F For Fake

Hive is also a personal fave, particularly for the Kelley Jones artwork, but I also loved the plot. The stuff about Cyberantics, the Royal Jelly, all of that stuff, approaching the universe from a scientific perspective. I really dug it. The original mini is still my favorite, just because it blew my mind as a kid. I thought Mark Nelson's artwork was amazing, and I loved all of the surreal world-building, from the grotesque machinations of Weyland Yutani, to the religious sect that worships the alien. So many great ideas, beautifully rendered.

I saw Alien 3 four times in the theater because I was finally old enough to SEE an Alien movie in the theaters, so I was going to make the most of it. I'd only seen Alien and Aliens on VHS (I was 9 when Aliens came out) so Alien 3 was my chance to enjoy the big screen Alien experience as much as I could. I remember reading the novelization, and it made a lot more sense than the theatrical release, but I still enjoyed the movie. I think Prometheus is a really beautifully shot movie, which makes sense, because Ridley is one of the best shooters in the business. He does that gritty but beautiful thing so well. So I liked the look, I liked the design, and yeah, the Rapace and Charlize are both super babes, naturally. I liked the entire cast, really. I liked pretty much everything about it except the entire plot ha But from a design standpoint, I thought it was a gorgeous sci-fi picture.

You know, as dumb as it is, there are still a lot of things I like about Prometheus. Despite its flaws, it felt like the film Ridley wanted to make. But Covenant, ugh. Terrible. Covenant felt like Ridley trying to give audiences what he THOUGHT they wanted, and instead, he delivered something that NO ONE wanted. Man, it's terrible. Agree totally on all of this. Those first three Aliens series in particular told a much more interesting story than what we got with Alien 3 and Resurrection. And again, while those movies aren't great, there are things I like about them. The producer's cut of Alien 3 is pretty decent, and I admire the Fincher's relentless drive to make it such a dreary, sad, depressing movie ha Resurrection is light and dumb, but I like the sort of organic "squishiness" of the whole thing.

Con Report! This weekend was the inaugural GI Joe Winterfest, here in Louisville. This show is produced by the folks who do the Kentuckiana GI Joe Expo every summer. This year will be the 8th, and it's cool to see how the show has grown. So, this weekend they thought they'd see if there was any interest in a similar winter event, a way to kick off the convention calendar for Joe collectors. Based on what I saw, the answer is a definite yes. This was a scaled down version of the summer show, restrained to a single ballroom, whereas the summer show is spread across three rooms as well as some folks set up in the lobby. There was also no figure customizing contest, or Lobby Swap, like you get with the larger show. This was just about getting folks in a room to buy and sell toys. I went to the preview on Friday night, which is where the hardcore people go. It's $20 vs $5 if you're just going on Saturday, however it gets you in both days, as well as early bird admission on Saturday. I like to go on Friday just in case there are any great deals to be found. The best buying is usually on the first night. Friday wasn't very strongly attended, and I didn't buy much. In fact, all I bought on Friday night were some carded Marvel Legends and DC figures for $10 each. I should have bought everything he had, but I didn't want to blow all of my cash that night, in case something cool arrived on Saturday. When I went back on Saturday I decided to go ahead and grab a few more, only to find that the guy who arrived before me had bought the dealer's entire stock of boxed/carded Legends stuff. He got a sweet deal. I should have jumped sooner. Oh well, win some, lose some. I didn't have any big agenda, as far as buying. I thought maybe I'd take further steps towards completing my Dreadnoks, if I found a good deal on what I needed. I wanted a Dreadnok cycle, and there were four in the room. Two that were incomplete for $25 and $35, and another that was complete for $45, which was more than I wanted to spend. Another dealer had one marked for $35, but it was missing one of the side flaps (or whatever you call him.) He was asking $35, but he told me I could have it for $25. So, I bought it, and then went to another dealer with bins full of parts, which basically work like a "pull a part" junkyard. Found the flap I needed, paid a buck for it, and completed the cycle. And that's what makes these shows great. If you're trying to complete figures or vehicles, it can be a death by a million cuts if you're buying on eBay or FB. By the time you get all of the stuff shipped to you, you end up paying more than if you'd just bought the thing complete from the jump. But these shows always have dealers with bins full of parts, guns, backpacks etc for a buck each. If you're willing to dig in, you will be rewarded. So, I got that door, I got some guns and backpacks I needed to complete a couple of TARGATS and other figures, etc. That's why I love these shows. Oh, and the guy I bought the flap for also had a Swampfire for $25, so I bought that and he threw the door flap in for free. Huzzah! Otherwise, I didn't go nuts. I really love the battle stations and battefield accessories sets, so I like to pick those up if I find them cheap enough with the box. Got a pretty good deal on the Air Defense battle station, box is really nice. I bought the Forward Observer Unit primarily because I love that box art, even if the box is rough. It was missing a few things, but i've already completed it since last night. I finally found a Walmart Baroness to go with the Scarlett that Buzz kindly sent me. I saw stacks and stacks of the Stormy and Snake, so I'm still not in a hurry to pick those up yet. At long last, I've now completed my Command Ring set. One guy had some really nice ones with sharp paint, so I picked up the three I needed. I'd like to get the little insert/promo thing to go with them, maybe get a little ring case to put it all in. Happy to cross those off my list. I picked up a Killer WHALE as a fixer upper project. This was my favorite vehicle as a kid. I'd take it out to the pool, sink it, and watch the bodies float to the surface. I may have had...issues? At any rate, my original is long gone. Since then, I've picked up two more, which I completed and sold. I just like the vehicle. So I bought this one with the intention of fixing it up and keepig it, but ugh, the more I think about it, the more I think I may be over that period in my life. I may just part it out and put the money towards getting a nice one complete with a box. The vanes/tabs on the fans are such a pain to source anymore, and I also need an arm for the missile launcher box, which isn't cheap. So, yeah, I don't know why I bought this ha Just caught up in the moment. The guy tried to sell me TWO of them, and it would have been a good deal, but I don't know what the hell I would do with two, when I'm already regretting getting this one! And finally, my favorite purchase of the day: The Bazooka Bubble Bath, which is still sealed and full! I've always wanted a set of these, but have been determined to find them in the wild, and not just hop on eBay. This is the first time I've seen one in person at a show since I started searching, so I couldn't get that $20 out of my wallet faster if I tried. He looks like a bizarre Academy Award. And that's that. Fun show, a nice distraction for the winter. TIme to start saving up for the July show. I don't know if we'll set up to sell again this year, but either way it'll be fun. Thanks for reading!

