KCOComics

On 2/12/2024 at 3:05 PM, FigaroToe said:

For anyone who has bought from them, does "NM" actually mean Near Mint as in very minor to no spine ticks and no other big issues? I've seen some online comic stores list comics as NM and when I receive them, they're F to VF at best. In other words, how likely will I get a 9.8 out of a NM from these guys?

I would request pictures and judge for yourself.

On 2/11/2024 at 9:25 PM, phretbored said:

damn as much as Mike has been able to fix some issues there is still a bad side here at the end of the day per Sauce Dog's comments

i feel bad for those victims

use any and all tools and resources available to get some kind of resolution

 

Agreed. The best case scenario right now is he returns all the books he hasn't sold. 

And even in this best case scenario, he's stolen tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars from people. And he's sold some books. 

My hope right now is that everyone gets their books back. Hopefully law enforcement will step in.

But - I don't see anyone getting money back. Blood from a stone!

On 2/11/2024 at 5:43 PM, Sauce Dog said:

Not in custody, just that all his regular/public phone numbers and emails do not seem to work anymore (bounce backs, and the phones are no longer his or disconnected). I don't have a phone number either for him, only one email address I think he set up after all this started and it has been my only method of commutation with him.

Has he given any indication about his intentions from here?  Does he plan to mail more books back?

On 2/10/2024 at 4:19 PM, Dillydally said:

Thanks for the great responses. As suggested, I should probably start cataloging it, or find someone to help me with it. Much of the collection is either first editions or first 3, or first 5 issues, but there's lots of random stuff in there too. They are mostly bagged, but not boarded. If anyone in the San Francisco Bay area is interested in helping me decide what to have graded, please let me know. 

 

I'm nowhere near San Fran, but feel free to PM me with questions or photos. 

Good luck! 

Probably not worth grading. 

CGC won't honor COAs.  That means you'll either get a Green Label (qualified grade) or a Blue label with a reduced grade for the writing on the cover. 

Don't mail your COA to them (you'll never see it again).  

You could use the other guys, but I think your better off leaving it bagged and boarded. 

The basic rule of thumb is,  the more work you put in,  the more money you'll get out. 

Ideally,  you could put the titles and numbers into an excel document.... then folks can help you zero in on the most valuable books.

From there, you could take pictures of those key issues and we could help with grading and make recommendations on which ones to grade. 

Bronze and copper age books are tough. Some are very valuable, some are vaulable only in high grade and the vast majority are not valuable. 

On 2/8/2024 at 8:13 AM, lostboys said:

 

Im guessing they would be fine if you make sure to open them every once in a while.

 

Otherwise:

Fireproof = air tight = no bueno

Yeah,  I'm guessing these aren't as air tight (or as fire proof) as a safe. 

I would probably keep them open a bit. 

Regardless - I think I'll stick with a traditional short box! 

https://www.amazon.com/ELOBOON-Fireproof-Water-Resistant-Moistureproof-Non-Slip/dp/B09GVDTDCD/ref=cm_cr_arp_mb_bdcrb_top?ie=UTF8#aw-udpv3-customer-reviews_feature_div

I have a pretty large collection of raw PCH and post code horror / sci-fi.  50s and early 60s.  Likely nearly a short box full.  Right now,  my collection is in alphabetical order in regular short boxes. GA, SA, and BA all mixed together. I've decided I want to break out the Atomic age books. 

The reviews for this look good,  but a few commented they don't work for GA books. The manufacturer claims they do. I was curious if anyone has tried them? 

Alternatively I'll just use a regular short box,  but this looked interesting. 

On 2/4/2024 at 3:12 PM, ft88 said:

Alarming Tales 3 1957 G/VG $40

Take

right now,  I have everything in alphabetical order by title and number. 

Recently,  I've thought about breaking it up by era a little more.  Basically pulling out all my 50s stuff and creating a separate box. 

On 2/3/2024 at 4:06 PM, Mokiguy said:

Did you ever see the movie Cool hand Luke? The prison boss says to Luke ....... "What we've got here is... failure to communicate. Some men you just can't reach".

Well what we've got here is a failure to communicate. And maybe you didn't mean it in a derogatory way, or maybe you did when you wrote, (I think it means coin collecting is a good fit for you, whereas other types of collecting might not be right for you). Can we stick to the point of the post rather than trying to psychoanalyze the poster?

