shadroch

In the end, you'll spend less money on TPBs, leaving more for you to invest in real investments. The beauty of TPBs is that since you have already shown the patience to wait for the collected story, you might have the discipline to wait and buy the TPBs when they inevitably get marked down. I can only think of two TPBs I've paid full price for- The Death of Superman and the Alan Moore Supreme one. Rest I find for under $5.

From reading MCS's website, it appears there are differences between the various guides as to what printing is what. This advisory appears on many of their undergrounds. PRINTING NOTE: Due to the several discrepancies that occur in identifying the printings for this issue across Fogel's Underground Price Guide, Grand Comics Database, Comixjoint, and other sites, we can only guarantee to be accurate to the level of identification found in Fogel's.

InIn 1986, there were about 3,000 comic shops. Many of them used multiple distributors so they got more than one. Let's say there were 5,000 printed. How many survived? I personally can't imagine many shops saved them. However I also don't think too many people are looking for one, either. Nice curiosity for the right buyer.

When it comes to companies like Image, were newsstand editions distributed widely or only regionally?

The issue came up well before you joined. CGCs former head actually started it as I recall after two people reported rusty staples in Golden Age books. The recommendations were to use dehumidifier crystals.

Find an empty room. Record the temperature. Put 50 people in it, wait an hour and take the temperature again. Now add another 50 people and repeat. That's climate change.

Late 80s, early 90s. No tag on the inside? Batman clothing from the 70s is just about non-existant.

mycomicshop.com has an extensive listing of Undergrounds, and tries to sort out the different printings. Go there and enter the books title, you'll get some useful information. Much more trustworthy than going by ebay listings.

Look like something for Ikea, but they might be custom.

BTW- I don't believe Bud Plant did wholesale mainstream comics until around 1978. Before that, he was all about undergrounds, portfolios and alternatives.

McClure says he told Bob about hundreds of books that didn't exist. You say its impossible because everyone knew a few of them existed, but admit no one realized the extent of how many variants actually existed. Same you pull everytime someone posts something you don't agree with. Anyway, as I said. It was a fun thread for awhile.

And the thread goes off the track as RMa argues incessantly over the meaning of someone's words. It was fun while it lasted.

I think Whitman packaged their competitors books in order to gain access for their own stuff. A store or chain might not have much interest in getting a bunch of poor selling Gold Key comics, but offer them a case of 72 3packs, half of which feature popular characters like Spider-Man, Batman and Superman and they just might be.

As I recall, and it was well over thirty years ago, Man Of Steel #1 came with two covers. The Newstands got one with Clark Kent ripping open his shirt to reveal the Superman emblem. The DM got one with just a close up of the Superman emblem. Added: Mile High has both DM and Newstand copies of the Clark Kent cover, so it appears you were correct. The closeup is a variant cover.

Several of my friends that had shops had newsstand accounts, as well as Direct . This let them carry magazines and they would get small amounts of returnable comics. Problem was the comics were three weeks behind. I never did, because my first shop was done on a real shoe string and the local magazine distributor wanted something like a $1,000 deposit and I had to buy a rack from them. Had to sell a boatload of .60 cent comics to clear $1,000. My money was in back issues and D&D, at least for the first few months. Transformers, as well. I couldn't keep those things in stock.

Friendly Franks I bought a lot from them before I opened my first shop, but with Seagate offering free pickup, it didn't make sense to use them for new books.

Absolutely. MH2 was the result of one mobbed up distributor illegally diverting books. A rather small distributor, in fact. So, if one mobbed up distributor did it, and there were hundreds ,if not thousands of such mobbed up distributors across North America, what are the chances that dozens or more such hoards existed. It's just that most buyers of stolen goods don't shoot their mouths off like Chucky Woodchuck, or brag about committing bank fraud to do so.

I don't recall which distributor I was using at that point. I'd started with Phil at Seagate. When they went bellyup, I switched to Comics Unlimited. They wrote a nasty article about a Marvel suit and Marvel pulled their ability to sell Marvel books so I switched to Crown. Then Diamond came in and pretty much drove Crown out of business. Now, in the mid-1980s, we would get DM books approx. three weeks before the same book would appear on the newsstands. Did you get both editions at the same time or were these reorders that came in later?

My apartment has a Roman tub. It's akin to a mini- Jacuzzi. I think I've taken one shower since I moved in. Nothing like a good soak.

That's strange. I don't recall being able to split orders like that. In fact, my distributor made a big deal out of locating newsstand Spidey Annual 21s for us, as it had a different cover than the direct. I do remember being able to order the newsstand Man of Steel #1 covers from my distro. When discussing the overall condition of newsstand copies, you have to keep in mind that many of the copies that exist today were never actually distributed to the stands. Whole bricks ( 100-200 copies bound together ) were diverted. Remember that the entire Mile High 2 collection is newsstand copies, and is just one of many such hoards.

I've been storing my slabs in that position for a decade or more with no ill effects. That said, there have been issues with storing slabs in safes. Early on, some very valuable books developed rusty staples. There is some sort of device that people place in the safe to ward that off. Never paid much attention as I don't keep them mine in safes but I would investigate it pronto ,if I were you. Are you storing them upside down? If so, why?

I can't think of a single Mini-Series that sells better individually than in sets. Possibly Wolverine, but not any others.

It's funny. I just had a flood in my apartment , and lost aa couple thousand dollars worth of books, all insured. After hearing about the flood, my friend called me up and said how great it was, how I was going to sell them anyway and this way I could use the money to open another bar or something. He sounded disappointed when he heard it was only a fraction of the books. Then I got to thinking, wondering if I might enjoy things better with a much bigger check and much less books. Not an easy thing for me to decide.

The last thing you'd want in a bug out bag is a couple of million dollar comics.