Worth Vs. Value

[Tnerb]

Is the value of a graded comic book equal to what it's worth? And Vice Versa.

 

Action comics #1 in a 9.0 White Pages was auctioned off for 3.2 million dollars on eBay. Incredible Hulk #181 in a 9.9 with white pages sold for $150 thousand dollars courtesy of Comic Link. A perfectly graded copy of New Mutants #98 peaked at $15,449 dollars, also through Comic Link. Three comic books from three different eras reaching dollar amounts never heard of before. But in all three cases, is the value greater than the worth?

 

Each comic book was graded by CGC giving the buyer the knowledge and trust that each of these issues were the best out there and none were restored. I wonder when the forms are filled out, what is entered for the FMV column. Every time I fill out a CGC invoice I'm reminded of this. Before the book is even graded I need to give my best guess on the market value of the book. If I'm wrong CGC changes this. A topic I would like to discuss later.

 

If I take a modern age comic book directly off the shelf, isn't the value equal to the worth which should match the price on the cover and yet I have purchased 9.8 copies of brand new comic books for approximately eight times the cover price. Is that an outrageous cost or is that the value?

 

I have cracked open 9.8 copies. These are comics I decided I wanted a signature on by at least one of the people involved in the book. So far I have had either a cover artist, interior artist, writer, creator, and/or living legends add their scrawl(s) on the cover hoping it retains the grade. This begs me to ask, what is it worth now? Is the value increased or the perception of it?

 

A perfect example is my SS 9.8 copy of New Mutants #1. I purchased a raw copy at the Philadelphia Comic Con years ago. It was a last minute purchase because I didn't even see it until I was leaving. It looked flawless. Upon closer examination, while glancing at the cover, I deemed it worthy of a perfect 10. I couldn't have been more wrong.

 

One mistake I have made over and over again is not asking the dealer to open the bag. I didn't see the spine stress that was predominantly made aware by simply removing the book from its confines and looking at the rear cover. The stress marks were blindingly apparent. My dreams of a ten were dashed. I decided I would grade it anyway, after all the book only cost me ten dollars, but it would have to become special.

 

I had just started to get into the Signature Series and CGC had a special signing for Stan Lee. I pulled as many books together as I could that I thought would be worth getting Stan Lee to sign, with the main criteria being that he had to have something to do with it. I dropped the list to five and eventually sent four in, one being The New Mutants #1, a book that Stan Lee had nothing to do with other than the small blurb that says "Stan Lee Presents."

 

The book returned, graded a 9.6. The spine stress from the back cover not only kept it from the perfect ten I thought it would be, but kept it from being a 9.8 as well. After the cost of grading, the signature fee, and shipping, the worth just dropped from the value. Almost a year later I decided to add Bob McLeod's signature. This signature was immensely more important than the money I spent for Stan Lee's scrawl, after all Mr. McLeod co-created the characters. Upon its return, the book dropped to a 9.4. The value decreased while simultaneously the worth was multiplied, if that is even possible.

 

As I learned about pressing I felt that this book could improve, but to a 9.6 or a 9.8? The first Wizard World in Philadelphia, when Matt Nelson was with CGC and CCS was in full force, I had him take a look at it with one other comic. I was told My Daredevil #1 3.5 SS and my New Mutants #1 9.4 SS could improve, but would an improvement be worth it?

 

I was hoping to talk to him first, but he was busy, I never had the chance. Marie told me that he said they would improve a grade higher and would work on it right away. I felt having a 4.0 Daredevil #1 signed by Stan Lee was worth it, but not a 9.6 copy of The New Mutants #1, not even with a double signature. It just wasn't worth the extra money, but it was too late. The die was cast.

 

The Grading Gods were with me. The book returned a 9.8. Financially I invested too much in a book that is a dime a dozen. However, the value was exceedingly a greater distance from its original value. The book was graded three times, once with Stan Lee's signature fee, and once pressed. Obscenely the value Is not what it is worth. Which brings me to ask, to insure my collection, do I submit the value or the worth? And then how do I define the worth against the value? Are they equal, or polar opposites?

 

 

Thanks for Reading

 

Tnerb

 

See more journals by Tnerb

[bagofleas]

great read and many great points. Your prose is always entertaining.

 

I have quite a number of books that I will probably never be able to sell for what I've spent on them, but then again, I don't ever plan on selling them due to their WORTH to me, so regardless of what VALUE the industry may put on them, I have books that I feel are priceless... to me.

 

Keep up the fantastic writing big bro!!! I always look forward to your next conversation starter!

 

[fullerjason]

What a great post. I have often thought the same when it came to CGC SS books. Before I knew the cost associated with some of those books I thought the price most were asking for some books was outrageous. I did not tell them that as the value/worth they give to a book will always differ from my thoughts on the book and vice versa. Once I went to a con and saw some of the prices charged by some celebrities I understood were some of the prices came from. Add into it the care and time taken to select a 9.8 to 9.6 book, window board it correctly to protect it during signings, shipping associated with it and the cost associated with the CGC SS grading process, I have come to understand why people set the prices they do for a CGC SS book. I went to the past Walker-Stalker con in Atlanta and got a book signed by 5 cast members. I did not get it CGC SS graded as there were no facilitators at the event but I would have given the opportunity. I paid $210 to get the 5 cast members to sign the book. It was a recent book that I bought off the rack prior to going; does this make the book worth $213.99? I don't think so. It's priceless to me and I would probably never of sold it even if it was witnessed, graded and slabbed. Would it have been worth over $300 to someone had it been graded and given a yellow label? Maybe but I doubt it for a book that is not considered a key issue.

 

Going from your post the money I spent on this book was a fraction of what you spent on your New Mutants #1 and while we both love our books the question you ask is a great one is "Is the value of a graded comic book equal to what it's worth?"

 

Great post again and great insight.

 

[surfer99]

Imagine a world where dealers priced their books based on FMV instead of on what they may be worth to a small percentage of collectors? Alas, it is not meant to be...dealers I think would rather see, and understandably so, that the FMV increase to what the book is worth to a small minority of collectors.

 

This is the beauty of the auction...sometimes the seller makes way more than they thought they would and sometimes the buyer gets an amazing steal of a deal. As a buyer, or seller, you just gotta take the good with bad...and I think we've all experienced a bit of both.