stormflora

On 12/12/2023 at 10:44 AM, CAHokie said:

Some will also show up with a bill not agreed to or a problem and if you don’t pay them they won’t let you get your stuff. They know they have the person over a barrel in that situation. Thats why I just used the pods. It may cost more but less hassle. 

This happens a lot, even in other industries like construction/renovation as well. Sometimes costs/expenses turn out to be more than what the company expected, and they sure as hell are not going to take a loss for their time, so they force it onto the customer and stunt their credit if they refuse to pay the added difference.

On 12/12/2023 at 2:31 AM, godzilla43 said:

I would say comics as a investment are unstable. Yeah modern raw book can go from 100$ -> 10$ in bad auction but a Silver age key can go from 10 000$ -> 5 000$. 
Best advice about comics is collect what you like. That what I have done buy stuff I want and being in mindset that yes I will loose money and for stuff I don't care I have bought from dollar bins.. 

Very true. From what I've seen, unless you're getting high-valued comics at a total steal (from someone who doesn't know how to price it/estate auction/yard sale/etc.), any sort of profit margin is likely to be offset by the time, effort, and fees/costs of acquiring the comic itself. You're better off just working overtime.

Try checking PriceCharting.com for eBay sale prices of your comics. Gives you an idea for the range of prices they've sold at in the past.

On 12/11/2023 at 11:07 PM, mycomicshop said:

I'm here, but yes, emailing service@mycomicshop.com is what you should do first if you have a problem with your order. 
 

@stormflora if you DM me the email address on your account I can check on the status of your inquiry. 

Sent! Thank you very much!

On 12/11/2023 at 10:38 PM, VintageComics said:

It was genuine. You're thoughtful, insightful, inquisitive and patient. All longtime, well respected qualities that seem to counter a lot of energy that seems to pour into here these days. 

I put the laughing emoji because I'm not sure what you have up your sleeve 

But so far, great stuff! 

Why, thank you very much,  You made my night.

On 12/11/2023 at 10:06 PM, VintageComics said:

I'm not that much older than you, but can I say how much I enjoy your insightful replies and questions (so far, anyway )? They're like a breath of fresh air on the internet. 

Is that sarcasm, or genuine praise? I can't tell behind a computer screen      If it's the latter, then thanks a bunch man, I appreciate it  

I guess I'm bringing some life into what is a gradually dying hobby. Or well, becoming primarily confined to the elderly audience.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/256335805201?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=37iA-xwgS2S&sssrc=2047675&ssuid=TgHbm6Z1Tcu&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

For anyone interested.

On 12/11/2023 at 8:21 PM, Pantodude said:

Late to this party.  Boy this thread took a couple of detours to this point!  Interesting stuff.  But going back to the OP's topic, just wanted to chime in regarding Bugs Bunny and the original Looney Tunes in general (i'm referring to the 1940s/1950s fare) as an exception.  I generally moved on to superheros as I became a teenager, like most, but Bugs Bunny never took a back seat to anyone, even as I got older.  As a young'n, I spent my Saturday mornings watching Bugs, Elmer, Daffy, etc., and it was very good fun.  I (and thankfully, my mom) was oblivious to the fact that it was meant for more mature (or just mature!|) audiences.  It's like the PCH and war comics that should never have been accessible to children (but thank goodness they were!).  Hard to believe that Elmer Fudd used a gun for soooo long (only removed relatively recently), unless you appreciate that the intended audience was actually adults from day one.  I came across this interesting article:     https://www.deseret.com/entertainment/2020/6/12/21287067/hbo-max-looney-tunes-elmer-fudd-gun-violence#:~:text=The original 'Looney Tunes',were absolutely made for adults.”

