MacFarlane

one of my all-time favourite covers (and incidentally one of the first comics I purchased...)

There are two things I like in comics: 1) DC Comics (they're just awesome) and 2) great comic sellers! Derek is the latter of the two. I bought some great Spectre comics that I was having a heck of a time finding and they got here stupid fast and in great shape. The comics look great, the shipping was fantastic, and Derek was a pleasure to deal with. Thanks Derek! I look forward to buying from you in the future! Rob

I got two Showcase comics that were on my Bucket List from Randall and frankly put the whole experience was super smooth and really just a great transaction. Totally positive and pumped from my interaction and I'd gladly buy from him any time soon! Great comics and Great Shipping too! Thanks Randall!

I just got a whack of books from Jerry (because Superman is awesome and that's all there is to say about that .... ....) and it was a great experience. Jerry was fast to get in touch with me with my invoice, responded to my emails lickety-split, the shipping was superb, and the comics look awesome! Very happy with this one and I would suggest everyone but stuff from him!

Picked up a couple comics from Ron. Super easy to buy from and he had the stuff out in the post uber-fast! Great feedback from me since he deserves it! Rob

....or, Staring At Creases...and I don't mean the ones that have grown around my eyes... A few years back I quietly embarked on a comic collecting quest that is somewhat ridiculous, and somewhat maniacal. Many people have laughed at this and many others have just looked at me like I have a hole in my head. I'm getting used to those responses now, and frankly put now find them amusing. Here's the quick-and-dirty of it: I've started an autobiographical collection. I'm looking at a certain section of my life when I was wandering back and forth to my Local Comic Shop and picking up my weekly titles and I'm targeting high grade for all of those-and I want them graded. Is it financially motivated? Nope - most of these are worth 3-5 bucks. Is it completely insane and a waste of money? Sure, but it's my money and that's what I'm doing. My original collection had me reading them (and often times lending them out to my friends for reading) and all the typical things we all did when we first bought comics. The catch-all of "Oh, they're in great condition. I keep them all bagged and boarded" does not mean much these days with the standardization of grading so if I want high grade I'm buying them again. So guess who's going shopping??? Biggest problem I've found in this last year is that these comics that are passed by and left behind by most collectors are not trading actively. The boards are filled with speculators trading "Keys, Keys, and More Keys," however none of these are Keys, so they are not getting listed. Those that I could find are put into dollar bins at the Local Comic Shops and are nicked and dinged from the process of getting dumped in there: spine crease city... I was lucky recently in finding a site specifically geared to Valiant comics-I just made my first gap filling purchase there and I'm glad something like this exists. Over the next few months it looks like filling in that need-it-list will get a lot easier, but I cannot expect it for every publisher. My current predicament is that I need to find a place to get early Image comics online in large quantities. I'm not going to sit around picking off one comic at a time with crazy fees on ebay. Any suggestions anyone? R-Mac To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Had a great buying experience with Jon. I reached out to him and he was responsive and got back to me a very quick order. The books were packaged super safe and arrived looking fantastic. An awesome experience and I would recommend others to check out his stuff.

Bought some great comics from Cristian. They were exactly as he described them and they look great here in my collection. The shipping was impeccable and everything arrived on time and in great shape. I'd totally buy from him again.

Bought some Spidey's from Jeff; the communication, packaging, shipping and follow-up was great. A great seller who I’d definitely buy from again. Rob

For the record: I read the instructions….

I've completed two purchases of raw comics from Steve. He is responsive, grades well (they were exactly as he described), and did a great job packaging the comics. I'd definitely buy from him again.

