What's your lowest-CGC-graded comic in your personal collection? 3 3

[CAHokie]

A 1.5

 

A 1.0

 

Recent board pick ups of 1.5 and .5..

[THE_BEYONDER]

[Tom789]

The story:  I bought a bunch of ToDs in the early 1980s just to read them.  The back of this one shows the price I paid, in pennies.

[Jesse-Lee]

On 7/16/2023 at 6:27 PM, Tom789 said:

The story:  I bought a bunch of ToDs in the early 1980s just to read them.  The back of this one shows the price I paid, in pennies.

It's nice symmetry that it's a 20 cent book, in a 2.0, with a 20 on the back.

[ADAMANTIUM]

On 7/16/2023 at 6:28 PM, Jesse-Lee said:

On 7/16/2023 at 6:27 PM, Tom789 said:

The story:  I bought a bunch of ToDs in the early 1980s just to read them.  The back of this one shows the price I paid, in pennies.

Expand  

It's nice symmetry that it's a 20 cent book, in a 2.0, with a 20 on the back.

Add in white pages for a 2.0 bronze age book too! Score.

 

[D2]

This is my lowest CGC grade. 
And it’s a green label because I got Stan and Chris to sign it before I understood the value of CGC graded books. 

[Nazirite]

[valiantman]

[davidpg]

Mine is a Daredevil 241 in 9.6.

Well it's the ONLY CGC book I own, so.... ;)

[theCapraAegagrus]

3.5, hopefully won't get any lower.

[valiantman]

My 2nd lowest:

[valiantman]

My 3rd lowest:

[Tec-Tac-Toe]

On 7/17/2023 at 9:04 AM, theCapraAegagrus said:

3.5, hopefully won't get any lower.

My goal is a 0.0. Perhaps it can be achieved by combining the invisible Bad Idea "comic book" with invisible all-cover color touch.

[Artifiction]

It's my lowest, and I love it just as much as I do my higher grade books.

 

Edited July 17, 2023 by Artifiction

[musicmeta]

Here's my lowest a 3.5  From the Nicolas Cage collection.  

Edited July 17, 2023 by musicmeta

[troydivision1]

I have two .5s in my personal collection.
Only one has an awesome story.
(spoiler alert...its long)

One day in early 2011, I responded to a Craigslist ad about having comics for sale.

ONE MONTH LATER!

I received a reply apologizing for the delay as their internet was cut off, they had moved, and that they still had comics available.
They sent me the address.
Jumped in my red 1993 Ford Ranger with no A/C, manual transmission, and broken tape deck (this part comes back later) to head to the address they provided.

Upon arrival, I discovered it was a consignment shop.
I went inside and was directed to 4 short boxes of comics / magazines.
What I found in the first 2 boxes were complete garage sale drek.
Thinking the drive was a waste of time, I got to the third box and was taken aback by a very familiar cover.
I froze.
Sitting in a bag without backboard, with a handwritten $2 on a blue circle sticker in the upper right-hand corner was The Amazing Spider-Man #1.
My eyes widened and then I looked over both my shoulders to ensure I wasn't being Punk'd.
I slowly took the ASM #1 plus the books that were immediately before and after it out of the short box.
Then I placed the three comic stack directly in front of me.
At this point I should have stopped, but I proceeded to look through the rest of the 3rd box and then the 4th short box 'just in case' another key book was present.
During all this my mind was racing.
I began thinking every person entering or inside the store was there for comics and would take the book from me.
Suddenly, fear gripped me that they may even pull an Overstreet Guide or use their computer to check eBay once I bring the comics to them.

After finishing the last box I asked the clerk if the prices on the comics are the prices they'll charge.
The clerk confirmed that the price on the sticker was the cost of the comic.
I fanned the three issues (top book, ASM #1, bottom book) only showing the stickers in the top right-hand corners.
The total was $7 for the three comics.
I handed the clerk a $10 bill, said to keep the change, and quickly exited the store without another word.
My goal was to reach my truck, place the comics inside, and lock the door in order to prove ownership just in case the police were called.

BUT I don't remember walking to my truck.
It felt like a dream as I floated there.
The truck seemed to pull further from me as I got closer.
The entire time I expected the shop owner to come outside and yell and chase me down to return to the store.

Upon entering the truck I was overwhelmed with joy and excitement.
I wanted to scream and yell and cheer.
I 'had' to immediately share this joy with someone.
Quickly I called my best friend at work and told them about it.
They were excited for me and couldn't wait to see the book in person the next day.
After hanging up the phone it took me a minute to remember how to drive.

