Hamlet

33 minutes ago, D2 said:

But back to your original point... it's fan boys buying multiple copies. I didn't realize this was a thing. Why do I want multiple copies of a book? Apparently people do...

Honestly, I think this is a big thing now for books of most ages.  There are a lot more speculators right now than there usually are.  The rising prices has dragged them in, just like they did in the 90s.  

Luckily, that ended well for everyone involved.

On 5/28/2020 at 5:45 PM, Dergrosse13 said:

I’ve been working on a mostly mid-grade run of Aquaman too, and I agree you can get many of them for very reasonable prices.  I won a My Comic Shop auction recently for a lot of 7 (37, 39, 47, 50, 51, 52 and a Super DC Giant 26), with most grading VG according to MCS (and I find them to be tough graders) for $36 total.  I couldn’t believe it.  I received them today and they are in better shape than I expected.

That’s a nice score at that price.  I really like those Cardy covers.

2 hours ago, awakeintheashes said:

Haven't seen it mentioned, but Dazzler #33 far outperforms most issues in the series, especially in the fall-winter months. Not sure how long it has been this way, but I've noticed it the last couple years.

I had no idea that this sold for anything over a dollar.  Thanks for the head’s up.

2 hours ago, Randall Dowling said:

Mods notified 

33 minutes ago, Randall Dowling said:

This statement displeases me.

I think you are looking at it wrong.  We’ve been priced out of owning the big Marvel keys because we aren’t willing to spend the insane money that others have bid them up to.  However, people aren’t bidding the Timely books up in the same way.  When we were kids, the Timely books were mythical books that we felt would be forever unobtainable.  We can now obtain them because the market has focused on piling all of their money into the same 50 books.  I think I need to acquire a Timely or two.

On 11/28/2020 at 8:47 PM, Randall Dowling said:

Vampirella 20, October 1972, VF 8.0-8.5, $75, Cover art by Luis Dominguez. This striking yellow cover is really unusual for the run and this copy is very clean with only a few non color breaking issues keeping it from grading higher.

I’ll take this at 20% off.

9 hours ago, OtherEric said:

Aha!  Pulling the old "Find a nicely presenting reader copy of a hard to find issue of Eerie cheap from MCS" trick, are you?  Well, two can play at that game!  In today from MCS:

I actually had that in my cart and removed it, since I already have several copies.  So you’re welcome 😊 

My question is what do you like to collect and why?  Are you a Spidey fan that is nostalgic for those 80s black costume issues and want them in your collection?  Or are you just interested in buying hot books because they are hot as speculation?  

I wouldn’t buy them expecting them to go up a lot from here, TBH.  
 

If you are speculating, I prefer the strategy of finding something cool that isn’t super hot right now, rather than piling into the same few books that everyone seems to be chasing currently.

FYI, I’m a Spidey collector that started in the 80s, so I own all three books.  I’ve actually considered getting my 300 graded and selling it because I think the money it is going for right now is silly.   I probably won’t, since my Spidey run is the core of my collection, but I question how sustainable this runup is.

On 9/28/2020 at 7:32 AM, KirbyJack said:

If you want a quarter bin series to read, I suggest Alien Legion. It's really fun. If I knew a Netlix exec, I'd pitch it to him as an ongoing series.

Shh!  I'm trying to fill a long box of Alien Legion #1 out of dollar boxes before this happens

I only have like 8-9 copies so far.  The pandemic has really crimped my hoarding style.

2 minutes ago, Randall Dowling said:

@Hamlet had a bottle and I think he's a fan.  Maybe he'll show up here as a lot of Gene's books are right up his alley.

I’m embarrassed to say I ended up selling it to my neighbor, since he said he could flip it for a decent amount more than I bought it for.  At the end of the day, I just don’t get that much value out of high end bourbon beyond something like Eagle Rare 10 ( which is now getting hard to find itself ).  

All the reviews I’ve read about Blanton’s have said its good but not really worth paying a big premium over suggested retail.

My neighbor gave me enough for the Blanton’s to buy four bottles of the Eagle Rare ( which is probably a two-year supply at my consumption rate ).

28 minutes ago, Greatwhite said:

It has an unverified McFarlane signature. i just wanted a good copy of the book. i bought it without knowing anything about the green blue label thingy...i wondered why there were fewer bids on it than other books that were selling at the time but didn't learn until i had it in hand. didn't even notice the difference when i was bidding. But i am just happy to have a nice copy as i cannot afford one now. I have no plans to sell it. it will be going to a lady friend's little boy who loves Venom. so because i will not sell it, who cares what color the label is.

