Fantastic Four Collecting Thread! 33 33

[pickycollector]

On 3/14/2022 at 1:22 PM, WernerVonDoom said:

Well, here's my 1-100:

Missing = 4

and here?

[WernerVonDoom]

On 3/15/2022 at 7:17 PM, pickycollector said:

and here?

1, 4, 5, 23  All the biggies

[WernerVonDoom]

[Gman65NJ]

Grabbed a copy of FF 10 so finally have a “complete” run starting with issue 8. 🎉🥳🎊

[silverseeker]

On 3/15/2022 at 4:24 PM, oakman29 said:

Yep. 40 years ago I went for the ASM 1, AF 15, F.F. 1, Showcase 4. 22 etc. Figuring that the main keys will always be harder to come by, so I got those outta the way. Not thinking that they would be astronomically expensive later, just thought it would be the best way to move through my runs. The prices are just a bonus.

This is definitely the way to go, and I wish I had this approach back when I got into collecting in 2000...

I went for quantity over quality because I wasn't ready to drop big $$$ on books, but if I had the stones to focus on the big keys first I'd be very well off...looking at GPA, you could have gotten AF #15, ASM #1, FF #1 and X-Men #1 in CGC 6.0 for around $12,500 total back in 2002.

[WernerVonDoom]

On 3/16/2022 at 1:07 PM, silverseeker said:

This is definitely the way to go, and I wish I had this approach back when I got into collecting in 2000...

I went for quantity over quality because I wasn't ready to drop big $$$ on books, but if I had the stones to focus on the big keys first I'd be very well off...looking at GPA, you could have gotten AF #15, ASM #1, FF #1 and X-Men #1 in CGC 6.0 for around $12,500 total back in 2002.

Another problem for me I was a FF high grade only collector, and I only ever saw VGs of the key books. So even if I had the $, I probably wouldn't have bought them. So dumb.

[silverseeker]

On 3/16/2022 at 2:35 PM, WernerVonDoom said:

Another problem for me I was a FF high grade only collector, and I only ever saw VGs of the key books. So even if I had the $, I probably wouldn't have bought them. So dumb.

I'm with you there, and am generally in the market for books in 6.0 or higher.

Another thing that's held me back is being a picky collector, and I still remember passing on a nice raw Strange Tales #110 in 7.0ish that had a small water stain on the back cover and a CGC 8.5 Tales to Astonish #44 that had more pre-Marvel chipping than I liked...asking price on those books was around $700 and $850 respectively, and this was a few years before both books caught fire as a result of the MCU phenomenon...

[WernerVonDoom]

On 3/16/2022 at 3:20 PM, silverseeker said:

I'm with you there, and am generally in the market for books in 6.0 or higher.

Another thing that's held me back is being a picky collector, and I still remember passing on a nice raw Strange Tales #110 in 7.0ish that had a small water stain on the back cover and a CGC 8.5 Tales to Astonish #44 that had more pre-Marvel chipping than I liked...asking price on those books was around $700 and $850 respectively, and this was a few years before both books caught fire as a result of the MCU phenomenon...

That's funny, I remember being at a show and finding a Tales to Astonish #44 in 8.0 or so and they wanted $85. I only had $75 left in my pocket and they wouldn't take a check for the rest. Ugh

[silverseeker]

On 3/16/2022 at 3:26 PM, WernerVonDoom said:

That's funny, I remember being at a show and finding a Tales to Astonish #44 in 8.0 or so and they wanted $85. I only had $75 left in my pocket and they wouldn't take a check for the rest. Ugh

I'd think a $10 check would be pretty low-risk...crazy how such a small part of the transaction had such a big impact.

[supapimp]

On 3/16/2022 at 2:35 PM, WernerVonDoom said:

Another problem for me I was a FF high grade only collector, and I only ever saw VGs of the key books. So even if I had the $, I probably wouldn't have bought them. So dumb.

Yup. I never bought low to mid grade books in the Y2K decade, unless they were the mega blue chip keys. Dumb. Dumb. Dumb. 

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

Now this surprises me. Either these books have cooled, or buyers don’t want Stan’s scribbling. I thought I remembered a FF 3 in 9.0 going for $20k in the Fall Heritage auction 

Edited March 17, 2022 by GreatCaesarsGhost

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

Ah here’s the FF 3 9.0 that went for $20k. Seriously, do Stan Lee autographs negatively affect hammer prices?

 

 

 

Edited March 17, 2022 by GreatCaesarsGhost

[Professor K]

Anybody here win the #3 4.0 last night on comicconnect for 2,600? If so sorry I bid you up 300. I won a 5.0 for 700 and change about 4 years ago on e bay. They never sent it to me and I still haven't got one. 

[lighthouse]

On 3/16/2022 at 9:36 PM, GreatCaesarsGhost said:

Ah here’s the FF 3 9.0 that reed for $20k. Seriously, do Stan Lee autographs negatively affect hammer prices?

 

 

 

Stan sig can turn a $100 book into a $1,000 book. But I sure as heck wouldn’t want his scribbling on any high grade book I owned. 

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

On 3/17/2022 at 8:40 AM, lighthouse said:

Stan sig can turn a $100 book into a $1,000 book. But I sure as heck wouldn’t want his scribbling on any high grade book I owned. 

Maybe that’s the way it’s viewed in general by collectors. Interesting 

thanks for answering 

Edited March 17, 2022 by GreatCaesarsGhost

[october]

On 3/17/2022 at 8:40 AM, lighthouse said:

Stan sig can turn a $100 book into a $1,000 book. But I sure as heck wouldn’t want his scribbling on any high grade book I owned. 

This. Coupled with the fact that he signed about a billion comics. His sig is everywhere. Guessing a lot of people would prefer a clean blue label copy.

[lighthouse]

Comic celebrity passes away. “Oh no, now it’s too late to get him to sign my book”

Stan Lee passes away. “Oh thank the one above all. His reign of terror is ended. Books around the world are finally safe from his magic marker.”

[Straw-Man]

b.c. scribbling is the way to go.  i'm not fond of the sig series stuff, but this one of mine i love.

 

[namisgr]

On 3/17/2022 at 11:47 AM, Straw-Man said:

b.c. scribbling is the way to go.  i'm not fond of the sig series stuff, but this one of mine i love.

Agreed, either the back cover or the splash page is fine with me.  Especially when it's from the writer and not the cover artist.

[Pantodude]

On 3/17/2022 at 12:36 AM, GreatCaesarsGhost said:

do Stan Lee autographs negatively affect hammer prices?

Edit:  Dunno what happened recently, maybe limited to really expensive hi-grade keys in these trying times, but I mainly suspect cooling in general and/or who happened to be bidding last night.  Checked other results.  There was some cooling across other titles, so who knows. 

Edited March 17, 2022 by Pantodude