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The B&W Grendel Club
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83 posts in this topic

On 9/28/2022 at 8:24 AM, F For Fake said:

Very nice! I'm wondering if with the news of cancelation, and the general market turndown, we won't see prices come down a bit. Seems likely. Maybe I can upgrade my 9.4s and 9.6s! I think a 9.8 of Primer is going to be out of my range for some time, but the rest may become attainable at a reasonable price once again.

this will certainly drop prices to back where they were pre-series. 

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On 9/28/2022 at 8:48 AM, SuperBird said:

I didn't realize they'd been filming already. Makes me suspect it just wasn't good enough to finish? 

It's curious. The streaming companies have all been doing some major cuts recently, such as HBO canning the Batgirl movie and several other shows that never saw the light of day. Netflix is notorious for canceling programs after a single season, but as they continue to hemorrhage subscribers, it seems like they're also ordering fewer shows to series. I guess it could be indicative of the overall quality, but it could also just be another sign of belt-tightening. The producers are now free the shop the show around to other studios, so hopefully we'll see it land somewhere.

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On 9/28/2022 at 8:26 PM, JT307 said:

Or it could have the opposite effect. It has had added attention over the past year and in the end is still a black bordered, low print book (primer).

(shrug)

IIRC, Primer 2 is also a warehouse find, so actually easier to find than Grendel 1? (at least according to the census)

Edited by SuperBird
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After 20 years of searching and submitting, I now have all 4 issues CGC universal graded 9.8 White pages. The devil is in the detail. I'm going to pick up two issues now from FedEx and then I'm sending the other two back to CGC for reholders. I'll post pix once I have them all back.

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On 2/10/2023 at 6:51 PM, grendel013 said:

Here they are in all their glory. Next step is to send the Primer #2 and Grendel #3 back to CGC for new labels and slabs. The slabs are in decent shape but the labels need an update. Especially the Primer which was graded in 2003.

EF424666-72D3-4E3C-8D55-49EA8DEDFFE7.jpeg

03C4F9B8-A2AE-4AD6-89A4-F9391F90C940.jpeg

1E4CDB24-A81D-40F7-88D8-B62B23F3ED1A.jpeg

04CAB5B2-1029-4E6F-A824-E30179E94C60.jpeg

7BB94B6F-AB0D-4CB3-88F1-FDFC4A1F820D.jpeg

^^.  :x

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On 2/10/2023 at 8:51 PM, grendel013 said:

Here they are in all their glory. Next step is to send the Primer #2 and Grendel #3 back to CGC for new labels and slabs. The slabs are in decent shape but the labels need an update. Especially the Primer which was graded in 2003.

EF424666-72D3-4E3C-8D55-49EA8DEDFFE7.jpeg

03C4F9B8-A2AE-4AD6-89A4-F9391F90C940.jpeg

1E4CDB24-A81D-40F7-88D8-B62B23F3ED1A.jpeg

04CAB5B2-1029-4E6F-A824-E30179E94C60.jpeg

7BB94B6F-AB0D-4CB3-88F1-FDFC4A1F820D.jpeg

Those are beauties for sure.

You didn't ask for advice, so take it for what it's worth: if they were mine, I'd keep them as is. Quality control is a disaster at CGC these days. No telling what shape the books will be in when they get back. I'd say if you have a 9.8 sitting in a slab, leave it be. If you choose to resub, best of luck!

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Oh man. I hope there aren't any screw ups. LOL. The Primer 2 and Grendel 3 were just picked up by CGC today so it's out of my hands now. I feel ya on having a 9.8 cracked open unnecessarily. Once these two come back I don't think they are ever leaving my possession again. I did insure these for a tremendous amount of money just in case. I did feel like the original submission was handled very professionally but I won't be completely at ease until they are back home. I would have left them be but I just hate the label from 2003. You can't even read the grade from six feet away. That's the "big money" issue too so for display purposes, it will be nice to have all four books with the same label. Fingers crossed!!!

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On 2/14/2023 at 2:27 PM, grendel013 said:

Oh man. I hope there aren't any screw ups. LOL. The Primer 2 and Grendel 3 were just picked up by CGC today so it's out of my hands now. I feel ya on having a 9.8 cracked open unnecessarily. Once these two come back I don't think they are ever leaving my possession again. I did insure these for a tremendous amount of money just in case. I did feel like the original submission was handled very professionally but I won't be completely at ease until they are back home. I would have left them be but I just hate the label from 2003. You can't even read the grade from six feet away. That's the "big money" issue too so for display purposes, it will be nice to have all four books with the same label. Fingers crossed!!!

Absolutely good luck, and hey, you know, statistically speaking, I'm sure things are in your favor. But there are just so many horror stories over in Comics General these days that I'm squeamish about sending any big books in. We will think positive thoughts for your books and look forward to their safe return!

