Usm #1 question

[Chris S.]

Anybody know of a place where I can buy a protective case for a comic that will preserve it as well as the CPG one while still allowing me to open it whenever I want? I don't really feel like getting anything graded right now, but I will want to in the future.. and I'd like to get a case that I can rely on to keep my best book in mint condition.

You can buy Mylite bags and Half or Full backs. That seems to be the best thing. E. Gerber makes a good product, but they can be hard to find. You can order from a website called Hotflips.

Now it won't look as pretty as a CGC case.

[Trallis]

Well if you want to go for it that way, then that's your prerogative. But honestly, it's just throwing money away. Now, if the hunt is worth that to you, then by all means go for it. Personally, I'd just go to comic collector live and call it a day.

But someone just said the people there are asking over $1000 for a full run.. Collecting it myself.. I might save $500. How is that throwing money away? Honestly, i highly doubt anyone is gonna sell a collection that took them almost a decade to put together for cheap.

Either way.. When i decided to hunt them all down i was excited. My hobby is not buying peoples' comic collections. I collect comics and I actually like doing it. You talk about these issues like I need them for something. Go to ccl and call it a day? Why? Im proud of every issue in my collection... I would rather have a missing issue in my collection than have a complete collection that i paid someone else to put together for me.

[Plawsky]

But someone just said the people there are asking over $1000 for a full run.. Collecting it myself.. I might save $500. How is that throwing money away? Honestly, i highly doubt anyone is gonna sell a collection that took them almost a decade to put together for cheap.

Either way.. When i decided to hunt them all down i was excited. My hobby is not buying peoples' comic collections. I collect comics and I actually like doing it. You talk about these issues like I need them for something. Go to ccl and call it a day? Why? Im proud of every issue in my collection... I would rather have a missing issue in my collection than have a complete collection that i paid someone else to put together for me.

CCL isn't buying someone else's collection though - it's just a bunch of different stores. You're still putting the collection together yourself. If you go around from shop to shop paying $3 per issue, you won't be saving money. And like I said, that's fine. If the time spent traveling and searching is worth that to you, then there's nothing wrong with that. My point was just that it's not worth it to me. I could easily put an entire run together for under $400 on CCL. If you pay $3 per issue, you're looking at almost $500 without even buying #1, which would put you closer to $600.

Just for reference, people are also listing it a lot cheaper than $1000 for a full run.

Here's one for $500obo, that's only missing #1
$400obo, that says they're all first prints
#1-130 for $400obo
#1-110 $300obo
All but 1-3 and 5 for $275
#1-133 starting bid at $200
#17-133 for $150
#1 (reprint) - #132 minus #120 for $175

So if I just wanted to buy the whole run quick, I could buy that last lot for $175, get #120 and #133-160 for a buck a piece, to equal $204; add in #1 for $150 and I'm at just over $350 for the whole thing.

[Trallis]

CCL isn't buying someone else's collection though - it's just a bunch of different stores. You're still putting the collection together yourself. If you go around from shop to shop paying $3 per issue, you won't be saving money. And like I said, that's fine. If the time spent traveling and searching is worth that to you, then there's nothing wrong with that. My point was just that it's not worth it to me. I could easily put an entire run together for under $400 on CCL. If you pay $3 per issue, you're looking at almost $500 without even buying #1, which would put you closer to $600.

Just for reference, people are also listing it a lot cheaper than $1000 for a full run.

Here's one for $500obo, that's only missing #1
$400obo, that says they're all first prints
#1-130 for $400obo
#1-110 $300obo
All but 1-3 and 5 for $275
#1-133 starting bid at $200
#17-133 for $150
#1 (reprint) - #132 minus #120 for $175

So if I just wanted to buy the whole run quick, I could buy that last lot for $175, get #120 and #133-160 for a buck a piece, to equal $204; add in #1 for $150 and I'm at just over $350 for the whole thing.

