Which would you buy

[whomerjay]

One of the reasons I focus on GA:

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=6591224408&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWN%3AIT&rd=1

 

which I bought, and

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=32739&item=6591225197

 

which I thought about then passed as the bidding started to climb.

 

These two auctions, both from a fairly reputable seller whose raw grading is probably reasonable, ended within 10 min of each other.

 

I would want and pay more for the Wonder 7 than the ASM 18 (not to demean ASM 18- I like the book and already have one slabbed). That the interest in (and final price for) the ASM 18 was considerably more than the Wonder 7 tells me the GA market is still greatly underappreciated and, IMO, offers significant bargains quite often. Not the case with a lot of SA, especially ASM. And it's not simply a question of the greater demand for ASM justifies the price. I think the prices fetched these days are out of whack with supply, and that includes every grade. The dealer buy-sell spread on the ASM 18 8.0 has to be considerably more than that for the Wonder 7 8.0. Moreover, the worth of your GA buys are more tolerant of 1.0 overgrade than are the SA. If the ASM 18 turns out to be a 7.0 instead of an 8.0, what does its value decrease to- 70% of the 8.0 price? There are 100s of ASM 18s in 8.0, even more in 7.0. How many of the Wonders in 8.0? In 7.0? How much does the average GA collector care about the difference between a 7.0 and 8.0? The SA collector?

 

Should I want a nice ASM 18 in 8.0 or higher anytime in the future I doubt I'll have much trouble finding one. And prob at a cheaper price.

 

 

I know I'm preaching to the choir here in the GA forum, I just thought these two auctions reinforced a fundamental belief I have re: the market and why I think smart money is on GA. Of course, I am making the assumption that more of the comic buying population will ultimately come to appreciate everything about GA books that I do, from both a collecting and investment standpoint, an assumption that I don't think is very risky.

[Timulty]

I always go with the item that is most difficult to locate. In this case, Wonder Comics 7. There are just too many ASM 18 in the grade you are looking for, so you have a chance to get it at a nice price. By the way, really, really good buy!!

[*paull*]

As for future value of both, who knows, but right now I think you made the right decision. I know which one I'd rather have.

[skybolt]

I always go with the item that is most difficult to locate. In this case, Wonder Comics 7. There are just too many ASM 18 in the grade you are looking for, so you have a chance to get it at a nice price. By the way, really, really good buy!!

 

I agree. I love Spider-Man, but since there are so many slabbed copies of that book out there, why take a chance on a raw copy that could very well come back a 6.5.

[nearmint]

Nice Wonder 7. I might have gone after that one myself!

[Aman619]

you pose a classic tough question. hard to find obscure to most GA book in very collectible condition, to a relatively early issue of a wildly popular title. In this case however, Skybold nailed my opinion: why risk buying a raw copy when there are so many slabbed copies around that you can literally pick your shoe size you are comfortable with, and even shop around for the price you like?

 

The Wonder has a cool cover too. But for me, I have zero interest in Wonder... so YOU made the correct decision IMO for you. I would have passed on both.

[jimjum12]

Nice Wonder.One other bonus about golden age books is their strong TRADE value if you attend large conventions.You'd be lucky to get half guide in trade for the Spidey,while you could get full guide and maybe more for the Wonder.One interesting tidbit of info about the Spidey 18 is that it is believed to contain the first segregated urban scene in mainstream superhero comics.I couldn't swear to it but I think that assumption may be correct.GOD BLESS...

 

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

[RareHighGrade]

The same seller's Wonder 3 looks real nice too, and it is a war cover.

[the blob]

Maybe it's because the prospect of there actually being no restoration on the Wonder 7 seems sort of remote? I wonder how things would work out if they were both in slabs?

 

Wonder 7 is $311 in VF in guide.

 

ASM 18 is $376.

 

So basically they both roughly went for 50% of guide (Wonder under by a couple of sheckles, ASM over)

 

Of course, the fact that Wonder is a mere $311 in VF makes me think that maybe this isn't such an uncommon book?

 

of course, the ginormous red flag i see on these auctions (and I know nothing about this seller) is that he sells slabs of similar sorts of books, why aren't these slabbed? One would think that encapsulating the Wonder 7 would probably result in it selling for closer to (or more than) guide.

[jbcomicbox]

The same seller's Wonder 3 looks real nice too, and it is a war cover.

 

I put together the run of Wonder 1-20. Neat books. Sort of a "collapsed run" of Exciting or Startling...going from Schomburg to Ingels to airbrush covers....

 

jon

[whomerjay]

thanks guys, I knew purveyors of this forum would like the Wonder (and thankful no one else bid on it).

 

blob-

 

I ahve enough confidence with this seller to not get into the "why didn't he slab this?" paranoia. I doubt the book has resto. For other sellers I certainly consider this. In this particular instance, because this seller is particularly sharp, I suspect this book is technically a 7.5 to 8.0 but it has some flaw that the seller doesn't care for or thinks might make it hard to get a FMV 8.0 price. We'll see, but I'm not too worried as it's unlikely I won't like the book at half the 8.0 price.

[the blob]

ok, like i said, i don't know this seller. he seems adamant about no resto, and i wouldn't think HE had the resto done, but you never know what someone may have done 20 years ago that is hard to detect like subtle sealing on the spine, slight CT, staple cleaning/changing, etc.

 

plus, other buyers may not have your confidence or insight. i look at what he's selling and it seems like he sends these sorts of books in for slabbing, so i ask myself, why not this one? is he maybe worried about it? I'm worried about a few pre-CGC GA books in my "semi-permanent collection" and am really hesistant to spend $50-75 slabbing what may have subtle restoration.

 

50% of guide for a book that could come back a 6.0 given the seemingly random nature of GA grading isn't super low. I guess the real issue you raised is why people seemingly had more confidence in the ASM 18 stacking up.

[nearmint]

The same seller's Wonder 3 looks real nice too, and it is a war cover.

 

Maybe it's this guy's copy...