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CGC buying advice
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15 posts in this topic

Used to collect comics by going to the local comic book store and picking up the comic and inserting it in a plastic sleeve along with the cardboard in back of the comics. New to this CGC collection and I think its great as it grades your comic as well as preserves it well. However feeling overwhelmed with the many choices of CGC to choose from. Would appreciate any help as I am a noob when it comes to investing into CGC comics.

I like to buy comics based on the cover art, artist, writer, favorite characters and story.  My goal is to collect comics that I find interesting as well as long term appreciation in value. However I have some questions and would appreciate feedback from the experienced people I thank you everyone in advance for any guidance.

1)Are CGC better if they are signed rather than non signed?

2)I noticed Stan Lee signatures on comics he wasn’t involved in are pretty expensive is this speculations or they really are expensive? And do more signatures the comic has the more value it has?

3)I have some examples of comics I am interested in buying and will purchase them however I am overwhelmed and want to do research before I make the big investment. How do you tell or best estimate if a comic will have long term appreciation. I am going to put some comics I am interested in below as examples to help me understand are these market prices or are they over priced and if they will appreciate over time. Or rather how do you tell if you are not getting ripped off and the comic you like will be a good investment.

a) Amazing Spider-Man 700 cgc 9.8 Ditko cover signed by Stan Lee its on eBay for an astonishing amount of $2600-$4000. Is this really worth that much or is it over priced? Also would this hold its value long term? 

b)Batman 423 cgc 9.8 signed by Todd Mcfarlane over $800.

C)Amazing Spider-Man 1 Stan Lee Humberto Ramos Sketch cover with 5 signatures is over $800

d)X-men #1 cgc 9.8 special collector edition signed by Stan, Jim and Claremont over $500

e)Amazing Spider-Man 312 cgc 9.8 signed Stan and Todd.

These are some but not all of the comics that I like the cover art and the artist behind them as it brings back nostalgia memories of going to the local comic book store. 

I know its  a long post with a lot of questions. Thank you in advance. 

 

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Hi, I'll take a shot at the questions.

1) Depends on the comic, the grade, person who signed, the way the sig looks, and how much you paid for the signature (on top of CGC grading fees), and who/where you're trying to sell it.  Also, 'better' is purely subjective.  So that's really up to the individual.

2)  A Stan sig WILL generally result in a higher price than unsigned.  Towards the end, the cost of getting a comic signed by Stan for CGC SS was nearing $200+ all-in.  So naturally the CGC SS comic is worth more than without the sig.  But I would say many many many people did not recover their costs who got VERY random books signed.

3) There's a service called GPA that tracks sold prices of CGC graded comics, including sales history.  It's a paid service, you can google it.  BUT they don't necessarily breakout the signatures on CGC SS.  But you can track the non-signed to get an idea of the ball park (add $20-$500) for the signed copy depending on the cost and rarity of the comic and/or the creator.  Additionally, you can look up the history of SOLD comics on ebay and other comic auction sites, Heritage, comiclink, comic connect, etc.

Its hard to know what Stan sigs will do, as there's no one else like Stan, but there's also no one who signed more books than Stan.  But I would say this:  If you are buying any of your list right now in hopes of making a significant profit, its probably too late to make big money, you're probably better off with a mutual fund or 401K.  I would say buying directly after the death of Stan would probably result you paying a premium, but that's my own opinion.

 

Also very generally - You are asking for financial advice based on the experience and knowledge of people who have spent time, money, and energy to acquire over their.  So some people who might other wise have answers might not want to divulge proprietary information to strangers on the internet for free, or might be dispensing it with agenda.

Just as generally - It sounds like you don't really know enough about the market to just start randomly investing on the advice of random strangers.  If you're hoping to buy something you like that you can enjoy now and might go up in the long run....nothing wrong with that if you have the cash.  But I wouldn't buy anything like what you've posted with the expectation profit.

Equally generally - the best investments are probably key comics or first appearances of characters, preferably ones that are known but currently underappreciated, OR keys that have gone up steadily over time.  You can do your own analysis and research to find the best candidates that are right for you.

 

Note that this is just my own biased opinion. 

 

Edited by revat
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21 hours ago, Blondie19 said:

Or rather how do you tell if you are not getting ripped off and the comic you like will be a good investment.

https://comics.gpanalysis.com/gpaforcomics_login.asp?eid=1&seg=3

 

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21 hours ago, Blondie19 said:

Amazing Spider-Man 700 cgc 9.8 Ditko cover signed by Stan Lee its on eBay for an astonishing amount of $2600-$4000. Is this really worth that much or is it over priced? Also would this hold its value long term?

Regarding any Stan Lee sigs anywhere currently - gouging is rampant.  Ebay-wise, do a sold search and choose ended recently, then go back through those listings and see the change in prices over the last couple /few weeks since his passing.  You will get the idea. 

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On 12/5/2018 at 3:03 PM, Blondie19 said:

These are some but not all of the comics that I like the cover art and the artist behind them as it brings back nostalgia memories of going to the local comic book store. 

Well, if nostalgia memories is the reason for you to buy these books, then my best suggestion for you is to stay as far away from the uber high grade copies such as CGC 9.8 graded copies of these books.  :gossip:

Especially if you are also concerned about the preservation of your initial capital, considering that the books you seem to be talking about are all relatively recent and common books which can easily be found.

The most important thing to do is to buy the books you love and if they happen to go up in value, then that's just an extra bonus for your.  :preach:  (thumbsu

 

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9 hours ago, revat said:

Note that this is just my own biased opinion. 