Here's an excerpt:   

The book ”Reading the Rabbit: Explorations in Warner Bros. Animation,” by Kevin S. Sandler, explains that creator Tex Avery said he “leaned more toward the adult audience.” And animator Chuck Jones said the cartoons “were absolutely made for adults.” So those 1940s “Looney Tunes” shorts that aired? They “were absolutely not for children,” said Kyra Hunting, an assistant professor of media and arts studies at the University of Kentucky.   

Mature or not, those cartoons were also very clever and often accompanied by great music.  Rossini's Barber of Seville overture, Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries, Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2, the list goes on and on.  Perhaps not surprising because I was so young, but I honestly don't recall listening to classical music before Bugs Bunny!  Watching those cartoons, especially as a child, was a loaded (excuse the pun) experience.  Unavoidably memorable, in a good way.    

Many collectors gravitate toward comic book versions of things they like (Star Trek #1 (Gold Key 1967) and Scooby Doo #1 (Gold Key, 3/1970) have been gaining traction for years now).  So I'm not surprised at the pretty penny commanded by Bugs Bunny's first comic book appearance in Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies Comics #1 (Dell Publishing, 1941) due to nostalgia and/or the enduring appeal of the high-quality, mature enterainment.  Bugs remains popular is the point.  A cartoon character need not have many dimensions to have the staying power of superheroes or human characters among a maturing audience, just the right dimensions (however few, yeah, here's looking at you Scooby Doo!) done well.  But, in the Looney Tunes family, that might apply more to Elmer Fudd and Daffy Duck than to Bugs.  Arguably, Bugs was at least as sophisticated as any cartoon portrayal of a superhero or human character, with all the seemingly endless role-playing and cross-dressing we saw with Bugs!  One thing's for sure:  however many dimensions Bugs did have in those classic shorts, they were done equisitely well.

All that said, Peanuts #1 (United Features Syndicate, 1953) is another cartoon comic book that has done just fine (i.e., it's a pricey book), but this time without mature content.  And I mentioned Scooby Doo #1.  So for the good stuff, notalgia alone and/or appreciation of historical significance could maintain a book's popularity across generations without being superhero-related.  

Thank you for your thorough insight and personal experience. It was fascinating reading through your story.

It does seem that the cartoon characters that were catered to teenagers/adults had longer lasting power than the ones strictly catered to children. I guess that makes sense--you can still watch/read the cartoons and get a good laugh out of them as you grow older.

I imagine that by the 80's or so, trends had changed and people started to move onto different things. New readers can feel daunted and pressured by the feeling that they needed to start the series from the very first issue instead of picking it up in the middle, as TPBs/compilations were not yet common (if any, for the cartoon spectrum). This would've deterred a lot of new readers who likely adopted superhero comics instead because their friends and peers had done so.

So I guess subject matter was the key factor, and most of those Dell/Gold Key cartoon characters simply could not provide enough for the older audience to keep them subscribed. With televisions and movies becoming much more prevalent in peoples' daily lives, there was no lack of alternative entertainment mediums either, which was an issue during the Golden/Silver Age as not everyone could afford those.

As a millennial, I can only imagine what life must have been like going through those times, and the way trends changed.

On 12/11/2023 at 7:29 PM, Lightning55 said:

Conan is the son of the principal owner, Buddy Saunders, and may be part owner by now.

I would not recommend contacting him unless you got no response from MCS customer service over a few business days, and if your "issue" is of significant value, like in the thousands of dollars. The CS department is excellent. No need to overreact.

On 12/11/2023 at 7:42 PM, Lightning55 said:

Or maybe @mycomicshop could help you directly, as they probably monitor this board. Whoever might be in the rotation to respond. 

Thank you for clarifying. That's what I was getting at; I would not want to disturb someone unless it was of significant importance (or they were a friend of mine).

I'll continue to wait to see whether they get back to me within the week. I'm hoping to make another order soon.

On 12/11/2023 at 5:35 PM, shadroch said:

I'm surprised Conan hasn't responded here. Perhaps he's on vacation. You might  want to PM him.

