aerischan

If anyone's fast-tracking at CGC, could they post up the slab's label? Regardless of edition B-)

 

How much do you have invested in this?

 

Already profited... but keeping some as a collector. Ain't a regular speculator.

 

Yup, the 'ol pump and dump...

The pump wasn't really because of this board. That was due to widespread media coverage. People just took advantage of a quick flip.

01/04/17

DC COMICS

NOV160208 BATMAN #14 $2.99

NOV160209 BATMAN #14 VAR ED $2.99

NOV160179 JUSTICE LEAGUE #12 (JL SS) $2.99

NOV160180 JUSTICE LEAGUE #12 VAR ED (JL SS) $2.99

NOV160163 JUSTICE LEAGUE SUICIDE SQUAD #3 (OF 6) $3.99

NOV160164 JUSTICE LEAGUE SUICIDE SQUAD #3 (OF 6) CONNER VAR ED $3.99

NOV160165 JUSTICE LEAGUE SUICIDE SQUAD #3 (OF 6) MADUREIRA VAR ED $3.99

NOV160248 NIGHTWING #12 $2.99

NOV160249 NIGHTWING #12 VAR ED $2.99

NOV160256 SUPERMAN #14 $2.99

NOV160257 SUPERMAN #14 VAR ED $2.99

OCT160297 SUPERMAN TP VOL 01 SON OF SUPERMAN (REBIRTH) $16.99

IMAGE COMICS

NOV168640 SAGA #41 NEW PTG $2.99

MARVEL COMICS

NOV160903 HAWKEYE #2 $3.99

NOV160797 UNSTOPPABLE WASP #1 YOUNG VAR $3.99

OCT160725 US AVENGERS #1 YOUNG VAR $3.99

OCT160737 US AVENGERS #1 REIS CONNECTICUT VAR $3.99 (Black Widow)

Is it time to sell Darth Vader 3 variants yet? Sales are steady

I always take the approach 'you don't lose money by making money' (maybe a Rockefeller quote?). If the book isn't for your PC, sell when conditions are very favorable (as it's hard to predict optimal conditions) and don't look back.

Buy high, sell higher.

@adampasz posted a pretty good article in Comics General.

http://www.moremoneycomics.com/2016/11/reasons-to-sell-comic-and-comparing.html

I don't think it's so much confusing dealers with flippers. Rather, it's using dealers interchangeably with retailers/comic shops. Sure, a lot of comic shops are probably dealers as well. However, those who rely on new comics for majority of their income would probably prefer to sell stock quickly rather than tie up capital on old stock in the hopes of the comic appreciating.

 

Ghost Rider #93 may be selling for $30-90 now but during that 18-year period, the retailer could have used the funds to buy comics that sell quickly and dependably. Let's say the retailer makes $1 per comic and they sell every month, over the years, that would have net them $200+.

 

Your average LCS will not buy comic books to sell at a premium on eBay. Thats exactly what Im saying. However, seasoned dealers, like chuck, were and are aware of trends and buy accordingly.

Right. I think that's the point of contention between you and @MichaelBrowning. He uses the term dealer in reference to and interchangeably with your average LCS.

Mind, while you may personally know plenty of dealers who have done this, I doubt majority of comic shops did. Otherwise, there'd just be too much stock available that there would be no scarcity ergo not much appreciation. Also, more likely than not, LCS who regularly over-ordered comics ended up liquidating them to dealers for pennies on the dollar.

I think youre confusing dealers with flippers today. Dealers like Chuck, till this day, have stock to sell. Thats their business, theyre not some kid in a basement buying books to flip on eBay.

Dealers dont buy from dealers, just like Chuck, there were many other comic book shop owners that ordered heavily on these final issues because they knew they could price them accordingly.

That does not mean that they are rare as much as it doesnt mean that they are worthless.