Suddenly, I realized that I didn't want to drive in silence as I felt a once-in-a-lifetime moment like this needed a soundtrack.
I racked my brain as to which song in my tiny music library stored on my Samsung Galaxy 1 would work best to be played through the phone's speaker.
(again, I was driving a 1993 Ford Ranger with no A/C, manual transmission, and broken tape deck at the time)
Somehow the only thing I thought would work best was Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance".
It wasn't the lyrics or the song itself...it was being able to drive home singing along loudly whilst it played from my phone.

Drove home quickly but safely.
Jumped on eBay for current values of 1.8s / 2.0s and was overjoyed.
Immediately opened the comic to check if it was a 'Golden Records'.
It wasn't.
It also wasn't missing any coupons.
Then it dawned on my that there may be missing pages.
Downloaded a cbr file to check.
That is when I noticed that the 1st and last wrap were missing whilst comparing the comic to the digital file.
(CGC lists the centerfold is missing. That is not correct at all. Trust me it is the first and last wrap.)

I hatched a plan to purchase a complete coverless copy and marry it with my $2 copy's cover BUT I figured I would get caught so I placed it in a mylar with fullback and put it away.

A few months later when Desert Wind Comics announced their next Stan Lee signing I realized I could plus up the value of the incomplete book by adding Stan's signature.
Got in contact with DWC.
Sent them my book.
They confirmed it was received.
And then they lost it for the signing I sent it in for.
Yep...lost it.
At one point they were going to send me a check for the value of the book if they couldn't find it before the next signing.
They didn't know it was incomplete so in hindsight it would have worked out better for me if they hadn't found it.
It was eventually found and got Stan to sign where I wanted and with a silver sharpie like I requested.

So that is the story of my Amazing Spider-Man #1 signed by Stan Lee.

postscript
I was always a little confused by the store / pricing.
Went back the following week as they had received more comics.
I didn't buy any comics, but I did pick up some Famous Monsters magazines.

Got to speaking with the clerk and they explained what the shop did.
They cleaned out residences of people who were recently deceased on behalf of family members that are not able to come in from out-of-state to handle such things.
Then the shop would determine what to donate and what to consign on behalf of the out-of-state family.
They charged the family 15% of the total sale price for doing this.
They list the high dollar items (purses, jewelry, vintage clothing, etc...) on eBay and the remainder in-store.

Learning this actually made me sad that someone had passed away with no one wanting to handle their comic collection.
That their ASM #1 ended up in my hands for only $2.
I began wondering if they had bought it for that price many moons before it reached me decades later.
The how of it is not something I reflect on often, but when I do it makes me realize that we all need to make a plan for our end of life because often the things we love die along with us.

Oh boy, that got way deeper than I expected...

[thehumantorch]

On 7/17/2023 at 4:42 PM, troy.division said:

I have two .5s in my personal collection.
Only one has an awesome story.
(spoiler alert...its long)

One day in early 2011, I responded to a Craigslist ad about having comics for sale.

ONE MONTH LATER!

I received a reply apologizing for the delay as their internet was cut off, they had moved, and that they still had comics available.
They sent me the address.
Jumped in my red 1993 Ford Ranger with no A/C, manual transmission, and broken tape deck (this part comes back later) to head to the address they provided.

Upon arrival, I discovered it was a consignment shop.
I went inside and was directed to 4 short boxes of comics / magazines.
What I found in the first 2 boxes were complete garage sale drek.
Thinking the drive was a waste of time, I got to the third box and was taken aback by a very familiar cover.
I froze.
Sitting in a bag without backboard, with a handwritten $2 on a blue circle sticker in the upper right-hand corner was The Amazing Spider-Man #1.
My eyes widened and then I looked over both my shoulders to ensure I wasn't being Punk'd.
I slowly took the ASM #1 plus the books that were immediately before and after it out of the short box.
Then I placed the three comic stack directly in front of me.
At this point I should have stopped, but I proceeded to look through the rest of the 3rd box and then the 4th short box 'just in case' another key book was present.
During all this my mind was racing.
I began thinking every person entering or inside the store was there for comics and would take the book from me.
Suddenly, fear gripped me that they may even pull an Overstreet Guide or use their computer to check eBay once I bring the comics to them.

After finishing the last box I asked the clerk if the prices on the comics are the prices they'll charge.
The clerk confirmed that the price on the sticker was the cost of the comic.
I fanned the three issues (top book, ASM #1, bottom book) only showing the stickers in the top right-hand corners.
The total was $7 for the three comics.
I handed the clerk a $10 bill, said to keep the change, and quickly exited the store without another word.
My goal was to reach my truck, place the comics inside, and lock the door in order to prove ownership just in case the police were called.

BUT I don't remember walking to my truck.
It felt like a dream as I floated there.
The truck seemed to pull further from me as I got closer.
The entire time I expected the shop owner to come outside and yell and chase me down to return to the store.

