ASM #14 - Will i receive a nice book or expect the worse?

[Rainet]

Hello everyone. I am new to the forum. I started collecting comics especially ASM almost 20 years ago. Now i'm slowly getting back into the fun madness of collecting that i missed so much.

 

 

I have been in search for a nice 5-6 grade ASM 14 for a while. I had a full intention to only go for a CGC graded book.But behold , this auction came up.I used the buy it now for this auction because it felt too good to pass up.

 

http://pages.ebay.com/viewitem/viewitem_popup.html?domain=ebay.com

 

 

Now that i won it, Im afraid maybe i was too hasty hoping to get lucky. So far everything seems good. I emailed the seller asking if there were any water damage, tape, wrinkles, chip corners etc.

 

He replied

There isn't to be any wrinkles water damage, tape or writing in the book, Very nice book Thanks hope this helps

 

I also asked why he was selling?, and replied

 

Well I collect too I'm missing like 10 issues of amazing spiderman, I sold it because i'm restoring a chevelle and I bought another car just the other day and i have another baby due any day and just needed money i really hated to sell this issue but all well I'll buy another one. And i know how to ship it it will definely go out safe.

 

He has nice feedback but mostly car auctions. So i may get extremely lucky with a nice copy or no. I looked over the scan now with a closer look, it seems to have more dull faded color. It could be just the scan but who knows. Any thoughts?

 

I'll find out soon enough when i receive the book in a few days.

[silverweb]

The book looks great. I hope that it turns up that nice and without any kind of restoration. Use Paypal and pay only with a CREDIT CARD! Don't funnel it out of your bank account. This way you are protected by both your Credit card and the Paypal plan. If he sends you a bait and switch, you can chargeback on your credit card and not have to wait for Paypal's 2-3 month resolution process.

 

Heed my words!

 

[Moondog]

Very interesting. The book only had 7 hits and 1 bid. It clearly looks better than a VG and you paid a VG price. The high opening bid obviously kept everyone away.

 

I believe you got lucky. The back is very clean and the interior pages are look supple and sharp. Looks like it could be an 8.0 or so.

 

Now, if it's only a legitimate sale...

[piper]

Good Luck. Please let us know the outcome.

 

[Point Five]

OK, this is weird. Enlarge the back cover scan and tell me what you guys think? It looks retouched to me. Look at the color in the margins, especially at the bottom and the right edge...it looks digitally "painted" around the coupon and the blocks of type, and is not an exact match of the cream color. Is it me?

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...bayphotohosting

 

My first thought was that the auction was a hijacked account, but the format matches an auction from last month that the seller got positive feedback for. Not sure what to think, but I'd proceed with extreme caution on this one.

 

--Jon

[ft88]

The middle edge looks to have a small tear through the book and one that was probably repaired as both the front and back cover are discolored there.

 

Add to that cropped scans and it may not look as good in hand as hoped. Pages sure look nice though but count them all and check for trimming on the top or right front edge. If its just a tear seal, even though its officially restored, its not a bad price for what looks to be a decent book.

 

Ed

[CJ]

Looks like you got a better then 50% chance of an excellent book

 

Let us all know

[namisgr]

On the Bay, I avoid any seller who crops his comic scans so that one or more edges are not shown. This is a hiding technique, and it makes me wonder what (else) the seller may be hiding.

 

Let us know when you've got the book in hand.

[rodan57]

OK, this is weird. Enlarge the back cover scan and tell me what you guys think? It looks retouched to me. Look at the color in the margins, especially at the bottom and the right edge...it looks digitally "painted" around the coupon and the blocks of type, and is not an exact match of the cream color. Is it me?

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...bayphotohosting

 

My first thought was that the auction was a hijacked account, but the format matches an auction from last month that the seller got positive feedback for. Not sure what to think, but I'd proceed with extreme caution on this one.

 

--Jon

 

Could be bad news. At first, I thought it was just period discolouration which can be uneven. But, look at the list of artists at the bottom. Part of the G in George looks like it has been painted over.

 

Dennis

 

I've gone back and edited this for tone. I don't want it to sound, "Oh, wow, what an interesting discovery." I would like to be wrong on this one.

[Rainet]

Updated - I tried to link a pic from the auction in my original post which didn't work. Even though Point Five linked it. I'll link it again here.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...bayphotohosting

 

Thanks for the opinions everybody. Definetely opened my eyes more. Here's the update. I emailed him back asking about the cropped pic and if there was any trimming involved. He said no and also he has more ASM if im interested. This relieved me somewhat but obviously one step at a time here. He shipped it out today with insurance and a tracking number which is good.

 

What bugs me is that i am generally a very smart ebayer. And i literally acted before i gave it thought because of the nice pic and his good feedback, and wanted to jump in before someone else bid on it. Hopefully this will not be an expensive lesson. Live and learn.