Man i dont know what everyone else does for a living but im on disability.. I cant go dropping hundreds at a time.. $3-$12 a week sounds a little better and gives me time to appreciate every single one, not to mention see its condition for myself before i buy it

[Balfro]

Man i dont know what everyone else does for a living but im on disability.. I cant go dropping hundreds at a time.. $3-$12 a week sounds a little better and gives me time to appreciate every single one, not to mention see its condition for myself before i buy it

I bought all of mine 3 - 4 at a time rather than all in one go. It made it more fun, kinda like collecting trading cards as opposed to buying the whole complete set at once. Collecting and seeing your collection grow is part of the fun of obtaining comics.

[Plawsky]

Man i dont know what everyone else does for a living but im on disability.. I cant go dropping hundreds at a time.. $3-$12 a week sounds a little better and gives me time to appreciate every single one, not to mention see its condition for myself before i buy it

I don't disagree with you. I'm not going to drop that money either right now; I'm just saying that's the cheapest route to go. Getting a few issues at a time is definitely more fun, but also more expensive. It's all just personal preference.

[Trallis]

I don't disagree with you. I'm not going to drop that money either right now; I'm just saying that's the cheapest route to go. Getting a few issues at a time is definitely more fun, but also more expensive. It's all just personal preference.

yeah, for me.. it's all about the hunt. Well, some of it is about making sure my issue doesn't have any little flaws.. but mostly, I love heading off to comic shops i've never been for. So far in my first year of collecting, every different comic shop i've stopped at has had something new or special.. and after I started knowing about which comics were valuable or special.. the hunt got more exciting. I was looking for all of the new Daredevil series.. and all of the Miles Morales, but now I can check tons of bins looking for comic book gold. USM #2-133 are a good enough excuse to take a day trip with a buddy of mine and spend an hour or two scouring bins that might contain buried treasure. I know it's nearly impossible that I'm gonna come across a 1964 Daredevil #1, but it's not truly impossible. A good example is my night that started this whole thing. I went to my buddy's LCS and I found a NM+ USM #1 for $100 and a NM Peter Panzerfaust for $25 instead of $80. Every comic shop trip is gamble.. but I always get a rush when I first walk in and see tons of boxes to go through.

So yeah.. I appreciate the advice.. and maybe in the long run I'll have spent a lot more $ than I would buying them all at once.. but I wouldn't have the stories, the individual attention for each issue, the guarantee that they're all in the condition I like(I'm not a huge believer in the official grading system), and the excuse to go on road trips, see comic shops i've never been to, etc. I love when I'm out of town visiting a relative or something.. no one else ca come up with a way to spend the day and i've already got a google map of 4 shops we can hit.

That's the stuff I love. I'm not putting down your way.. I believe you that plenty of people would rather just lay down the cash and get it all in the mail next week.. but that's just not my style. It's kinda like this: Imagine your hobby is building model battle ships.. you spend hours a day for months at a time just to finish one.. and then someone says "why don't you just buy this battleship right here? It's the same ship with tons of details and you don't have to waste time building it". Few model makers would spring to their feet to go buy the fancy pre-made ship. See what I'm saying?

also I gotta plug my brand new blog on this same topic.. even if you're not into the hunt.. I think any comic book fan could enjoy my story. And the great thing is.. I'm gonna keep documenting my adventure whether people are reading it or not. That way I can keep track of dates, spending, locations, etc. on each issue. There should be a link in my sig for it. I'm new to this.

[Trallis]

Well I picked the issue up.. and I can finally say I actually own it. It's a #1 First print and in my opinion near mint. I don't know if I'll ever get it graded officially, but I do know I'll never sell it so really I couldn't care less. I love having this issue in my collection. Here's one pic.. I posted some closeup shots on my blog if you want to try to get a closer look. The link is in my signature. Maybe you guys will know something I don't and It'll turn out to be a grade 7.5 reprint from last year. Enjoy!


P.S. please read my blog.. who's gonna read this kinda stuff if the guys on the Ultimate forum don't?