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gregreece

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    WIZARD WORLD CHICAGO BASKETBALL 2019

    in Comic Events

    Posted

    It's time for our annual "keep your day job basketball game"

     

    Time: 8:00AM Friday, August 23rd (Usually goes to 10:30 or so)

     

    Place: Rosemont Health And Fitness (A couple of miles away but you will need an Uber for sure)

    10225 W Higgins Rd.

    Des Plaines IL 60018

    (847) 698-2582

     

    Cost: $25 (CASH ONLY!)

    $20 if you are able to present a hotel room key (all hotels qualify). Need a room key for each player present to qualify for the discount.

     

    Details: You must have a photo ID. No exceptions.

    You must be 16 as of 8/23/19

     

    As evidenced by our previous games, no skill required.  

     

    Austin, and I are in. Alex defected to the Philadelphia league.

     

    Post here or PM me if you can make it.

    EBAY: BLOCKED USER LIST

    in Comics General

    Posted

    ebay user ID: silversurfer.rx_2 

     

    Puts offer in on $3500 book.  

    Hi to whom it may concern,

    I had made an offer regarding the 4.5 cgc Brave and Bold #28. Please disregard my offer of $3500. At the time, I thought I had budgeted enough to purchase such a wonderful comic. But I just will not be able to afford it even for this price. Sorry for the inconvenience. Thank you.

     

    Thrill bidders for the win! :banana:

     

    EBAY: BLOCKED USER LIST

    in Comics General

    Posted

    ebay user ID: mrcandido

     

         Wins $3,000 book at auction

    Waste of Time: "Wow. I have never seen it sell at this grade for such a low price. I will send payment this evening or tomorrow morning."

     

    Us: Yes you got a great deal! Thanks for your business. Will send the book within 1 business day of receiving payment.
     

    Waste of Time: Hi there. You are probably not going to believe this but even though I got lucky with this auction, on my way home I was extremely unlucky as my car sustained heavy damage from a piece of flying debris that damaged my windshield. Alberta insurance does not cover the cost of glass replacement so I am on the hook for $900 for the glass damage plus the labour costs. Alberta does not permit you to drive with a damaged windshield so I have to make this repair immediately or I will be without a vehicle. I am gutted but I cannot afford to pay for this damage on top of this item at the same time and must request to cancel the transaction. I am devastated as I have saved all year to get a CGC copy of BatB #28 at a good price. Believe me even after putting in the Cancellation Request and with all this going on, I still tried to find a way to scrape together the extra funds together to make up the total but there's just no way at this time. I apologize profusely.

     

     

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    Collector Intervention

    in Comics General

    Posted

    Hi everyone,

      I had an absolute blast filming the Pawn Stars episode. Yes, the show is scripted but quite candidly, not nearly as much as you might think. Basically, they give you 3-4 highlights they want you to cover and the rest is freestyle, which is great, because there is 0 chance I could remember that many lines anyway :ohnoez:. The price negotiation is very real but no, I didn't care if I sold a book or not. I was the first "comic guy" (meaning an actual dealer) to appear on the show (there have been several since), and what's not known is, I was auditioning to be the "comic expert", not just a "man on the street". In the time we hooked the details up (nearly 3 months as outlined below), Pawn Stars discovered CGC and made them the experts (I believe Paul Litch has been featured on every comicbook episode since?), before I ever flew to Vegas. That said, my wife and I made a vacation of it and having been a fan of the show for years, it was a no brainer to fly to the desert and spend 4 days in the warm November sunshine. Another little known fact is we almost blew the history channel off when they first reached out. I was sure it was one of my friends playing a joke and didn't take the initial inquiry all that seriously. In the end, it took 3 months from their initial e-mail to actually film the show, and another 7 months from that until it aired. It took about 6 hours to film the scene you ultimately saw but it was one of the fastest 6 hours of my life. I was fascinated with how they filmed my hands, had me make certain motions, etc, much of it long after Rick was gone. Speaking of Rick, he does not translate well on TV, no doubt. Many, many people were thrilled that I effectively told him to "pack sand" on his offers because he comes across as rude and abrupt. In between shoots, he's the consummate gentleman and is passionate about history. He is very knowledgeable in that area and there is no "expert" feeding him information in that arena. He asked me inbetween scenes, "what do you do for a living"?. He almost fell over when I said "I sell comic books". That's when I knew we were in the 1st inning of a 9 inning game! Another interesting thing to note is the Pawn Shop has a duplicate "shop" in the back of the store where the scenes are filmed. So when I showed up I told the guy at the front of the regular shop (there was a huge line to get in), why I was there. I was quickly ushered through the store, through the warehouse and into the green room. I was pretty nervous in the green room but once I got onto the set it just became very natural. Another interesting note about the show is there is no "door from the street". There is a high watt lamp behind a fake door and the scene always starts with the "man on the street" walking in. The film crew gets the extras by going into the real Pawn Shop and calling out for any volunteers to be in the scene. They are given strict instructions to mill around, but make no sounds or eye contact with the "man on the street". The episode debuted during the Wizard Philly Con the next summer and to say my phone blew up would be an understatement. I understand it has since aired 50+ times in 100+ countries. Just amazing!. Pawn Stars asked us back for another scene but I felt like there was simply no way to top the fun I had the first time (not to mention Maryland to Nevada is a far piece of travel) so I reluctantly passed. Best to all, Greg

