Spider-Fan's Comic & Comic Art PC

[Spider-Fan]

I'll add some slabs and sketched covers, but for now I just want to show off this amazing piece my girlfriend gave me for my birthday. It isn't a published page, but it is by artist Lan Medina who did the art for Minimum Carnage Alpha and Minimum Carnage Omega, from the 6 part Scarlet Spider / Agent Venom crossover event.

[marino13]

Put a ring on her.....


I have a couple covers done by Mr. Medina ... very very detailed work.

[marino13]

Were there a couple of these out there?

Minimum Carnage Unpublished Splash - Venom and Spider-Man - 2012 by Lan Medina

[Spider-Fan]

Originally Posted by marino13

Were there a couple of these out there?

Minimum Carnage Unpublished Splash - Venom and Spider-Man - 2012 by Lan Medina

She bought it from Anthony's at NYCC. It is also listed on Anthony's website and ComicArtFan. Somebody probably just screwed up and didn't end the listings after they sold it.

[Spider-Fan]

I picked up this Hughes sketch a few weeks ago, for what I thought was a great price. Will still try to get one done in the future, but this will make a nice placeholder for now.



Here are two slabbed sketch covers I picked up a few months back. I don't often pick up slabbed sketch covers, and when I do I really don't care about grade. I fully price the piece based on the artwork, a perspective many dealers disagree with. Anyway, I thought I got a great deal on these two (below her commission price for similar work). For those of you that aren't familiar with Sara Richard, a few years ago she was primarily known as a sketch card artist. That is when I started collecting her work. Then she landed a gig to do a few Hastings variant covers for My Little Pony, which lead to her most recent work for IDW on My Little Pony and Jem and the Holograms. She continues to be one of my favorite artists to collect. Keep an eye our for a DC Tarot Card set she did all the artwork for, that is supposed to be released in January.

[Spider-Fan]

One of the gifts I found under my tree



Merry Christmas everybody

[Spider-Fan]

I picked this set up on eBay a few days before Christmas and it arrived on Christmas Eve. Not something I was chasing because I don't think there is much room for growth, but I was able to work out a deal that I couldn't pass up.



I had a 10% off coupon code and coincidentally eBay was running a 3x eBay bucks promotion on the last day the code was valid. I asked the seller if he would list the two books as a single listing at the price he was listing them separately. He kindly obliged. At the end of the day, I got them for $84.30 delivered, and got $4.62 back in eBay bucks. By my math...

$10.50 - Color Variant
$15.50 - B&W Variant
$36.00 - Grading Fees ($18x2)
$12.00 - Return Shipping
-------
$74.00

So, considering the eBay bucks, I got this set for about $6 over cost. Think just about anybody would pay a $3 premium for a guaranteed 9.8

I had picked up some raws when Midtown was running a sale on their exclusive variants. I'm still intending to get them signed by Campbell, but I'm not confident they will grade at 9.8.

[Cyber Warrior]

^ nice I was very close to picking up that Black Cat MTC color..probably the same seller, the price is hard to pass on.

[Spider-Fan]

Originally Posted by Cyber Warrior

^ nice I was very close to picking up that Black Cat MTC color..probably the same seller, the price is hard to pass on.

Still available. He said he had a few. I agree the price was nice to start.

[Cyber Warrior]

Originally Posted by Spider-Fan

Still available. He said he had a few. I agree the price was nice to start.

Yeah I know. I actually messaged him when the listing ended, I looked at the Sold History and noticed the same serial # was sold a handful of times so I reached out to ask why..he said he had a few but was too lazy to swap out the photos.

[Spider-Fan]

Some older stuff I already had uploaded to photobucket...

A couple of Dean Yeagle "Mandy" prelims




The original pencils for the 2014 Marvel Premier "Spider-Man" base card.