 

Greetings. I want to thank you for your very informative response and  helpful guidance.  I have a better idea of how signatures work and where to find census information.  Regarding making a profit the goal is not to just make a profit. Its to combine something I like doing which is collecting comics I like and wanting to preserve the value of what I got it for and with the added benefit of it appreciating in the very long term. The comic will be kept perhaps given to someone, donate it for a good cause or trade it for another high grade comic. I agree that a lot of people will be hesitate to give out advice on investing in comics however I also do believe there are many people who will freely give out the advice. These people such as Warren Buffett regularly share his insights he also writes about it and its available for free for all to read. I think giving back can be rewarding and it motives others to do the same. That's just positive thinking. Take yourself for another example you gave solid useful advice and I will be sure to pass it along to another who may have similar questions. 

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7 hours ago, Spidey 62 said:

Regarding any Stan Lee sigs anywhere currently - gouging is rampant.  Ebay-wise, do a sold search and choose ended recently, then go back through those listings and see the change in prices over the last couple /few weeks since his passing.  You will get the idea. 

Thanks for the tips. 

3 hours ago, lou_fine said:

Well, if nostalgia memories is the reason for you to buy these books, then my best suggestion for you is to stay as far away from the uber high grade copies such as CGC 9.8 graded copies of these books.  :gossip:

Especially if you are also concerned about the preservation of your initial capital, considering that the books you seem to be talking about are all relatively recent and common books which can easily be found.

The most important thing to do is to buy the books you love and if they happen to go up in value, then that's just an extra bonus for your.  :preach:  (thumbsu

 

This is great advice. You make sense I will stick to comics that I like and mean something to me.  I like comics from the Bronze and early Modern ages. Although in my opinion the good ones are from the silver age and I need to do research on that.  With that said if I get a book I really like but they are say from the silver or bronze age with low cgc for example anywhere between 3.5-6.0 its not cheap but the book is really awesome is it worth investing in an expensive book from that era even though the cgc is low grade? 

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On 12/6/2018 at 8:09 PM, Blondie19 said:
On 12/6/2018 at 4:45 PM, lou_fine said:

Well, if nostalgia memories is the reason for you to buy these books, then my best suggestion for you is to stay as far away from the uber high grade copies such as CGC 9.8 graded copies of these books.  :gossip:

Especially if you are also concerned about the preservation of your initial capital, considering that the books you seem to be talking about are all relatively recent and common books which can easily be found.

The most important thing to do is to buy the books you love and if they happen to go up in value, then that's just an extra bonus for your.  :preach:  (thumbsu

 

This is great advice. You make sense I will stick to comics that I like and mean something to me.  I like comics from the Bronze and early Modern ages. Although in my opinion the good ones are from the silver age and I need to do research on that.  With that said if I get a book I really like but they are say from the silver or bronze age with low cgc for example anywhere between 3.5-6.0 its not cheap but the book is really awesome is it worth investing in an expensive book from that era even though the cgc is low grade? 

Well, since I am much more of a comic book collector as opposed to a CGC label chaser, I feel that the true sign of a vintage collectible comic book is one that has demand across the entire condition spectrum.  This is in sharp contrast to more recent or common books that tends to have value in only the uber high grade condition levels and yet have no real value in any thing below this grade level.  From that point of view, it's more like being a CGC label collector as opposed to being a comic book collector.  hm

But to each their own as there is definitely more than room in this comic book marketplace to accommodate all types of collectors here. (thumbsu 

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Blondie, it’s pretty tough to tell you what to collect for long term value since you naturally also want the books to resonate with what you love

In general I’d suggest you collect:

-books that are reasonably rare, nothing destroys value more than the supply increasing especially in high grade

-books where something happened, first appearance, origin, great story arc, classic work by writer and artist

-books that feature a character that’ll stand the test of time and be revevant in the future

A good example?  first appearance of the teen age mutant turtles had a low print run, wasn’t tucked enmass into bags and boards and hoarded, stars  iconic characters that have remained popular for many years in many different mediums from comics to video games to movies, and is an early example of small independent publishing that changed the hobby.  

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2 hours ago, thehumantorch said:

A good example?  first appearance of the teen age mutant turtles had a low print run, wasn’t tucked enmass into bags and boards and hoarded, stars  iconic characters that have remained popular for many years in many different mediums from comics to video games to movies, and is an early example of small independent publishing that changed the hobby.  

Brings back memories of me standing in a comic shop back in the mid 80's and making the wrong choice on a book.

The owner of the LCS asked if I would be interested in acquiring a copy of the limited signed and numbered hardcover edition of the Dark Knight Returns since he could order me a copy for $40 since it had either just come out or was about to come out.  When I told him to go ahead and order a copy for me, he then asked if I would be interested in obtaining a copy of the limited first edition of TMNT for $300 since he could get one for me directly from the publisher.  hm

Being a mainstream (as opposed to underground) comic book collector, when he showed me some sample pages of artwork from TMNT, I thought who in their right mind would ever think of paying $300 for a B&W book with that crudely poorly garbage artwork that was drawn in there.  doh!   :takeit:

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So, instead of having a book that would be worth thousands or possibly even tens of thousands of dollars in my collection, I am stuck with a much more mainstream limited book which has now been reprinted countless times and one that I will most likely not be able to recoup my money on if I ever do decide to sell it.  :cry:

Oh well, I guess you win some and you lose some in this game.  (shrug)

Edited by lou_fine
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