Highest Graded Captain Marvel Adventures 1 on eBay 0

[bronze johnny]

On 3/18/2023 at 3:12 PM, lou_fine said:

Without a doubt, this would bump up the profile of the comic book collecting hobby up to another level with Elvis's name attached to the collection. 

Not too sure if they would be in that fantastic of a grade condition though as I get the feeling that Elvis probably read the heck out of them while laying in his bed.  

I doubt any books would be sold. They would likely be placed on exhibit at Graceland. After all, the comics give us insight into the King’s childhood. 

[jimbo_7071]

On 3/17/2023 at 9:45 PM, LDarkseid1 said:

You would think so, but 23 years in and still nothing. Also it’s more than just the CGC census. The paper this book was printed on was notoriously unstable and defect prone, making it very tough to get in higher grade. So with that aspect to, it may be possible we won’t see anything for a long long time, or ever for that matter that’s higher than the two 5.0’s. Unless as previously stated, someone can undue a plod copy. However, you are correct, it was extremely popular at the time and likely had a sizable print run. Estimated print run of Whiz 2 was 500,000. CM1 came out roughly a year later. So would think it would be in the proximity of Whiz 2, maybe somewhat higher.

I respectfully disagree. Many of the nicest second-hand collections in our hobby were built up in the 60s, 70s, and 80s and are still intact. As @Robot Man mentioned, most old-school collectors have not slabbed their books. Heck, many of the Mile High books are still raw. Some of those collections will be passed on to heirs, but most will be sold off eventually. By the way, I would think that the print run would have been MUCH higher than Whiz 2, but who knows for sure (someone here probably does).

[LDarkseid1]

On 3/18/2023 at 6:46 PM, jimbo_7071 said:

I respectfully disagree. Many of the nicest second-hand collections in our hobby were built up in the 60s, 70s, and 80s and are still intact. As @Robot Man mentioned, most old-school collectors have not slabbed their books. Heck, many of the Mile High books are still raw. Some of those collections will be passed on to heirs, but most will be sold off eventually. By the way, I would think that the print run would have been MUCH higher than Whiz 2, but who knows for sure (someone here probably does).

I would hope there’s some nicer copies out there. Only time will tell. Let’s check back in 23 years from now 😁

[Crowzilla]

On 3/18/2023 at 8:09 PM, lou_fine said:

If the spine is split all the way to the staples at both the top and bottom, would this then not be exceeding CGC's definition of Slight?    

If you are referring to the Hawkeye copy, the slight is the amount of glue, not the amount of spine split. You only need a slight amount to hold it together. CGC notes on the Hawkeye copy also say "Top Staple Front Cover Detached".

I just looked up the grader notes to 20 different copies from Heritage auctions, and on 18 of the 20 there are notes of some sort of spine split. This includes the 4.0, 4.5, and the 5.0 being offered now. On the other 5.0 the notes include "Top Staple Front Cover Detached" and "Bottom Staple Cover Detached" and in looking at the scan you can see the spine starting to split at the staple. The other 5.0 and the Hawkeye are the only two with no notes of spine split, but they both possess them to some degree.

The cover on this book is just horrible. I can't recall ever seeing a copy without some degree of splitting, and I would suggest that this book overall is not a candidate for pressing as there is a strong chance you will split the spine entirely. The copy being offered now has been the highest graded since being certified 16 years ago and I suspect it will remain so for quite some time. Despite what Robotman has proclaimed, on this particular book - a 5.0 will be difficult to beat.

[LDarkseid1]

On 3/18/2023 at 9:33 PM, Crowzilla said:

If you are referring to the Hawkeye copy, the slight is the amount of glue, not the amount of spine split. You only need a slight amount to hold it together. CGC notes on the Hawkeye copy also say "Top Staple Front Cover Detached".

I just looked up the grader notes to 20 different copies from Heritage auctions, and on 18 of the 20 there are notes of some sort of spine split. This includes the 4.0, 4.5, and the 5.0 being offered now. On the other 5.0 the notes include "Top Staple Front Cover Detached" and "Bottom Staple Cover Detached" and in looking at the scan you can see the spine starting to split at the staple. The other 5.0 and the Hawkeye are the only two with no notes of spine split, but they both possess them to some degree.

The cover on this book is just horrible. I can't recall ever seeing a copy without some degree of splitting, and I would suggest that this book overall is not a candidate for pressing as there is a strong chance you will split the spine entirely. The copy being offered now has been the highest graded since being certified 16 years ago and I suspect it will remain so for quite some time. Despite what Robotman has proclaimed, on this particular book - a 5.0 will be difficult to beat.

That’s what I’ve been trying to say, but everyone thinks I’m crazy 😒.

[dem1138]

On 3/17/2023 at 2:45 PM, LDarkseid1 said:

Well, there is this 8.0 from a 2002 Heritage sale with the note of “glue on spine”, just slight P. If the glue could be removed, who knows 🤷‍♂️

Couldn't this be the unrestored (Blue Label) 5.0 with the glue notation?

[LDarkseid1]

On 3/19/2023 at 9:49 AM, dem1138 said:

Couldn't this be the unrestored (Blue Label) 5.0 with the glue notation?