 

So far he seems genuine in his responses. He responded to all my questions in a timely manner. Another thing i notice is the color of the cover. In most pics of #14 ive seen spider-man's suit had a blackish color which now is blue.

 

There's two possible scenerios i thought of. One is he tinted the color to make it nice(in his view) for the auction. Which is fine as long as when receive it, it's in it's natural state.

 

Or two, which would be my worst fear that it was touched up or restored. All i can do now is wait. So far communication wise everything has been good. Knock on wood. I may get it Saturday, but most likely Mon or Tues. Thanks for everybody's feedback. It was greatly appreciated. I don't feel so alone in this matter at least in spirit. I will keep everyone updated.

[ft88]

I wouldn't worry about that, I'm sure that has more to do with the picture/scan used than anything else.

[Point Five]

Good luck mate.

[silverweb]

Hope it turns out. I know how it is when you see a "wonderful" Buy it Now on Ebay. Did you charge it to a credit card as I recommended?

[Silver]

I bought this book on eBay a year or so ago. Really small scan, low feedback seller, not much info about the book . The seller described it as good. It just *looked* better from what I could see. Take a look:

 

 

Sometimes you score and get lucky on eBay...this was one of those times. Oh, I paid $35 for this book.

 

I hope you have the same experience!

[Point Five]

Wow, that's awesome Silver! I love ebay scores like that...

[jeranimal]

I've also learned (the hard and expensive way) that ebay is a gamble. It's easy to get caught up in the ebay hype when you find something you really want. Next time, ask the seller to email you uncropped high-res pics and clarify the return policy.

 

Looks like you got a better then 50% chance of an excellent book. Let us all know

Like the man said, you've got a better than average shot at a nice book.

 

Good luck...we'll keep our fingers crossed.

[Rainet]

Ok. Here's the update.

I purposely waited to post until this whole situation was resolved. I received the book last Saturday. However my worst fear came true. Not only was the book touched up. Especially in the top left behind spidey's head but also where it say's wow! just wait till you see the green goblin. Mainly the black. But it was also trimmed on the right side. Ft88, you were correct about the tear. It was in the pages and not the front or back. The tear look to be smelted together if that's even a word. So basically it was a restored book.

 

Obviously i was upset and shot an email back, that i wanted a refund. He was for the most part actually understanding. He said he didn't know. Who knows maybe he didn't, but i told him that most collectors that are willing to spend over $100 on a single book will know a thing or 2 about restorations. But he did shot back to ask questions before the bid and not after. He did have a major point there. And i agree with that. However he did say it wasn't trimmed, (which it was) to my question asking if it been touched up, restored or trimmed, right after i won.

So even though he said there wasn't any wrinkles, water damage, tape or writing in the book he never really answered my question about touch up or restoration.

 

I told him to keep $35 which paid for his shipping and fees and maybe a little extra. Basically i just wanted resolve this as quickly as possible.

He said he will refund the the money but only $100 on Monday then $200 today. Stating that he was tight. Nevermind that i just paid him , but im guessing he wanted to pay $100, then when he receive the book pay the rest so he won't be getting screwed either.

 

I do realize i opened myself to getting screwed in more ways then one, but everything ran smoothly. He paypaled the $100. I sent the book priority mail with confirmation and insurance and i got the $200 just a while ago.

 

I am just grateful to get out of this whole thing unscathed and boy did i ever learn my lesson. I did tell him to maybe bring the book to a LCS to get a grade or an estimate if he didn't realize the book's condtion, because even if i asked the questions before i bidded he still would not have given me the correct answer. So hopefully he will put it in his description or the very least now knows what to answer to buyer's questions. So as bad as this all got, he definetely not the worsy ebayer. I could of easily gotten screwed, but i did get my money back.(at least most of it)

 

Sorry for the long rambling post. But now you know the conclusion.

[Moondog]

Well, could have been a lot worse.

 

Now, be more careful next time!

 

 

[Point Five]

Ok. Here's the update...

 

Thanks for the update, friend. Sorry for the outcome, but at least he made good on the refund. I can sympathize with that scary feeling...sending a dud/overgraded/restored book back to an unknown seller and just "hoping" he isn't going to keep both book and money...not a great position to be in. Sounds like it went about as well as it could have.

 

Anyway, "welcome to the boards", & hope you stick around! And of course, there are plenty of great sellers here if you're still in the market for some SA Spideys.....

[Rainet]

Well, could have been a lot worse.

 

Now, be more careful next time!

 

 

 

Don't you worry. I will, especially with this little diddy right here.

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/Rare-Batman-Comic-se...1QQcmdZViewItem

 

I'll make sure to ask all my questions before i bid

Free shipping too!