Iron Man 1 0

[JennyG13]

HI,  I'm a newbie to all of this.  I am just trying to determine the condition of some of my comics.  Hope you all can help with some speculation   Is it even worth getting this graded?

[The Lions Den]

The recent eBay auction results would justify that even a CGC blue label in Good+ condition is worth getting graded. Just make sure your copy has all the pages, and there is nothing else missing from the interior. And hopefully there's no restoration, either... 

[kav]

3.5

[Not A Clone]

3.0-3.5

[James J Johnson]

3 hours ago, JennyG13 said:

HI,  I'm a newbie to all of this.  I am just trying to determine the condition of some of my comics.  Hope you all can help with some speculation   Is it even worth getting this graded?

 

 

Sure, Jenny G. This is worthy enough to send for grading. It'll be a good experience and it's a good choice for a first submission. It'll introduce you to the process.

Edited June 22, 2018 by James J Johnson

[jcjames]

4 hours ago, kav said:

3.5

AKA, a GA-7.0

 

[kav]

1 minute ago, jcjames said:

AKA, a GA-7.0

 

[Gnasher]

What's going on with that TRFC and along the top edge is that CT? And BRFC is that a piece of tape?

[James J Johnson]

5 minutes ago, Gnasher said:

What's going on with that TRFC and along the top edge is that CT? And BRFC is that a piece of tape?

Yes, it does appear so, and that's 2 pieces of tape, one slightly overlapping the other. I didn't want to burst her water wings before Jenny has a chance to dip her tootsies into the CGC waters.

Edited June 22, 2018 by James J Johnson

[Gnasher]

3 hours ago, James J Johnson said:

Yes, it does appear so, and that's 2 pieces of tape, one slightly overlapping the other. I didn't want to burst her water wings before Jenny has a chance to dip her tootsies into the CGC waters.

Ah, now I feel guilty. Sorry, Jenny. Maybe better now than getting a PLOD though.

[James J Johnson]

9 hours ago, Gnasher said:

Ah, now I feel guilty. Sorry, Jenny. Maybe better now than getting a PLOD though.

If her hobby involvement is at the beginning, this, her best book at this stage in the game, and it is a great issue, a 50 year old integral piece of Marvel history and a high demand issue in any grade, any state. Label color is likely secondary to fostering her enthusiasm for a new hobby that will hopefully bring her many decades of enjoyment to come. In this condition, purple label, blue label? Not much of a difference in market value. That's why I felt that this IM 1 was as good as any of a choice for her first step along a wonderful journey.

[JennyG13]

Thank you everyone! I really appreciate the feedback.  Unfortunately that is tape....I was wondering if that was considered restoration? I just didn't want to lose money on the book or any of the books I have by getting them graded - until I know what i'm doing. No need to worry about bursting my bubble   I'm a realist. 

I will add that the book smells like a basement, does that impact potential grading?  Unfortunately the person who had them before me left them in a basement.  I want to take care of the books but I'm just trying to sort through the ones that I should invest in getting cleaned and graded.   

[James J Johnson]

2 hours ago, JennyG13 said:

Thank you everyone! I really appreciate the feedback.  Unfortunately that is tape....I was wondering if that was considered restoration? I just didn't want to lose money on the book or any of the books I have by getting them graded - until I know what i'm doing. No need to worry about bursting my bubble   I'm a realist. 

I will add that the book smells like a basement, does that impact potential grading?  Unfortunately the person who had them before me left them in a basement.  I want to take care of the books but I'm just trying to sort through the ones that I should invest in getting cleaned and graded.   

Here's the quick tutorial on storage. Basement storage = damp. Moisture infiltrating the paper and metal (staple rust), mildew, mold, gloss-eaten grainy surfaces and of course that characteristic aroma that books stored in damp environments have. Now the opposite side of the coin can be even more damaging. Attics. Most attics are not climate controlled and the temps can reach 150 degrees in the summer, insulted or not (most aren't). Books stored there are either brittle or on the way to becoming brittle, tanned, with sun stripes (from uneven stacking), and of course, lots of off-gassing of the pulp pages through the covers, giving tem a very transparent look. Few books stored from the 30s through 70s were optimally stored. Only once word got out that comics had value, did people start being conservation minded. Of course, books like the Church Mile Highs were stored by luck, optimally. On a ground floor, climate controlled, in a closet/pantry, cool, dark, etc. thus arresting the aging process to a large degree and protecting them from too moist or too dry storage environs.

