mintcollector

I actually have no interest in ever owning an AF #15. Even if I found one at a great price it would quickly be sold. TMNT #1 I can relate to better only because I like the characters and I consider it a book (at least the first printing) that is somewhat scarce. I would call this a 'blue chip' copper age 'key' issue. The series survived a successful relaunch and is being enjoyed by a whole new generation of fans which is key for any kind of collectible to survive long term in today's market. The Walking Dead on the other hand has only been around since 2001. One of the primary reasons for its rapid growth is the fact that it has a television series currently airing, but it has yet to stand the true test of time (note that TMNT is approaching thirty years old). Several years after the series is cancelled I don't see this book maintaining its current prices levels. In fact I would venture to say that once the show is cancelled a lot of speculators will begin to sell their books. While this may not have an immediate impact on prices; as the series is slowly forgotten it will. As eloquently stated many times, "time will tell." It always does...

I respectfully disagree. By now WD 1 is a well entrenched modern blue chip key, to the point where people buy on the dips, thus raising the price back up whenever it falls below a certain level. Its initial print run is actually closer to 7300, not near the 10k you mentioned, and while 700 9.8/9.9's on the census certainly sounds like a lot, it is not as though they are all on the market simultaneously, and clearly their scarce availability at any given time is enough to maintain a very strong price point. -J. "modern | blue chip | key" Oxymoron: a figure of speech by which a locution produces an incongruous, seemingly self-contradictory effect, or are expressions composed of words that are not inherently mutually exclusive but express an opinion that the two cannot occur together. I would have to agree. I don't think any true 'blue chips' from the modern era have yet to be established.

You are comparing a television show based on a comic book with a long running successful science fiction franchise that went through a lot to become what it is today. Again, there is no comparison. Assuming even if the Walking Dead franchise survives in another medium (outside of comic books) even after the television show was cancelled I doubt very much it would ever be as big as Star Trek. Very few television shows come back on the air after being cancelled and even fewer go on to becoming successful multimedia franchises. Is there a Star Trek television series still running on television now? No. The last series started off with much fanfare and quickly succumbed to bad ratings and an inflated budget that quickly led to its demise. Combine that with the fact that fans got sick of the then current storyline and the reason fro the movie reboot was obvious. Walking Dead's test will not come until a few years after the show is officially cancelled. That is when interest in the series will fall and most likely the price of the books will start to undergo a correction in price.

As stated many times, the true test of this book will come well after the television show has ended. I really don't see too much demand for Westerns, but I can assure you the situation woukd be very different if any of those books were based on a current popular television series. WD is not a 'blue chip.' I would much rather take a wager on a scare first print copper key issue like TMNT than go anywhere near this book. We'll see what happens in the next several years, but I have to ask why would you want to buy a book when it is 'hot'? The same can be said for NM 98 as well

It was a cool episode, but I did not like the updated 'KISS' episode they did. I wish they woud focus on the toys and not the celebrities, but understand that with a niche show, there really is no other option to appeal to a wider audience. Jordan is cool!

(thumbs u Great find!

Here are some closeup pictures of my Universal Monsters lunch box: And here's the thermos: Been looking for one of these. Where did you get it? Great item! Kind Regards, mint

Climate controlled storage is about $110 to $125 a month for a ten by ten unit. Vault storage is going to run you a lot more (several hundred to a thousand dollars a month) and access is going to be an issue (overall). Vault storage is meant in general for items over $10,000 each and up. A lot of art collectors use this kind of storage. Keep in mind to review your insurance policy for your collectibles. Some will only pay a certain amount for items stored at home or in storage! I am surprised that no one mentioned this. Be very careful and be sure to ask questions. It is not blanket coverage on everything. This includes where and how items are stored and if they have those locations on file, etc. Hope that helps.

Hello, Does it have to be a safe? Have you considered climate controlled storage; or depending the value if your books, vault storage? Personally, I store very few items at home. I use vault storage, climate controlled storage, and several safe deposit boxes. If you are looking for specific at home storage, then safes are your only option in my opinion. Now if you want to build a vault room, that is always an option. I have a friend who stores his video game collection like this. Cool idea, but his wife still knows what he has and what he spends!

