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Are the following worth getting formally graded?
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Hello.  I'm helping my fiance's dad liquidate his comic book collection by doing some of the legwork for him.  He sent me a list of mostly silver age key comics he wants to sell, and we are debating whether or not they are worth getting formally graded.  We both know enough to know they are all in good condition, no major bends or creases, with some looking really nice, and others pretty average.  The question is: will the the formal grade increase the value more than they are as is?  Here are the issues:

1.) Avengers #57 (First Vision and Matilda Appearance)
2.) Amazing Adventures #11 (first furry Beast appearance)
3.) Captain America #117 (First Falcon and Redwing appearance)
4.) Marvel Super-Heroes featuring Captain Marvel #12 (First Captain Marvel)
5.) Marvel Super-Heroes featuring Captain Marvel #13 (First Carol Danvers)
6.) Green Lantern #40 (first krona)
7.) Daredevil #168 (First elecktra and others)
8.) Marvel space born super hero captain marvel #1 
9.) The Incredible Hulk #141 (first doc sampson)
10.) Invincible Iron Man #55 (First Drax and a bunch of others)
11.) Marvel Premier #15 (first Iron Fist)
12.) Marvel Spotlight #5 (first ghost rider)
13.) Strange Tales #178
14.) Mirage TMNT #2-4 first printings

Thanks for your help!

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5 minutes ago, Hordfest said:

Hello.  I'm helping my fiance's dad liquidate his comic book collection by doing some of the legwork for him.  He sent me a list of mostly silver age key comics he wants to sell, and we are debating whether or not they are worth getting formally graded.  We both know enough to know they are all in good condition, no major bends or creases, with some looking really nice, and others pretty average.  The question is: will the the formal grade increase the value more than they are as is?  Here are the issues:

1.) Avengers #57 (First Vision and Matilda Appearance)
2.) Amazing Adventures #11 (first furry Beast appearance)
3.) Captain America #117 (First Falcon and Redwing appearance)
4.) Marvel Super-Heroes featuring Captain Marvel #12 (First Captain Marvel)
5.) Marvel Super-Heroes featuring Captain Marvel #13 (First Carol Danvers)
6.) Green Lantern #40 (first krona)
7.) Daredevil #168 (First elecktra and others)
8.) Marvel space born super hero captain marvel #1 
9.) The Incredible Hulk #141 (first doc sampson)
10.) Invincible Iron Man #55 (First Drax and a bunch of others)
11.) Marvel Premier #15 (first Iron Fist)
12.) Marvel Spotlight #5 (first ghost rider)
13.) Strange Tales #178
14.) Mirage TMNT #2-4 first printings

Thanks for your help!

Hello @Hordfest

Some of your books have decent value but condition is king. Any chance you could post some pictures? We like to see pictures around here.

Once we have an idea of grades, you can look up equivalent raws and graded copies on ebay to get an idea of whether it's worth getting any graded. For example,  there are many sold copies of Marvel Spotlight #5's on ebay raw and graded. If we see a picture / scan of your copy, front and back, we can estimate its grade and look for sales examples.

As a general rule,  graded copies sell for more than their raw equivalents as the graded copy is 'trusted / validated'. You'll need to work out the difference in realisable prices vs the cost of grading. 

You could post a few examples here in the 'hey buddy can you spare a grade' forum and you'll likely get a good spread of estimates. 

Good luck :)

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49 minutes ago, Get Marwood & I said:

Hello @Hordfest

Some of your books have decent value but condition is king. Any chance you could post some pictures? We like to see pictures around here.

Once we have an idea of grades, you can look up equivalent raws and graded copies on ebay to get an idea of whether it's worth getting any graded. For example,  there are many sold copies of Marvel Spotlight #5's on ebay raw and graded. If we see a picture / scan of your copy, front and back, we can estimate its grade and look for sales examples.

As a general rule,  graded copies sell for more than their raw equivalents as the graded copy is 'trusted / validated'. You'll need to work out the difference in realisable prices vs the cost of grading. 

You could post a few examples here in the 'hey buddy can you spare a grade' forum and you'll likely get a good spread of estimates. 

