RockMyAmadeus

...and all you see in a comic is "how much is this worth?", you're depriving yourself of universes of wonder, joy, and lifetimes of excitement and fun. Short background: I got into comics at the age of 17, not having read them as a child. I found some comics at a used book store for 50 cents, comics that had cover prices of $2.50 and $2.95...including this one: I thought I had stumbled on a get-rich-quick scheme: buying these comics for 50 cents, then selling them for cover price to others. Who wouldn't want to pay cover price for old comics, after all...? Oops. But, in the process, I discovered something about comics: they're actually not half bad. In fact, some of them are pretty great. I developed an eye for artists, and an ear for writers, and learned to follow their work. I learned about what motivated Magneto, why Batman needed a Robin, why Wolverine was so angry all of the time, and how Guy Gardner got taken out with just one punch. One punch! And unlike Black Canary, I didn't miss it. And while I appreciate (no pun intended) the fact that comics can become more valuable (sometimes rather quickly), and I like owning those books...because then I can buy more books!...that's not the reason I collect them. There are entire universes out there to be explored, and there is literally something for everyone, whether you like super heroes, melodrama, price variants, Disney, mini-series, first appearances, artwork, heck, even letters of comment...comics has it all, and then some. But if you have no interest in the artform, when the crashes come, and they always come, there will be nothing to keep you. And the less interest in the artform there is, the harder the crashes will be, because there will be nothing to keep others like you. I understand where you're coming from: we're in a period right now, with all the movie excitement, that is unprecedented. Comics are worth more than they ever have been, and since 2009, it doesn't look like anything has really lost its value; indeed, prices today are setting records over and over again. Just when you think "this CAN'T go higher!" it does, and then double that, and then triple that. Eventually, however, the culture will move on, as it always does, and when that happens, it's going to be bloody. This is not an anti-speculation screed. Speculation is not necessarily bad, in an appropriate context. Speculation is exciting...I get it...but if all comics are to you is a vehicle to make $$$, if you care nothing about the book in your hand other than "how much is this worth?"...you're cheating yourself of one of the greatest artforms ever created. It's an amazing artform. An American classic, just as rich and diverse as any film, TV production, or novel. There are worlds to discover, right at your fingertips. PS. I still have that copy of Alien Nation #1, that I bought 30 years ago this summer, in a used book store in a little town called Willits, CA. Never did manage to get rich with it.

Brawndo's got electrolytes. It's got what comics crave!

This needs to be one of the options over there on the like button ---->

Who...?

X-Men, especially from 1975-1981-ish, was the best title on the stands. It outshone everything. Claremont really had some great ideas. His dialogue was never very good (and some of it is downright painful), but his plotting was tremendous. Issues #107-108 especially stand out. And, of course, the Dark Phoenix saga is as good as it got. Really, the best of its era.

Those are amazing, David. Thanks for sharing.

En Francais!

For the last 10 years or so, Bronze X-Men (and X-Men in general) have been fairly stagnant, after dominating the early to mid 80s and much of the 90s. After the artificial highs of the unfilled census in the mid 00s, X-Men haven't seemed to do well for a long while. But is that about to change? Phoenix issues, esp #101 and #134, are on fire, and setting records...but ALL of them are legitimately scarce in high grade below issue #110, and even #110-142 aren't anywhere near as common as their post-Byrne counterparts. X-Men #178 may never see inflation adjusted highs ever again, but #126...? Sure, everyone bought them in huge quantities and kept them in pristine shape....in 1983. But in 1979...? Yeah, maybe not so much, even if they were less subject to attrition than, say, an average issue of Iron Man or Batman. Seems to me like these books...especially compared to contemporaneous books that have shot up in value in recent years, a la Nova, Ms. Marvel, etc....are looking like bargains, for the most part.

No one can say I didn't try. Good luck to you.

Listen...if you can't handle people disagreeing with you, without making it personal and resorting to personal insults...then, really, the internet isn't for you. There was and is nothing personal in anything I've said to you. I simply disagreed with you, and it clearly bothered you, to the point where you felt the need to make it personal. It's ok to disagree with people, and not take it personally. Honest. I do it all the time. Or, you can be offended and respond as you have been. Either way, this personal BS doesn't have any place here.

Move on, kav.

Move on, kav.

Move on, kav.

Move on, kav.

Move on, kav.

I'll consider that your concession. Pleasure chatting with you.

No. Your contentions are simply untrue. If you don't want the burden of having to prove them, etiquette suggests you not make them, but...this is the CGC board, after all. If the forum cites numerous examples, they should be easy to find. That said, it is simply untrue that A. eBay allows "buyers that go on a buying frenzy and leave dozens of unpaid sellers on the hook" (despite sellers actually not being "on the hook" for anything if a buyer fails to pay, except some wasted time), and B. eBay does nothing about it. And, to the much larger, and much more relevant, point, feedback left for buyers, for the reasons already stated, serves no purpose. The only people in favor of it are those who feel a need to exact a measure of revenge on what they perceive to be a "bad buyer", and that's never a good reason to do anything.

True, but you have to be careful with that, because 1. it doesn't include counts for fb that was removed by eBay (which is the usual course of action for angry sellers), and 2. it could indicate feedback that was left by mistake with the wrong rating, or even just neutral fb that was changed. If someone has multiple revised fb, though, that's a red flag. It usually indicates a seller who angers buyers enough to leave neg/neut fb in the first place, and then either bribes them or coerces them to revise it. Patterns...it's always in the patterns...

Strawberry Shortcake. Any issue. There's a legion of collectors who pay big bucks for them.

Ok, I saw this: ...and for a second, it looked like the latest post was asking for "advice on selling my small child"... Had to do a double take.

No. 1. As eBay discovered, and others have known, buyers faced with the threat of retaliatory negative feedback WILL NOT leave legitimate negative feedback themselves. 2. Feedback for buyers is pointless. Buyers can buy at any time, provided they aren't blocked, with no ability by sellers to "pre-screen" them before they buy. This is the same with bidders who bid at the last minute. 3. As has been demonstrated over and over and over again, sellers who CAN retaliate...regardless of the merit of such retaliation....WILL retaliate. 4. The sole and only obligation of a buyer is to pay. The buyer is under no other obligation. Failing to pay can be addressed in other ways. Since paying is the only obligation a buyer has to a seller, feedback for buyers serves no purpose. As for your claim that there are "buyers that go on a buying frenzy and leave dozens of unpaid sellers on the hook"...you'll have to both prove that's true (it isn't), and prove that eBay did nothing to stop those buyers (they do.) And...again...negative feedback has no effect on a buyer's ability to buy from another seller, unless that seller happens to be in a position to check prior to their interaction (which is almost never)...and even when they are, sellers rarely do, because, again, feedback for buyers serves no purpose. "Richly deserved" is just an expression of vengeance...emotion...which has no place in business. Emotional responses always lead to problems for everyone. And if you think the feedback system was better in eBay's formative years, I would suggest you weren't around then, and don't know how the feedback system used to work.

It is. It is the textbook definition of it. That depends. If that diversity is based on immutable characteristics, rather than points of view, it is, by definition, the "-ist" of whatever immutable characteristic is being discussed. I would say more, but this board, generally, doesn't tolerate what it perceives as "arguments." If it helps, I agree with most everything else you've said.

It is.