[James J Johnson]

2 hours ago, JennyG13 said:

Thank you everyone! I really appreciate the feedback.  Unfortunately that is tape....I was wondering if that was considered restoration? I just didn't want to lose money on the book or any of the books I have by getting them graded - until I know what i'm doing. No need to worry about bursting my bubble   I'm a realist. 

I will add that the book smells like a basement, does that impact potential grading?  Unfortunately the person who had them before me left them in a basement.  I want to take care of the books but I'm just trying to sort through the ones that I should invest in getting cleaned and graded.   

The tape I see there should not relegate this to restored classification. It did not improve the appearance and looks to be preventative in nature.

[James J Johnson]

2 hours ago, JennyG13 said:

Thank you everyone! I really appreciate the feedback.  Unfortunately that is tape....I was wondering if that was considered restoration? I just didn't want to lose money on the book or any of the books I have by getting them graded - until I know what i'm doing. No need to worry about bursting my bubble   I'm a realist. 

I will add that the book smells like a basement, does that impact potential grading?  Unfortunately the person who had them before me left them in a basement.  I want to take care of the books but I'm just trying to sort through the ones that I should invest in getting cleaned and graded.   

Jenny, what else do you have as far as key issues that might make a good submission candidate? Which do you feel are your best books as of now (value-wise).

Edited June 23, 2018 by James J Johnson

[JennyG13]

On 6/22/2018 at 9:48 PM, James J Johnson said:

Jenny, what else do you have as far as key issues that might make a good submission candidate? Which do you feel are your best books as of now (value-wise).

Hi James, I have about 241 comics.  I am trying to educate myself before I do something dumb like put money into a book that is worthless OR sell something that is valuable for pennies.  This is what I have: I put in bold the issues I think might be worth something --- but this education thing is still an ongoing process.  I'd be interested to hear your take.  Should I be paying attention to any others here to evaluate the condition more closely? 

The Avengers # 7,59                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        The Avengers King Size Special# 1, 3, 4

The Amazing Spiderman# 60,74-76, 101, 104, 105, 106, 149,146-157, 162, 159-167, 170, 259,273,282,                                                                                                                                                      The Amazing Spider man King# Sized 5, 7

The Brave and The Bold# 71,74-79, 111,121,122-140, 144-147,156-158                                                                                                                                                                                                       The Brave and The Bold Super Spectacular pages# 112

Batman# 190, 294, 295,299,324,325,326,328,329,                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Batman Giant #193, 198

Dare Devil# 31-35, 42 44,91,99, 100-103

The Defenders#16-30

Fantastic Four# 129, 131-136, 296

Giant Size Fantastic Four 5

The Invincible Iron Man# 1, 30-35, 63,                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             The Invincible Iron Man King Size Special# 1

Justice League of America #52-57, 59, 60-64, 68, 86-88, 90,95, 96,99,  100, 101,103-105,126, 126-138, 224                                                                                                                                            Justice League of America Giant# 58,67, 141-149 

Superman# 196, 208

The Amazing World of Superman #280

The X-MEN # 47,48, 49, 50-57, 72-79, 103-108                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                The Uncanny X-MEN #133                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    X-MEN Giant Sized Annual # 9

King Size Special The Incredible Hulk # 1,2                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      King  Size Annual The Incredible Hulk # 6

The Super Friends# 2-10

Adventure Comics Featuring Super boy and the Legion of Super Heroes# 366

Tales of Suspense# 50, 54

Giant-Sized Defenders # 1

Marvel Features presents The Defenders #2

The Mighty Thor #136, 137,150

World's Finest Comics starring Superman and Batman #310

The Big Blockbuster World's Finest Comics starring Superman and Batman# 244

Giant Size Werewolf # 2, 3 

Fantasy Masterpieces #7

Giant Size Creatures Featuring Werewolf #1

Marvel Super-Heroes featuring Iron Man DAREDEVIL #28

Ms. Marvel #1

Superboy #147

Super Natural Thrillers featuring IT  #1

Conana the Barbarian  #21

Giant Size Chillers featuring the curse of Dracula #1

Prince Namor, The Sub Mariner #1

Lord of the Hidden Jungle #KA-ZAR1

Shanna the She-Devil #1

 

