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Cerebus #1 CGC 9.6
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99 posts in this topic

On 1/9/2020 at 12:10 AM, roccojoco said:

Since when was there a Cerebus #1 graded a CGC 9.6?  It's a Signature Series too and does not appear to be a regraded version as there are still 3 at 9.4.  I'm surprised to see this coming out of left field and would love to see it.

I think this is very easy to resolve.  Just contact Peter at Paradise Comics and he should be able to fill in the blanks.  He handled the sale of the Sim file copies.

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1 hour ago, Stingrayiii said:

I would like to see it go up for bid, just to see how much it would fetch! lol

 

Shall we start the Hulk 181 valuation discussion argument fight here again?  :slapfight:  :slapfight:  lol

Edited by lou_fine
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On 1/12/2020 at 9:39 AM, roccojoco said:

It's just very interesting.  I didn't think a 9.6-9.8 was even possible as the print run was very flawed and Sim handpicked the best of them.

Yes, I thought Sim went through the entire 2,000 print run and pull out all of the best ones which didn't have the tell-tale spine breaks on them.  I guess with going through so many copies, he might have missed a few of them.  (shrug)

I just find it rather surprising that CGC doesn't allow for this printing and distribution defect when it comes to grading Cerebus 1's, but yet allows that nasty looking Marvel chipping to go relatively scot free when it comes to grading the very early Marvel SA books.  Especially since the spine breaks on the Cerebus 1's were endemic on virtually all distributed copies of the book, while Marvel chipping was evident on only a much smaller fractional proportion of the early Marvel SA books.  :screwy:  doh!

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58 minutes ago, lou_fine said:

Yes, I thought Sim went through the entire 2,000 print run and pull out all of the best ones which didn't have the tell-tale spine breaks on them.  I guess with going through so many copies, he might have missed a few of them.  (shrug)

I just find it rather surprising that CGC doesn't allow for this printing and distribution defect when it comes to grading Cerebus 1's, but yet allows that nasty looking Marvel chipping to go relatively scot free when it comes to grading the very early Marvel SA books.  Especially since the spine breaks on the Cerebus 1's were endemic on virtually all distributed copies of the book, while Marvel chipping was evident on only a much smaller fractional proportion of the early Marvel SA books.  :screwy:  doh!

We need to find this amazing copy

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1 hour ago, RockMyAmadeus said:

I'm still going with mistake.

Perhaps an improperly labeled counterfeit, or a reprint.

Do you really think it's impossible for a copy of Cerebus 1 to exist in CGC 9.6 graded level of condition?  hm

Is there any chance that Dave Sim just might have held back one last copy (i.e. his best copy) for himself and finally decided to get it signed and graded now?  :wink:

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1 hour ago, lou_fine said:

Do you really think it's impossible for a copy of Cerebus 1 to exist in CGC 9.6 graded level of condition?  hm

No.

I think it's incredibly improbable. Not having seen the book in question, I clearly don't know, but having bought and sold Cerebus for 20+ years, I'd put the odds of a 9.6 showing up very, very low, a virtual...but not complete...impossibility.

Remember: there was an FF #1 9.8 (1961) on the census once. That was a mistake, too.

1 hour ago, lou_fine said:

Is there any chance that Dave Sim just might have held back one last copy (i.e. his best copy) for himself and finally decided to get it signed and graded now?  :wink:

Sure. I'd love to see it.

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6 hours ago, roccojoco said:

I also find it very improbable a 9.6 exists and just surfaced now.  Someone in contact with Sim should ask if he signed a virtually flawless copy in the past few months.

The fascinating thing about Dave is that, virtually unheard of among creators, he had a collector's eye towards his own books. Most creators not only couldn't tell you the difference between a 9.8 and a 4.5, they wouldn't care, and think you're incredibly disturbed for caring.

Dave, however...whether he was influenced by Bill Gaines, or just because it mattered to him personally...decided to pick the best copies of all his books, brand new, and set them aside...starting in the 1977-1978 era, no less, when most people didn't even begin to think about such things in relation to comics.

Incredible foresight that man had, and the reason why so many exist in such high grade today.

Other independent books of the era surviving in high grade are flukes of nature, accidents. But not Dave. It's one of the reasons I love the man so much, warts and all.

Edited by RockMyAmadeus
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1 hour ago, RockMyAmadeus said:

Incredible foresight that man had, and the reason why so many exist in such high grade today.

I would 100% empathically disagree with your statement here.  :slapfight:

Not sure what your definition of many is, especially considering the fact that there are alrready 121 graded copies of the supposedly rare Albedo 2 in CGC 9.0 and above, along with a whopping 355 graded copies of the much in-demand TMNT 1 in CGC 9.0 and above, while only a mere 20 graded copies of Cerebus 1 in CGC 9.0 and above.  (:  :takeit:

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19 hours ago, lou_fine said:
21 hours ago, RockMyAmadeus said:

Incredible foresight that man had, and the reason why so many exist in such high grade today.