Are you the Canadian version of the Toy Hunter? Nice thought as I love looking through this stuff, but I don't travel anywhere near as much as Jordan, I tend to keep more stuff than I sell, and I just don't have collections like I saw today fall in my lap as often as I'd like. (thumbs u Cool video!

It should be noted that 'flipping' and buying for 'investment' (i.e. capital appreciation) are two very different things with the same end goal; profit. Buying an item at under market value and attempting to sell it immediately is an example of 'flipping.' Buying a book like say AF #15 because you think more collectors will come into the hobby down the road and want to buy this book (thus causing an increase in price due to demand) is 'investing.' This generally involves holding the book or said item for months if not years or more.

Did the television show get an end date sometime in the near future? Did they announce plans to discontinue the comic book series? If not, then I doubt the bubble has yet to burst and as I have said previously it will probably not 'burst', but rather suffer a correction in price. Is this book worth between $500 to $1000 in 9.8? All day long and it probably always will. Is it worth $1600+ now or anytime in the future? Not to me and I don't think it ever will be a $2500+ book for a sustained amount of time after the show does get cancelled.

This is a nice find, but these are fairly common and not in demand all that much. There are several hard to find games for this system overall, but Afterburner can be found on eBay selling for a few bucks if it sells at all. I would list this on eBay after you test it and place a BUY IT NOW price on it, as well as a standard bid. I would value this lot between $40-$60 with the possibility of it selling as low as $30-$35 on a bad day and $65-$75 on a good day. I used to sell these systems with games for $34.95 to $39.95 on BUY IT NOW and they generally sold within two days. That being said, that price point is wholesale not retail. Kind Regards, 'mint'

What some people seem to forget was the Walking Dead #1 was hitting close to $800 before there ever was talk of a TV show, so this Walking Dead has been quite the anomaly. In fact it is not just an anomaly in the comic book market, but in the overall collectibles market as well. I challenge anyone to name me one collectible that has come out post 2003 that is worth over $1000 raw after being under $3 retail. You won`t find another collectible in sports cards, coins, action figures, video games, Magic the Gathering, Hot Wheels or whatever else collectible field that has jumped in price like that. Again I challenge anyone to prove me wrong post-2003. Next I don`t get why people are so concerned about the Walking Dead. It`s not a fad, and now is the modern age holy grail of comic books. I would be more concerned about if Hulk #181,ASM #300 New Mutants #98,Saga #1 or Peter Panzer Faust #1 bubbles popping more then Walking Dead`s bubble popping! Next part 2. I was looking at the videogame charts, and we now find the Walking Dead videogames have now sold in the millions, so let`s put this Walking Dead bubble bursting to rest. Game is now over, as now it is a video game blockbuster! Yes there might be a market correction, but to think one will find the first 60 issues in the quarter bins is Speculative bubbles are usually defined by a massive price increase followed by mass hysteria with an eventual correction of some kind. Notice I did not or have hardly ever used the term 'crash.' That would be incorrect. If something goes from $3.99 to $100 to $500 to $1000 to $3000 and back down to $1000; why does everyone forget about the speculators who were foolish enough to buy the item at $3000? The point I am trying to make is that assuming that this item will not drop in price or only continue to increase in value is incorrect. It will eventually fall at some point. I do not see this being a book anything near the same level as Batman or Spider-Man. Heck, I don't even see this being on par with TMNT that benefited from a new generation of enthusiasts. As for ASM 300, this book once sold or close to $1000. There are a ton of these books at there. This too will fall, but I would venture to say that there is an equilibrium point where this book will always have a buyer; as will most books of this nature. That does not make it a good long term investment. Books like ASM 300, NM 98, Wolverine LS 1; are all common as day. Why would you buy a book like this for investment when any comic book web site is going to have it readily available at any time? As a dealer in the antiques trade I like to have sought after in demand items with little supply. I make money on Tiffany Glass because there aren't a whole lot of quality pieces out there and if you want one in mint condition and an example that is scarce, the price of admission can be high...but so can the returns. In conclusion, and I said this in other threads; the more I encounter common as day comic books the less I want them. Auction companies are starting to cannibalize their own markets. This is why I don't speculate on too many mass produced items. If I put a Lego set from 1999 on eBay how many people am I competing against, fifty, one hundred? This is why scarcity will always matter in the collectibles market as long as there is demand.

