KEY ISSUES Comics

Here are some photos. Starting with the one where I've circled the area where the apparent bleed through is on the inside of the FC. (FYI there seems to be some dirt on my lense that it is causing a small blemish in all the photos.)

Too bad! Next time.

That last part is good to know. But if memory serves me right they used to suggest reholdering every x years. I might be mistaken though. Can anyone confirm that out of curiosity? It would be nice to know that they once did but have since improved the product so that there is no longer a need to do so.

I'll be there with 40+ long boxes of comics. Most of which will be 50% off! Full details. I hope to see you some of you there. Come say "hi" at the very least.

Any boardies planning on dropping by? I'll be there as an exhibitor. And yes, I'll plug myself in this thread!

Hey folks, the Montreal Mini-Comiccon is next week-end. FREE admission with a wide selection of exhibitors and some artists, I think. It's not clear who's actually an "Artist" (see my comment below). It's also the place to get your tickets for the big summer event at an early bird rate (I think). It's a great place to get Christmas gifts for the geeks on your shopping list. Facebook Facebook Event Exhibitor List (FYI It's a bit mixed up. They have vendors, including some comic book vendors, listed under "ARTISTES/ARTISTS" so do look in both lists to see who will be setting up shop that week-end.)

That's just marketing. Does it provide a certain degree of protection? Yes. More so than not having a book in any sort of case or protective sleeve. But better than a combination of Mylite and Mylar/top loader with a fullback? Not in my opinion. Don't they suggest that a book be reholdered every x years? That suggests to me that it's not a long-term solution. The cases are fragile and books get damaged while inside them more often than we would like if they're not just stored somewhere and remain immobile. Shaken comic syndrome is real and I've seen so many books like the one posted here with dinged corners over the years from movement inside the case. Not the best solution for "super protection." I like CGC. A lot in fact, but nothing is perfect.

I keep telling people that CGC cases are NOT made to be protective devices. They're seals for the purpose of certification, not preservation.

I had a case--pun intended--years ago with a DD #168 that came back 9.6 WITH a fine spine split from the top edge about 3 inches in length. It wasn't there when I submitted it, nor when they graded it. Somehow it was torn afterwards. They bought me a replacement copy. I hope they do the same for the OP.

Exactly, that's what my instinct tells me, but I cannot, for the love of Stan, see anything out of the ordinary when looking at that spot on the FC. Will take some photos of the FC tomorrow and post them. But, as I said in my first post, I've had a blue label SA X-Men book with a very similar stain on the outside of the BC, which makes me reconsider whether or not this is CT...

Perhaps for the average book he has signed, but what about his sig on big SA keys? I wonder...

Hi, I'll try to get some more photos Saturday morning. As for backlights, I've had no success finding a portable one for sale locally. I'd like to inspect them in person before pulling the trigger on one. There are plenty available online, but I don't know anything about them... Thanks!

I've got an opportunity to purchase a reply nice looking FF #52, but I have reason to believe it may have been worked on. Why? Because most of the other FF issues in the same run have obvious colour touch along the spine near the staples. The FF #52 is a much nicer looking book than the other issues, and does not display the colour touching near the staples, but it does have a spot that can be clearly seen from the inside of the FC. I could not, however, locate any obvious colour touch from the front (bottom right of the Torch's chin). I'm not sure if this is bleed through from colour touch. I'm leaning towards it being from production because I had a SA X-Men issue graded by CGC that had a similar dot on the exterior of the BC. It was a bus label 9.0 or 9.2. What do you folks think? The book looks like it could be 9.0, and buying it for the seller's asking price would be a 'steal' if it's unrestored, but a loss on my end if it comes back in a purple label, so any advice would be great appreciated. Thanks in advance! P.S. @pickycollector Didn't I sell you an ASM #55 with a similar dot back in the day? If so, did it turn out being colour touched or not? P.P.S. @crassus This is the dot you missed.

Well, it's interesting to see that geographic differences persist even in this internet era.

It's also con season, so I guess the buying/selling is much more competitive as big time dealers are restocking throughout the con season. That's just one of many reasons I'm sure.

Yep, books tend downwards this time of year. Good time to stock up as a reseller.

And who cares what something is "listed" at. All that matters is what is SOLD for. My LCS has about 25 of these sitting in overstock. Not scarce or pricey at all.

This is an example of what baffles me about this hobby we love so much. Why pay so much for just a cover of a brand new comic that you're not going to open? Just print out a copy of the cover if you love it so much. Having said that, I wish I had 20 CGC 9.8 copies to sell so I could buy a new home.

I packaged my Spider-man Reign #1 with Damned #1 when I sold the latter.

Thanks for your feedback. It's funny because as a vendor, I find the Ottawa market tough to sell to, unless you're discounting stuff, regardless of whether or not your books are fairly priced. I'd say that 80% of buyers try to bargain there (speaking from my experience over the years of course). It's definitely a different market from my home town crowd in Montreal. I had a great time and was very pleased with my sales. I also bought stuff, which I RARELY do at a show. A couple of folks were dumping stuff you couldn't pass up as a vendor. And as you said, lots of people were filling runs with cheap stuff, which is AWESOME for the hobby, but I brought a limited inventory (7-8 longboxes), so I focused on keys, classic cover,s etc. Most people were NOT shopping for that so it took me at least 2 hours before I even made a sale, despite the relatively large crowd... I must admit that I was staring at a loss for the day, but suddenly I made all kinds of sales during the last 2 hours. In fact, I doubled my sales target. Just a double thumbs up event all around. #BackToTheBasics for the local comic cons. See you at the next one!

GREAT event! Thanks to Rob and his team for making this happen. Soooo many comic book lovers at this event. Will be back next time.

Just a comment in regards to what should and should not be a wall book. I put whatever I think is likely to sell quickly on my wall. I could sell 15 $25 books before I sell 1 $375 book. Depends upon the audience.

Anyone?

I could just be coincidence on my end, or that people are hoarding the #1. I cannot recall the last time I came across a #1 in a collection. Frankly, no one seems to have a ROM collection, but there's often a #75 in a person's collection for some reason...

I'll be there. Who else?