I collected comics as a kid in the late 70s/early 80s, but then left them in a box which was rarely opened for a good 20 years. Sometime in the early 00s, I decided to buy a bunch of silver age Spider Man and X-Men comics off eBay, but soon got disinterested once again.
Then one day I saw our old friend NakedRicci post on Facebook some of his comics he had graded by CGC, and decided to look to see what I had. I asked him if I could send him pics to see what books I should get graded, if any, and we came up with a solid bunch to submit, so I joined CGC last year and sent them off. I had only shown him the comics I thought would be worth something (i.e. the old ones, not the ones I bought from the newsstand). Most were the eBay books, but one was Spiderman 252, the 1st appearance of the black costume in the series, which 14-year old Revo bought from the local comic shop in 1984.
I didn't realize that "Silver Age" comics (pre-1975) would take over a year to be returned, but the Spiderman 252 came back after only a few months and graded out as an 8.5, which sells for $150-$200. Not a bad investment for 50 cents 38 years ago.
The other Silver Age Spiderman and X-Men I submitted finally came back last month, over a year after sending them, with grades ranging from 3.5 to 6.5, valuing them at anywhere from $125 to as high as $400 apiece. I had bought all these for around $25 apiece circa 2003.
After receiving them, my interest was stirred again, and so I re-checked my collection and saw that a lot of these other comics I bought as a kid were in fantastic shape, as they hadn't left their box home since the mid 1980s. Then a couple of weeks ago I went to a local flea market and found a guy who had a few boxes of mainly comics from 2000+, but I discovered Spawn 1-20 which were in amazing condition, and the guy only wanted $2 apiece for them.
I fired off a bunch of pics to NakedRicci again, and we narrowed it down to a solid 30-40 that should probably be graded, and so I'm off again today to ship out another 10. Included in those 10 are 4 I got from the flea market guy (2 Spawn #1 and 2 Spawn #9).
Steve, I believe you once owned a comic shop, right? Any tips?
Then one day I saw our old friend NakedRicci post on Facebook some of his comics he had graded by CGC, and decided to look to see what I had. I asked him if I could send him pics to see what books I should get graded, if any, and we came up with a solid bunch to submit, so I joined CGC last year and sent them off. I had only shown him the comics I thought would be worth something (i.e. the old ones, not the ones I bought from the newsstand). Most were the eBay books, but one was Spiderman 252, the 1st appearance of the black costume in the series, which 14-year old Revo bought from the local comic shop in 1984.
I didn't realize that "Silver Age" comics (pre-1975) would take over a year to be returned, but the Spiderman 252 came back after only a few months and graded out as an 8.5, which sells for $150-$200. Not a bad investment for 50 cents 38 years ago.
The other Silver Age Spiderman and X-Men I submitted finally came back last month, over a year after sending them, with grades ranging from 3.5 to 6.5, valuing them at anywhere from $125 to as high as $400 apiece. I had bought all these for around $25 apiece circa 2003.
After receiving them, my interest was stirred again, and so I re-checked my collection and saw that a lot of these other comics I bought as a kid were in fantastic shape, as they hadn't left their box home since the mid 1980s. Then a couple of weeks ago I went to a local flea market and found a guy who had a few boxes of mainly comics from 2000+, but I discovered Spawn 1-20 which were in amazing condition, and the guy only wanted $2 apiece for them.
I fired off a bunch of pics to NakedRicci again, and we narrowed it down to a solid 30-40 that should probably be graded, and so I'm off again today to ship out another 10. Included in those 10 are 4 I got from the flea market guy (2 Spawn #1 and 2 Spawn #9).
Steve, I believe you once owned a comic shop, right? Any tips?
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