It’s always fun & exciting to rip into a freshly returned batch of graded books that were sent away several months back. CGC which is the grading company I used (and the leader in the space), took their sweet time getting these back to me, but they are here now and I’m pumped to show you how how we fared.
For those in the dark here, grading in collectibles is nothing new, be it cards…comics…video games…or even Pops. At our shop Conquest Comics, we only deal with graded comics and the reason is quite simple. In most instances, it makes it much easier to determine a price range on a graded book than a raw one. The reason for that is condition in general is open to people’s interpretation. It leaves lots of room for debating on how severe or not flaws are and what dollar amount to be looking for. With a graded book, you can clearly see what a 9.2 is fetching. It just simplifies the process and I’m all about that.
This batch for us consists of all modern books from post 1975. In this chunk of tastiness, outside of a few, I mostly selected books that I thought were good 9.8 candidates. You basically want to get as close to a 10 as possible and for most moderns, 9.8’s are the sweet spot that will command the most money and attention. Anything higher (9.9 & 10) are going to rocket the price up to an ungodly amount where as below that (9.6, 9.4, etc) , you’ll be shunned by the 9.8 or only snobs.
So as I mentioned earlier, most of this batch were books that I thought were great 9.8 candidates. I feel as though I’m pretty damn good at plucking out those gems….so enough pre babble…let’s hop right in and see how it all shook out.
- Daredevil #9
This book looked lovely and crisp with no real noticeable flaws. This contains the first appearance of Echo, who is supposed to have her own Disney + series sometime in the near future after appearing in Hawkeye. While this book is down from its previously highs it was commanding in 2021 and 2023…nearly everything is at this point. Currently, these seem to be moving in the 175-250 range.
- Amazing Spider-Man #361
First off I want to say that I LOVE this book. I personally own several copies that sit in my personal collection, including the one that I bought fresh off the rack for a $1.25 back when I was a lil’ booger picker. This, contains the first full appearance of Carnage. It’s a staple in any self respecting fan’s ASM collection, and is a perfect example of a must have modern key that is still fairly affordable.
Interesting note about this issue. If you look above in the 3rd photo, you’ll see a slight tear in that red spot on the back cover. Normally a year would hinder the chances of a super high grade, buuuuut this was a printing error during production and it affects a large portion of the print run. Due to this, CGC will still give this book a 9.8 grade if its in lovely shape like this one is. Today’s prices on a juicy 9.8 are once again much lower than they were when the economic landscape was in a better state, averaging between 300-400 beans. For comparison, these were commanding 700-1000 regularly just 2 years ago. No doubt they will be back there again in better times. It’s a blue chip book.
- Spawn #1
Another book I own a boatload of that I bought fresh off the rack. While there are a gazillion of these in the wild, they still sell for about 25 bucks raw. Spawn has its share of diehards, and a 9.8 of the first issue gets gobbled up everytime we pop one out. In this grade, they seem to bring in between 125-200 on average, although there are some lower sales this month compared to previous months.
- Avengers Children’s Crusade #3 Art Adams Variant
Now here’s a cool example that’s a bit different. This is a beautiful 1:15 variant cover by Art Adams. It’s a rare book that is tough to find in any grade. I believe at present, there are only a couple currently available and they seem to bring in between 100-200 raw depending on the shape. As for graded, you’ll see only one sale for this grade throughout all of 2023. You have to go back to 2022 to snag some more comps.
So if someone asks me what I want for this…in the words of Chef’s father….
I’ll wrap up this post with one more for today with part 2 of 3 of this to come tomorrow.
- Daredevil #12 Joe Quesada NYCC Panel Variant
This is an interesting book. I bought this off a customer in a collection a few years back and it’s just been sitting around. Nothing special happens here, but this IS a special book. This was only obtained via a live in person panel at the 2019 New York Comic con. Usually these are not only handled poorly by those handing them out at the event, but to go through the grueling convention and making it back home…then to me…all in this gorgeous shape?!? Nothing short of a miracle. There are at most, a couple hundred of these in existence with most being trashed. So to a Quesada or Daredevil fan…this is a gem.
You’ll see that only 1 copy sold in each of the past 3 years with it slowly rising with each sale. I’d expect in a couple more years for this to be one of those books that you’ll be able to create your own price on as you’ll be the last man standing. I don’t think I’d let it go for anything less than 350 ish at this moment. It’s a ghost and I’d like it to haunt its suitors for a bit.
I’m going to wrap this up here for today, but I’ll be back tomorrow with another handful of books to showoff and analyze a bit. Next batch will include the first comic appearance of Boba Fett, Venom, and a groovy 8 bit Deadpool cover. Stay tuned and as always, thanks for donating your time here.
Blewitt