Help needed for a big project as a newcomer 0

[PhosOx]

Hello all! I’m PhosOx and I need your help. I came into a pile of comics that I need an opinion on if it’s worth my time to price out and try to sell.
 

I came into a box of hundreds of comics that were in storage for over a decade.  They were stored in a bin and loosely covered in plastic. There is a couple problems I am having that I have been trying to patchwork together form multiple online sources including these forums.  

So I decided to make a post and see if I could get some help from some experts.  I’m not a complete noob, so it isn’t entirely overbearing as I play/collect Magic the Gathering cards so I understand the basis of grading and a lot of the niches of collectible selling.

 

Here are the issues I am having:

Grading: The comics are musty. I have looked at all the threads and online and I understand how to combat this. The answers I found could take quite a long time to sort out. My main concern is if the comics are molded or mildewed. If it isn’t just must from what I've read and seen the grade on the comics would near instantly drop to 2.4 and lower if mildewed. Is that true, if so is it worth the time even if all the comics I find are no higher than 2.5?

 

Pricing: for magic there are online resources to quickly ascertain the price of a card. Are there widely accepted resources like this for comics? I would need to go through and price these and sort out the chaff. Find a $ point where I would be willing to de-smell comics.

Reprints: I see some comics get reprints and as I never really owned comics I don’t know if there is a telltale way to identify an original from a reprint. Maybe I’m misinformed and it is very simple.

 

Damage: From the handful of comics I looked through the comics seem to be intact. Pages looked white. From the research I’ve done so far the obvious big damage points I should be looking for are physical damages to cover and pages and yellowing of pages. Are there other big grade modifiers that I should be keeping an eye out for?

 

 

Thank you in advance for any advice and help you can issue me. I will continue scouring the vast internet and see what I can find. It is just very daunting for a newcomer and I appreciate any and all assistance

[SuperBird]

first things first- what kind of comics? what years/decades? 

[PhosOx]

60's- 2000's

Examples ive seen in my first handful 

Avengers 1st series issues 28 29 30

Star Wars issue 3 1977

Robin 2 from the mid 90's. 

I didnt delve much deeper as i decided to wait to get  a mask just in case of potential mold and  latex gloves 

 

[theCapraAegagrus]

1 hour ago, PhosOx said:

Here are the issues I am having:

Grading: The comics are musty. I have looked at all the threads and online and I understand how to combat this. The answers I found could take quite a long time to sort out. My main concern is if the comics are molded or mildewed. If it isn’t just must from what I've read and seen the grade on the comics would near instantly drop to 2.4 and lower if mildewed. Is that true, if so is it worth the time even if all the comics I find are no higher than 2.5?

 

Pricing: for magic there are online resources to quickly ascertain the price of a card. Are there widely accepted resources like this for comics? I would need to go through and price these and sort out the chaff. Find a $ point where I would be willing to de-smell comics.

Reprints: I see some comics get reprints and as I never really owned comics I don’t know if there is a telltale way to identify an original from a reprint. Maybe I’m misinformed and it is very simple.

 

Damage: From the handful of comics I looked through the comics seem to be intact. Pages looked white. From the research I’ve done so far the obvious big damage points I should be looking for are physical damages to cover and pages and yellowing of pages. Are there other big grade modifiers that I should be keeping an eye out for?

Grading: I'm no expert by any means, but there are comics between 1960-1990 that can be worth grading under 3.0. If all of the comics are under 3.0, I hesitate to say that it overall may not be worth spending the time to research all of the data.

Pricing: GPAanalysis is good for slabbed sales. It costs money, though. Raw sales data can be ball-parked using (mainly/typically) eBay.

Reprints: This is usually something apparent near the top-left logo. I'm no expert on this, either, though.

Damage: You could look for staple problems. Tearing, loose, rusty, etc. Spine ticks. There are a lot of potential defects. The best place to start is cover in-tact and no missing pages. Page Quality isn't really a "defect". It's just an aging process. Mostly.

[Krismusic]

I would look at the older comics first and put those aside to do some research. 

