spreads

Too many algos crashed the exchange.

If you're worried about over-paying for something, then stay away from books that are a few months old. Investing in variants is not something I'd recommend. You could do worse I guess (someone asked me once if they could buy penny stocks on a credit card, no joke).

You need a subscription to GPA (www.comics.gpanalysis.com). They track actual sales of CGC graded comics from various online venues (eBay, Heritage, etc.). It's the best place to determine what a particular book in a certain grade is selling for. And you'll find lots of CGC graded comics at the Heritage Comics website, Comiclink and here on the boards in the Marketplace area. And welcome to the boards! Hey guys. I took a hiatus from the boards for a while, but I'm back, and I've been following this thread for a bit. I've found my interest shift in the last few years to moderns alone, and I'm doing a little speculating, mostly to fund my own "habit." Do you find GPA useful when you are dealing in moderns only? I don't think you want to incorporate GPA into the theme of 'flip this comic'. GPA works better for more-established books, not something that came out a few months ago. Older moderns and everything else it's a great resource, and well-worth the money.

It is hard to say whether it has improved since what we like in comics can be quite different. The only thing is that Todd has always have a stable fan base, based on the print run numbers. There was not much speculation in the scale that other titles like EoW or Lazarus have experienced. The TV news serves to attract more attention to the title and hopefully, some among them will like the series and become fans. You would think that would be the case, but looking at TSG it didn't materialize into sustained readership increase.

And yet you're participating in it.

Be Honest Jimmy. You've already loaded up, and need buying activity to absorb the slow trickle of soon-to-be listings. That old hag from Kingpin would be proud of such a pump-and-dump!

Sorry, I didn't mean to derail the thread, I would like to contribute something that's heating up, but I got nothing. 'He's got Nuthin'! (Elaine from Seinfeld). I enjoy Jimmy's contributions. Give that guy a star for getting down in the comic trenches, getting his hands dirty (literally from the filthy back-issue bins), maybe washing his hands after using the facilities, and telling us what's available over a wide-spectrum of stores across a major metropolitan area.

There you go. You'll never go broke taking profits.

Sure. So you can understand how ridiculous it is when people get emotional about other sellers adjusting their positions? It's not like these sellers are trying to circumvent your sale. Everyone has a different reason for their buy/sell....

(thumbs u Free market economics. A supply/demand mismatch will cause the price point to shift. Exactly. And these guys are talking about predicting price patterns. Slow Dime, Fast Nickel works for books that are have been around for 10 years, with clearly established price patterns. His theory of holding out for the absolute best price is a serious gamble. Look at the guy that had all those Sixth Gun #1s, and was refusing offers of 85-90% of his ask. The price collapsed literally overnight, and he now regrets not taking some (if not all) of those profits. Don't be greedy! Its just like the stock market in that you pay for a perception that may or may not reflect reality. The short term guys are like day traders. Nothing wrong with it but every bit as risky as the long term holders.To give some perspective. These were 50 comics for sale. You mention the car biz at the end, well my 'biz' is the equity markets. 15k hours in proprietary trading with three different firms, and now currently working in the trading division of a large institutional firm with 33 billion in assets. Ultra-short term traders, such as the algos taking advantage of a tiered-sytem, actually have significantly less risk. Most people don't understand how fractured some of the equity markets really are, case in point - sub pennying and dark pools. It's a horrible analogy comparing trades closed in a single day (or in nanoseconds in some cases) to long-term investing. And I don't think that link you provided is typical. I don't know if it's a mistake but I'm sure would represent a very small percentage of auctions, selling below cost. My point is that there is far, far too much randomness in selling to recent moderns to predict price. I never suggested selling something as soon as it gets hot, if you have multiple copies, and want to offset purchasing costs, and can sell a new comic for 3-5 times what you paid, it makes sense to lock in some gain. Then you can hold onto any remaining issues to do what you like, instead of guessing which is hot and cold.

