Roger66

Long term I see both being very equal - 6 or 1/2 dozen so to speak. IF you have 25k to spend right now (hypothetically) you could possibly find an X-MEN #1 CGC 5.0 or FF#1 CGC 5.0 at about 25k each give or take a grand or 2. Between those 2 I am honestly torn but I would prefer the FF1 CGC 5.0 over the X-MEN#1 CGC 5.0 because the exponential growth of X-MEN #1 in the past 3 to 6 months compared to the slower growth and less on census of FF1 - makes me feel FF1 has more room to grow in the future. My 2-cents..

The real question I have for you is how much money are you prepared to drop today? If you told me you had 50k disposable income and you don't mind buying SA keys and holding them for awhile (perhaps a couple of years at least if not longer) - I might steer you into a mid-grade X-MEN1 and mid-grade TOS39 and with your approx 5k change I would buy whatever nice looking lower grade Hulk 181 (blue label) you can afford. If you told me you had 5 to 10k - I don't think you are going to make much of a dent in the SA keys these days and thus will not be happy. As you should know you are buying d

I disagree. Everyone is pan-handling in the same narrow river. There are no surprises or nuggets to be found any longer. Your above sage picks are an example. Everyone knows or should know of them by now. I would avoid collecting SA keys as a rookie now unless you have a ton of disposable income. Unless you want to drop 35k and own every important SA key in say a point 5 or 1.5 range - go ahead - but truth be told - if and when the market adjusts - it will be those ragged often incomplete looking over-priced low grade keys that take the first big head on impact. Jumping on a bandwagon i

For those of you who haven't guessed or intuitively figured out by now, there is a lot of new money being parked in the collectible market. Covid19 factors including rich folk not spending money on travel, fine wines, expensive dinners, clothing etc - are looking to park their money in collectibles. What we are experiencing feels unprecedented for sure. It is very easy if not simple to sit on the sidelines and call this a bubble ready to burst as opposed to continuing to collect and enjoy your comics. Only time will tell where this hobby will be in a year or more - only time and not peanut

Pedigree vs Non-Pedigree. I have seen enough non-pedigree books, which look as good as a corresponding designated Pedigree. I would not pay a premium-bump in price if I can own the same looking book in the same grade with the same PQ for less money. Many collectors had and still have exceptional looking raw copies of Golden Age books but will never ask for (let alone receive) a Pedigree status upon submission. While it can be nice to see that tiny print (Pedigree) on the label and feel a swell of pride - I am not spending more for such a copy when I can get my fix with a similar non-pedigr

That will have to be one hell'of'a'crash for prices to come down that low. And if so perhaps most will be too busy buying week old bread and questionable cold cuts to bother with the complete inanity of buying comics.

Your succinct take on why you collect is likely a common one these days. For many collectors it doesn't matter about 'the films, appreciating assets or interest rates" since they are emotionally invested. So it will indeed be very interesting to see what happens to this hobby once the films either stop or go bad and the economics of investing money into comics is no longer a viable alternative for those inclined to see this hobby only as an investment vehicle.

Another huge motivating factor in Silver Age keys jumping the line to higher spots is purely generational. Old timers (say over 60+) appreciate Spider-Man, Iron-Man, Hulk & the FF. Middle-Ager say mid-40s to late 50s can appreciate all those books plus emphasize the X-MEN, Avengers and Daredevil more. Yet the largest group of collectors IMO are those under 45, who are the ones who really drive the market now with their ever increasing online CIRCADIAN presence and buying power. Lest not forget that 1960 is now 60 years ago - which is 2 to 3 lifetimes for some young collectors . For th

“I see it all perfectly; there are two possible situations — one can either do this or that. My honest opinion and my friendly advice is this: do it or do not do it — you will regret both.”― Soren Kierkegaard, Either/Or: A Fragment of Life

The bottom line (as stated by other informative Boardies here) is you MUST READ THE GRADER'S LABEL and get a true feel if not better understanding of what you want to collect. I personally loathe incomplete copies for example and stay away from them like the plague but their value is ever-increasing as complete copies become out of reach for the average consumer. There are unscrupulous comic sellers, who purposely IMO keep the small print on the CGC label blurry or hard to read - so as to 'innocently' lure the unknowing / unsuspecting into bidding or buying outright. In the end would you

I think 160k. Why not? Let's push the envelope on this super-nova key and dream large. The only thing holding back prices on keys these days is one's imagination, modesty, mortgage & alimony payments and the cerebellum. So I dream the big dream and say 160k and 2 kidneys.

Not sure anyone mentioned it here but DEEP SPACE 9 is a great worthy series... might even be the best of all the Star Treks for continuing story lines, character development, plot twists and emotional impact etc

Well said. For me when you are spending potentially a ton of money on comics, I consider the long term viability of said investment. When you consider & compare the overall population of comics from the Silver Age to the Copper Age it is likely 1000 to 1 in favor of Copper Age with a LOT less in the top grading tier in Silver (just hazarding a guess). However if you get no excitement whatsoever from a Hulk1 vs some late Bronze or Copper age gems - than you must go with your heart . When comics were cheaper this discussion was academic - however nowadays you need a 2nd mortgage to make

When I spend say a few thousand on a comic or comics I always ask myself is there any other book(s) I would rather own or save for then the prospective book(s) in front of me. Right now you can put ASM300 CGC 9.6 or 9.8 money into so so many other cooler, scarcer and much better long term investment keys. I mean last night on HA you had a nice copy of Showcase 4 and Hulk 1 sell at rather affordable prices so far as if you forego your ASM300s you are a chunk on the way to owning either of those fantastic keys. If this hot potato market cools down there will be a ton of ASM300s for any collec