• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

RonS2112

Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    214

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Everything posted by RonS2112

  1. RonS2112
    I suggest you not read any of the interviews he's currently taking on the movie's end, then.........
  2. RonS2112
    Ha! As I was leaving the theater, there was one guy -- obviously a Batman fan -- railing loudly that he thought the movie sucked because it was too artsy with no Batman. Not sure how he could have seen the same trailer I did and conclude that this movie was going to be anything other than a character study. Put a humorous ending on an otherwise great movie though.
  3. RonS2112
    That's one interpretation, I suppose. But given how well-crafted the rest of the story is, I kinda think pointing out that they were Wayne Enterprise employees was more deliberate than that.
  4. RonS2112
    Right....it's deliberately ambiguous. Arthur seems to think that all he needs is a chance and he can be successful. Parts of the film support that, but then the reality slowly dawns that perhaps he's too far gone, and maybe always was. Anyway, between here and the folks I saw the film with, it's sparked quite a bit of relevant discussion, which I think is the hallmark of a good movie, no?
  5. RonS2112
    Maybe, but then the whole beat-down by Wayne Enterprise employees seems to lack purpose.
  6. RonS2112
    My interpretation was that at the end of the movie, Arthur is finally taking steps to make his fantasy -- twisted as it is -- into reality.
  7. RonS2112
    Ahhh, but then there's the picture in the file of his mother as a young woman with the note from Arthur Wayne written on the back. So was she delusional or wasn't she?
  8. RonS2112
    Disagree....at the very least, "any schmo" has to be rich. It reinforces the fact that Arthur was THAT CLOSE to living a life of privilege, but misses out simply because he's not accepted by that father. You can't tell that story if Arthur's father is just another bum.
  9. RonS2112
    Short answer, yes. Longer answer provide here by CinemaBlend in a better way than I could write it up: https://www.cinemablend.com/news/2481483/joker-ending-explained-what-really-happened Note the link to a Joaquin Phoenix interview where he basically hints at the same thing. He said he deliberately did not answer the question as to what's real and what isn't.
  10. RonS2112
    I think there's more to it than that. The whole subtext of the film is that Arthur (and by extension, his mother) has fallen through the cracks of society. The notion of Thomas Wayne deliberately scheming to keep Arthur's mother from letting the world know that she has borne Thomas Wayne's son reinforces the denial of Arthur being "let in" to a normal life. This is reinforced by the employees of Wayne Enterprises literally kicking the out of him at the mere sight of him. Take away Thomas Wayne and that entire subtext is lost.
  11. RonS2112
    My take was that EVERYTHING ELSE was a fantasy and that the final scene was him finally taking steps to realize that fantasy. But the folks I saw the film with didn't all agree with me....
  12. RonS2112
    Both are fantastic titles. Slott's Fantastic Four and Amazing Spider-Man are also really good reads these days. Lots of good stuff to like in new titles these days; I hate seeing that people are dropping them.
  13. RonS2112
  14. RonS2112
    I really like getting comics in these, and they're really easy to deal with on the shipping end as well: http://www.geminicomicsupply.com/product/comic-flash-mailers/ Less than $1.00 each, and nearly impossible for the mailman to fold in half.
  15. RonS2112
    Picked up this beauty in roughly this same condition at a local con for only $82. Felt like I got a pretty good deal.
  16. RonS2112
    Yup.....and the next week, he's back in Annandale, VA for my favorite local, small monthly con. I guess that's how he maintains such an awesome inventory -- be willing to travel and cover a large area.
  17. RonS2112
    Great report! Boy, Gene Carpenter gets around....just saw him today in Farifax, VA and bought some beautiful SA Spider-Man's from him.
  18. RonS2112
    Hey, brother.....I'm right there with you. I have everything from #30 to present, but as I close in on finishing the run, my copies get more and more ragged the further back I go. But it's all good. There's a certain beauty in thumbing through a long run of any title, no matter what the condition.
  19. RonS2112
    I believe so....but I never asked to browse the "stacks." Presumably, those are all back stock, back-up inventory, waiting to be inventoried. Or something. But really, there was more than enough around the perimeter of the warehouse to keep anyone occupied for a full day. Just insane, the amount of material they have. Which is all the more reason why I'm surprised at how unreasonable the prices are.
  20. RonS2112
    This, and given the unevenness of the pages on the right side of the book, it appears that there's still some kind of spine roll going on. Dunno how this book got a 9.4. Or a 9.0 for that matter.
  21. RonS2112
    You are talking about Joe Gumbinger! I agree -- with the possible exception of Geppi's, Joe had, hands-down the best LCS I've ever been to. Joe had everything in his bins. The store was off Burke Center Parkway, though -- not close to Fair Oaks Mall. As you said, he passed away in the mid-90s. His wife and daughters didn't have a good sense of the comic market, so they sold that portion off and kept the used book portion as Burke Used Books. (The comics went to a variety of local LCSs, which included EG Comics in Vienna, which also closed last year). Burke Used Book unfortunately also closed its door about 10 years ago.
  22. RonS2112
    I'll absolutely have to settle for lower-grade books to complete my Fantastic Four run. I currently have every issue from #55 to present, and a smattering of books from #17-54. My general rule is that 4.0-6.0 is as low as I'll go quality-wise, but to get some of the older books, I'm going to have to relax that standard. Perhaps even as low as 1.0 for some of the more expensive books.
  23. RonS2112
    Plenty of people have seen the movies without getting into the comics. Before that, the same thing can be said about the cartoons, TV shows, etc. The difference is that now, the more successful MCU films are giving birth to a group of people who are investing to flip books for max profit. Couple that with the recent industry trend to print every title with a dozen variant covers. It's very analogous to what happened in the mid-90's. I somewhat agree with you in that I'm not trying to make money, but if/when this sort of bubble bursts, it generally takes a few LCSs with it. That's what I hate to see.
  24. RonS2112
    Hmmmm.......you say there's no burst coming, but then your observations of the secondary market precisely describe a bubble. When people start getting burned by the churn, and find other venues on which to spend their money, that's a bubble bursting.
  25. RonS2112
    In general, I'd assume the average poster/reader here is well-educated on the hobby, as compared to the "average" collector, and therefore tends to avoid the herd mentality. But clearly, given the finalized sale prices on eBay, SOMEONE is indeed buying as these (I think) inflated prices. I see a lot of signs -- this included -- of another bubble getting ready to burst, and those are never really good for the hobby -- at least in the short term.