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Holy grail story, like to hear yours7331

COLLECTOR shrewbeer private msg quote post Address this user
@DJC_II if not a 9.8 then probably not worth having graded. Most newsstand collectors wont touch anything under 9.8, a few will grab 9.6s as placeholders. If its got 9.8 potential, you could pull a quick $400 on ebay if it makes the grade
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Collector BrashSmurf private msg quote post Address this user
Not really a grail but it's my favorite comic so far, got it for my birthday
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CBCS broke up with me over Facebook. CFP_Comics private msg quote post Address this user
Quote:
Originally Posted by shrewbeer
Quote:
Originally Posted by CFP_Comics
I once turned a pile of Star Wars #1’s into a Hulk #1.


Reminds me of the old “Steve Ricketts Facts” thread that DarthLego did

https://forum.cbcscomics.com/topic/2060/page/1/steve-ricketts-facts/

Maybe we need a Joe Pressing Facts thread?


I used to have one on the CGC boards. Kinda still have one, but it is more cryptic.
Doubt CBCS would allow it, even in jest.
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Collector poka private msg quote post Address this user
Well for me it would be how Joe spent 2 months trying to find a way to separate a back cover attached to a board and when finally succeeding came back graded as 9.4
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If I could, I would. I swear. DrWatson private msg quote post Address this user
Quote:
Originally Posted by CFP_Comics
I once turned a pile of Star Wars #1’s into a Hulk #1.

If I had a dollar for every time I've head this story... That being said, I'd give almost anything right about now to here it again over dinner.
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Collector KingNampa private msg quote post Address this user
Some idiot sold me this, priceless, grail for only $5 on eBay.


Post 31 IP   flag post
Collector poka private msg quote post Address this user
@KingNampa well #1 so must be worth a lot more than you paid. 🦆
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Collector DJC_II private msg quote post Address this user
@shrewbeer good tip. Thanks for that. I will give a press and go from there. It has a wrinkle. But only a press will tell the final tale
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Collector Darkseid_of_town private msg quote post Address this user
Somewhere back in 1987 I wandered into my LCS and the owner showed me a nondescript thin cardboard box he had behind the counter...within was ecstasy. I quickly noted in a small stack ..ASM 1...JIM 83, Avengers 1, Hulk 1 , TTA27 and Tos 39 as well more further down I couldn't see. He was not ready to offer up yet so I left...following day when I wandered in there were two copies of Hulk 1 on the wall...in hindsight I would say they were about a 3.5 and a 4.5 respectfully. I indicated some interest and he showed me inside the lower grade copy, signed by Jack Kirby. This was in 1987 and Kirby was alive and well signing, and autographs while popular were not the industry monster they are today. I am a Kirby fan so I made arrangements to buy the signed one.I was always allowed to take the books and make payments with the undersanding I could not buy another key until the current one was paid up.To this day I wish I had somehow walked away with both but resources were limited.
By the end of the summer I had bought the Tos 39, TTA 27, and Avengers 1 while the rest escaped my grasp.I never saw the other copy of Hulk 1 again either...in hindsight I wish I could have closed the deal for all of them but I did what I could.
Of course that was a different time...none of those books cost more than 350 dollars for the copies I got. Today its all so far out of reach I could never even try it again
I was able to keep them all and today I am amazed what heights they have soared
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Collector QuaBrot private msg quote post Address this user
Once bought a lot in auction. Saw it had some ok Marvel Silver Age books (Captain Marvel, Journey into Mystery, some earlyish Defenders and some nice Bronze Justice league) so paid somewhere between $250-$300 for the lot. When I got it and I went through it I found an Iron Man 55 - it's being graded now but should be around a 6.0 +/-, so I think I did ok.
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CBCS broke up with me over Facebook. CFP_Comics private msg quote post Address this user
Quote:
Originally Posted by DrWatson
Quote:
Originally Posted by CFP_Comics
I once turned a pile of Star Wars #1’s into a Hulk #1.

If I had a dollar for every time I've head this story... That being said, I'd give almost anything right about now to here it again over dinner.


Baltimore.
Post 36 IP   flag post
Collector VaComicsGuy private msg quote post Address this user
@KingNampa

https://www.ebay.com/itm/X-FORCE-1-1991-CGC-9-8-RARE/123336367699?hash=item1cb76b9e53:g:RnAAAOSw6j9bhLDa:sc:USPSPriority!23188!US!-1
Post 37 IP   flag post
Collector SOTICollector private msg quote post Address this user
I bought my first issue of Fantastic Four back in 1974. At that point, I was hooked. I loved the team and started collecting the series. Here I am all these later still collecting comics.
I amassed a collection at one time that included every FF from #3-up. I dreamed of owning the first issue, but figured it would always be beyond my grasp.
Then at some point, circa 1990 or so, I met up with a man who was selling a box of comics. At the time, Batman was super-hot, and this box had a bunch of 1960's Bats that I knew would sell well on the convention circuit. We agreed on a price, and I bought the lot. He was happy and I was happy. When I got home and sorted the books, I discovered this piece of junk at the bottom of the box. Of course, you know where I'm going with this. I recognized the splash immediately. It was a coverless FF #1. And to this day, that grail is still in my collection. I sold a bunch of FF keys a few years later, but that #1 is one grail I can't imagine parting with.
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Collector Crunkpostit private msg quote post Address this user
@RyanHicks That is one sweet 181!
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Leftover Sundae Gnus CatmanAmerica private msg quote post Address this user
Okay, I've teased this baby out long enough. Here's the other grail I acquired courtesy of Theo Holstein...




