Need recommendations on what to send to CGC, what to sell, what to keep 0

[Wakandan]

Hi everyone!

I started collecting comics in the early 1980s.  By 1985, I was bagging and boarding everything I could afford.  I stopped in the early 1990s.  I just got back into the hobby, and discovered the prices have exploded.  I've got Amazing Spider-Man 260 through 340 (including 299-301) in great condition.  I also have the Dark Knight series, and ll of the great Batmans from the 80s (Year one, killing joke), the Captain Americas with John Walker, She-Hulk, West Coast Avengers, and some books like the A-Team and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Adventures that I'm really shocked about the price.  I also have a few silver and bronze age Marvels in varying condition.  I wanna send 50 or more into CGC, but need some help.  Also, is now a good time to sell some with the market being so hot, or should I hold off?

Thanks! 

[revat]

You’ve noticed everything is hot in an unprecedented way.  If you’re not trying to make an ongoing business out of it, I’d try to sell now.  
 

check eBay sold prices to see what might need to be graded

[thehumantorch]

25 minutes ago, Wakandan said:

Hi everyone!

I started collecting comics in the early 1980s.  By 1985, I was bagging and boarding everything I could afford.  I stopped in the early 1990s.  I just got back into the hobby, and discovered the prices have exploded.  I've got Amazing Spider-Man 260 through 340 (including 299-301) in great condition.  I also have the Dark Knight series, and ll of the great Batmans from the 80s (Year one, killing joke), the Captain Americas with John Walker, She-Hulk, West Coast Avengers, and some books like the A-Team and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Adventures that I'm really shocked about the price.  I also have a few silver and bronze age Marvels in varying condition.  I wanna send 50 or more into CGC, but need some help.  Also, is now a good time to sell some with the market being so hot, or should I hold off?

Thanks! 

Welcome to the boards.

First, you need to understand how CGC grades.  Pick a few of your book, grade them, and then post some pics in the grading forum and find out how your grading compares.  Nothing will be a replacement for years of grading and submitting comics but this will get you in the ballpark.

Do some ebay searches to find the most valuable candidates for grading.

For example this search is for Amazing Spider-man, Copper Age, sorted highest to lowest price, sold items.  

https://www.ebay.com/sch/165364/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=amazing+spider-man&_sop=16&LH_Sold=1&LH_Complete=1

Once you have a handle on grading and you've identified your books with the most likely value go over them carefully.  Don't just look at the covers, check the interior pages and the staples for rips or detached pages etc.  Also learn about pressing which can eliminate or reduce some defects like bends and dings that don't break color.

Understand that grading and pressing isn't cheap and the end value of anything you submit should justify the cost.  My personal target is a book that will be worth at least $150 usd graded.  Also understand that you're new to this part of the hobby and are more likely to make mistakes as many of us did during our first submission.  

[KCOComics]

25 minutes ago, thehumantorch said:

Welcome to the boards.

First, you need to understand how CGC grades.  Pick a few of your book, grade them, and then post some pics in the grading forum and find out how your grading compares.  Nothing will be a replacement for years of grading and submitting comics but this will get you in the ballpark.

Do some ebay searches to find the most valuable candidates for grading.

For example this search is for Amazing Spider-man, Copper Age, sorted highest to lowest price, sold items.  

https://www.ebay.com/sch/165364/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=amazing+spider-man&_sop=16&LH_Sold=1&LH_Complete=1

Once you have a handle on grading and you've identified your books with the most likely value go over them carefully.  Don't just look at the covers, check the interior pages and the staples for rips or detached pages etc.  Also learn about pressing which can eliminate or reduce some defects like bends and dings that don't break color.

Understand that grading and pressing isn't cheap and the end value of anything you submit should justify the cost.  My personal target is a book that will be worth at least $150 usd graded.  Also understand that you're new to this part of the hobby and are more likely to make mistakes as many of us did during our first submission.  

+1 

Great advice. 

As for if it's a good time to sell, I would say yes. The bigger books you have would move quickly. 

Will the market still be this hot in 6 months when you get the books back from pressing and grading??? I really don't know. Probably?

[theCapraAegagrus]

Now or never!

[William-James88]

Sell now. First, buy yourself a copy of the Overstreet GRADING guide on anazon to figure out the grade of your comics and once you have a idea of the grades, look up on ebay which comics are worth the most. 

