Westy Steve

I wanna play! I'm in!

I remember Quisp, and a bunch of other cancelled cereals. Once in a while I have the stray thought of writing one of the cereal companies and asking them to bring back Buck Wheats. Remember those? Wheat flakes with a little flavoring on them (maple?). Those things were so good!

No kidding. I remember buying a higher slabbed version of #1 for a great price. At least I thought so until I got tired of it and tried to sell it. I carried that thing FOREVER trying to find someone who would buy it from me or even trade it. When the movie hype started up, I knew for sure that it's one book I don't want to be a "bag holder".

Ugh. Hate to hear that. First time I met him was at MegaCon in the '90s back when it was truly for comic book fans. He wasn't doing sketches, but when I asked him to sign my sketchbook anyway, he worked a sketch into his signature. Truly a classy guy. I wish him the best.

That's interesting. I had forgotten how unrealistic some of the older comics were as well. But the older ones that were "bad" were bad in a different way than I personally find some of the new ones "bad". The older ones were put together by former advertising artists who felt that throwing concepts like "transistors" and "radiation" around could explain away, or render a plot line feasible. I feel like the stuff after that almost "golden age silliness" was better because it was written by the first generation of science-minded-fanboys-grown-up, Whereas some of the new stuff is so "out there", (like Shawnismaximus describes very well), that it's not so great...dimensional /split personality stuff. I don't feel like I'm expressing this concept well, but it feels like there is a sweet spot for good comics centered around the late silver age to early modern age (maybe?).

Anyone else here find that sometimes fantasy in stories or comics can be over the top to the point that you don't like it? And does that happen with comic books the originated from an era after your childhood/teen years? I wonder if there are guys who grew up reading golden age who can't get into Bronze age material because it's just too far-fetched?

I'd like to see the publishers intentionally short an issue here and there, just to maintain collector excitement. Perhaps just meeting the initial orders, and then quickly moving to a second print with a different cover. Yeah, it would be contrived rarity, but it would get the attention of collectors.

Holy !

Hey Bronty, Have you ever tried to figure out how rare those sealed or even CIB games are? I'd be interested in finding out how many sealed games of typical titles of popular platforms exist. Even the percentages are eye opening. I estimate about 15% of a typical she's title is CIB and only 3% are sealed. But my estimates are very rough.

Graded. The books in the middle of the mini run are 9.4. The keys on the end were the highest grades I could afford. (7.5, 8.5 & 9.2). I think putting it together was on of my most satisfying collecting experiences. I think I'll eventually try to upgrade them but that's a back burner project. The trick is to let the deals come to you...don't force it. It changed my perspective and now I'm trying to do a higher grade set of Conan keys.

I did the same thing, only I went to 101. Suggest you consider the same. Keys on both ends.

Yes! This was my dream. Luckily, at least my brother actually got it, not me. About 10 years ago, there was an off-brand remake of this and I bought a couple in case the first one broke. Never saw it again in stores. Such a cool toy!

Funny story about the Buzz and Woody toys. When the toy story movie came out, they were giving away small versions of these "action figures" at Burger King. My niece had just gotten hers, and was playing with it when a boy walked by with a full size Woody toy. Of course she yelled out, "Wow! He's got a BIG WOODY!"

If you're going to spend the money for a safe, get a big one...you'll be glad you did. Look for one that has multiple bars that stick all different directions into the door frame (or whatever they are called). IMHO, if you run air conditioning during the summer and heat in the winter, the humidity in your house should be fine for your books because it falls in the normal range and I don't think the typical gun safe is air tight. I've always wondered if too much dry air is actually bad for books because the paper has inherent moisture in it, and keeping the paper dry would make it brittle over time as the moisture gets pulled out. Maybe not, but read this and decide for yourself: http://printwiki.org/Moisture_Content

So, I know prices one comics seem to drop every Christmas as people decide to sell off books to buy stuff for their family and whatnot. But when do the prices rebound? Do the kids get cash on Christmas and want to spend it? I figure the first wave of IRS refunds will also kick start the market. But what about the between times?

Man, I love the art on that Dragon Warrior. I have a NES game (can't recall the title at the moment) that has a box image that conjures high fantasy and adventure. But when you play it, it's more like a puzzle game with a silly looking knight. But I could look at it on the shelf for a long time and enjoy it.

