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n2wdw's comic book room
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890 posts in this topic

Additions to My Gwen Stacy Collection

 

Prices on Gwen Stacy appearences seem to be holding steady and supply is more plentiful now (comparing the market from a pre-movie to a post-movie point of view). I guess there's a new series out now where Gwen is a superhero. I dread reading the series but I guess I will eventually. I wish Marvel would have let Gwen rest in peace with ASM 121. Although, it's interesting the wide range of stories that have come out since then featuring Gwen, moreso I think than Mary Jane. Here are 3 Gwen books I recently picked up on eBay.

 

ASM #53 is (I guess) a Gwen key, the first date of Peter and Gwen. I find it amazing and funny that CGC notes this. I think it tells you the surprising impact of this tragic character. (For me, 8.5 is the perfect grade for this book. I wanted a nice copy, but prices really spike up at 9.0 and above. So 8.5 is a good compromise between grade and price.)

 

 

AmazingSpider-Man53CGC85100_zpsfa3a2bcb.jpg

 

 

Marvel Tales 98 and 99 are hot right now (reprinting ASM 121 and 122). They are hard to find raw in high grade, so 9.8s don't come up for sale often and when they do they're expensive. There are tons of raws but not many graded comics. For example, at this moment there is 1 PGX 9.8 on sale on eBay (for $299!).

 

 

MarvelTales99CGC98130_zps403d9f4e.jpg

 

 

If you look on eBay, you'll see most of the graded comics on sale are ASM 31, 121 and 122, as well as a few others from ASM (but those comics are graded by people because of the title, not because of Gwen). Issues from other titles appear sometimes but not too often (compared to ASM). The Gwen market is stronger now than it's ever been, but perhaps not strong enough (price wise) to encourage people to make the effort to submit high grade raws to CGC. Anyway, for whatever reason, you don't see Gwen issues from other titles on the market very often. That's why I was happy to pick this comic up, one of my favorite Gwen covers post 121.

 

 

WebofSpider-Man125HolodiskCGC9860_zps2084ab08.jpg

 

 

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Update on My Collecting Life

 

Here's a quick update.

 

* I'm working to reduce my collection to under 100 long boxes, so it'll fit in the home we plan to retire to. This means reducing my collection by about 25,000 comics. Not easy, but surprisingly liberating, and it's an exciting opportunity to focus my collection so future buying will be more fun. Not ready to provide details, but I'll share my experiences eventually.

 

* We're in the midst of the January ComicLink auction. There's alot that I want and bidding on, but no wins yet. There are a few I REALLY want for my registry sets. But it seems everyone thinks the same way. Hopefully I'll win at least 1 or 2.

 

* Sometimes I wonder if my collecting focus is getting too CGC focused. What happens if CGC goes out of business? How will that impact my collecting and the value I put on these encapsulated books? Does anyone else worry about this?

 

* How do you feel about cracked cases? I picked up this Planet Comics for significantly below GPA, I think because a corner of the case is cracked. I have about a half dozen CGC books with cracked cases. I figure someday I'll submit them for new cases. But maybe not, I'll save the money for more comics as the cracks aren't that bad. Anyway, for me I'll take a cracked case if it comes along with a significant discount under market value.

 

 

PlanetComics37CGC40100_zps531f7bf6.jpg

 

 

* I'll end with a few modern GGA books I've picked up via eBay recently.

 

 

AfterlifewithArchie6CGC9830_zps54585e48.jpg

GrimmFairyTalesPresentsWonderland25StanleyLauCGC9830_zpsa28bc85c.jpg

SatelliteSam1Midtown22_zps2ec78346.jpg

GrimmFairyTales100FranchescoCGC9830_zpsfab0287b.jpg

 

 

 

 

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January 2015 ComicLink Wins

 

I won a few books on ComicLink this month (and still working on a couple). Here's the first. J. Scott Campbell. Spidey, bad guys and Mary Jane. Nuff said!

 

 

AmazingSpider-Man500CampbellCGC9852_zps3a3d9ee1.jpg

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Thanks for sharing the cheeky eye-candy... keep it coming!

 

"I'm working to reduce my collection to under 100 long boxes, so it'll fit in the home we plan to retire to. This means reducing my collection by about 25,000 comics. Not easy, but surprisingly liberating, and it's an exciting opportunity to focus my collection so future buying will be more fun. Not ready to provide details, but I'll share my experiences eventually."