[Not A Clone]

1 hour ago, JennyG13 said:

Hi James, I have about 241 comics.  I am trying to educate myself before I do something dumb like put money into a book that is worthless OR sell something that is valuable for pennies.  This is what I have: I put in bold the issues I think might be worth something --- but this education thing is still an ongoing process.  I'd be interested to hear your take.  Should I be paying attention to any others here to evaluate the condition more closely? 

The Avengers # 7,59                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        The Avengers King Size Special# 1, 3, 4

The Amazing Spiderman# 60,74-76, 101, 104, 105, 106, 149,146-157, 162, 159-167, 170, 259,273,282,                                                                                                                                                      The Amazing Spider man King# Sized 5, 7

 

I can tell you there is certainly a very large market for the Amazing Spider-Man comics, even the non-keys. Would love to see scans of the bolded issues. These aren't high dollar books outside of higher grades, but can still pull in decent $ in mid-grade.101 being the exception. This is a very sought after comic. 

[James J Johnson]

2 hours ago, JennyG13 said:

Hi James, I have about 241 comics.  I am trying to educate myself before I do something dumb like put money into a book that is worthless OR sell something that is valuable for pennies.  This is what I have: I put in bold the issues I think might be worth something --- but this education thing is still an ongoing process.  I'd be interested to hear your take.  Should I be paying attention to any others here to evaluate the condition more closely? 

The Avengers # 7,59                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        The Avengers King Size Special# 1, 3, 4

The Amazing Spiderman# 60,74-76, 101, 104, 105, 106, 149,146-157, 162, 159-167, 170, 259,273,282,                                                                                                                                                      The Amazing Spider man King# Sized 5, 7

The Brave and The Bold# 71,74-79, 111,121,122-140, 144-147,156-158                                                                                                                                                                                                       The Brave and The Bold Super Spectacular pages# 112

Batman# 190, 294, 295,299,324,325,326,328,329,                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Batman Giant #193, 198

Dare Devil# 31-35, 42 44,91,99, 100-103

The Defenders#16-30

Fantastic Four# 129, 131-136, 296

Giant Size Fantastic Four 5

The Invincible Iron Man# 1, 30-35, 63,                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             The Invincible Iron Man King Size Special# 1

Justice League of America #52-57, 59, 60-64, 68, 86-88, 90,95, 96,99,  100, 101,103-105,126, 126-138, 224                                                                                                                                            Justice League of America Giant# 58,67, 141-149 

Superman# 196, 208

The Amazing World of Superman #280

The X-MEN # 47,48, 49, 50-57, 72-79, 103-108                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                The Uncanny X-MEN #133                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    X-MEN Giant Sized Annual # 9

King Size Special The Incredible Hulk # 1,2                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      King  Size Annual The Incredible Hulk # 6

The Super Friends# 2-10

Adventure Comics Featuring Super boy and the Legion of Super Heroes# 366

Tales of Suspense# 50, 54

Giant-Sized Defenders # 1

Marvel Features presents The Defenders #2

The Mighty Thor #136, 137,150

World's Finest Comics starring Superman and Batman #310

The Big Blockbuster World's Finest Comics starring Superman and Batman# 244

Giant Size Werewolf # 2, 3 

Fantasy Masterpieces #7

Giant Size Creatures Featuring Werewolf #1

Marvel Super-Heroes featuring Iron Man DAREDEVIL #28

Ms. Marvel #1

Superboy #147

Super Natural Thrillers featuring IT  #1

Conana the Barbarian  #21

Giant Size Chillers featuring the curse of Dracula #1

Prince Namor, The Sub Mariner #1

Lord of the Hidden Jungle #KA-ZAR1

Shanna the She-Devil #1

 

Jenny, condition, condition, condition. Condition is everything. It's what makes or breaks the value of a book. First, grading these on a 1-10 scale will separate the chaff from the wheat. Condition is what will determine whether Thor 135, 137, and 150, to pick an example, are worth dollars or hundreds of dollars.