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On 2/15/2023 at 9:48 AM, F For Fake said:

Absolutely good luck, and hey, you know, statistically speaking, I'm sure things are in your favor. But there are just so many horror stories over in Comics General these days that I'm squeamish about sending any big books in. We will think positive thoughts for your books and look forward to their safe return!

Thank you for all the well wishes! I will definitely post more pix and update the registry as well when the other books come back. I am still kind of in awe because it literally took 20 years to get this set built. There's a guy selling his set on eBay for almost $23K but even as much of a super fan as I am of the original Grendel, this seems like he's shooting for the moon. Besides, three of the four books had off-white to white pages. I've heard many people say "Who cares. Nobody looks at the inside." but who's gonna spend that kind of money and not get TOP OF THE LINE. I think my patience paid off. Knowing there are now only 6 copies of issue #2 graded 9.8, I wonder how many complete sets are out there. There's me, WASMITH and the guy on ebay COMICMYLARS. Any way, thanks man. Take care. -Guy

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Btw... what does anybody think reasonable values would be? I really don't think I'll ever sell these but when I insured them, I think I valued the set for about $18k just to cover my . Thoughts?  At this time I think a set of all 9.6's could be accumulated for less than $3k but considering the rarity of the 9.8's I definitely can't go by the price guide. I think COMICMYLARS tried to corner the market and I never spoke to WASMITH but he's probably like me, a true fan of Grendel and won't let his set go unless a tragedy occurred. Thoughts?

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On 9/30/2022 at 8:32 AM, SuperBird said:

(shrug)

IIRC, Primer 2 is also a warehouse find, so actually easier to find than Grendel 1? (at least according to the census)

Or is it possible that due to the much higher value for Primer 2, submittors are much more willing to submit them in for grading.  Especially since the book would still have solid value if it came back graded lower than you had expected?  hm  (shrug)

Definitely not so much the case for Primer 1 where you might not even be able to get back the cost of slabbing if it does not hit the grade. :(

\

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On 2/16/2023 at 1:08 AM, lou_fine said:

Or is it possible that due to the much higher value for Primer 2, submittors are much more willing to submit them in for grading.  Especially since the book would still have solid value if it came back graded lower than you had expected?  hm  (shrug)

Definitely not so much the case for Primer 1 where you might not even be able to get back the cost of slabbing if it does not hit the grade. :(

\

Are you saying that getting the first appearance of Skrog slabbed is a waste of money? :roflmao:LOL.  I see someone on ebay is selling a 9.6 Skrog #1. I'd buy it but not for the $90 he's asking.

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On 2/16/2023 at 1:08 AM, lou_fine said:

Or is it possible that due to the much higher value for Primer 2, submittors are much more willing to submit them in for grading.  Especially since the book would still have solid value if it came back graded lower than you had expected?  hm  (shrug)

Definitely not so much the case for Primer 1 where you might not even be able to get back the cost of slabbing if it does not hit the grade. :(

\

Nope! I definitely recall it being a warehouse find. 

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On 2/15/2023 at 6:32 PM, grendel013 said:

Btw... what does anybody think reasonable values would be? I really don't think I'll ever sell these but when I insured them, I think I valued the set for about $18k just to cover my . Thoughts?  At this time I think a set of all 9.6's could be accumulated for less than $3k but considering the rarity of the 9.8's I definitely can't go by the price guide. I think COMICMYLARS tried to corner the market and I never spoke to WASMITH but he's probably like me, a true fan of Grendel and won't let his set go unless a tragedy occurred. Thoughts?

Considering how hard it is to get 9.8’s with white pages I would say 15-18k for the set is about right.  I put a lot of stock in white page copies.  COMICMYLARS’ asking price is just too much in my opinion (due to page quality).  He has notoriously high asking prices anyway.  I look at Grendel like TMNT.  Everyone wants a copy of TMNT 1 first printing just like Primer 2.  The other issues aren’t as “mainstream”.  Those are for the true fans of the series.  I agree that a 9.6 set can be found for 3k or less.  Again, the tricky part is finding white page copies.

Beautiful set BTW, congrats!

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Another element affecting the value is the now canceled Netflix series. When the original series announcement came out, prices went crazy, and books disappeared. Primer 2 is already an uncommon book, but adding speculation to the fire, it exploded. Then the announcement came that the series had been canceled before even hitting the air, and prices started to tank. For instance, my Primer is a (lowly!) 9.4. I paid $360 for the book several years ago, raw, and had it slabbed. At the height of the Netflix craze, I think 9.4's were hitting over $2k, like close to $2.5k? Then the cancelation came, and now 9.4's are down to about $1k. It was quite a rollercoaster.

I've considered upgrading to a 9.6, now that they're more afforable. I'd love a 9.8, but they're still more than I'm willing to pay. I call my set the "Good Enough Collection". I love the series, I really do, but 9.6's and 9.4's are Good Enough for me.

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