That’s really the best cause for a green label.  Usually it is something that is a dealbreaker for me, like a missing page.

I don't really follow new comics much, but some of his Catwoman covers caught my eye.  For the first time in years, I've got some moderns heading my way.

8 hours ago, Randall Dowling said:

I've seen a few copies of this book that have been badly miscut.  A buddy has a copy like this that I wrongfully maligned for years.  Although it's possible that this book was commonly trimmed, I find it far more likely they were just miscut at production.

My copy resembles that remark

Where are the New Universe collectors?

7 minutes ago, shiverbones said:

No way that won’t come back as an icon of the 80s and be sought after again

Yeah, I love the cover and was glad to grab a cheap copy.  

On 9/8/2020 at 9:51 PM, divad said:

Ok, what's hot in copper?

A week between posts is unacceptable. 

Apparently not this-

I just got it at a local convention for $7.50.  I remember it being a big deal back in the day.  My old copy wandered off, so I was happy to replace it at a reasonable price.  Great cover, but the art inside leaves something to be desired.

2 hours ago, Stevemmg said:

Due to arrive on Monday. A nice trio. 
 

 

Sure, but none of them have White pages 😀

2 hours ago, 1Cool said:

Wow - $7 minimum?  So a book valued at less then $60 is better on E-Bay.  Good to know.

It depends on how much you value offloading the work to MCS.  I generally am not willing to sell on EBay.  I’m not interested in scanning books, listing them, shipping them individually and then dealing with complaints, grading disputes, returns, and the inevitable scammers you will find buying on Ebay.  I also would never be selling enough to get the kind of following needed on Ebay to get good prices on raw books.

I’m not willing to deal with the hassle of selling on Ebay at this point in my life.  However, shipping a stack of books to MCS so that they can scan, grade, and handle all of the work of selling is something I’ve been willing to do.

The drawbacks are that it takes them a couple of weeks to get them up on their site, and the $7 minimum is a decent chunk of the cheaper books.  However, to me that beats having to do the work of selling on EBay.

On 9/8/2020 at 2:50 PM, shadroch said:

If you are going to list a few dozen ebay BINs, why not ship them to MCS and let them do the heavy lifting.  You save the paypal fee and the hassle of packing and shipping the books?

This is what I do.  The main issue is that the books need to be worth enough to make the minimum fees of MCS worth it.  They have a minimum of $7 on raw books, so Ebay becomes more attractive fee-wise for the inexpensive books. 

Blood and souls for my lord Arioch!
 

13 hours ago, Jesse-Lee said:

Raw copies of that book typically sell between $8-$20 depending on grade, but you're relying on a seller's grading and some online photos, so you can't be assured of a high grade. I recently found a copy of Wolverine #17 in a CGC 9.2 for $45 shipped. So based on raw books, you're paying a $20 premium over a presumptive NM (using the $20 sales price for raw as a ceiling), but you're guaranteed a minimum 9.2 grade and your investment shouldn't really diminish over time if it's a solid performing book (vs. buying what you hope/think is a NM+ raw copy and having it come back an 8.5 for example).

I’d go with raw copies rather than buying a CGC’d 9.2 given those price points.  You should be able to select raw books that are 9.2+, either by buying in person or by choosing sellers that are consistent graders.

You talk about being guaranteed a minimum grade by buying the 9.2 slab, but are also capping your maximum grade.  I’d rather carefully buy the raw books looking to do better than a 9.2 for half the money.

Of course, all of this depends on your goals and how you want to spend your time.  If you just want to get a decent copy of the book at a reasonable price and not have to spend a lot of time messing around online, I can see paying a $25 dollar premium just to be sure you are getting the book you want with a minimum of hassle.

On 8/9/2020 at 11:10 PM, Hamlet said:

Yeah, the one at MCS is a lot nicer and is “only” $189.

Honestly, the one that has been listed forever at $100 on Ebay is probably nicer.

Either someone can’t grade or they are looking for a sucker.

 

Someone finally bought the one listed at $100-

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Eerie-Warren-23-VG-Warren-low-grade-comic-save-on-shipping-details-ins/313022519000?hash=item48e19896d8:g:TWwAAOSwnWFerKc9

Is there still a way to see what the accepted offer was?