F For Fake

Wasn't trying to rain on your parade, just engaging in a conversation on a chat board. There wasn't anything negative about my speculation.I don't personally care one way or the other.

I wondered that myself, but I'm thinking that Gaiman is a big enough star that he could flex enough power to get his way if the publisher raised a stink. During a crisis such as this, no publisher is going to want to look like the bad guy if the writer themselves is giving permission. Just a hunch. There aren't a ton of authors who still move serious numbers of physical books. I'd wager Gaiman is one of the bigger names capable of doing so.

I'm sorry my friend. It will always hurt, but it does get easier. I'm sure you have many good memories to treasure.

I'm pretty liberal, and I think that representation and diversity in comics is a good thing, but, that being said, this is some of the dumbest, pandering, tone deaf junk I've seen in some time. There's a right way to be inclusive. This ain't it.

Happy bd Jimmers! Welcome back, Ditch!

What a week! I've been away for a few days, looks like I've missed some stuff. I usually use the boards to kill some time at work, but as of Monday morning I'm working from home (which is something I never thought would happen) and the truth is that there isn't much work to be done! When that's the case in the office, I can turn to the boards. But at home I've got a lot of competitors for my attention during downtime, including the wife (who still has to go in to her office two days a week), the cats, the front porch, and all of my junk. So I haven't given the boards much love lately. Right now I'm primarily concerned about my folks (both in their late 70's, and Dad has a history of lung issues due to prolonged exposure to asbestos) and wife (asthma). Last week we were all at a funeral for two days (my last living uncle, which is a real bummer itself on top of the corona madness) and there was a lot of hugging, handshaking, crying and nose-blowing. If the four of us make it a couple more weeks with zero symptoms, I'll rest much easier. Until then, anxiety is running high for a variety of reasons. How much worse will it get before it gets better? Should I be panic selling or panic buying? Which of the cats will we have to eat first? Being locked in is no big deal. Having a government mandated excuse to stay home sounds good to me! I'd never leave the house if I didn't have to, so having a break from four different bands and various events is a nice breather, actually. I don't get cabin fever, and I don't think I've ever been truly bored in my life. So anyway, I may be a little scarce, but I do hope you're all safe and well. Take care of yourselves and each other. I'll pop in and out here and there, and always think of my fellow boardies fondly. Be good.

The Lord Humungus teaches wisdom!

JUST WALK AWAY

I've been training for this apocalypse most of my life, thanks to movies and video games. See y'all on the other side!

Here's the poll I was thinking of. Of course it's just a sampling, but the majority seemed to be, as I thought, 40's and 50s, with 51-55 just edging out 41-45. Personally, I'm 43, but I don't look a day over 72.

Didn't we do an boardie age poll a while back? Seemed like the majority of us were in the 40-50 range. Which is why we're all going to retire at the same time, try to cash out at the same time, and destroy the market at the same time.

WOOOOOW! Awesome pickup! Man, you gotta love those bright colors and designs of the box art. Too cool. Congrats!

See, that's interesting, I bought a Batman because I wanted to give the line a chance. Ended up selling it. I just didn't dig it. The plastic seemed kinda soft and rubbery, the sculpt very generic. Articulation was good, but yeah, over all, it just didn't do it for me, so I'm not going down that rabbit hole. I may pick up a Superman to keep because it seems like a very nicely designed figure, but Batman and other figures just left me "meh". Oddly enough, these days I find myself getting into the DC Essentials line from DC Direct. I didn't dig these at all when they first came out, the sculpts looked bland, they come with ZERO accessories or parts (no extra hands, etc) and I just didn't dig the style. I was also bitter about the cancellation of the DC Icons line, a line that I TRULY loved. True, scale was all OVER the place, but they were such nice sculpts and came with so many accessories, they were a ton of fun. Due to the aforementioned scale issues they were difficult to display, even within the same line, but still some really nice toys. BUT, with the recent waves, I have changed my tune on Essentials. The Knightfall Batman is, I think, the best Batman action figure ever made. This is the Batman figure I've waited most of my life for. It's beautiful. And the other figures in that way (Green Lantern, Sinestro and Catwoman) are similarly gorgeous. Sculpts and paint are terrific, they scale nicely, etc. Again, no accessories to speak of, but they are just really nicely made, solidly articulated figures. I've gone back and also picked up Shazam/Black Adam, Cheetah, and a couple of others. However, I have concerns that DC is about to wrap the line up. The only new figures shown at Toy Fair were a line of "DCEased" zombie figures (which are really just repaints with new head sculpts) and a set of JLA repaints. No new characters or sculpts at all. I'm worried that I'm getting into the line just as it's about to give up the ghost. But McFarlane didn't offer much hope either.

