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Kick start a silver age collection: start BIG or small? :-)
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Started by SECollector,

45 posts in this topic

SECollector

SECollector

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Posted

Hello guys, I have been following the boards for some months, but this is my first post here :-)

 

This is my collecting story: I have collected sports cards for years, and my collection consists of more quality than quantity. I enjoy the hunting, all the research involved and the networking. However I don't like sports at all, lol. I have throughout my life enjoyed comic books and I grew up in the 80s and 90s with heroes like spider-man, TMNT, the fantastic four and many others. Growing up in a small European country however I had never really the chance to acquire any US issues, rather than later reproductions etc.

 

I have since some months ago decided to make a turn to my collecting area and focus on -to begin with- Marvel silver age key books. Something that better reflects my personality and that is closer to my cultural interests besides my general collecting passion. I have done a lot or research, read loads including this board daily, registered in GPA etc.

 

I would need your opinion however about a big question: I know that the "right" way to start a collection is to start small, educate your self, build a network and take right decisions for big (and expensive) items down the road. However, at this point I am in the process of selling parts of my cards collection in order to gather funds to start with an AF #15 CGC 4.0-5.5. My thought is that, if I will ever succeed to acquire such a book, it will be BEFORE i start spending on less expensive issues. Its not that I will jump on the first issue I find as soon as I have the funds, as I am familiar with issues like marvel chipping, centering etc as well as the "right" price for each grade and condition. So what do you guys think?

 

This was me introducing me, before starting posting "I am looking to buy an AF#15"-type of posts ;)

 

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s14roller

s14roller

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Everyone is different, but for me, I’ll say it’s very helpful starting small and understanding the hobby as you buy/sell in figures you are more comfortable with. I think you’ll also find there are more nuisances when it comes to SA keys, and pricing them is not so cut and dry. Starting small doesn’t mean you won’t get to where you want to go, but I do believe it will help you develop the experience to better evaluate the situation when that grail book pops up. My 2 cents.

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SupergirlDC1959

SupergirlDC1959

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You simply can't go wrong with the #1 silver age comic as a starting point. AF15 is king and will continue to do well!! Same can be said about Hulk #1....I do not see these books ever been bad books to own. Then the rest of the 10 SA books gets a little more complicated....like what to buy next....my own rule is get them all except for Amazing Spider-Man #1 (great book not the best investment book in the top 10). X-Men #1 is also a great book but mostly in 9.2 and higher for pure investment or love of them like I have for them.

 

My rule of thumb is the following:

 

AF15 Spider-Man

Hulk 1 ''scarcer'' book

SC 4 1st silver age Flash ''rarer'' book

FF1

BB 28 1st Justice league of America ''rarer'' book

JIM 83 1st Thor

TOS 39 1st Iron Man

TTA 27 1st Ant-man ''rarer book''

X-Men #1 1st X-Men (members have changed since then...Wolverine was not a founding member) very common in grades 8.5 and lower

ASM #1 (to me this is only a book to buy if you want to collect say #1 to #20 this is a popular choice for this series)

 

Then I would go with a SC 22 (I would buy this book over ASM #1 to me it has a lot of room to grow).

 

After that I would go for these:

 

Adventure Comics #247 1st Legion Of Superheroes ''rarer book''

Action Comics #252 1st Supergirl ''rarer book''

 

That would the end of silver age books I would buy as far as investment goes. There are people who will mention others but this is my list.

Edited by Hulk1962
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SupergirlDC1959

SupergirlDC1959

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Be patient when buying a AF15 try places like ComicLink or ComicConnect or Heritage Auctions. This book is notorious for chipping on the front cover in lower grades. Try finding one that has minimal chipping (same for Hulk 1 and TTA 27) and with at least Off-White Pages. I do not know about others but the only books in the top 10 SA I would buy with Cream pages to cream to Off-White would be SC4 and BB28 (and maybe TTA 27 if the book looks very nice this is also a ''rarer book'') both ''rarer books''.

 

Buy a Overstreet price guide the new one for 2016 will come out in July and there are many dealers that have adds and they have good reputations.

 

Don't buy books graded by any other company than CGC they are the best in the business. With other grading companies you may get the book for cheaper and think you got a good deal....remember if it's to good to be true then it is.

Edited by Hulk1962
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Ghost Town

Ghost Town

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I would echo what a lot of other folks are saying - start small. Get a good sense of the kind of things you like and don't like about books.

 

To that end, you would probably be well-served by making your way to decent-sized convention. I don't think there's any substitute for seeing a lot of books in person. You probably won't find the exact book you're looking for, but you'll learn a lot by looking at a lot of books. It'll also help you evaluate scans when you're looking at books on the web.

 

I realize that getting to a show probably isn't the easiest thing for you. But if you're considering dropping the money for an AF #15 someday, it'll be worth the time and expense.

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SupergirlDC1959

SupergirlDC1959

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I would echo what a lot of other folks are saying - start small. Get a good sense of the kind of things you like and don't like about books.

