huge bulk lots of vh1

[mrwoogieman]

You can also pre-screen some of them, set it at 9.6 or above and see how many pass.

It used to be 50 copy minimum submission, but they may have lowered it.




EDIT - Just checked the CGC website and it is 25 copy minimum now. And you can pre-screen for 9.8 or above as well!

[ckb]

The books arrived via FedEx, extremely well packed.



They were apparently all purchased at once back in December of 1992 from Kingpin Comics, the owner wrote the date of purchase, price and seller on the back of each backing board. He paid around $13 per copy.

Unfortunately, I don't think there's too many 9.8s in there. The books are all utterly pristine -- except for tiny abrasions or chips in the top or bottom left corners. I would say (at a glance), they are mostly 9.6 (?) candidates. Here's one of the more egregious examples.



Recent Ebay sales on 9.6s are ringing in between $45 to $76. A recent 9.4 went for $57 with 26 bids. So factoring in slab costs I'm guessing I am about even money at today's prices. But my purchase was with an eye toward some good movie news, so perhaps one day they'll be worth more.

X-O is my book, so I'm delighted with the purchase overall. It's a ridiculously big pile.

Well then you scored. If they are truly collector purchased by a speculator and cared for since day one, I estimate you will have 50% 9.8s. The bindery tears do not matter. You should pre-screen the whole set. Every one, except ones where you can see non-bindery defects.

[nycjadie]

If the bindery tears are minor, then they may indeed come back in 9.8s. That being said, just because there are bindery tears, does not mean that they are COMMON manufacturing defects. None of my X-O 1s have these tears, but you never know. I've had these types of tears come back as 9.8s (they are on a lot of V1 books), and others not.

Very cool collection if they were single owner from a single source. That's remarkable that he bought that many, AND kept them for so long.

[jmatt]

That's remarkable that he bought that many, AND kept them for so long.

I keep wondering if the seller had any idea movies may be coming in the next 24 to 36 months. To hang onto them for so long and then dump all of his lots at once, just thiiiiis shy of the payoff just seems weird. Perhaps he passed on and the heirs had no idea what to do with them. The markings on the back seem to indicate they belonged to a "Rosie".



As I continue to examine them, they were obviously owned by someone so anal as to document all of this information by hand, right down to the purchase lot #. That's a good sign. (Full disclosure: I've done this before with expensive one-offs... but never dozens and dozens).

And the more I look, the more I like. To my untrained eye, the example pic I posted is the second worst of the entire lot; I found one with a small rectangular tear like that that is 'flapping'. But nearly all of the others seem better than that and look like they have never been touched since the day they were carefully archived.

Oddly enough, there is one copy that is really beaten up - no backing board, no info, it looks horrendous. I'm guessing Porky's slipped in a garbage issue they had in the 25 cent box. The collector bought 75 and this is the "76th" issue.

I'd be a little miffed about that, but on the other hand they packed they books extremely well and shipped via FedEx for $9.95... even though I offered to pay extra.

[maraxusofkeld]

That's remarkable that he bought that many, AND kept them for so long.

I keep wondering if the seller had any idea movies may be coming in the next 24 to 36 months. To hang onto them for so long and then dump all of his lots at once, just thiiiiis shy of the payoff just seems weird. Perhaps he passed on and the heirs had no idea what to do with them. The markings on the back seem to indicate they belonged to a "Rosie".



As I continue to examine them, they were obviously owned by someone so anal as to document all of this information by hand, right down to the purchase lot #. That's a good sign. (Full disclosure: I've done this before with expensive one-offs... but never dozens and dozens).

And the more I look, the more I like. To my untrained eye, the example pic I posted is the second worst of the entire lot; I found one with a small rectangular tear like that that is 'flapping'. But nearly all of the others seem better than that and look like they have never been touched since the day they were carefully archived.

Oddly enough, there is one copy that is really beaten up - no backing board, no info, it looks horrendous. I'm guessing Porky's slipped in a garbage issue they had in the 25 cent box. The collector bought 75 and this is the "76th" issue.

I'd be a little miffed about that, but on the other hand they packed they books extremely well and shipped via FedEx for $9.95... even though I offered to pay extra.

He may have purchased them so cheap that it really didn't matter. Additionally, he sells a high volume of books so maybe in his mind selling one copy at a time was not work his time. They do not have to be super high grade for you to make money. Even if they are "only" solid NM copies once a movie is announced they could be $75-100 each.

[apacseller]

I know we've talked about it before (consistency/frequency of CGC grading out 9.9 and 10s), but I am curious if you submitted 25-50 of these at a time, if it might up your chances of scoring one. That alone could pay for your gamble.

Nice work! Thanks for sharing the results!!

