gumption

I'm flying in from Seattle. Very excited for this show... might be my only comic-con trek this year.

Bear in mind that the Boston Marathon is happening on the Monday after the show.

Hotels in Boston are $$$ that weekend and traffic will be tricky.

I considered going this year but the dates just didn't work for my schedule.

If anyone is heading out there, please post some pics of what I'm missing.

How's the dealer turnout?

It was on display at HA's booth at NYCC last month. Couldn't get a good photo from all the glare from harsh lighting above. Still such a treat seeing it in person.

Hi De Ho has been there since the 80’s, I think. I know they, at some point, merged with Geoffrey’s Comics.

Good to know they’re still in business and surviving, and hopefully thriving.

Made it to my first NYCC yesterday and today. Got there at 9:15 on Thursday and queued with all the early birds in the corral room in the basement level. I mainly buy GA DC and thought there was definitely a good supply of those… especially early Batmans, Flash Comics, and Sensations. Harley had some great books, as did many other dealers. And the stuff I looked at seemed fairly priced.

Highlight for me was seeing the Marvel Comics 1 - October Copy in Heritage’s case. 

Today (Friday) - decided to get there a bit later to avoid the corral. Got there around 11:00 and the place was an absolute zoo. In the comic dealers area, you could pass through aisles, but elsewhere it felt like sardines. 

This was by far the most overwhelming show I’ve been to in terms of attendance. If I were to do NYCC again, I would only come on the Thursday. Also, the WIFI in the convention hall is absolute garbage, in case you need to text, or communicate, or *gasp* PayPal or Venmo.

Didn’t buy anything but I expected it going in (spent my NYCC budget on three books earlier this month that I couldn’t pass up). But I got some great leads, especially on a most-wanted grail.

The cosplay and peoplewatching were also fun. Did anybody else see that Vampirella? Vavavoom, good lordy!

Happily gawking at wall books while eating lunch at my desk. 

All-American Comics 83 - 1.5 - $75.

Complete but definitely a filler/reader copy. The cover is detached. A 1/2" tear at the top of the spine; a 4" tear from the bottom of the spine stretching to the top of the bottom staple. 

The cover could use some TLC drycleaning.

All-American Comics 51 - Apparent 5.5, with restoration - $340.

Complete. Great colors and eye appeal on the cover. Back cover has color touch along the spine. Inside, a single-leaf wrap (before the centerfold) is detached and possibly married. It seems to fit the book properly but is more worn and has a piece missing at the bottom corner. Not sure if it was removed and damaged or if it's from a different book, but no guarantees.  Because the page quality on the loose wrap is very similar to the rest of the pages, I suspect it came loose early on and was kept inside of the book.

Otherwise. the book presents very nicely.

All-American Comics 48 - Complete but coverless; Comes with a Xerox Cover - $75.

Interior is complete. Great page quality.

You could probably find a better repro cover online, or better yet, track down a loose, original cover wrap.

All-American Comics 47 - 3.5 - $340.

Complete. Great colors with no chips on the cover. The page quality is great. The main flaws are the 1/2" tear and folded flap at the single center staple, and the cover is detached. The spine roll could probably be corrected with a press.

CLOSED - Will post them as auctions on Ebay.

**********

Selling some of my duplicates.

I have a small kudos thread here... have bought a few things. But I've sold on Ebay for almost 25 years, with almost perfect feedback (99.3% positive) as "spacycowboy."

I accept PayPal G&S. Prices include first class shipping. Will pack well in a Gemini Mailer and plenty of cardboard.

I'll accept returns within 14 days of receipt. Also, please let me know within 3 days of receipt that you'd like to return an item.

*****

All-American Comics 47 - 3.5 - $335

All-American Comics 48 - Coverless - $75

All-American Comics 51 - 5.5 but with restoration - $340

All-American Comics 83 - 1.5 - $75

Somebody on IG posted from SDCC a beautiful Marvel Comics 1 in an old label CGC 4.0. Looked like it was in a display case… but no clue who owns it… there was neither a price tag nor signage for an upcoming auction.