But I forgive you for that slight miscalculation.

I think I need to call BS on anyone that shells out many hundreds or thousands for a comic book and then denies that there's any greed or even speculation, but rather $3,000 spent because they have an affinity for the character. You can have the same affinity for the character on a common $5 Spider-man Comic vs Amazing Fantasy #15. If you are willing to spend thousands on a book like that, it's not because you like Spidey and he makes you feel all warm and fuzzy and reminds you of your youth. I collect DC and in particular the silver and early bronze age superhero DC jenres. I have over 500 and I'm still collecting (sorry SOTIcollector, but it's a good fit for me). But nearly all have been had for a few bucks to maybe $10 to $20 for a few select issues. They are mostly average 4.5 to 7.0 condition with some I believe would grade in the 8's to low 9's if I would ever want to get them graded (I never will), and a few down around 2.0. I'm retired and have a certain affinity for Superman and Superboy, and Jimmy Olsen and Lois Lane, Wonder Woman and Batman, Green Lantern, Aquaman and others because I grew up reading them and collecting them reminds me of my youth. But it reminds me of my youth on $2 to $10 comics. Unless a person is wealthy, spending hundreds and thousands on a comic is either hope greed or speculation and not just affinity with a character.

I disagree. 

I've spent alot of money on some of those keys. Likely far to much. 

But I always ask would I be happy to have this if prices collapsed tomorrow?  The answer is generally yes. I don't speculate. I don't chase 9.8s. Most of what I buy is atomic age books that are less than $50. 

But I've also sprung for SA keys and bigger GA books.  I don't feel like it's out of greed. The money would be better off invested in stocks.

I really enjoy the hobby. I have an appreciation for creators and history.  I love flipping through boxes of old books. 

I think everyone collects their own way for their own reasons. I love the way you collect. You buy comics, read and enjoy them.  I try to do the same with 50s horror and Sci-Fi.  I also like to own SA keys and some high grade Slabbed BA horror that I'll never read. 

No. A press can't remove spots. 

If it was pencil or light pen, perhaps a dry clean would help.   But that looks more like mold or some type of moisture related damage. 

I admittedly don't know much about coins. 

I do agree with @SOTIcollector that it's really an issue of supply and demand.  There is greater demand for Hulk 181 than Hulk 179. People pay a premium for it.  

I guess the difference between coins and comics is the monthly releases? If you take Hulk 102 - 179 collectors under the age of 60 likely didn't read those stories. We have no connections to them outside of some cool covers (sorry Wendigo).  But many have a significant connection to Wolverine. For me,  it was the Xmen cartoons in the 90s and all the Xmen comics I would beg my mom to buy. Other's because of the movies.  Generations gave grown up loving Wolverine. So the demand is huge. There is a large supply,  but the demand out paces it. 

I agree with the above. Given the graders notes, I don't see a press helping. 

On 2/2/2024 at 3:59 PM, newshane said:

Just seems like they went down the toilet since they sold out to Blackstone...the beginning of the end was the mass hiring spree a few years back. 

I was just joking about the long TATs during the pandemic. I waited like 18 months for comics to be graded. 

As for this situation,  I do think it's 2 isolated incidents.  Where there is money to be made,  criminals and unethical people will look for cracks to exploit. 

I think the pandemic exasperated that.  People saw easy money with sky rocketing value.  

Was cgc unprepared? Yes! But i think it's very hard to stay one step ahead of all the scammers out there! 

Profits over quality is a different debate.  But we've seen so many quality issues and books going missing. They should be accountable for that. (This comes from someone who had a book damaged and got alot of finger pointing and denials as a response). 

On 2/2/2024 at 3:47 PM, newshane said:

This is what happens when you put profit and speed above quality of product and service. 

In fairness from 2020 - 2023 they didn't prioritize speed over anything.

But agree with the rest!

On 2/1/2024 at 1:45 PM, MAR1979 said:

You think this bad for Joey and other pro's...Well I have several friends I grew up with that are Medical Dr's. All possess multiple board accreditation and 20+ years experience. Each of them has told me that patients come in after using google or reddit for 5 minutes outright stating they know as much or more than them and then proceed to dictate what the Dr's need to do. 

