Comic value 1 1

[stephenlev]

OKAY, my first batch of comics came in!

Sandman #8: 9.6

Wolverine #1: 9.4

X-Men #221: 9.8 (yay!)

Wolverine LS #1: 9.2

Sandman #1: 9.8 (yay!)

Secret Wars #8: 8.0 (I knew that one wasn't gonna get a good grade)

Thor 337 Mark Jeweler insert: 8.5 (damn!)

Sandman #4: 9.6

Hulk 340: 9.6

[thehumantorch]

On 5/9/2023 at 1:04 PM, stephenlev said:

OKAY, my first batch of comics came in!

Sandman #8: 9.6

Wolverine #1: 9.4

X-Men #221: 9.8 (yay!)

Wolverine LS #1: 9.2

Sandman #1: 9.8 (yay!)

Secret Wars #8: 8.0 (I knew that one wasn't gonna get a good grade)

Thor 337 Mark Jeweler insert: 8.5 (damn!)

Sandman #4: 9.6

Hulk 340: 9.6

Overall I think you did ok and very well considering it was your first submission.  A few of these you're probably under water a bit but most are worth the cost of grading.  If you don't need money you might want to sit on them to see if prices recover.

[stephenlev]

On 5/9/2023 at 3:25 PM, thehumantorch said:

Overall I think you did ok and very well considering it was your first submission.

Great! All the credit goes to my 16 year old self who took such good care of his comics.

I'm a little bummed about the Thor, which looked good to me, but pretty happy with the rest.

[lou_fine]

On 5/9/2023 at 12:34 PM, stephenlev said:

On 5/9/2023 at 12:25 PM, thehumantorch said:

Overall I think you did ok and very well considering it was your first submission.

Great! All the credit goes to my 16 year old self who took such good care of his comics.

Big congrats to you on the relatively nice grades that you managed to get on these books of yours.  

 

On 5/9/2023 at 12:34 PM, stephenlev said:

I'm a little bummed about the Thor, which looked good to me, but pretty happy with the rest.

You should check the Graders Notes for your Thor 337 to see why it came in as only a CGC 8.5 graded copy.  

[stephenlev]

On 5/9/2023 at 4:03 PM, lou_fine said:

You should check the Graders Notes for your Thor 337 to see why it came in as only a CGC 8.5 graded copy.

Comic Description:
Thor 337 11/83 Marvel Comics Newsstand Edition

Grader Notes:
""Mark Jewelers"" insert.
small, multiple crease right bottom of front cover

[ExNihilo]

On 5/8/2023 at 5:57 PM, thehumantorch said:

Most of these books I'd consider 'good' books and books that have had appeal for many years.  Hopefully you got  good grades on these.  I'd put them away and appreciate that they are the personal copies that you purchased many years ago and wait for the values to increase

Appeal?  Yes.  But enough to warrant grading?  Personal opinion, but I wouldn't have spent money submitting the Batmans, half the Sandmans, the IH 340, or the Wolverine.  IH 340 and Wolverine have taken off in recent years, much more than where they were 20 years ago.  I'm skeptical of books that don't have the history of popularity to back it.  Especially when the significance is "first ongoing series".  Or whatever IH and Wolverine 1 is.  I prefer my "firsts" to be something more substantial from a story perspective as opposed to something artificially manufactured by speculators to make something out as more important than it is.  So yeah, OP's books are certainly appealing, but appealing is one factor of many that someone should consider when spending money to slab books. 

(And the only reason I say this is because it's something I wish my younger self was aware of before spending a bunch of money on slabbed books.  I think a lot of people say slab what makes you happy, but there needs to be a real consideration to the financial costs.)

[ExNihilo]

On 5/9/2023 at 1:06 PM, stephenlev said:

Comic Description:
Thor 337 11/83 Marvel Comics Newsstand Edition

Grader Notes:
""Mark Jewelers"" insert.
small, multiple crease right bottom of front cover

Depending on the crease, it could potentially be pressed out so long as it's not color breaking.

[lou_fine]

On 5/9/2023 at 1:29 PM, ExNihilo said:

On 5/9/2023 at 1:06 PM, stephenlev said:

Grader Notes:
""Mark Jewelers"" insert.
small, multiple crease right bottom of front cover

Depending on the crease, it could potentially be pressed out so long as it's not color breaking.

Not so sure about this since he stated in his original post that he Paid to have his books sent in for pressing, cleaning, and then grading:  

 

On 5/8/2023 at 11:09 AM, stephenlev said:

Nine months ago, I cracked open my childhood comic collection and sent the 20 comics getting the most money on eBay, that were in the best shape, to be pressed, cleaned and graded.

Not sure what the cost for all 3 processes would be and I guess it's always a case of to each their own, but clearly something that I would not chance if the expected sale price for the slabbed book is only going to be $100 if it comes back in CGC 9.6.  

