F For Fake

What a disaster the ACC tourney and NCAA in general have been. (Who could ever have foreseen the trouble with holding sporting events during a global pandemic???) Duke tests positive and calls it a season...the day after they knock my Cards out of the ACC tourney. Of course. If that kid was going to test positive, it couldn't have happened before they played my team? Of course not. Now we sit on pins and needles waiting to see if we'll make the NCAA. As a diehard fan, of course I hope we make the cut. As a fan of the sport and a realist, I don't think we have a strong case, and if we DO manage to make it this year, will be a prime example of how mediocre power conference teams are rewarded while more deserving mid-majors are left out. I want to be in, but can't really complain too much if we aren't. Still, if we stay home, I will take solace in the fact that Duke and UK are both stinkers sitting at home as well. It's the little things, you know? The way this season has gone, with VA also now on COVID break, Georgia Tech and their Hobbit coach are probably going to end up winning the ACC. I will love it almost as much as I will hate it. And now, to get back on topic, as long as this guy still exists, I'm good.

At the end of the day, it seems like a lot of the concern here on the boards (a niche group within a niche collecting group, which I'd wager a guess is overwhelmingly composed of middle aged white men) is that this means that eventually the "cancel culture" is going to get around to the stuff that you like and collect and/or sell. But if what you like and collect is old racist claptrap, maybe it's not such a loss? Is it cancel culture, or is culture evolving to a point where it says "You know, this stuff...this is not cool anymore" A lot of the concern seems to be about how it may restrict your access to the stuff you want to buy and sell and collect and/or profit from. It's personal to you. I understand that. I'm a huge Carl Barks fan, myself. One of the greatest cartoonists who ever put pen to paper. And his early work has a lot of cultural depictions that fly way past "iffy" and into "ooooh, no" territory. They make me cringe, as a fan and reader. And that's me, the aforementioned middle age white guy. Would I feel comfortable showing some of those stories to my black friends, or an indigenous person? Not likely, no. Am I bad for liking his work? I don't think so. Is it worth having a larger conversation about the stuff? Absolutely. Now, I think Fantagraphics' approach, in which they restore and present the material completely uncut, but ground it with a foreword about cultural depictions at the time, is the RIGHT way to handle stuff like this, FOR ME. Me being another middle aged white dude. Makes sense to these eyes. But maybe other people feel differently, and they're hurt by those depictions. How can I say? I have no idea, I'm not in their shoes. I'd think Dr. Seuss could be handled in the same way. Song of the South as well. Let the stuff show warts and all, and explain WHY it's wrong, but also why it's still worth cataloging. Would I miss my Duck books if Carl Barks ends up "canceled", and this stuff gets pulled from distribution? Hell yeah I would! But, again, I'm not really the one who is on the wrong side of the ugliness. If they DID yank my Barks' library from publication, I'd be sad to see it go, but I can't come out and say it's wrong to do so, because I'm not the offended party. How can anyone say that anyone else's sense of offense is correct or incorrect? How can you say that someone else is overreacting, when you can't know how they really feel inside? I've not seen may instances of "cancel culture" so much as I've seen "consequence culture." You do some shady stuff, it may eventually catch up with you. Maybe the Dr. Seuss thing is overblown. Maybe it's right on. I can't say. I don't have a dog in the fight. My two cents, devil's advocate, etc.

Yup, two. It’s absurd. Pre-order prices are anywhere from $300-$700 each. I guess I’ll wait and see where prices settle when they actually release, but still, yuck.

Oh, and yes, if you got the order in, you SHOULD be fine. Every once in a while they may come back and say they didn’t have enough copies to cover orders, but it doesn’t happen as much since they revamped their site and got on top of things. Don’t panic if it sits at waiting for a while. Lately my orders have been at the waiting stage for a couple of weeks, then they finally move. My Howard the Duck MMW is picked and scanned, but the Dawn of X v6 trade I threw on the order to bring it up over the $50 free shipping threshold is still at waiting. It’s frustrating, but for the cost savings I don’t mind the wait that much.

