There's nothing wrong having low-grade keys. Makes it far easier to sell or upgrade later on. And having low-grade is better than no-grade. ;) Thanks for the video.
Great video! I'm sure you're happy to know that it's now worth $4600 as of May 25. I bought my ungraded X-men #1 in 1982 for $20 from a comic shop in Honolulu. An experienced grader said it's probably about a 1.5 unpressed. Since I already had it I delayed buying a graded copy until I had most of the other Silver Age keys. I finally got a 4.5 in 2017 on ebay. One year later the seller offered to buy it back from me for $1000 more than what he sold it for.
Feedback on the series: great idea. I think something like this will help collectors get over their shyness over low grade books. I had this dumb idea that anything under a 6.0 wasn't worth buying. Then, I started looking at expensive books and realized those low grade options were just fine! 🤣👍
Thanks for the feedback. I have lots of videos planned for this which will teach investing using low grade comics. I believe they are safer, low risk investment compared to the high grades.
Thank you for sharing this video and your honesty! You made some great points that I am totally on board with. I would love to have that 0.5 X-Men in my collection. I don't have too many slabs (only 12). My lowest graded slab is Marvel Spotlight 5 in a 2.0 and I couldn't be happier! Highest is an Iron Man 1 at 6.5
My guess: silver age values are probably more baked in and stable, whereas modern books can have their bubbles popped and leave people with half of the value they originally had. The market for older books is just more established. I could be wrong.
This is my thinking. Modern books are more of a gamble. There is the possibility of great return but also a more likely chance of a huge bust. I remember the 90s comic bubble.
Investment wise would you go with an Xmen 1 at a 1.5 maybe 2.0 of would you go with 5 or 6 different keys in low grade like 1.0 like let's say Tomb of Dracula 10, Hulk 181, Xmen 1 and other low grade grails. Would love to hear your input.
I believe Xmen 1 is currently a bit overprice and might go down again. So I would recommend going for a few other keys. Tomb of Dracula is a clear choice because movie trailer hasn't dropped yet and it will definitely jump when that happens.
That's a nice book for a .5! I'd definitely be willing to go that low for such a big key! Still not cheap! My budget is a little tighter - I just bought a Fantastic Four #29 in a lower grade (G/VG) because the seller gave a deal, and it will be great to have the first Watcher cover appearance!
@@ComicCollectorGeek I probably should've held out for a higher grade, but I'm still recovering from getting a Daredevil #7 to complete my mini-run of Daredevil #7-10. I love getting early FF's that may not be big keys, but are affordable and still awesome!
@@nowherebound2908 I find there's balance between being patient on getting the best books you want for your collection and taking advantage of a good deal. There has been so many times where I overpaid on comics because I acted on FOMO then later would see the book at a much lower price. Its always hard to know the best time to buy.
@@ComicCollectorGeek Yeah, I had been monitoring prices on that issue, and when the seller offered 25% off, I figured "why not?" I made sure it was intact and attached staples. The cover presents well, despite some heavy wear near the spine. I can always upgrade eventually, but it's hard to resist the urge to get a book once it's in your head, am I right?! ;-) I like your video on liquidity/acquiring lower grades. For any Silver Age book, as long as a book is intact and presents relatively well, I'm in!
Even though that's a .5, it still presents very well! I'd be ecstatic to own that! Looking for my next big purchase... Strange Tales 110. It'll be my most expensive purchase yet. In the meantime, I just picked up a 5.0 Strange Tales 111! Very happy!
LOL..my copy looks horrible, but I'm so happy to own it. One of the first major keys that I picked up was Strange Tales 110. Strange Tales 111 is also an awesome book. You are lucky to get it in a 5.0 that's usually a very presentable grade.
@@ComicCollectorGeek oh I'm very happy! Honestly, you're one of the people who led me to being open to looking at modestly graded books so you're partly to blame for some of my recent acquisitions 🤣
I'm bidding on a Superman #9 .5 grade with half the cover ripped off. The page behind the ripped portion of the cover shows great panels of superman. In a sense, it's like a bonus since if the cover was complete it wouldn't show as much art. Low grade at least gets more casual fans a chance to find their own personal treasures.
Old video but I just bought a low grade fantastic four 1 it's even restored but is signed by Stan Lee. I offered substantially lower than what the seller was asking. I don't see myself losing money if I hold onto it for a yr and probably will make out on it.
I personally don't mind low grades... 1. comic has to fit in my budget (which is usually less than $600), 1. has to be a comic I want, 3. blue label... I could not pull the trigger on a comic with a lot of writing personally
Yeah, I don't like writing on the comic either. This purchase was my attempt to get a comic that I figured I couldn't get at better grade. Prices were climbing so fast lately. I was suffering a bit of FOMO.
Actually, I am broke. Sold $4million house and had $1.6million mortgage + agent fees $.2million and bought a $2.4 million house so at the end I had no money but debt free.