I would 100% empathically disagree with your statement here.  :slapfight:

Not sure what your definition of many is, especially considering the fact that there are alrready 121 graded copies of the supposedly rare Albedo 2 in CGC 9.0 and above, along with a whopping 355 graded copies of the much in-demand TMNT 1 in CGC 9.0 and above, while only a mere 20 graded copies of Cerebus 1 in CGC 9.0 and above.  (:  :takeit:

Sorry, I was using the discussion to platform to the broader topic of all of Sim's file copies, not just #1s. Dave saved file copies of at the least the first 21 or so issues of Cerebus, maybe more:

1665953770_cerebus2census.thumb.png.f8a09ec5b8c3fd3fc6b016e8e8e585ee.png1722058872_cerebus3census.thumb.png.3fc65d40d34bf7ace4a1c64fb2ec04dd.png333316791_cerebus7census.thumb.png.93a44cca04c2bf56efd8677e82342a2d.png162575354_cerebus21census.thumb.png.91664f51f15e7683b8e24b6092276dc6.png

 

Edited by RockMyAmadeus
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4 hours ago, lou_fine said:

I would 100% empathically disagree with your statement here.  :slapfight:

Not sure what your definition of many is, especially considering the fact that there are alrready 121 graded copies of the supposedly rare Albedo 2 in CGC 9.0 and above, along with a whopping 355 graded copies of the much in-demand TMNT 1 in CGC 9.0 and above, while only a mere 20 graded copies of Cerebus 1 in CGC 9.0 and above.  (:  :takeit:

Cerebus #1 was printed in 1977

TMNT in 1984 and Albedo in 1985.By then collectors were thinking more about condition than previously and that contributed to the higher number of TMNT and Albedo than Cerebus.This was about the time I started bagging and boarding all my books and realizing that higher grade ment more money.

 

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19 hours ago, RockMyAmadeus said:

The fascinating thing about Dave is that, virtually unheard of among creators, he had a collector's eye towards his own books. Most creators not only couldn't tell you the difference between a 9.8 and a 4.5, they wouldn't care, and think you're incredibly disturbed for caring.

Dave, however...whether he was influenced by Bill Gaines, or just because it mattered to him personally...decided to pick the best copies of all his books, brand new, and set them aside...starting in the 1977-1978 era, no less, when most people didn't even begin to think about such things in relation to comics.

Incredible foresight that man had, and the reason why so many exist in such high grade today.

Other independent books of the era surviving in high grade are flukes of nature, accidents. But not Dave. It's one of the reasons I love the man so much, warts and all.

I dunno.   I mean, he started out working in a comic shop remember.    He was immersed in collector culture from the get go.  
 

Yes it was 1977, so still quite early to have done something this calculated I suppose.   But also not unheard of.    Comic shops were hoarding new releases for speculation well before then, he would have been familiar with that (Shazam 1 anybody?   I know a comic shop I used to go to ordered hundreds of those along with many other titles and that was 1972?  IIRC).   
 

I would guess that even in 1977 it didn’t take that much foresight but Sim was certainly effective at picking out incredible copies and more than anything, in keeping them all this time.

Edited by Bronty
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On 1/18/2020 at 6:16 PM, Toz said:
On 1/18/2020 at 2:00 PM, lou_fine said:

I would 100% empathically disagree with your statement here.  :slapfight:

Not sure what your definition of many is, especially considering the fact that there are alrready 121 graded copies of the supposedly rare Albedo 2 in CGC 9.0 and above, along with a whopping 355 graded copies of the much in-demand TMNT 1 in CGC 9.0 and above, while only a mere 20 graded copies of Cerebus 1 in CGC 9.0 and above.  (:  :takeit:

Cerebus #1 was printed in 1977

TMNT in 1984 and Albedo in 1985.By then collectors were thinking more about condition than previously and that contributed to the higher number of TMNT and Albedo than Cerebus.This was about the time I started bagging and boarding all my books and realizing that higher grade ment more money.

 

Yes, Cerebus #1 was indeed printed in 1977 and not in 1937 or even 1957.  :baiting:

By then in 1977, the comic book collecting hobby was already pretty well established for well more than a decade by then.  Probably not to the levels of hoarding that would take place a few short years later, but collectors were already well aware of collectible comic books having value as evident by the strong demand for books by Neal Adams, Barry Windsor-Smith, Steranko, Kirby, Jim Starlin, Bryne X-Men, etc.  :luhv:

If you are saying 1977 is too early for collectors to think about condition when selecting books to put away for their collections, then how about 15 years earlier in 1962.  If you take a look at all of the early key Marvel SA books, there are way more then 20 graded copies in CGC 9.0 of books such as AF 15, FF 1, Hulk 1, etc.  The only exception to this would appear to be Tales to Astonish 27 with a total of 18 copies in CGC 9.0 or above, as compared to only 20 for Cerebus 1.  hm

 

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On 1/17/2020 at 3:10 PM, lou_fine said:

Shall we start the Hulk 181 valuation discussion argument fight here again?  :slapfight:  :slapfight:  lol

Yes we should!!! Haha, but it would be interesting to see what it could pull. I think it could reach $16k or more. It is the highest graded. Now lets see if a Cerebus #1 9.8 shows up.

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On 1/17/2020 at 7:32 PM, RockMyAmadeus said:

I'm still going with mistake.

Perhaps an improperly labeled counterfeit, or a reprint.

I'm in this same position also.  It has happened with Star Wars 1 35 cent variant in 9.6.  The 1269363002 is just a reprint, yet mis labeled as an original price variant and is still on the census as one of 3 highest graded surviving copies.   I notified CGC about this shortly after I saw the book on Ebay in 2018, they did not follow through with anything.  

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5 hours ago, Topnotchman said:

I'm in this same position also.  It has happened with Star Wars 1 35 cent variant in 9.6.  The 1269363002 is just a reprint, yet mis labeled as an original price variant and is still on the census as one of 3 highest graded surviving copies.   I notified CGC about this shortly after I saw the book on Ebay in 2018, they did not follow through with anything.  

do you have scans etc as proof ?

if you do then create a thread here to have it removed from the census.

 

Edited by Gotham Kid
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