 

Wow! Reducing your collection by 25,000 comics! How many total comics do you currently have? I have maybe 1,500 raws, and about 100 or so CGC'd.

 

"Sometimes I wonder if my collecting focus is getting too CGC focused. What happens if CGC goes out of business? How will that impact my collecting and the value I put on these encapsulated books? Does anyone else worry about this?"

 

When I first started buying CGC graded comics, these questions lingered in my mind, but after 15 years of continued excellence as an industry leader, and the ever-growing and thriving fan base as its support, I don't see it being an issue any time soon. So I think we are okay. But even if the worst were to happen, and the CGC were to collapse, the collections in themselves will still be valuable since the industry as a whole, and collectors in general will still value the books. In addition, what the CGC has done to date, has given their reputation, services and products, enormous credibility for years to come... Thus anything marked CGC will equate synonymously with quality, craftsmanship, service excellence, professionalism,and passion that will yield strong and continued demand.

 

"How do you feel about cracked cases? I picked up this Planet Comics for significantly below GPA, I think because a corner of the case is cracked. I have about a half dozen CGC books with cracked cases. I figure someday I'll submit them for new cases. But maybe not, I'll save the money for more comics as the cracks aren't that bad. Anyway, for me I'll take a cracked case if it comes along with a significant discount under market value."

 

I have no problem with minor cracks here and there that yield no impact to the the integrity of the comic themselves, but any such defect and damages to the holders must be fully disclosed... otherwise I will feel cheated. Twice, and only twice, did I purchase comics with cracked holders, but these details were not disclosed in the auction specs, which upset me. Had I known of the condition of the holders, I would more than likely have passed on them.

 

Looking forward to more of your entries.

 

SW3D

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Wow! Reducing your collection by 25,000 comics! How many total comics do you currently have? I have maybe 1,500 raws, and about 100 or so CGC'd.

 

I have too many comics! About 45,000. I'm actually finding it easier than I thought to weed down the collection. For example, I really like the original ASM series. I'm keeping that. And I like a few of the related titles like the original Spider-man, Peter Parker and Ultimate Spider-man series, and a few mini-series like Blue and Black Cat. I'm keeping all of that. But do I really need all the other Spider-man titles? And, similarly, all the related Avengers, FF, Cap, Iron Man, Hulk, JLA, Superman, Batman, etc. etc. titles? More and more I'm finding the answer is no.

 

Now that I'm going through it, I actually think I'll be able to weed out more than 25,000 comics. It's very liberating and exciting, the thought of focusing my collection. For example, I also collect the original Action and Detective series. Is it really possible to get full runs? For me, the answer is no. So what I'm going to do is set beginning points for these titles (and others like it). I don't know, maybe issue 250 for Action and Detective. Then I'll focus my collecting there. To me that focus reduces my stress, because I don't have to worry about how I'll ever afford earlier issues. And with those goals I'll actually have a chance of completing the runs before I get too old to enjoy them.

 

When I first started buying CGC graded comics, these questions lingered in my mind, but after 15 years of continued excellence as an industry leader, and the ever-growing and thriving fan base as its support, I don't see it being an issue any time soon. So I think we are okay. But even if the worst were to happen, and the CGC were to collapse, the collections in themselves will still be valuable since the industry as a whole, and collectors in general will still value the books. In addition, what the CGC has done to date, has given their reputation, services and products, enormous credibility for years to come... Thus anything marked CGC will equate synonymously with quality, craftsmanship, service excellence, professionalism,and passion that will yield strong and continued demand.

I agree with you completely. Sometimes though I just get panic attacks about whether I'm doing the right thing by buying so many CGC books. When I submit books I always say to myself "Why am I doing this? I could buy a few nice books for the submission price."

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January 2015 ComicLink Auction - Win #2

 

Here's my 2nd win in this month's ComicLink auction. I've wanted a graded Spawn #9 (1st Angela) for a while. What a great McFarlane cover! It hasn't been high on my priority list, but I regularly check eBay for a good deal.

 

This month ComicLink offered a 9.8 and 9.6. I bid on both. As the end of the auction neared, I decided to focus on the 9.6 (thinking the 9.8 would go for more than I was willing to pay). I was very happy to win the 9.6 for just $22 (my max bid was $32). Starting prices on eBay seemed to be about $50, so I think I got a good deal.

