n2wdw

Definitely, all 3 will be going into the vault. And that's a very impressive 14.

Wizard World Philadelphia Con Report - Part 2 (Grails) After picking out the Bakers, I went through Harley's golden age boxes. I picked out a low grade but nice presenting Jungle 71 for $20. Then I focused on Harley's wall books. I was surprised to find 2 major grails, Rangers Comics 14 and 21! Both were in solid condition, particularly the 21. On top of that, Harley had a very nice Junie Prom 7. You never see Junie's. I worked out a deal for the Bakers and these comics, and then I headed over to the CGC booth to submit these 3 comics (I didn't submit any of the Bakers, as I've decided moving forward to keep my Bakers raw unless in higher grade).

I picked up a few Bakers from Harley at WW Philly this week. More in my journal, if interested. (you have to scroll down the page). https://www.cgccomics.com/boards/topic/312873-n2wdws-comic-book-room/?page=43

WW Philadelphia Con Report Went to Philly this week. My con report is in my journal, for anyone who might be interested. You have to scroll down the page to get to it. Thanks for reading https://www.cgccomics.com/boards/topic/312873-n2wdws-comic-book-room/?page=43

Wizard World Philadelphia Con Report - Part 1 (Matt Baker pickups) I spent Thursday and part of Friday of this week at this con. Each year this con becomes more and more pop culture rather than comics. It was amazing the number of dealers selling Pop dolls. For the most part, they all sell the same ones and are competing strictly on price. How can they possibly be making money? The dealer who sells discount statues and 50% off trades had 3 or 4 tables. He seemed to have constant flow of people at his tables. There weren't a lot of comic dealers. By the end of Thursday, I was reconsidering whether to go back to the con on Friday. The con didn't seem worth it for another night away from the family, especially since I have to travel for work next week. I decided to compromise -- I'd go for a couple hours on Friday, then drive home rather than spend another night in the hotel. Boy, I'm glad I did. It's amazing how just one deal can completely change your opinion of a con. It was around 1:30pm yesterday (Friday) when I was taking one more swing through the floor before going home. I decided to quickly walk through artist alley and then head out. Then I saw Harley's booth. I didn't even know he was attending, and I'd missed his booth before then because he was located on the celebrity side of the floor rather than with most of the other comic dealers on the other side. Flipping through Harley's boxes, I found a Baker I didn't have, for a fair price. Harley saw me pull the comic and told he he just got new Bakers in last week. He pulled them out. It was a stack of about 20 Bakers (2 graded, the others raw). I pulled out 2 from the stack. Then I found another one on his wall. In total, I got 4 Bakers from him for a fair price. It completely changed my view of the con, going from a dud to one of the best cons in memory. And that was before I studied Harley's wall and found 2 major grails. I have to go to my Uncle's 90th birthday party so I'll write about that when I get back.

Well it appears the eBay seller wasn't happy I won his auction for $48. He probably thought he could get more with the new season of GOT starting soon. So he never shipped it, without even a single message to me. eBay made him refund my money, but in doing so I can't give him feedback to warn other buyers. So I'll at least give a warning here. The eBay seller is g_c_c_s. Bid on his auctions at your own risk. For me, I'm going to block him and drink some bourbon to get the bad taste out of my mouth.

It's Amazing What You Can Find In a Picked Through Long Box As I prepare my want lists for WW Philly later this week, let me show you this book I recently got back from CGC. I found it at that Annandale VA Firehouse con I've been going to this year. It's amazing the condition of comics you can find sometimes flipping through long boxes at cons. Recently too, I got an autograph of the model, Cathy Christian.

Richie Rich #1 Speaking about last year's WW Philadelphia con, this was the only Richie Rich #1 on sale at the con as far as I could tell. RR #1 has been on my want list for a long time, but the list price of $2000 was too high to even consider an offer. Over the last year though, I managed to check off RR #1 from my want list. Restored, but then that made it way less than $2000. Also, the flaws (color touch, tear seals) are among those that don't bother me.

Wizard World Philadelphia 2017 WW Philly is this coming week and I'll be going. This will be my third year in a row. The first was the most fun, as many Walking Dead cast members attended. I can't remember who attended last year. This year there's Billie Piper ($60) and Jon Cusack ($80). It's not a great con, and last year I told myself I wouldn't return. But the timing is right for me, it's only a few hours drive, and walking around even a so-so con is still a fun way to spend a couple days. Also, the con is right across from the Reading Terminal, and I'm already salivating for the Peking Duck at Sang Kee. This'll be an interesting con for me because I'm really coming to grips with how much space I have (or don't have) in my new comic room. I don't have room for everything. In the past, I might buy something if it caught my eye, but now I have to be more selective. I actually like that enforced discipline, because it helps me focus on my current collecting goals and projects. I bought some pulps the other day because they were cheap and I thought they were cool, but this morning as I tried to find a place to put them in my comic room, I asked myself "exactly why did I buy this?" They're cool, but they don't fit my collection, or what I'm trying to accomplish at the moment. I'll have to keep that in mind as I walk the con floor.