Good luck :)

good advice to get some help with grading, but the rest is just math and research that's all on the OP.   GPA is a place where people often get data on sales prices for slabs.  Its a paid service.  After that, its just a matter of doing your own math, just make sure you factor in all costs including, shipping, insurance, selling fees, packaging, your time, your opportunity cost, auction house fees, risk for grading variation, income taxes, potentially customs, sales tax.  In general, be conservative with your realizable prices.  Also, of course if you want to get specific really detailed, you can factor in opportunity cost of tying up your cash while you grade and try to sell, the time it takes to sell, the time value of money, inflation, any potential movie/tv speculation or other trends for which you have done data analysis and research.  And of course factor in your own risk/reward and time preferences, as well as your own financial situation.

Edited by revat
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Thank you so much for the quick feedback.  I looked up most of the issues on ebay, but the sold listings range so much for both ungraded and graded, I figured I would come here to ask because the sheer amount of keys sold on ebay make it very hard to pin down cost of grading vs payoff calculations.  I wasn't sure if there was like a rule of thumb.  Mostly, I just don't want him to get screwed by some unscrupulous vendor who claims they are in worse shape then they are, and since neither of us is a qualified grader, some of the more valuable issues definitely worry me because he has been scammed out of some of his keys before.

For some of the more valuable issues I'll upload some pictures in the thread you mentioned @Get Marwood & I and see what happens.

@joeypost We are learning towards grading them, but this process is just foreign to us both.  We have both only ever swapped or sold basic issues locally, he has never looked at selling his more valuable keys before, and want to make sure we are doing things right.

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1 minute ago, Hordfest said:

For some of the more valuable issues I'll upload some pictures in the thread you mentioned @Get Marwood & I and see what happens.

I'll keep an eye out and make sure I give an opinion (thumbsu 

Here's the thread - have a read of the rules and look at a few examples so you start off right

https://www.cgccomics.com/boards/forum/42-hey-buddy-can-you-spare-a-grade/

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19 minutes ago, Hordfest said:

Thank you so much for the quick feedback.  I looked up most of the issues on ebay, but the sold listings range so much for both ungraded and graded, I figured I would come here to ask because the sheer amount of keys sold on ebay make it very hard to pin down cost of grading vs payoff calculations.  I wasn't sure if there was like a rule of thumb.  Mostly, I just don't want him to get screwed by some unscrupulous vendor who claims they are in worse shape then they are, and since neither of us is a qualified grader, some of the more valuable issues definitely worry me because he has been scammed out of some of his keys before.

For some of the more valuable issues I'll upload some pictures in the thread you mentioned @Get Marwood & I and see what happens.

@joeypost We are learning towards grading them, but this process is just foreign to us both.  We have both only ever swapped or sold basic issues locally, he has never looked at selling his more valuable keys before, and want to make sure we are doing things right.

Graded generally sell better than raw. All the best to you in your endeavor. 

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12 minutes ago, Hordfest said:

Thank you so much for the quick feedback.  I looked up most of the issues on ebay, but the sold listings range so much for both ungraded and graded, I figured I would come here to ask because the sheer amount of keys sold on ebay make it very hard to pin down cost of grading vs payoff calculations.  I wasn't sure if there was like a rule of thumb.  Mostly, I just don't want him to get screwed by some unscrupulous vendor who claims they are in worse shape then they are, and since neither of us is a qualified grader, some of the more valuable issues definitely worry me because he has been scammed out of some of his keys before.

For some of the more valuable issues I'll upload some pictures in the thread you mentioned @Get Marwood & I and see what happens.

@joeypost We are learning towards grading them, but this process is just foreign to us both.  We have both only ever swapped or sold basic issues locally, he has never looked at selling his more valuable keys before, and want to make sure we are doing things right.

The other thing to sort of consider is this: 

It takes time and experience to know how to maximize your selling potential, and even then its a very imperfect science.  I do understand the desire to not get ripped off, but how much time are YOU willing to spend learning about grading and selling and pricing comics.  If you don't also have an interest, it can be VERY laborious.  And even AFTER LEARNING all that stuff, you still might be wrong or unlucky in some cases. 

I'm not saying its not worth it, but perhaps there are other simpler options to consider that might not maximize value but also probably won't get you ripped off.