[jmatt]

I know we've talked about it before (consistency/frequency of CGC grading out 9.9 and 10s), but I am curious if you submitted 25-50 of these at a time, if it might up your chances of scoring one. That alone could pay for your gamble.

I don't have enough slabbing experience to say. Perhaps someone else knows.

If there's some kind of psychology that plays into submissions (and who knows if there is) I might think the reverse: If I submit 75 all at once, the grader might think "Alright, there's gotta be one 9.9 in here somewhere..."

For all I know they'll all come back 9.6. But they are in pretty freaking good shape.

My plan is to bring them to NYC Comic Con in October and submit them all at once, just for the sake of convenience. But if others thought there might be some benefit to submitting them in lots, I might consider it.

[apacseller]

Sorry, you misunderstood me. I was suggesting sending them all at once too, I didn't know how many you bought, so my 25-50 comment was just a reference to sending in more than one. I can't imagine CGC sees more than 1 X-O a week, if that, so seeing a lot of 50 (or 75) I am wondering if they'd assume one of them was choice.

Tdlr; we agree on strategy, good luck!

[corey]

Did anybody on here buy the big lot of solar 10's that sold week or so ago?

[maraxusofkeld]

I know we've talked about it before (consistency/frequency of CGC grading out 9.9 and 10s), but I am curious if you submitted 25-50 of these at a time, if it might up your chances of scoring one. That alone could pay for your gamble.

I don't have enough slabbing experience to say. Perhaps someone else knows.

If there's some kind of psychology that plays into submissions (and who knows if there is) I might think the reverse: If I submit 75 all at once, the grader might think "Alright, there's gotta be one 9.9 in here somewhere..."

For all I know they'll all come back 9.6. But they are in pretty freaking good shape.

My plan is to bring them to NYC Comic Con in October and submit them all at once, just for the sake of convenience. But if others thought there might be some benefit to submitting them in lots, I might consider it.

Are considering a pre screen on the pile?

[jmatt]

Are considering a pre screen on the pile?

Yeah. I'll take a 9.6 or better, with any luck.

[jmatt]

Submitted these 75 copies of X-O #1 today at NY Comic Con, along with my Divinity #1 1:40 and 1:20 which are also both in great condition. Pre-screened for 9.6.

Lessee, also submitted Iron Man 55, Avengers 2, 3, 4, 16 and 57. These were mostly purchased back in the late 90s and I was just getting the best copy I could afford at the time. Not expecting any miracles there -- but it will be nice to have them slabbed to go along with my Avengers #1 4.5.

[mkb28]

Good luck, Brother!

[nycjadie]

Huge to you!

[ckb]

Agreed, best of luck.

I wish you hadn't given them an excuse to grade them at 9.6, at least on this first go. There has to be some psychology at work there. I always thought I got less 9.8s when I screened at 9.6. Also, I'm not sure I'd want 50 9.6s to hit the census all at once. 50 9.8s bothers me less - I don't think there will be downward price pressure on that book even given more graded copies.

[corey]

Gl my man hope you get a 9.9or 10

[corey]

Gl my man hope you get a 9.9or 10

[jmatt]

Thanks, fellas. When I slabbed the Divinity issues, I don't think I asked for a pre-screen and they all came back as 9.8. So, who knows.

[bobby97801]

[GGSAE]

Agreed, best of luck.

I wish you hadn't given them an excuse to grade them at 9.6, at least on this first go. There has to be some psychology at work there. I always thought I got less 9.8s when I screened at 9.6. Also, I'm not sure I'd want 50 9.6s to hit the census all at once. 50 9.8s bothers me less - I don't think there will be downward price pressure on that book even given more graded copies.

What about a pre-screen at 9.4? I think that's more of a gap to 'downgrade' the grade to a 9.6 and it still grades high enough at a 9.4 that buyers will want it. I think less than a 9.4 you're taking a bath, especially if it's more than a handful of books.

[maraxusofkeld]

Agreed, best of luck.

I wish you hadn't given them an excuse to grade them at 9.6, at least on this first go. There has to be some psychology at work there. I always thought I got less 9.8s when I screened at 9.6. Also, I'm not sure I'd want 50 9.6s to hit the census all at once. 50 9.8s bothers me less - I don't think there will be downward price pressure on that book even given more graded copies.

What about a pre-screen at 9.4? I think that's more of a gap to 'downgrade' the grade to a 9.6 and it still grades high enough at a 9.4 that buyers will want it. I think less than a 9.4 you're taking a bath, especially if it's more than a handful of books.

The GPA on a 9.4 copy is $44 with the grading fees and original purchase amount, you would be at a break even point. The 12 month GPA on a 9.6 is only $59.

[Phantom]

Its a great issue to do it with.
First Issue
First Appearance. Undisputed.