Collectors Who Really Prefer Low Grade? 3 3

[october]

On 6/7/2024 at 9:24 AM, DougC said:

 

For the sole purpose of "collecting" to have, especially raw books I prefer low grade examples. It allows me the luxury to handle them without concern of nicking a corner and destroying value. Leafing through a 1940s comic just has a nice feeling.

 

This. I like my Golden Age stuff in 6.0-8.0, especially the EC's, as I read them. 

[Sauce Dog]

Yes, I LOVE low grade for many reasons. The obvious one is that it is often the only way I can obtain many golden age books I would love, but there are other very important reasons:

1) The potential for me to improve the grade is much greater than buying a high grade. Since I can do my own cleaning/conservation, and even repairs, it possible for me to take a super low grade book and bump it up with minimal effort on my part - it is also possible to take NG books to 0.5, which often sees the greatest jump in FMV.

2) Resale potential to a larger potential buying pool. Yes there are collectors who want the best condition they can afford, but for many mega grails (such as TMNT #1 first print or lots of other GA keys) most people will always be priced out of any mid/high copies - so what you see is are frantic wild bidding wars for the absolute lowest grades that result in some of the largest price swings (and I find the the price difference between low and decent higher mid-grade copies to be not that big a jump...but still big enough that many think they can't save up the difference). This obviously applies only to older books, as for bronze and newer the condition matters much more and isn't a concern with finding a better copy.

3) I feel no anxiety handling the books to read or let others handle. You will become addicted to seeing the joy on other collectors faces, especially kids, when you hand them a book that is almost a hundred years old and they see that you trust them to handle it and get to experience thumbing through the real pages, real smell, and real old printing (saw this with my TMNT #1 first print, X-Men #1, and many older GA books). 

edit: I'll also state I LOVE restored books. 

Edited June 7 by Sauce Dog

[JollyComics]

On 6/7/2024 at 10:36 AM, Hudson said:

Nice FF1.  I would be happy to own that.

I would also be happy to have an Action 1 that looked like that, and display it proudly.

Way back in 2016 at C2E2, I thought about buying FF #1 CGC 4.0 for only $2000.  I kept saying next time and it is NOW no next time that I already regretted for the rest of my life.

[auboy77]

I would take low grade over restored all day, every day , —no matter how good the restored book looks. I’m an “original” condition guy.  I would take a 1.0 unrestored over a 9.8 restored . 

Edited June 7 by auboy77

[The humble Watcher lurking]

I have this criteria

golden age a vg I am happy.

Silver age fine I am happy.

I don`t need to break the bank. Collecting comic books is more than investing.

I got stocks and bonds for investing. 

Let me read my comic books. ha ha lol.

 

[Hibou]

On 6/7/2024 at 10:11 AM, Happy Noodle Boy said:

I'm curious--I know there are plenty of collectors who live by the "low grade is better than no grade" mantra, but in those cases they buy low grade books simply because they're (much) cheaper. But are there any collectors who actually prefer the aesthetic of low grade books? I sometimes think a Bronze Age book in fine condition, with plenty of spine ticks, is more appealing than a copy of that same book that looks new off the rack. The defects give the book a kind of patina, a sense of history. This is a book that someone has read. 

(This existential collecting crisis brought to you by my continued obsessive concern over incredibly slight corner damage in 9.4 - 9.6 books, which is imperceptible when not looking at a blown up photograph.)

Interesting topic...

My entire collection is made up of lower grade books and for multiple reasons.  Primarily cost, but I do believe there is an aesthetic value to my collecting habits as well.  For instance, with popular bronze and copper age books, I love VF+ (8.5) grades. I swear there are a ton of 8.5's that look like 9.4's without the price tag.  Additionally, as a somewhat older collector, a VF+ (to me) is what I would expect to have purchased off of the comic rack at my local drugstore or newsstand back in the day, so yes, there is a 'charm' about lower grade books.  

Funny story - I think it was 2 years ago last month when I deliberately bought a very low grade copy of Batman #251 (yes, I overpaid) because of the very reason you mentioned... the aesthetics of it. I wrote about this earlier, but I kind of 'fell in love' with this copy because it represented all that I felt and missed from my childhood. 

A well worn, well read and well loved copy.

 

 

Edited June 8 by Hibou

[DC#]

On 6/7/2024 at 10:26 AM, auboy77 said:

I would take low grade over restored all day, every day , —no matter how good the restored book looks. I’m an “original” condition guy.  I would take a 1.0 unrestored over a 9.8 restored . 

What if it were a choice between a low-grade restored or nothing?    What if the only way you could ever land a Batman 1 or a Detective 31 (or whatever your passion book might be) was a 1.0 Restored?    

[bc]

On 6/7/2024 at 5:50 PM, DC# said:

What if it were a choice between a low-grade restored or nothing?    What if the only way you could ever land a Batman 1 or a Detective 31 (or whatever your passion book might be) was a 1.0 Restored?    