1.  Get the approximate grades from the boards here in the PGM forum, then just take lots of pictures and sell them on ebay in an auction or a buy-it-now based other prices you see it sell for.

2.  Sell through an auction house, probably mycomicshop (but you can check out other ones).  You send these comics to the auctioneer, they grade, advertise, take pictures and sell for you, and then collect money and ship out for you.  They take a cut of course, but essentially you package up and mail out ONCE, fill out one form, no money out of pocket up front, and you get a check in like three months.  Very little effort on your part, its a large public auction so you didn't get ripped off.  Yes you probably could have made more slabbing some of them, but the easiness and peace of mind has value too.  And you're not forced to waste time learning something you will have no use for or interest in the future.

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3 hours ago, Hordfest said:

Hello.  I'm helping my fiance's dad liquidate his comic book collection by doing some of the legwork for him.  He sent me a list of mostly silver age key comics he wants to sell, and we are debating whether or not they are worth getting formally graded.  We both know enough to know they are all in good condition, no major bends or creases, with some looking really nice, and others pretty average.  The question is: will the the formal grade increase the value more than they are as is?  Here are the issues:

1.) Avengers #57 (First Vision and Matilda Appearance)
2.) Amazing Adventures #11 (first furry Beast appearance)
3.) Captain America #117 (First Falcon and Redwing appearance)
4.) Marvel Super-Heroes featuring Captain Marvel #12 (First Captain Marvel)
5.) Marvel Super-Heroes featuring Captain Marvel #13 (First Carol Danvers)
6.) Green Lantern #40 (first krona)
7.) Daredevil #168 (First elecktra and others)
8.) Marvel space born super hero captain marvel #1 
9.) The Incredible Hulk #141 (first doc sampson)
10.) Invincible Iron Man #55 (First Drax and a bunch of others)
11.) Marvel Premier #15 (first Iron Fist)
12.) Marvel Spotlight #5 (first ghost rider)
13.) Strange Tales #178
14.) Mirage TMNT #2-4 first printings

Thanks for your help!

The Marvel Super Heroes 13 and Iron Man 55 and Marvel Spotlight 5 are the three I would send in and see how high grade your books are before considering sending in the rest.  Unless they are mega keys (none you listed are in that category) I'd say you should be shooting for 8.0 or better or you may be wasting time sending them in to get slabbed compared to just selling them raw on the boards or on E-Bay.  The lower grade keys you listed will usually do a bit less raw but considering it will be $30 - $40 per book to get them graded you get the picture.

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You may need GPAnalysis.com for your research and visit CGC booth at the convention show near you. They can tell you the estimate grades. Otherwise you can find CGC dealers through this link.   Use their experience in grading.

You can provide your raw copies here like what they told you about. You have to tell us all hidden defects too that we couldn't see from the scans.

If I were you, I will send them to CGC (see what I chose):

1.) Avengers #57 (First Vision and Matilda Appearance)
2.) Amazing Adventures #11 (first furry Beast appearance)
3.) Captain America #117 (First Falcon and Redwing appearance)
4.) Marvel Super-Heroes featuring Captain Marvel #12 (First Captain Marvel)
5.) Marvel Super-Heroes featuring Captain Marvel #13 (First Carol Danvers)

6.) Green Lantern #40 (first krona)
7.) Daredevil #168 (First elecktra and others)
8.) Marvel space born super hero captain marvel #1 
9.) The Incredible Hulk #141 (first doc sampson)
10.) Invincible Iron Man #55 (First Drax and a bunch of others)
11.) Marvel Premier #15 (first Iron Fist)
12.) Marvel Spotlight #5 (first ghost rider)
13.) Strange Tales #178
14.) Mirage TMNT #2-4 first printings

It depends on the grade and it will tell you what value the book will be with the grade.

Bold: I will send them to CGC.  Italic: It depends on the grade. You need to check the sale history via GPAnalysis and eBay. for example, if your DD 168 copy is  NM 9.4 or better, it will be a worthy CGC. You need to analyze first before you decide. Strikethrough: The price of grading and encapsulation may be same as the book value. It is not worth for your money. Just sell them as raw copies.

Do analyze first before you will decide.

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