There's grading tutorials to be found online. For years, Overstreet published a grading guide, with lots of pictures and examples. I don't know if they still publish it, but it was a good start for a beginner. You can also search Ebay, using successive searches for CGC 0.5, CGC 1.0, CGC 1.5, CGC 1.8, etc., and so forth, all the way up to 10.0. Study many examples against each other and this will give you a fantastic idea of relative grading. WHY a 2.5 isn't as good as a 3.5, or an 8.0 as good as a 9.0, etc., etc. Even though there are exceptions to every rule, if you study clear, large scans, you'll start to sense the logic to grading.

The Heritage Comics resource section, permanent archives, holds an exceptional amount of CGC examples. Many thousands. Sometimes dozens of examples of CGC graded comics of any one particular issue. There, you can see huge, magnified  examples of CGC graded comics, perfect for your study, both front and back covers, so I would start there, even before ebay, as your prime source of viewing examples of CGC grades, which is the hobby's state of the art:

https://comics.ha.com/c/search-results.zx?N=52+790+231&Ntk=SI_Titles&Nty=1&Ntt=Fantastic+Four+%231&limitTo=all&ic4=KeywordSearch-A-K-071316

I searched FF 1 for you, the results are many in a wide selection of grades for study!

You can use the search archives for any issue.

Also, there's a section here on this forum, "Hey buddy can you spare a grade".

Start to hang out there. Post examples. Study others' examples. Chime in. We'll be happy to discuss things with you. You're a "friend of ours now", like in the movie "goodfellas".

 

Edited June 24, 2018 by James J Johnson

[JennyG13]

40 minutes ago, Not A Clone said:

I can tell you there is certainly a very large market for the Amazing Spider-Man comics, even the non-keys. Would love to see scans of the bolded issues. These aren't high dollar books outside of higher grades, but can still pull in decent $ in mid-grade.101 being the exception. This is a very sought after comic. 

As requested here they are.  What do you think?

[JennyG13]

35 minutes ago, James J Johnson said:

Jenny, condition, condition, condition. Condition is everything. It's what makes or breaks the value of a book. First, grading these on a 1-10 scale will separate the chaff from the wheat. Condition is what will determine whether Thor 135, 137, and 150, to pick an example, are worth dollars or hundreds of dollars.

There's grading tutorials to be found online. For years, Overstreet published a grading guide, with lots of pictures and examples. I don't know if they still publish it, but it was a good start for a beginner. You can also search Ebay, using successive searches for CGC 0.5, CGC 1.0, CGC 1.5, CGC 1.8, etc., and so forth, all the way up to 10.0. Study many examples against each other and this will give you a fantastic idea of relative grading. WHY a 2.5 isn't as good as a 3.5, or an 8.0 as good as a 9.0, etc., etc. Even though there are exceptions to every rule, if you study clear, large scans, you'll start to sense the logic to grading.

The Heritage Comics resource section, permanent archives, holds an exceptional amount of CGC examples. Many thousands. Sometimes dozens of examples of CGC graded comics of any one particular issue. There, you can see huge, magnified  examples of CGC graded comics, perfect for your study, both front and back covers, so I would start there, even before ebay, as your prime source of viewing examples of CGC grades, which is the hobby's state of the art:

https://comics.ha.com/c/search-results.zx?N=52+790+231&Ntk=SI_Titles&Nty=1&Ntt=Fantastic+Four+%231&limitTo=all&ic4=KeywordSearch-A-K-071316

I searched FF 1 for you, the results are many in a wide selection of grades for study!

You can use the search archives for any issue.

Also, there's a section here on this forum, "Hey buddy can you spare a grade".

Start to hang out there. Post examples. Study others' examples. Chime in. We'll be happy to discuss things with you. You're a "friend of ours now", like in the movie "goodfellas".

 

Thanks! That is great advice.  Time to study up. lol.  I'll def. post in spare a grade too!