 

But ... the 9.8 went for only $55! What the heck?! I would definitely have paid $60 for the 9.8 (the next bid increment). But I've learned you can't think that way. Sure, I would have gone $60. Would I have won though? Maybe I would have gotten into a bidding war with the other buyer. In the end the winner would have paid more.

 

So I got my 9.6 for $22, and he/she got the 9.8 for $55. Not the worse result. I guess I'm good with it. Especially since I won the THREE I really wanted (I'll write about those comics next).

 

 

Spawn9CGC9621_zps19bd3d31.jpg

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"Sometimes I wonder if my collecting focus is getting too CGC focused. What happens if CGC goes out of business? How will that impact my collecting and the value I put on these encapsulated books? Does anyone else worry about this?"

 

 

I've thought about it, as 95% of my back issue purchases are now slabs.

I think they would hold value, as stated by the nice response posted above by SW3D.

 

Great pick ups, by the way.

I love the #53. It looks sharp.

 

 

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Focusing My Collection

 

I'm in the process of reducing my collection by about 50%, so I can fit it all into the small bedroom I have for my comics in our retirement home. I have over 10 years to retirement but knowing the eventual smaller home for my comics, I've decided to reduce my collection now. Doing so will help me focus my future buying.

 

I've always been a completist. But now that I'm older, I need to get realistic. Am I really going to get a complete run of Action, or Detective, or even Brave and the Bold? The answer is no. It's not just the money. I'm less interested in complete runs now. I'd rather have a mix of comics, some complete runs, but keys too.

 

So I've decided to limit my collection of Action to 300 to the current issue. For Tales of Suspense, it'll be 50 to the last issue. That's not to say I won't buy issues earlier for Action or Tales of Suspense. But for issues lower than my starting issues, I'll probably focus on keys.

 

So here are my starting issues for the big DC and Marvel titles I collect. For other titles -- like ASM, FF and Justice League of America -- I'm going for the full run.

 

 

Action (1938) 300

Adventure (1935) 300

Batman (1940) 150

Brave and the Bold 50

Detective (1937) 300

Superman (1939) 150

Tales of Suspense 50

Tales to Astonish 50

Wonder Woman (original series) 150

World's Finest 100

 

 

 

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January 2015 ComicLink Auction - Wins #3-5 (Dave Stevens registry books)

 

My big wins from the recently finished monthly ComicLink auction were all for my Dave Stevens Covers registry set. The first book is the holy grail of this set, 3-D Zone 16. I already have a 9.4, but to compete in this set you have to have a 9.8. The book isn't rare but it's expensive. There's a 9.8 on sale on eBay right now for $400 (it's been there forever). I own 4 raw copies. Two are at best 9.6s. They weren't cheap, so I decided to buy a graded copy. So I won this copy. Expensive, but way less than eBay prices.

 

Here's the good thing. My 9.4 gets 105 points. My new 9.8 is worth 280 points!

 

 

3DZoneCGC98193_zpse2103e49.jpg

 

 

 

The next book is Bad Planet 6. This book doesn't show up often on eBay in 9.8. It's worth 128 points, which is a lot in this set.

 

 

BadPlanet6CGC9861_zpsfe49a3a4.jpg

 

 

The last book is Rocketeer Official Movie Souvenir Magazine. Another book that doesn't often show up for sale in 9.8 (in fact I've never seen one for sale). I decided to settle for this 9.6. I got it for only $21 (like many comics, there's a big drop off from 9.8 to 9.6), and the difference in registry points is only 15 points (35 for 9.8 versus 20 for 9.6).

 

 

RocketeerOfficialMovieAdaptationCGC9821_zps6a9c0997.jpg

 

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I love your Dave Stevens comics! That cover to 3-D Zone #16 is a wet dream!

 

I know you have shared with us your DS collections in the past, but could you repost your absolute favorite Dave Stevens cover and your most valuable Stevens comic again?

Also, do you own any Dave Stevens Original Art?

 

SW3D

 

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I love your Dave Stevens comics! That cover to 3-D Zone #16 is a wet dream!

 

I know you have shared with us your DS collections in the past, but could you repost your absolute favorite Dave Stevens cover and your most valuable Stevens comic again?