I use GPA comics to get a range for pricing and I believe most serious collectors and sellers use GPA to help them price out comics as it has last sold prices, past years, high and low prices. You would have to use your best skills and judgement to try to get a grade that you think your comic would be at. 

If you need help with a determining a grade you can ask on the forums in the Please grade my comic section.

For Reprints they usually don't have the price and some on the side near the pricing even say reprint. or the price is different from the original price.  

[PhosOx]

3 minutes ago, TwoPiece said:

Grading: I'm no expert by any means, but there are comics between 1960-1990 that can be worth grading under 3.0. If all of the comics are under 3.0, I hesitate to say that it overall may not be worth spending the time to research all of the data.

Pricing: GPAanalysis is good for slabbed sales. It costs money, though. Raw sales data can be ball-parked using (mainly/typically) eBay.

Reprints: This is usually something apparent near the top-left logo. I'm no expert on this, either, though.

Damage: You could look for staple problems. Tearing, loose, rusty, etc. Spine ticks. There are a lot of potential defects. The best place to start is cover in-tact and no missing pages. Page Quality isn't really a "defect". It's just an aging process. Mostly.

My initial thought was to pull all the obviously older stuff 60's 70's and see how much that cuts into the hull. I am knowledgeable on the universes enough so to know whats popular (hence when i saw avengers series 1 got me interested in possibly pursuing this) and seeing where that takes me. Another glance and i am seeing some Thor Aqua Man and marvel team ups with spider man 

[Krismusic]

you can also use the overstreet price guide and the overstreet grading guy books you can pick these up for like 40$ and these two books can significantly help with pricing and grading.

Personally I would flip through them quickly and see if there any popular super hero books such as spidey, fantastic four, iron man, batman, superman etc.. and look for lower issue # and research those first then the rest as that would give me a general idea of how much is sitting in the box and if its worth my time as the value of your time is highly subjective to yourself. 

[theCapraAegagrus]

1 minute ago, PhosOx said:

My initial thought was to pull all the obviously older stuff 60's 70's and see how much that cuts into the hull. I am knowledgeable on the universes enough so to know whats popular (hence when i saw avengers series 1 got me interested in possibly pursuing this) and seeing where that takes me. Another glance and i am seeing some Thor Aqua Man and marvel team ups with spider man 

That's the smart play.

1960's have a lot of issues I am consider collecting down the line. I mostly collect signed copper/moderns right now.

Good luck!

[PhosOx]

1 minute ago, Krishosein said:

you can also use the overstreet price guide and the overstreet grading guy books you can pick these up for like 40$ and these two books can significantly help with pricing and grading.

Personally I would flip through them quickly and see if there any popular super hero books such as spidey, fantastic four, iron man, batman, superman etc.. and look for lower issue # and research those first then the rest as that would give me a general idea of how much is sitting in the box and if its worth my time as the value of your time is highly subjective to yourself. 

I have the down time at work to do it and I might do it just to get the experience of grading comics. As a casual fan and how similarity is to MtG it  could be a gateway into a new hobby 

[Krismusic]

Best of luck and welcome to the forums and maybe it might become a new hobby for you.

[The Lions Den]

Here are a few random thoughts...  1)  Musty isn't good, but that may not mean there's mold or mildew present. But a dust mask and latex gloves isn't a bad idea. Look for obvious signs of water damage and black mold on the covers and interiors of the comics. As a general rule, books with water damage and mold are usually not very desirable to most collectors.  2) Sometimes you have to go through a lot of dreck to find one book that makes it all worthwhile.  3) Take your time. Try and sort them out, either by publisher or title. It'll make it much easier to evaluate them if you know what they are and who made them.  4) Reprints are common. Some reprints will even specify what book they're reprinted from. Check the indicia (the printing history which is usually found at the bottom of the first page). Also, look at the book itself. Sometimes reprints will have 3 or 4 different stories featuring individual characters bound together in one book.  5)  Take frequent breaks. Looking through hundreds of books can be exhausting. 6) Look for things that make the book noteworthy, such as first appearances, the death of a character, a fight between two major characters, or a cover that really grabs your attention and has a "wow" factor. I hope this helps a bit...good luck!   

