ExNihilo

I used to buy whatever was offered in my LCS. I think it was mainly Ultra Pro bags. Oddly though, it was BCW boards. Now I buy my bags and boards on eBay and am currently working my way through a set of BCW bags/boards. I didn't realize there was a difference between the two brands. One time I went with some cheap no-name off brand. Boy, was that a big mistake. You get what you pay for. Minor keys, expensive variants, etc get the Mylites2 and Full board treatment, in an archive bag. Regular books get scotch tape, but the Mylites2 are placed upside down in the archive bag so no tape is required. I have considered going to blue painters tape.

I use comicbookroundup.com for reviews and to tell me what books are coming out on Wednesday.

It was basically all covers A thru H. That said, the Premium and Ultra sets sold out REALLY fast. Like less than 30 seconds fast. I was refreshing my page and as soon as it went up, I added an Ultra set to my cart. I clicked on my cart to pay and by then, the sets were sold out. In fact, as of now, the only set remaining is a signed A/B set. Whatever they had left for this restock must have been extremely limited. Guessing it was mostly people who cancelled orders once they saw how damaged all other copies of ASM800 were.

I think there's a difference between someone who is buying something with the intention of turning around and selling it for a higher price (a la the stock market) versus someone on Craigslist who is cleaning out the garage or their parents attic. I'm guessing most people selling on Craigslist happened across some books or need to clear space for one reason or another and the books were never an investment to begin with. It's like someone selling a car on Craigslist. It wasn't an investment and the only reason they're selling is because they're clearing space for something else.

@kav, I think my earlier post got buried, but at least from 2009 (which is when OP first purchased IH181), the market has outperformed. I reckon the same is true of most books purchased second hand. Unless you paid $0.15 (or whatever it was back then for one of the three big keys), I'm guessing the market has outperformed the comics.

I wouldn't go so far as to say that it will become virtually non-existent. In fact, I would argue that over time as digital media gains popularity and printed comics begin to dwindle, you might actually see an increase in value to major keys.

I was skeptical about a Marvel show on Freeform. I figured it was going to be rife with teen angst and what not. But I was very impressed with the first 3 episodes. The opening sequence was engaging and really pulled me in. The acting has been great so far and the story and direction has been well done effectively laying the groundwork for our characters while simultaneously building up the suspense and mystery. For a Freeform show, there was a lot more mature content than I expected between the swearing and other "adult themes". I'm not sure how many episodes are in a season, but the show seems like it would benefit from a Netflix type season of only 12-13 episodes. This would keep the storytelling tight without the empty filler that can bog down a plot (a la The Walking Dead) over the course of a 20+ episode season. I don't know where the show is going, but I also think it would benefit from keeping the overall story restricted to something like 4-5 seasons. (The longer a show goes, the harder it seems to keep it fresh, gripping, and entertaining.) All in all though, a great start for characters who I didn't much care for or know anything about.

For anyone who cares, they've gone to a "2nd print". This time a virgin cover.

I emailed with suggestions regarding the Wait List. They responded that they have two types of sales: "public launch" and "private launch". In the case of restocks such as this, it's almost always a public launch. In the case of private launches, a link is sent to members on the wait list. In which instances do they initiate a private launch? Who knows.

At first glance, I thought it read: "To: Bort"

I think a distinction needs to be made between owning something of sentimental value and owning it purely as an investment vehicle. We buy/collect comics because we enjoy it as a medium. My primary reason for buying FF48 isn't because I see it as an investment. I bought it because I like comics and the Silver Surfer is my favorite character. Any other monetary benefit I gain from it, is secondary to the emotional value it brings me fulfilling a dream/desire that I have had since I was a kid...the dream to one day own a copy for myself. An investments sole purpose, is to make you money...nothing else. I owned MO (Altria), not because I liked to smoke, but because I knew I could make money off of it. I'll admit, I am very particular about the definition of an investment. I cringe when people say they're "investing in crypto". And it's the same thing with comics. There are no metrics or measurable sources of data that can reasonably justify the price of a book today or a year from now. The action of buying a comic is not an investment, it's speculation. The definition has to apply across all books in the medium. That is to say, you can't call buying Action Comics #1 an investment and then not call buying Action Comics #1000 an investment either. And I think there are very few people who are counting on Action Comics #1000 to help pay their kids college tuition 30 years from now.

It should be pointed out that in 2009, AAPL was trading between 11-30. It's now at ~189. And that's excluding the dividends and the ridiculous 7:1 split. GOOG was anywhere between 140 and 310 and is now trading ~1,150. I made 3x on banks between 2009 and 2013 alone. Don't like individual stocks? The S&P500 was trading at 735 in early 2009. It's now at 2,780. Yes, it's probably been one of the greatest bull markets of all time, but the gains from the same period as when OP purchased can't be denied. Additionally, it's far easier (in my opinion) to research a company and estimate a future market value for them than it is for comics. If you're investing in comics, there are a few "safe" bets and those would be Action #1, AF #15, 'Tec #27. I agree Hulk #181 is one of the newer comics that should be a safe bet to hold long term. But to answer OP's question, no, I don't think comic books (as a whole) are becoming more widely accepted as an "investment".

Yeah, but in the case of online sales, they're at the mercy of the store to send good copies just like the rest of us. And in the case of something like the JSC store which limits to 2 orders and sells out quickly, it would seem even more difficult. But I'm guessing JSC saves copies to sell at conventions and they can go to those (before doors open as you suggested) to find the best copies available in person. I'm just mesmerized by their ability is all. :P

I admittedly wonder how boardies in the pre-sale threads are able to get 9.8s on books like this or one's that are limited to like 1:200. I mean, I know they don't guarantee 9.8's, but they seem to have a pretty good track record of delivering on them. Also, for what it's worth, books sold out before I could even get to the cart page (at least the Ultra set). I guess I'll just have to settle for the signed Premium set I ordered the first go around. (was really hoping for an unsigned set)

You might as well buy a print at that point and display that while leaving the preserved book tucked away. I've read of some people displaying their high grade major keys this way in order to keep them away from direct lighting that might otherwise fade the colors.

I was already in the email system. So waitlisting literally did nothing then.

I hope something like this is the case. I don't know what the financial implications are, but I can't imagine Disney receiving a significant financial boost from Fox's cable assets since they already overlap with their own networks (ie ESPN vs FSN). I think the big item are the international cable networks since Disney doesn't have as big a cable footprint abroad as it does at home. But again, don't know what that's worth on an annual basis. I would rather Disney just buy up the Marvel rights and any other entertainment holdings. In doing so, they can avoid a bidding war with Comcast and use the money elsewhere.

What's the point of a wait list if you're not going to offer up additional inventory to people on the list? I wait listed for a set after the initial sale and never received an offer to buy the set. Now it's going to be on sale publicly again.

There's a thread for that.

It's weird that your books sit in verified for so long whereas my book went from verified to graded in less than a week. Conversely, your books (i'm guessing in similar fashion to @D84) probably went from received to verified very quickly while mine took a month.

Is this an issue of QC or is it a packaging/delivery issue? I imagine each party along the way just blames someone else in the delivery chain.

Just got an email from JSC stating that ASM #800 books are delayed until later this week due to extensive quality control. Can't say I blame them, a lot of those books were torn up due to the size of it. It still bothers me that Marvel would go cheap on the cover material for such a large book. Honestly, if you're gonna charge customers $9.99, give them a solid product. The same material/binding as Action Comics #1000 would have been so much better.

A 9.9. Wow.

I wish these books would be numbered on the back (XXXX/2500). For what it's worth, that would add a certain level of confidence to me as a buyer knowing that the print run is truly limited.