[ExNihilo]

On 5/9/2023 at 1:37 PM, lou_fine said:

Not so sure about this since he stated in his original post that he Paid to have his books sent in for pressing, cleaning, and then grading:  

Ah missed that.  Then yeah, a press likely isn't going to improve it anymore.

[stephenlev]

On 5/9/2023 at 4:49 PM, ExNihilo said:

Ah missed that.  Then yeah, a press likely isn't going to improve it anymore.

Yep, all these books were cleaned and pressed by Avery. I did another batch with CFP that is being graded now (the Batmen, and some others)

In hindsight, I wish I'd only sent in 10 books instead of 19. Otherwise no regrets. I'm definitely done getting anything slabbed, I don't buy new stuff, just wanted to preserve some of my childhood collection.

It is fun opening the box and seeing the grades (though it would have been less fun if the grades were much lower)

[thehumantorch]

On 5/9/2023 at 2:28 PM, ExNihilo said:

Appeal?  Yes.  But enough to warrant grading?  Personal opinion, but I wouldn't have spent money submitting the Batmans, half the Sandmans, the IH 340, or the Wolverine.  IH 340 and Wolverine have taken off in recent years, much more than where they were 20 years ago.  I'm skeptical of books that don't have the history of popularity to back it.  Especially when the significance is "first ongoing series".  Or whatever IH and Wolverine 1 is.  I prefer my "firsts" to be something more substantial from a story perspective as opposed to something artificially manufactured by speculators to make something out as more important than it is.  So yeah, OP's books are certainly appealing, but appealing is one factor of many that someone should consider when spending money to slab books. 

(And the only reason I say this is because it's something I wish my younger self was aware of before spending a bunch of money on slabbed books.  I think a lot of people say slab what makes you happy, but there needs to be a real consideration to the financial costs.)

Some of these books aren't worth the cost of pressing and grading in the current market.  Most of them probably were when the OP sent them in but values have dropped.  But he's sent them in and there's no going back and he certainly has some good results to go with the less good.

[Dr. Balls]

On 5/9/2023 at 12:38 PM, stephenlev said:

Yeah, as in investment, this might have been a bum deal. On the other hand, there was value in cracking open my 35 year old collection for the first time, looking things up on eBay, revising my childhood books, posting on these boards, getting excited as the comics moved through the process, etc. It's been a hobby, and a fun one. I haven't bought any new books, and I'm not going to slab anymore after this. Hopefully these'll look nice on my shelf.

When I came here years ago, I learned that same lesson: it's a total gamble if you sub a book and have it gain or lose value in the time it's gone, and that gamble increases the more modern the book. I.e., golden age books will hold their value in a more stable way than a copper age one.

However, if you plan on having a comic room, or an area to display your comics, they look pretty cool on display. I have a copper age 9.8 book that I got on trade for about twice what it's worth now - but I love the cover, so it sits on my bookshelf and there's no way - unless they make a movie about her - it's every going to touch what I paid/traded for it.

For me, comics are a fun distraction that feeds my "collecting" personality. Generally, a comic you pay $100 for, you can always sell for $25 after you've enjoyed it. It doesn't make a lot of sense numbers-wise, but if you're not in it for the numbers - who cares? I can think of a lot of things you can blow $100 and have nothing to show for it - so don't beat yourself up too much on what you spent on your hobby. As long as you're not getting a home equity line of credit to buy comic books, at worst you end up with a pile of stuff that may not be worth what you paid - but with the right mindset, it doesn't matter because you enjoy it.

[stephenlev]

On 5/10/2023 at 12:58 AM, thehumantorch said:

he certainly has some good results to go with the less good

Yeah, I'm happy overall. And although I may not be able to tell the difference between a 9.4 and a 9.6, it seems I've learned what a 9.2+ book looks like. No huge disappointments here (maybe the Thor)

[stephenlev]

Second batch of comics just came through, pressed by CFP, and the grades aren't as good (not blaming CFP, these books might have been in worse shape). 

Not terrible grades (9.2 is the lowest) but nothing here is gonna make me anything if I sell, I think.

X-Men 213: 9.2

Captain America 332: 9.4

Incredible Hulk & Wolverine 1: 9.4

Devil Dinosaur 1: 9.2

Sandman #5: 9.6

X-men 124: 9.4

Batman 426: 9.4

Batman 427: 9.4

Batman 428: 9.6

In the end, it was super-fun revisiting my childhood collection. I may try to sell these if prices go up, or just list somewhere and see if I get nibbles, but I'm definitely done grading.

 

 

[goblinjareth]

On 5/8/2023 at 3:05 PM, stephenlev said:

It looks like you picked these out around the time the Sandman Netflix series dropped. If you're looking to offload some things just to reduce your collection size a bit, you'll want to get ahead with the issues that will be covered in the next season (coming out probably in 2024). Season of Mists will probably be covered, with a chance of continuing into A Game of You. Since Calliope and A Dream of A Thousand Cats were included in S1, A Midsummer Night's Dream and Facade might (and that's a big Might) also end up in S2.