I'm not too familiar with everyone here yet, as I'm still relatively new. Is he an employee of MCS? Would it be appropriate to contact him outside of standard contact?

@shadroch Still no response from MyComicShop. Perhaps backlogged with lots of orders/e-mails. Will wait a little longer and see.

I'll be reordering the faulty books anyway, but I'd still like to be reimbursed for those bad copies (instead of being forced to resell them). I'll take store credit, even.

I've got a massive collection of Chip 'n' Dale and Tom and Jerry comics, that I'll be heat pressing myself to improve the condition and grade of for my own collection. I just figured I'd have a little thread set up to show the results of my escapades. So far, I've only done one comic, after two beater comic tests. It will be a long journey, considering how long each comic needs during the cold press process.

Here is the very first one: Tom and Jerry #80. Cleaned and pressed. I gave it a GD prior to the operation, and now I think it's more like a GD+.

If you don't want to send it off to someone to get it heat pressed and have the spine realigned, you could do your own makeshift fix for it. But it will take some time.

Get a few clothespins/binder clips, forcefully align the comic, and then squash the spine with something heavy, with the clips outside of the clamped area. Let it sit for weeks on a shelf or something.

On 12/10/2023 at 10:04 PM, Lightning55 said:

I can't give you any moving advice, but it might be time to cull the collection. Some comics, on a per book basis, may cost more to move than they are worth.

If you sell off the more common stuff locally, you could take that money plus the money you saved on the mover to repurchase at your new location. 

It's similar to moving large appliances. Cheaper to dump what you have and buy new, rather than pay the cost of moving them great distances. 

Yeah, as someone who leases out units in a residential building, my experience has been that newcomers (especially temporary visitors) tend to just ditch stuff they don't absolutely need before leaving. That would typically be clothing, but I've seen other regular daily use items being discarded as well, as well as electronics like laptops in some cases. Moral of the story is, sometimes you gotta Marie Kondo large collections of stuff and only keep what brings you real joy.

On 12/11/2023 at 9:58 AM, shadroch said:

When I moved from NYC to Vegas, I took my thirty or forty most expensive books, and the movers took the rest. It was around 100 short boxes and maybe a dozen long boxes.  I have no advice on a moving company, but I wrapped each box in a plastic garbage bag and taped the hell out of it.  No one could get at the insides without it being very obvious.  It was nerve-wracking, waiting for them.  It took them almost two weeks to make it to me after I was told five to six days. 

If your movers will take pallets, it would make it easier.

Yikes, scary. Hired a bad company. Glad to hear that they eventually arrived safe and sound.

Rough. What exactly unfolded at the storage unit? Just some crook came in and started looting the place? Or was it a targeted collection?

On 12/10/2023 at 1:08 PM, Mac3X said:

Hi. I realize this is an old thread but I am someone who has been selling on eBay a year or two and am looking to try using these boards as an alternative. I welcome any thoughts or advice.  Thanks

On 12/10/2023 at 8:20 PM, D2 said:

I find donating to member boards is the most action you’ll get with selling comics. 🤣

It feels like a ghost town in here compared to previous years.

IMHO, eBay will still remain one of the best marketplaces for amateur sellers to sell items of niche hobbies like comics. Forums like these... have very limited reach as you are only dealing with a few dozen members at any given time.

The advent of Facebook Marketplace and its various comic book-centric groups help spread the word a bit domestically/locally, but even then, not everyone out there uses Facebook. If you've got a sizable enough collection and/or many big ticket items, then you could try Heritage or HiBid auctions.

Reality is, sometimes you just have to change your strategy on eBay to focus on faster turnaround. Maybe try selling things for lower profit margins and being savvier about purchases to keep expenses low. (Hell, exiting the market altogether is also a strategy too, if you can make better income elsewhere.)

