WHIG Posted January 21, 2022 Share Posted January 21, 2022 (edited) Hi, I'm new to this and have signed up to get my comic books graded officially and find out how to best sell them, if they are what they appear to be. I was told they are considered Silver Age comics. I have a set of the early 1967-68 Star Trek comic books #1, 2, 3 and 4. These appear to be perfectly authentic, already in sleeves with cardboard in the back and high grade. I discussed a membership in CGC today with the company and paid for a Premium membership to get discounts to send these in for grading. If these are what they appear, 96 or higher on all 4, where is the best place to find a buyer for them? I will be getting pictures to post for more information for other forum viewers but don't have them at my office with me now. How often do high grade early Star Trek comics come on the market? I have had these for years and didn't even know it. I got them in a box of comics and books I got from an older house after the owner died. I was helping clean the place up for renting. Thanks for helping a novice and a new member. I have collected coins for over 50 years, old firearms, books and other things but don't know about the comic book market. Edited just now by Lawrence Uhrig Edited January 23, 2022 by WHIG jimjum12 and Pantodude 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThothAmon Posted January 21, 2022 Share Posted January 21, 2022 Love me some Gold Key Star Trek. Heritage did pretty well for this Uber high grade ST 1. Pantodude 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pantodude Posted January 21, 2022 Share Posted January 21, 2022 (edited) Congrats! That's an exciting find. High-grade early Star Treks, particularly 9.0 and above, rarely come up for sale anywhere, whether raw or slabbed. To put it into perspective, if your ST#1 is a 9.6, that would be top 6 overall (there's only 1 9.8 and 5 9.6s on the CGC census). But even a 9.2 has only 11 on the census, so very uncommon. After many years, I lucked out finding a raw that I correctly pegged as a higher grade, but I might not have otherwise landed one. ST#1 from 9.0 up could be several thousand dollars to likely well over $20K for a 9.6 (in 9.4 and 9.2, the book appreciated considerably since the Nov 2019 Heritage sale above for the 9.6, so a 9.6 should have, too). If it's a 9.8....stand backt! Please keep us posted on CGC results! You could offer it on any venue, including the big auction houses like ComicLink, Heritage, and ComicConnect. And even eBay has its strengths. But if it's at least a 9.2, it might be better to stick with the big auction houses (and the more sophisticated buyers they attract overall) depending on your comfort level with eBay. That said, eBay is very convenient, especially for ST#2-#4, which won't be worth nearly as much even in the highest grades. Other folks will hopefully chime in on regarding venue preferences. GLWT Edited January 21, 2022 by Pantodude Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WHIG Posted January 21, 2022 Author Share Posted January 21, 2022 Thanks. It's tough when the auction houses are charging a huge commission but they certainly can attract high bidders! I'll get them graded and certainly post findings here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Pontoon Posted January 21, 2022 Share Posted January 21, 2022 If you're new to this, you may be in for a surprise if you're not well-versed in grading standards. Do you have pictures of the books? You may want to post them here https://boards.cgccomics.com/forum/42-hey-buddy-can-you-spare-a-grade/ to get opinions from other boards members. Pantodude 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WHIG Posted January 21, 2022 Author Share Posted January 21, 2022 I'll get pictures up soon. I have to get them out at home later. They'll be posted for opinions. I won't believe it until they are at the grading table! Have any fake comics been discovered? These are in such nice condition, I have to be cautious in my optimism! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pantodude Posted January 21, 2022 Share Posted January 21, 2022 On 1/21/2022 at 4:14 PM, WHIG said: I'll get pictures up soon. I have to get them out at home later. They'll be posted for opinions. I won't believe it until they are at the grading table! Have any fake comics been discovered? These are in such nice condition, I have to be cautious in my optimism! Be sure to click on a few of the posts in the Hey Buddy grading thread so you see the types of photos (resolution and camera perspectives) that are most helpful. Spine (especially staple areas) and all four corners (front and back cover) are most important for higher grades. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WHIG Posted January 21, 2022 Author Share Posted January 21, 2022 One thing I noticed is in the bottom right corner, the edges are cut from the factory (printing company) with very small fragments of paper still attached. It is not from wear or damage but the way it was cut. I am not going to try to pull them off or cut them but is this considered a manufacturing defect that might lower the grade? The entire comic book looks like it is fresh from the printer's and almost perfect except for this little area. I'll be getting a picture soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WHIG Posted January 21, 2022 Author Share Posted January 21, 2022 Here is a scan of the front and the back. It is upsetting to look under magnification at the corners where the pages have extra paper still attached. It makes it look like a sloppy factory cut. No damage but this is probably the kind of manufacturing error that affects condition and grading even if the comic book has no wear or non-factory damage. You can see at the top and bottom that little tuff of extra paper that was not cut clean. I will see what you experts think! Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
namisgr Posted January 22, 2022 Share Posted January 22, 2022 (edited) From what I can tell from the scans, that's a very nice copy and definitely one worth having slabbed in preparation for sale. With that said, if you look along the length of the spine you'll see a handful of small stress lines, some of which break color. I don't believe the comic will grade as high as a near mint CGC 9.4 because of them. For comparison sake, here's my old copy with its assigned grade. It, too, has a few very small horizontally oriented stress lines (there are at least two in Spock's right shoulder), and the advantage of not having extra interior paper sticking out from the lower right corner. It does have the start of a light crease in the lower right corner, though: Edited January 22, 2022 by namisgr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WHIG Posted January 22, 2022 Author Share Posted January 22, 2022 How much do you believe your's is worth? Amazing the small details they look for! Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Topnotchman Posted January 22, 2022 Share Posted January 22, 2022 I’ve owned a lot of these and have a high grade in my collection. From the images provided a 9.2 is within range. That top back corner has a small tear with color loss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WHIG Posted January 22, 2022 Author Share Posted January 22, 2022 Here are the others I have in this small collection, Trek # 2,3 and 4. They are in at least the same condition, maybe slightly better than #1. Unfortunately, #1 looks to have the most condition issues, al-be-it small ones! Thanks for all input. Morganmi, MGsimba77 and Pantodude 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pemart1966 Posted January 25, 2022 Share Posted January 25, 2022 Is there any rust on any of the staples? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WHIG Posted January 25, 2022 Author Share Posted January 25, 2022 No rust anywhere! Like new but some manufacturing defects in the way the edges on a couple books were cut and a few small stress marks on the spine as someone pointed out! These look mint otherwise! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KPR Comics Posted January 26, 2022 Share Posted January 26, 2022 Dust shadows are killers. Otherwise very nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WHIG Posted January 26, 2022 Author Share Posted January 26, 2022 What are dust shadows? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grendel72 Posted January 26, 2022 Share Posted January 26, 2022 Dust particles that settle on books which are left exposed. Usually happens when you dont stack books neatly and some are exposed to the environment. So you will see a contrast between the exposed and unexposed portions. Worse on white covers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WHIG Posted January 26, 2022 Author Share Posted January 26, 2022 Thanks. I guess these books are really looked at with the most precision examination. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grendel72 Posted January 27, 2022 Share Posted January 27, 2022 On 1/27/2022 at 7:55 AM, WHIG said: Thanks. I guess these books are really looked at with the most precision examination. This forms a large part of the hobby. Not only because some of them are big value books, but just for the passion of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