[Spider-Fan]

I recently picked up this early bronze age key - Amazing Spider-Man 194, first appearance of the Black Cat. Its an issue that I consider to have a lot of potential as an investment. Anyway, curious what you guys think of the grade on this particular book, and if it would benefit from some non-restorative cleaning and pressing. I wouldn't get it slabbed unless I felt it would get graded at 9.0 or better, and currently I'm not thinking it could get there. Still an nice copy though, and I've had copies listed as VG to F on my ebay watch list, that sold for a lot more than I paid for this one.

Since I've only recently been picking up silver and bronze age books, I'm trying to hone my grading skills. I've put this one at 6.5/F+ to 7.5/VF-.

The cover is clean with good gloss except some staining near the bottom edge and bar code on the front, and around the edges on the back. Corners are blunted and edges show some wear. One small (less than 1/4 inch) color break spine tick right in the center. No other color break lines, no waves. Inside pages are cream to tan.

My biggest concern is the abrasion on the bar code. I'm not sure if that just knocks it down from a VF to a VF-, or if its a more significant hit. Also, I may be overly conservative with my evaluation, based on some of the Modern books that I have received which were listed as "VF/NM". But I'd prefer for you guys to judge. So, if you don't mind, chime in and let me know what you think.

Yeah, I know you can't grade a book based on a scan and some images.



Click for high resolution detail pics.

[IndySportsCards]

From a quick glance, 7.0-8.0 is my guess. The staining on the cover, and lower front cover, rounded edges, color breaking ticks in spine. Slight chipping in cover, front right middle. I don't see it getting higher than an 8.0. The stripe in the bar code doesn't hurt the overall grade as many shops did that to mark books that needed to be returned and I don't believe CGC holds that against a grade. The staining is what really hurts this book from getting a higher grade.

[rw0926]

why do I feel like everyone's collection is better than mine? lol

[IndySportsCards]

Originally Posted by rw0926

why do I feel like everyone's collection is better than mine? lol

There will always be something out there nicer. Even if my Black Terror #18 comes back from CGC a 7.0, I know there is a 9.4 out there!

[Automatic7]

Hey Indi, please let us know when that comes back.
I'm interested the the results. Great looking book.

[Spider-Fan]

Originally Posted by IndySportsCards

From a quick glance, 7.0-8.0 is my guess. The staining on the cover, and lower front cover, rounded edges, color breaking ticks in spine. Slight chipping in cover, front right middle. I don't see it getting higher than an 8.0. The stripe in the bar code doesn't hurt the overall grade as many shops did that to mark books that needed to be returned and I don't believe CGC holds that against a grade. The staining is what really hurts this book from getting a higher grade.

Thanks Indy. Definitely appreciate some feedback from an experienced grader like yourself.

I wasn't too worried about the slash over the bar code because I've seen that on some NM graded copies. The staining was definitely a worry. I'm not familiar with what types of stains can be cleaned and what can't, but the abrasion on the bar code made me think somebody probably tried to clean it already, and ended up doing more harm and good.

I'm okay with a 7.0. I don't know what GPA is on this book, but I paid just under $50 delivered. I've seen lower grade raws with really pronounced color breaking spine ticks and more sever wear on the edges sell pretty consistently in that ballpark. I thought I got a pretty good deal. Ultimately, I'd love to pick up a really high grade slab, but this is a nice "first" for my PC. Got to pick up some standard size toploaders since I don't think this will fit in my moderns.

Thanks again for the detailed feedback

Sadly, I think I missed out on a similar grade ASM 25 that I might have been able to snag at the same price. Oh well...

[IndySportsCards]

Originally Posted by Spider-Fan

I'm okay with a 7.0. I don't know what GPA is on this book, but I paid just under $50 delivered.

FYI:
Graded 8.0 GPA - Total books sold: 76. Hi/Low price recorded: $145/$16
Graded 7.0 GPA - Total books sold: 34. Hi/Low price recorded: $109/$10

So you did well

[Spider-Fan]

Originally Posted by IndySportsCards

FYI:
Graded 8.0 GPA - Total books sold: 76. Hi/Low price recorded: $145/$16
Graded 7.0 GPA - Total books sold: 34. Hi/Low price recorded: $109/$10

So you did well

Thanks again!

