Buzzetta

I think it was cheaper when taking a break from a paper involved going to the bar. When I attended college immediately after high school, there were plenty of distractions from getting work done. There were the girls, the bars, the girls and the bars. When I went back for a masters, there were plenty of distractions of getting work done. There were the girls, the bars and the work from my day job and the work from my day job. Now that I find myself wrapping up the first 12 credits of another program to acquire the ability to advance my career, (if I should so choose) the biggest distraction is the internet and collection building. Mind you, that this is not putting me into poverty or even what I would call a financial strain. For the most part of it all, it is buying things that I would have eventually bought anyway as a means to assembling my collection. The problem (if one were to even call it that) is that I am doing it rapidly. I find myself sitting in front of a computer at almost every waking hour away from work in order to complete paper after paper, designing and rehearsing presentations as well as doing research on top of the take home work that I have from my regular job. Whenever I want to take a break though, I do not have the luxury of spending a few hours in absentia from my responsibilities. The easiest thing is to run a few searches on eBay and look through the selling forum. Distraction created, another book down, back to writing. Sigh... I will soon enter the internship phase... Luckily I can fit two Phish shows into my schedule before that starts. I can only imagine how those of you with families handle it... I tip my hat to those of you that do. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

I saw the other post regarding the Captain America auctions that were offered a couple of months ago. When I saw the preview for the auction, one of the items I had coveted was the Cosmic Cube but that seemed a bit ridiculous to spend my money on something like that when I could throw those hard earned dollars towards comic books. Thanks to google and youtube... The Cube will eventually be mine as soon as I have a free weekend... Enjoy for anyone else that wants one.

This is good to know as it reinforces my understandings of how it works as a buyer and a seller. Every now and then I am willing to roll the dice if it looks like a deal. A couple of years ago I had bought three (non CGC) slabbed books consisting of Hulk 180, 181, and 182 in a 8.0, 7.0 and 8.0 respectively for a little over $400 from a seller with 0 feedback. I had figured that I would be protected in a worst case scenario. Yes I received the books and was happy with that one too. The only one I am unwilling to roll the dice on is anything over a few thousand... So far I will only trust Comiclink, Metropolis or any of the big dealers or Con purchases for something like that.

Thanks to all of you. On quick question though... this was basically a gamble for me as I could not see the book clearly due to his pictures. I basically trusted the assigned numeric grade. If I had received the book and found that the case had been tampered with or some other kind of shenanigans... up to what dollar amount was I protected? Would I have been covered up to the full $1000?

Very Good Yeah Bro, nice books! Kinda cool to see some moderns thrown into the pictures! Thanks!

Absolutely It seems that all the Valiant Keys are taking a slight jump and I wanted to pick up a few of my favorites before they climb to a price that is no longer worth chasing. So far: Solar Man of the Atom 10, 11 Magnus Robot Fighter 1, 12 Shadowman 1, 8 Turok 1 X-O Manowar 1 Eternal Warrior 1 (Gold), 5 All of them are in 9.8's except for the EW Gold in a 9.4 and the Solar 10 in a 9.6. This stuff is getting trickier to find in the 9.8's as so many were eventually dumped into discount bins after Acclaim shut down. Still trying to get ahold of a EW#4 in a 9.8 at a reasonable price.

Showed up on my doorstep today... While working on the Spidey collection... I got a little distracted this week...

Book arrived this afternoon: I do not have a legal sized scanner so the pics from the iPhone were coming out better than the scans. The mark above the point on the "B" in "Batman" is a printing mark as are the dots of yellow mist by the "N". There is a right side ding as noted. However on the left side, the spine better than what the fuzzy pics revealed on eBay. The bottom edge does show a couple of marks on the bottom right edge. I have a Neal Adams SS copy waiting to be graded in Sarasota so if I make a run at another AF15 then I may consider selling it down the road to raise some cash. For now though, I am happy to add it to the collection.

I have been a bit busy the last few weeks... Closing in on finishing this set and then after that I may upgrade a couple of them: This is what I have picked up: The two moderns were thrown in as I have been looking for a 9.8 of issue 441 (Final Issue before they renumbered) for awhile and and waited for a cheap 9.8 of the first Iron Spider costume... A few more to go...

I mostly collect Spider-man but about seven years ago I sold my Batman collection to pay off the college loan. (181 to what was then current) I always regretted selling a few of them and this one was sorely missed. For the few issues that I will buy back, I want issues that are in a higher grade than the ones I sold. Thank you to the well wishes on the score. The seller shipped it out this morning and I will post a better picture of it when I receive the book.