They told me it's more prevalent in the 40 and under demo...

 

 

 

I work in the medical field with many brilliant doctors, nurses and pharmacists. They get a good chuckle when I try to talk medicine with them. 

Taking it back to Joey's first post, we can all read and Google and study, but nothing replaces experience. Practice on junk books is the best advice. And if your a doctor Practice on junk people. 

On 1/30/2024 at 6:49 AM, The Lions Den said:

Personally, I enjoy actually being able to peruse the books in my collection whenever I want---enjoying the stories, admiring the artwork, checking the books for flaws, etc. For me, that's the reason I got into this hobby in the first place.

Others may disagree, but I've found that spending all my time and resources on other aspects of the hobby often lead to more headaches than happiness...  

I agree. Most of what I buy these days are raw books.

Lately it's been 50s comics. Both precode and post code.   I have a ton of slabs and no issues with CGC, but I really enjoy flipping through short boxes of those covers and being able to read them or flip through the pages. 

On 1/29/2024 at 2:40 PM, Comics-n-ERB said:

About 12 years ago a friend called me and said he just saw a local show that was like Antique Road Show on TV.  On it, there was a woman that had a bunch of golden age comics.  He had no other information except the TV Channel it was on.  I called the station and asked about the episode, they put me in touch with the Producer of the show.  They didn't have any information on the Woman but believed they knew which town she came from.

So what do I do now??

I thought about it and finally hit on the idea of putting a full page ad in the local paper saying if you know or are the Woman with the Comics on said show please contact me as I am interested in buying your comics.

About two weeks goes by and I get a call from a Man.  He says those were his comics and he didn't know his wife had taken them to be on the show!  I asked if he would be interested in selling them, he said he would talk to me.  I drove down there the next day about 5 hours away.  I get there and he is a Retired Marine Corps Master Sargent.  I had been in the Marines also so we at least had that in common.  He brought out a old hard cased suitcase.  Insides was a bunch of comics, some in zip lock bags, some just raw.  I was blown away with what all was in that suitcase.  PEP Comics #1, All-Flash Quarterly #1, runs of Captain Marvel, World's Finest, Superman 3-16 missing #11 and Batman 3-29 complete.  I took an inventory of the books and talked to him the whole time.  I ended up making an offer and he refused and said he would just keep them for the grandkids.  He sent me packing.

I called him a few times over the years just to remind him I was interested.  Finally, 5 years ago I called him and asked if he remembered me; yes and I still have your offer here.  He said I bet they have gone up in price since then haven't they?  Yes Sir, they have.  Can I come back and take another look?  Sure, come on.  I was there the next day with a ton more money than I took the first time.

Long story, but I ended up bringing the books home!

I've sold all but the Superman and Batman Runs and one of the Captain Marvel's.

I took some comic boxes with me, so this first pic is some of them in one of the boxes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wow! That's a great story! 

You could potentially send it to be screened. 

I'm not sure about that dot. The spine looks a like it has something going on,  but that may just be the scan. 

On the BC along the spine you've got some type of stain.  Overspray? Ink rub? Finger prints from yesteryear? It could possibly be addressed with a dry clean. 

I agree it's a 9.4 /9.6.  It's got sharp corners and no visible spine ticks.  I've seen worse books get a 9.8 so I think it's got a shot. 

Good luck! 

On 1/28/2024 at 10:56 PM, Frisco Larson said:

WoW, great stack of Marvel biggies you've got there!!!  

On 1/28/2024 at 11:04 PM, grendelbo said:

+1

The FF 1 looks terrific for a 2.5.

It's been a slow process over many years. Ideally I'll upgrade them all, but that takes time money and patience. 

The FF1 is a nice looking copy I got from Superworld. There is some moisture damage that held the grade back. But I'm really happy with it. 

On 1/28/2024 at 10:20 PM, Frisco Larson said:

Thanks so much! The last 6 months have been rough. Lost my mother in October and my aunt (her sister) last weekend. That plus dealing with family members who refuse to get along with each other has been unpleasant. I'm not complaining, just EXplaining. Comics make me happy, so maybe I'll hang out in here for a while. 

I'm sincerely sorry to hear about your loss. 

Family is tough and times like these can bring out the best and worst in people.