NEWS BLOG

A working dealer’s grading process, in the order he actually checks a book: the spine color-break test that decides whether a defect is fixable or permanent, staple rust, subscription creases, and the missing inserts that quietly remove most of a book’s value.

Most comics are worth a couple of dollars, and a handful in every collection carry nearly all of the money. The four things that decide a comic’s value, how to check real sold prices instead of asking prices, and how to spot a key issue in about five minutes.

What actually happens on a free comic book appraisal: I go through the collection with you, pull out the keys, explain what’s driving the numbers, and say which books are worth sending to CGC and which aren’t. Mobile across Southern California, no obligation to sell.

Somebody left you their comics and you don’t know whether the boxes hold ten thousand dollars or ten. What not to do in the first week, how to spot the issues that matter, why a hot garage is the one urgent problem, and how an estate appraisal differs from an offer.

Ten boxes of 90s comics are usually worth less than people hope, because everybody saved them. But a couple of dozen issues from that decade sell for hundreds or thousands, and they’re never the ones you’d expect. Here’s the full list, and how to check what yours are really worth.