KEY ISSUES Comics

On 6/17/2022 at 11:22 AM, Petroman said:

Best grades I've had in over a year.  All pre-1993 books, 8 x 9.8 and 2 x 9.6.  Oddly enough one of the 9.8's had grader notes.  Never seen that before.  "very light fingerprints on cover
very light spine stress lines to cover"

Given all of the QC errors lately, I would not be surprised if the 9.8 with grader's notes was actually graded 9.4-9.6, but assigned the wrong grade/label...

I should submit my French language T1-4 and sell it you foreign edition collectors. 

On 6/14/2022 at 12:10 PM, JEFFROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO said:

Prices on AD&D/D&D stuff has been going through the roof for a few years now. Unless it's something ultra high grade or in shrinkwrap I can't imagine slabbing having much of dramatic effect on mid to lower grade TSR products.

If you just want to read/use, it will be more economical to buy the PDFs on Drivethrurpg.com

 

The problem is people with game-used copies asking factory sealed prices. 
 

Cool. But , as this will drive up prices. I just want copies to read/use. Slabbing everything is kind of ruining all of my hobbies...

The HULK #181 because I do not like the FF issue's faded cover.

Terrible. Except from the corporate perspective. If the only way to access the graders' notes is through membership, then that means more revenue, if people join just to have access to the notes. But is that really going to occur? Regardless, this is just terrible, as most have expressed.

Thanks everyone. I got all the info I needed.

On 12/14/2021 at 10:21 PM, ADAMANTIUM said:

I honestly thought this Campbell was 9.2 before press.... just amazeballs an 8.5

Is it just me or is the top right corner damaged? It looks somewhat worn and exhibits a colour-breaking crease to the left of the "S" in "COMICS." If so damaged, then there's no way this would be deserving of 9.2.

On 11/29/2021 at 12:00 PM, Hamlet said:

They are currently making more comic movies and shows than I am interested in seeing.  I watched Shang-Chi and Black Widow on Disney+ over the holiday weekend and I frankly got a little bored.  I think the movies themselves were fine, but I’m just tired of the Marvel superhero movie formula at this point.  
 

If I’m reaching the point where I’m tired of these movies and shows, I gotta think that the average movie viewer can’t be far behind. 
 

Is anyone else thinking along these lines?

I started experiencing MCU fatigue around the time of BLACK PANTHER and CAPTAIN MARVEL, both movies I did not care for. And I've enjoyed few MCU offerings since. However, SHANG-CHI was refreshingly fun for me. By far my favorite of the current phase. I'd rank HAWKEYE up there with it. It reminds me of the Marvel Netflix shows, which I really enjoyed for the most part.

But there's too much. It feels like they want us hooked on that and devote ALL of our spare time on it. BRILLIANT marketing.

On 12/18/2021 at 10:44 AM, circumstances said:

@eccomic is the man when it comes to Canadian golden age.

Yeah, I know. We're chatting. 

(It did not take him long to reach out!) 

Hello all!

I think it's been decades since I've posted in the GA forums, as the GA is not my area of interest, and also because I rarely come across books from that era in my neck of the woods. However, it seems that when I do, they're usually scarce books like this latest acquisition: CAPTAIN COMMANDO COMICS (the over-sized edition).

I'm trying to figure out how scarce it is and what kind of price it could reasonably fetch. I'd say my copy is 1.8 or so. I have a potential buyer, so I want to make sure I price it fairly (for both of us). I was given a screenshot from what I believe is the 2018 WECA Price Guide (see below).

I presume those are USD amounts. Can anyone tell me if those prices are in line with the current value of the book? I reached out to the author of the guide. He said he'd get back to me in a few days, so why not reach out to other WEACA-savvy collectors here in the meantime? 

I've scoured the web and the only reference to this was here. It would be nice to learn more about this book. It's finds like this that remind me why I love comics.

Thanks for looking! 

On 12/15/2021 at 6:48 PM, lou_fine said:

On a more serious note, I find that the current comic book market can oftentimes seem more like the equity stock markets in terms of its volatility and how money can sometimes cycle around from one sector to the other, and not everything need to be either hot or cold at the same time in terms of its bifurcation.    

Perfect case in point where so many of the relatively more recent so-called keys which are related to movie hype or high population count speculative books seems to be cooling off a bit as per some of @DC# charts, and yet the GA market still seems to be firing on all cylinders for now at least, with a perfect example being this GA book here which just sold in this past weekend's Heritage Sunday/Monday Auction:  

https://comics.ha.com/itm/golden-age-1938-1955-/doc-savage-comics-10-street-and-smith-1942-cgc-fn-65-off-white-to-white-pages/a/122150-13426.s?ic4=ListView-ShortDescription-071515

Sold for a rather astonishing $1,680 or some 4.3x OPG condition guide which is especially surprising for what is basically a non-key mid-run mid-grade non-classic cover GA book from a seemingly long running frigid cold GA title that used to sell for barely condition guide value unless it was a primo name pedigree copy.   

I was recently told that a Doc Savage movie/series had been optioned. Could that be why? More speculation?

Finally! But now the the worrying begins as I pray that the books are not victims of poor quality control.

