I need advice

1 1

I collected Marvel comics in the late '60's and faithfully went to the newsstand at the beginning of every month and bought about five bucks worth of titles. Eventually they were stored away and I quit buying in 1973 for the most part. They were simply stored in cardboard boxes with about 50 of them going at least into plastic bags. The rest were simply stacked and put away. After around 15 years, I did get them out and considered selling them but didn't and they were stored away again until last week when my son inquired about the group. So, we got them down and began to go through them. Most were an act of love. Watching Thor fight south american revolutionaries was something Marvel did well and I have a pretty good representation of journey into mystery on up to issue 210 or so in varying degrees of grade. I have FF4 from about issue 65 through 120 in mostly a very fine grade based on Overstreet guidelines. There are a lot of number ones some of which went places and some did not. I have things I don't understand like Amazing spiderman 129 multiple issues where the grade difference is really how the staples went in the book. Iron man 55 is here and I think was read once. Spiderman from 17-40 are here in varying conditions

But a lot of this comes down to generic pricing falling in a retail 27- 40 dollar range. Hundreds of books. There's one notable exception and that is an Amazing fantasy which is going down to CGC with me to be graded. Anyone who looks at it here says it looks to be a 7-7.5. I have not seen books in a while in that grade being available. It carries enough value that a CGC grade seems appropriate even given the premium they will attach to evaluating a high value book.

I collected as a young man. I'm an old man now and it's time to let it go. No good can come from keeping it at this point. I imagine the AF 15 to have a street price around 60-65K. If I just sell it to a dealer I will maybe get 75% of that. I do not under any circumstances want to go to Ebay. I would like to divest of the whole pile at one time really .

But here's the real question: Should this book just get sold, take the money or should it go to an auction house. I don't know much about the meat and potatoes of sales, particularly of a valuable book. Scams seem way too common on this. Indeed I have other stuff of value but nothing like this one. And, don't beat up on me for the way they were stored. In 1968, CGC was thirty years from existing. Bags would have been a novelty. I saw at one point an entire Journey Into Mystery that had three ring holes punched in them so they could go in a binder. The guy did that to the FF4 as well. At that time the AF15 brought $80.00. That was a lot of money.

I do appreciate the advice. I'm listening to everything anyone says to me. I am going down to Sarsota and then to an unnamed dealer in California whose attitude I really like. I'm not in a hurry. The money? It's going to go to a down payment on a house for my son.

I'd like another tractor though. A second John Deere I hate changing implements.

Thank you for sharing the story. Very nice to use the funds for a down payment for a house for your son.

Make sure to share a picture of the book here. I'm sure many of us fans would love to see it.

Personally, if I had a book like that to sell, I would look at one of the comic experienced online auction houses. While the auction house will also get a piece of the pie (very normal of course), I just would want to know how high it would go in a specialized auction. (It's also a little bit the gambler in me)

Whatever you do, good luck with the sale

well, don't leave out the John Deere.

Check your PMs . It's the little white envelope thing up,top of page and must be blinking like crazy!!!

Great post. I think getting the AF 15 graded and then right to an auction house is probably the way to go.

Hopefully the CA dealer you are going to is Brian Peets and hopefully I am second in line.

Prior to getting your AF 15 graded - you might want to consider having it checked to see if it should be pressed - in that grade just a 1/2 a point is worth thousands - or 10's of thousands.

Make a call to both HA auctions and Comic Link auctions. Josh at Comic Link will be more than willing to chat with you and offer advise. Note, he'll be trying to get you to list some of those books with his company. If nothing else, both of those companies will provide you with information about how they do business, their fees, and what you might expect to occur if you chose to list the books with them.

Please be in Austin, TX

PS - Make sure the books are insured prior to traveling around with them!

It lays flat as a pancake. I can't see where pressing would change the value. It has one chip in it from the upper right hand corner and the chip is actually in the bag. Otherwise, no chips. no restoration, nothing. I've had it almost fifty years. It is not an 8 though.

As to insuring, The ones to grade will go in my carry on to Sarasota. I had no idea how to ship them but was told with hi value books that I have to walk in the door with them and have an appointment. It's really just te one book that qualifies for this. The others just add up.

At this point I'm beginning to think the romance comics that are mysteriously in the group may have value. I try to put this in perspective that in Africa, most people own the clothes on their backs and no more. .

maybe others can chime in here - (and I would not run out and do this ...) but I believe that chip could be reattached with a very small piece of archival tape via the inside cover - professionally - without losing blue label status (meaning, if you don't know, it would still be considered unrestored - which is a good thing)

I'm sure CCS would advise you if asked...