Very impressive. Congrats on fantastic pickups.

Update On My Matt Baker Cover Collection and Lovers' Lane In my goal to get a copy of every comic with a cover by Matt Baker, I won Love Confessions 54 on eBay a few weeks ago. According to my count, there are 290 comics with covers by Baker. With this one, I have 125 of them. Still a long way to go, and a number are rare and all Bakers are getting more expensive (even this beat up, off-the-road Baker cost 58 bucks). I probably have about 10 years left of active collecting in my life (as in 10 years I'll retire). I wonder if I'll be able to complete this collection? This comic is beat up, so I mostly bought it to check it off my list. Still, whenever I'm considering buying a comic like this, I try to focus on the main art of the cover and isolate out the fraying edges. If the main art is good, then I'm more willing to buy the book. For this book, here's what I focused on when considering whether to bid for it. Also on eBay recently, I won a few BakerFan auctions. It appears BakerFan has sold all the Bakers he intends to sell and now is going through the rest of his romance collection. I bought 3 Lovers' Lane comics with sweet covers, especially #13. I also like #9, with the imagery of the church in the background.

I was an underbidder on this one (and on TAT 2 as well). Nice pickup.

I understand your point. Probably if I sold on eBay, as a collector rather than a business, I'd be like you. By the way, very cool Darwyn Cooke WW in your CAF.

It's a free country, you can do what you want. But does a low offer == possible headache? Don't you at least look at their feedback rating? I buy a lot on eBay. My feedback at this moment is below (my eBay ID is 25kcomics so you can check it out if you don't believe me). The last 12 months, my feedback is 301 positive with no negatives or even neutrals. For the seller I was originally talking about, in the last month alone he had 2 books that I would have bought at his BIN price. To be clear, I was willing to pay his asking price, I'm not talking about making an offer. The total for the 2 was about $600. But since he banned me I couldn't buy the books. As a buyer, I'm disappointed with not being able to buy the books. But, having actively collected for over 40 years, I know I'll eventually get the books from other people. Moving forward, whenever I see a listing by this seller I'll just move on.

I agree completely. Though, since then, 1 ebay seller has banned me. I guess I must have offended him at some point in the past, with a low ball offer. I don't get that though. As a seller, don't you want to receive all offers? After all, you can always reject the offer. Here's the thing though. There have been a few times when I would have bought his comics at his BIN price. But his ban of me is so complete that I can't do that either. I can't buy his comics at his asking price. That I really don't get. I offended him so completely he won't take my money?

Thank you for removing the temptation

Junie 5 (and Cindy 37) I've mentioned before that the cover of Junie 5 reminds me of Cindy 37. In fact, of the 2, I probably like Junie better even though Cindy gets all the love (maybe it's a Betty versus Veronica thing). Until recently this was my copy of Junie 5. Recently I was able to upgrade Junie 5 in a big way. The Mile High copy! I want to thank @Ricksneatstuff for selling it to me. Now finally I can put them side-by-side. Thanks for reading.

I'll take it

My want list has definitely been influenced by these boards. The first time I ever saw the cover of Atomic 1 was in @Ricksneatstuff's sale thread. Since passing on it, I've been on a quest to get a copy. There were a couple on eBay but too expensive for my wallet. Finally an affordable one was offered. This time I didn't hesitate and hit the BIN button. As soon as I get it I'll post the cover here.

Rats

Painted Cover By Matt Baker -- Teenage Romances 27 Here's a new addition to my Matt Baker cover collection, Teen-Age Romances 27. CGC doesn't list Baker as the cover artist and, based on that, I assume Overstreet doesn't either (since I think CGC follows Overstreet), but I'm pretty sure it's Baker. The Amash book also credits this cover to Baker. I'd be interested if anyone thinks differently. I admit I'm a sucker for these romantic covers by Baker, especially the ones without word balloons so you can really see the art. What's more romantic than a guy proposing to his girl? It reminds me of Baker's art in Romantic Marriage 24, of the guy carrying his girl up the stairs. But then you see the captions -- "His Best Friend's Wife" and "My Guilty Love" -- and I wonder who's wife is it? That's when it kills me the book is in the slab as I want to read the darn thing.

at 20% off if still available, thanks!

I'll take at 20% off (if still available) Tomb of Dracula issue 6, VF $15 Tomb of Dracula issue 12, VF- $8 Tomb of Dracula issue 30, VF+ $10 Tomb of Dracula issue 32, NM $15 Tomb of Dracula issue 33, NM- $13 Tomb of Dracula issue 69, VF/NM $6