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Post by Deleted on Nov 23, 2015 15:27:31 GMT -5
I wonder why condition became such a 'thing'. I think I'd prefer a world where condition wasn't even a thought, outside of complete or incomplete. What was the first hobby where condition was important? Coins? Well, I personally like my books to be high-grade, or at least higher or better grade the older the books get. Meaning I'm quite happy with FINEs if the books are going back to the 1950s. The majority of everything I own from 1970-1980 is at least VF, and NM after that. This is just my own preference. My brothers and uncle over in the UK, who got me interested in comics when I was like...5....aren't as finicky. They read their new comics in bed, then fall asleep and roll over them. So they're the guys with the boxes of VGs and FINEs. And they made me a part owner of them as well, which is why I have loads of books from the 60s, 70s and 80s as well as my own higher-grade stash which I've been building since the late 90s. I know there are lots of collectors who are quite happy to own 'lesser grade' books...but wish the premium collectors would not be treated like vermin. |
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Post by MDG on Nov 23, 2015 15:34:05 GMT -5
I wonder why condition became such a 'thing'. I think I'd prefer a world where condition wasn't even a thought, outside of complete or incomplete. What was the first hobby where condition was important? Coins? I'm pretty sure most of the process and terminology ("mint") came from coins, even moreso than books. And I believe slabbing caught on in baseball card collecting before hopping to comics. I don't have data to back it up, but I think the emphasis on condition started to come about in the late 80s when longtime collectors with disposable income started completing their runs and the only thing left was to start going after better copies of books they already had. And an influx of new collectors with bucks. This led to an exponential increase in the price premium for high-grade books. (In the first Overstreet guide I bought in the 70s, Mint condition books were worth three times the same book in Good; in the 90s, it was more like 10 times.) |
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Post by Reptisaurus! on Nov 23, 2015 15:34:49 GMT -5
I wonder why condition became such a 'thing'. I think I'd prefer a world where condition wasn't even a thought, outside of complete or incomplete. What was the first hobby where condition was important? Coins? I'm not begrudging people who care about such things, but have just always been repulsed by the whole concept of grading and especially slabbing. Sure, some hobbies where things have mechanical parts and might have to 'work', condition matters. But for things like coins and comics and stamps the only thing that matters, to me, is wether you own it or not. As long as the item is readable, poor and pristine mint are equal in my eyes. Honestly, I think it's a combination of OCD and embarrassment about reading funnybooks. I'm not reading Spider-man! I'm reading Spider-Man # 46 in VF condition! It's an investment! I am not interested in childish things, no-sir. Still, I think that collector's obsession with trivialities keeps the prices on copies with a small nick on the back cover low, so God Bless 'Em. |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 23, 2015 15:57:53 GMT -5
Honestly, I think it's a combination of OCD and embarrassment about reading funnybooks. I'm not reading Spider-man! I'm reading Spider-Man # 46 in VF condition! It's an investment! I am not interested in childish things, no-sir. Ummm...didn't you just sell a Spidey #129 for about $225.00? I estimate it was a VG copy. If someone owns a VF copy, it's getting close to $600-$700. Sure, the owner can still read it but I wouldn't blame such an owner for thinking that's an investment grade copy in hand. Not childish at all. |
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Post by Reptisaurus! on Nov 23, 2015 16:19:33 GMT -5
It's still a stupid comic book! I care more about comic books than 99.999% of the population, but the whole thing just seems silly to me. It wasn't even a very good comic!* It was not worth $ 225. And it's CERTAINLY not worth $ 700 if their are slightly fewer dents on the spine. I mean, I am glad to have 225 dollars because I needed 225 dollars.  But just because the current crazy prices for comics benefit me doesn't mean I don't think the whole system is objectively stupid. It's just a comic book! *I still contend that Ross Andru was a poor superhero artist unless he had a Joe Sinnott style inker to smooth all the roughness and weird anatomy out. |
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Post by Phil Maurice on Nov 23, 2015 16:26:51 GMT -5
If your building a retirement portfolio of key Gold and Silver books in a safe deposit box, well, I hope it makes you happy but I can think of lots of better investment fodder. . . I appreciate the inclusive tone of your remarks, mrp. Of course there are better investments than comic books, just as there are worse (lottery tickets, sports betting, etc.). It shouldn't be a binary equation. One can easily invest sensibly toward retirement with a self-directed IRA, 401k, stocks, bonds, real estate, and other things that make me drowsy, as well as a cache of high-grade keys. Diversity is essential. I understand people have strong opinions regarding this topic and like you, I try to be non-judgmental of the manner in which other people approach the hobby, but I admit it's a struggle for me to comprehend some folks' preoccupation with what others do with their own books. To describe slabbing as "an abomination" as someone did upthread strikes me as hyperbolic to say the least, particularly in reference to a process that is 100% reversible and does no harm whatsoever to the book in question, any other book, or any individual that I can see. I understand being passionate about the hobby, but we shouldn't abandon all reason. |
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Post by DE Sinclair on Nov 23, 2015 16:36:04 GMT -5
If your building a retirement portfolio of key Gold and Silver books in a safe deposit box, well, I hope it makes you happy but I can think of lots of better investment fodder. . . I appreciate the inclusive tone of your remarks, mrp. Of course there are better investments than comic books, just as there are worse (lottery tickets, sports betting, etc.). It shouldn't be a binary equation. One can easily invest sensibly toward retirement with a self-directed IRA, 401k, stocks, bonds, real estate, and other things that make me drowsy, as well as a cache of high-grade keys. Diversity is essential. I understand people have strong opinions regarding this topic and like you, I try to be non-judgmental of the manner in which other people approach the hobby, but I admit it's a struggle for me to comprehend some folks' preoccupation with what others do with their own books. To describe slabbing as "an abomination" as someone did upthread strikes me as hyperbolic to say the least, particularly in reference to a process that is 100% reversible and does no harm whatsoever to the book in question, any other book, or any individual that I can see. I understand being passionate about the hobby, but we shouldn't abandon all reason. I believe that you are forgetting that this is the "internet", and "abandon all reason" is pretty much the place's motto.
