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EastEnd

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  1. This is interesting. When did Gaines start filing copies? Was it when he began the New Trend stuff? Are there file copies of comics before then? (Moon Girl, War Against Crime, etc.) That's pretty much right. There are Gaines file copies of pretty much all the New Trend and New Direction books, including the Crime Patrol and War Against Crime books that featured horror stories, but very few of any of the other Pre-trend books. There are file copies of the Picture Stories from the Bible and American History series but that's about it. High grade pre-trend ECs are VERY DIFFICULT to come by (I've been looking for a good ten years now) and frankly should command a strong premium. There are no Gaines file copies of Moon Girl that I have seen, and the only War Against Crime file copies are #10 and #11.
  2. CSS 22 certainly draws its market for its cover. Although the VF+ copy'll do very well in this auction, it shouldn't really hold a candle to Vault Of Horror 12, which is (along with Crypt 17) the biggest grail in the E.C. canon, and is considerably scarcer. However both books are equally scarce in high grade, with CSS 22 having the greater historical notoriety (due to its role in the Senate hearings). An 8.0 copy of VOH 12 sold last year for $3346, and it's quite possible the CSS 22 in 8.5 could go above that. There are so few documented sales on GPA of these books in high grade. A 9.0 Gaines copy of CSS 22 sold for $2358, but that was nine years ago. Lord knows what that copy would go for now. What's the deal with VOH 12 & TFTC 17? What makes them the grails? Vault Of Horror 12 and Crypt Of Terror 17 are considered by all E.C. fans to be the beginning of the New Trend (i.e. the period of E.C. comics that everyone cherishes) when the publisher came into its own. They were to all intents and purposes premier issues, despite certain elements of each title appearing earlier. The other neat thing about VOH#12 is that unlike CSS#22, there are no true Gaines file copies. There is one that's labeled a Gaines file copy (I believe it's the 9.2 on the census), but it was disclosed a few years ago that that copy was actually bought by Bill Gaines from Metro in the aftermarket. Gaines had not put any VOH#12s away. That's the big reason why the book is so rare in high grade and why, with its historical significance, really should sell for a lot more than current GPA/price guides indicate.
  3. Just picked up my second copy... admittedly not the prettiest copy but the neat thing about it is it comes directly from the original owner! Happy to report no signs of juvenile delinquency in the fellow whatsoever!
  4. Agreed... just awesome... this show has offically replaced Dexter as the best show on television in my book...
  5. I've rarely, if ever, had buyer's remorse for an item I really wanted when I have time to think about my bids and react to what's going on around me. I can't say the same for hard stop auctions where I've had to put in an unusually high swipe bid to give me the best chance of winning.
  6. I'm not so sure that soft end times achieves higher prices in an online environment. I think the fact that you don't get a second chance with a hard end time encourages people to put in higher swipe bids than they otherwise might. Historically, I think that, more than anything else, has accounted for a lot of the crazy prices that Clink has produced over the years. I'd have to think that Josh would have changed the Clink bidding system if he wasn't seeing this effect. Same with Ebay.
  7. Thank you! I'd never seen a Gaines CSS #22 until that one came along and felt very fortunate to get it.
  8. Here's mine... perhaps my most treasured comic...
  9. Can someone PM to me as well... thanks much!
  10. It's no contest... the traditional Supes would simply throw the Hulk into the sun... game over.
  11. The first Gaines book I ever bought was a raw Crime Patrol #15... it was the most enjoyable comic book read I think I've ever had... and yes, I did handle it VERY carefully!
