F For Fake

So, it was a fairly busy comic weekend. Friday night I stopped by the LCS to pick up some funds they owed me, and while I was there, I spied this ST 126 on the wall. What's odd is that I'd bought another copy there right before Christmas, slightly lower grade. I'd later sold it while fundraising, and had immediately regretted it, especially these last couple of weeks! SO, when I saw this copy up on the wall at a fair price, I had no choice. They've also recently gotten in a nice chunk of Natlamps, so I've been picking away at them as I appear to be the only one interested in them locally.

Awesome! Such a cool book.

Hey Mike, good to talk to you Saturday! I'm going to try to make it out, we'll see how it goes. My band is playing a festival this weekend, Friday night, and we get admission all weekend, so it'll kind of depend on the wife's plans for me! But if I can get free, I'll see ya out there! Hope it's a good show!

@Azkaban's boardie discount was very generous, and he had some beautiful stuff. Az, if you set up again soon within a couple hours of Louisville, let me know, and I'll try to bring some real money next time. Still kicking myself for not taking that whole box of Heavy Metals with me! Good talking to you!

Hey @WeR138next time definitely say hi, I promise I'm generally pleasant when I need to be! This was a fun show, thanks @fastballspecialfor setting it up. I'd definitely make the trip. It was great to meet FBS, @Azkaban and @Mike Bray! I didn't have much money this weekend, so I tried to at least pick up a couple of things from all of the boardies. I was sticking with the cheap stuff, and found some cool things. I'll post some faves over in CG. Fastball keep us informed, if it happens next year, I'll be back!

I’ve arrived at the halfway point, crashing at the family place at the lake. The wife stayed back in Louisville, so I can dig with no time limits! See y’all tomorrow.

Yeah, isn't Phantom Stranger going on like four or five years now since it first appeared in the catalog? Here's to hoping it finally sees the light of day! Oh right, good call, HIckman's FF did move quickly as well. But I think this Thor volume is the first time in the last few months that I can recall selling out in a few days. Must be a very popular run, or Marvel severely misjudged the demand.

This is pretty much what we knew would happen. Rapid market expansion, people smell money, and suddenly you have a gaggle of insufficiently_thoughtful_persons running around with a t-shirt press and a tacking iron. Meanwhile, CGC can't seem to get the whole grading/encapsulating business down lately. Feels like a very good time to stick with raw, original owner books.

Sweet! Such a great book.

Awesome, I'm looking forward to it! I loved the Brubaker Cap run, so I take that as very high praise indeed. I may need to move this one closer to the front of the read pile!

This stuff showed up this week. While I was occupied with other releases, several recent LoSH HC's have quietly gone out of print. Managed to get a decent deal on this set in an eBay auction, below what I would have paid for BIN for the volumes individually. So, now I need to pick up Before the Darkness V1, as it is starting to creep upwards. V2 is still readily available at a discount. Silver Age Omni 2 is OOP and starting to get stupid. I have a hard time paying nearly $200 for a book that was $55 a year ago. Oh well, I'll be patient. The Thor by Aaron Omni is the rare collection of modern material that caught my eye. Following the everything-selling-out-in-minutes days of the early pandemic era, most omnis released in the last several months have stuck around for weeks and months, even eventually getting discounted. I haven't had any trouble picking up most of what I wanted on my own schedule. However, something told me I should probably get this one sooner rather than later. And I'm glad I did, as it sold out at the usual suspects within a few days, and the eBay prices are already approaching MSRP. With the movie coming soon, I wouldn't be surprised if this one gets a rush reprint, but it doesn't really matter, I've got mine. Will I have time to read it before Thor Love and Thunder is released? That is the question!

These little guys showed up yesterday. Scratch another one off of the list of Toys I Dreamed of As a Kid. I still can't believe we never got these back in the 80's. I know there were eventually 3P versions, and there was a version packed-in with the masterpiece Bumblebee at some point, but this is what I was really looking for. The alt mode just looks like nonsense to me, but that's ok, I can't imagine ever having a need to transform him. I hope they keep using the Core line to bring us more pieces like this, which could scale with the mainline Deluxe/etc figures.

We've been in the 90's all week, and it sucks. I remember Spring. Nowadays, we just have winter, then two months of rain, then summer shows up uninvited.

Ha, well, free advice is worth what you paid for it, but I hope you have good luck with them! There definitely is a market for this stuff, hopefully you can find your buyers. And like I said, you can always mark it down later if it doesn't move. You never know who is out there.

Wow, that's nutty! I picked up a large collection of "serial killer" books in a collection several years ago, I clearly sold them off way too early and cheap! I love horror stuff, but the real killer stuff is a little too distasteful for me, not something I'd hang onto. As for selling, I guess it depends on if you're wanting to turn it over quickly. If you don't mind risking it sitting around for a bit, I'd stick $125 on it (assuming it's in grade) and see if I get any nibbles! If not, you can always drop it to $100, and further, if need be. If you're only selling in person, these sales will depend largely on your clientele. The nice folks at the coin show may not be looking for this sort of material ha But in the larger world of eBay, the collectors of this stuff are definitely out there! Good luck with it!