PM sent. Note that I have no interest in buying, but am happy to advise. Boing! is one of the better games in the lot as is the Mythicon game, the Pitfall II game, and Frogger II. These are all very uncommon to find in their original boxes. I can tell you that these should be listed on eBay individually with a starting bid of $9.99. Do NOT use a BUY IT NOW. You will be amazed at what you will get for them. Take good pictures and show the quality of the cartridge, manual, box and any other documentation. Back when I sold video games regularly I used to make a ton of money on this stuff before selling my interests in this business. I have all these games in my personal collection and while you won't get anywhere near the price points of 2004-2005; you will still get a decent amount of profit out of these games alone.

The Atari market has cooled significantly since its highs in 2004-2005, but you have several hard to find boxed games that will net you a pretty penny. If you need advice, please PM me. Kind Regards, Mint

Good to see this thread is still going strong. As I said before, the true test of this book will come two to five years after the television series is cancelled. I do not see this as being in the same caliber as Superman or Spider-Man.

Good post. This s a topic that needs more exposure.

Giving you factual basis is not attacking you as a person. Therefore, how would this statement even apply? It is obvious that slabs are not water tight or air tight. A vacuum seal would be required for this. If you feel a need to ignore me for pointing out the fallacy of your logic, be my guest. Just note that there is no 'high road' involved.

Your experiment is pointless unless it is for your own 'observations.' Here is why; in a truly air tight environment oxidation could not occur. There are countless examples of rust developing on staples in CGC graded comic books AFTER they are encapsulated. Therefore, in an air tight environment this would not be possible. As for water damage, this occurs with CGC slabs as well. Just ask any of the countless forum members who have gone through a flood. Not sure what you are attempting to prove as facts and logic do not misrepresent the truth. CGC posts its encapsulation process online; as do PMG (for currency) and NGC (for coins). No certified collectible is vacuum sealed; thus none are air tight. Okay. The slabs aren't air-tight. As I pointed out earlier, I get that. We'll see about the water. The experiment is for my own observation. I want to know how badly the book will be impacted. I'd rather see it for myself than trust your self-proclaimed expertise, no offense. No offense, but my so called 'self proclaimed expertise' comes directly from CGC. Keep in mind it was you who were proven wrong about a slab being air tight. This is an absurd ideology that common sense alone should be able to dispell. Oxidation cannot occur without air.

Your experiment is pointless unless it is for your own 'observations.' Here is why; in a truly air tight environment oxidation could not occur. There are countless examples of rust developing on staples in CGC graded comic books AFTER they are encapsulated. Therefore, in an air tight environment this would not be possible. As for water damage, this occurs with CGC slabs as well. Just ask any of the countless forum members who have gone through a flood. Not sure what you are attempting to prove as facts and logic do not misrepresent the truth. CGC posts its encapsulation process online; as do PMG (for currency) and NGC (for coins). No certified collectible is vacuum sealed; thus none are air tight.

CGC holders are comprised of an outer-well and an inner-well. The outer-well is not air tight. The inner-well is air tight. The comics are completely sealed inside of the inner-well. It is heat sealed, not vacuum sealed. In order for it to be air tight it would have to be snug against the inner well. This is incorrect as it is not; just like third party graded coins. They are sonically sealed. If they were air tight, it would require a vacuum seal. Quote from the CGC grading process page concerning encapsulation: '...this is accomplished through compression and ultrasonic vibration.' If a vacuum seal was used (which would be required to form an air tight bond) the comic book would be compromised in the process and be damaged.

Hello, You should consider posting this in comics general. There is a lot of misinformation in that forum that I (along with several others), have been trying to correct. Certain forum members will disagree about cutting off air flow to a comic book, but as I have said all along (and have a lot of experience in this realm as well); storing anything in an air tight environment is not detrimental as long as you control the micro environmental conditions in which they are stored in. Other members do not understand the reholder or encapsulation process either. micro chamber paper is changed during the reholder process for a reason, and the inner well is also replaced (it is compromised during this process). Others believe the holders are air tight, but they are not, as that would require a vacuum seal. I think your post would help a lot of collectors, but unfortunately this is not the most visited area of this forum. Thanks for posting.

This show is begging for cancellation. The second week of the show they already lost a third of their original viewers. It is sinking fast. I do not enjoy it and consider it a chore and a favor to the comic community for watching. In a sense, it is boring and misconceived.