Awesome, so glad you got one! I think both covers are sold out now. It’s hard to tell these days how long books will last. During the early Covid days, through summer, books were selling out in minutes. Things have evened out a bit over the last few months, with some books sticking around for weeks, or longer. But hot stuff like X-Men and Star Wars still seem to move very briskly. I don’t leave it to chance anymore, I’m there at 3pm est on Tuesday with my finger on the trigger!

For a serious answer, I am sometimes a "completist", but it's only complete by my own shaky definitions. For instance. with X-Men, I wanted every issue from GSX 1 through the point where I stopped reading the book, UXM 282. I did that. With Batman, I wanted every Batman comic published in my lifetime, so 1977 to 2002, which was when Hush came out, and the RRP cover hit. I just wasn't willing to pay what one of those would cost (though I should have, considering what they sell for now!) So I made the mental break with "completing" Batman at that point, which is probably what made it easier to sell my entire collection not long afterwards. Now I collect Batman and X-Men in Hardcover, and I am rebuilding my X-Men run, GSX through 282, once again. I think "complete" is in the eye of the beholder. It's more difficult in the modern era, as I'm just not willing to chase down all of the variants for books. For instance, Marvel has a new Alien book coming out in a week or so, and I am an Alien collector as much as I'm a comic collector. And it is KILLING me that they have two 1:500 virgin variant covers, because 1. I don't really want them 2. if I want to be complete, I'm going to have to pay $300 a piece or whatever to get them. So, I'm still not decided on what I'm going to do there. This may be the point where my completeness ends for Alien, which will make me sad, but it's hard to justify spending that much money on something I just don't like.

All I know is now I have a bunch of books to add to my Mr. T and the T-Force checklist! Gah!

The DC thing is true. SA DC 1st appearances are a fraction of what their Marvel cousins go for. I’m always looking for cheap DC’s. Atom, Metal Men, even Green Lantern and JLA are very reasonable IMO. 1st Legion is an exception as it’s just tough to find in general, and Of course Showcase 4 is a monster that’s way out of my reach. Supergirl and Batgirl finally got a bump. I think Bat 181 1st Poison Ivy is still relatively cheap, though not necessarily easy to find in nice shape with the centerfold complete.

Within the last year or two, it's come to my attention that nearly every flea market dealer and several shop owners I know locally have started pressing. I already know that I don't trust them any farther than I could throw them, so there's no WAY I'm going to let them press my books. Good lord. Edit to add somewhat amusing story: I know most of the local dealer, pickers and junk guys. I'd just sold a big batch of toys to a local junk guy (he mostly deals in signage, automobilia, oil cans, stuff like that, but he dabbles in other areas) and was telling him that I'd just found out that a mutual acquaintance had started a pressing service. I was explaining how I wouldn't trust this guy to press a pair of slacks, much less my books, and then started explaining all of the things that can happen to an improperly pressed book: the crushed spines, fanning, pebbling, etc. As I was talking, I noticed his face growing increasingly concerned, and then he suddenly told me he had to run, and left. It was then that I realized that he must have given this guy some books to press.

I have some slabs hung up with slab holders/frames, so I get to see them whenever I walk into my office. I have a few of my favorite keys, not slabbed, in mylars/top loaders, poised on the edge of my shelf. For those who raise the specter of light fading, the room gets zero natural sunlight (just one tiny window, and it's covered by a blackout curtain) and the ceiling light, which is led, is rarely on more than an hour or two per week. If they are fading, it's not enough that I'll notice in this lifetime, and I enjoy SEEING the things I bought. Usually when I buy new stuff, I bag and board them and sit them in a stack, waiting to be filed. When I pass in and out of the room, I'll occasionally pick up the stack, sort through them, smile, and put them back down. Eventually I'll file them into my boxes, and when I do that, it gives me a chance to flip through chunks of my collection, and give them a look. I've cut my collection down to about 12 shorts, four flips boxes, less than 10 slabs, and the cheap drek I have in my racks, and that number seems manageable to me. When I start to go beyond that current allotment of space, I start looking for stuff I can sell.