With that being said, slab your comics or don't, I couldn't possibly care less. They're your comics and none of my business.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 23, 2015 16:44:18 GMT -5
If I had a golden age book, I'd have it slabbed. After I smell it and touch it for about an hour.
The history of touches in a book that old is what fascinates me most. The tables it's sat on. The hands it's been through. If it had eyes, the things it would have seen.
Don't make me sappy and poetic about this. It's meaningful, but I don't want to get stupid about it.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 23, 2015 17:03:48 GMT -5
If I had a golden age book, I'd have it slabbed. After I smell it and touch it for about an hour. The history of touches in a book that old is what fascinates me most. The tables it's sat on. The hands it's been through. If it had eyes, the things it would have seen. Don't make me sappy and poetic about this. It's meaningful, but I don't want to get stupid about it. I didn't slab this one (yet) but maybe I will one day. It's in excellent shape for a book about 70 years old...and I'd like to keep it that way.  |
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Post by DE Sinclair on Nov 23, 2015 17:12:06 GMT -5
If I had a golden age book, I'd have it slabbed. After I smell it and touch it for about an hour. The history of touches in a book that old is what fascinates me most. The tables it's sat on. The hands it's been through. If it had eyes, the things it would have seen. Don't make me sappy and poetic about this. It's meaningful, but I don't want to get stupid about it. I didn't slab this one (yet) but maybe I will one day. It's in excellent shape for a book about 70 years old...and I'd like to keep it that way. I hope I'm in good shape like that when I'm pushing 70. Just please don't slab me. |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 23, 2015 17:44:04 GMT -5
It's still a stupid comic book! I care more about comic books than 99.999% of the population, but the whole thing just seems silly to me. It wasn't even a very good comic!* It was not worth $ 225. And it's CERTAINLY not worth $ 700 if their are slightly fewer dents on the spine. I mean, I am glad to have 225 dollars because I needed 225 dollars. But just because the current crazy prices for comics benefit me doesn't mean I don't think the whole system is objectively stupid. It's just a comic book! Wellll...you had every opportunity to show the whole system exactly what you think of it, and current crazy pricing...yet you indulged   Next time...do the bargain box thing  |
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Post by Reptisaurus! on Nov 23, 2015 17:46:56 GMT -5
It's still a stupid comic book! I care more about comic books than 99.999% of the population, but the whole thing just seems silly to me. It wasn't even a very good comic!* It was not worth $ 225. And it's CERTAINLY not worth $ 700 if their are slightly fewer dents on the spine. I mean, I am glad to have 225 dollars because I needed 225 dollars. But just because the current crazy prices for comics benefit me doesn't mean I don't think the whole system is objectively stupid. It's just a comic book! Wellll...you had every opportunity to show the whole system exactly what you think of it, and stupid pricing...yet you indulged Next time...do the bargain box thing Yeah, fair point. |
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Post by benday-dot on Nov 23, 2015 19:54:02 GMT -5
A year or so ago I cracked opened a couple original EC books that slumbered uneasily in their sarcophagal slabs. The resale value of them drained through my fingers as the plastic cracked. Not a revolutionary action, not a blow struck against capitalism, not a modicum of guilt. It was however a bit of an enjoyable perversity.
Or as Dostoyevsky once said:
“To care only for well-being seems to me positively ill-bred. Whether it’s good or bad, it is sometimes very pleasant, too, to smash things.”
Or maybe it was the Hulk said that.
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Post by Icctrombone on Nov 23, 2015 19:55:33 GMT -5
About a year ago, I gave away a Hulk #271( first comic book appearance of Rocket Raccoon) to a comic fan. I didn't ask anything for it but the person sent me a few books , which was nice. I don't get obsessed with values either. I think I paid 50 cents for it , back in the day.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 23, 2015 20:18:03 GMT -5
A year or so ago I cracked opened a couple original EC books that slumbered uneasily in their sarcophagal slabs. Well that had me googling a definition...  |
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But just because the current crazy prices for comics benefit me doesn't mean I don't think the whole system is objectively stupid. It's just a comic book! 