I bought all of the Kenner Aliens stuff as it was coming out, but eventually sold it all off because I just don't care for it. I'm a huge fan of Alien and Aliens, but thought that the Kenner stuff cheapened the brand, much like Alien vs Predator. I dutifully bought all of the NECA stuff as well, but when they started releasing THEIR versions of the Kenner stuff, I'd had enough. Sold all of that as well, except for a few pieces (Queen, Powerloader, Ripley/Newt, and the 40th Anniversary Alien series.) I'm a lifelong Alien fan and collector, so I just put that money into getting the vintage stuff that I wanted, like a nice Kenner Alien, and the Alien Blaster playset. An Alien Target Blaster set finally showed up on eBay a couple of months ago, after years of nothing. But the original asking price was $4k, which I just couldn't do. (I think it later dropped closer to $3k.) At any rate, I don't regret selling the Kenner stuff or the NECA stuff, because if I want it again, none of it is terribly hard to find. The toughest pieces in the Kenner Aliens series are the UK released Hudson, Vasquez and O'Malley, but even they are pretty easily found on eBay on any given day. I adored the Dark Horse Alien stuff. When I first started collecting CGC, my only goal was to get a slabbed set of the original miniseries, 1-6 in 9.8. Took me several years to do it, but I got it done a few years ago, and thankfully long before the prices went insane (I paid about $350 for my $1 in 9.8. That is apparently closer to a $2.5-3k book at the moment.) I was very sad to hear that DH lost the license and Marvel was taking it over. DH didn't have a PERFECT fun on the license (again, not a fan of the Predator crossovers) BUT they did always keep in mind that Alien is an adult, R-rated, mature sci-fi property, at least with their straight up Aliens titles (company crossovers tended to water it down.) I'm afraid Marvel is just going to do dumb things. I don't want Aliens vs Marvel. I don't want Aliens vs Venom, which we all know is going to be coming. I just hate everything about it. Also, I hate incentive variants, and sure enough, the new Alien series has I believe TWO 1:500 variants, a 1:200 variant, etc. What a pain in the butt if you're a completist. Ugh.