I would suggest if possible going to HA or Comic Connect in person. They will help you determine what books should be pressed. What book should be graded. What are best sold as raw. For a high value collection they will walk you through the entire process, even handling the CGC submissions and such for you. If what you are saying is accurate you have well into six figures of comics in that box. Best to get experts to help you get top dollar. Do not undersell some of the other books. You mentioned ASM 129, that book can also be worth thousands. That is why you need a knowledgeable third party to see if others are worth grading. I bet there are others not just AF 15.

There are also experts on the forum, that may be willing to walk you through the process, or even buy the collection. As started your inbox is likely exploding. As for a general value a detailed list of what you have and grade would aid everyone greatly in assessing value

You'd also be surprised how much the other books could be potentially worth so don't discount that until you understand condition and raw vs slabbed values better. Do not let people pick it apart.

Best of luck

I would suggest if possible going to HA or Comic Connect in person. They will help you determine what books should be pressed. What book should be graded. What are best sold as raw. For a high value collection they will walk you through the entire process, even handling the CGC submissions and such for you.

+1

the stuff that can't be graded/sold by Heritage then sell off to a local dealer however I would argue selling the rest of the lot here but that's just for my personal interest

I wish you the best of luck

right now, we're just doing inventory. I had to order backer boards from garmin and several different bags. Some boards are beefier than others. I want to handle the books just once, first photographing, then checking what I think the grade is based in Overstreet, then into the bag, then to ebay to confirm sold auction prices, with an estimate of retail value. Then into some water tight containers.

When I think of all the times this collection could have been destroyed but wasn't. My Mom got my first attempt back in 1959 when I would get a Green Lantern, a Challengers of the unknown, , an Orange Crush and head for the beach. . She got them all. Nanny Swoop. Without those mom's none of us here would have anything of value at all.

I'm kind of computer challenged as to posting pictures. I'd have to get my son to help I think and he's very secretive about this project. I'm not. . Right now, the basic work load is overwhelming. I think I have five weeks before I fly them to California and I have to go to Sarsota in the interim. I had no idea that the post would create such a response. Thank you to all.

I won't beat on you about how you stored them. I too remember the days when you couldn't buy comic bags or boards. I stored mine in bread bags back in the day.

First off, If you're gonna walk your AF15 through CGC why not take a few other good books? It will be easier to shop your collection around and give you a better idea of current grading standards and a baseline grade for the rest of your books.

I wouldn't sell the AF 15 separately from the rest. It's your most valuable book and it draws interest. Don't get cherry picked.

Since your not willing to sell the collection yourself you have 2 options, dealers or auction sites. Of the two I suspect an auction site would realize the best result with the least fuss.

I'd contact Heritage Auctions, mycomicshop and Comiclink. All three are excellent auction venues with strong results and lots of eyeballs and they can be trusted. Ask what their fees are, don't be afraid to ask for a better deal, it's competitive and they may very well cut their auction commission to land your collection.

right now, we're just doing inventory. I had to order backer boards from garmin and several different bags. Some boards are beefier than others. I want to handle the books just once, first photographing, then checking what I think the grade is based in Overstreet, then into the bag, then to ebay to confirm sold auction prices, with an estimate of retail value. Then into some water tight containers.

When I think of all the times this collection could have been destroyed but wasn't. My Mom got my first attempt back in 1959 when I would get a Green Lantern, a Challengers of the unknown, , an Orange Crush and head for the beach. . She got them all. Nanny Swoop. Without those mom's none of us here would have anything of value at all.

 

I'm kind of computer challenged as to posting pictures. I'd have to get my son to help I think and he's very secretive about this project. I'm not. . Right now, the basic work load is overwhelming. I think I have five weeks before I fly them to California and I have to go to Sarsota in the interim. I had no idea that the post would create such a response. Thank you to all.

Are you saying your mom took the comics and put them in a safe place for you?

Not normally a skeptic, but a few pics would go a long way. The dates, books bought, and info in the first paragraph don't add up. Hope it's real though!

annndddd... dont rule out the possibility of your collection possibly getting pedigree status - which would make it worth even more. Sounds so far like you have stored this very well for all these years.

Not normally a skeptic, but a few pics would go a long way. The dates, books bought, and info in the first paragraph don't add up. Hope it's real though!

I wondered the same thing-AF15 and ASM 17-40 did not come out in the late 60s. Also, GL and Challengers were not Marvel.

If he got the AF15 it would have had to have been in the 70s or he ordered it through the mail from Robert Bell or someone, and the price would have been worth mentioning in the original post.