The point is, that what you are saying was a known fact EVEN back in the 90s

I don't think it's so much confusing dealers with flippers. Rather, it's using dealers interchangeably with retailers/comic shops. Sure, a lot of comic shops are probably dealers as well. However, those who rely on new comics for majority of their income would probably prefer to sell stock quickly rather than tie up capital on old stock in the hopes of the comic appreciating.

Ghost Rider #93 may be selling for $30-90 now but during that 18-year period, the retailer could have used the funds to buy comics that sell quickly and dependably. Let's say the retailer makes $1 per comic and they sell every month, over the years, that would have net them $200+.

NP = No Problem

, thanks. Thought it was something comic-specific.

There's Old Man Logan and X-23. Take your pick.

 

No, I'll stick with the Wolverine. There isn't an X-23 series and Logan is, well Logan.

I meant for the Venomized variants, you have All-New Wolverine (X-23) and Old Man Logan available. Alas, the Old Man Logan Venomized cover art kinda sucks.

Will probably get AN Wolverine (Mattina), ASM:RYV (Ramos) and Gamora (Hans). Not a fan of the rest.

Some of them look pretty nice. Remember Gwenpool's Secret Secret Wars, it only takes one to hit.

 

True that was the "Gwen" month.

There are 3 that I like a lot. If we look at that model, the two obvious ones hit, Venom & Deadpool. The Venom Deadpool in this lot is not great art, IMO, and it has already been done. Could there be a Wolverine Venom? Sure, why not.

There's Old Man Logan and X-23. Take your pick.

At this point slabbing doesn't even seem necessary for the speculators, ebay listings "reasonably" priced getting hit !

 

Not sure what the ceiling will be on this, looks sold out everywhere but Amazon, where it has "Best Seller" status.

 

 

Amazon's available date is 1/10/17, I wonder if that's a second print.

 

 

Nah, I've noticed Amazon's release dates seem to be one week after Diamond Previews. Same happened with DC Universe Rebirth Deluxe Edition and Art of DC Comics Bombshells.

Mother Panic was at over 40,000 copies and I didn't hear a peep about it.

My order from Comic Cartel which includes Mother Panic #1 finally arrived after a 2-month wait (for an in-stock item!). I just wanted their Cartel box but after this experience, never again.

Anyway, story seems interesting but I'm not a fan of the art. I've got issues 2-4 already preordered from the LCS but I think I'll probably remove this from the pull list pending a read of iss #2 (just released yesterday).

The big boy still has them up for pre-order.

Ordering rules for Venomized variants is similar to other themed variants such as Skottie Young Baby, Hip Hop or Action Figure. Retailer can order as many as they like as long as orders for the the regular cover meet or exceed xx% of insert_comic_book_here.

Given Midtown offers the same 15% discount on these variants regardless if you preorder or purchase after release, I'd probably just wait until release to get free shipping.

My shop only ordered 3 copies... what about you guys?

No idea. Got mine from DCBS for $6.49.

They just got in line with all the other online retailers and started charging more for them. I think they example is after Harley's Hughes cover blew up.

 

As far a filling demand goes they cancel orders all the time or limit them.

I expect part of the reason for increased pricing for ratio variants is so they can avoid cancelling or limiting orders frequently. If DCBS needs to cancel or limit ratio variant orders, that means they either underestimated demand for the variant or overestimated demand for the regular cover. Maybe both. How do they ensure every customer gets all the copies of the ratio variant they preordered? Increase prices on the variant.

For the Elektra #1 Sienkiewicz 1:50, DCBS is charging $100 so you're pretty much paying wholesale cost for all 51 comics (50 reg + 1 variant) plus around $17 markup (assuming 59% standard discount). At that price, I reckon you're guaranteed to get a copy no matter how many your order.

Granted, I rarely buy ratio variants. Most just aren't worth the high prices for me. I'd much rather get, say, a slipcased DC Absolute Edition HC than a 22-page 1:50 or 1:100 comic variant with crappy interior.

Btw, what does NP mean?