Indeed, I sold all of my pricier carded Joes a few years ago, just couldn't live with those time bombs. I still buy carded figures if I can find them for, say, under $50, so it's really only the 90's stuff. I think those are still fun to buy on the card, and display nicely. When (not if) the day comes when they blow their o-ring, I can live with being down $20-$50. So, cheap carded figures, and primarily, loose complete figures and vehicles with open boxes. Stuff I can hold and enjoy, and if they break, perhaps I can fix them, and if not, well, it was fun while it lasted. The folks paying THOUSANDS for graded Storm Shadows and Snake Eyes? Yeesh. Bless 'em. I wish them well, but there's no way I could put that kind of money into them. Cheap plastic and cardboard were never meant to last this long. I'm enjoying it for as long as I can, but I'd never put more into any of these toys than I could afford to lose it it all turned to dust one day, which it will.

Definitely saw more cash happening at the only big show I went to. Most dealers became card friendly in the last several years, but this year I heard a lot of buyers being told "Sorry, cash only."

I'd think that's a fair approximation. I would absolutely discount any and all unsold books, especially with higher prices. The only data that really matters is what the books sold for. Those prices may vary based on condition, or totally random factors such as when a particular buyer happened to be looking at eBay that day. But the sold prices should give you an idea. I'd say put them out one at a time. If the first book sells quickly at $20, put the next one out for $25. If it doesn't sell at all at $20, I'd lower the price another $5. I'd absolutely hold onto the signed book until last, and base its price around what the previous copies sold for. If you sell one for $20 immediately, and another for $25 just as quickly, I wouldn't be shy about putting $40-$50 on the signed copy. You can ALWAYS lower prices, but you can't increase a price after a book is sold.

I definitely can't argue with any of that. Like I said, I think the definition is going to vary gradually for each person, so it'll be impossible to ever nail it down. So I can totally agree that we are all, to some extent, "flippers". I guess that's why I try to not pass judgment on anyone for doing it, because I don't want to hate myself (any more than I already do!) I try to be fair with everyone I deal with. That being said, I've definitely bought things that were grossly underpriced specifically because I knew I could resell them. Is that gross? I don't know, maybe. I just try to be honest, and accept a good deal when I find it. I hopefully have more good karma than bad headed my way, but I guess any form of buying and selling is going to have some morally murky areas.

This is very much true. Many years ago, I was just a "hobbyist", and truly, sincerely, 100% ignorant about paying taxes on eBay sales. It never occurred to me because I'd never thought of it as a job. I bought stuff, I sold stuff so I could buy other stuff. Anyway, at some point, I blew past the $20k threshold without realizing it. About four years later I got a notice from the IRS, and had to pay back taxes on two years worth of sales. It was a wake-up call, to be certain. A painful one. But, I cleared my obligation, and since then have kept good records of everything I buy and sell, and any other expenses I have related to the hobby. I pay my share. It is an absolute kick in the BALLS to pay 15% in fees to eBay, then another 22% in income tax, plus self-employment tax, county taxes, etc. Really, truly, it blows. But as long as it's my legal obligation to do so, I will do it, and I will count every penny to make sure I don't pay any more than I absolutely have to. SO that's on me. I blew past $20k years ago, learned my lesson, and now am "legit". That's the price I pay for the hobby I've chosen. But the difference in $600 and $20k is ABSURD, and while I pay my (decidedly un)fair share, I totally empathize with the folks who are going to get that wake up call next year and beyond. It blows. Get your ducks in a row, the IRS is coming.

The True Gein book, in grade, can be a $10-20 book, more if you find the right buyer. The serial killer thing is an offshoot of the horror collectors, and horror collectors will pay big $$$ for books they want. The $100+ asking prices are ludicrous, but I'd not be surprised at all to see a nice copy sell for $20 or $25.

I can only speak for myself, but to me, a "flipper" is someone whose entire interest in comics is on buying for an immediate resale. There is no interest or appreciation in the hobby beyond making immediate profit. Perhaps that's being a gatekeeper, but that's how I feel. I buy comics to sell, I do it all of the time. I also buy comics for my personal collection, I sell stuff so I can buy more stuff for me, I discuss and enjoy the hobby with folks here and elsewhere, etc. "Flipper" connotes "strictly in it for the money." At least to me. Are all dealers flippers? Perhaps, but the vast majority of dealers I know are fans who turned their passion into a business, as opposed to fly by night sellers who smelled money in comics and jumped on the bandwagon. Again, just my personal definition. I'm sure it's different for everyone. (And for what it's worth, I don't even use "flipper" in a necessarily derogatory way. I get it. Easy money is easy money. Do your thing. But I'd rather spend time with and deal with people who actually care about comics themselves, not solely as a source of income. There is no moral judgment in this feeling.)

Hmm, I would have to respectfully disagree. Bisley's art is highly stylized, so it's obviously going to appeal to some folks, and not to others. But Bisley at least has a foundation of fundamentals. He can do "straight" work if the need arises. As they say, you have to learn the rules before you can break them. Meanwhile, Liefeld never learned the rules. There is no foundation to build from, no real understanding of anatomy. It's all style, with zero substance to build said style around. Now, in the interest of full disclosure, I liked Liefeld when I was a kid. I remember picking up What If Wolverine was a member of SHIELD off of the stands, and it blew my mind. I was INTO IT, in a big way. But pretty soon, by the time X-Force rolled around, it was clear that the emperor had no clothes...but he had lots of pouches.