    EBAY: BLOCKED USER LIST

    in Comics General

    Posted

    ebay user ID: charlie9912

    Neg'd us because he doesn't know the difference between a mis-wrap and a trimmed book. Ebay will not remove the negative despite the fact that he is 100% wrong. I asked the ebay rep if the guy said the sky was green while we had a listing that the sky was blue, what would she do? She said it's his "opinion". Anyway, proceed with this turd nugget if you like dealing with restoration "experts". Not the first neg he's left for "trimming" either. 

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    Seling Comics - Business Potential?

    in Comics General

    Posted

    I get asked this a lot (can I go full time and make $$XXX/yr?). My answer is, if you are passionate about comics, and about truly building a business, you can succeed but it's many times harder than it was 10 years ago. There is no shortcut. I ran my business part time for a year and a half to try and ramp up inventory and a customer base. Even after that my first 2 full time years resulted in a loss of $30,000 the 1st year and a $35,000 profit my 2nd. I worked 70/hours a week those first two years and did 15-18 trade shows per year. I also had the luxury of running a division for a wholesale flooring company prior to launching that provided me with invaluable experience about how to structure and run a company as well as how to write and execute a business plan. Large scale scores are mostly a thing of the past. Of course they still exist, but not nearly like they did even 10 years ago. I'll give you an example. On my way to the first ever Wizard New Orleans show (2009ish?), I stopped in a store along the way and found a nice Incredible Hulk 181 which I purchased and later sold as a CGC 9.4. I did very well. There was also a nice Green Lantern 76 on the wall that day but it had a crimp along the top of the book. I was so new at identifying pressing candidates I passed on the book. A full year later I was driving back to New Orleans, knowing now that I had left a slam dunk upgrade candidate. Low and behold the book was still there. I purchased it, pressed and graded it, and it too came back a 9.4. That would never happen today. The market has become much, much, more efficient and there are local grinders everywhere now. I'd suspect a book like that wouldn't last 3 days anywhere now, let alone a full year! The Overstreet ads have really become nothing more than brand reinforcement. I routinely purchased 4-6 collections a year in those early years but didn't buy one deal last year as a result of the guide. Relationships, former customers, and other dealers are the main source of new material these days which means compressed margins. As hard as it was to build a brand 10 years ago, I'd guess it's 5-10X harder if someone were starting out today. Knowing what I know now, and how the landscape has changed, I'm not sure how feasible it would be to launch. That said, in no way am I trying to discourage you (or anyone else) from following your dream but I thought I'd give you some I-lived-it grass roots feedback. Good luck!

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    AMAZING FANTASY #15 CGC 4.0 OW PAGES/CLOSED

    in Golden/Silver/Bronze Age Only

    Posted · Edited by gregreece

    CGC selling thread rules:

    If you're on a list please makes things right there before buying here

    Check/bank wire/fee free payments only

    Returns are ok but you handle all shipping costs

    Must be returned within 21 days

    1st   :takeit:in the thread trumps any ongoing PM's

    AMAZING FANTASY #15 CGC 4.0 OW PAGES $32,000 DELIVERED

    If you're a slave to GPA this probably isn't the book for you. Nicely centered, no marvel chipping (or pre-chipping), no writing. Fantastic eye appeal for the grade. Time payments of 6 months available with a 20% (non-refundable) deposit.

    PM with any questions. Thanks, Greg

     

     

    AMAZING FANTASY #15 CGC 4.0 OW FRONT.jpeg

    AMAZING FANTASY #15 CGC 4.0 OW BACK.jpeg

    Basketball at Wizard World Chicago

    in Comics General

    Posted

    It's time for our annual "keep your day job basketball game"

     

    Time: 8:00AM Friday, August 24th (Usually goes to 10:30 or so)

     

    Place: Rosemont Health And Fitness (A couple of miles away but you will need an Uber for sure)

    10225 W Higgins Rd.

    Des Plaines IL 60018

    (847) 698-2582

     

    Cost: $25 (CASH ONLY!)

    $20 if you are able to present a hotel room key (all hotels qualify). Need a room key for each player present to qualify for the discount.

     

    Details: You must have a photo ID. No exceptions.

    You must be 16 as of 8/24/18

     

    As evidenced by our previous games, no skill required.  

     

    Alex, Austin, and I are all in.

     

    Post here or PM me if you can make it.

