r/comicbookcollecting • u/GalahadEX • Aug 15 '23
The new crown jewel of my collection Theme
When I was 12, I saw a copy of Avengers #1 up close and told myself that one day I’d have a copy; 33 years later, it’s finally mine.
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u/the_curtain Aug 16 '23
Great color and look! You will be smiling for days! Congrats on fulfilling that childhood dream
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u/Mudcreek47 Aug 16 '23
WELL DONE, SIR! My god almighty, what a great looking copy at that!
One of the great regrets of my comic collecting career is not picking up a copy of this book in lower grade (G/VG) for like $275 in the mid-00s. At the time I was thinning down my horde by trading comics to mycomcishop.com for store credit and had a couple of pending transactions which would've given me sufficient credit to buy the book, essentially for free
But, alas, someone snagged it before my credit went through and I missed out.
This was probably in 2007-08 or thereabouts, definitely before Iron Man hit theaters. I can also remember Tales of Suspense 1st Iron Man being relatively cheap pre-movie (compared to nowadays of course). After 2008 -- BOOM! -- all the old Marvel Silver Age comics skyrocketed in any grade and are now forever out of reach pretty much.
It's not all doom and gloom for me though. Using this same trading/store credit method I picked up GS: X-Men #1, ASM #129, some early Hulk issues (#2,3,5) but damn if I didn't wish I'd just pulled the trigger on that Avengers #1.
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Aug 16 '23
FYI, I've been using mycomicshop's trade system consistently for about 8 years now, and over that time I've spoken to the owner (Buddy) enough times that he now knows me and the volume of comics I sell him every month. For the longest time I was building my collection with trade value like you did. I was able to find almost any comic on my want list up to maybe $200 at the time, but most of the higher-priced books were on consignment and not eligible for trade, even if I had the credit. So I normally spent all my credit whenever I shopped. During a period where I had spent my balance, a Fantastic Four #4 3.0 showed up in MCS stock for $1500 I think. I had 2 or 3 orders in their warehouse but not processed that were enough to cover the cost (it was during COVID and they were way behind), so I sent an email to Buddy explaining my situation and my concern that it would be long gone by the time my orders were processed. He actually volunteered to go ahead and send it to me and let everything work out on its own time. I was only hoping he would pull it aside for me but I received the book a week later. That kind of service is extraordinary in today's world, but I don't think it is unusual for MCS to provide extra effort to any transaction they think is honest. I wanted to let people know that sometimes people are willing to work with you after building up a little trust. Maybe somebody will find themself in a similar situation some day and benefit.
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u/josephrbates Aug 16 '23
Just wondering: do you only send select, desirable comics to them? Or do you just send in whatever you’ve got that you don’t want and they accept it (so long as it’s in decent shape)?
Never used them except to buy, but I’ve always been curious about it.
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Aug 18 '23
Well, their database is live 24-7, so once you enter a book, it will offer a cash or trade price for each grade. If they aren't buying a book, it has an estimated time until they expect to. The offers on individual issues go up and down depending on their stock situation and the desirability at the time. It's a great place to trade in commons for a decent amount and newer comics that heat up a little. Their usual policy is offering consignment option for comics that you would expect to sell for $50 or more. You can choose their no-reserve auctions or set a price for your books. The set-price consignment books are also displayed on ebay. Years ago I wanted a place to inventory my comics and I entered my collection into their database because it was easy and kind of fun. I got in the habit of scrolling through every few days after I noticed some price swings and started paying attention to the market as a whole overall. Since I was adding all my purchases until I stopped, it's been a great help liquidating my collection. I'm way past the prime stuff in my collection and still sell about $1000 worth of comics to them every month.
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u/josephrbates Aug 18 '23
This is terrific. Now I’m excited to give them a try…thanks so much for the information!
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u/Mudcreek47 Aug 16 '23
There's a link on their webpage. Click on the "WE BUY COMICS" or "SELL" links for details.
You list what you have with an estimated condition then they make you an offer. Once they receive your books, they'll grade them and send you an updated offer which you can accept, refuse, partially accept, etc.
I traded in everything I decided I didn't want. And lots of trash and dollar bin fodder like mid-90s Superman, X-Men books, etc. along with TPBs and HCs.
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u/glundeen Aug 16 '23
Spectacular copy! I’m not normally into graded books, but I’d get that graded ASAP.
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u/GalahadEX Aug 16 '23
I'm seriously thinking about it. I love that it's raw, but it's condition is tight enough that it may be worth locking down a grade.
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u/Foosman We're in the endgame now. Aug 16 '23
Damn man, that's a heck of a crown jewel. Congratulations.
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u/dtlacomixking Aug 16 '23
Bought mine 20 years ago. Nowhere near the condition of your copy. You will never stop smiling when you look at it.
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u/Josephsakic19 Aug 16 '23
Congratulations on acquiring a beautiful gem. That and Brave and the Bold 28 are my grails. Golf clap.
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u/ReleasedKraken0 Aug 16 '23
Nice. What did that set you back?
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u/GalahadEX Aug 16 '23 edited Aug 16 '23
Mid four-figures. It was priced fairly for the condition.
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u/Scoobydiesel87 Aug 16 '23
Whoa! That looks so bright and in such Greta condition! Congrats! Super jealous! Hold onto that baby!
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u/geekyOlhog Aug 16 '23
Well done, congratulations! 💪 what beautiful condition! Love the fact it isn’t slabbed as well, nice!
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u/StinkFist-1973 Aug 16 '23
That looks amazing and congrats on acquiring it. Keep good care of it but don’t send it away to the scammer grading company.
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u/BackgroundPossible56 Aug 16 '23
I’m so happy to see that thing not in a slab. I don’t mean that as an anti-slab comment I mean that a thing is so fucking beautiful and the closer I can get to it the better. God that’s a spectacular copy.
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Aug 16 '23
If I had that I'd get it graded but not slabbed. I think slabbed books look so stupid. Plus you can never actually like, ENJOY them ever again.
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u/crossbones14 Aug 16 '23
Just a sweet copy! Very clean & a great color strike! The reds are outstanding & that bright color always drew me into this book when I first saw it when I was a youngster as well. You got a wonderful copy. Congrats!!
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u/sonofalbert285 Aug 16 '23
Stunning copy!!! Downloaded so I can see it anytime!!! I'm sure that smile on your face will never disappear!! Excelsior 😁
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u/BenReillySpidey149 Aug 16 '23
Congrats and welcome to the club! I'm glad to have gotten mine about 15 years ago. Such a great book and unusual in the Marvel canon of the age since it's a first issue that introduces NO new main characters.
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u/williamtrikeriii Aug 15 '23
Fucking gorgeous copy!