This statement is so ironic because you, yourself, are making assumptions that he's threatened by the fact that he collects graded gaming packages. I can't speak for him, but I love buying gaming packages. I've even bought empty gaming boxes because the art is so cool. I've bought comics I don't seriously intend to read either. Neither makes me feel threatened or ashamed, personally. Wish I had more funds to buy more.

Not an attack. You're not exercising rational behavior if what you're saying is true, so I can't argue with you since my arguments assume the other person is rational. If you can buy something worth $1,000 for $50, then you're making $950. I would spend $50 for something I didn't want if I knew it was going to make me $950 with very little effort. Could be strawberry shortcake dolls or vintage rubber dog doo...wouldn't matter to me! That compares very favorably with making $30 and hour. You're the 1% here that wouldn't take that deal, so I don't think I we have a common value system which forms the basis for a good debate.

OKI... You'd never consider spending more than $10 to $20 on two items worth $1,000 in the aftermarket? Really? So if they were $50 you would have walked? Holy Hyperbole, Batman! What else have you been exaggerating on here? Not sure I can take you seriously now.

OK. So you think it's stupid to own a slabbed game because you can only appreciate the packaging, and yet you own sealed games that you don't play? I'm genuinely curious how you justify that in your mind.

You are correct that you can crack a comic and see its pages immediately. Whereas, you have to put the game in a system, which the collector probably already owns. FWIW, you then smell the comic and not the game, but you can hear the game and not the comic. So what? That doesn't make games any less of a collectible. And it doesn't take away the need to slab it to preserve it, easily trade it, have it checked for restoration, etc. You say you own some sealed video games. Earlier in the thread I asked you if they were in good shape. I was trying to make the point that you might not know how good of shape they are in, and it would be real nice if an expert could put a number to that condition. If they are real nice, you might get more money for it when you sell if you slab it. And it would give a potential buyer confidence that you didn't just put shrink wrap on it yourself, or print the cardboard in your garage. Whether you need a video game system to play or appreciate the game is irrelevant to the benefits of slabbing. People don't slab things so they can crack them out. They slab them to make them more fungible, to provide peace of mind regarding restoration, etc. I'm not making excuses. I just see your argument as irrelevant to why people slab things.

It seems that the effect of movie hype on books is a zero sum game. For every winner, there will be a series of losers with losses about equal to the wins. And if that is true, unless you are actively putting serious effort into playing the movie hype game, the only way you can win is to already own something that gets hyped, sell for a gain, wait for it to drop, and then buy it back. The problem is that many of us aren't buying them back, so the net result is that our collections, which can be thought of as heterogeneous clusters or pockets of good books, are being distributed out more, so that the large and wonderful collections are being frittered away.

I forgot the possibility that you might be using your Mom's computer in her basement. :) Besides, most video game collectors, by definition, own electronic devices for playing video games, in the same manner that most comic book collectors know how to read. Anyhow, getting back to your point, you can crack a video game slab and open it, whether it's sealed or not (some are not). Your "comic relative" analogy doesn't work because a USB isn't the original item, which is what collectors want...that's the point of collecting (to obtain the original item) and the ideal collectible is the one that looks like it could be sitting on a store shelf (or newsstand). You can crack and read a CGC 9.9 comic also, but I'm guessing there are as many people doing that as there are people cracking video games and tearing the cellophane off a sealed vintage game to play it. Your "comic relative" analogy, when re-applied back to video games, actually would be the video game's code stored on a USB drive, housed in a replica cover and then slabbed.....which is not what is happening. In simple terms, the reality is that when people slab a collectible, whether a coin, comic, or video game, they have no intention of using it for its intended purpose and just want to own it, feel secure that it's not a fake, know whether it's in original condition, be able to sell it easier, and admire what they can see through the attractive plastic housing.

You know you just posted using an expensive device, right? Your computer...most everyone has one. Many video game collectors access and play their 99% programmed data on their computer and never touch the original cartridge, box, sealed game, or slabbed game. It's no different than the comic book collector who has a slabbed comic book and accesses the story and interior art digitally or in reprint. It's not unusual for collectors to want to own an item in high grade but then utilize a facsimile of it.

Hmmm... Well, I know I want to find a nice Conan #23 to go with my #24. I'm going to send the #24 off to be slabbed, so will do the same with the #23. Maybe get a nicer Savage Sword 1 and Savage Tales 1 also. I'd like to add some nicer Adams/O'neil Batman Issues, with an eye toward the keys. Maybe finally pick up that GL76 too. But I still need to focus on my Video Game collection too.