Hello, pardners!!
Welcome to a series of special episodes of TEX'S BACK ISSUE QUEST...Which are not REALLY episodes of TEX'S BACK-ISSUE QUEST, so much as they are REVEALS of the grades of the batch of comics I sent to CBCS a few months agone. Clear as mud? LOL.
A little background on this here comics-hound: I have always been first, and foremost, a collector. I love comics. I read great stories, fall into a great writer, or pick up on some comics history and go, "OOH! I want that for my collection!". Having a valuable collection (monetarily) for me is a side-effect of genuinely wanting posses a bit of comics history for myself. Nothing wrong with the quick flip, or hot variants, if you are into that (some people have a great knack to do it) - but I like to buy and keep until someone offers me a price I can't refuse. I used to collect action figures, but I ran out of space and passion. Now, I collect comics and published and original artwork only. Well, really, unless some really great Golden, Silver, Bronze or Modern key comes across my path, in actuality, I am only buying and reading moderns from my pull list right now. I got tens of thousands of old comics scanned and saved to dvd that I like to enjoy as well, and use for research.
For me, it's all about fun. If I ain't having fun, I ain't interested. Ya dig? I don't stress out about grades - I grab the best grade I can for the price I am willing to pay. No fuss, no muss.
I have never really been interested in slabbing comics. I have PURCHASED slabbed comics for my collection because the price was right (don'tcha just LOVE when the price is right?), and I even sent a four comics to PGX once before I got wind of their reputation (has that changed at all?), but slabbin' good comics kinda bothered me at first. Why? Well, first off, I like to handle my comics, and even reread them, which is a bit problematic when you have a book like "Showcase"#22 that just probably should not be touched. Another reason is that it seemed that there were just too many rules involved in sending books to the CGC - and why should I have to pay for a membership to submit my comics by mail? I have to pay for a membership, and THEN pay for you to perform a service? That put a bur in my saddle; however, there is no doubt that they are still the premier grading company out there. For now. But, a couple of years agone, I started hearing tell about these upstarts called CBCS - good reviews - so, I took a gander at their website. I called them and talked to them. And sure'n they were downright friendly. A few months agone, I took a chance and sent my first batch of comics to them. I got them back yesterday. It took just under 3 months to get the comics back.
Also, while we're here. I'll talk a bit about a site called comicspriceguide.com. It's a website that I use to store my comics data, and it used to have THE BEST, BAR NONE, comics forum on the planet. Any time of the day or night, it was hopping and popping with the friendliest, most knowledgeable comics collectors, and comics creators you ever met. You could get into a heated, respectful discussion about something, and them be friends 10 mins later - the mods did their best to keep it clean. I loved those dudes and dudettes. But, for some reason, many of the folks slowly started to drift away, then the site crashed losing YEARS of great posts and info that was readily accessible to comics fans and collectors who frequented the site. It was then, about three years agone, when I started this here blog. Some of my brothers have stopped in from time to time to say, howdy (shout out to my old CPG Crew!). I stopped frequenting the boards because life is hectic, and I'm trying to get a million followers on my blog (hey, 800 followers on Google + and growing), but I still pay $50 a year to store my comics in their database (which can be exported to your hard drive as an Excel doc). It's convenient, even though the actual price guide values don't always reflect the price that you can actually get for your comics...Partly because the price guide itself is updated slowly (for example, check out the values for "The Brave and The Bold" #28, the first appearance of the Justice League: CPG vs Ebay).
So...HERE WE GO!! REVEAL #1 and 2:
Above, is my copy of Fantastic Four #52 which features the very first appearance of T'Challa, The Black Panther, created by the magical team of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby! The Fantastic Four are sent a flying vehicle (the Magnetic Wave Rider), a gift from the ruler of Wakanda, a mysterious and prosperous African nation. The Fantastic Four take the invitation, arriving only to be defeated one after another by a mysterious masked man, dressed in a black Panther Habit (note: "habit" is an archaic term for "dress," "clothing" or "outfit").
This Silver-Age key showcases not only the first appearance of the Black Panther, but it also features the first appearances of Wakanda, Wakandan vibranium (in the mesh of the Panther Habit), the Heart-Shaped Herb, the Techno-Organic Jungle and the Panther Habit and Idol.
CBCS graded it a lowly 2.5, which looks right to me. I bought it about 10 years agone for $20. CPG says it's valued at $343, same as it is ungraded. Ebay says they are in the ballpark. I honestly meant to buy an upgrade of FF #52 (at least a 6.0) but I never got around to it. With the values skyrocketing with the announcement and EXCELLENT execution of Black Panther's film appearances, I probably never will upgrade. Oh, well.
And since we are on about Black Panther:
Here is my copy of Black Panther #1, Black Panther's very first solo title, written and drawn by the GREAT Jack Kirby. I bought this about 8 years agone, for less than $10. I'm happy with it. CPG values it at $107, and Ebay says that they are, again, somewhat in the ballpark, if a bit on the low side.
Well, that's all for today! I hope you enjoyed looking as much as I enjoyed showing!! And, we still have 8 more left!!! Stay tuned! Same TEX-TIME! Same TEX-STATION!!
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