Attempting to collect DC Showcase 1-104 in 9.0 or better! 7 7

[MAR1979]

On 8/17/2023 at 6:28 PM, FloridianDemon said:

Im ready!!!

To focus on stuff like #1,4,8,9,22 or simply continue to hunt down those  1977-1978 late bronze issues.

Enough Potatoes how about some real meat

[FloridianDemon]

On 8/18/2023 at 1:09 PM, MAR1979 said:

To focus on stuff like #1,4,8,9,22 or simply continue to hunt down those  1977-1978 late bronze issues.

Enough Potatoes how about some real meat

Hey! those late bronze books in 9.8 ONLY is some premium meat, VERY hard to find  #100 took me like, 6 months of looking

[MAR1979]

On 8/18/2023 at 1:31 PM, FloridianDemon said:

Hey! those late bronze books in 9.8 ONLY is some premium meat,

Perhaps if you mean Impossible or Beyond "meat". This thread is for Vegans; All Veg, no Beef

 

Edited August 19, 2023 by MAR1979

[COI]

On 7/23/2023 at 1:07 PM, FloridianDemon said:

Sure!
59 - 9.4
61 - 9.4
65 - 9.4
66 - 9.0
67 - 9.0
72 - 9.2
74 - 9.6
78 - 9.6
84 - 9.6
87 - 9.6
98 - 9.8 
99 - 9.8
100 - 9.8
I know its not impressive yet but working on it!

That's a nice set of books, and the quest is a cool idea.

20 years ago, at the age of 20, I started a high grade ASM run. I bought a couple of the bigger books first,  ASM 14 in 9.4 probably being the biggest, but I focused a lot of my attention and money on the mid-run stuff. The reason was simply that I only had so much cash, and buying one or two books a year just wasn't as fun as buying a few books a month.

You can probably see where this is going. ASMs are common and the only barrier to entry is money. I have more money now than I did 20 years ago, but my view of money and my desire for NM ASMs has not kept pace with the prices of those major keys in the run. It's simply too hard for me to stomach paying $10K for a book today that I was passing on at $1200 20 years ago.

You can take all of that with a grain of salt because maybe you and I are totally different and I have no idea what your situation is, but had I focused on the big boys first, I might've actually finished the run by now.

Good luck. 

[tth2]

On 8/20/2023 at 3:22 AM, COI said:

You can take all of that with a grain of salt because maybe you and I are totally different and I have no idea what your situation is, but had I focused on the big boys first, I might've actually finished the run by now.

This is absolutely correct.  Always go for the keys first.  The mid-run books will always be available and lag in price because they're, well, mid-run.

[FloridianDemon]

On 8/20/2023 at 12:36 AM, tth2 said:

This is absolutely correct.  Always go for the keys first.  The mid-run books will always be available and lag in price because they're, well, mid-run.

So this is where I disagree. This run is not as simple as hit the big keys 1st. Some of the mid run imo is the HARDEST due to the census count, alot of them share the same census count as the massive keys. if 200k flew in my pocket right now, it would make more sense to go grab 40-60 high grade 1 of 2-3 census count slabs in the mid the run then to drop it just on #4 and now i have to spend years and years waiting for one to just pop up to even buy the damn thing. I started this thread/quest on nov 8. of last year with #66 in 9.0. in that almost full year there has been no #66 in 9.0 or above since, and it costed 150. could i have passed and saved to maybe get a 9.0+ of #60 or 79? sure! but i see those books every week/slash month alot of the ones I have gotten i havent seen at all since. no regrets so far.

[10centcomics]

On 8/20/2023 at 4:56 PM, FloridianDemon said:

So this is where I disagree. This run is not as simple as hit the big keys 1st. Some of the mid run imo is the HARDEST due to the census count, alot of them share the same census count as the massive keys. if 200k flew in my pocket right now, it would make more sense to go grab 40-60 high grade 1 of 2-3 census count slabs in the mid the run then to drop it just on #4 and now i have to spend years and years waiting for one to just pop up to even buy the damn thing. I started this thread/quest on nov 8. of last year with #66 in 9.0. in that almost full year there has been no #66 in 9.0 or above since, and it costed 150. could i have passed and saved to maybe get a 9.0+ of #60 or 79? sure! but i see those books every week/slash month alot of the ones I have gotten i havent seen at all since. no regrets so far.

If 200K magically appeared in your pocket, it would be a massive mistake not to get the Showcase 4. 200K also isn't enough for a 9.0+ Showcase 4. A 9.6 sold in 2009 for 180K. 

Not sure what census figures you are checking but none of the mid-run books are as rare as the early Showcases in 9.0 or above. As I mentioned earlier, Showcase 2 doesn't have anything higher than an 8.5 on the census.

