Clouded9

My CGC submissions from the Dallas ComiCon in May 2011 have just returned to me. Let's see how I did. My local comicon in Dallas, TX is really starting to grow. This was the first year it was held at an actual convention center (the brand new - Irving Convention Center) as opposed to the Richardson Civic Center and the first one to have a certified CGC rep (Desert Wind Comics) for us to submit comics to and have them witness signatures. In the past, we have always had great comic book and media guests like Herb Trimpe, James O'Barr, Kerry Gammill, Greg Horn, Billy Dee Williams, George Takei, Peter Mayhew, David Prowse, Thomas Jane, William Shatner, Jaime King, and Michael Golden to name a very few. The problem was that without a CGC presence I was very hesitant to have any of my key books signed as I really wanted to have the Sig Series yellow label. So instead of getting my key books signed I would usually just buy original art, have commissions done, and get photo ops or photos signed with media guests. Still a whole lot of fun! This year though was FREAKING AMAZING! Guests included Stan Lee, John Romita Jr., Leonard Nimoy, Carrie Fisher, Amanda Conner, Bernie Wrightson, Thomas Jane, plus many more. The location was twice the size as in the past and the crowd was twice the size as well, probably because of Stan (The Man) Lee. There was plenty to see and do and I got to expose some of my close friends to my hobby. Only one other close friend of mine is into comics, but they all appreciate and enjoy the other pop culture stuff on display (as do I). We had a blast! Now, in regards to my CGC submissions at this most recent Con. I took 3 books with me, 2 silver age books and 1 modern. I had 2 raw copies, I picked up cheap (50% below Overstreet value) at an auction, of Spectacular Spider-Man Magazine #1 (1968) that I graded at VF/NM (9.0) or better and I wanted to have these signed by Stan Lee. This book is part of a 2 issue run and if you are not familiar with the series I suggest you look into it. The spectacular (pun intended) Romita Sr. cover art on both books alone is worth having these in your collection. This series only went for 2 issues due to poor sales. It is believed that the poor sales were due to the non-standard size of the book and the price increase to .35 cents that seemed to put people off at the time. They tried to boost sales by making the second issue all color (first issue was black and white on the interior), but it apparently did not work as this is where the series ended. These are very tough books to find in high grades (especially #1), but always demand collectors attention when a high grade hits the auction block. I already have a #2 at 9.6 with White pages and wanted to find a quality #1 to complete my set. The modern book I took was Star Wars #107 already slabbed at a 9.4 (I bought from a friend for only $70!) with white pages. I wanted to have this book signed by Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia). I am a huge Star Wars fan and had a blast meeting her. This is the final issue of the series and is considered by some to be more valuable than issue #1 (I have issue #1 as a 9.6 Signature Series signed by writer Roy Thomas) due to it's low printing and scarcity in high grade. Well, these 3 books are back now and here is how they graded: Spectacular Spider-Man Magazine #1 CGC 9.0 Off White pages Sig Series - Stan Lee (3rd highest sig series of this book as of now) Spectacular Spider-Man Magazine #1 CGC 9.4 Off White to White pages Sig Series - Stan Lee (2nd highest sig series of this book as of now) Star Wars #107 CGC 9.6 White pages Sig Series - Carrie Fisher Needless to say, I am very happy with my books. I'll be looking to sell or trade my Spectacular spider-man #1 CGC 9.0, but the other 2 books will be going into my 24 cubic foot safe with my other treasures. I am especially pleased with the Spider-man 9.4 as the total price of me acquiring the book raw and having it signed and graded is still well beneath the current market value of this book at this grade without a signature from Stan Lee. Same goes for my Star Wars #107 with Carrie Fisher's sig, especially since it was upgraded from a 9.4 to a 9.6! Aside from these books I also picked up some original art by the monster master Bernie Wrightson (since I haven't found me a high grade copy of Swamp Thing #1 or House of Secrets #92 that i can afford yet) and had my Star Trek: Enterprise Logs #1 TPB from 1976 (collects the first 8 issues of the original Gold Key comic series) signed by Leonard Nimoy. Too bad CGC doesn't grade TPBs... I just wanted to share my excitement about getting these books back and reflect on my last convention. I can't wait until next May! If you have read this far, thanks for reading and good luck with your collection! James V. - Clouded9 To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Am I a sleazeball of the comic book sub-culture? The used car salesman of our hobby? Maybe, but I'm having a good time and making a little money. I seem to be an anomaly in the world of comic book collecting. A broker and a collector in one? What kind of twisted creature am I? I know collectors who will have their books buried with them if it is allowed and I know brokers who buy only to sell for profit (seems to be a safer gamble than the stock market at the moment), but is it possible to be both. If so, can you be both and be happy? Will you be shunned by the collecting community for buying books you don't really want or care for, only because it was a good deal, to mark it up and sell it to someone who genuinely cares about that book who could have found the deal i took? I don't know, but I do know that I am a broker and a collector. I started collecting again as an adult about 3 years ago as someone who would never pay book value for a book I wanted. I was always willing to wait for the right deal to come along and buy below market value and figured everyone else had the same mentality, but once i realized that there were apparently a lot of people in the world that would pay book value or more for books they wanted just to get them right then and there a light bulb went on in my head. Rather than just scouring conventions and stores for only the deals I wanted why not pick up other popular books when I find an unbelievable deal and sell it to fund my collection or bank account. I have found myself walking this line for almost a year now. I have bought hundreds of books over the past year, but have less than 100 comics in my personal collection (mostly I only collect key issues and stay away from modern books except for a select few as I don't want the size of my collection to get out of hand) and only a third of those are cgc graded. The values of my books dictate that I should get more of them graded as most of my raw books are valued/currently selling for $75+ easy, but for the time being I know their condition is not going to degrade in my possession (in a dark, cool, place in my media room with a de-humidifier) and i am content with that thought. I hunt for and buy up cheap, yet valuable/sought after, books that I find and 3-5 times a year I put up a batch for auction and let'em ride! My most recent batch in May 2011 was with 31 slabbed books of various publishers and titles (mostly modern and bronze with a few silver age) that I picked up over the course of a couple of months for a combined total cost to me of about $835. I placed these books in an online auction (not ebay) and, after seller/auction fees, i am looking at a check for a little over $1520. So, I paid an average of $27 per book and sold them for an average of $49 per book. The hunt for deals and the excitement of placing them in auctions really get my adrenaline pumping. Now, do I spend all $1520 on that one silver age key book I've had my eye on, or do I get several $300-$500 high grade bronze key books I want? Or maybe half of it on one key book and the other half on more books to flip? Maybe half on books to flip and the other half just stays in my bank? Also, there is this pretty sweet home theater system I've been meaning to upgrade to... Dang it, this is the hardest part of my process every time. Hi my name is James and, love it or hate it, I am both a collector and broker. Thanks for reading. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.