Yes, Aliens/Wildcats, I always conflate it with Stormwatch as that's basically where the Authority began.

Oh cool, thanks for the heads up on Aliens/Stormwatch! I thought it was weird that it had totally bottomed out, I guess it’s been swept up in the Aliens buying frenzy since Marvel announced their new title. I got a copy a month ago for a buck. Now to tell myself it’s ok to let a few of these go...

I paid $180, which seemed pretty good. I figure I can squeeze a bit more than that out of it. It's complete and it has white pages, so it at least has that going for it!

My LCS doesn’t really do graded books, unless they pick them up in a collection. I wasn’t looking for this book, but when I saw it behind the counter, I thought I should rescue it. It’s likely only making a temporary stop in the collection before it heads to eBay, as it’s a little rough and isn’t a priority book for me. But the price was right. In other news, I bought some new books for the first time in a year or two. I don’t do new books and I don’t do variants, but I DO collect Aliens, so I had to have these. I ordered two of each cover coming out, and three or four copies of the ones I thought were most interesting. There must be more on the way, but I guess this is what has been released so far. None of these covers really knock me out, so they’ll likely go in the Aliens box and not be looked at again for years. Collecting: it’s dumb!

The Aliens/WIldcats was a $20+ book at one time, but I see them a lot in dollar bins these days. So, I pick 'em up! As you pointed out, I always pick up 37, as you will still find that in dollar bins occasionally. Stormwatch v2 #4, however, I just never, ever see that book at all. Such a classic run. Great stuff.

It's been worth more than a buck for a long time. I just sold a copy on ebay for $40 a day or two ago, and Halloween II for $45. Still have the Halloween III sitting out there at $45, has some watchers but hasn't moved yet. It will, though. It always does. Got all of them in a collection I picked up last weekend for $150. Horror fans are a different breed, sorta the same way Star Wars fans are a different breed. They want what they want, and they'll pay up to get it. And they want stuff that "mainstream" collectors wouldn't look at twice. That's why I always pick this stuff up when I find it cheap. I've probably pulled four or five of those Halloween 1's out of dollar bins and flipped them for $30-$40 over the years. There's also a chromium cover and a glow in the dark that are $$$. I think the GitD jack o'lantern is the coolest. I remember when these came out, I ordered them all from my LCS, I think I paid $7 for the GitD and $10 for the chromium. I was a huge horror collector at the time. (Now I'm just huge!) Wish I still had 'em, they're really nice looking. The contents...not so hot.

As for Darkhawk, it may seem like a joke to a lot of us, but there are a lot of people who legit LOVE that character. When I was a kid, he was huge with the other kids I ran around with, as was New Warriors. I think that generation has come into its own, and still likes the stuff. I never got the appeal, and I'm sure there's a "haha Darkhawk" contingent, but a lot of folks straight up think he's cool. Who am I to argue? I've never read a Darkhawk comic, but the costume is pretty cool!

I'm sure I've told this story before, but when I was a kid, NFL SuperPro seemed like a sure fire investment to me. It's football! It's superheroes! Who doesn't love football and superheroes? (I don't care for football myself, but anyway...) I sought out the NFL SuperPro trading card, and bought one at a comic show at a local shopping mall for $7, which was a big investment at the age of 12 or whatever for a piece of cardboard. Now, not only is the card worth only a fraction of that (maybe a buck?) I'm not even sure where it is.

Have to give a huge thanks to @Buzzettafor the amazing hook up! Scarlett arrived today, and she's lovely. Face sculpt is amazing. Here she is with her less attractive identical sisters.

Agreed 100%. Carded Joes are cool, but they're time bombs. I sold the few Graded figures I had, don't want to be holding the hot potato. I still pick them up if I find them cheap (which is rare these days) but would advise against anyone investing more than they'd Ben willing to eat on the day they find the figure crumbled up in the bubble.

Oh, and it's funny you mention the Crossgen stuff, because as I was sorting through them, I was tempted to read them. They certainly are PRETTY books, very nicely produced, looks like very strong artwork and coloring. A very professional package. Crossgen was an interesting experiment. I may have to give them a read at some point.