Upon entering the truck I was overwhelmed with joy and excitement.
I wanted to scream and yell and cheer.
I 'had' to immediately share this joy with someone.
Quickly I called my best friend at work and told them about it.
They were excited for me and couldn't wait to see the book in person the next day.
After hanging up the phone it took me a minute to remember how to drive.

Suddenly, I realized that I didn't want to drive in silence as I felt a once-in-a-lifetime moment like this needed a soundtrack.
I racked my brain as to which song in my tiny music library stored on my Samsung Galaxy 1 would work best to be played through the phone's speaker.
(again, I was driving a 1993 Ford Ranger with no A/C, manual transmission, and broken tape deck at the time)
Somehow the only thing I thought would work best was Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance".
It wasn't the lyrics or the song itself...it was being able to drive home singing along loudly whilst it played from my phone.

Drove home quickly but safely.
Jumped on eBay for current values of 1.8s / 2.0s and was overjoyed.
Immediately opened the comic to check if it was a 'Golden Records'.
It wasn't.
It also wasn't missing any coupons.
Then it dawned on my that there may be missing pages.
Downloaded a cbr file to check.
That is when I noticed that the 1st and last wrap were missing whilst comparing the comic to the digital file.
(CGC lists the centerfold is missing. That is not correct at all. Trust me it is the first and last wrap.)

I hatched a plan to purchase a complete coverless copy and marry it with my $2 copy's cover BUT I figured I would get caught so I placed it in a mylar with fullback and put it away.

A few months later when Desert Wind Comics announced their next Stan Lee signing I realized I could plus up the value of the incomplete book by adding Stan's signature.
Got in contact with DWC.
Sent them my book.
They confirmed it was received.
And then they lost it for the signing I sent it in for.
Yep...lost it.
At one point they were going to send me a check for the value of the book if they couldn't find it before the next signing.
They didn't know it was incomplete so in hindsight it would have worked out better for me if they hadn't found it.
It was eventually found and got Stan to sign where I wanted and with a silver sharpie like I requested.

So that is the story of my Amazing Spider-Man #1 signed by Stan Lee.

postscript
I was always a little confused by the store / pricing.
Went back the following week as they had received more comics.
I didn't buy any comics, but I did pick up some Famous Monsters magazines.

Got to speaking with the clerk and they explained what the shop did.
They cleaned out residences of people who were recently deceased on behalf of family members that are not able to come in from out-of-state to handle such things.
Then the shop would determine what to donate and what to consign on behalf of the out-of-state family.
They charged the family 15% of the total sale price for doing this.
They list the high dollar items (purses, jewelry, vintage clothing, etc...) on eBay and the remainder in-store.

Learning this actually made me sad that someone had passed away with no one wanting to handle their comic collection.
That their ASM #1 ended up in my hands for only $2.
I began wondering if they had bought it for that price many moons before it reached me decades later.
The how of it is not something I reflect on often, but when I do it makes me realize that we all need to make a plan for our end of life because often the things we love die along with us.

Oh boy, that got way deeper than I expected...

Presents beautifully

[Pixx_L]

One of my first CGC submissions. Had this signed by the late Mart Nodell (original Green Lantern creator) as a teenager in Florida at one of the MegaCons in the 90s.

I called CGC when I got it back to complain that the label should be the green qualified label. The rep. told me it didn't matter because it was so low a grade it wouldn't make a difference. I guess people like blues more than greens so I left it as is.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[valiantman]

On 7/17/2023 at 7:39 PM, Pixx_L said:

One of my first CGC submissions. Had this signed by the late Mart Nodell (original Green Lantern creator) as a teenager in Florida at one of the MegaCons in the 90s.

I called CGC when I got it back to complain that the label should be the green qualified label. The rep. told me it didn't matter because it was so low a grade it wouldn't make a difference. I guess people like blues more than greens so I left it as is.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

It could be much worse... I think you got a great outcome.  You could have gotten a green qualified label with the official notation being a generic "Name written on cover".  You got a blue label with "MART NODELL" on the notation. 

[Pixx_L]

On 7/17/2023 at 8:44 PM, valiantman said:

It could be much worse... I think you got a great outcome.  You could have gotten a green qualified label with the official notation being a generic "Name written on cover".  You got a blue label with "MART NODELL" on the notation. 

Yeah I agree. A lot of my original submissions to CGC were all signed books and back then if they could read the name they typically wrote "X name written on cover." If it's legible they really should have the exact name noted on the label as some sort of compromise since they don't verify signatures like this. I'm guessing they changed it for legal reasons to be unambiguous that they take no responsibility for verifying anything written on a book including even noting the name itself.