time period such as pre-hero DC, pre-Robin 'Tec, publisher such as early Fox or Centaur, a particular GA pedigree, or what have you. 

So, really nothing at all compared to what most of the boardies post here on the GA boards, although I did always try to get the nicest condition possible at a reasonable price point along with targeting books having some kind of key feature(s) or classic cover figuring these would be the easiest to resell whenever the time does come.    

[Ryan.]

On 9/30/2024 at 3:12 PM, lou_fine said:

Most definitely NOT a completist in any collecting sense of the word at all, but "complete" from the POV that I've basically stopped buying due to the high prices and leaning much more to the far right of the collecting life cycle curve.  

Actually, with the budget that I had back even in the days when I was much more into buying, my collection is really much more of a "sampler" collection than anything else.  A sample copy or two from a particular title that I like and the same for say a particular artist, time period such as pre-hero DC, pre-Robin 'Tec, publisher such as early Fox or Centaur, a particular GA pedigree, or what have you. 

So, really nothing at all compared to what most of the boardies post here on the GA boards, although I did always try to get the nicest condition possible at a reasonable price point along with targeting books having some kind of key feature(s) or classic cover figuring these would be the easiest to resell whenever the time does come.    

How many copies of TMNT 1 do you secretly own?

[jimjum12]

On 9/30/2024 at 1:51 PM, lou_fine said:

You do realize that "restoration" is like shifting sand because even CGC's own definition or stance on restoration back in 2004 is different from what it was in 2014, and again different from what it currently is in 2024, and will most likely be different once again when it does come time to selling your books in the future.  

They're waiting for your books to hit the market, and then the very continued existence of a book, will be deemed resto, and yours will ALL get purple  THAT will teach you to be a squeaky wheel. GOD BLESS ...

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

Edited 6 hours ago by jimjum12

[lou_fine]

On 9/30/2024 at 7:31 AM, tth2 said:

The funny thing is that this was the exact same image that immediately pop into my mind when Snyder opened the doors to Diamond's vault room.  

Seemingly shelves upon shelves filled with boxes of vintage comic books as far as the eye could see and being told that I could pull anything that I wanted and they would price them out accordingly.  Sad to say, but it was no contest as my multi 6-figure hands and eyes were clearly no match for the barely 5-figures budget that I had available to spend.       

[jimbo_7071]

On 9/30/2024 at 10:08 PM, lou_fine said:

The funny thing is that this was the exact same image that immediately pop into my mind when Snyder opened the doors to Diamond's vault room.  

Seemingly shelves upon shelves filled with boxes of vintage comic books as far as the eye could see and being told that I could pull anything that I wanted and they would price them out accordingly.  Sad to say, but it was no contest as my multi 6-figure hands and eyes were clearly no match for the barely 5-figures budget that I had available to spend.       

It seems like there are quite a few Mile Highs out there with magic marker dots on the spines. How many of those do you think are Snyder's handiwork?

[lou_fine]

On 9/30/2024 at 7:29 PM, jimbo_7071 said:

It seems like there are quite a few Mile Highs out there with magic marker dots on the spines. How many of those do you think are Snyder's handiwork?

Wasn't that from a time period or thereabouts when restoration was seen as adding value to an unrestored book?    

How many books do we have out there today residing in Universal unrestored slabs that have undisclosed former resto work such as pressing, cleaning, micro-trimming, or what have you done to them and who do we have to thank for that?   

Edited 19 hours ago by lou_fine

[jimbo_7071]

On 9/30/2024 at 11:00 PM, lou_fine said:

Wasn't that from a time period or thereabouts when restoration was seen as adding value to an unrestored book?    

How many books do we have out there today residing in Universal unrestored slabs that have undisclosed former resto work such as pressing, cleaning, micro-trimming, or what have you done to them and who do we have to thank for that?   

It's true that professional restoration was seen as adding value; I don't think magic marker dots were ever seen as adding value.

I wasn't always anti-resto. In 1988, I paid Susan Cicconi $200 to restore a book that I had torn while I was putting it in its  4-mil Mylar.

Is Susan still in business? I wonder how many times she's been hired to remove her own restoration work.

Edited 18 hours ago by jimbo_7071

[lou_fine]

On 9/30/2024 at 8:24 PM, jimbo_7071 said:

(I wasn't always anti-resto. In 1988, I paid Susan Cicconi $200 to restore a book that I had torn while I was putting it in its  4-mil Mylar.)

Definitely not something that you would ever want to see happened to any book or to any fellow collector, but I know a former boardie here who told me this exact same thing happened to his HG copy of Mystery Men 1.  

[jimbo_7071]

On 9/30/2024 at 11:29 PM, lou_fine said:

Definitely not something that you would ever want to see happened to any book or to any fellow collector, but I know a former boardie here who told me this exact same thing happened to his HG copy of Mystery Men 1.  

Ugh! Hearing about a Mystery Men 1 meeting that fate makes me cringe. There aren't that many high-grade copies of Mystery Men 1 out there.

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

On 9/30/2024 at 10:24 PM, jimbo_7071 said:

Is Susan still in business? I wonder how many times she's been hired to remove her own restoration work.

I’ve pondered her fate. She was a friendly 

[woowoo]

On 9/30/2024 at 8:24 PM, jimbo_7071 said:

It's true that professional restoration was seen as adding value; I don't think magic marker dots were ever seen as adding value.

I wasn't always anti-resto. In 1988, I paid Susan Cicconi $200 to restore a book that I had torn while I was putting it in its  4-mil Mylar.

Is Susan still in business? I wonder how many times she's been hired to remove her own restoration work.

Yes, I am friends with her on Facebook 

Search Susan Cicconi on Facebook for her page. she also has a Restoration page.

https://www.facebook.com/CicconiTRL     

 

Edited 7 hours ago by woowoo

[VintageComics]

On 9/30/2024 at 11:24 PM, jimbo_7071 said:

On 9/30/2024 at 11:00 PM, lou_fine said:

Wasn't that from a time period or thereabouts when restoration was seen as adding value to an unrestored book?    

How many books do we have out there today residing in Universal unrestored slabs that have undisclosed former resto work such as pressing, cleaning, micro-trimming, or what have you done to them and who do we have to thank for that?   

It's true that professional restoration was seen as adding value; I don't think magic marker dots were ever seen as adding value.

I wasn't always anti-resto. In 1988, I paid Susan Cicconi $200 to restore a book that I had torn while I was putting it in its  4-mil Mylar.

Something to keep in mind, is that comic value relative to other things like the value of the actual resto or even price differences between grades weren't as large back then.

For example, I think an FF #1 was valued at $1200 or something like that in top grade in the early 1980's (just going from memory).

So paying $200 to restore an $500 copy mid grade copy would be perceived as adding value. 

It's only when comics became much more expensive relative to the dollar value of the resto being performed, that the value of the resto disappeared. The ratio of comic value to resto price has increased dramatically.

So even spending $2000 today to restore a book that is now worth $30,000 in mid-grade makes it hard to be seen as "adding value" because the actual cost of the resto related to the value of the book is a far larger ratio.

Does that make sense?

 

Edited 1 hour ago by VintageComics