Randall Dowling

Another great mag thread

What a great bunch of books! A lot of really good deals on some hard to find mid-run Creepys!

Personally, I would put 2 or 3 into priority mail envelopes (in regular bags and boards), stack them and then sandwich the envelopes (2 for 5 mags) between 2 pieces of rigid cardboard that are slightly bigger than the envelopes. Wrap the sandwich in lots of bubble wrap both ways (so that there's no wiggle room) and place them in a priority mail box. Again, with enough bubble wrap around all sides so that there's no space for movement in the box. I know this involves USPS, not UPS, but I've shipped hundreds of books this way and never had them get damaged.

Anyone I know that has actually read Maus has found it to be a profoundly powerful story using animals as metaphors to examine a very dark period of the 20th century and the fallout afterward. And I've shared it with plenty of people that don't read comic books and they're reaction was the same. It is one of the best graphic novels ever made. Period. The ignorance and hysteria that some are allowing to run their decision making is getting out of control. For the first time, I'm concerned about the rewriting of history. I never was before because it always the lunatic fringe pushing this lunacy. My plan for dealing with this? I'm going to find an abandoned set of subway tunnels and stash all the cultural and historical artifacts these people want to burn. Then I will carefully and meticulously plan their downfall as I don a Guy Fawkes mask.

How many are you sending in?

This is a shocking loss in the before and after. Very tough.

@Flex Mentallo Thanks for sharing these examples and your knowledge. A bit painful to see but very interesting.

Wow. Good-bye craquelure.

This is just very sad.

I'll share what I would do, if that helps. I do a once through the collection quickly identifying the most valuable books and, usually, the next tier down of value. I do a quick calculation in my head for what that number is. I then do an approximation of percentage of the rest and what their average value is. Based upon condition, current demand, and how I plan on selling the books, I calculate a reasonable percentage of the total value that I'm willing to pay that rewards my time, knowledge, and willingness to sink money temporarily into the collection while trying not to take unfair advantage of the current owner. I then explain all of these factors in an understandable way and make it clear that I have to make something or else it's not worth my time or money to purchase. I further explain that if I'm dramatically off in my calculation and the books go for considerably more, I'll return with additional compensation. If I'm wrong and the books go for much less, that's on me. Most people find this more than fair and are glad for the help. A few will believe they're sitting on a gold mine and insist on getting full market value. To which I wish them luck and we part ways. Credit where it's due, some of these aspects I learned from Gary @Moondog and have been made better for it. There are a few, but not many, comic dealers that handle themselves with similar integrity.

You'd be surprised. As the others have said, there are always the occasional shockers, but when buying books, it really is best if you have a reasonable grasp on the current market. In 1990, I got hired by the LCS because I could quote the current guide price in pretty much any grade for most books. A lot more books have been published since then, but I still try to keep track of the pulse of the market. It's just practice and wanting to get good at.

I crack out books all the time but not to press and resubmit. I just prefer them outside of slabs and they take up a lot less space. Given that the vast majority of books that are slabbed have been pressed, I don't see the point unless you're someone who has a very keen eye and lots of experience with pressing a book. I've been cracking books out for 18 years and it's not like it used to be. Occasionally, today, you find a book that's certified and hasn't been pressed but probably 90% of the last 20 or so books I've cracked were all clearly pressed. FWIW, if anyone can tell the difference, it's @joeypost

This isn't Master Comics 30. If someone had a Master Comics 30 in 9.0 for sale right now, it would draw very big dollars. But that's been the case for awhile now. CMJ 30 is still a cool book.

