F For Fake

I was "upgraded" to the new Seller's Dashboard (or whatever they're calling it) this weekend, and it blows. I have to look in three different places to find my Sold and Unsold items, see which ones are "awaiting shipping" etc. Every time they upgrade, it's definitely a downgrade.

The "masking" and profanity filters and censorship in general are such bull. This is a message board used by adults. The fact that our language is policed like we're grade schoolers is beyond ridiculous. I understand that it's not my playground so I don't get to make the rules, so I abide by them. But I still think they're dumb.

Well you've just added a book to my list that I'm going to have to track down. That just looks amazingly awful. Wow. Gotta have one.

Oh, no worries, you can get personal! I guess there are several different facets that go into this thinking, but you've hit on the major ones. 1. As I get older (and I'm only 41) I realize that if something were to happen to me, this stuff is just going to be a burden for my wife. We don't have children, or any family who are interested in any of this stuff. So, it's just going to get sold off at some point anyway, and knowing my wife, she is not the sort that is going to try to get top dollar by selling it off piece by piece, maximizing her profit. And she's definitely not going to want to keep any of it. She isn't a "stuff" person. So, is it better to burden her with it after I'm gone, or is it better to sell it off now and at least we can both enjoy the money and the "fruits of my labor"? 2. I think I definitely enjoy the "thrill of the hunt" more than I enjoy owning the stuff itself...though I DO enjoy owning the stuff. 3. I am a little OCD, I like to keep things pretty orderly, but at this moment I've amassed more than I can catalog and display to my liking, so it sorta makes me...nervous... It wouldn't be unprecedented for me to sell it all off. I've changed my focus a lot over the years. Sold all of my "floppies" in favor of getting into trades/HC's. Sold the trades and HC's to get back into floppies. Sold all my comic stuff to buy comic art. Sold my comic art to buy toys. Sold my toys to buy statues. Etc. It's cyclical, as my interests shift over the years. For the last year or so I've been back to buying everything (comics, books, toys AND art) because there are so many good deals out there, and I love all of those things in different ways. I also collect movies, and physical media has never been cheaper, as more and more people switch to streaming. I've been buying tons of Blu Rays, DVDs, even reigniting my old Laser Disc passion! Meanwhile, stacks of movies and boxes of comics are piling up faster than I can integrate them. So, right now I'm in an accumulation phase. But I can feel the purge coming. Whether I shift focus, reinvest, or just sell it all and be done, remains to be seen. Although I FEEL old, 41 isn't old, so I realize that if I sell it all now, I'm probably going to regret it in a couple of years, meaning I'd have to pay more to buy it all back. And that is what has me holding on...for now!

It's an amazing collection of exactly the kind of oddball stuff I enjoy. But while I can see how it would be very tough to let it go, I can also see how it might be liberating. Sometimes I look around at all of my junk and think "Why not pretend like I only have a few months to live, and sell all of this ?" For a moment, it is a freeing feeling. Then I go buy more junk.

Similar to other posters, I don't think I've ever paid tax on a cash purchase at a con, but I have paid it when using a card.

It's very, very tempting. I don't really collect anything outside of the Bat-verse, so I'm afraid this might create a slippery slope and suddenly I'm picking up Green Lantern and Aquaman, etc. But it IS very pretty.

Oh for sure, I was the same way for years. It seemed SO important that it all be in the right place! I was the same with movies, all needed to be seperated out by studio or director, etc. These days with my vinyl I just go A to Z by artist, with sountracks and scores at the end. I don't know why I gave myself such a headache when I was a kid.

Awesome pick up! I think Leonardi is so underappreciated. Terrific.

I can answer, as I actually collect both Hughes and WW. For the most part, all of my books are in a general A-Z order (with the "good books" pulled out and kept in acid free flip top boxes), with specific artists that I collect pulled out and kept at the end of the collection. (Bolland, Hughes, Mignola, Simonson, Stevens.) For me, any book worked on by one of those artists goes in that artist's section at the end. When I was a kid, I was very OCD about keeping everything rigidly seperated. Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, Image, all had their own sections, etc. But as an adult, it's just not worth the work anymore, especially considering that there are thousands of books which are in all likelihood going to sit in carboard boxes, unopened and unexplored, for years at a time. So I keep it simple now, A-Z, then those specific artists alpha by last name, and all books featuring those artists are kept in their sections. Don't cause yourself much stress overthinking it.

Wow, that's terrific! Beautiful display. I collected proto figs for a while but got out of it when I streamlined my collection. But it's very cool stuff, indeed!

The '90 Keaton Bats is an all timer. One of the few HT's I've held onto, and I won't be selling. Super figure.

There are two nice Bowen SW statues, the early one a classic look, and a later one with a more dynamic pose, including a variant with a huge cape. Sideshow did a premium format that was...ok. Body sculpt was fine but the face wasn't quite right. They also released what is probably my favorite, a fun version based on a Mark Brooks piece. (Note, these aren't my pics.)

Nice, sharp copies!

I was actually talking about The Betty Pages mags/zines. I used to have all of them once upon a time, just haven't gotten around to buying them back. I've got the Zippos, they are swell!

Gimme all them Bettie Pages! Maybe!

Precisely. eBay isn't collecting any Final Value Fees off of stuff that's just sitting around unsold. If a 20% sale gets a bunch of stuff to move that wasn't going to sell otherwise, eBay is sitting pretty.

UGH. I love Batman. I hate variants. This blows.

Feebay. It went fast, shoulda asked for $60! But, like I said, they weren't perfect. Someone list a NM set and satisfy my curiosity!

I sold a complete (223-239) mid-grade (average condition Fine with a few a little better, a couple a littler lower) raw set of the McFarlane Marvel Tales books for $50 a couple of weeks ago. Would be curious to see what a true NM set would sell for.

Well I be damned, I never knew that. Of course, I've also never actually read a Ninjak comic. But this at least makes sense, as opposed to my theory of "I guess someone just thought it sounded cool."

Unfortunately, eBay does not care. They do not want to hear from their users, especially angry ones. They make it intentionally difficult to contact them by phone, all that cloak and dagger nonsense of filling out a form in order to get a temporary pin number and phone # to contact, etc. That's not a company that is interested in hearing from people. I've been selling eBay for 20+ years, and on average, though they have been extremely frustrating, unfairly punitive towards sellers, etc I have put up with it, because they are the only game in town. Whatever is coming down the pike is sure to suck, but unless an viable alternative is created, I imagine most of us will roll with it.

Yeah, it kills me, I had a couple of copies of the "Perfect Collection" (the big, blue trade you're talking about) in dead mint condition. Perfect spine, sharp corners, etc. I ended up selling them for peanuts because I already had all of the material collected and figured the trades were redundant. SO, a while back I thought "Oh, I may as well buy a copy for the permanent collection, even if I already have the comics" and couldn't BELIEVE the prices! Insanity! For a number of years you couldn't even get MSRP for it. Oh well, that's how things tend to go for me. For the most part you can still get the Viz comics, including the terrific prestige format first series, for a buck or two.

Yeah, the old shot was most likely edited on video so I doubt there's any sort of master that would transfer well to HD. I don't even have the full DVD set myself, they were pretty pricey when they came out, though probably not as bad as when I used to pay $40 for a 60 min long VHS tape. Hopefully we'll get more of the OVAs and theatrical releases on Blu at some point, as those should have better masters, I'd think. Ok, thread hijack over, sorry gang!

Also, to be fair, I may be a bit biased. You could say I'm a fan.