I doubt it. I mean there‘s still two 8.0’s on the census with slight professional resto like this one. I suspect this is still one of those 2.

[Gotham Kid]

Incorrect.

 

Edited March 19, 2023 by Gotham Kid

[Gotham Kid]

The CGC cert # for the 8.0 SP is still valid which is a mistake

https://www.cgccomics.com/certlookup/0041328020/

 

[Crowzilla]

On 3/19/2023 at 1:46 PM, Gotham Kid said:

Incorrect.

Great catch.

I guess removing glue really takes a toll, as it went from "Spine Wear, Top Staple Front Cover Detached" to: "Bottom Staple Cover Detached, Right Bottom Back Cover Wear, Right Top Back Cover Wear, Top Staple Front Cover Detached, Whole Book Multiple Bend, Whole Book Small Wear All Edges, Whole Book Wear All Corners"  (and lost a Pedigree).

But it stays consistent with being the only copy out of every one Heritage has offered that doesn't have grader notes of a spine split

[lou_fine]

On 3/19/2023 at 11:54 AM, Crowzilla said:

(and lost a Pedigree).

This is the real sad part though to lose the provenance of a pedigree.    

[tth2]

The difference in colors shows just how misleading scans can be.  It looks almost black in the PLOD scan, but very definitely blue in the new scan.  But for the markings, I would never have thought they could be the same book based just on a cursory review of the scans.

Edited March 20, 2023 by tth2

[AJD]

I have never held a copy of this book, but I have had/seen many Australian GA books with newsprint covers. For many of them I've never seen a high grade copy, but that doesn't mean they aren't possible. But I know there are some nice books out there not reflected in census numbers. As an example, looking through the CGC census for Australian Batman copies, the few graded copies I saw are all mid grades but I have seen some raw high grade copies that would blow them out of the water. Paying big bucks for 'highest graded' for such books seems pretty risky to me.

[LDarkseid1]

On 3/19/2023 at 10:46 AM, Gotham Kid said:

Incorrect.

 

So one of the restored 8.0’s became one of the two top 5.0’s?

[Black Bat]

Total side note, but can anyone tell me why are most of  Blisssrds eBay books are so dry and oxidized looking?  Been curious about this for years now. Thanks. 

[Crowzilla]

On 3/22/2023 at 12:16 AM, Black Bat said:

Total side note, but can anyone tell me why are most of  Blisssrds eBay books are so dry and oxidized looking?  Been curious about this for years now. Thanks. 

Lots of desiccants in his long boxes

[sfcityduck]

On 3/21/2023 at 9:16 PM, Black Bat said:

Total side note, but can anyone tell me why are most of  Blisssrds eBay books are so dry and oxidized looking?  Been curious about this for years now. Thanks. 

I think most of his inventory sold on ebay are copious amounts of Harvey or other "warehouse" books that were not ideally stored.  High volumes, unread, not great page quality or state of preservation. He is accurate in his descriptions too.  But man is he cashing in 189,000 sales with a 100% ebay rating and 3,600 followers.  DA can be proud that Adam may objectively be the most well-regarded dealer in comic history.  I know that the books I've bought from him, some on special requests, have made me happy.  I can only guess what the cash value of his sales are.  

If he's selling off DA's cast aways, DA was hoovering up books at a rate that was record setting.  If not, Adam's got an incredible network and, if so, frankly he deserves it.

[Randall Dowling]

On 3/18/2023 at 8:46 PM, jimbo_7071 said:

Heck, many of the Mile High books are still raw.

This is an interesting question to me.  I completely agree that many of the original 18,000 have to be raw.  But I can't help but wonder how many have been slabbed.

For those unaware, one of our own board members created a very useful resource many years ago- http://cgcdata.com/cgc/

@valiantman Greg- is there anyway your engine can search by pedigree?

[valiantman]

On 3/23/2023 at 8:32 AM, Randall Dowling said:

This is an interesting question to me.  I completely agree that many of the original 18,000 have to be raw.  But I can't help but wonder how many have been slabbed.

For those unaware, one of our own board members created a very useful resource many years ago- http://cgcdata.com/cgc/

@valiantman Greg- is there anyway your engine can search by pedigree?

No - the search engine is just making the regular CGC Census available for queries and historical numbers. The CGC Census doesn't include Pedigree, so my CGCdata site doesn't include Pedigree.

@gpanalysis does have a Pedigree search for their 20+ years of recorded sales.

[buttock]

On 3/23/2023 at 7:32 AM, Randall Dowling said:

This is an interesting question to me.  I completely agree that many of the original 18,000 have to be raw.  But I can't help but wonder how many have been slabbed.

For those unaware, one of our own board members created a very useful resource many years ago- http://cgcdata.com/cgc/

@valiantman Greg- is there anyway your engine can search by pedigree?

Heritage has 8500+ results for "Mile High CGC".  Comicconnect has just under 1500 in their archive, but you can't split up CGC vs raw.  A cursory glance looks like at least 75% are certified.  Now, a lot of those are going to be duplicate sales, but more are not.  Then factor in Comiclink and other platforms, I'd venture a guess that at least half of the Church books are certified, but that still leaves a LOT of books that aren't slabbed.  

Also, looking at past sales of great GA books makes me very sad.