shadroch

A pet peeve of mine, but did you notice the shop puts its address, but not the town or city.

Marvel would often feature the same ad wrap in all their magazines in a particular month. If books printed in June had Wrap A, and books printed a few months later in October had Wrap B, you can tell when a book was printed by which wrap it has. Its not a law, it's economics. Suppose Zorn 1 was printed in June. Months later, three packs with BIG DIAMONDS appeared. Were the books sold months ago and Western kept them in inventory until they needed them, or did Sparta go back to print for another edition. I believe if the books had been printed in October, they would have Wrap B. If they had Wrap A, it would seem they were printed in June. It wouldn't make sense to switch wraps for 10,000 copies, more or less. I believe they were all run at the same time, and the only difference is the front cover. It's already been pointed out, but let second it- If someone asks me for DC Go-Go books, I know what they mean. If somebody asks for Marvel Picture Frames, I know what they want. I've never had anyone asks for a Whitman, or an Early Direct Edition. I buy them when I find them cheap, but have never sold any.

Whatever the person holding the gun wanted me to call them. This is not a hill I care to die on.

That is my problem with calling them Diamonds. It give the impression they are from Diamond, which didn't even exist when the early BIG DIAMONDS were first marketed.

Does Kingpin have an origin story?

When your eccentric Uncle promises you a free Camaro and it turns out he is loaning you a Citation, I don't blame a fella for being upset. Is better to under promise and over deliver than the reverse.

NY Times and WSJ are reporting the SBA hotline is advising funds are limited to $15,000. I have not called it myself.

Reports of the SBA limiting these loans to $15,000 seem accurate. If so, this will be a true disaster.

Theoretical example- Daves Comics buys a one month ad in every Marvel. His ad appears in every Marvel dated in June, including AzzMan #3. Six months later, Marvel reprints AzzMan #3, Publishing Daves ad would give him advertising he didn't pay for. On other ads, you are asked to respond to a certain department or box. Books from June might be Dept. 402, while books from December might be 409.

Has anyone ever checked the internal ads ? If the Whitman books were printed much later, they should have different ads inside. If the ads are identical, it seems to indicate they were all printed at the same time.

Perhaps Mr Reid was the inspiration for the original Kinpin. He was fairly well known in the US, having been in a James Bond film, amongst a few other roles.

Direct editions were sold in comic shops, mostly to collectors who cared for their books. Whitmans were sold in supermarkets, toy shops and the like and I believe they were read by a younger crowd. Speaking only for myself, I treated the books with no UPC as reprints and either didn't buy them when offered or stuck them in my 3/$1 boxes. That's why you don't find many hi grade ones. I was pretty tight with a number of shop owners and was a founding member of the first dealer association and don't remember ever having a discussion on these, or on the price variants. They just weren't a thing in the 1980s.

He made a big deal about leaving and not selling any more, so it seemed like a moot point at the time. I think few people thought he'd have the balls to slink back and start posting again, and foolishly took him at his word that his selling days were over.

Correct me if I'm mistaken, but wasn't he in the comic business fulltime when he took thousands of dollars from board members and didn't deliver? Wasn't he in the business fulltime when he solicited board members to give him fraudulent feedback on a new ebay account he was opening, supposedly to dump tpbs he somehow obtained , and wasn't he in it fulltime when he took cash in the sum of five figures from a board member? That he made restitution years later is cool, as is the fact I got my refund after about 18 months if I recall, but implying this was about a $30 transaction is nonsense. Add about three zeroes to that sum. He tried to make a comeback a few years later, but enough of his victims were still around. Allowing him to sell here makes a mockery of the very rules we set up to prevent situations like this.

I guess we have different ideas of what "good faith" means.

Black Dragon is my favorite, with Squadron Supreme and Hercules also making the podium.

Many self employed people don't keep the best records, but you'd better have records from last year. I'd wager many people go to jail over these programs and most will be very small fish.

I don't have any lost payroll, and all I'm looking for is to get the loan I applied for, or to see if they have a newer program I'm eligible for. I have no problem putting up property as collateral. This town is full of absentee owners who rent via AirBNB or whatever, and more than a few are evidently extremely leveraged. Might be some buying opportunities come the Fall.

My accountant is the one who asked me if I had stuff out on consignment and if I had records to document sales. There are no experts on this, as its brand new and regulations are changing daily. Some banks seem to be following different guidelines. While my circumstances aren't unique, they are pretty unusual.

In the end, the scorpion stings the frog every time.

I enjoy reading houses stuff, but I think removing him from the probation list is wrong. Frankly, I'm surprised he isn't in the Hall of Shame.

What stinks is I had applied for a small SBA loan about six weeks ago and they made me jump thru all sorts of hoops, made me put up personal property as collateral and now am told that application is on hold as they sort out the new ones. The bank is closed except for the ATMs so I can't get anyone to actually talk to me.

Isn't that true of most business's?

It's not just comics. With my ongoing battle with the zoning department keeping my own shop shut, I have merchandise in shops, in two galleries and an antique mall. The contracting work I needed was scheduled to be done by April 15th. Now I'm lucky if it gets started before Monsoon Season. Part of it is a 24x26 carport for shade and protection from rains. On the other hand, I'm really enjoying not having to go to work.

I long regarded them as reprints, but have become convinced they are not. I'm comfortable calling them Whitmans, while recognizing they may well have been distributed by multiple companies.