About Signed Guitars

Signed guitars were recently discussed in an autograph collecting list group. Here were my thoughts...

Most signed guitars are cheap Squire Strats (Fender's bargain basement line) or the low end Fender's made in Mexico known as MexiStrats. To the novice they may look great, but to someone that knows, these guitars look cheap and are the equivalent of getting a photocopy signed (instead of a real glossy photo.)

Frankly, unless it's Elvis or the Beatles, a signed guitar seems like a tremendous waste to me... a musical instrument is meant to be played and it's kind of sad if it's not. I know many won't agree with me, but IMO, a signed guitar is just as loopy as asking a TV star to sign your television.

RIP: The Riddler

Actor Frank Gorshin, best known as The Riddler on TV's "Batman," died yesterday, age 71. He had lung cancer, emphysema and pneumonia.

Not to make light of his death, but this sounds like the smoker's trifecta.

I wonder how much longer he would have lived if he didn't smoke?

Who Wants To Pay More Than They Have To?

Why do bidders run this lot up to $60, when the same books in the same condition can be had for a $20 Buy It Now?

(Yes, the first lot has a different version of #1, but that is a $5 book and doesn't justify TRIPLE the price.)

Do people even search for other similar lots on eBay or do they just bid up the first lot they see? Insane.

Some General Thoughts On Restoration

Here is an excellent primer on detecting comic book restoration by CGC Message Board member Poverty Row.

Good stuff. Comic collectors should read it and bookmark it.

No Gift Grading Here... Move Along...

Check out this White Mountain Amazing Fantasy 15 that has been graded 9.4.

Sure, all of MY books with:

* 2 fuzzy abraded spine corners,
* colorbreaking creases URC FC,
* creased ULC BC,
* loose looking, fuzzy staple holes
* color loss along entire top edge, and
* a minimum of SEVEN spine stresses

get 9.4s.

When this was assigned a 9.4, I'm sure they had NO IDEA it was a big-shot dealer/collector pedigreed book.

Another Dumb Forgery

Here is a Glenn Strange signed cut inscribed "Doc." The seller claims Strange played the doctor on the radio.

Uh, on the radio, Howard McNear played "Doc."

eBay item 7508249413 - GLENN STRANGE VINTAGE GUNSMOKE (RADIO) SIGNATURE

CGGC (The Future of Comic Book Grading)

This is funny...

Written in 2002, it doesn't seem so far-fetched anymore.

CGGC (The Future of Comic Book Grading)

An Amazing Life

I can't add anything that hasn't already been said, other than I have tremendous respect and affection for this man. John Paul II was an extraordinary human being.

On a collecting note, a John Paul II autographs are exceedingly rare and would bring thousands of dollars in any form. The photo above is a common preprint... I've never seen an authentically signed photo.

Hail To The Chief (41 and the Mrs.)

This really made my day...

Happiness = Hidden Gems

I am somewhat embarrassed to admit that I have 7 short boxes of unread and unfiled comic books. These are books that I bought over the past decade or so -- probably in bulk from convention bargain boxes -- that were set aside without being read or cataloged into the collection.

Most of the books are midgrade horror, reprint books or newer than 1980.

That said, I was pleasantly surprised to find this gem among the books not worth the paper they are printed on.

Superman 193... a nice glossy VF/NM 9.0

Wild and Crazy Email Requests

A member of StarArchive performed an experiment. He posted a fake email address for Steve Martin on a few autograph collecting newsboards to see how fast an address could be flooded with autograph requests. Within 3 days, he reported over 200 emails requesting autographs.

• 21 were for charities (9 different people representing American Cancer society)
• 98 people claimed they were under age 18
• 15 people wrote multiple times using different emails but the same shipping address (one guy wrote 6 times)
• 21 people used less than 2 sentences (e.g., Can you send me an autograph to me?)
• 71 people asked for multiple autographs (1 of them asking for 20 for his classmates)
• 82 people were not from the U.S.
• 5 offered to send a SASE
• 2 people were rude
• 1 person claimed to be on his death bed (yet sent another request acting like a kid)
• 46 asked for the photos to be personalized
• 9 people said they wouldn't sell it on eBay, 1 said they would
• Movie most often mentioned - The Jerk
• 66 people claimed Steve Martin is their favorite
• 1 person loved Steve Martin in The Coneheads movie
• 1 person loved Steve Martin in The Hunt for Red October
• 1 person loved Steve Marin of 7th Heaven (I think that was Steve Allen)
• 2 people mentioned 9/11
• 3 people mention the Tsunami (2 were collecting autographs for it)
• 34 mentioned SNL, 4 said it sucks now
• 2 used the phrase "Wild and Crazy Guy"
• 1 mentioned that he was gay
• 2 said that grey hair is sexy (1 was the gay guy)
• 22 were obvious form letters
• 2 used profanity

The greed and sleazy dishonesty is, unfortunately, not a surprise. Given this, we should all understand why many celebrities no longer respond to autograph requests.

Future Comic Book Prices

Check out this great article by Gene Park. I always enjoy Gene's logical and analytical posts on the CGC message boards.

I agree with Gene and as I've stated countless time on various message boards, the comic book buying demographic is dying. Today's 5 year olds will not be interested in Silver Age comic books 30 years from now. They aren't interested in comics now, why will they be willing to pay thousands and thousands of dollars for them in 30 years?

Once the current crop of serious collectors dies off or sells off in 20-30 years, who will be left to buy these books? Will there be enough demand to sustain prices? No way.

Certainly iconic books such as Action #1 and Spider-Man #1 will maintain value because they cross the "comic book collecting only" line into the area of pop culture / Americana, so they maintain a much higher level of interest from a larger audience. Non-key issues do not cross this line, and their value will plummet once no one is left to pay big bucks for the more esoteric issues. In 2038, very few people will care that Spider-Man #28 is tough in high grade because it has a black cover.

The rally cry of the die hard fanboys is, "As long as they are making movies, people will want the comic books." This logic is laughable. To today's kid, the Spider-Man franchise IS the movies and videogames. What makes anyone think that today's kids are going to generate a spontaneous interest in old funny books decades from now?!?