Et-Es-Go Posted June 21, 2017 Share Posted June 21, 2017 16 minutes ago, Mmehdy said: At prices like these, it seems everything is an investment. Note carefully how Vinne of CC describes the cgc effect on the comic book market, turning it into investment widgets on that video above. I would be more impressed with a "raw purchase" of books such that you can feel and read them...I think just about all widgets..restored or or unrestored in the CGC case qualify as investments....you can read them, touch them..etc..and you are buying not just the case...but now as the market as turned and vinne says "3d party grading to protect your nontraditional investment".... I'm not sure that I am following the logic here. I think Vincent summarized pretty concisely the message he wanted to deliver on CNBC, even with Maria asking the questions. Comic books have become "commoditized"! This was the aim of 3rd party grading from day 1. It has brought money into the hobby and we have seen the result of escalating prices. For a long time it was really just the main stream DC and Marvel titles that saw the biggest influx of money. For some time now you have seen it spill over to the more esoteric titles. How many peeps ever heard of Amazing Man #22 until this auction shined a light on it? I don't like my books slabbed. I want to look at the pages inside and smell the stinky musty old paper. But, it is what it is. Personally I don't like the new slabs cuz it is harder to get the books out of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flex Mentallo Posted June 21, 2017 Share Posted June 21, 2017 11 hours ago, Sqeggs said: it's, it's frankly the sort of thing that doomed the Empire! Ha ha! You think the empire is finished, Sqeggs? Think again! From our secret base on the far side of the moon, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flex Mentallo Posted June 21, 2017 Share Posted June 21, 2017 the empire has been preparing for world conquest since long before you were born. For years we have been stockpiling our secret weapon, Marmite! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flex Mentallo Posted June 21, 2017 Share Posted June 21, 2017 soon to be tested on our hapless colonies. We will rise again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pickie Posted June 21, 2017 Share Posted June 21, 2017 Results are online, someone can do the maths ... Quote The auction, which netted millions of dollars and shattered sales records, attracted investment collectors from around the globe, both new devotees of the vintage comic market and old-school superfans who haven't been active in decades. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piper Posted June 21, 2017 Share Posted June 21, 2017 3 hours ago, Flex Mentallo said: the empire has been preparing for world conquest since long before you were born. For years we have been stockpiling our secret weapon, Marmite! I tried it and can't stomach marmite. On the other hand Branston Pickle rocks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
october Posted June 21, 2017 Share Posted June 21, 2017 9 hours ago, Et-Es-Go said: When it comes to esoteric books, even in moderate grade much less a high grade with a pedigree moniker to boot, why would the Overstreet Guide be of any value in terms of what the market is going to bring on books like that? If you are actively going after book like that, then you are paying what it is worth to you, and therefore anyone bidding against you. You are setting the new market price for the book. The Overstreet guide is in the rear view mirror only keeping up with what market conditions have dictated, and it will be dated information by the time you want to use it as a reference. Prices realized at recent auctions like this one and Heritage are a much better gauge of what people are willing to pay. The prices I paid for the few books I won are no where near the OSPG, but I thought they were a fair and reasonable price compared to what I saw similar graded books going for. I went a little above and beyond for one book, but by-god I was going to come away from this auction with a Larson/Berk book. The auction was unique in a way that no other can be. I always enjoyed Jon's comic articles that were always focused on the creativity and the history of what has become an iconic medium in American folklore. These craftsmen of their time were likely just making a living for themselves and their families, but it is obvious that some of them excelled at their craft and were doing what they loved to do. And that is what I think we all have a fond appreciation of today. The artwork and the art of story telling. Jon recognized that and his collection reflected that. He tried to have an example of every book, awesome or less than awesome. One very refreshing thing I have read from many people that this auction may have finally broken the stigma on restored books. For me, not great news. But for the hobby in general I think healthy. You see for me, I have never been a ardent collector of the grade as the books I was always interested in were just so hard to find. So when one came along that I had on my list I generally bought it. Consequently I have some beautiful books, and then some dog eared tattered and well loved specimens. I also have a short stack of books that, when I look at them I ask myself, why did I buy that? I'm sure all of you have a