(thumbs u Free market economics. A supply/demand mismatch will cause the price point to shift. Exactly. And these guys are talking about predicting price patterns. Slow Dime, Fast Nickel works for books that are have been around for 10 years, with clearly established price patterns. His theory of holding out for the absolute best price is a serious gamble. Look at the guy that had all those Sixth Gun #1s, and was refusing offers of 85-90% of his ask. The price collapsed literally overnight, and he now regrets not taking some (if not all) of those profits. Don't be greedy!

You guys are hilarious. Price is a constant dynamic, and if items aren't selling, you need to follow the cheese. It's not like any of these items have a long history of selling. The price is still being determined, and a few outlier sales don't mean anything. You shouldn't get upset if someone sets a new market.

I went back for the Magnus 12, but it was in 8.0 condition at best, so I left it. I picked up the Magnus 1, which is maybe a 9.2. The Silver Surfer 44 was in maybe 6.0 condition, so I left that too. I'm fairly certain I cleaned them out of all the good stuff. Wow. For a buck a piece I still would have grabbed those, especially factoring the time you've taken to go back there.

Where is Nowhere Men on the list? It wasn't out apparently in July. Often some titles aren't reported on comichron...

That sale seems to be a fluke, though. There is another set listed currently for only $15 and plenty of solo issues available for relatively cheap. It wasn't a fluke because there were several sales in-and-around that price. In my defense I did say 'there were some sales', or I could have continued the debate on USPS vs Canada Post.

Here's an obscure title that's seen some sales about cover... http://www.ebay.com/itm/The-Coffin-1-2-3-4-Complete-SET-2000-ONI-Press-Phil-Hester-Huddleston-NM-/330952345316?pt=US_Comic_Books&hash=item4d0e4c06e4

Well the item is being shipped twice, right? But I agree 100%, anytime I see import charges it's almost enough to walk away from an auction. On lower priced US-based items under $30, we're priced out of the market for it compared to US buyers.

There's a Magnus #1 at the lower right of the first picture. Correct, #1, not number 2.

That picture is like trying to find waldo...and these are all $1.99? But I do see a Magnus 12 (first appearance of turok), grab that for sure. Any pre-unity and late issues are definitely worth picking up. I think I see Magnus 2? If that's the case, grab it, I would wager the coupon is inside. Also, newsstand issues/price variants, grab those as well. If you do go back, and don't mind writing down each Valiant book, I'll tell you whether it's worth it to buy. It is kinda funny seeing all those 90s books just tossed on the rack, .

Time to submit my Harbinger??!!?? Not at all. VH1 books are at the bottom cycle in their valuations, pretty much all across-the-board. There was an overwhelming sentiment the relaunch would increase demand and value for the originals, the opposite happened. Hmmmm. So say that mine is a 9.8 (no clue if it is), raw it's what, like $50-$80? Wouldn't it be worth it for the $200 price jump, or more?? Or are you saying "that's it", as in, that $200-$400 price is going to go down significantly? Well there's been a lot of discussion that with the 'softening' in grading of Harbinger 1 over the years, a 9.8 is a bit more common. Not to sound like a , but under these old standards with CGC it is very unlikely your book would grade 9.8. Check the census, that's why the first few copies sold for over 2k. Then it churned down in and around $1,000, eventually sliding to $500, before now settling where it is now, around $400 mark. It has never hit $200 (aside from maybe one fluke sale). I would agree that at $400 or so, it's not that bad of a purchase (I personally don't collect slabs), it more than likely won't go much lower, the floor is in - but the upside is very limited as well. Super unlikely it will get back to $1k. But I digress; I've already beaten this subject to death on the VF boards. If there's a thread on moderns that are cooling off (good time to buy), throw a dart at most VH1 books, and even some of the HTF Acclaims. No, my question came down to if it was a good idea to get my raw copy graded if it has 9.8 potential. At these prices, I wouldn't bother, unless you want it for your collection. My point earlier was that before CGC loosened their grading standards, Harbinger 1 was a book almost impossible to get in 9.8, mostly due to common defects on each copy. Even very adept graders subbed many books they thought were 9.8, only to come back 9.4-9.6. If you want the answer of a broader audience, go to the VF forums...there's a specific thread following just sales of Harby 1 9.8 (up to about 50 pages in length). Okay, so then, if I understand correctly: -Raw's go for ~$50 -CGC 9.8 goes for ~$250 -Grading standards are looser now (i.e. better chance of getting a 9.8). -Grading costs+shipping ~$40 -Prices are reasonably stable, and aren't going to go a lot lower Isn't it a no brainer to get it graded??? How about you visit that thread that I suggested, and retype these comments there.

