Arkham

I’ve been hunting a nicely centred mid-grade copy of this book for awhile. @Wall-Crawler found this one over at Reece’s and I can’t thank him enough. It’s taken a bit of a beating on the spine, but the cover… 😍 I’m stoked to add this to the collection.

I use 725 M2’s on FB’s for almost everything. Looks great. I think this thread is the one you want to help you make your choice:

I don’t know. It was definitely elseworlds… and there are so many different origin stories and ideas for The Joker… (I actually love that flexibility with the character). It definitely wasn’t “comic-booky” but I found that both interesting and refreshing… it also widened the appeal to a broader audience. You mentioned it could have done better… But, frankly, it did pretty well: $1 billion at the box office (from a $55M budget), a couple of Oscars, 8.4/10 on IMDb from 1M+ reviews… At the end of the day, we are here because we love an art form. Art is all about different takes on subject matter. FWIW, I respect your opinion - I just wanted to share my own - I’m a Joker collector and I found nothing about that movie insulting. (And I didn’t mind what it did to the value of my Joker (1975) run either ).

Chas - do you mind sharing your technique for keeping the books tight enough in a short/long box that isn’t full? Say half full boxes?

I’ve done exactly this recently. Book was listed for 600. 90 day GPA was 475. I offered 550 stating that I wasn’t trying to lowball - it’s a very desirable book - but was happy to offer 75 over GPA. The seller accepted.

Ahhhh... doh. I interpreted the (IG) as Mercari was a username on Instagram. Thanks Cap.

User errors here... I can't find you (Mercari took me to a non-comic related site) - can you please post a link?

As a buyer, who hates eBay (and the fee-covering prices, import taxes and elevated shipping that I don’t get charged when I buy anywhere else), those sellers who are leaving it - please post your new locations so I can stalk you there. Thanks.

Wisbyron, eee91 - I agree... there seems to be a lot (my book above included) where the signature was smack-bang in the middle of the cover, regardless of what was already there. I suspect that's just the fastest way to get through a huge queue. He was amazing for even showing up and doing it and all the stories that came out about elder abuse etc (that probably had something to do with him being there signing) are sickening.

Finally. My only regret is that I only sat on a single copy each of Cover A and Cover B, raw.

Well... every face but his own:

I was sitting here dumbfounded, thinking "he HAD to be doing that on purpose!" and wondering why he would be so malicious about handling other people's books... did he think he was bigger than the character or the book? Was this some kind of passive aggressive display of hating appearing at shows? BUT, then I read this and it actually makes a bunch more sense.

LCS’s after the variants are sold: https://www.instagram.com/p/CPHdktaFabu

Genuinely interesting to see this change over time!

I'd contest the statement that it has been a failure. I think we're yet to see the fruit. Apple has invested $6B in creation of original content for Apple TV+ and it's mostly still in dev. I am going to use Foundation as a benchmark for the service. I've seen a few doco's and a couple of shows recently that were pretty good quality. I have to admit that Ted Lasso was one of the best shows I've seen. So damn heartwarming. Hard to compare Apple TV+ to other services who have stocked their backlog with non-original content... On an Apples-to-Apples (ha) comparison of original content from Netflix and Amazon to Apple TV+, then Apple are definitely coming in last place right now... No contest to that - I just think they haven't hit their stride yet. (Edit: I should note - I got a year for free from buying an iPad - so I'm not biased due to a subscription spend to support the service).

Volume 46 (2016/2017) lists: * IH180 - 1st brief app. Wolverine (last pg.) * IH181 - 1st full Wolverine story; Trimpe-a I'd tell you what my older copies said.. but in a fit of foolishness and having issues with space, I got rid of them. One of several things I'd do differently today. @Wall-Crawler - you picked up an old copy recently didn't you? What does it say in that?

I agree with Ginger. If I was negotiating with you - I’d probably post that in the thread. But, as I write that I realise it is very imperfect as, although I would write a “take it as per pm” if it went ahead, I probably wouldn’t go back to update it if that negotiation fell through…

Honestly, that detolf got me like one of those memes that has some object like a big orange in focus on the kitchen bench and a scantily clad woman in the background... and the punchline is some play of words on the fact you didn't even notice the orange. I have to go back and look for (and at) the paintings.

Wifey got me this beauty for my birthday to display alongside my 251:

Good Lord, Jester. The stuff and things on the shelves in that detolf!!!!!

Well, I’m one of those rare DC fans who is collecting the new Joker series... I had my mind blown by the prices the 1:50 Santa Prisca variant is going for in active auctions on eBay. It’s nuts.

Yes - what @thehumantorch says... I like that. You can keep your current grind of acquiring, grading, selling and saving going while you sort out what you want to do. If you could snag a low grade AF15 and still keep that run? That sounds like a damn fine outcome!

“Even if you were assured”? That reads (or at least I read it) like you wouldn’t pay those prices out of principle. There is no doubt that the prices are crazy... Last sale of an AF15 3.0 was almost double the 2019 AVG. But, barring a record-breaking recession or some other kind of calamity, I can’t see it going back to 2019 prices now. It might go down a few K. But it might not too. If you want the book in your collection isn’t it almost a buy now or pay more later scenario?

It’s a fairly major crossroads to be at mate. Based on today’s market, selling the run will be a decision that would be very hard to reverse in the future without major expense. As you know, I’ve sold many of the books in my collection over the years. I’ve sold some keys because I needed to fund stuff for the family and I’ve sold books to consolidate a larger collection into a smaller one full of books that are truly special to me. I am completely happy with the decisions I’ve made. I’d rather have a smaller collection of 1st appearances, classic covers and novelties like homages of covers I love, than a big collection that I will flick through and look at less often (but still need the space to store). That said, I really miss having some books that I’ve sold in my collection - which is probably amplified by the price rises and general feeling that I am unlikely to have them back in my collection in the future. But, I also only sold books that weren’t my key focus. So I am wistful but overall happy with the decision and would do it again. You’ve been on this journey for a lifetime. Like my experience, I think that if you let the run go you will miss chasing it a little even if you would make the same decision again. FWIW - I personally would want the AF15 over a completed run. I’d probably look to keep all the books that are truly special to me from the run (1st apps of characters I love, covers I love) and then put the rest up for sale to get that AF15 before it is unobtainable for mere mortals. But that’s only what I would do and collecting is such an intensely personal hobby. Despite the market driving prices up quickly, it also sounds like a decision you can’t rush. Is the crisis new or has it been bubbling away for some time? What decision do you feel yourself leaning towards at the moment?

I'd been wondering if the shop mega-buys for the variants (as @FlyingDonut wrote about here) was playing havoc with true supply/demand interpretation... but you're right, they do it constantly.