VintageComics

You're one of those 'too nice' Canadians. You're almost obsolete now. The times, they are a changin' I disagree. He spent an entire video smearing reputable names. The first thing out of anyone's mouth should have been a profuse "I'm sorry - I was wrong". That would make the world a better place.

The first thing he should have said was that he wrongly accused two reputable auction houses of collusion and was WRONG. In fact, this should be the title of the video. Instead, he goes into the smoke screen first and slips in a small apology somewhere. The rest is just a discussion about GPA reporting. He comes from a family with a very long history in the hobby. His dad is a well known dealer and a comics restoration expert, as is his uncle. He should know better so I wouldn't feel too bad.

People throw things up for sale that they recently bought for many reasons, but one of the main reasons is cash flow. We see it on the boards ALL THE TIME. Just bought something...need to sell it. And auction houses can give aggressive cash advances for quality stuff so there is even further incentive if the buyer had the attention of a squirrel and wanted to chase another shiny object. I mean, have you looked around this hobby for more than 5 minutes? Everyone does it.

I never knew that MCS was holding GPA data for the duration of time payment plans. It makes sense in that the buyer hasn’t actually paid, but it definitely messes with GPA data. If someone buys a book for $5000, and that sale doesn’t show up until months later....it confuses the current value. Especially if the book is trading at $3500 by the time the $5000 sale is paid for. People keep looking at GPA expecting it to be some sort of authority. It's not. It's just a mirror reflecting the past. Sometimes it has smudges on the mirror. Sometimes there's some lint on it. Sometimes the mirror has a bend on it and doesn't reflect perfectly. The Guide used to be used as a general Guide with people LOOKING FORWARD and making their own decisions as to how much to pay for a book AFTER the Guide was printed. GPA is now being used as a risk mitigation guide so people can AVOID paying too much. This has caused a lot of fear and volatility to enter into the marketplace, and one thing we've learned for sure over the last 2 years, is that the majority can't think objectively or rationally and fear rules most people. So they want someone to do all the work for them, tell them exactly what to do without having to really think for themselves and just reap the benefits with little effort. If people focused on averages rather than single sales this would be a much better hobby for everyone, collectors and investors included. Hyperfocusing creates volatility and that is not good for anyone. ------------------------------------------ This is Mark Wilson's son? Well, then he should know better than to publicly accuse respected organizations of collusion and fraud so frivolously before really getting his facts straight. Way too many holes in his theory for someone who is not a noob in comics. Finally, there are many people in the hobby who can be accused of fraudulent behavior but I have no problem saying that MCS or Comiclink are not on that list. I've had many, extensive dealings with both of them in various capacities and both have been honorable and have acted beyond reproach in my experience, even when they didn't have to. It takes a long time to build something good and very little effort to tear it down. Influencers should choose their words carefully.

Correct. The top of the pyramid makes up a VERY small percentage of the overall market, and frankly much of the time the prices at the top of the pyramid are determined by the 100,000s of collectors who make up the main body of the pyramid, pushing up the top of the pyramid - although we also know a record sale can also pull up the lower end of the market. That volatility at the top is often driven by fear, or just a bidder not bidding on a particular item one night whereas the real collecting base adds support. But even though the higher grade market fluctuates the bottom won't fall out of it as long as there is a foundation of steady sales and collectors below it. If a book gets 'too cheap' it will get snatched up at some point. In fact, that there are deals being made in the background and some of the books that went 'cheap' in the past week are already being bought up at higher prices. But I can neither confirm nor deny anything.

After I posted the list someone purchased it privately before I could list it publicly. Sorry about that.

Because one auction sales is not an indicator of the market, and I can give MANY examples. The Hulk #181 example was discussed a few pages ago and I think the reasonable conclusion is that those two $50K Sig Series sales were both outliers and possibly even fake sales. I never thought Hulk #181 was a $50K book after those sales, and we now have at least two more sales at $90K+ forming a bottom on the book (and that's two IN THE SAME AUCTION which is even more impressive). Another book I was surprised about was the ASM #1 CGC 9.6 that sold for $330K. That sounds like a lot of money but in the grand scheme of things, I think that book went incredibly cheap when compared to other ASM #1 sales, AF #15 sales and other related books. In fact, I was shopping around a 9.6 for someone at well over that number a year ago (let's say double) and I was getting interest - not serious enough to sell it - but if the book had been priced as $330K it would have sold many times over. So does that mean that ASM #1 is faltering? Hardly. The book is climbing in price in other high grade price points. So, this one slipped throw the cracks because another bidder didn't show up to drive price up and I think the buyer got a deal. We'll know in 6 months where the bottom actually was on this new market but I think people are just currently reactive and not proactive. One more thing. I won't name names, but there were dealings buying up books when everyone was selling in 2008-09 and in early 2020. They spend millions buying up people's 'fire sales' books, and they did very well in retrospect.

I waited until the Heritage Auctions ended yesterday to see how these books did, and they did well.

That's all for now!

Giant-Size X-men #1 CGC 9.8 OWW Asking $35,000 (shipping included)

Amazing Spider-man #1 CGC 9.8 OWW - Golden Record Reprint (1966) Asking $10,000 (shipping included)

Amazing Spider-man #129 CGC 9.8 OWW - John Bernthal is rumored to be playing Punisher in the MCU Asking $38,000 (shipping included)

Amazing Spider-man #129 CGC 9.6 White pages - John Bernthal is rumored to be playing Punisher in the MCU Asking $10,000 (shipping included) SOLD!

Adding a few more books...

X-men #141 CGC 9.8 White - 1st app alternate future X-men - Days of Future Past Asking $1000 (shipping included)

X-men #130 CGC 9.8 White - 1st app Dazzler Asking $1200 SOLD!

X-men #121 CGC 9.8 White - 1st Alpha Flight Asking $1450 SOLD!

DC Comics Presents #26 CGC 9.8 White - newsstand - 1st app New Teen Titans Asking $1850 (shipping included)

Amazing Spider-man Annual #16 CGC 9.8 White - 1st app New Captain Marvel (Monica Rambeau) Asking $1000 (shipping included)

Amazing Spider-man #149 CGC 9.6 OWW Asking $1000 (shipping included)

Adding a few more books.

You haven't spent much time on the chat forum lately, have you? https://www.dictionary.com/browse/mudslinging

Roy gets a fail.

The only critical thinker in the thread. Class gets a fail.

Maybe if you had a better case, but in this case you're likely wrong. I didn't even see the sales on GPA because I don't have my Sig Series box checked on GPA. I had to check that box just now to see the recorded prices. That's how little attention I pay to Sig Series books. And they both sold on the same day, too? From the same seller? Within an hour of each other? A seller with only 185 eBay feedback? And a seller who has never sold anything expensive before? And the bidding is private? And neither buyer has left feedback for the purchases even though they were completed a month ago. None of the above is weird to you? Come on. These two examples are about as shady as can be. No wonder nobody serious bid on them. This is not the type of example you want to build your case on. These auctions have everything going against them and nothing in their favor. Like I said, if I'd seen the books I'd have bought them at that price. Most dealers would probably have even paid 50% higher, or more than what they sold for. They obviously either went under the radar because MANY people completely ignore Sig Series books or nobody bid on them because the auctions looked shady as F***dge. Likely both.