Found a Comic Collection

[Jones]

So over the holiday, I was back at my childhood home (which my Mother is selling) and during the cleaning of the basement I stumbled upon an old trunk. Inside the trunk were 373 Silver Age comic books in various conditions, though lots of them seem barely even read. They were my father's comics and now mine. Nearly all of the comics are Marvel and include many early numbered issues of popular titles like Spider-Man, Iron Man, Silver Surfer, Fantastic Four, Ghost Rider, Daredevil and more. I took great care in cataloging them all, marking in a spreadsheet the Title and Issue No. of each. I handled them as little as possible and put them in a storage container and haven't touched them since.

So now I'm sitting on a really nice collection, that I know has great value (both monetary and sentiment to myself) and I'm not sure what to do with it. I've read several guides on how to determine value, grade them, store them, and sell them; but I'm not quite sure what to make of it all. The advice ranges from preserve the comics professionally and to have them graded by a professional agency to store them myself and not worry about professionally grading them at all, as that is just an extra cost that is unnecessary. I know that I'd like to sell some of the collection and start a college fund for my (future) children and contribute into my younger half-brother's college fund. I also know that I'd like to keep at least a few of the comics as a keepsake to have a piece of my father's childhood.

My questions are as follows:
-Is it worth having all 373 comics professional graded? Or only the only I intend to sell?
-How do I find a reputable agency to grade the comics?
-Does professionally grading them help them sell?
-Is Ebay my best choice for selling? Or should I seek out different venues like local comic stores, brick auction houses, private collectors, etc?
-Is there a way to preserve the comics on my own? or should I definitely let a professional do it?

Feel free to PM me if you are a collector or would like to see the spreadsheet of specific items. I'll do my best to host it later today after work and provide a link in a PM back to you.

[Siatdiat]

-Is it worth having all 373 comics professional graded? Or only the only I intend to sell?
A big disappointment to some people finding old comics like this is they assume they are all worth an assload of money. Sadly thats not the case as the average young boy buying comics in the 60s carried them all over, tossed them around there room, and eventually they end up in a trunk forgotten for 30+ years. Is the paper white? Are they wrinkled, bent, folded, torn? See next response also.
-How do I find a reputable agency to grade the comics? My advice is to get an Overstreet price guide and Overstreet grading guide, and figure out which comics have approximately the most value. You wont get exact numbers to a professional grader but its not that difficult, you will do well enough to get an idea of which comics are worth getting professionally graded since you will be paying money for this service.
-Does professionally grading them help them sell? Yes it does, especially if you send it to the good people at http://www.cgccomics.com CCG graded comics are sealed after being graded, so once they grade it, there is literally no way for the condition of the comic to deteriorate, this is mostly for higher end comics though, you wont be wanting to CCG all 373 books.
-Is Ebay my best choice for selling? Or should I seek out different venues like local comic stores, brick auction houses, private collectors, etc? Ebay is fine, its by far the easiest and quickest way to liquidate a collection, there is other routes as well but private collectors are going to what pedigree collection comic books. I have my doubts that this collection could be considered pedigree
-Is there a way to preserve the comics on my own? or should I definitely let a professional do it? Buy longboxes, bags and backing boards, and sit down one day and bag and board them all up properly. Dont overstuff the box, keep them in a nice place in the house that doesnt get alot of moisture.

That said, it sounds like a great collection. Now and then awesome condition golden and silver age collections are found that are in such great shape, they become known in the comic collecting world, and people will pay a premium for comics from these collections. Let me know if anything exciting like that happens

[Jones]

A big disappointment to some people finding old comics like this is they assume they are all worth an assload of money. Sadly thats not the case as the average young boy buying comics in the 60s carried them all over, tossed them around there room, and eventually they end up in a trunk forgotten for 30+ years. Is the paper white? Are they wrinkled, bent, folded, torn?

My Dad was apparently quite type-A as a child, because his favorites were already in bags. A few of the comics, he purchased two copies, one of which was stored immediately, the other read. An example of this is Silver Surfer #1. Many still have sharp corners, none are torn. Paper is white, front covers are bright. The only downside is that maybe four of them have been drawn on and/or signed by my father's first cousin (that cousin is still a dumbass btw). My estimates from the Overstreet guide suggest most of them are in the 7.0-9.0 range.

Buy longboxes, bags and backing boards, and sit down one day and bag and board them all up properly. Dont overstuff the box, keep them in a nice place in the house that doesnt get alot of moisture.

I've done most of this already in regards to the bagging and boarding. And I live in a desert, so moisture isn't a problem. Is too dry a problem?

I guess I'll start the process of getting the big dollar ones sent to CGC and go from there.

That said, it sounds like a great collection. Now and then awesome condition golden and silver age collections are found that are in such great shape, they become known in the comic collecting world, and people will pay a premium for comics from these collections. Let me know if anything exciting like that happens

I sure hope so. Not having to worry about college funds would be

Thanks for your help!