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.

Amazing Spider-Man Annual #5, Where the saga of Peter Parker’s parents was told was significant. I think the most significant has to be Fantastic Four Annual #2, where Dr. Doom’s origin and the outstanding, “The Final Victory Of Doctor Doom” story appeared. One thing about the Silver Age Annuals with original material is that any of them could be adapted into movies easily if the desire was there. Live action versions are technically possible. What I’d really like to see are “perfect” animated versions of the great silver-age storylines. What if Bruce Timm could just be bankrolled to adapt and advance the early Marvel characters and stories? I kind of liked the way John Byrne did it in “Chapter One.” I really hate the modern retcons. I had to completely give up all hope when it was “revealed” Gwen Stacy was pregnant with Norman Osborn’s baby. Anyway, why don’t they ever adapt the really good stories? Sigh.

It is a good memory. I only wish all my comics from then were cared for a little better. They were all well-read and today are just middle of the road quality. On the plus side, I can still take them out and read them and handle them. I've only had a few key comics graded and the frames for graded comics are getting harder to find. The frame on this issue is for framing original comic artwork so it's a little big but it looks nice on the wall. Hard to photograph without reflections though.

I didn’t have $5 but I sent in a dollar bill with two quarters taped to it and asked Stan Lee in a letter if I could buy a non autographed copy at cover price instead. This is what I got back. Just loose in a Manila envelope. 1974. How would a book like this be graded? Not the number, but would it get a blue or a signature series or just a notation of some kind?

Will they just press them and not grade them? Just deciding on getting them in a proper frame vs. slabbing them.

I have some key comics from the 1970's that still have subscription folds even after 40 years in a stack and then later bagged and boarded when those supplies became widely available. I'm pondering getting two graded and asking if anyone has experience with pressing such comics. Will the CCS pressing address the folds? Partially? Completely? My copies of ASM 121 and 129 were mailed to family during my military service and I didn't take them out of the brown wrapper for about 4 years so they were folded a while waiting for me to return. I still have them and they look clean, except for the visible bump in the cover and pages from top center to bottom center.

I think the "of and through" note has to do with a fold that creates a visible line through the artwork at the fold. I have some Marvel comics from the 1970's that were subscription copies folded in half for mailing. Even after 40 years in a stack and then later bagged and boarded when those supplies became available the fold is still visible and the cover is not completely flat. I was likewise wondering if CCS pressing would alleviate that kind of folding. Seems to me it might be just the thing. When I was shipped out for military service I just kept up subscriptions for four years and relatives just set them aside for me upon my return. Back then they folded the issues vertically front to back then wrapped it in brown paper and mailed it. The folds go up and down straight through the middle of the cover from the top center to the bottom center with cover image on the outside and back page inside. I don't remember when they started mailing them flat. However, I want to grade some Spider-Man issues with the Death of Gwen Stacy and the first appearance of the Punisher. I don't think they'd grade high with the subscription fold. Anyone with knowledge about pressing out this kind of fold, please reply. The fold has not created any loss of the cover artwork. No line visible, just a bulge. Thanks all.

I had a copy of Spectacular Spider-Man Magazine #1 from that era (1968). Black and white. I used it as a coloring book. A Christmas gift of pastel crayons made it irresistible for me. Looking at it now, it's a mess. A complete mess. But... I still have it!

I realize that when slabbing comics there is a special slab for "signed" copies. Of course, with all the forgeries in collectables they won't certify a signature unless it's witnessed by them personally. And that makes total sense. However, I have something unusual and I'm wondering how it would or could be properly slabbed and graded if I sent it in. I have a Marvel Treasury Edition #1 "The Spectacular Spider-Man" from 1974. It's an oversize reprint comic book. However, when this came out I think it was one of the first of it's kind because there was a coupon in the regular comic books you could fill out and send in $5 and get an autographed copy signed by Stan Lee and John Romita. Being just a little boy I didn't have the $5 so I filled out the coupon and mailed it in to Madison Ave with a note saying I didn't have $5 but I did have the cover price of $1.50. I sent in a dollar bill with two quarters taped to it and included a note asking for just a copy of the regular edition without the signatures because I didn't have $5. However, in the mail I got a large manila envelope and inside was a signed copy. Stan Lee's and John Romita's signature was on it. It was one of 1000 numbered copies they just sent to me anyway. It was a bit dog eared and imperfect from flopping around in the mail. It was mailed just loose in the envelope. This one is today in much better condition that the older comics I bought off the spinner rack in the supermarket, but not mint condition. I'd say Fine-Very Fine in that ballpark. The defects are just from the original mailing. Read once and put away. How would they grade something like that? "Apparently signed"? "Purportedly signed?" "The words 'Stan Lee and John Romita' are written in cursive on front cover"? How does that work? Is it a defect or what?

I'm just a stupid kid. My friends and I were little league baseball players and probably a dozen other kids handled and read these things before they ever got back to me. That's how their condition deteriorated. They were stored in the trunk of an old Rambler we had in the side yard that didn't run. Push button transmission as I remember. Just in cardboard boxes, not bagged or boarded until I was an adult.

I've come to the obvious conclusion that you are all correct. I'm going to frame them on the wall as is and tell the story to whoever might notice the "defects."