...or... the REAL value of your local comic shop.... You know, like many of us I have worked hard to get where I am in my life and I have a little cash to spend every now and then to buy myself something that I want. Comics full this guilty pleasure for me and has done so for the last 20-some-odd years (and yes, I am ageing myself with that comment). I'm OK with this, my family is OK with this, and that is all that matters. So earlier this week I sat down and set out a list of the top 4 "modern" comics that I was willing to spend some bucks on and a few "copper" age comics to get my hands on in the next year. So on one of my commuting trips into the urban monstrosity that I work in once a week, I decided to stop at one of the larger and very "popular" urban comic shops with my little list to do some digging and to spend some cash. Needless to say (as I'm sure you can gather from the title of this rant), I was less than pleased with my reception, and the complete lack of any inventory that I would have deemed necessary to deserve the clout that this shop enjoys. Fast-forward a day (to today) when I stop in my local shop to pick up my pull list during lunch. I mention what I'm looking for in passing, and the terrible reception in the "City." Then, surprise-surprise not only do I find one of the ones on my list (which was not expected at all), but I also find out about three others that are suggested for my further consideration. Lesson here: Apparently, not only should you LIVE local and WORK local; you should also BUY local. Thank you Local Comic Shop, thank you for just being you. R-Mac To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

...Or....Is my memory really that bad??? Evidently, Yes. 9 months ago I made the ingenious decision to leave my nice little job as a cog in a giant corporate machine (and yes you can freely conjure up images of Metropolis here if you want), and I bought into a 40-year-old professional service business. Is it phenomenally exciting for most of you to hear this? No. But it was exciting to me so, tough ta-ta's! As a result of this decision though all my cash was gone. Meaning no comics. That's right, 9 months of NADA as I rolled up my sleeves and got to work. Well, here I am 9 months later and I've finally received some payback on my equity, so what was my first act? I'm sure you guessed it: Immediately break out the shipment I started to get ready for grading 10 months ago. It's been sitting on a shelf collecting dust in my basement this entire time. I'm glad to say now it's out of my house and into the hands of the CGC Machine. Problem being after 10 months it amazing what one can forget-like: How to submit comics? Why was I planning on submitting duplicates (I must have had some reason in mind at the time)? and Where is my Incredible Hulk #180 (not #181, I know perfectly well where that one it is, but what happened to #180)? Needless to say it's been a steep learning curve for this old brain, but I think I have it down pat. Now that my current shipment is "received" by the CGC, only time will tell. The moral of the story: It's either -- You're never too old to take a risk and go out on your own, OR Never stop shipping in comics. Cold Turkey is just plain mean, and comic knowledge is a perishable skill. I'll leave it up to you to decide which. Happy Submission Everyone! R-Mac And I did find my IH180 by-the-way. Long story....

