ChiSoxFan

And here we are, days later, and the threadcrapping posts are STILL there. Mods? Is this now allowable behavior?

So, I understand that the mods might also be involved in keeping the new format here running smoothly, but is thread crapping a sales thread something that gets a pass now? There was this gem from a few days ago (and another similar post by the same new poster further down in the thread -- I'm sure this guy will go far here ). It's pretty much been well established that commenting negatively in any way about a person's asking price in their sales thread is unacceptable conduct (and can even lead to getting a strike), yet those posts are still sitting there, even though they were both reported to the mods (I know they were -- I reported them myself ). Did I miss something here?

If what Disney did at ESPN is any indication, it won't help -- it will only make the problem worse by ignoring what's really causing the issues. ESPN's problem is that they're shedding subscribers left and right -- I've read numbers that are in the ballpark of 10 million or so in the last 3 years. Revenues are down, and they have huge rights fees that they pay to broadcast live events in the major sports (MLB, NFL, NBA). With cable and satellite television slowly headed to the way of the dinosaur (why pay your local cable company or DirecTv well over $100 a month for a lineup of dozens of channels you don't ever watch?), ESPN is headed into a downward spiral unless they can cut the real cost overheads -- those rights fees -- and regain some of their lost viewers (I don't watch ESPN anymore for the most part, when once the nightly SportsCenter was must-see for me -- as a sports fan, I want scores, highlights, and actual analysis of why teams/players are doing well/poorly -- instead, for the last several years, it feels like ESPN turned into a sports-version of TMZ at times). When ESPN gets rid of people like Jayson Stark -- who is as knowledgeable and passionate about baseball as anyone they have on staff, save for Buster Olney -- to save whatever salary he made, which is peanuts compared to the money they spend to broadcast the major sport events, it shows that they're still looking at the short-term picture and trying to satisfy their shareholders in some way, rather than address the long-term picture, which won't change a bit with the firings yesterday. ESPN is still headed towards hemorrhaging money in the future, and nothing they did yesterday is going to reverse that trend. In that case, Marvel has already done that. Long term Marvel readers like myself have long since abandoned the lines, worn down by endless reboots, tired storylines, event fatigue, countless renumbering, and change/shake-ups that aren't story-driven, but done for shock value to temporarily boost sales -- "Death of [insert legendary character here]" storylines, as just one example. Meanwhile, they've done nothing to capitalize on the huge success of their movies (which, at some point, that train will slow eventually) to bring in new blood to their printed material, and they've done nothing to put reading material into the hands of younger generations, and haven't since the introduction of the Direct Market. (And for anyone who says that kids won't read comics, my friend -- a schoolteacher -- brought kid friendly comic books into his classroom -- Bone TPB's, and some Marvel Essentials -- and gave opportunities for his students to borrow them and read them if they wanted. Not only did he have constant demand for what he brought, but his students wanted to get their hands on more, so kids will still read if given a chance to, but the marketplace is structured to ignore them entirely, for the most part). Marvel publishing, like seemingly most businesses, is and has been looking solely at short-term gains versus long-term sustainability in their decision making, and has been doing so for a very long time now. The chickens are just finally coming home to roost.

Judging by his excuse to Greg: "I am so I harassed to have to send this email , I need to cancel this order if at all possible I was in a real good place this afternoon but on the way home had a fender bender and now am having to pay a lot of money and just can't afford this as much as I would love to get it. Thank you very much for your time and understanding." He's either a terrible liar or a terrible driver.

Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme #209.2 NM-$2 Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme #229.4 NM$3 Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme #309.2 NM-$2 Marvel Tales #1688.5 VF+$2.50 Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD #229.8 NM/MT$5 Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD #259.4 NM$3 @ 75% off

I've done multiple transactions with Robert, and every time, it's as smooth as can be. Great prices, great grading, great packaging, great communication, and all-around a great experience. I can't recommend him highly enough, and I make sure I never miss one of his threads. He's one of the best sellers here.

these two please.

I don't. Your comment was "nothing but over-priced books on the boards lately". If you'd specified "CGC graded books" or "GA books" or "Pre-code horror" or "modern keys", then I'd know more, and the statement you made wouldn't be a blanket generalization. If you're saying that the books for sale here that fall into your specific collecting focus are "nothing but over-priced books [here] lately" and that better deals are to be had on eBay, then I won't disagree with that, since depending what that focus is, that might be 100% true.

Is that a dig that I don't know an overpriced book when it's in front of me? Or is that saying I don't what you collect? Please clarify.

Unless I missed the sarcasm, I'd say that statement was a bit of an over-generalization, to be kind. As someone who's bought consistently over time here as well as sold, it's still been a mix of what it's usually been, IMO. There have been some threads with books that fit your criteria, and others that have been priced and graded solidly. As always, it's a matter of knowing which sellers are the ones worth shopping with. FWIW, I've run a decent number of sales threads now over the last several years, and I definitely have noticed a downturn in traffic in my threads since the change-over, and neither my grading has changed (if anything, I've tried to be more harsh) nor my pricing. Considering I sold a VF+ Wolverine #1 mini recently for half what an ungraded, mid-grade at best copy just sold for on eBay (and that's only one example -- pretty much every copy sold on eBay of late of that book sold for far more than I sold mine for, or was in far worse condition, or almost always both, though I'm still happy with my selling price. It's what I was willing to sell it for, so no complaints), I'm pretty sure that saying "much better deals [are] on eBay" as a statement of absolute fact is generous (and that's not considering what a gamble dealing with eBay sellers are to begin with). That's not to mention a number of other books that I either sold for less in recent threads than what they would have, let's say, if I'd run my thread a year or two ago, or simply sat unsold. Some other sellers who are known here for solid grading and pricing have told me they've found the boards sales area slow as well. It's probably a combination of a number of factors -- and over-priced books may be the case in some instances -- that are keeping the sales here slower than usual. Rarely, however, can you point to one, sole reason for as the cause that involves an economic structure seeing a shift in one way or another.