It doesn't bother me that DCBC looks at this as if they have no choice. What does bother me is they have NP gouging customers for variants just like everyone else. I used to hold them above Midtown and all the others. Now I think they are just the same.

NP gouging?

I can kinda understand DCBS' chase variant pricing since they're doing preorders for variants rather than going by stock already on hand based on normal orders. Kinda hard to fulfill, say, 1,000 preorders for a 1:100 Dell'Otto variant when you only have like 10,000 orders for the regular cover.

I figure it's kinda like theme parks. They use ticket price to lower demand.

One thing I've noticed with Midtown, they typically don't pre-sell incentive variants until after they're done with Previews preorders. There are, of course, some exceptions (e.g. Dark Knight III Master Race).

I'm aware of Midtown's pricing. I spend $75 and shipping is free. This is how I buy nearly all of my new books and have been for a long time. You get 35% off! no sales tax which equals another 7% here and free shipping. Midtown is really tough to beat if you buy lots of comics

The $75 free shipping only applies to in-stock (or soon to be in-stock) items, I believe. For new releases, it seems Midtown typically reduces the discount to just 15% unless you've got a coupon code. Still a darned good deal for new releases particularly since they give free bag and board on top of the discount and free ship.

Previews preorders (with 35-50% discount) don't get free shipping. At least I didn't when I placed mine. For Previews preorder shipments >$200, a 12% shipping cost is assessed.

Like I stated, I'm not ordering much and have my setting at shipping once a month. ( what retailer would be able to survive on that setting?) If they don't want people to order multiples, why do they always offer their best discount for the first 5 books of any new title? Also, like most collectors, I always order 2 of the books I like...one to read and one for the longbox.

Note the verbiage, they expect regular orders of 2 copies so they won't ding you for that. It's if you order >2 of multiple titles that they flag your account (e.g. getting 5 copies each of all DC, Marvel, Image, Valiant, etc #1s).

With the typical 40% discount (50% on most #1s) on DCBS, paying actual shipping costs might still be better than the typical Midtown 15% new release discount with free shipping depending on your sales tax situation.

Also, if DCBS actually thought you were a retailer, they wouldn't even sell to you at all (probably forbidden by Diamond contract).

Even people who never intend to sell their collections sometimes get rid of their stuff.

 

I doubt DCBS would be such a high demand shop if they didn't sell to secondary market sellers. Nearly all speculators I know buy their stuff from them, Midtown, or TFAW. I'm sure there are others but imagine all of the incentive covers they have access to thanks to these sales. I don't buy from them because we're in the same state and they charge sales tax to Indiana residents and only Indiana residents. For the majority of the country, they're cheaper than everyone else in bulk purchases.

It's not that DCBS is preventing secondary market sellers from purchasing from them. eBay sellers and speculators just lose the benefit of the $6.95 flat rate shipping and have to pay for actual shipping costs which are probably still quite reasonable.

TFAW charges shipping by weight while Midtown charges by dollar amount.

http://www.midtowncomics.com/info.asp?page=info_Shipping

I'm a fairly new DCBS customer. Haven't gotten any such messages yet and hope I never do.

Then again, I usually order just 1-2 copies. Only time I ordered a whole bunch of copies is the 25-cent Red Sonja #0 promo to give away. If you don't sell comics, why not send DCBS an email to explain why you're buying multiple copies so you can continue paying flat rate shipping?

You can just order it from Barnes & Noble or Amazon.

I wouldn't recommend anyone getting a copy for speculation or heck, even if you're just plain picky about condition to buy from Amazon. Their packaging is pretty atrocious and books I get from them normally have blunted corners and edges. Definitely more VF than NM. Honestly, I've never realized just how bad until I started getting TPBs from InStockTrades.

