Nostalgia_101

I located this comic among my junk pile unbagged. I bought it off a spinner rack in 1969 and when I bagged and boxed my comics in the 1980s I didn't include it among my most valuable. I looked up the value in comicbase and it says it's worth $370, which is a lot more than these reprint issues go for. But, I'm now convinced this comic is something hard core silver age completists might be missing. There is one original story in this issue. The final installment of "Tales of the Watcher." This backup feature was discontinued in Silver Surfer #7 and apparently they still had a completed piece of work and published it in among reprints a few months later. This is right after Silver Surfer went from a 25 cent large issue to a smaller 15 cent format and there was no space for the backup feature. The story is reprinted in the Masterworks volume, "Marvel Rarities." Anyone agree/disagree this should be included in a complete collection of Marvel Silver Age comics?

I have a couple of CGC graded comics I want to sell. I'm having trouble taking a proper picture of them because of the reflections from the case. Are there some imaging tips for doing this right? I'm using an iPhone and/or an iPad and just can't seem to get an image right.

The very best feature of my 4.5 Journey into Mystery #83 is the color. No fading and it really pops and looks vivid. But it was my comic as a kid and I read it and stacked it in my (dark) closet with all the other comics. It stayed there all through my military service and thankfully mom didn't throw away my comics. It never got bagged until around late 1980's when comic book shops were more common and they sold that stuff. It didn't get graded until 2011 and the notes are all an accumulation of small defects like the corners not being perfectly square and some color breaks along the edges of the cover. My Amazing Fantasy #15 had the Marvel chipping but this copy doesn't have any. I've had it framed on my office wall since I got it graded. It displays nice and looks good because of the color as I mentioned. I really hope someone buys it to keep. The super high grades on HA are so out of reach for the average collector, but I think this one could go to someone who'll appreciate owning it a long time. For others just joining, here's the link to the HA auction happening now: http://comics.ha.com/c/search.zx?type=friend-consignorlive-notice&saleNo=122007&collection=103&FC=0

The very best feature of my 4.5 Journey into Mystery #83 is the color. No fading and it really pops and looks vivid. But it was my comic as a kid and I read it and stacked it in my (dark) closet with all the other comics. It stayed there all through my military service and thankfully mom didn't throw away my comics. It never got bagged until around late 1980's when comic book shops were more common and they sold that stuff. It didn't get graded until 2011 and the notes are all an accumulation of small defects like the corners not being perfectly square and some color breaks along the edges of the cover. My Amazing Fantasy #15 had the Marvel chipping but this copy doesn't have any. I've had it framed on my office wall since I got it graded. It displays nice and looks good because of the color as I mentioned. I really hope someone buys it to keep. The super high grades on HA are so out of reach for the average collector, but I think this one could go to someone who'll appreciate owning it a long time. For others just joining, here's the link to the HA auction happening now: http://comics.ha.com/c/search.zx?type=friend-consignorlive-notice&saleNo=122007&collection=103&FC=0

If anyone is looking for a Journey into Mystery #83, the one I (actually my dad) bought the same day as Amazing Fantasy #15 is on HA now. http://comics.ha.com/c/search.zx?type=friend-consignorlive-notice&saleNo=122007&collection=103&FC=0 It's time for someone else to enjoy it. It's a 4.5, but it's a one owner copy. Ironic that I learned to read using this comic and others and I'm using any money to pay for eye surgery so I can see clearly again. Placing my bet on UCLA Stein Eye Institute.

I'm one of those kids who learned to read on comics. It started with my father reading me the comics in the newspaper every day. Since just one page wasn't enough, he decided to start buying comic books and of course I kept them into my adult life. I have memories of the first time I personally purchased comics off the spinner rack. I have the originals, but they are in rough shape. But I've purchased a few nice copies of CGC graded versions which I've framed and made into my wall display in my office. Photo attached. So, the story of these comics is that I'd collected a red wagon's worth of pop bottles and hauled them to the local deli where you got 2 cents a bottle in 1967. I took my "earnings" and went to the supermarket where the familiar silver age spinner rack displayed the latest. The was summer of 1967, June or July I think but here's what was on the rack. Tales to Astonish #95, Tales of Suspense #93, Amazing Spider-Man #53, Avengers #45, Thor #145, and Fantastic Four #68. I handed over my dollar and my comics collection began. I used to have my original four key Marvels on display like this, Amazing Fantasy #15, Spider-Man #1, Tales of Suspense #39 and Journey into Mystery #83. But my memories of them are vague and mostly associated with my father and brother using them to teach me to read. I've finally decided to sell them and they are on Heritage Auctions today. This is the link: http://comics.ha.com/c/search.zx?type=friend-consignorlive-notice&saleNo=122003&collection=72&FC=0 I don't think they are any more valuable because I am their original owner, but if any of the members here are interested in buying these keys they are being auctioned now. I hope someone else can enjoy them as long as I have.