I'll take a restored copy (with some criteria) in my price range rather than nothing at all when it comes to early GA Timely books.

-bc

 

[universal soldier]

I have ranges based on the era and whether of not the book is a "key". As my collecting habits move further and further away from moderns and even copper, my standards drop some. I try and buy the highest grade I can afford but have a minimum that I'll accept. Certain things like rust and water damage are stoppers for me but minor tears and creasing or even small missing pieces don't bother me as much. I get a hard on for a well placed date stamp. 

[grendelbo]

On 6/7/2024 at 6:42 PM, universal soldier said:

I get a hard on for a well placed date stamp. 

[KCOComics]

 

I think it depends on what I'm collecting.  I have a run of High grade Bronze horror. For SA keys I've bought lower grade copies and slowly upgraded over time.  And then GA books I'm generally open to lower grade. 

These days I'm primarily buying raw books from the 50s. Post code and pre code mostly and usually nothing crazy expensive.  I'm perfectly happy with low grade readers. I do like to have presentable covers because I honestly just enjoy flipping through boxes of old books and occasionally reading some stories.  

 

Edited June 8 by KCOComics

[Hudson]

On 6/7/2024 at 5:50 PM, DC# said:

What if it were a choice between a low-grade restored or nothing?    What if the only way you could ever land a Batman 1 or a Detective 31 (or whatever your passion book might be) was a 1.0 Restored?    

If the price was right, I would take it, even if it was a 0.5 restored.   

[Happy Noodle Boy]

On 6/7/2024 at 9:52 PM, Hudson said:

If the price was right, I would take it, even if it was a 0.5 restored.   

On the subject of restoration--I think there are instances of color touch (I'm talking strictly amateur level color touch here, essentially a person with a marker or a pen) that weren't meant as "restoration" but rather were just someone trying in the easiest way possible to make their book look a little nicer. In fact I seem to remember taking a marker to some spine tics on a book when I was maybe 12 years old. I wasn't doing it to try to increase the resale value and dupe some future buyer, I was a kid who just wanted his book to look a little nicer. Obviously we can't know the intent of every person who adds color touch to a cover, but it seems to me that the intent isn't always nefarious. As an example, I'd rather have a golden age book that some kid took a marker to in order to pretty up some spine tics than a golden age book that a kid wrote their name on.

[rumrunner71]

Interesting question and responses. I don't know that I prefer low grade so much as I am not bothered by it. I'd rather have several low grade issues I really want than just one high grade one I want. But it depends. Some of the issues, it's the covers that I'm really after, so a high grade is preferred. Some, it's the historical significance of it (thinking platinum or early gold), so the grade isn't as big of a deal.

I agree with what others have said about the anxiety, too. I don't want the worry of not being able to handle a book because of its high grade and value. Of course, I don't want the worry of a page breaking off a really low grade one either, so there's that.

 

[rumrunner71]

On 6/7/2024 at 12:55 PM, JollyComics said:

Way back in 2016 at C2E2, I thought about buying FF #1 CGC 4.0 for only $2000.  I kept saying next time and it is NOW no next time that I already regretted for the rest of my life.

I've gotten burned by this coming and going. First, by losing out on books because I kept saying "next time" and then by spending too much to stave off regret with other books. There could be a whole thread about the ones that got away. Wait...is there a whole thread about the ones that got away??

[godzilla43]

I hate "low grade is better than no grade" mantra. It is used by dealers trying to sell their low grade common silver, bronze and even copper books. Sure if you are like example a Spider-man collector who have never spend over 100$ in single issue and have opportunity to buy a fair copy of AF15 for 1/10 market price or you are trying to put together some golden age run and finally you find a fair copy of some book that you are missing then yes low grade is better than no grade.

Collect comics in a grade that you are happy with!

Edited June 8 by godzilla43

[AJD]

How can this thread be almost a day old with no @Point Five appearance?

[Point Five]

On 6/8/2024 at 9:09 AM, AJD said:

How can this thread be almost a day old with no @Point Five appearance?

Right? I'm crafting an absolutely incredible comment, it's like 12 full screens of text. Should be ready next Thursday.

 

[Buzzetta]

On 6/7/2024 at 1:26 PM, auboy77 said:

I would take low grade over restored all day, every day , —no matter how good the restored book looks. I’m an “original” condition guy.  I would take a 1.0 unrestored over a 9.8 restored . 

For me that depends on the restoration.

Say book X is a copy of Superman 14 which I would still like to own... 

Say book X in a 7.0 with minor color touch is $$

Say book X in a 4.0 with no resto is $$$

 

 I have no problem opening my door to that 7.0 with minor color touch. 

[Stefan_W]

I tried separating out low grade books into a bin called 'Low Grade is Better than No Grade." I brought these out three shows in a row and did not sell a single comic from this group.

I am sure there is a market for this stuff, but that market does not exist here. In my area people prefer to pay low grade prices for books that are in nice condition.