NOTE: The books arrived at the CGC facility in early July IIRC.

On 11/29/2021 at 3:36 PM, Wheresmymarvelvaluestamp said:

Mine went SFG on August 3rd as well. I am still waiting for GEI. Can you post when yours ships?

One of my two invoices received in early August JUST got moved into G/E/I. 

So, what's the estimated waiting time at this stage?

CGC should be ashamed. I'd be fired if I were this incompetent at my day job.

So sorry for all those affected. I'm nervously awaiting a batch of books in the process of being graded...

How can anyone purchase a CGC book and be confident in the grade written on the label? Credibility is being flushed down the toilet. Very disheartening.

On 11/24/2021 at 1:56 PM, Black_Adam said:

I bought a comic from @Martin Sinescu that is currently being held by Canada Customs, and I know Paypal is also holding his funds pending proof of delivery. 

If he hadn't let me know I am sure I would never have logged back into Paypal to actually confirm the item had been delivered.

Knowing how comic transactions are normally done - payment received and then item ships - this is going to put a big damper on Paypal as an accepted form of payment here and elsewhere. And that is no good for me as no one wants my Canadian money.  

I'll gladly accept it! 

For all it's worth, I've seen a sudden rise the last few days for most of the books I track, after a couple months of plummeting prices. Things might be returning to the normal steady climb for true keys.

On 8/28/2021 at 1:24 PM, lou_fine said:

What makes you say this because from a strict visual presentation POV:  

it would certainly appear to present nicer than that fugly looking CGC 9.9 graded with that huge eyesore of a miswrap.    

Well, structurally from what I can see, there seems to be some scratches/marks on the Bifrost below Thor's left leg, as well as a color fleck in the blue area of the box. But, it would be lint/dust from the scanner. If not, it looks like several minor things that you would not see on a 9.8 modern book.

On 8/25/2021 at 11:16 AM, classicaaron said:

that silver surfer doesnt look anything like a 9.8 either.  pedigrees are always graded generously. i dont understand the concept.  just because its the nicest copy out there doesnt mean it gets a 9.8. so what if the highest copy of something that exists is 9.0.  it is what it is. its why ill never pay a surcharge just because its slabbed.

I was thinking the same thing.

On 8/22/2021 at 3:57 AM, lou_fine said:

Yes, being a long time comic book collector, it's really much more about spending time in the market, as opposed to trying to time the market. 

With a X-Men 1, I am sure you are going to do a lot better than the recent buyers who paid $44K for a copy of Transformers 1 or $63K for a copy of XM 94.  

Yeah, and in the worst case scenario I'm likely to break even, and have had the pleasure of owning them.

On 8/19/2021 at 3:04 PM, dikran1 said:

Or at the very least invest in some mylar bags...

Too many red flags go up when I see a listing like that. CGC and the competition were initially created to help sell this type of book.

On 8/19/2021 at 12:43 PM, Poekaymon said:

TWD is as dead to me as GOT after season 8.  The last few seasons of TWD were hot garbage--they should have closed it out around S5-S6 like Breaking Bad.  I can't be the only one who thinks that way, and some of that bitterness is no doubt (perhaps unfairly) hurting the book.

There ya go. That supports what I think. However, I think the first few seasons were "hot garbage." But, overall, I think it's a quite mediocre TV show. I'm curious to see how it wraps up though, as I never finished the comic book series, which might explain why I enjoy the recent seasons--lots of unknown.

Well, there 4 copies currently on Ebay, which is the most I've seen available at once in quite some time (at least whenever I look). 3 CGC copies and one raw. One of the CGC copies (1.5) is an auction format. I'm curious to see where that one ends. 

I don't understand why the owner of the raw one does not have it graded in this day and age. Yes, it's relatively low grade (water damage, etc.), but the cost of grading would be more than offset by the premium obtained as a graded book, would it not? Unless it's restored... I mean, I would NEVER spend that kind of money on a raw book coming from a stranger. Am I alone in thinking this way? 

On 8/18/2021 at 5:56 PM, dikran1 said:

🤞🤞🤞🤞🤞🤞

Enjoy it while it lasts! 

Well, you can't win if you don't try, so good luck!

(Imagine winning that with your opening $1 bid!!!)

On 8/18/2021 at 2:57 PM, Randall Ries said:

What about those of us who send in our raw books to be graded and then keep? Those of us who sent in our parents or grandparents books and they come back damaged? Those of us who have NO investment in your profit margins? It'd be different if profitheads had to give up some of their profit to fix damaged books owned by the every day collector. What is really being done is profiteers looking the other way when something happens to given books and encouraging wrong headed behavior.
 

I'm not quite sure what you're trying to express.

Allow me to be clear about something: CGC's current lack of quality control is a real concern that needs to be addressed.

There are no two ways about that, in case you're of the mind that I and others think this is acceptable.

And I'm curious, what makes your reason for submitting books more noble than that of mine or someone else who is going to sell said books after being graded? Aren't grandma and grandpa's books being graded so that they can be sold for the most money possible? Like I said off the top, I'm not sure I understood your comment. It came off as a bit accusatory and I'm scratching my head a bit. Not trying to be confrontational. Just curious and would appreciate a clarification.