Ha - Did I do "good" ? It was a book I always wanted back after I sold my Batman collection about seven years ago. I figured that $1000 wasn't a bad price in consideration of what people are asking for on a 9.4.

Ah, so that was you I bought it from you?

I think Frank won the ASM 23 I was looking at... Also won a round or two of poker this weekend... Anyway... Just won and paid for this on eBay...

Back in January I set some goals for myself. Due to some diligent purchasing and the ability to bite the bullet and open the wallet in other cases, I am further along than I thought I would be. Back in January I wrote my goals for the year: http://comics.www.collectors-society.com/JournalDetail.aspx?JournalEntryID=10438 My goals this year are to crack the top 50 in the Spidey set and pick up at least another ten books in my goal to have the first 100 books slabbed. I also want to upgrade a few books. Let's see... Since that journal, I have picked up 42 books since that post. Yeah, I went a little crazy but part of me said to just suck it up and finish this set off before it grows too far out of reach. I also upgraded several books. ASM 31 went from a 6.0 to a 8.5. Issue 65 went from an 8.0 that I had owned for a few days to a 9.6 due to a deal that was too good to pass up. My ASM 22 went from a 3.5 MA to an 8.5 Blue. I wanted to crack the top 50 and as of this writing I am at position 48. Now the question is what to focus on once this is completed? I would like to add a few more Golden Age Batmans and Supermans to my collection. I had an opportunity to show them off as a tool for a work related event and it went over pretty well. I would like to own a copy of Batman 20 in a nice glossy presentable shape. I would love to pick up a few more Superman war issues and that Action Comics #41 will eventually be mine I tell you. Still, I am tempted to buy a third copy of AF 15. The first copy graded out at a 1.8. The second is the most beautiful 3.5 currently graded. I promise pictures one day... I promise.. Perhaps I will go 4.5-5.5 range and then call it a day... Perhaps that money would be better spent on a Hulk 181 in a 9.6? I don't know... These decisions can wait until another 17 Spidey issues are in my hands, To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Thanks... (The real steals for me were last weeks 65 in a 9.6 and the 31 in the 8.5) May was expensive but very good to me... Only 15 more books to have a slabbed set from 1-100 (22 with the annuals) I may just submit the rest out of my raw copies but as I get closer I find myself less enthused by the waiting game. It may also be more economically sound to buy the rest in the 8.0-8.5's than slabbing lower grades unless they are before issue 30. Once it is all done, I may upgrade a few of them but the price would have to justify the upgrade. The run is starting to climb in price again, and I cringe at what this may cost the longer I wait.

I will take pictures of my May haul once everything gets here... I already had a 9.0 of this book that I will probably flip once the 9.6 arrives... But... if highendcollectibles wants to offer these books at auction on eBay and I can get them cheaper than the prices being commanded across the boards... Then who am I to say, "no" Had no intention on upgrading this book... but for $305... how could I refuse.. (I only list the price because anyone that wants can see the auction results on eBay. This is the same seller that I purchased the ASM 65 in a 9.6 a week ago.

Made my first transaction on the boards a smooth one. Thanks for the quick delivery of a Solar 10. Very much appreciated.

I guess as I start to buy, I should set one of these up.

Hmm maybe it was for the best... I was the under bidder by $1 on the raw Amazing Spiderman 13 Oh well

I did a forum search... I turned up some flattering posts... I turned up some... not so flattering posts... What is the current status?

I have used eBay's approved escrow service for two purchases. On future eBay auctions of my own (I'm selling) I will specifically offer it as an option on big items. I define "big" as anything over 10K for sure as this is where paypal pretty much leaves buyer and seller on their own. You could also look at any item over eBay's own private insurance (shipcover?). I cannot remember what that limit is but I'm certain it is no higher than 5K and might only be 2K. You should absolutely only use ebay's approved escrow service (escrow.com) Anyone suggesting any other escrow service should automatically serve as a red flag as there have been lots of scams with phony escrow services. Escrow.com's website explains it well, but here are the basics. Buyer and Seller agree to use escrow.com and register with escrow.com You list with escrow.com the sale information (item, price, inspection period, etc) Buyer sends payment to escrow.com Escrow.com notifies seller that they have the payment and seller should ship Buyer receives item(s) and has x number of days to inspect Buyer notifies escrow.com they accept the item Escrow.com sends payment to seller If buyer rejects the merchandise Escrow.com informs seller and buyer returns merchandise Once seller confirms they have merchandise back, escrow.com refunds buyer's money minus fees. How long this all takes depends on how buyer submitts payment to escrow.com, how fast item ships, how seller wants to be paid. Assume a couple of weeks to get paid if you are the seller. What it costs. It's 3.25% of the first 5K but then much less than that from 5-10K and less than 1% after 10K. On expensive items escrow.com's fees can be less than paypals. And it is common for the fee for escrow to be split by buyer and seller. Great info, I don't see why anyone wouldn't use this service on items over 10k. Here's some great info. DON'T USE EBAY! There are too many scam artists there. I have quite a few books that many would consider decent deals that were purchased from eBay. Were they high dollar books? Ebay is like having a Boa Constrictor for a pet.One day crush! This past week... before shipping (on eBay) $375 $420 Last year I did a few buys between the $750-1000 range. I already have a lot of the key's so now I am just working on completing sets. I have bid a few thousand in a few SparkleCity auctions, I am very comfortable bidding with them.