Even if the mid-run Showcases are as rare as you say they are, they likely won't experience the same price growth over the next decade of your collecting journey (well unless B'wana Beast has a hit Hollywood movie), which is why all the experienced collectors in this thread are imploring you to start with the keys first. For the non-keys, it is also likely there are many raw nice copies that haven't been graded yet so the census is less representative of the entire population of the book.

I say keep doing what you're doing with the non-keys, it's fun to build momentum and check off acquisitions from the want list. But at the same time, you should have a plan for what you're gonna do with the earlier mega-keys. Procrastinating on that will make it financially out of reach in the future. You can get a low-grade but well-presenting copy of Showcase 4 for under $10,000 today. That's obviously still a ton of money but something realistic if you save up or sell off other books in your collection. 

Good luck!

[FloridianDemon]

On 8/21/2023 at 11:24 PM, 10centcomics said:

If 200K magically appeared in your pocket, it would be a massive mistake not to get the Showcase 4. 200K also isn't enough for a 9.0+ Showcase 4. A 9.6 sold in 2009 for 180K. 

Not sure what census figures you are checking but none of the mid-run books are as rare as the early Showcases in 9.0 or above. As I mentioned earlier, Showcase 2 doesn't have anything higher than an 8.5 on the census.

Even if the mid-run Showcases are as rare as you say they are, they likely won't experience the same price growth over the next decade of your collecting journey (well unless B'wana Beast has a hit Hollywood movie), which is why all the experienced collectors in this thread are imploring you to start with the keys first. For the non-keys, it is also likely there are many raw nice copies that haven't been graded yet so the census is less representative of the entire population of the book.

I say keep doing what you're doing with the non-keys, it's fun to build momentum and check off acquisitions from the want list. But at the same time, you should have a plan for what you're gonna do with the earlier mega-keys. Procrastinating on that will make it financially out of reach in the future. You can get a low-grade but well-presenting copy of Showcase 4 for under $10,000 today. That's obviously still a ton of money but something realistic if you save up or sell off other books in your collection. 

Good luck!

Hmmm I see your point. I will try to do a blend what i have been doing while getting some of the practical bigger keys next like 60,79, 97 in 9.8 etc

Edited August 22, 2023 by FloridianDemon

[N e r V]

A Showcase #4 CGC 8.0 just sold a couple of months ago for $132,000.00. There are 8 CGC 8.0’s on the census. There’s only 8 copies total (the last time I looked at least) in 9.0 or higher out of 414 CGC graded copies. When one of those become available is anyone’s guess. Not an impossibly tough book to find if condition doesn’t matter but having owned a few in grade they just don’t grow on trees. Compared to say Amazing Fantasy #15 with 26 copies at 9.0 or higher and 2462 CGC copies on the census Showcase #4 is a tough book as Silver Age comics go. Also finding a really good strike on colors is also yet another challenge. I’d make this THE book to find first especially now with some give in demand/prices after the last few crazy years. No one is going to bargain price one but you might get lucky in the availability area at least since some people are feeling a money squeeze right now..

[Chiparus]

FD - Although I think overpriced, there is a #94 9.8 on Reece's Rare comics. 

[wiparker824]

On 8/20/2023 at 1:56 PM, FloridianDemon said:

So this is where I disagree. This run is not as simple as hit the big keys 1st. Some of the mid run imo is the HARDEST due to the census count, alot of them share the same census count as the massive keys. if 200k flew in my pocket right now, it would make more sense to go grab 40-60 high grade 1 of 2-3 census count slabs in the mid the run then to drop it just on #4 and now i have to spend years and years waiting for one to just pop up to even buy the damn thing. I started this thread/quest on nov 8. of last year with #66 in 9.0. in that almost full year there has been no #66 in 9.0 or above since, and it costed 150. could i have passed and saved to maybe get a 9.0+ of #60 or 79? sure! but i see those books every week/slash month alot of the ones I have gotten i havent seen at all since. no regrets so far.

One thing to keep in mind is census count does not equal rarity of the book in high grade. What I mean by that is not everyone who owns a copy of let’s say Showcase #66 is going to send it into CGC to get graded. Why? Because it’s not a key and even in a 9.0 it goes for $150. 

Whereas you can bet that there’s only a few raw high grade Showcase 4’s left to be maybe one day graded. Almost everyone that has one 1. Knows what they have and 2. Sends it to be graded. So when you say 66 hasn’t been sold in that grade since you bought yours a year ago, probably not, but there’s probably been some 9.0+ candidates that have sold raw in that time and I’m going to go out on a limb and say there’s been 0 raw high grade Showcase 4’s sold recently.