DC COMICS

OCT160158 ACTION COMICS #970 $2.99

OCT160159 ACTION COMICS #970 VAR ED $2.99

OCT160160 ALL STAR BATMAN #5 $4.99

OCT160167 BATMAN BEYOND #3 $2.99

OCT160168 BATMAN BEYOND #3 VAR ED $2.99

OCT160259 DARK KNIGHT III MASTER RACE #7 (OF 8) (RES) $5.99

OCT160189 DETECTIVE COMICS #947 $2.99

OCT160190 DETECTIVE COMICS #947 VAR ED $2.99

OCT160193 FLASH #13 $2.99

OCT160194 FLASH #13 VAR ED $2.99

OCT160150 JUSTICE LEAGUE SUICIDE SQUAD #2 (OF 6) $3.99

OCT160151 JUSTICE LEAGUE SUICIDE SQUAD #2 (OF 6) CONNER VAR ED $3.99

OCT160152 JUSTICE LEAGUE SUICIDE SQUAD #2 (OF 6) DODSON VAR ED $3.99

OCT160249 MOTHER PANIC #2 (MR) $3.99

OCT160233 TEEN TITANS #3 $2.99

OCT160234 TEEN TITANS #3 VAR ED $2.99

IMAGE COMICS

OCT160634 (USE NOV168640) SAGA #41 (MR) $2.99

OCT160713 IMAGE PLUS #9 (WALKING DEAD HERES NEGAN PT 9) (MR) $1.99

OCT160621 MONSTRESS #9 (MR) $3.99

MARVEL COMICS

OCT160951 BLACK WIDOW #9 $3.99

OCT160879 CAPTAIN AMERICA STEVE ROGERS #8 $3.99

OCT160719 EXTRAORDINARY X-MEN #17 IVX $3.99

OCT160824 ROCKET RACCOON #1 NOW $3.99

OCT160936 THUNDERBOLTS #8 $3.99

OCT161014 THUNDERBOLTS TP VOL 01 THERE IS NO HIGH ROAD $17.99

Hope the embedding works...

I have so many favorite scenes including some previously mentioned but I'll just post a couple.

X-Men: Days of Future Past - Kitchen Scene

Avengers - Black Widow Interrogation

How do you buy the book?

It was on October Previews. If you missed preordering, should be available via your LCS or online comic shops on 12/28.

Out of curiosity, anyone else here read two copies at a time? Whenever I read Black Monday Murders, I always seem to have one copy for reading and another copy open as reference material.

I like the error version! I have a cgc 9.8 subscription . Wonder if my guy can get me both versions

Yeah, reprint is way too light. Misprint is too dark but I find it more appealing to the eye. Colors for the original solicitation is somewhere between the two which I think is perfect.

https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/OCT160634

Digital edition on a calibrated display might be the most color accurate.

Saga #1 is getting out of hand right now.

 

Hmm, connected to Seven to Eternity heat?

 

Yeah, just looked and I'm shocked a little by the prices. Super loyal fans. Close to 2000 copies of #1 in CGC 9.8. Still, more collectors than books even at that number. Probably one of the more deserving books imo. It's weird and sometimes, too weird but it has tons of potential and is always interesting.

 

You think Seven to Eternity is driving it ?

 

IDK, I'm just wondering why the recent uptick. Especially in a time of the year when selling prices are typically not up. Raws were $100-125 beginning of the year if I remember correctly.

I'm just thinking maybe people are saying Seven has some staying power and looking back at Saga.

I don't have long term faith in Remender. Great writer, but has he done more than 30 issues on a series? Saga is on 40+ with the original team, correct? Does that happen anymore?

Sales of Saga TPB are pretty strong. I'm a new Saga reader. I'll chalk this down to new readers rather than Seven to Eternity heat. I'd be more willing to pay $200 for a Saga #1 HG raw than $130 for Seven to Eternity #1 CGC 9.8.

Honestly not a big fan of Remender's works (only read Black Science and Seven to Eternity thus far and didn't get past the first volume/first few issues on either).

Saga #1 is getting out of hand right now.

 

Hmm, connected to Seven to Eternity heat?

Doubt it. Saga is pretty established and can easily stand on its own.