[theCapraAegagrus]

10 minutes ago, PhosOx said:

I have the down time at work to do it and I might do it just to get the experience of grading comics. As a casual fan and how similarity is to MtG it  could be a gateway into a new hobby 

I wouldn't compare it to MtG.

While comics can garner 'bumps' from movie hype - right now the market is over-saturated with speculator buyers and fair-weather sellers.

MtG has stock interest from the Reserved List, Vintage/Legacy collectible/playable value, Modern tournament impact, and most especially Standard tournament impact.

They are 2 completely different games.

Edited March 28, 2019 by TwoPiece

[Lazyboy]

2 hours ago, TwoPiece said:

I wouldn't compare it to MtG.

While comics can garner 'bumps' from movie hype - right now the market is over-saturated with speculator buyers and fair-weather sellers.

MtG has stock interest from the Reserved List, Vintage/Legacy collectible/playable value, Modern tournament impact, and most especially Standard tournament impact.

They are 2 completely different games.

There are silly prices, speculation, and market manipulation in both. But you're right that they aren't that similar overall.

[Lazyboy]

2 hours ago, Krishosein said:

you can also use the overstreet price guide and the overstreet grading guy books you can pick these up for like 40$ and these two books can significantly help with pricing and grading.

Well, you're half right. The grading guide is very useful for somebody who wants to put some time and effort into learning how to grade comics.

4 hours ago, PhosOx said:

Pricing: for magic there are online resources to quickly ascertain the price of a card. Are there widely accepted resources like this for comics? I would need to go through and price these and sort out the chaff. Find a $ point where I would be willing to de-smell comics.

Unfortunately, there are no sites like tcgplayer.com for comics and the Overstreet Price Guide is a severely outdated waste of paper.

To get an idea of real prices, I would suggest using a site like mycomicshop.com, which also has images that will confirm you're looking at the right issue. Being a large retail operation, they may not perfectly reflect the market, but it should give you a good idea.

[PhosOx]

7 minutes ago, Lazyboy said:

Well, you're half right. The grading guide is very useful for somebody who wants to put some time and effort into learning how to grade comics.

Unfortunately, there are no sites like tcgplayer.com for comics and the Overstreet Price Guide is a severely outdated waste of paper.

To get an idea of real prices, I would suggest using a site like mycomicshop.com, which also has images that will confirm you're looking at the right issue. Being a large retail operation, they may not perfectly reflect the market, but it should give you a good idea.

I was going to ask about that shop as a reference point. thanks for bringing it up 

[Lazyboy]

1 minute ago, PhosOx said:

I was going to ask about that shop as a reference point. thanks for bringing it up 

The one big thing you need to be aware of when looking up prices on MCS is that they also deal in consignments. Consigned books are marked with yellow boxes and should not be relied upon to determine market value (which is very obvious sometimes when they have their own copy in the same grade marked at half the asking price of the consigned book ). Anything that is out of stock or only has consigned copies can easily just be looked up on feeBay.

[comicginger1789]

If you have stuff from the 60's to 80's and you wants some opinions on grading, I am happy to help. Send me some pictures if you can. I can give you some grading pointers and assist with value. I can also give an idea if the collection has any books worth grading or not. 

[PhosOx]

3 minutes ago, comicginger1789 said:

If you have stuff from the 60's to 80's and you wants some opinions on grading, I am happy to help. Send me some pictures if you can. I can give you some grading pointers and assist with value. I can also give an idea if the collection has any books worth grading or not. 

Thanks. Im gonna be diving in tomorrow afternoon.

[comicginger1789]

7 minutes ago, PhosOx said:

Thanks. Im gonna be diving in tomorrow afternoon.

Nice, well if you want to send me pics any time, I love doing anything comic related in my spare time. Or even ask a question about a particular issue, I tend to check here throughout the day.

[PhosOx]

Update: another bin in. No odor and better sealing on the books. looks like some more 60's early 70's stuff.

Update 2: first couple handfuls i looked through include some captain Marvel, Eternals issue 1, and a large (maybe full?) run of peter parker as the spectacular spider man run. 

 

Tomorrow should be an adventure to say the least!

Edited March 28, 2019 by PhosOx
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