Damn, that's a solid number to hit without even trying.

Are you saying the whole grading and flipping scene has killed the actual joy of reading for a lot of collectors? I remember when grabbing a random Groo or a beat up Simonson Thor felt like a score because the story was fun, not because I was hoping to flip it for rent money next month.

And @abby_robinson58 you're lucky it just melted, my first attempt at that trick ended with me standing in a parking lot holding a smoking hose like an idiot. I learned the hard way that zip ties and gasoline fumes are a match made in pure stupidity. Now I treat any zip tie near a fuel line like it's a loaded gun and just snip it on sight.

Oh man, I gotta jump in here real quick. That thing about kids being more into the wrapping paper than the gift, I mean yeah some little ones love crinkling it, but at 10 years old a kid is DEFINITELY focused on what's inside the box, not the paper. I've seen my nephew tear through a birthday present like it's a race and he's just as excited over a LEGO set or a nerf gun as any kid would be over a gift card. So it's not really the same thing, you know?

That barn find anvil thing is wild because I bet a lot of those old ones were actually factory seconds or just cracked castings that got dumped. I had a buddy who scored a 150lb Trenton from an estate sale, took a wire wheel to it and found a hairline fracture running through the waist that was filled with JB Weld and painted over. He still uses it today because the face is in good shape, but the rebound on that side is maybe 50% on a good day. The thing nobody talks about is how much of that 60% vs 90% difference comes from the anvil being properly mounted to a heavy stump or stand. I've seen guys with brand new Nimba's getting terrible rebound because they just set them on a hollow plywood box. A little chain or wedge between the anvil and a solid oak stump can bump your rebound up 10-15% easy. So that old Fisher might have just needed a better setup before you moved on from it.