On 12/10/2023 at 9:27 PM, ThothAmon said:

Any National mover can move them as part of your overall move. I moved about double that amount with a large mover in 2003. Comics added about $7k to cost then. Can only imagine now. Would have moved them myself but it was a paid for by others move.  As you’ll likely be driving anyhow I’m sure a mid sized enclosed u haul rental trailer would hold them all. Lay a large waterproof tarp first and then cover as they can leak.  Moved some large collections myself that way. Easy peasy.

Yeah, I feel like OP should just rent a truck and move the comics over themself. It's the safest way.

On 12/10/2023 at 8:09 PM, Jayman said:

Richie Rich comics were geared for a younger audience than Archie. He was very popular for a while (60’s-70’s) and had multiple titles. Billed as “The poor little rich boy”, his was a world of luxurious fantastic adventures. Kids reading this title could fantasize about building treehouses made of gold bricks, playing checkers with diamonds and rubies, etc. He had $$$ to burn!

Oh wow, thanks for the clarification! That definitely sounds interesting. It's kind of like the first Tom & Jerry cartoons which showed them living in then-luxurious conditions that were clearly out of reach to the common folk, except taken further up a notch.

Why did it die in popularity after the 70's? Kids grew up and moved onto superhero comics?

On 12/10/2023 at 7:05 PM, fifties said:

LOL, anytime I see single digit prices for "ancient" comic books I consider them cheap.  Why would you ever buy a full run of a title you know nothing about?  I'd suggest considering an order of maybe 3 or so, to see if you like them or not.

AFA significance, I'd say a run of 254 issues speaks for itself.

Oh, I'm not buying any Richie Rich comics. I was just saying that I kept seeing them all over storefronts online, and was curious what the big deal was about it. It seemed far more common than a lot of other cartoon series from that age.

I suppose having a 254-issue run does indeed speak for itself. If it wasn't good, it wouldn't have kept going for so long.

On 12/10/2023 at 6:53 PM, fifties said:

Go here to see the Richie Rich run; all pretty cheap  https://www.mycomicshop.com/search?TID=168791

AFA "Dell/Gold Key PCH comics", there were none.  

Those prices don't look cheap to me, but that's probably because I'm speaking from perspective of someone who's tackling this hobby with a tight budget.

254 issues, even at $3 each, would be $762 USD + tax/shipping/etc. That's a lot in my eyes. But probably not for most seasoned collectors.

As someone who has no idea about the series, was it just as significant as Archie, in the USA?

On 12/10/2023 at 1:03 PM, speedcake said:

Don't auction low value, extremely common comics if you don't want to risk selling them for a fraction of what other similar examples sell for.  Just list as BIN and wait, and explore other forums for selling than just ebay.

IMO, with low value/unknown value comics that you don't care for, either slap on a $0 or $5 auction price and let it freely auto-renew each month. (The latter if you want to recoup some losses off of something you deliberately purchased.) Store it in some cold, dry room in your basement and pop in if any of them actually sell. There's bound to be someone who wants to collect a run and stumbles upon your listing. Or sell it as part of a larger lot.

The $5-10 that you lost on a comic will be earned back by you in less than an hour during your ordinary day job.

Random bump, but figured I'd ask here as well.

I keep seeing dozens of listings of a series called "Richie Rich", almost as frequently as I do Archie, but I've never seen or heard of the series before in Canada. Is it a super common slice-of-life series that's similar in nature and isn't particularly worth much?

Another question I have is regarding Dell/Gold Key PCH comics: Why are they not worth much either?

On 12/10/2023 at 2:09 PM, shadroch said:

Mold is one thing, but missing centerfolds is inexcusable.

Yeah, I wouldn't know what happened, really. I imagine that they do not put much emphasis (if any) on inspecting these low value comics beyond just a quick cover glance and perhaps skim-through.

Of the eleven comics with problems, four were missing pages, and one probably had some kid cut out a chunk of page, which shouldn't be allowed for a "VG"-graded comic.