 

To that end, you would probably be well-served by making your way to decent-sized convention. I don't think there's any substitute for seeing a lot of books in person. You probably won't find the exact book you're looking for, but you'll learn a lot by looking at a lot of books. It'll also help you evaluate scans when you're looking at books on the web.

 

I realize that getting to a show probably isn't the easiest thing for you. But if you're considering dropping the money for an AF #15 someday, it'll be worth the time and expense.

 

Thing is AF15's are going up in value the more he waits the more he will pay!!

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bronze johnny

bronze johnny

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Hello guys, I have been following the boards for some months, but this is my first post here :-)

 

This is my collecting story: I have collected sports cards for years, and my collection consists of more quality than quantity. I enjoy the hunting, all the research involved and the networking. However I don't like sports at all, lol. I have throughout my life enjoyed comic books and I grew up in the 80s and 90s with heroes like spider-man, TMNT, the fantastic four and many others. Growing up in a small European country however I had never really the chance to acquire any US issues, rather than later reproductions etc.

 

I have since some months ago decided to make a turn to my collecting area and focus on -to begin with- Marvel silver age key books. Something that better reflects my personality and that is closer to my cultural interests besides my general collecting passion. I have done a lot or research, read loads including this board daily, registered in GPA etc.

 

I would need your opinion however about a big question: I know that the "right" way to start a collection is to start small, educate your self, build a network and take right decisions for big (and expensive) items down the road. However, at this point I am in the process of selling parts of my cards collection in order to gather funds to start with an AF #15 CGC 4.0-5.5. My thought is that, if I will ever succeed to acquire such a book, it will be BEFORE i start spending on less expensive issues. Its not that I will jump on the first issue I find as soon as I have the funds, as I am familiar with issues like marvel chipping, centering etc as well as the "right" price for each grade and condition. So what do you guys think?

 

This was me introducing me, before starting posting "I am looking to buy an AF#15"-type of posts ;)

 

Welcome to the boards! You sound like you're a knowledgable collector. Experienced enough to see the similarities between collecting sports cards and comics. Here's are some questions that might help you get better insight:

 

When you started collecting sports cards, and assuming they were Baseball cards, did you immediately go after a '52 Topps Mantle rookie? Or a '63 Rose Rookie Card? Did you buy non-graded or graded cards when starting out? If you started at some point collecting graded cards, did you get the Beckett BVGs, SGCs, or PSAs?

 

Like the Becketts Baseball card price guides, might be best for you to pick up an Overstreet Price Guide and enjoy reading it. Study the history of this great medium. I'm sure your collecting experience with sports cards is a great foundation to start from. Hell, there are 10.0 graded comics just like the perfect 10s that the sports card grading companies put out.

 

Follow your own collecting instincts and enjoy!

 

Best,

John

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SECollector

SECollector

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Guys, wow thanks for all the helpful and friendly comments. I totally expected that the advise "start small and grow wise" would dominate since its actually the correct one, but sometimes rules are there to break. My point is that, as mentioned above, the value of monster keys like the AF15 or the Hulk #1 are not going to fall, so the longer you wait the more you will pay. I will have however some rules in mind: buy of course CGC slabbed, buy from a reputable seller and get a copy as nice for the grade as possible (for me its important to have the less possible marvel chipping, to be of course unrestored and have no writing on the cover).

 

Answering some questions.

 

@vailant: I collected sports cards (soccer) as a kid. So I reentered the hobby as an adult in another level some years ago collecting vintage issues from the 1900s - 1960s. As I said it was more the passion for collecting, hunting, researching than drove it as well as memories from my childhood. But not a passion for the sport.

 

@bronzejonny: I actually collect only soccer cards. I started with cards of Pele, expanded to pre-war and other vintage stars and got back to Pele. I started more or less big there too. My first real collectible was the 1958 Alifabolaget Pele rookie, one of the most iconic cards. Nothing to compare in value with an AF15 of a 1952 Topps Mantle, but in proportion something similar. I started raw, since there are very very few graded European soccer cards, but worked with PSA during the last couple of years and researched and got graded MANY new cards for the first time, building up the Pele Master set with PSA, where i own the first place. It was a fun journey, but as said besides following my collecting passion, I want to focus to something else that reflects more my interests.

 

Its funny, since I actually don't own one single CGC slab, but I have read and researched so much that I already feel like a slabbed comic books collector ;-)

 

Thank you all kind folks once again for your very helpful comments - all the advice here is priceless.

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Ghost Town

Ghost Town

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I would echo what a lot of other folks are saying - start small. Get a good sense of the kind of things you like and don't like about books.

 

To that end, you would probably be well-served by making your way to decent-sized convention. I don't think there's any substitute for seeing a lot of books in person. You probably won't find the exact book you're looking for, but you'll learn a lot by looking at a lot of books. It'll also help you evaluate scans when you're looking at books on the web.

 

I realize that getting to a show probably isn't the easiest thing for you. But if you're considering dropping the money for an AF #15 someday, it'll be worth the time and expense.

 

Thing is AF15's are going up in value the more he waits the more he will pay!!