[shadroch]

Now is a great time to sell. It may not be a good time to send your books out to be graded as the market may be cooler by then. 

You don't need to have your books graded in order to sell them and there is no guarantee that laying out $2,000 and waiting six months will get you more than selling them raw now. 

[Galen130]

[darkWaters]

17 hours ago, shadroch said:

Now is a great time to sell. It may not be a good time to send your books out to be graded as the market may be cooler by then. 

You don't need to have your books graded in order to sell them and there is no guarantee that laying out $2,000 and waiting six months will get you more than selling them raw now. 

This sounds like great advice, as I'm looking to sell off some of my collection. I've been on the fence about whether to sell these now as raw or wait months to get them slabbed with no guarantee that I could get more money as you've mentioned..

[Galen130]

1 minute ago, darkWaters said:

This sounds like great advice, as I'm looking to sell off some of my collection. I've been on the fence about whether to sell these now as raw or wait months to get them slabbed with no guarantee that I could get more money as you've mentioned..

You could always start in the ‘Hey, buddy can you spare a grade’ thread, just to see how some of your more valuable comics might fare if graded. 👍

[darkWaters]

11 minutes ago, Galen130 said:

You could always start in the ‘Hey, buddy can you spare a grade’ thread, just to see how some of your more valuable comics might fare if graded. 👍

Ah, that's a great idea! Thanks for suggesting that!

[Galen130]

18 minutes ago, darkWaters said:

Ah, that's a great idea! Thanks for suggesting that!

My pleasure.  Don’t forget to read the thread rules first.  It will save you some time. 🤙

[William-James88]

Would be fun if one of these days, the people making posts like this would actually write back and not just do that one post never to be seen again.

[thehumantorch]

6 minutes ago, William-James88 said:

Would be fun if one of these days, the people making posts like this would actually write back and not just do that one post never to be seen again.

Looks like the OP joined the boards and started this thread and hasn't been back since.  It would be nice if he came back and read the replies.  

[Galen130]

14 minutes ago, thehumantorch said:

Looks like the OP joined the boards and started this thread and hasn't been back since.  It would be nice if he came back and read the replies.  

Maybe they got lost in all the 'shilly' threads, trying to figure how to get back to the light....

[Hollywood1892]

On 4/21/2021 at 9:42 PM, Wakandan said:

Hi everyone!

I started collecting comics in the early 1980s.  By 1985, I was bagging and boarding everything I could afford.  I stopped in the early 1990s.  I just got back into the hobby, and discovered the prices have exploded.  I've got Amazing Spider-Man 260 through 340 (including 299-301) in great condition.  I also have the Dark Knight series, and ll of the great Batmans from the 80s (Year one, killing joke), the Captain Americas with John Walker, She-Hulk, West Coast Avengers, and some books like the A-Team and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Adventures that I'm really shocked about the price.  I also have a few silver and bronze age Marvels in varying condition.  I wanna send 50 or more into CGC, but need some help.  Also, is now a good time to sell some with the market being so hot, or should I hold off?

Thanks! 

Welcome

I'd definitely submit that ASM 300, such a Hot book!

Congrats on building a decent collection, so many different platforms to use to find out what is valuable and what is readable! As you can see by the great help from the Boardies!

[Paul © ® ⚽️💙™]

Need recommendations on what to send to CGC

I recommend sending them comic books.  

[Galen130]

7 minutes ago, G G ® ™ said:

Need recommendations on what to send to CGC

I recommend sending them comic books.  

Sheesh, I never would've thought of that....

[William-James88]

1 hour ago, thehumantorch said:

Looks like the OP joined the boards and started this thread and hasn't been back since.  It would be nice if he came back and read the replies.  

He's not the only one to do that. This whole forum section s full one 1 post peeps

[djzombi]

On 4/22/2021 at 6:53 PM, William-James88 said:

First, buy yourself a copy of the Overstreet GRADING guide

THIS.  The 2nd edition is my absolute grading bible.  I grade my books strictly by those standards and they match up pretty good with what CGC will give you; in fact, in my last batch of 7 silver age books sent, one came back exactly as I had predicted, and the other six returned 0.5 HIGHER than I had graded myself.  

Read that grading guide back-to-front, then back again.  The picture examples given are extraordinarily helpful.