Time to submit my Harbinger??!!?? Not at all. VH1 books are at the bottom cycle in their valuations, pretty much all across-the-board. There was an overwhelming sentiment the relaunch would increase demand and value for the originals, the opposite happened. Hmmmm. So say that mine is a 9.8 (no clue if it is), raw it's what, like $50-$80? Wouldn't it be worth it for the $200 price jump, or more?? Or are you saying "that's it", as in, that $200-$400 price is going to go down significantly? Well there's been a lot of discussion that with the 'softening' in grading of Harbinger 1 over the years, a 9.8 is a bit more common. Not to sound like a , but under these old standards with CGC it is very unlikely your book would grade 9.8. Check the census, that's why the first few copies sold for over 2k. Then it churned down in and around $1,000, eventually sliding to $500, before now settling where it is now, around $400 mark. It has never hit $200 (aside from maybe one fluke sale). I would agree that at $400 or so, it's not that bad of a purchase (I personally don't collect slabs), it more than likely won't go much lower, the floor is in - but the upside is very limited as well. Super unlikely it will get back to $1k. But I digress; I've already beaten this subject to death on the VF boards. If there's a thread on moderns that are cooling off (good time to buy), throw a dart at most VH1 books, and even some of the HTF Acclaims. No, my question came down to if it was a good idea to get my raw copy graded if it has 9.8 potential. At these prices, I wouldn't bother, unless you want it for your collection. My point earlier was that before CGC loosened their grading standards, Harbinger 1 was a book almost impossible to get in 9.8, mostly due to common defects on each copy. Even very adept graders subbed many books they thought were 9.8, only to come back 9.4-9.6. If you want the answer of a broader audience, go to the VF forums...there's a specific thread following just sales of Harby 1 9.8 (up to about 50 pages in length).

How do you get these pages so quickly, are you meeting Dino at the printers?

Time to submit my Harbinger??!!?? Not at all. VH1 books are at the bottom cycle in their valuations, pretty much all across-the-board. There was an overwhelming sentiment the relaunch would increase demand and value for the originals, the opposite happened. Hmmmm. So say that mine is a 9.8 (no clue if it is), raw it's what, like $50-$80? Wouldn't it be worth it for the $200 price jump, or more?? Or are you saying "that's it", as in, that $200-$400 price is going to go down significantly? Well there's been a lot of discussion that with the 'softening' in grading of Harbinger 1 over the years, a 9.8 is a bit more common. Not to sound like a , but under these old standards with CGC it is very unlikely your book would grade 9.8. Check the census, that's why the first few copies sold for over 2k. Then it churned down in and around $1,000, eventually sliding to $500, before now settling where it is now, around $400 mark. It has never hit $200 (aside from maybe one fluke sale). I would agree that at $400 or so, it's not that bad of a purchase (I personally don't collect slabs), it more than likely won't go much lower, the floor is in - but the upside is very limited as well. Super unlikely it will get back to $1k. But I digress; I've already beaten this subject to death on the VF boards. If there's a thread on moderns that are cooling off (good time to buy), throw a dart at most VH1 books, and even some of the HTF Acclaims.

Why are you surprised at that Harbinger price? It's very status-quo... Yep Harbinger #1 CGC 9.8s have been selling steady in the $350-$425 range for at least the last year. I'm surprised because a 9.6 sold for $56 in the last 2 weeks. It seems like a huge premium for the .2 but thats just me. . You should have seen the disparity between the 9.6 when the 9.8 was selling for over 2k...if only there was a way to arbitrage that differential at the time....

Time to submit my Harbinger??!!?? Not at all. VH1 books are at the bottom cycle in their valuations, pretty much all across-the-board. There was an overwhelming sentiment the relaunch would increase demand and value for the originals, the opposite happened.