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when/when not to grade
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12 posts in this topic

The recent posts of ASM's  raised a question for me.I have about 120 ASM's

in my collection,some are in about the same shape as those recently posted(46 and 36 I believe)

others are in better shape(some much better) Obviously key issues are in a class by themselves

but I was wondering which and how many others to slab.My goal is to keep them in the

condition they  currently have.My intent is to keep them and pass them along to my son some day

I have the cover price invested in about 80% of them. What thoughts does anyone have on the matter? Thanks in advance.

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As for me I inherited about 120 books.  I sent in the Keys and sentimental books first.  Now I am sending in what's left that presents well and I estimate a 500 dollar book or more.  I like the slabs but It is a little expensive and also time consuming.  I am also not planning on selling but giving them to my one niece who loves books.  This is kind of a big experiment to me.  I am not sending in anything with misplaced staples, chipping, writing, stains etc although I have made a few mistakes.  The ones without slabs will do just fine in 4 mil mylar, they never had it so good...

I am only going to end up with about 15 slabs out of 120 books which is just fine.

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Edited by Karl Liebl
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I struggle with this myself. First thing that resonates in your post is the legacy of passing them on to the kids. I was in that camp until recently, but my kids aren't interested in comic books, so now I'm of the mindset of grading and eventually selling the key material. Or at least letting the family know what will sell biggest after I'm gone.

So, what to grade? Obviously the early silver age and key issues from the 60s and 70s seem like locks. From there I'd say more recent key issues that have a shot at a 9.6 or higher *might* be worth a shot, though it seems some might be willing to pay big for those without the grade, taking the risk on themselves. My inclination is to stick to the less populated books and hold back on all but the highest value issues from the 80s and beyond.

Since you are like me and bought most of your books when they came out, it's all theoretically gravy and will pay for the grading costs.

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23 minutes ago, ronvogel said:

I struggle with this myself. First thing that resonates in your post is the legacy of passing them on to the kids. I was in that camp until recently, but my kids aren't interested in comic books, so now I'm of the mindset of grading and eventually selling the key material. Or at least letting the family know what will sell biggest after I'm gone.

So, what to grade? Obviously the early silver age and key issues from the 60s and 70s seem like locks. From there I'd say more recent key issues that have a shot at a 9.6 or higher *might* be worth a shot, though it seems some might be willing to pay big for those without the grade, taking the risk on themselves. My inclination is to stick to the less populated books and hold back on all but the highest value issues from the 80s and beyond.

Since you are like me and bought most of your books when they came out, it's all theoretically gravy and will pay for the grading costs.

It is gravy but you won't taste it unless its sold!

BTW my only mistakes on my submissions were stains, I do not recommend sending in books with even small stains as they get dinged HARD!

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27 minutes ago, ronvogel said:

I struggle with this myself. First thing that resonates in your post is the legacy of passing them on to the kids. I was in that camp until recently, but my kids aren't interested in comic books, so now I'm of the mindset of grading and eventually selling the key material. Or at least letting the family know what will sell biggest after I'm gone.

So, what to grade? Obviously the early silver age and key issues from the 60s and 70s seem like locks. From there I'd say more recent key issues that have a shot at a 9.6 or higher *might* be worth a shot, though it seems some might be willing to pay big for those without the grade, taking the risk on themselves. My inclination is to stick to the less populated books and hold back on all but the highest value issues from the 80s and beyond.

Since you are like me and bought most of your books when they came out, it's all theoretically gravy and will pay for the grading costs.

In my case my son is a collector as well and knows more about it than I.My books range from 21 to about 140.I just recently got them out of the closet,(they were bagged and boarded) I have several other titles such as Hero for Hire and Marvel Spotlights of that era.I think I am better served to concentrate on the ASM's,would that be your opinion as well?

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Unless they are very high grade books they are unlikely to justify the cumulative high cost of slabbing. They will also take up a great deal more storage room once they are in slabs. There is no reason they can't keep their current condition with proper storage. I realize everyone collects differently but personally I would just keep them in Mylites with boards and enjoy them.

 

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2 hours ago, Point Five said:

Unless they are very high grade books they are unlikely to justify the cumulative high cost of slabbing. They will also take up a great deal more storage room once they are in slabs. There is no reason they can't keep their current condition with proper storage. I realize everyone collects differently but personally I would just keep them in Mylites with boards and enjoy them.

 

What would you consider "very high grade" I agree with much of what you say.I am just looking 

for some other thoughts  on the matter. I am awaiting #100,101,121,122 and 129 to see how they turn out

I am hoping for 7.0 or better on each. My plan is to do 5 more for now(with #50 being one of them) Any suggestions on the other 4?

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47 minutes ago, ben parker said:

What would you consider "very high grade" I agree with much of what you say.I am just looking 

for some other thoughts  on the matter. I am awaiting #100,101,121,122 and 129 to see how they turn out

I am hoping for 7.0 or better on each. My plan is to do 5 more for now(with #50 being one of them) Any suggestions on the other 4?

The first thing I did was get a current copy of Overstreet and thumb through the values.  Is it accurate for current prices or CGC books? Not really, but it is still a helpful ballpark tool.  Someone can help you out here too but they generally want you to do your own research.  Overstreet costs money and so does the subscription service GPA analysis which lists latest real sale prices so its not polite to ask for prices on the boards.  You can get a digital copy of Overstreet online and won't need a magnifying glass to read it haha, I am surprised your son doesn't have a copy.

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3 hours ago, Karl Liebl said:

The first thing I did was get a current copy of Overstreet and thumb through the values.  Is it accurate for current prices or CGC books? Not really, but it is still a helpful ballpark tool.  Someone can help you out here too but they generally want you to do your own research.  Overstreet costs money and so does the subscription service GPA analysis which lists latest real sale prices so its not polite to ask for prices on the boards.  You can get a digital copy of Overstreet online and won't need a magnifying glass to read it haha, I am surprised your son doesn't have a copy.

You misunderstand, I am not asking about prices,I have done a lot of online research and have most of

the answers in that area such as price,numbers of sales and the like.My question is does anyone have 

favorite issues because of cover pics or some other reason.I have mine but I'm sure other folks have different ones for different reasons.

Many are fans of #28,me not so much.I like #62 ,#39 ,#119 and #136.

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