short stack like that as well. If anything, I think the lower and midgrade books outperformed the pedigrees in terms of relation to guide. I was tracking one non-ped restored lower grade book that sold for $2000. Just out of curiosity, I looked it up in my OS guide (which is 2-3 years old at this point). It listed for $78. The auction was littered with dozens of similar examples in grades from 2.0-6.0. Guide is of almost no use for any rare and/or desirable golden age book. gino2paulus2 and ___ 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silver Surfer Posted June 21, 2017 Share Posted June 21, 2017 Well I am happy for Jon as he is a class act. lpsunburst, Larryw7 and thirdgreenham 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lou_fine Posted June 21, 2017 Share Posted June 21, 2017 (edited) On 6/19/2017 at 7:53 AM, twmjr1 said: Wasn't this collection generally regarded as the #3 collection in the world, after those on Anderson and Verzyl? Who else would/might have a collection at least comparable? On 6/19/2017 at 9:29 AM, Flex Mentallo said: On 6/19/2017 at 9:27 AM, Gotham Kid said: BangZoom also comes to mind. Yes and especially if you consider the extraordinary range of his collecting. On 6/19/2017 at 10:18 AM, twmjr1 said: What all does he have? Serious question. I know he's a board legend. Aren't all of his books raw? On 6/19/2017 at 10:20 AM, Straw-Man said: all "true collectors" have their books in a raw state. To the original poster: Yes indeed, as I believe virtually all of the top collections are still sitting in private collections in their raw and unslabbed state, until it comes time to sell. Edited June 21, 2017 by lou_fine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robot Man Posted June 21, 2017 Share Posted June 21, 2017 On 6/19/2017 at 10:18 AM, twmjr1 said: What all does he have? Serious question. I know he's a board legend. Aren't all of his books raw? Serious question... Did you ever read Bangzoom's posts or see the photos? Why would the quality of his collection be determined by if they were slabbed or not? The photos he posted were good enough to me to determine their breadth of scale and quality. Now, throw in his probably even better pulp and art collection... Hey Edgar never slabbed any of his books or even bagged them for that matter. Hands down the best GA collection of all time. thirdgreenham, porcupine48 and Artboy99 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluechip Posted June 21, 2017 Share Posted June 21, 2017 (edited) 12 hours ago, Mmehdy said: the stigma of restored books will not be felt until prices downturn..then those books will be the most price effected if the market demand lowers due to a price correction. The less buyers, the more picky the remaining ones are. Be safe...Be blue Depends on which form of non-blue you are talking about and what the price is when you get it. Is it a high grade book that has been massively recreated and is priced at the same or just 10-15 percent below an equivalent appearance book without work. Then, absolutely. Or is it a low grade book which has resto that would allow the book to get a 3.0 blue if the resto was simply considered a defect, and yet it's priced at 30-90% less than a similar graded book which has the same or better grade but actually has worse eye appeal and far more defects (even if you counted the resto on the other book as defects)? Then I would say it's not a worse bet than the blue. And if it's a book with rice tape that could be removed in 90 seconds but it got a restored grade as well as a number that was lower than a book which is equal in every other way? Then you might safer with the non-blue even if it's priced the same. Looking at the values as all or none is what has led to the gap being as large as it is and premiums on blue that have been at out of balance, and a factor in spiraling prices. The fact that the gap has only begun to close, and so far by just a little, doesn't seem to support an all or none approach. Edited June 21, 2017 by bluechip Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robot Man Posted June 21, 2017 Share Posted June 21, 2017 The Berk auction was a freak of nature. People didn't seem to care what they paid and for what. Normally books restored like this would go for fractions of what they did. It was because they were Jon's books and everybody wanted them. I think without the name attached, they would have still met some resistance. Purple, Grey, I've been conditioned to stay away and I did. Now would I buy certian books like that for the "right price" heck yes but not multiples... SushiX and twmjr1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lou_fine Posted June 21, 2017 Share Posted June 21, 2017 (edited) On 6/18/2017 at 5:13 AM, MrBedrock said: I think the "exit strategy" part of the equation is going to be very hard to reconcile for this auction. So much of the bidding was made with no plan to ever sell. When you are competing against that the exit strategy goes out the window. That is why those rare cases where folks overlooked a book make will likely make that book look like a bargain down the road. Richard; Actually a very interesting question and definitely one that collectors should be giving some thought to when record setting prices are being paid for most of these books. Anyways, here's my personal take on the situation for what it's worth: As I