Thanks, yeah, it's a lot of fun! This era is sorta my bread and butter, buying cheap stuff from the 90's and later, diamonds in the rough! So many great books in this era that have niche fan bases that "mainstream" sellers couldn't bother to look into. For instance, at this point I can't count how many times I've found that Chaos Halloween #1 in a dollar bin and flipped it for $30-$40. Horror fans are as rabid as Star Wars fans, they will show up for this stuff. Chaos isn't my bag personally, but in lots they will sell, no problem. Always looking for newsies, but there were none in this collection. Pretty sure the guy had a holds box at his local comic shop, just based on the stuff he was picking up, and not a newsstand in sight. Oh well. The last big score I made was a fun of Star Wars KOTOR that I picked up for $30, which had a ton of newsstands. The auctions closed last night at about $700. So believe me, I am ALWAYS checking those bar codes! ha But yes, like you said, this is my ideal collection. That's why when he told me the price and the number of books, I didn't try to negotiate or ask many questions. This is also the size that works for me. My last BIG collection was 40 longs, and that just about broke my back as well as my garage. ha So this is MUCH more manageable, on a number of fronts!

Hmm, I dunno, most of the people I know who grew up reading comics read them many times. That's why so many older comics have reading wear and tear. Most of us were readers before we were collectors. Most of these books in this collection are 20 years old now, and I'd judge the guy was a teenager at that time, so his statement made sense to me.

Yes, none of it really speaks to my personal tastes, which is just as well, as I won't be tempted to keep it! Yeah, there are several $20-$30 books in here, as well as a few $40-$50, and lots and lots of sets. It adds up quickly!

Hey guys, thanks so much for the input, especially @Qalyar and @masterlogan2000for the tips! This is a very unusual and interesting collection, in that it's from a very specific period, but has very little mainstream superhero stuff. Aside from some Punisher, Spider-Woman, JSA and Harley, there's practically zero Marvel and DC. But that's not a bad thing. I made a quick pass last night and pulled all of these out. So with this little stack we are already "in the money." Now to go through it all again and sort the rest out to see if I missed any goodies, and start assembling the runs. The way the guy described it to me, he randomly started collecting in 1999. He'd carefully read a book once, then put it in one of these tubs, then never touch it again. So they're in the order he read them, which is interesting. On the pro side, they are almost entirely free of spine stresses and corner dings. On the con side, the contents of a few of the tubs had shifted, so you have some stacking curls and spine rolls. Luckily most of the "money" books were unaffected. Aside from the stuff pictured there are tons of Chaos Comics, like complete runs of Lady Death, Purgatori, but also all of the WWF stuff and even Insane Clown Posse. Maybe not exciting at first glance, but they'll sell in complete sets, no problem. Lots of random Bad Girl stuff which always moves at the right price. There are also dozens of Image and Top Cow books I've never heard of, as well as what appears to be a complete set of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, as well as most of the Crossgen line. Now, again, that all seems pretty drekky, but it look s like complete sets on some of these titles sell for $30-$40, and even $60-$80. Since my cost is only around 10 cents a book, they'll pay off well. So luckily I've got a nice little starter stack to make an instant profit, and as I work the collection over the next couple of weeks, I should do nicely. And as @Get Marwood & I pointed out, sorting through a collection like this is just fun! On the personal front, the guy had a complete set of the last 30 issue of so of Gen 13, which aren't worth anything, but I can never find them. I've been trying to put the entire title (all of the volumes) together at a buck or less each for a few years now, and I think I'm nearly done! There were also some trades as well. All in all a lot of fun. Thanks for reading along. And @Qalyar PM me your want list. There actually are a few Midnight Nation books in here. Not sure about condition, but you can have 'em!

Picked up a little collection tonight. 1500+ books for $150. At that price I don’t worry too much about the contents, but when I picked them up he mentioned Crossgen so I was like “Ooh, I’ve made a terrible mistake.” However, he then mentioned sexy girls, so I thought I might be ok. Really, for $150, I only need to make $200 to cover fees and gas and break even, which means I only need to find 20 books to sell at $10 a pop to be ok. I like those odds. Won’t have a chance to dig in until tomorrow, but I’ve already found some AH covers, some Harley Quinn etc so I think I’ll be ok. Digging through them will be fun. I can’t do the big collections anymore, too much space and time and back pain, but a collection this size seems just right. He said he started collecting in 1999 and stopped in 2001, so if there’s anything in particular you think is worth looking for, chime in! I’ve already seen some Dirty Pair, so I hope that AH cover is in there! Will report back soon!