Also, do you own any Dave Stevens Original Art?

 

SW3D

 

Hi SW3D,

 

Great question. Dave Stevens comics are not expensive, although they can be hard to find in grade. Probaby the most expensive is 3-D Zone #16, which in the just ended C-Link auction I won for $200.

 

As for my favorite Dave Stevens covers, it's hard to pick just one. So here are a few of my favorites.

 

 

PlanetComics1CGC98130_zpse0cbaeb6.jpg

RocketeerAdventures1JetPackCGC9950_zpsfd22b431.jpg

USAMagazine48-49French5_zps5e1e9640.jpg

ShadowandDocSavage1CGC9865_zps11a8bcd1.jpg

WorldofWood2CGC9633_zps9f4954d5.jpg

RocketeerAdventures1CGC9889_zpscf5e46c2.jpg

 

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Incredible! Simply incredible!... Stevens had the knack for illustrating sexy women.

 

I especially love PC#1's cover and the USA Magazine/French Edition.

 

I'm sure you would drool if DS had illustrated Gwen Stacy and Mary Jane in similar vein.

 

Thank you for posting.

 

SW3D

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Daryl Dixon In The Walking Dead Comic

 

So everyone knows Daryl is only in the Walking Dead TV show. His character does not exist (as far as we know) in the comic.

 

I like to get Walking Dead comics signed by the cast. But it has to be on a comic that has meaning for that character, like the first appearance of the character in the comic, or a comic with the character on the cover.

 

Here are 2 of my favorites from my collection, the first signed by the actors of Maggie and Hershel - Lauren Cohan and Scott Wilson (their 1st appearances), and the second signed by the actress of the character on the cover, Andrea - Laurie Holden.

 

 

SSWalkingDead10LaurenCohan-ScottWilson46_zpsbae77ba5.jpg

 

SSWalkingDead91LaurieHoldenAndrea135_zpsb3a1b90a.jpg

 

 

But what comic do I use for Norman Reedus's signature? Here's a comic I just bought from a boardie (for a fair price too, about the cost of Norman's signature and grading). This boardie cleverly got Norman to sign a comic with a crossbow, so it looks like Daryl even though it isn't. If I ever get a chance at getting Norman to sign something -- his lines right now are incredibly long, like half a day long -- I have a sketch cover of Daryl to use.

 

 

WalkingDead101SS98NormanReedus78_zpscb172370.jpg

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Walking Dead Returns Tonight!

 

Now that we've got that Super Bowl thing out of the way, the Walking Dead returns tonight! To commemorate the event, I wanted to provide this homage, the main keys in my collection (yes I know, I don't have #1 yet). Enjoy the show tonight folks!

 

 

WD1_zpsbe0a8013.jpg

 

wd2_zps02929879.jpg

 

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Cerebus Graded Books and the origin of CGC SS

 

One of my favorite titles is Cerebus, and I have a complete raw, well read collection of 1-300. I also have a few graded copies, including 1-10 in various grades.

 

There are a few Cerebus comics I'd like in 9.8, but high grade copies of Cerebus are somewhat rare. Not because they are truly rare necessarily. Dealers rarely bring Cerebus to cons, so what you've left with are well picked though long boxes (typically the boxes on the floor, the ones hard on middle-age knees). And people who bought Cerebus off the stands probaby read them and stored them away, never to be offered for sale (like me). Bottom line, it's hard to find high grade raw copies of Cerebus for grading. When you see graded copies at auction, they usually go for high prices (not outrageously high, but more than I want to spend).

 

So on New Year's day I was surfing the Internet when I came across the Paradise comics website. I was shocked to see all the graded Cerebus on their site. Not just 9.8, but SS signed by Sim and Gerhard. On top of that, they were Sim's file copies. Even more, they were reasonably priced and Paradise was willing to take a little off for people who bought a few.