All that to say, if you had the funds today it would make much more sense to buy the big books as everyone is saying. High grade books of the filler issues will always be around, and there are more of them that aren’t on the census.

That Showcase 66 might be worth $100 more in 10 years, but a Showcase 4 might go up half a million in that time. Sure in % increase in each book it might not be that different but in total spent you’ll spend a lot more in total waiting on the keys.

Edited August 24, 2023 by wiparker824

[kimik]

On 8/11/2023 at 9:14 AM, tth2 said:

Some people don't enjoy collecting if there's no challenge.  

In any event, 9.0 is not the very highest graded copy in existence for many of the Showcases, even the earlier issues.  

You should post a list of any Showcases you used to own. 

[tth2]

On 8/24/2023 at 2:26 PM, kimik said:

On 8/11/2023 at 11:14 PM, tth2 said:

Some people don't enjoy collecting if there's no challenge.  

In any event, 9.0 is not the very highest graded copy in existence for many of the Showcases, even the earlier issues.  

You should post a list of any Showcases you used to own. 

Nah, apparently I don't know much about collecting SA DCs.

[kimik]

On 8/24/2023 at 8:24 AM, tth2 said:

Nah, apparently I don't know much about collecting SA DCs.

Considering the few SA DCs that you outbid me on way back when, I beg to differ...........

[LDarkseid1]

On 8/22/2023 at 3:50 PM, N e r V said:

A Showcase #4 CGC 8.0 just sold a couple of months ago for $132,000.00. There are 8 CGC 8.0’s on the census. There’s only 8 copies total (the last time I looked at least) in 9.0 or higher out of 414 CGC graded copies. When one of those become available is anyone’s guess. Not an impossibly tough book to find if condition doesn’t matter but having owned a few in grade they just don’t grow on trees. Compared to say Amazing Fantasy #15 with 26 copies at 9.0 or higher and 2462 CGC copies on the census Showcase #4 is a tough book as Silver Age comics go. Also finding a really good strike on colors is also yet another challenge. I’d make this THE book to find first especially now with some give in demand/prices after the last few crazy years. No one is going to bargain price one but you might get lucky in the availability area at least since some people are feeling a money squeeze right now..

I know SC4 has fluctuated a bit here and there, and the fact is at the end of the day it’s a 1st silverage appearance/new version, as opposed to a true first never before seen appearance like AF15. But it still amazes me this book hasn’t gone on a massive rise, like AF15, like Hulk 1, like FF1 has. It deserves more love imop.

[N e r V]

On 8/25/2023 at 6:06 PM, LDarkseid1 said:

I know SC4 has fluctuated a bit here and there, and the fact is at the end of the day it’s a 1st silverage appearance/new version, as opposed to a true first never before seen appearance like AF15. But it still amazes me this book hasn’t gone on a massive rise, like AF15, like Hulk 1, like FF1 has. It deserves more love imop.

I know. It seems DC rules pricing with Golden Age cornerstone books like Action #1 or Detective #27 but DC gets less love in the Silver Age compared with Marvel. Brave and the Bold #28 is another “cheap” book relative to the Marvel market imo…

[tth2]

On 8/26/2023 at 9:06 AM, LDarkseid1 said:

But it still amazes me this book hasn’t gone on a massive rise, like AF15, like Hulk 1, like FF1 has.

It's not surprising to me at all.  Showcase is a DC.  AF, Hulk and FF are Marvel.  There is still a huge contingent of SA collectors who will simply never consider owning DCs, and to the extent they do, it'll almost always be only Batman.

[LDarkseid1]

On 8/25/2023 at 8:41 PM, tth2 said:

It's not surprising to me at all.  Showcase is a DC.  AF, Hulk and FF are Marvel.  There is still a huge contingent of SA collectors who will simply never consider owning DCs, and to the extent they do, it'll almost always be only Batman.

Yeah but if it was up to me, SC4 would be the cats meow of silverage keys 🤗. But alas a dream is all that will ever be 🥺

[wiparker824]

On 8/25/2023 at 8:41 PM, tth2 said:

It's not surprising to me at all.  Showcase is a DC.  AF, Hulk and FF are Marvel.  There is still a huge contingent of SA collectors who will simply never consider owning DCs, and to the extent they do, it'll almost always be only Batman.

There that but also Avengers Endgame did nearly 3B in box office. Flash did about 200k. There’s a reason Marvel / Disney property books took off. Even FF didn’t really take off until Marvel got the rights to it. DC and Warner Bros just haven’t been on that level, the closest they came was the Nolan Batman era, but even that was limited to 3 movies and specific to Batman not the plethora of Marvel movies that were a cultural phenomena at the peak of the MCU.

[Chiparus]

FD - there is a #64 just listed on ebay in 9.0 at a reasonable price.