I have used eBay's approved escrow service for two purchases. On future eBay auctions of my own (I'm selling) I will specifically offer it as an option on big items. I define "big" as anything over 10K for sure as this is where paypal pretty much leaves buyer and seller on their own. You could also look at any item over eBay's own private insurance (shipcover?). I cannot remember what that limit is but I'm certain it is no higher than 5K and might only be 2K. You should absolutely only use ebay's approved escrow service (escrow.com) Anyone suggesting any other escrow service should automatically serve as a red flag as there have been lots of scams with phony escrow services. Escrow.com's website explains it well, but here are the basics. Buyer and Seller agree to use escrow.com and register with escrow.com You list with escrow.com the sale information (item, price, inspection period, etc) Buyer sends payment to escrow.com Escrow.com notifies seller that they have the payment and seller should ship Buyer receives item(s) and has x number of days to inspect Buyer notifies escrow.com they accept the item Escrow.com sends payment to seller If buyer rejects the merchandise Escrow.com informs seller and buyer returns merchandise Once seller confirms they have merchandise back, escrow.com refunds buyer's money minus fees. How long this all takes depends on how buyer submitts payment to escrow.com, how fast item ships, how seller wants to be paid. Assume a couple of weeks to get paid if you are the seller. What it costs. It's 3.25% of the first 5K but then much less than that from 5-10K and less than 1% after 10K. On expensive items escrow.com's fees can be less than paypals. And it is common for the fee for escrow to be split by buyer and seller. Great info, I don't see why anyone wouldn't use this service on items over 10k. Here's some great info. DON'T USE EBAY! There are too many scam artists there. I have quite a few books that many would consider decent deals that were purchased from eBay.

Thank you Summun for your post and information. And welcome to the boards. FYI for those who haven't tried using Paypal for big ticket purchases (over 10K) What SummunBonum describes is how it looks and has to be done. Because you are making two or more payments the purchase is not tied to the original ebay item. The seller can make up an invoice of course - but it doesn't link back to the ebay item. So as far as Paypal is concerned you as the buyer just sent someone money. Period. They are no longer guaranteeing anything. I can't say how it works out if things go bad. I just know you cannot rest on "buyer protection". If it's any comfort, it's not all that much better for honest sellers. PayPal's Seller Protection is even more useless. So many scams where the person claims their account was hijacked (unauthorized purchase) or they never received the item. Especially bad with out of the USA sales. It's why so many sellers won't ship anything or anything expensive outside the USA. I recently sold a book on ebay for 13K. My first sale or purchase on ebay over 10K. It was an eye opener just how much hassle Paypal made it and how they (Paypal) were not going to be on the hook if anything went wrong. They will collect their fee of course.... Also of concern is how little eBay does to police itself. Here they have an open dispute on a seller for 12K and they let the seller run another auction for a similiar amount? For me, any future big ticket items I sell I will offer to use eBay's approved escrow service (escrow.com) and splitting the costs. Those costs are about the same and sometimes less than the Paypal fee. I'll propose the same to sellers for purchases if the Seller isn't well known. This is why, for the most part I try to keep all sales under a certain level. I like hassle free avenues to dump my goods.

Thank you for coming here to state this. I must ask though... what led you to this site and this specific discussion? Of all the gin joints in all the world... how did you find your way here?

Very nice catch Sal. Thank you!! It surely looks like the same book. So let's see. Whoever bought it back in 2009 from Heritage for $52,281.25 put it in a box with a couple of raw comics and then put the box in a storage unit. That is where all high dollar collectors keep their books you know. Then they quit paying the storage unit fees or maybe they died and their heirs didn't know about the storage unit. So now it shows up on ebay with a listing that was suspicious even before Sal here found the Heritage link. Will be interesting watching this one. I expect negative feedback left at some point. Maybe he had to hide it from his wife in the divorce settlement... Stranger things have happened...