 

So I bought a few. Here are a few of them:

 

 

Cerebus36SS9870_zps524724fa.jpg

 

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You'll notice these comics were graded back in 2004. When I saw that I thought it was a bit unusual, to have so many SS comics from 2004. Then today I read the CGC newsletter that said: Based on collector feedback, we realized that how we were treating signatures wasn't ideal — by giving them Qualified grades. We wanted a way that we could distinguish the signature on the CGC label without there being any question of its authenticity. We were all discussing the problem, and we went back and forth with different ideas (one was having artists sign our wells and selling those as an add-on). By the next day, an outline for Signature Series was born. Shortly thereafter, we chose Peter Dixon of Paradise Comics, Toronto, to test out the new program. Over the years we have modified Signature Series to strengthen the integrity of the program. Now it is unsurpassed in signature authentication and market acceptance.

 

I haven't checked .... when did CGC introduce their SS program? Could these Cerebus books be from the beginning of SS?

 

 

 

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More on the CGC Signature Series and 1 Comic Connect Win

 

I found this article from 2008 about the CGC Signature Series. http://www.cgccomics.com/news/enews/2008/December/article1.asp

 

It says the Signature Series started in 2001. So my Cerebus books were not part of that original pilot program. Still, I'm intrigued by the history of Dave Sim's file copies, and how they ended up with Paradise comics. It's probably no more complicated than Sim having a relationship with PC. I'm happy to own a few (all of them Jaka covers; more on Jaka in a future post). If you're interested in Cerebus you should check out the Paradise site. Their prices on these Cerebus SS 9.8s are lower (by half in some cases) than what you see on eBay or the hammer prices on CLink/CConnect auctions.

 

One win this month on the Comic Connect auction, a Golden Age Wings comic. The note says "Man burning alive panel." I assume CGC enters notes based on what people collect, like "infinity cover," "bondage cover," "Nazi cover." But do people really collect comics that have people burning alive?

 

 

WingsComics69CGC7576_zpse0421bf3.jpg

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More on the CGC Signature Series and 1 Comic Connect Win

 

I found this article from 2008 about the CGC Signature Series. http://www.cgccomics.com/news/enews/2008/December/article1.asp

 

It says the Signature Series started in 2001.

One win this month on the Comic Connect auction, a Golden Age Wings comic. The note says "Man burning alive panel." I assume CGC enters notes based on what people collect, like "infinity cover," "bondage cover," "Nazi cover." But do people really collect comics that have people burning alive?

 

 

WingsComics69CGC7576_zpse0421bf3.jpg

 

I always thought the Signature Series started in 2003/4. I've seen a few yellow, old style (pre 2004) signature series labels, from Stan Lee of course. It's weird seeing the old school label in yellow, I think I even saw a yellow/purple old school label once, funny thing, memory...

 

As for the burning alive pane, I've never seen such a notation! I too can't imagine such a theme but to each their own. That notation reminds me of some of the random notations I see on Worldwide Comics, such as "other robot cover" (Metal Men) and "football stadium cover" (Iron Man #155). Nothing against such notations in their listings, I get noting "skull" or bondage cover," but football stadium cover? (shrug)

 

 

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Update on Right Sizing My Collection

 

After a lot of work I've managed to get my collection down from over 45,000 books to around 25,000. I'm still going through long boxes, and I hope to get it down by another 1000 or so. I'd love to get it to under 20k, but I'm trying to avoid heartache as I weed through my collection.

 

My basement is a nightmare, with long and short boxes all over the place. My plan is to go through the boxes I'm getting rid of very carefully, box by box, to cherry pick comics I either want to keep or sell. I plan to take my time with that, maybe finish by the end of the summer. Then I'll sell the remaining comics in bulk (around 20,000 comics) to one of the big dealers like Lone Star or Mile High. (I plan to ask my LCS first, but I doubt they'll be interested even though I'd give them a hometown discount.)

 

Before selling in bulk I might sell a few here or eBay, mostly complete or near complete series like New Mutants, X-Factor, X-Men (the 2nd series), X-Force, Batman Legends of Dark Knight, etc. So if you want a deal, PM me or watch for my sale threads (of course I'll be pulling out the keys).

 

This has also been an opportunity to focus my future buying. I'm more interested now in keys and golden age GGA. I'm still a completist, but I need to get real on what I can practically complete in my lifetime and limited resources. So here's where I am on the "big" titles I collect, what issue I plan to start with, and how many comics I need to complete the titles. I need 280 comics to complete these sets, and my goal is to finish in 5 years (i.e., the end of 2019). I'll let you know how it goes! Thanks for reading.

 

 

Capture_zpsb3d13c66.jpg

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