Oh, there's no real "rules", I was just curious about what set everyone off on their collecting journey. So these stories are perfect!

Nah, not tons. The Hobgoblin is probably the most expensive domestic release, around $200 these days. Most of the rest are in the $50-$100 range, carded. There are three European only releases (Iceman, Constrictor, Electro) that are worth around $300-$500, but you don't see them very often over here.

Probably my favorite x-men book since I was a kid. It embraced the history and mythology of the entire X-Men mythos while pushing the story in a new direction. I also loved the characterizations. Just a great book, can't wait to reread it.

Aw carp, gotta grab it before it goes oop again! Thanks for the heads up!

Ugh, yes, terrible stuff. Even new on the shelf they looked like they'd been dropped in a puddle.

Appreciate the vote of confidence, but I'd defer to the smarter guys. I use Meguairs Plast-X to clear up scuffs on toy windshields and the like, but I'd hesitate to try it on a slab.

A year or two ago, DC switched over to a non-glossy paper for their books (or at least the ones I was reading) and it was GREAT. The texture of newsprint but a little heartier, soaked up the color well and didn't glare. I dropped moderns a while back, so I don't know if they stuck with that paper stock or not, but they ARE still using it with (some) of their collections, and it's fantastic. I hated the crinkly glossy tissue like paper, but this newer stuff is great.

I use "send offer" quite a bit, for inventory that has been sitting for a while but has several "watchers". If I haven't received any offers, but the item has several people watching it, I know folks find it interesting, but maybe I'm a shade high (although I generally always price my items below the cheapest BIN price I can find.) Sometimes that extra $5 or $10 off in a sent offer will turn a watcher into a buyer, and I can move my inventory. I'm about turning stuff over moreso than getting top dollar for everything. Send Offer is just another tool.

Beauty! That's still probably my favorite cover of all time, for any book. Just love the greens and Steranko's design. I had him sign a copy about 25 years ago and I was an insufficiently_thoughtful_person, putting it right into the bag as soon as he signed it, which of course smudged it! It was personalized so it has no value other than sentimental, but I wish I hadn't screwed it up! Great book, congrats!

And that's leads me to something I'd been meaning to post for a while now. I thought this might be fun. Do you remember the first toy you bought as a collectible? Meaning you didn't buy it to play with, but rather it was something that you bought specifically with collectibility in mind. If so, what was it? Do you still have it? And is there a story behind the purchase? Heres mine: When I was about 9 or 10 years old I went to a comic book show at a local shopping mall. This was the mid to late 80s when such shows were still pretty common. I found a booth that had action figures on the wall, and this one caught my eye. I had a few Secret Wars figures, but I knew this was something I'd never seen before. It was all I could think about. It was $30, and at that time $30 may as well have been $300, as I didn't have that kind of money as a kid. But I was obsessed with this figure. I knew it was special. So, I made a contract with my parents, swearing to do any chores on demand in addition to my usual jobs. Mow the lawn, clean the house, whatever they wanted done until they felt it was paid off. My folks have always been softies, god bless em, so they agreed and gave me the $30 to bring him home. They may still have that contract somewhere, I'm not sure. I couldn't let myself open him up no matter how much I wanted to. It was proudly displayed on my top bookshelf. And from there I was off to the races. I still played with toys, but I also collected them. Since that time, as I grew up, I sold and rebought my comic and toy collections a couple of times, but I've never let this guy out of my sight. So what's your story?

FB has been delivering some good pickups lately! Grabbed these from a very nice young man today. I'd inquired about the Wolvie, and he offered me a deal on Hobby that I couldnt refuse. He's unpunched too! When we met up he handed me the Snake Eyes and said he was giving it to me because I'd told him I collect Joes, so he was throwing it in. Very nice guy! He also had an Iceman, but I've already got one, so I passed for now. His price was very fair if I needed it for the personal collection, but not much room if I was reselling. I may go back for it later though as they're pretty uncommon around here, wouldn't hurt to have two!

Awesome, thanks for the detailed breakdown, much appreciated! I think I'm going to go this route for sure!