While I understand the point that you're making, it seems that your argument boils down to "It's the content of the art that gives it value, not the way it is composed, laid out, drawn and rendered. Which I don't agree with at all. If this were true, it would upend all art valuations as no one would be collecting art based on artist, but rather content. I agree that seminole moments in the history of comics increase the value of a given piece of original art, I don't agree that it's the only thing that matters or even the most important thing that matters. It's an argument that any artist drawing the same material would be worth just as much. And I'm not sure that's true. Having said this, I do agree that most likely, whoever paid this absurd sum did so mainly because of the content. To each their own. The arguments of work-for-hire terms and how comic art was produced have been repeated ad nauseam and I'm not here to repeat. My point is purely the fact that for Mike Zeck, he drew that page based upon loose direction given to him by the writer and editor, he was paid the going page rate of the time (which wasn't much), at some point he (or someone else) sold it for hundreds of dollars, and now someone has paid this incredible price (which was more than Mike Zeck made in his entire life) for something he made. I don't have a good solution to this but I do know that this isn't fair (but then, neither is life). Still, I'm not about to defend unfairness as a virtue of the status quo. Are we not aspiring for a more and more ideal landscape for living and existing with one another? Shouldn't we want Mike Zeck to share in this current good fortune? Or should we want him to die in poverty as so many comic artists have? It's not like Marvel or DC were offering generous retirement packages. There are many things that I would not agree with Neal Adams about, but I will always admire how he advocated for Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster in the 70s and forced DC to take care of them. He didn't have to do that and he had little to gain and much to lose in doing so. They had lost their case in court over and over. The debate was closed. If we apply your argument to their plight, they would have gotten nothing. Which I don't agree with.

These are a few of the books that I've picked up. Year of Consent has one of my favorite Richard Powers covers. And I love Popular Giants! I'm slowly chipping away at a very specific period of Avons with this colored flag logo, price and number at the top. A little Ray Johnson, a little Rafael DeSoto Some classic Dells. Cats Prowl at Night is a classic cover to me. The artist on Unfinished Business looks familiar... And these last 2 are completely normal purchases. Sherry is a story of a young lady negotiating a complicated world. Wild French Nurse is a perfectly ordinary title to collect...

This would be my personal position as well. Although, I recognize that most people wouldn't agree. But a 9.8 with OW pages is a bit sad to me. Makes sense, to each their own. And I completely agree with the bolded part unless it was a GA or SA book. But even then, I'd never chase the 9.8 as I'd rather have multiple lower grade (9.4) books instead (not that you usually have the choice with many of those books).

This is also common with tech start-ups (I'm sure you're aware) where a new company will get bought by a bigger one or they go IPO and the founders get a huge payday with a cost basis of zero. It's less common now, but back in the 90s and 00s, you'd see a bunch of guys driving around exotic cars, only to have to sell them when their taxes were due. I knew one guy who had 7 figure tax bill due and had less than a hundred thousand in cash. And he couldn't sell more shares for another year. Tough position to be in.

I missed that.

Amen. A lot of acrimony. No matter how strongly I may feel a movie is really, really great or equally bad, I still try to respect that others who may feel differently and that's just fine. I can't tell you how many times @kav has posted that he hates the most recent Dune movie and that it's really, really bad. I think he's completely wrong, but that doesn't make him evil (there are other reasons for that ). It just means we disagree. FWIW, I think most (if not all) of you guys posting in this thread would be really fun to have a conversation with IRL about films. A lot of people with similar knowledge and experience with film history. Pretty cool.

I like your sketching style. Nice and loose.

It's really good to see more people sharing their books in this thread. Like it!

Isn't the whole point of certification that the grade is an accurate representation of the book?

I read years ago (I forget where) that the early days of TSR were a bit... disorganized. And the artists would send their work in and it was put into a closet in the offices in Lake Geneva, WI. At some point they moved and apparently cleaned house. It's assumed that someone cleared out the art for artists that didn't insist on getting it back. And by cleared out, it's assumed to have been put in the garbage. I seem to remember Jeff Dee recounting this in one of his kickstarter campaigns to recreate the original work. I'm sure there's someone out there that knows better than I but this is just my recollection. Still, there's enough uncertainty about the specifics that one day, someone's grandkids could show up with it all. Who knows?

Frazetta covers are the best. And Vampirella 7 is the best of all Frazetta covers.

"A few times, I have to fold the case on him, just so it won't be obvious." Mike McDermott, Rounders (1998)