Thanks to the input of many on these chat boards, I’ve finished the wall display in my media room. My old and defaced issues of Captain America, Hulk, Iron Man and Sub-Mariner in regular frames, and four other issues I had graded just because they hold some special memories.

I believe this was Ross Andru’s first work on Spider-Man, from May, 1968. (A survivor from my childhood collection.)

I stopped reading comics at about age 17 when I was shipped overseas for military service. I had subscriptions to Amazing Spider-Man and Iron Man which my mother diligently stacked away for me in a closet for six years. This was in the pre-comic book shop days. The comics were mailed folded in half in a brown wrapper then, so none of them are in good condition today. I missed most of the Bronze Age, but for some reason when I got married and settled down, I decided to try and find all the back issues I’d missed “growing up.” My wife was from Chico, CA and this led me to a place called, “The Penny Ranch.” It wasn’t a comic shop, but it was a gold mine of back issues sold at 10 for a $1 in 1981. Among the back issues I picked up was this one. The cover depicted the silver age Ant-Man (or so I thought) so I bought it. Today, it’s probably a key because of the movies, so I had it encapsulated.

I don't want to submit the ASM 28 after reading the grader's notes on the keys I've graded. Even a slight rounding on the corners or a tiny color break on the spine or a spot of dirt on the back cover is enough to degrade a book down to a 6 and that's not valuable. It's better to invest in books already graded if you desire the encapsulated ones. All the comics I've had graded were my own childhood comics and I wanted to preserve them. My wife can sell them when I'm dead. They aren't worth so much money wise, but as personal keepsakes.

Beautiful copy. What a great Romita cover. I can see why this is such a desirable book. We need a thread of best silver age covers. You should start it with that gorgeous copy of Amazing Spider-Man #70. I'm always reluctant to encapsulate anything other than a key issue. There are some great frames available now with full UV protection and beautiful covers can be showcased very nicely. Of course I say this because my old comics are not in such pristine condition, but I think they are still suitable for display. I actually have a very clean copy of Amazing Spider-Man #28 - the Ditko cover with Molten Man and lots of black. I'll add that one in the best covers thread, I think.

Here’s a comic I purchased off the spinner rack as a little boy just now back from being graded. I went to a Rexall Drug store and remember finding this in the very back of a slot behind the new releases. It was two months behind, but was unsold and didn’t get cleared when new comics were put up. I’d purchased MSH #13 already. Captain Marvel #1 never appeared on my local spinner rack, but I did buy Captain Marvel #2 because it had Super Skrull on the cover and I’d recently seen a Fantastic Four cartoon on TV that featured Super Skrull and thought it was a great episode. When I got this off the rack it was hidden treasure. Read just a few times and put away. Not in perfect condition, but as childhood comics go it survived fairly well. Marvel Super Heroes #12. Stan Lee’s “Captain Marvel.”

Here’s another comic I remember purchasing off a spinner rack at a Rexall Drug store as a boy. It’s in a little better condition than most of my childhood books because I remember not liking it and only read it once. But, apparently this is now a key book because of the movies. By this point I understood about reprints and collected Marvel Tales, Marvel Collectors Item Classics, Fantasy Masterpieces, and later Marvel Super Heroes.

I have most of my comics from boyhood and the ones I've had graded are all in the 4.0 - 6.0 range. I sure wish I'd kept them in perfect condition, but I would have never even thought to do so way back them. I'm just glad they survived. All my things were thrown away or stolen when I was overseas in military service, but my comics survived locked in the trunk of a junker Rambler parked in the side yard of my childhood home. No boxes or bags, just stacked in piles. They didn't get wet or deteriorate in any way I could tell. Only as an adult did I bag and box them up and only now am I encapsulating a few good ones. I already posted some pictures of my key comics defaced with Dymo labels and well worn and read dozens of times. You really had to return a lot of pop bottles to buy your own comics as a kid.

It cost more to encapsulate than it was worth, but this is the oldest comic I have that I can remember buying off a supermarket spinner rack as a boy. I missed the first broadcasts of Spider-Man and Fantastic Four because the broadcast time published in this comic book was different than the actual broadcast in my area. After these shows and Marvel Super Heroes TV shows I was hooked on comics forever.