F For Fake

This is what kills me. It's one thing for HPB to cluelessly sell me a hot book for $1. It's another to be the poor guy that sold it to HPB for about 5 cents. Holy smokes. One of our HPB's is in a relatively affluent part of town, so I just assume that the people selling there just don't care about the money, they're just dumping junk. I'm not complaining!

Love it! I think the Whale/Hovercraft is going to be my focus at the Joe show this summer. Last year I got my Terrordrome and a bunch of other stuff, but a complete Whale with unbroken vanes is the target going forward. It was my absolute favorite Joe vehicle as a kid. I took it out in the pool almost every day. What a great toy.

God bless the HPB!

I've seen several dealers advertise that they are "paying full guide for keys". I think the important part is "guide", because I'd imagine they're using OSPG to come up with their "value" for the books, and it is often woefully outdated, especially on books that are suddenly hot. Probably still good money left in paying full "guide" for hot books. Anyway, I have no actual experience as I see no reason to sell a book to a dealer when I can sell it myself.

That book is a winner no matter how you slice it! Then again, I'm most a low grade guy myself. Love it!

Definitely feeling RMA's Bat-picks, and the Joe logo as well. Here are some others that were crucial to me coming up.

@Pirate what days did you go and how were the crowds? I used to go to this show every year, but it's gotten so huge, it's crazy. Last year I thought the buying was pretty weak, and you couldn't even get near the place on Saturday. So, since there were zero guests I was interested in and buying was lackluster last year, I skipped it this year, and am planning on heading up to Gem City instead. I know Lex added a Thursday just for comics stuff this year, and considered running up just for that. I wonder how it worked out for them, attendance wise. Glad you had a good buying time!

I've got the Glamour International...somewhere. It's oversized so I'm not sure where it's tucked away. I think I got it at Bud Plant in a pack of some sort many, many years ago. Never seen one of those Back Issues in person. That's great.

Agreed. If it's a book that is recently hot, it's likely that OP isn't the only one looking for the book. Seems just as likely that someone else found the book, saw the same bargain you saw, and jumped on it. I see no reason to accuse anyone of BS.

I haven't picked up any Mafex figs, but I DO like the alternate Ruby Quartz Glasses look they gave him, that's one we've never had before. Very cool!

I'm pretty sure there is still a fan base out there. The trades have remained in print all of these years, and have also earned lovely Absolute Editions. Ennis has a following, for sure.

I like your idea and am prepared to greenlight it.

Ah, THERE We go! That Wolvie standee hung up in my LCS for many years, I loved it soooo much. Would love to have one now but they seem to close around $300, which is more than I'm wanting to spend. Also love the DKR 3D display, that's definitely not one you see very often.

Thanks! I got lucky, they'd just put most of them out the day before. They're still sloooooowly rolling out this collection they bought back in January. Having finished up the silver Marvels, they seem to be moving into the bronze stuff now. Most of these are right in the VF sweet spot: they look nice, but don't break the bank. I'm happy with 'em!

Fun day at the LCS!

I tend to believe (and agree with those who've stated the same) that the market sorts itself out. If people come in asking sky high prices, and no one bites, they'll adjust. If they sell, then they'll feel justified in asking the high price. I don't have a problem with anyone asking whatever they want. I don't have to buy. But i do reserve the right to make strange noises and funny faces at really ridiculous asks.

But they're not paying a fee to sell here. They're paying Paypal a fee to use Paypal. The forums are free to sell on. If you sell through eBay, or CLink, you're paying 10%+ in listing/closing/etc fees to those venues, PLUS the 3% Paypal fee.

Complete sets will still sell, even just the base sets without the holograms. Marvel Universe Series 1 complete base set if still a $25-$30 sale, and obviously it's more if the chase cards are included. You can get about $100 for a complete run of Marvel Universe series 1-4, or 1-5. If you don't have complete sets, there are still some individual cards that will sell. The Stan Lee card from Series 1 is still a $5 or so card, although that's down from highs around $20-$30 right after he died. So, yeah, not a ton of money, but if they're in nice shape, there will still probably be buyers.

Oh trust me, that maniac makes a Flerkin look tame!

I definitely didn't notice anything, but then again, I wasn't looking for anything. I think the film was made in a way (even in light of the participation of the US Air Force) that could be interpreted as either pro or anti military, depending on the viewer. I haven't kept up with the comics in a long time, but historically I believe Carol was portrayed as being a fairly conservative character. I didn't see much evidence either way in the movie. But then again, I wasn't trying to. PS: and by "conservative", I am not only referring to the conservation of fabric in her halter/booty short era costume.

It's possible that a book that has already been published is sitting out there, waiting for that big "pop" to key status. I think that Harley Quinn, Deadpool and Venom are usually held up as the only examples of characters created in the last 30 years or so that have had true enduring popularity. But maybe something is buried out there, waiting for the moment.

Went to see Captain Marvel with my wife and 11 year old niece this weekend. They loved it. I thought it was fine. Then again, I think most Marvel movies are "fine". They're colorful, loud, funny distractions, but most of them aren't exactly what I'd call great films. And that, of course, is "fine". So, by that measurement, I thought Captain Marvel was pretty fun, on par with the Ant-Man flicks, which are becoming, over time, my favorite Marvel movies, because they're airy and fast and fun and aren't totally bogged down in continuity and solemnity. CM has plenty of connections to the overall Marvel U (tons of them, actually) but is enjoyable as its own self-contained thing, which, to me, is great. It feels a little slight, but on the other hand, I don't know why popcorn flicks now have to be 3 hours long these days, so I didn't really mind the fact that CM moved along pretty swiftly. I did enjoy the novelty of a female lead with zero love interests or romantic storylines. She was just a tough and talented pilot who turned into a tough and talented hero. It was refreshing. The movie is not politicized, it is not heavy handed. It's just a zippy little superhero story. It's amazing to me what people will get all bent out of shape about. Afterwards, we took the niece to the LCS so she could spend the gift certificate I got her for her birthday. I wondered if she'd be looking for Captain Marvel books, but she ended up buying a bunch of Garfield stuff, a Wonder Woman button, a Black Panther button, and a mood ring. So, yeah, maybe not best to stake our financial futures on back issues of Ms Marvel. I think a lot of folks like the movie, including little girls who are super excited about it, but I'm not sure that it's going to result in long-term results in back issue sales.

Good to know my memory isn't TOTALLY shot...yet! Yeah, I think comics-related ephemera like that is so cool. It's in the comics wheelhouse, but just different enough to be cool, and rare enough to be fun to chase. You'll be happy to know that the Bettie books are nestled safely in my collection, in their permanent home. I sold my original set several years ago, stupidly. So these are keepers! Now, about that Iger book...

The upside of the horror books is that since most shops and dealers overlook them, you can sometimes find them in dollar bins. It's usually one or the other: crazy high, or crazy cheap. There's little in between.

yeah, loved that thread and collection. Believe I bought a set of The Bettie Pages from that haul. Great stuff.