    EBAY: BLOCKED USER LIST

    in Comics General

    Posted

    On 8/6/2018 at 5:01 PM, RockMyAmadeus said:

    Is Greg's report on this jonesville character a separate one, or a response to Callaway's...?

    hm

     

    Sorry all. Was just reacting to the 1st post. But we have had a rash of folks just behaving badly. Sick of all of them.

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    2018 Heroes Convention Report

    in Comics General

    Posted

    Just in from our most successful Heroes show. This was somewhat surprising considering the dealer line up in the room was easily the most complete line up of major dealers, and therefore the most competitive convention, we've ever set up in. We did notice that while the crowds were smaller, there were more guys flying in to the show and we also had more requests than usual to bring specific books (of which many were purchased).

     

    Some comments regarding general questions I read in the thread:

     We brought about 100 new Golden Age books, of which 70-80 sold there (50 were a Jumbo/Jungle lot we wholesaled to another dealer). We also sold both IH 181's to a dealer (who paid retail pricing). Everything else was sold to the public. We also picked up quite a few nice things so all in all, a very good show. Remember, not many dealers are setting up with the intent of selling you something for an easy flip. All dealers miss here and there but you won't be in business long if you're not current on the market. We routinely sell very nice looking books at more than GPA, many others right at GPA, and less desirable copies under GPA. As to substantial new material coming to market, other than the aforementioned Golden Age books, we haven't seen much lately. Other dealers I know have had nice whacks of books coming in. Buys tend to be surprisingly cyclical so when we land 1, we'll probably have 3-4 to process all at once. 

     

    Best to all,

     

    Greg

    REECE'S RARE COMICS ANNOUNCES NEW WEB SITE LAUNCH/ HEROES CON...

    in Comics Market - Sales Advertising (Ebay, Dealers, etc)

    Posted

     

    Hello to all,

     

    It's hard to believe it was 10 years ago when we first started designing our website. Through complete luck I happened on John Glorioso at a small one day hotel show. He is as passionate about technology as he is comic books. We spent many hours over burgers and drinks figuring out exactly how to lay it out. We hope you've enjoyed using the old site but alas, someone else saw John's talent years ago and, in the words of Marlin Brando, "made him an offer he couldn't refuse" to join an internet start up company (which, unsurprisingly, is flourishing with John on the team). With that said, he doesn't have the time deal with all of our admin needs and so it was time for a major overhaul. Thank you John! Couldn't have done it without you. We'd also like to recognize Randy Miller, our equally brilliant graphic design guy whose gone on to cofound the band Cigarettes After Sex (they are featured in episode 7 of Hulu's The Handsmaid's Tale) and are currently touring in Europe. Sometime around 10:00PM EST tonight, our migration to the new site will be complete. Please take it for a test run and let us know what you think.

    Some updated/new features included are:

    ·      Improved Update Want List search functionality- enter any title, multiple issues at the same time with what grade range you’re looking for and our website will search against our inventory every night.

    ·      Improved Make An Offer feature- No longer using coupon codes or having trouble with multiple book orders. Our new system makes it much easier for you to send and receive offers. You will be able to see all of your recent offers under your “My Account” page.

    ·       Improved Filter, Search, and Advanced search functionality. Filter through titles by grade, era, issue number, and grading company all with a few easy clicks.

    ·      More options for Reece’s Rare Comics users        

    o   View past orders

    o   All past offers made

    o   Much easier automated consignment process

    o   Auto-fill shipping and billing address on checkout

     

    These are some of the things we are most excited about but we have also updated many items that we think make our site unique. In addition, we are going to be spending the next few months listening to your feedback to continue to improve the experience for everyone.

     

                As always, we appreciate your continued support/feedback as we head into the future. Please let us know if you spot any glitches after the new site goes live. Please contact us at any of the emails/phone numbers below.

     

     

    We are also making our return to the venerable Heroes Comic convention held in Charlotte, Nc (6/15-6/17) in booth #912/1011. We will have the van packed full of new material for you to peruse. Lastly, please check out some of the blue chip highlights from the site listed below. For all new arrivals, click here:

     

    http://www.reececomics.com/New-Arrivals

     

    Best,

    Greg/Ginger Reece 240-575-8600

    Alex Reece 240-367-3662/Alexgreece58@gmail.com

    Austin Reece 240-405-2751/Areece14@gmail.com

    www.reececomics.com

    Like us on Facebook @Reece’s Rare Comics

    Follow us on Instagram @Reecesrarecomics

    Ask the “Blazing One”???

    in Silver Age Comic Books

    Posted

    1 minute ago, dem1138 said:

    What's the scam here?  You send the book and then they claim they never got it?  And you have no recourse because the addresses don't match?

    This particular scam almost always involves a stolen credit card. As Bob stated, the bill to and ship to don't match. In this most recent attempt, the bill to was a $1,200,000 property on the coast of Florida and the ship to was a very modest apartment in Indiana. All of that and a request to ship overnight are fairly easy red flags to spot.