...or, I can now re-afirm: I do need glasses. This year for my coupon books I decided to send in some key issues that I had been scouring the Toronto Convention scene for over the last two years: Tarzan #207, Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #134, and Forever People #1. These are specific comics that I went to these shows looking for the best condition book at the show and I paid the bucks for the best condition. In each case I went to each booth asking for the particular issues and then did a comparison of them all buying the best one at the end of the day. Well the results are in to say I was disappointed would be an understatement. Of the three books I noted above the highest grade given was a 7.5. What the heck is the matter with me that I'm so far off on my read of the condition on these things? As near as I can see the only raw books that I've had good luck slabbing are my modern collection-is this an issue where there are different qualities for the grading between the bronze and modern era? I don't know. What I can tell you though is don't go the route I did on this one. The best grade of my last set in was on Shazam #1 from my own old collection which came in at an 8.5-so much for paying top dollar at the conventions. From now on if it's bronze I'm buying it already slabbed. The good news though is that my raw book budget just freed up a lot of room-watch out Valiant Comics-I think my Unity set is far to sparse. Thanks for reading the rants of an old man! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Toronto ComicCon is weeks away and can you guess what I'm hunting for? Well after some time in digging through the old boxes for low grade early Dell Tarzan Comics I've decided to take the time and money and buy back some of the DC Tarzans. I had a few of these from waaaaaayyyy back, but you can only imagine the drawing I doodled into these things as a kid, so now I need to buy them all again. Curse me and my comic destroying ways in my youth! I wonder why people don't see value in the art I put on top of Joe Kuberts art? Now the largest problem I'm finding is getting the 52 page mosters at a good grade. Oh well I guess my wallet and a few hundred bucks need to part ways on the 9th and 10th of March while I pay for ths sins of my youth. Issue 207 and 211: I'm coming for you! (Arrrr: fairly warned be ye, says I) To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Sometimes you need to go with your gut.... You know, there really were two under-sung hero's of the comic publishers that came and went in the early 1990's. The first one was Valiant, but we all know and remember what happened to them (and thankfully they are now starting up again). The second one is a little company that I miss dearly called Malibu Comics. Malibu was a great little publishing house that was coming out with some good original materials (as well as their fair share of blatant copy material-for example Prototype; Really?) and they were greedily gobbled by Marvel and have not been seen or heard of since. What happened to this great company? Why is it I cannot see any of their characters any more-I'm sorry but "Freex" and "Rune" were great titles with a great ensemble of well written characters. Then along comes GodWheel, Marvel takes them into the fold, and within no time they are all cancelled! They've gone so much by the wayside now that they are not even recognized as having a set standing that I can find in the registry for any of their titles. Well you Ultraverse fans (said in a Stan Lee Mighty Marvel accent), I'm not going to give up on these guys. I'm going to continue to dig through those dollar bins and buy these things up. After all, someone has to. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Again with the three day's of shipping from Florida to Ontario-they're some kinds of Sorcerers! Seriously; I'm perplexed. The first time I thought it was a fluke, but again the CGC pull this off. When I ship in Canada I cannot guarantee that type of turnaround time door to door-how do they do it? (I'm not complaining by any means) Amazing Spiderman 129 is back in my hands after dropping it off at the Wizard ComicCon in Toronto-8.5 grade (which is fair). I'm just dumbfounded as to how the Magnus #2 came back at a 7.5 when in my humble opinion it was the one in better condition. I'll be staring at the two of these for some time now trying to understand the magic of the gradings here, but at least I have something to keep me busy on the weekends now. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Well after a 90+ business day wait I am pleased to say that the "birth of Wolverine comics" have retuned to their home country: Canada. Sending items down into the US is often a wondrous process as items coming back are subject to all sorts of import shenanigans, so when I sent my Incredible Hulk 180 and 181 down for grading it was with heavy heart that I let these boys go. I waited and watched eagerly on the status and waited and waited and waited-then one day it happened-"Shipped/Safe." I don't know how, and I don't know why but within three days they were in my hands. How-Pray thee tell-How did they do that? Three days? AND - through customs? I don't know how, but one can only assume that somewhere along the way some good old Canadian-Boy-Coming-Home chutzpah came into play. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Where's my Bloodshot and Ninjak Copies?!? After much ado, Valiant is finally putting their proprietary characters back in print. All I can say is that it's about time! For those of us who watched as the characters were destroyed systematically through a rather unappreciated acquisition and change of management/direction, I certainly hope this turns out to be a nice return to the pre-unity days when all was edgy and new. Now all that remains is for the "ultraverse" to do the same, then once again all will be right with the world...

Great time, but where's the selection of slabbed comics? Well I'm back here at home a little cash-poor and a little comic-rich after a trundle through Wizard World Toronto Comic-Con. My overall feedback is two-fold: 1) If you were looking for unslabbed comics it was a great time to find some really obscure stuff, and 2) If you were there to do a quick addition to your CGC collection you were pretty much out of luck. I went into this convention looking for some early Korak and Tarzan issues. I was expecting to do the walkabout with the typical "Do you have...?" and "Nope" and then walking repeat and repeat until I got what I needed or walked away befuddled. I was amazed to find myself not only finding them repeatedly (which made for great selection), but the more obscure I thought I was asking (just out of fun), the more stuff I was finding. I'm glad to say that the CGC can be expecting to see quite a few early odd issues out of me now. So for unslabbed issues; astounding success! But I was disappointed to see WAAAAAYYYY too few CGC issues that weren't overpriced 9.6+ rated first appearances. What happened to all the boxes of issues that were a great find at these conventions? At the end of the day I could only find one dealer in the place that had a box of reasonably priced items to look through and they only had about 60 of them that were not signature series. Honestly I'd have to say I feel sorry for the poor saps that would have been duped into dumping multiples way over value simply due to lack of selection and a desire to buy. I mean really, Marvel Premiere #15 for $500? Is the CGC market in Canada that small or was it just minimally represented here? I'm not sure but it was a little disappointing. Was it a good time? Yes. Did I get some key issues that I am going to get slabbed anyway? Yes. Would I have liked to see more CGC selection? Heck yes. Perhaps next year we can hope to see some focus on this one when the even is being planned.