London comicon report (October 5th)

[osborn_fr]

I went to this convention next month and i have wrote a report on my web site

Yes, it's in french language and i have no time to translate it all, so i'm going to resume here some features of this convention (with my poor english language ):

 

First, here's the official site of the convention (thanks blowout)

 

It took me 2 hours 30 minutes to go to London, and the trip by train was a pleasure.

 

Harley Yee was here.

He bring me some books i won on Ebay and I bought him some nice Daredevil (CGC and raw), and trade my copy of JIM #22 CGC 8.0 for some books.

 

I meet the team of comicana.com .

They are very friendly and most of their books were georgous

 

I meet silveracre , the biggest dealer in Europe (he often buy books on Ebay US and sell them on his site at insane price). He offered me 400 sterling pound for my Avengers CGC VF 8.0 (about $672), but i decided to keep my "first captain america silver age appareance" with me.

 

 

Here what i can say about this convention:

 

1) Prices are crazy

2) Grading is awful (except for serious dealer like comicana)

3) CGC books were here, but in a few numbers and were really expensive.

4) A lot of books from the 80's-90's were available.

5) Many books were pence copy (so british... )

7) No original art to buy here...

8) Same thing for mylar sleeves.

 

 

Cheers !

 

 

[blazingbob]

thanks for the photos, Harley is amazing. That man travels.

[shiverbones]

thanks for sharing osborn!

[supapimp]

[murph0]

, I'll give you 700 dollars for the Avengers 4..he that's what.. only 200 dollars off eBay value?

 

Brian

[comicmankev]

Nice phots OZ, I wondered who that was taking the photos!

 

Your words are 100%, and thats for someone who went there for the first time! I've been in the UK comic industry for almost 20 years and it has always been that way!

 

You can't get a NM comic at a UK convention, unless it's CGC graded.

 

SilverAcres prices are MAD!

 

Harley gets everywhere, and I have to credit him as being the only person to put a copy of Action #1 in my hands! And in comparison to most UK dealers, he is CHEAP!

 

If your gonna go to one of the 2 cons in London (held monthy), go to the ones after Xmas. Almost all dealers have half price sales, and there are some good deals then.

 

 

Kev

[herc2000]

I've been going to the UK coventions for the past 15 years. I would say you will see just as many cents copies as you would pence copies due to a few importers. I do feel our Belgium friend is belittling the UK market and conventions just a little, Harley may be a good dealer and grader, but he is not Cheap! Most UK dealers do not put grades on their comics, except for a few.Comicana who are'nt that great graders in my opinion but pleasant people, Goldust Comics who are most probably one of the best graders in UK, Incognito who are ok, but not brilliant, Silveracre who handles comics with the most care, does not list the grades on his comics at shows, Paul McCartney a very fair person to deal with but no grades, Kryton comics overgrades. That is my honest opinion, I'm a accurate good grader who tends to find most people overgrade because they can't grade, or overgrade because they know they can get away with it on ebay. I would also say that there

are just as many bad graders in the US as the UK, my top three graders I would recommend are drbanner, eidesentertainment, triksr4kids.

[EwanUK]

Interesting comments - I've been in UK fandom 18 years - (admittedly with a large gap 1994 to 2000) and have been to dozens of comicons ("marts" as we call them here) of the years and have the following observations on the scene now...

 

1. Most UK dealers are quite anti-CGC (and so is our industry journal, Comics International) - I think probably because it demeans their sloppy grading - and they realise the 'gems' they've been flogging as NM over the years - aren't now - and never were!

 

2. There are a few enlightened dealers who have embraced slabbing and selling very high grade - but most tend to overcharge - and be able to do so because there's little competition.

 

3. Keep them clean! Why does anyone displays CGC comics without at least a crystal clear plastic bag? Who on earth wants a scrathed or dirty case? What idiocy!

 

4. The London conventions are full of the same old copies, time after time after time. Yet the dealers keep their prices high. Who wants pence stamped copies?

 

5. Finally, there's a serious BO problem at London marts.

 

Still, since I've never been to a US convention I can't compare - but don't get me started on last weeekend's UK Comics "Festival"... I've been more entertained standing at a bus stop. The old UKCAKs were fantastic!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[chromium]

I've been going to the UK coventions for the past 15 years. I would say you will see just as many cents copies as you would pence copies due to a few importers. I do feel our Belgium friend is belittling the UK market and conventions just a little,

 

What did I do now

 

I haven't contributed to this thread and have never been to a UK comicon...

Although I'm very fond of belittling things, and even more so people....I think you are referring to Osborn_France....who's not Belgian....but left a little clue in his nick to help you out

[Zonker]

Harley may be a good dealer and grader, but he is not Cheap!

 

Was amazed to see Harley Yee's picture at the London show. No wonder he's "not-cheap!" I could certainly see flying over to the UK to attend a show perhaps with a suitcase full of primo stuff to sell/trade, but any idea how much it cost in air freight for his show stock? Looked like he had a dozen or so short boxes!

[jens25e]

He probably has a store in the UK and used those books to sell. Maybe he just took some few selected items with him on the plane.

[comicmankev]

Ewan, you said it much better than me, and 100% correct.

5. Finally, there's a serious BO problem at London marts.

Now that is 110% correct, no matter what time of year, those marts need some serious air con!

[herc2000]

Hi Ewan (and everyone else) about your comments:

 

1: I would say most of the top buyers sellers are not against CGC (theres money to be made) they're bringning over loads, and slabbing them.

