Fantastic Four Collecting Thread! 32 32

[Mucheee1]

About 10 years ago I decided to get more aggressive in my FF collecting, noting that they were undervalued (in my opinion) at the time. My goal was to get the first 88 issues. Well, I made it about half way through (40 issues total), and they are way more expensive now. I did manage to get these 2 along the way.

 

[Sweet Lou 14]

45 minutes ago, Mucheee1 said:

About 10 years ago I decided to get more aggressive in my FF collecting, noting that they were undervalued (in my opinion) at the time. My goal was to get the first 88 issues. Well, I made it about half way through (40 issues total), and they are way more expensive now. I did manage to get these 2 along the way.

 

Two of the very best in the run!

[Karl Liebl]

I got my next 5 submission grades in. Kind of a waste of time and money. There is nothing special about these grades although decent. These were all inherited books and not bought already graded...

ff24 7.0 ow wh

#50 6.5 ow

#63 9.0 wh  not bad considering black cover

#91 9.0 wh could probably have bought a 9.6 with less hassle

#94 6.5 wh  stain on back cover I missed

sometimes it’s easier to just buy the book than grade your own...

I show pics if anyone cares or wants

 

 

[JohnH19]

14 minutes ago, Karl Liebl said:

I got my next 5 submission grades in. Kind of a waste of time and money. There is nothing special about these grades although decent. These were all inherited books and not bought already graded...

ff24 7.0 ow wh

#50 6.5 ow

#63 9.0 wh  not bad considering black cover

#91 9.0 wh could probably have bought a 9.6 with less hassle

#94 6.5 wh  stain on back cover I missed

sometimes it’s easier to just buy the book than grade your own...

I show pics if anyone cares or wants

 

 

Getting books graded seems to be a very frustrating experience for you.

[Sweet Lou 14]

16 minutes ago, Karl Liebl said:

I got my next 5 submission grades in. Kind of a waste of time and money. There is nothing special about these grades although decent. These were all inherited books and not bought already graded...

ff24 7.0 ow wh

#50 6.5 ow

#63 9.0 wh  not bad considering black cover

#91 9.0 wh could probably have bought a 9.6 with less hassle

#94 6.5 wh  stain on back cover I missed

sometimes it’s easier to just buy the book than grade your own...

I show pics if anyone cares or wants

 

 

Please don't take this the wrong way, but did you in fact grade the books yourself?  If CGC's grades were way below what you were expecting, that probably means you need to apply a more critical eye.  I know from personal experience that it can be very hard to grade your own books because we all have an inherent bias to see them as better than they are.

A couple of specific things I would suggest ...

• Always take the book out of the bag / mylar
• Tilt it in the light to pick up issues that might otherwise not be visible
• Look for little defects that CGC hammers like invisible water stains
• Use a magnifying glass / jeweler's loupe
• As the great Bob Storms once told me, hold the book upside down so that you aren't distracted by the art, your brain is focused only on the structure of the book

Hope that helps you avoid disappointment and frustration in the future.  I do agree that for all but a select handful of books, depending on how old the book is, grades below 8.0 and even grades below 9.0 can result in a loss, so deciding what books are worth submitting is very important.

[Karl Liebl]

7 minutes ago, JohnH19 said:

Getting books graded seems to be a very frustrating experience for you.

A little bit. I had guessed 7 7 8 9 9 so I was not too far off. Remember they each cost around 140 with pressing and postage. I was hoping the 90’s books would get above 9.2. It is what it is

[thehumantorch]

22 minutes ago, Karl Liebl said:

I got my next 5 submission grades in. Kind of a waste of time and money. There is nothing special about these grades although decent. These were all inherited books and not bought already graded...

ff24 7.0 ow wh

#50 6.5 ow

#63 9.0 wh  not bad considering black cover

#91 9.0 wh could probably have bought a 9.6 with less hassle

#94 6.5 wh  stain on back cover I missed

sometimes it’s easier to just buy the book than grade your own...