This is the original George Rozen oil painting for the cover of The Shadow pulp June 15th, 1942:




Compared to the pulp, the vivid colors in the original oil painting are absolutely breathtaking!
.
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Collector SOTICollector private msg quote post Address this user
I shared one grail story so far. Is there a limit in this thread to the number of grail stories? I've been absurdly fortunate that, despite limited means, the stars have aligned in such a way that I have acquired several grails in my lifetime.

How's this for the least suspense-filled grail story there is?

When I bought Dark Horse Presents #1 from my LCS way back in the 1986, I was really taken by the character Concrete. Paul Chadwick just told such great stories about the human side of being superhuman. I enjoyed all of the Concrete stories that came out. When DHP #18 came out, in 1988, I particularly enjoyed the odd "Sky of Heads" Concrete story. It immediately became my favorite story of my then-favorite comic character. Fast forward a couple more years, somewhere around 1990 or 1991. I had recently started setting up at cons, and I was a vendor a show in Storrs, CT. One of the guests at that show just happened to be none other than Paul Chadwick. At that point, the didn't sell any interior artwork for his stories (in fact, I don't know if he ever has sold interior pages). But he did sell covers. And by now, you know what cover he had for sale. I didn't really collect original art, but I had to own it. At that time, several hundred bucks for a page of original art would have ordinarily been beyond my grasp. But sales were really good that day. I believe the con organizer, Marc Patten, indicated I was his top-grossing dealer of the day. So I was fortunate enough to go home with the cover to DHP #18 (and a couple sketches). In the intervening years, I've bought a bunch of art and sold a bunch of art, but I still won't part with the cover to my favorite Concrete story.
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Collector Darkseid_of_town private msg quote post Address this user
My other grail story is more of a multigrail thing too. Wandered into a flea market comic stand around 1992....I knew the owner/operator by reputation as someone unsavory who had apparently scammed quite a few people. When I entered he was engrossed in highselling a supposed Amazing Fantasy 15 in mylar mounted up his wall out of reach. I made note it was NOT a vintage copy and was a reprint ....he complained it was too much effort to get it down unless the customer wasa serious buyer etc. Despite my better sense I turned to the customer and said....you are being scammed, that's a reprint. Of course the owner got belligerent, threw me out and was on the edge of a physical provocation.....the customer followed me out, stuck out his hand and introduced himself.
It was the beginning of a serious friendship. The man was somewhat older than myself, and had a massive and superb collection. He also had been diagnosed with an enlarged heart and was trying to liquidate much of his better stuff in a way where if he passed money would flow to his young daughter . Over the coming few years I bought long boxes at a time on credit and paid for them as I could.
Imagine buying single owner runs of books in 1992-1993 containing x -men from 95-275, complete, all annuals and in mylar. I was allowed to choose some of the better silver age issues ....and the rest of the runs were sold to cash buyers. I fished out a JIM 103 recently slabbed at 8.0, the Tales of Suspense 52 I recently posted and dozens of others. Another highlight was a long box of Adventure comics from 300 up , and continuing with the superboy legion books, then Legion series right up to the present. Again mostly single owner , mylared superhigh grade stuff.
At some point my new friends car was ....having some form of trouble with the steering column or ignition or something. He asked my help selling a bunch of books to finance repairs. We went to my apartment and I called one person after another....setting them up about every thirty minutes, cash, fair prices, high grade silver. He sat at a card table in my living room and took in hundreds if not thousands selling books that day. When he ran out of books and said we are done, he handed me a paper sack and left ....said don't look till he had been gone thirty minutes. Comission apparently.....
I waited like he asked , mind filled with imaginary grails and possible outcomes. Inside the sack...an x-men run from 1-10.......while several were pretty hammered, the #1 was around a 4.0 by itself !
A few years passed, we drifted apart and 20 years passed...I had moved to a small town thirty miles north. While attending a con a few years ago, I ran right into....guess who? He had apparently recovered, was married and had begun rebuilding his collection. Every week I win 4-5 books off the MCS auctions and he buys a few from what I win...sometimes there is a bit of tension because so many of my nice books came from him originally and I know he would love to get them back but...what do you do?
We help each other and trade back and forth and all....some friends I guess are forever but wow I can imagine he wishes he had that original collection with complete runs of x-men,, cap, avengers, iron man, thor,etc.
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