By Terrence J. Brady
JULY 2003
Let me dispel the rumors.
Some folks wrote to me, after seeing there wasn't a
June column, thinking the CGC had bought me out...offered me a deal in hopes that I would no longer
continue with the CGC Hall of Shame. Well, let
the truth be heard because no deal would be sweet
enough to make me close the Hall. No amount of money. No
amount of fame. And besides (hey, CGC) if you really
want to win a guy's favor, best to add a complete run
of Ditko SPIDER-MANs into the mix or you're just
wasting my time (haha).
Seriously, there was no column last month due to
events not in my control. First my e-mail forwarding
was all screwed up (so if you sent any messages and I
didn't respond, you now know why). I also moved into a
new home and have been busy buying new furniture,
carpeting, painting, etc. Thirdly, my mind just wasn't
focused on anything else as my faithful feline friend
of 16 years, MAXX, decided it was time to
say good-bye.
Moving onto this month’s inductees....
I’ve had the great pleasure of seeing some real
zingers but this one has to be one of my favorites. I
received an email a while back on this one and thought
I should give it a plug. Back in May, someone
auctioned off a CGC 5.5
Amazing Spider-Man #316. No that’s no typo.
The seller stated it would be *at least* a 9.4 to 9.6
if not for the PIECE OF SCOTCH TAPE stuck to the
cover!
I emailed the seller asking him who put the tape on
the book. Was it there before submitting it to the CGC
or did it happen while it was in their hands? Never
got back a reply but the seller did get a whopping
final bid of $5.99 for the comic. Hell, that
amount doesn’t even come close to the cost of
encapsulating the book!
Just think about it .... not only did the buyer pick
himself up a (near flawless) copy of SSM 316 but
also one helluva bargain on a CGC holder. I envy this
guy -- I really do. Just like I envy poor ol' Parker
there (cover) as some alien psychopath beats the
bloody bleep out of him.
OK. Let’s to get to some serious bucks.
Sticking with our favorite wall-crawler and his
joyless twin from another world... VENOM made his
first appearance as a new alien costume for SPIDER-MAN
during the mega-series SECRET WARS. This is the first
series -- not to be confused with SECRET WARS II --
which, if George Lucas had creative control of, would
have made it into a prequel (instead of a sequel) and
totally screwed up the original concept.
To the left (click on cover) is a CGC 9.8 NM/MT copy
of MARVEL SUPER HEROES SECRET WARS #8. The seller
states: "...a true modern gem. The cover inks are
perfect. The reds and yellows are bright and vivid.
The blacks and greens are dark. The book has no
blemishes."
Unfortunately, all comics have one fault or another
and this book's handicap was its selling price of
$405. For that amount of money, you could have
purchased the entire 12-issue series (about $20) plus
had plenty left over to buy your own alien costume. (I
hear this is what Lucas did. That would certainly
explain what's up with those prequels of his.)
Here’s one for the DC fans....
...aaand not just any ol' copy but a magnificent 10.0
MINT CGC graded copy of LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #300.
Now twenty years old (ugh - I'm feeling my age), this
book featured practically every DC artist at the time
and is certainly a keepsake be it you're a fan of the
LEGION or just of the artists of the early `80s.
This action also included 10 bonus copies which, as
the seller states, are guaranteed to be at least 9.8 or
better. Hmmm, now where I come from, a guarantee is
only as good as what you get in writing and the seller
here doesn't offer anything beyond the word
"guarantee." What if you sent in those 10 copies and
you get, for sake of argument, three copies back at a
dreaded 9.7 (gasp!)? Would the seller honor his
guarantee by picking up the slabbing fees for these
sub-par books? I - don’t - think - so.
Anyhow, let's not split hairs. The happy-go-lucky
winner of this auction forked over a measly $308 for
this (normally) $1.50 comic, so I’m sure he/she has
wads of cash lying about to spend on additional CGC
fees.
Let's wrap this show up with a pair of books that I
certainly found myself shaking my head over (and
hopefully you will too). Cruising over the eBay scene,
I found several auctions for the TRANSFORMERS comics.
I personally have had no interest in such books though
I’m sure there's a market for them - however - even
fans of these books should be able to separate reality
from insanity.
The first comic is from the 1984 Marvel mini-series.
The CGC 9.8 TRANSFORMERS #1 is the highest graded copy
known to the CGC and features white pages. The winning
bid was an astounding $250.00 which normally, if you
exclude the CGC encasement, would allow you to
purchase 250 of these books. Not that anyone would
want to own 250 copies of this book but you get the
point.
The other TRANSFORMERS comic I've decided to include
is actually much newer - but worth about the same.
It is TRANSFORMERS: ARMADA #1 - CGC 10.0 MINT. This
holofoil edition, wraparound cover was issued by
Dreamewave Productions in July 2002.
Less than one year later, someone over at eBay figured
it was about time to auction off this book with the
low opening bid of $150. Thankfully, there are some
fans of these books out there who are realists and the
auction didn't receive a winning bid. I'm sure the
book is all nice and shiny, with its fancy foil cover
and all, but this book (non-CGC) has trouble landing
bids of 99 cents - which is its actual value.
Enjoy the Fourth of July holiday, everyone. I'll be
back next month for the "Dog Days of CGC." To submit
a comic for consideration in the CGC Hall of
Shame, please follow these simple rules: (1) The
comic must be Modern Age - 1980 to the present. (2)
The comic must be from an on-line auction house; like
eBay. (3) The comic must be CGC graded and fetch a
minimum winning bid of 10X Overstreet Guide. Please
included your first name and last initial with your
city/state (or city/country).
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