I show pics if anyone cares or wants

 

 

FF24 in 7.0 is a lovely book and higher grade than most.  
FF50 in 6.5 is a $500 book and my favorite SA book
FF 63 and 91 in 9.0 are pretty good considering they're 50 years old
FF 94 is a learning moment and has reasonable value graded 6.5

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

This is a higher price than I thought the book would bring

[Sweet Lou 14]

Wow.

[Hulksdaddy1]

 

https://www.comiclink.com/auctions/item.asp?back=%2FAuctions%2Fdefault.asp%3FFocused%3D1%26x%3D45%26y%3D21%26pg%3D3%23Item_1459125&id=1459125&itemType=0

[Math Teacher]

9 hours ago, Karl Liebl said:

I got my next 5 submission grades in. Kind of a waste of time and money. There is nothing special about these grades although decent. These were all inherited books and not bought already graded...

A suggestion I would make would be to post these in the "Hey buddy, can you spare a grade?" forum before sending your books into CGC. People will look at the pictures of your book and then estimate the CGC grade. I have used this forum numerous times, and the consensus grade from the group is almost always spot-on.

[namisgr]

9 hours ago, GreatCaesarsGhost said:

This is a higher price than I thought the book would bring

It's such a classic Marvel comic, and one of the rarest SA Marvels to find in NM condition that I'm not surprised it's now fetching top dollar.

[namisgr]

8 hours ago, Hulksdaddy1 said:

 

https://www.comiclink.com/auctions/item.asp?back=%2FAuctions%2Fdefault.asp%3FFocused%3D1%26x%3D45%26y%3D21%26pg%3D3%23Item_1459125&id=1459125&itemType=0

There are a ton of FF48 copies in NM+ and higher condition, but only one Curator pedigree copy.  

The Curator FF comics are insanely preserved, even those with teensy bits of wear that take them out of the highest grades.  I traveled to the Heritage auction of the run in NYC just to see it and to bid on a few issues, and the chance to see the run on display was memorable.

Edited February 25, 2021 by namisgr

[Hulksdaddy1]

2 hours ago, namisgr said:

There are a ton of FF48 copies in NM+ and higher condition, but only one Curator pedigree copy.  

The Curator FF comics are insanely preserved, even those with teensy bits of wear that take them out of the highest grades.  I traveled to the Heritage auction of the run in NYC just to see it and to bid on a few issues, and the chance to see the run on display was memorable.

I get that pedigrees fetch a bit more, for whatever reason (they don't matter to me, personally) but the grade is the grade. Their 9.6 W is a 9.6 W. How much do you figure the pedigree added to the final price? $2k? $5k?

[namisgr]

34 minutes ago, Hulksdaddy1 said:

I get that pedigrees fetch a bit more, for whatever reason (they don't matter to me, personally) but the grade is the grade. Their 9.6 W is a 9.6 W. How much do you figure the pedigree added to the final price? $2k? $5k?

Roughly around 50%.  That's about what I paid to win the FF #s 26 and 28 from the Heritage auction, and about what the two books fetched when they were sold years later.

Curator Silver Age Marvels have arguably the best preserved cover stock and the whitest, most color-rich covers of any collection.  Structural grades contribute a lot to the overall eye appeal, but they're not the only story.

Edited February 25, 2021 by namisgr

[Drummy]

That Curator FF #48 is absolutely stunning.  The colors, the CENTERING, the gloss, the page quality...all pretty much perfect for that book.  I was the underbidder years ago on Heritage when it went for about $5700...one of my real regrets in my bidding life is not going all out for that copy.

[Gaard]

Are certain pedigrees more sought after than others? I've never been a pedigree chaser, but it seems like if I was, I'd maybe prefer one over the other.
 

 

[Sweet Lou 14]

Definitely agree on not chasing pedigrees.  I don't think it's worth paying a premium on what are already nosebleed prices for high grade books.  If I pick one up at a "normal" price for the grade, that's great and it's a nice little bonus.  But I would never up my bid by 50% (or whatever) just to have that pedigree on the label.

[KirbyJack]

@Straw-Man

I think Mr. Parker prefers the Curators over any other Silver pedigree.

 

[KirbyJack]

I’ve never been to into pedigrees either, but I’ve never had the opportunity to examine ped. copies vs. non-peds. 
I think it’s very possible that they could win me over.