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Which is your "favourite grade" for a silver age book?
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Started by SECollector,

34 posts in this topic

SECollector

SECollector

Posted
Posted

I suppose that a large majority of collectors would love to have 9.6 - 9.8 copies of each and every book in their collection, if they could afford it. But is it really so? Realistically which grade do you find to be your sweet spot for your budget regarding silver age books? Of course same grade books can have different eye appeal, but do you have a minimum grade? Or one you always aim for?

Personally, I am usually happy with FN- books (5.5) or better that look nice for the grade, meaning that I consider them to probably be keepers. But my sweet spot is VF- and I just love my 7.5s. If I could afford upgrading at some point all my books to nice 7.5s I would do it in a heartbeat (I have a really small collection that I don't really intend to expand to more than 25 books in total).

To be honest I find anything over 8.0 to be too much for me (not that I could afford most of my books in those grades). The investor in me would undoubtedly love to own of course the best of the best, but I don't really get a much higher kick from the difference in condition in higher grades (especially considering the vast price difference by grade point at that level).

Does this make any sense to anyone else or is it just me :screwy: ?

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Get Marwood & I

Get Marwood & I

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Me too. You have to be very well off to afford high grade silver age books now. I managed ASM 100-200 in CGC 9.4 when I was earning well, but realised that there was no way I could do that for 1-99. So I started out with 8.5 for 50 up and hoped for 7.0 for 11 to 49 etc. I gave up when I knew that wouldn't be possible. 

So I totally get that the majority of us will aim for mid grade books when building our silver age collections. I've always liked a nice clean 6.0 myself and most of my raw Spideys under 100 were around that grade. 

Still, now I've stopped collecting properly, and only buy books for my pence / Miller research, any old crappy copy will do!

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Howling Mad

Howling Mad

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2 hours ago, Agent 007 said:

6.0 or higher.  I don't like marvel chipping, date stamps or the big one for me is I can see the staple on the front cover.   I would take a 5.0 or 5.5 with out my eye sores than a 6.0 or higher with these.  

This. 95% of my collection is DC. I only have one 7.5, and frankly I thought it would be an 8.5 or 9.0. I only have one other book that is a 9.6 that isn't bronze.

Some books, say Detective 359, I can't afford anything above a 6.0. I like to stay with whole numbers--probably my OCD.

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Bomber-Bob

Bomber-Bob

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2 hours ago, Agent 007 said:

6.0 or higher.  I don't like marvel chipping, date stamps or the big one for me is I can see the staple on the front cover.   I would take a 5.0 or 5.5 with out my eye sores than a 6.0 or higher with these.  

Interesting choice of flaws to dislike. Personally, I love date stamps and I seek them out. I do hate writing though. I like to see the staple on the front cover. It makes it easier to inspect for rust. Not too far away from the spine though as it affects eye appeal. I also hate Marvel chipping and I hate the fact that CGC is lenient on them. Bindery or not it ruins the eye appeal of the book. Exception: a white cover with underlying white pages eases the eyesore on moderate Marvel chipping.

@OP question: 9.0/9.2 . 

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Spidey 62

Spidey 62

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For me, it's more about cost.  I have a comfort zone, price wise, and try to hit that when I look for a book.  I would love to have a 8.0 ASM 20, but it is way outside of my zone.  I think I will end up with a 4.0 - 5.0 when I get one.  Contrarily, I have a nice 8.0 ASM 44 that I got for a nice price.  I love the Lizard sewer cover (and it's his 2nd appearance) .  The lower I go in issue number, the lower I will have to go in grade, until the grade is below my appeal. 

Edited by Spidey 62
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KirbyJack

KirbyJack

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I'm Jekyll and Hyde here. 

When I was putting my collection together, I remember passing up overpriced ($4) copies for one dollar beaters. Even now, I still enjoy and seek out readers. I'm comfortable with the price, I can read them safely, and I don't feel like I'm being frivolous with money. They also feel older somehow, and I love old stuff!

But like I said, Jekyll and Hyde. Fantastic Four is the center of my comic universe. For my FFs, I want those 6 and up. 

I used to have a reading run of Kirby art originals, but I have since replaced it with Marvel's Greatest Comics. Still really cheap!

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Howling Mad

Howling Mad

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2 hours ago, Spidey 62 said:

For me, it's more about cost.  I have a comfort zone, price wise, and try to hit that when I look for a book.  I would love to have a 8.0 ASM 20, but it is way outside of my zone.  I think I will end up with a 4.0 - 5.0 when I get one.  Contrarily, I have a nice 8.0 ASM 44 that I got for a nice price.  I love the Lizard sewer cover (and it's his 2nd appearance) .  The lower I go in issue number, the lower I will have to go in grade, until the grade is below my appeal. 

It doesn't help that this is absolutely the worst time to be collecting ASM issues. Everything is vastly overvalued at the moment, and is experiencing significant bumps due to hype. Give it a 6 months or so.

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Spidey 62

Spidey 62

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11 hours ago, Howling Mad said:

It doesn't help that this is absolutely the worst time to be collecting ASM issues. Everything is vastly overvalued at the moment, and is experiencing significant bumps due to hype. Give it a 6 months or so.

Overvalued translates to overpriced by how much?  Would you estimate 20%?  If so, a $400 book would be about $80 higher than it should be.  Still not that bad.  If you are talking 50% or more, that adds up...but the highest bumps would occur in the high grades, which I don't get to much.

10 hours ago, Tri-ColorBrian said:

The highest grade I can afford, but not below 4.5...

I was thinking 4.0 myself for the lower end, until I opened my ASM 11 (4.5) that showed up yesterday.  If this book is typical of 4.5's then 4.0 is the lowest I would go for sure.  The 4.5 has a bit of a water stain on the back, and a small piece out of the front at the top left corner.  It almost looks overgraded.

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ProcessedMeatMan

ProcessedMeatMan

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I have tiers, mostly based on budget. These are my collection goals, not necessarily what I have (yet).

Mega Keys (Hulk 1, AF15): 4.0

SA/BA Keys: 8.0

CA/Modern: 9.6/9.8

I have some exceptions. Eye appeal is everything when it comes down to it. I'd prefer to get 5.0s as my Mega Key minimum, but I'd never be able to afford them. 

I like nice, round numbers on my CGC books. Probably some latent OCD thing. .5s make my eye twitch lol

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Spidey 62

Spidey 62

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4 minutes ago, ProcessedMeatMan said:

I have tiers, mostly based on budget. These are my collection goals, not necessarily what I have (yet).

Mega Keys (Hulk 1, AF15): 4.0

SA/BA Keys: 8.0

CA/Modern: 9.6/9.8

I have some exceptions. Eye appeal is everything when it comes down to it. I'd prefer to get 5.0s as my Mega Key minimum, but I'd never be able to afford them. 

I like nice, round numbers on my CGC books. Probably some latent OCD thing. .5s make my eye twitch lol

I agree, but sometimes I am able to get over it if the right book comes along. 

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