I use CPG as a quick indicator, but their posted values definitely seem to be pretty outdated and below current ebay sales.

[rw0926]

Originally Posted by IndySportsCards

There will always be something out there nicer. Even if my Black Terror #18 comes back from CGC a 7.0, I know there is a 9.4 out there!

haha so true man so true

[Spider-Fan]

Originally Posted by rw0926

haha so true man so true

Plus, overall, I think your collection is much nicer than mine At the very least, its much bigger!

[rw0926]

Originally Posted by Spider-Fan

Plus, overall, I think your collection is much nicer than mine At the very least, its much bigger!

haha I think this is classic grass is greener but you know what it means in the end we all have pretty sweet collections going on

[Spider-Fan]

Went to this local convention today. Didn't know what to expect since the website really only had information on the celebrity signers and three artists. I decided to take a chance on two passes when I saw Living Social had Sunday passes available for $18. At the very least, my girlfriend could swoon over Stephen Amell from a distance. Despite there only really being two comic book dealers among the exhibitors, I'm glad I went.

Picked up these three books for $15 from one of the dealers



Only the ASM 500 is high grade. Its a JSC cover I didn't have in my collection, and its probably a 9.4 as is. A few spine ticks, but it doesn't look like anything that won't come out with a press. Going to take a better look at it and decide if I want to get it pressed, signed, and slabbed. The other two are mid-grade. The annual was probably priced right for its grade. I've always wanted one for my collection, so I figured I'd start with a reader for $8. They had a couple in better condition at $15 and $20, but not much better so I figured I'd just grab the cheapie. The other JSC cover probably should have been in the dollar bin, so I'm considering my negotiated $2 discount completely off that book.

Those were finds while I was going through long boxes waiting for my girlfriend to finished swooning over Stephen Amell at the Arrow panel. This next one, I spotted shortly after I walked in the door. It was on the wall in a mixed booth - autographs, comics, and Funkos. Most of the books on the wall were priced with a lot of room to negotiate. A few I wanted, but marked about double what I wanted to pay. Didn't bother trying to negotiate. This one was all the way in the bottom corner, in the corner of the booth, and wasn't marked. I asked they guy what the price was, he said it was marked and picked it up. Didn't find one, said it was $20 and had had all 4 one-shots (meaning the other three turtles) if I was interested. I took a quick look at it and "I'll take it" came out of my mouth before I had the the sense to ask if he'd take $15.

Raphael 1 First Printing (First Appearance Casey Jones)



I think this one will grade a lot worse than it looks. The top right corner is creased and breaks color. There are a lot of color breaking tick marks on the spine. The top left corner is dulled, but the other three corners are sharp. Otherwise, the book is in really fantastic shape. It has outstanding eye appeal in my opinion, and $20 was a great price even for a mid-grade book. My thinking is 7.5/VF- due to all the color breaking ticks on the spine. I would love to hear what any of the more experienced junkies think about the grade.

Here are some high resolution pictures.

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He also had a TMNT 1 Third Printing for $40 but it was much more worn and I didn't think it was a great price. The Turtles were a huge part of my childhood and I've resolved to add some TMNT keys to my collection this year. That is a book I would really like to pick up, but I'll wait for a better copy to appear. The year is still young!

[comicbooksgo]

I'll say this, you might be surprised by what that book would get CGC wise after a press/slab. I've subbed 10 or so of those the past couple of years, and CGC is a little more lenient with this one. I've gotten 9.4's on copies with 10 visible spine ticks. Just remember if you do send it in that it will be counted as a magazine, so if you can wait until you have at least a few mags so you aren't stuck paying shipping for just the one book.

[comicbooksgo]

Looking closer at your pics I would say 8.0 after a press. Definitely a good buy at $20.