  12. It absolutely does. Where is this "growth" you're talking about? Print runs are averaging out to be the same as they were 10 years ago. With one exception, the rest of the market is flat, especially when comparing the weakened dollar. I can buy the same books...in the same mid to low grade conditions...for the same amount, dollar power wise, as I was doing in 1999. And in 1999, I was selling key modern independents for 5-10 times what I could get for them now. If all the "growth" is entirely in one niche market....ultra high grade books...that was essentially invented with CGC, then clearly the industry as a whole has not grown. Do you know how much the high grade market accounts for all of comics, unit wise? Oh, sure, they suck up the lion's share of the DOLLARS spent on back issues...but unit wise? Not even close. In case you were wondering, my original post to which you responded had to do with the entire industry, not just the niche of ultra high grade collecting. These are not collectors you're referring to. They're speculators! HUGE difference! Like I said, you need to separate readers from collectors. I...already...did...that. TWICE. Are you reading what I'm typing...? Not only are they NOT "irrelevant", they are, in fact, a good indicator of activity. How do you think people get into comics? Especially in the 21st century? Do you imagine they wander into a COMIC shop that may have back issues, and then just decide to pick one at random? Or do you think, like most people, they discover NEW comics, and THEN become interested in back issues? It is completely natural for there to be overlap between new issues and back issues...bcause today's new issue is NEXT MONTH'S back issue. It ain't rocket science. - Once again - No. They're not. At least, not in ANY significant numbers. The values of nearly everything in the back issue market, except the ultra high grade stuff, is flat or declining. And the values of the ultra high grade late Bronze, Copper, and Modern are ALSO declining. Sorry, but the numbers fail to support your claim. (thumbs u I don't give a rusty rat's about other fields, so that point can be laid to rest. It is not debated. Ok, I see where this discussion is going... don't really see any point in discussing it with you further.
  13. It absolutely does. Where is this "growth" you're talking about? Print runs are averaging out to be the same as they were 10 years ago. With one exception, the rest of the market is flat, especially when comparing the weakened dollar. I can buy the same books...in the same mid to low grade conditions...for the same amount, dollar power wise, as I was doing in 1999. And in 1999, I was selling key modern independents for 5-10 times what I could get for them now. If all the "growth" is entirely in one niche market....ultra high grade books...that was essentially invented with CGC, then clearly the industry as a whole has not grown. Do you know how much the high grade market accounts for all of comics, unit wise? Oh, sure, they suck up the lion's share of the DOLLARS spent on back issues...but unit wise? Not even close. In case you were wondering, my original post to which you responded had to do with the entire industry, not just the niche of ultra high grade collecting. These are not collectors you're referring to. They're speculators! HUGE difference! Like I said, you need to separate readers from collectors. The print runs of modern comics are irrelevant when considering whether there's been growth in the back issue collector base... they are very distinct markets... I belong to one and not the other and I suspect many others are just like me. And whether the growth is coming from new folks or collectors that are returning from the nineties I think is also largely irrelevant -- the point -- once again -- is that they're coming. The same cannot be said for most other collectible fields... baseball card collectors from the early nineties are not coming back to buy baseball cards again... same with stamps... or beannie babies... etc..
  14. If you're making the comparison with '98-'99, perhaps...perhaps not. Any other time period? Not a chance. Late 80s and early 90s, there were LCSs absolutely everywhere...and all of them stocked 1,000s & 1,000s & 1,000s of back issues. Hell, a good proportion of their income was generated this way. These days? Try to find a LCS. Try to find one with back issues. The back issues stocked by LCS's in the late eighties and early nineties were predominantly recent back issues. In New York City (where I live) there were very few that devoted significant floor space to gold, silver or bronze -- that was a radical shift from the late seventies when almost every LCS I frequented devoted MOST of their floor space to vintage back issues. As I said earlier, there was little depth to the back issue collecting in the 1990 time frame... back issue collecting is much healthier today... the books that SHOULD be worth more money are generally the ones being bought
  15. You're going to have to clarify before I'll agree. Do you mean "there are more collectors now than in 1993?" I'll argue against that vociferously. Do you mean "there are more collectors now than in 1999?" Then yes, you'd be correct. A LOT of people were burned on comics in the early 90's and left in disgust. Younger buyers couldn't afford anything, so they left (and then grew up and came back), 20-something buyers were burned on comics, and some of THEM came back, and 30+ took a break, and they came back. But the reality is, for every new collector who has gotten into comics since 1996, the hobby has lost 5-10 who collected prior to that, that it has not replaced. And SPECULATORS came back, in much diminished numbers, in 2007 with Cap #25, otherwise they're gone (and good riddance.) When Spiderman #1 (McFarlane) sells for $5-$6 on eBay, and average print runs go back to 100K, instead of 25K, THEN I'll believe that we've gotten back the numbers that were lost in the mid 90's. Don't think it matters. The point is that there is growth over the last ten years... and a lot of it... when many other collectible fields (including modern comic books) are shrinking. I also think there's a lot more depth to today's environment. Sure there were a lot of collectors in the early nineties... but many of them were collecting recent back issues hoping to make the future killing. Today's collector is heavily focused on gold, silver and bronze which I think is much healthier for the hobby.