have stated several times before, this was a generational or unique auction which presented collectors with the opportunity to win some truly HTF books which may not appear in the marketplace for years or possibly even decades to come. As such, my so-called "exit strategy" was also greatly influenced by my "entrance strategy". By this, I meant that I wanted everything, but at the same time, I didn't really truly needed to have anything. Unlike probably most others here, I didn't really need to fill any holes and didn't have any must wins. With so many truly great and HTF books available, this meant that I went hard after several books, but if they went beyond what I was comfortable with, I simply stopped bidding and waited for the next great book to come along. Although a proactive approach to making the exit strategy a lot easier, it also meant losing out on most of my bids, but I didn't have areal problem with that as I was expecting that to be the likely scenario in most cases for me. To tell you the truth though, knowing what I know now, I probably would have bidded more on some of the earlier lots at the beginning of the week instead of holding back on some of my money for subsequent lots which I didn't end up winning. The other part of the exit strategy is that I am a long term collector. As such, the exit strategy becomes much simpler because I do not need to worry so much about timing the marketplace, as opposed to simply spending time in the marketplace. Investors and speculators certainly needs to worry about buying and selling at the right time and at the right price points in order to make money, while long term collectors need not worry so much about this because time will just take care of your exit strategy. So Richard, in this last part, I believe you have absolutely nothing to worry about since I know you keep your treasured books for an extended long period of time. BTW: I am sure if you ask Jon Berk today, it looks like he didn't have much problems with his "exit strategy" in the end. Edited June 21, 2017 by lou_fine MrBedrock and SushiX 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Calhoun Posted June 21, 2017 Share Posted June 21, 2017 (edited) one can always chill nicely in the BangZoom thread I just bumped... (Golden Age Collection) Edited June 21, 2017 by Pat Calhoun Flex Mentallo, porcupine48 and SushiX 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post adamstrange Posted June 21, 2017 Popular Post Share Posted June 21, 2017 45 minutes ago, twmjr1 said: We keep a relaxed atmosphere in the Forum even while having lots of disagreements. There's no reason to resort to insults. porcupine48, thirdgreenham, 1koko and 5 others 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ft88 Posted June 21, 2017 Share Posted June 21, 2017 (edited) Got it. Edited June 21, 2017 by ft88 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Artboy99 Posted June 21, 2017 Share Posted June 21, 2017 I have received my auction win today! I am very happy, I hope you all will be happy as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
entalmighty1 Posted June 21, 2017 Share Posted June 21, 2017 1 hour ago, Robot Man said: The Berk auction was a freak of nature. People didn't seem to care what they paid and for what. Normally books restored like this would go for fractions of what they did. It was because they were Jon's books and everybody wanted them. I think without the name attached, they would have still met some resistance. Purple, Grey, I've been conditioned to stay away and I did. Now would I buy certian books like that for the "right price" heck yes but not multiples... i think it also depends on the book. I got two books in this auction that were restored. Exciting Comics 28 and Fight Comics 1. I thought the Fight ended at a very reasonable price, right in line with what I would have expected to pay. The Exciting 28 I didn't really care what it went for, it was coming to Memphis. Some of these books just don't pop up every day, so if you pass, you better have your waiting britches on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluechip Posted June 21, 2017 Share Posted June 21, 2017 2 hours ago, Robot Man said: The Berk auction was a freak of nature. People didn't seem to care what they paid and for what. Normally books restored like this would go for fractions of what they did. It was because they were Jon's books and everybody wanted them. I think without the name attached, they would have still met some resistance. Purple, Grey, I've been conditioned to stay away and I did. Now would I buy certian books like that for the "right price" heck yes but not multiples... I think it was not just that they were "Jon's books" but because people had confidence that Jon bought books which had or needed little restoration. The same effect might occur if restored books came with before and after pics and meticulous description, as is common with some other collectibles where the information is much higher and the stigma much lower. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flex Mentallo Posted June 21, 2017 Share Posted June 21, 2017 31 minutes ago, Artboy99 said: I have received my auction win today! I am very happy, I hope you all will be happy as well. That was quick! Let's see how long mine, goldust40 and 1koko's take to cross the pond. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