When I first read the title of this thread, I immediately thought “what a fun, challenging quest” and “oh wow, you’re nuts.” Enjoy the ride for sure!

If you have the means and the vacation time, consider hitting some comic-centric conventions in the Southeast and along the I-95 corridor. Skip Megacon and DragonCon (unless you want to see pop culture stuff)… do check out Charlotte, Baltimore, Greenville SC, etc, then up to NYCC and Concord NH if possible.

I see raw Showcase books all the time at shows… you just have to venture out and have faith you’ll find some high-grade candidates out in the wild. And network with the dealers.

Y’all should grab some Porto’s on the way in or when heading home. They’re a few blocks down the street along Brand Blvd. I highly recommend the guava & cheese bread and the Cuban sandwich.

Just don’t get your sticky fingers on the funny books.
 

On 7/15/2023 at 8:35 PM, Dale Roberts said:

 

Thanks, Dale... you're the best!

Bought from you at Heroes and hoping you'll make it to NYCC in Oct.

Post some wall books, please! 

On 6/19/2023 at 11:28 AM, 1Cool said:

Wow - that was the crowds on Saturday?  I thought the earlier pictures may have been late Sunday or Friday.  Looks very light for a Saturday.

The crowd was pretty solid on the Saturday... it's just that the convention floor along the main aisles is very roomy. But the cross aisles had less room between facing dealers.

On 6/19/2023 at 7:41 AM, Robot Man said:

Nice group of All Americans! How was pricing on GA at the show?

I went years ago and was very impressed with the selection of vintage books there. 

I only looked at GA DC books and thought they were priced fairly. Wish I had brought another $3K to buy a couple of issues of Prize Comics. But I also saw some Fox and lots of Timelys... books that are out of my league and don't really follow, and I was told that pricing on some of those were a bit high.

Comparing this to the comic-centric shows I've attended in the past 18 months (e.g. Collectors Summit, Cal-Comic Con), Heroes had 2x or 3x the number of vintage dealers, from big names to mom-and-pops. And there was so much variety with just the Golden Age stuff.

The convention floor at Heroes Con is L-shaped, and it seemed like the front half of one wing was packed with comic dealers (the back half had creators). The other wing had the Etsy stuff, and more of the Indy Creators. CGC on-site grading also had a big presence here.

Really appreciate both responses. I certainly don’t mean to low-ball the dealer… I’ve purchased from him several times in the past and have agreed with his grading. I just wasn’t familiar with that type of defect appearing in higher grades. @zzutak Thanks for sharing those examples. 

He has another book I’m interested in, and I think I may save a little bit more by making an offer on the pair.

I was looking at a book at Heroes Con today. Dealer has it graded as a 7.5, but the cover looks like it has mold along the upper right edge. I did not inspect the interior or peer thru the pages.
I may go back and make an offer on it tomorrow… just not sure how much to downgrade it with the mold/stain showing.

It doesn’t look like a dust shadow. And I definitely saw spots along the page edges.

I think I’ve seen a CGC 5.0 for a book with mold on the cover, but not a grade higher.

Enjoyed the review and photos, @ADAMANTIUM. Gawd I love con season. Flying out to Charlotte on Wednesday night for Heroes. 

On 5/9/2023 at 8:44 AM, Robot Man said:

I’ve been on the road and couldn’t make the show. But a buddy sent me a couple of pictures. I don’t know whose wall this was but some awsome books that I probably wouldn’t have bought anyway.

I’m probably a bit out of touch but $800. For a MM 52 in that shape with the center fold out seems a little steep to me. 

I think this wall of books belonged to Amazing Heroes out of Kirkland, WA.

@Raze Thanks for the lengthy report and numerous photos... especially of the comic walls. Will consider visiting next year.