I have no problem with nude or erotic covers, except that most of them are so ugly. I've never understood why a comic artist, when inclined to draw a nekkid gal with enormous boobies, would choose to draw FAKE enormous boobies. Even in illustrated form, you can practically see the silicone. Here's your chance to draw the ginormous hooters of your dreams, and they STILL aren't natural? Tis a shame. I think it's probably because many of these artists have never seen an actual naked woman before, but that's ok, because their fans haven't either, so I guess it works out. Has anyone ever actually READ a Grimm Fairy Tales book? There certainly are a lot of them. Just curious. Maybe I'm missing out? And to be sure, I'm no prude. I love pin-up art, and masters of sexy gal art like Dave Stevens, Adam Hughes, Bruce Timm and co. And I'm good with smut too. Love a lot of the stuff Fantagraphics used to publish through their Eros line (paticularly fond of Liz and Beth, Bondage Fairies, and any of the Manara stuff). But most of those books were very well drawn, by quality artists, and that's what made them sexy. Sexy is fine, sexy is good. But this stuff...this not so good.

I think the new date is next week. Will definitely be keeping my eyes open. Very excited about this one and the DC Who’s Who as well!

Did some peddler mall digging this weekend in a nearby town. Was super stoked to finally find a DC Essentials Superman at a not completely stupid price. Paid $50 for him, but that's still a lot better than the $100 he commands on the bay. Now if I could find a Reverse Flash and Deathstroke, I'd be all set on the pricey guys. The search continues! I don't really collect SW much, of PotF2 at all, but when I see them cheap, I dig around to find cheap variants. Dug this long tray short saber Vader out for $5. I'll take it! At another shop, I saw these Dark Horse Deluxe X-Men figures. When DH started releasing the Classic Cartoon figures, I had a bunch of them, and loved them. Pogo, Albert, Krazy Kat, Ignatz, Lil Abner, etc. I got a ton of them on clearance from Bud Plant back in the day, those were good times! Of course, as I am wont to do, I eventually sold them, way before they got around to doing these X-Men figures. These things retailed for $50 or thereabouts. This shop had these two Wolvies for $9.99 each. The guy said that they'd been there for years, so he gave them to me for $7 a pop! Can't beat that with a bat. I think I'll keep the one that is complete with the button and card. It's a low number (I got #14 and #15) and as there are only 675 in the run, it's one of the less common Wolverine figure collectibles you're going to see out there. Kinda neat! I can feel the urge to get back into these faux syroco figures again, and I must fight that urge! With violence if necessary!

Ha, I was about to say "Oh cool! I saw another guy that did a display from an ammo case like this!" Then I realize that "another guy" was you, and I read it here. I'm an insufficiently_thoughtful_person.

The Secrets/Mysteries omnis are worth another shelf! They're really nice, four of the best volumes DC has released.

This guy finally arrived this weekend. I swear, those two or three weeks that got screwed up by weather related shipping delays really messed with my mind, I couldn't keep track of anything at all. I was determined to get the DM variant (the JR Jr cover) but due to my confusion, I missed it, and had to settle for the regular cover. In this instance, the retail cover is still pretty nice, so I guess I won't gripe TOO much. Got my order in for Claremont/Lee vol 2 in today. When I placed the order, the cover art hadn't uploaded yet, and I ordered the DM variant, as I assumed that was the "black bars" version. That was the version I originally had on the first printing, so that's what I wanted this time. When I went back this afternoon to see how things are selling, it looked like I got the wrong cover, the Jim Lee Wolvie "closeup" shot. (Not a bad cover per se, just not the one I preferred.) But then I was reading on the MMW forum that apparently IST has the images switched, so maybe I'll get the right one??? Who knows. Looks like OHMU Omni was pushed back again, and X-Men Inferno has been pushed back yet another week, to the 24th. Will be very happy to get that volume, and the eventual UXM Vol 5 and reprint of Fall of the Mutants, and then I'll be DONE with the X-Men. Huzzah!