Could very well be. But better to pay $5000 more later than make a $20-30K mistake now.

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SECollector

SECollector

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I would echo what a lot of other folks are saying - start small. Get a good sense of the kind of things you like and don't like about books.

 

To that end, you would probably be well-served by making your way to decent-sized convention. I don't think there's any substitute for seeing a lot of books in person. You probably won't find the exact book you're looking for, but you'll learn a lot by looking at a lot of books. It'll also help you evaluate scans when you're looking at books on the web.

 

I realize that getting to a show probably isn't the easiest thing for you. But if you're considering dropping the money for an AF #15 someday, it'll be worth the time and expense.

 

Thing is AF15's are going up in value the more he waits the more he will pay!!

Could very well be. But better to pay $5000 more later than make a $20-30K mistake now.

 

You are totally right. But what kind of mistake could be worth $20-30 K if someone buys a CGC Universal from a reputable seller at a price in accordance with GPA? This is an honest and genuine question.

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SupergirlDC1959

SupergirlDC1959

Posted
Posted (edited)
I would echo what a lot of other folks are saying - start small. Get a good sense of the kind of things you like and don't like about books.

 

To that end, you would probably be well-served by making your way to decent-sized convention. I don't think there's any substitute for seeing a lot of books in person. You probably won't find the exact book you're looking for, but you'll learn a lot by looking at a lot of books. It'll also help you evaluate scans when you're looking at books on the web.

 

I realize that getting to a show probably isn't the easiest thing for you. But if you're considering dropping the money for an AF #15 someday, it'll be worth the time and expense.

 

Thing is AF15's are going up in value the more he waits the more he will pay!!

Could very well be. But better to pay $5000 more later than make a $20-30K mistake now.

 

You are totally right. But what kind of mistake could be worth $20-30 K if someone buys a CGC Universal from a reputable seller at a price in accordance with GPA? This is an honest and genuine question.

 

Contact Josh at ComicLink (he is the owner) that is where I purchased mine he is very well known and very honest. Tell him what you are looking for and he will help you find it (if he can because just like baseball cards simply having the money does not mean that a nice copy of what you want is up for sale at the exact same time). His prices are very reasonable. Tell him the page quality your looking for and that you are looking for minimal chipping. Do not settle for anything less than that....do not say well hell I must rush so I will buy one with a lot of chipping on the front cover or one that has Cream Pages (some people are OK with this page quality but a lot prefer better quality).

 

Link:

 

http://www.comiclink.com/

 

Josh's extension is #101.

Edited by Hulk1962
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SECollector

SECollector

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My rule of thumb is the following:

 

AF15 Spider-Man

Hulk 1 ''scarcer'' book

SC 4 1st silver age Flash ''rarer'' book

FF1

BB 28 1st Justice league of America ''rarer'' book

JIM 83 1st Thor

TOS 39 1st Iron Man

TTA 27 1st Ant-man ''rarer book''

X-Men #1 1st X-Men (members have changed since then...Wolverine was not a founding member) very common in grades 8.5 and lower

ASM #1 (to me this is only a book to buy if you want to collect say #1 to #20 this is a popular choice for this series)

 

Then I would go with a SC 22 (I would buy this book over ASM #1 to me it has a lot of room to grow).

 

After that I would go for these:

 

Adventure Comics #247 1st Legion Of Superheroes ''rarer book''

Action Comics #252 1st Supergirl ''rarer book''

 

This is an unbeatable list. Thanks. I love the ASM Ditko run and these are the books I mostly enjoy reading and most probably some I will also go for hopefully in the long run.

 

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SupergirlDC1959

SupergirlDC1959

Posted
Posted (edited)

 

My rule of thumb is the following:

 

AF15 Spider-Man

Hulk 1 ''scarcer'' book

SC 4 1st silver age Flash ''rarer'' book

FF1

BB 28 1st Justice league of America ''rarer'' book

JIM 83 1st Thor

TOS 39 1st Iron Man

TTA 27 1st Ant-man ''rarer book''

X-Men #1 1st X-Men (members have changed since then...Wolverine was not a founding member) very common in grades 8.5 and lower

ASM #1 (to me this is only a book to buy if you want to collect say #1 to #20 this is a popular choice for this series)

 

Then I would go with a SC 22 (I would buy this book over ASM #1 to me it has a lot of room to grow).

 

After that I would go for these:

 

Adventure Comics #247 1st Legion Of Superheroes ''rarer book''

Action Comics #252 1st Supergirl ''rarer book''

 

This is an unbeatable list. Thanks. I love the ASM Ditko run and these are the books I mostly enjoy reading and most probably some I will also go for hopefully in the long run.

 

Buy a AF15 then go for the ASM run if that is what you like....a lot of people love this series. Spidey has become the most popular superhero of all-time....Batman and him may be tide but I believe Spidey is now #1.

 

Here is another good website ComicConnect (they have regular auctions just like ComicLink):

 

link:

 

http://www.comicconnect.com/

Edited by Hulk1962
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