A strange time to be bringing your attention to "Xmas Covers" maybe? The point is more seasonal covers. Personally I love Halloween covers, but all seasonal covers, in particular Christmas and patriotic covers, seem to be having a bit of a renaissance. This title always stood out as a neat oddball DC hero book. Since it came out only in Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter, it led itself naturally to seasonal covers, and the heroes were always kicking back, doing non-action things. I'm pretty sure there is a neat Halloween cover in the run too. Being oversized square-bounds with a higher price tag made these stand out too. You don't see them all the time, and they are starting to creep up in value. This CGC FN/VF 7.0 sold for $2,640.00, and there are only three better copies at present.

What is going on with CGC 9.9s? There is a lot of chatter on the web these days, about the unofficial 9.9 pre-screen CGC is allowing, and the gold rush to pop 9.8s to 9.9s. Can you blame sellers, when buyers are dropping their pants like this? It's all business, but is it bad business overall for the hobby? I will say, it looks rather odd that there are nearly 700 9.8s on the CGC Census for this book, while there are currently only one 9.9 and one 10.0. But wasn't that always the point? The reality that, as hard as it was to find a 9.8 of any given book, a 9.9 was nearly an order of magnitude tougher. And hey, when Heritage puts a 9.9 or 10.0 up, buyers respond - like this person shelling out $4,560.00 for this not-quite Finest Known. The concern, of course, is that CGC will now significantly soften their 9.9 standards, because, if sellers are sending in 9.9 pre-screens by the boatload, imagine the uproar if they never get any 9.9s back.

It gets worse. Gaze on the insane sale price of $28,800.00 for this 10.0. A cool book? Sure, but think about this one a bit. In this "prestige" format, it is significantly easier to score a 9.9 or 10.0 for a copy. And sure enough, as tough as CGC 9.9s and 10.0s have been to get, there are at present 53 and 14 copies respectively. Next, this trend toward insanity continues through our prolonged down market. While most books tumble, 9.9s and 10.0s generally climb. Look to the Killing Joke trends: ten years ago, possibly even sooner (I'm not certain I can document every sale), no 10.0s of this book sold for over $1,000.00. Sales like this current one drive our pricing algorithms crazy. It's real data, but hard to comprehend how a book like this can be in the same league with Golden Age 9.8 and 9.9s.

Swinging the other way now, this sale is still pretty crazy, with a CGC VF- 7.5 going for $20,400.00. But look at the context - you have a pretty scarce book with less than 20 "blue" copies, and the best known copy being "only" a VF/NM 9.0. If anything, this price may be hindered a bit by the publisher not being one of the big guys during that era (e.g. DC or Timely). You don't really associate Lev Gleason with superhero books. But remember, this was the early Golden Age, an amazing time when every publisher was scrambling to put a stake in the ground and grab a piece of this exploding superhero pie. Mix that with the wartime patriotism, and you really had some... maybe cheesy at times, but remarkable creativity.

Here's one that makes even more sense to me. First, you can't go wrong with an L.B. Cole cover. Then, whether it's horror, crime, romance, or better yet, all three!, throw in those trademark strong yellows and reds against a black cover, and we've got winners all around. This CGC VF- 7.5 copy sold for $8,400.00, just a bit over the $416.00 Overstreet value Heritage published in the auction text. With only one better copy on the CGC Census at present, I can't tell you this is definitely overpaying, time will tell if it turns out to be a decent investment.

Here is one segment of the market that is thriving, while the Nostomania 500 on the whole continues to slide. Yes, that segment is low grade, uncertified, pre-code horror. Nobody is surprised that pre-code horror is cool. What is a bit surprising is that nobody seems to care how low grade, or whether it's in a shiny case. This battered, water damaged, good portion of the back cover missing book sold for $960.00, nearly a thousand dollars. Despite all that, you gotta admit it's a phenomenal cover and the colors are still popping despite all the damage.

Ok wait, what's this? A Charlton? And not a Ditko and/or horror Charlton, but a romance title? Hey, data is data. I mean, have you ever seen this book? Not that you were looking, I know, but soak in that Golden Age Charlton corner box in the upper left, the big "I" in I Love You. Not just anybody, I Love You! The sub-par, not exactly Matt Baker cover art (romance was never King Kirby's forte). And it's only a CGC VG+ 4.5. The point is, maybe these are kinda scarce? This is actually the Finest Known copy right now. Sure, who's thinking to send these in to CGC? Maybe you should! Because at present, the CGC Census is only 2! And if you can squeeze out better than VG+, now you have the finest (known) copy.