IST's system is kinda of odd, in that once the release week approaches, items seem to disappear from the "coming soon" list. I'm assuming it's something triggered by the arrival of the Diamond notice for that week's shipments, and the item is being converted from "coming soon" to "in stock". I'm not sure. Regardless, it happens every week, and they have the Dr. Aphra Omnibus now, it's up for sale,so go get it!

Were at $2.89 here. After working from home for a year, we are returning to the office later this week. For the past year I’ve been putting $15 in the gas tank every other week or so. Really not looking forward to returning to filling it all the way up every week. That was a nice little savings.

True, but the market wasn’t what it is now at that time. All first appearances seem to be on fire, and just need a little nudge from a show or movie trailer to really set them on fire.

That's a very pretty book for the grade!

OH, and my other "dumb guy" question: if this takes effect next year, does that mean that in 2022 I'll have to start paying taxes on what I sold this year/2021, or does that mean that starting in 2022 I'm going to have to start keeping those records and pay for that over $600 threshold when I file in 2023?

See, these are the questions I'm going to have to get answered. Do I need to save every receipt for every comic I buy, in case I sell it somewhere down the road? How do I value my "inventory" from year to year? I can't just "stop selling." I sell to buy, I buy to sell. That's how my collection works. But I'm going to have to figure out how to be smart about it. Back in the day I wasn't aware of the $20k tax limits. I had no idea. I blew past them a couple of years, but didn't know about it until the IRS came knocking a few years later. Had to do a LOT of backtracking and work and then still cut a painfully big check. I don't plan to do that again. I'm fine with paying my fair share, but I'm going to have to figure out how to arrive at that "fair share" figure. I'll pay my part, but until the billionaires of the world start paying their fair share, I'm not paying a penny more than I absolutely have to. Going to be a lot of receipt scanning in my future, it seems.

Hope it works out for you, recreating those listings is a pain. I know in most of the Joe groups I'm in, they refer to the guns as "pews" because if they use the word "gun", it may get pulled. Heck, last year I put up a bunch of postings selling MASK figures, and FB yanked them because they thought I was selling unlicensed covid masks! Requested a review, they still denied it. Seems like there's a big difference in a homemade mouth covering and a plastic car that converts from a Trans Am into a plane, but what do I know? All bow to the algorithm!

I wonder if this will be the long foretold "bubble killer". Collectibles have seen unprecedented growth during the pandemic, fueled in a large part by ebay, FB and Instagram sellers, who no doubt use online processors like Paypal and Venmo. A lot of hobbyists became part time "dealers". If they have to start paying 1/2 of their income in taxes, that's going to put a damper on their business, and I'd imagine many will stop selling altogether. Is the party over at the end of the year?

We were out of town Friday and Saturday, so we didn't get to watch the finale until last night. I was steadfast in avoiding spoilers all weekend, only to find that, really, there was nothing to spoil. As I predicted, there were no further twists, and the internet was driving itself insane for no good reason trying to figure out a puzzle that was already pretty much complete. I did enjoy the bittersweet touches of the episode, but I have to say, I was pretty disappointed overall. Not because of the lack of any big reveal, or even because they didn't answer all of the questions they set up. Instead, I was disappointed because the first 2/3 of the series had been so clever and inventive, I was REALLY holding out hope that they'd find a way to create a climax that wasn't just people floating around shooting colorful beams of CGI energy at each other. That's how all of this superhero junk ends: computer cartoons of people floating around firing red and purple and green and yellow lightshows. I don't know HOW I hoped they'd end it, but I was really hoping against hope that the showrunners were smarter than I was, and it wouldn't devolve into another dumb superhero show. Oh well, I still enjoyed it overall. Looking forward to Multiverse of Madness. Raimi is a genius. Hoping for lots of crazy practical camera work and splatstick humor.