@srezvaninspired me to dig my own Pizza Power game out of the closet, and it packed a nostalgic wallop! It’s complete and in nice shape. I believe I received it for my 11th b-day, which was likely TMNT themed. There’s even a small piece of wrapping paper stuck to the lid! But what really got me was that these TMNT candles were still in the box! These were on my bday cake, and I remember I thought they were SO cool, I was sure to blow them out immediately so I could save them. Then, when I played the game, I used the candles as markers, as I thought they were so much cooler than the cardboard pieces. Raphael was broken at the base, but after a brief surgery with a Bic lighter, he’s almost good as new!

It's an interesting question, and I have conflicting feelings. On one hand, Grendel is absolutely one of my all time favorite stories and comic series. The scope and imagination of the Grendel Saga, as it progressed from the humble beginnings of Primer 2/Comico Mini/Mage back-ups, into what it would become at Dark Horse, is mind boggling. A weird sci-fi crime noir eventually evolved into a rumination on the centuries-long ramifications of evil. It's pretty heavy, and crazy, stuff. So, to be sure, I love Grendel, and my Primer 2 is one of my absolutely favorite back issues that I own. BUT...as for the prices, I don't really know what's keeping them aloft. True ,they're nowhere close to TMNT and Usagi prices, but they're still much higher than you might expect for a character that hasn't been particularly relevant for 25 years. In the last ten years there have been, what, 2 mini-series involving the character? One was a crossover with The Shadow, another was a revisit of Grendel Prime. Before that, you have to go all the way back to 2007 for the last Grendel Mini Series. That's not a lot of action on the publishing front. The character is basically invisible to current readers. The only people who care are likely the same folks like me who were reading it in the 80's, and have stuck it out. And as a result, Primer still stays pricey due to a memory of how popular the character once was, whereas most everythign from the Comico ongoing through all of the DH books would be considered dollar bin fodder. So, the character isn't really relevant to current comics, so why do the prices on Primer and the 3-issue mini stay up? Is it simply because of that nostalgic love of how great the series used to be? Is it because Primer and the mini are still relatively hard to find compared to other characters from the era? I'm not sure. What I DO know is that given the current value on these books, absent of any real presence in the world of comic books today, any sort of media announcement would be pretty huge. In the current market, tv and movie announcements send prices on relatively easy books to go sky-rocketing. If Grendel were suddenly optioned for an HBO miniseries, those high prices are going to get crazy high, I'd reckon. He won't ever touch TMNT numbers, but I could see the title once again sharing a spotlight with Usagi. And to that end, if there were a media adaptation, HBO mini would be my preference. I'd like to see the story begin with Christine, telling Hunter's story in flashback. And then just let it all unfurl from there. You could do entire seasons on Hunter, Christine, Brian, Eppy, etc before even getting to Grendel Prime, Grendel Khan, and all of the future stuff. It could be really, really cool. Again, all just conjecture and speculation. My series is pretty much complete (there are a couple of random Dark Horse issues I haven't picked up, but haven't been in any hurry to get as they aren't worth anything), so I'm satisfied. But mostly I wish more people were tuned in to Matt's awesome world of Grendel

Re: the Trimpe discussion, when I was a kid, I thought his stuff was terrible. One of my best friends and I would use "Trimpe" as a way to describe any bad comic art. "Did you see the new issue of XYZ?" "Oh yeah, man, the art was totally Trimpe." As an adult I felt bad about this, because I could see some of the charm, and there's something to be said for those workmanlike artists who delivered the goods on a monthly basis. (Sal Buscema is a similar case.) Also, by all accounts Trimpe seemed to be a nice man who was appreciative of his fans, and that goes a long way in my estimation. On the flipside, I was at the right age to be caught up in the McFarlane explosion. A friend of mine kept talking about this McFarlane guy who was drawing Hulk, and then when the Spider-Man run hit, it was inescapable. In my memory, it was pretty great stuff. But then a few years ago I revisited the Spider-Man run, and was shocked by how ugly and shaky a lot of the artwork was. There wasn't as much substance to the flash as I had recalled, and while some images were pretty neat, a lot of it just looked amateurish to me. So, believe it or not, today, I'd likely take Trimpe over McFarlane, as personal preferences go, which would have blown my 12 year old mind.

I literally snort-laughed at that. Well done!