 

2.Very true.

 

3., true again, you get a clear bag with Vaults slabbed books, .

 

4.Yes there are a lot of the same old copies with the same old dealers show after show, but a few try to bring new stock all the time, Goldust comics, Nick Becket, hmmmm maybe tha's it, .

 

5.There are a few bad smells in certain rooms, .

 

The show last week was not that good, and compared to a American show there never will be a comparison. But it is not a bad show compared to what we usually get. I used to love the Westminster show the best, those were the days. What bus stop is that by the way? my guess is Kings Cross, or maybe Streatham .

And as for UKCAK's, they were horrible, but that's just my opinion.

 

And Kev,I know the Punisher movie is coming out, but how many more Spidey 129's do you want? .

[goldust40]

So overall the general concensus is that U.K. (or specifically London) marts are smelly, parochial and "English" (bit of a shock, there) - a watered down half-baked imitation of the big event shows like San Diego or Chicago. It's a silly comparison - lest we forget, many U.S. shows are equally small.

 

There does seem to be a desire (even amongst English collectors) to knock these shows and the dealers who attend them. Yeah, the British market for U.S. comics is a small pond, a satellite of a far more developed one, infested with pence copies (the horror!) And yes it's easy to knock it and make generalizations about how English dealers are amateurish and overgrade (most don't put grades on their comics anyway, dammit) but I for one don't think there's a vast disparity between U.S. and U.K. dealers when it comes to grading. And I've been to dozens of U.S. shows. Many U.S. dealers don't put grades on their comics either, although some, obviously, are strict and on the level. As for English dealers' "insane" prices, er, have you ever actually BEEN to the San Diego Con?

 

The problem is that until we have a proper, professionally run, high profile annual event (in London- sorry) that at least attempts to rival a big U.S. show in terms of presentation, guests and glitz, then we'll always be a bit of a joke, even for ourselves. Of course that would only be a part of the solution. And no, there's nothing wrong with the Royal National show- it's a decent venue (in fact it's where UKCAC was always held).

 

But as for personal hygiene, er.................

[quicksilver]

So overall the general concensus is that U.K. (or specifically London) marts are smelly, parochial and "English" (bit of a shock, there) - a watered down half-baked imitation of the big event shows like San Diego or Chicago. It's a silly comparison - lest we forget, many U.S. shows are equally small.

 

There does seem to be a desire (even amongst English collectors) to knock these shows and the dealers who attend them. Yeah, the British market for U.S. comics is a small pond, a satellite of a far more developed one, infested with pence copies (the horror!) And yes it's easy to knock it and make generalizations about how English dealers are amateurish and overgrade (most don't put grades on their comics anyway, dammit) but I for one don't think there's a vast disparity between U.S. and U.K. dealers when it comes to grading. And I've been to dozens of U.S. shows. Many U.S. dealers don't put grades on their comics either, although some, obviously, are strict and on the level. As for English dealers' "insane" prices, er, have you ever actually BEEN to the San Diego Con?

 

The problem is that until we have a proper, professionally run, high profile annual event (in London- sorry) that at least attempts to rival a big U.S. show in terms of presentation, guests and glitz, then we'll always be a bit of a joke, even for ourselves. Of course that would only be a part of the solution. And no, there's nothing wrong with the Royal National show- it's a decent venue (in fact it's where UKCAC was always held).

 

A high profile annual event in London ? Southerners, eh... No, seriously, the London National is like a paradise for collectors compared to some of the smaller shows we have to put up with in other parts of the country, but even then, half the London punters want the books at a big discount - where do they think high grade cents copies come from ? We obviously have to source them in the States and mark them up, so it's hardly surprising that prices by definition are going to be a bit higher than at the US shows - and Andy's right in saying that San Diego prices for high grades can be insane anyway - at the end of the day, no-one stops European based collectors going to San Diego, Chicago etc. to get their books and pay $1000 in air fares, hotels etc. to attend the shows - but not many do.

Remember that surely the impact of ebay is what drives prices up so much anyway -

[Ian_Levine]

As a very very dear friend of Harley, and someone who actually DID buy an Action 1 from him, I have to assure you that he DOES ship in his inventory for the shows. He keeps nothing in the UK, and the following weekend after the London show, he was shipping out the same boxes for a show in Seattle. He tirelessly travels the world, even to Australia, to get his comics to everyone who wants them, and without him, and also Vincent and Stephen from Metropolis, I'd have nothing like the almost complete DC collection I've got. But without Paul Sassienie, Richard Machinson, and Jonathan Browne, it would be even worse. I'm finding infinitely better comics now than I ever could back in the 70s, when the only Golden Age to turn up were the few that Mike Lake stumbled across when he first opened Forbidden Planet, and by some fluke sold me my treasured New Adventure 13.

But Harley's prices are very fair, and he will ALWAYS do a deal. I often joke with him that he's comicdom's equivalent of a used car salesman. I love him to bits. I remember my jealousy when about six months ago he bought, in the UK, a collection of every single Batman from number 2 to 400 inclusive. I just looked through the box in awe. But now that I have every Batman from 1 to 620, I realise how motivated and incentified that I became by seeing the run he had. The dfference was that all his were in very high grades, whereas mine vary enormously.

[Timely]

I also bought an Action #1 from Harley. It was a restored 7.5 with "Off-White to White" pages. That book has always been my HOLY GRAIL and I am one of the few people in the world who could say they owned a copy of the most important comic ever made.

 

Timely

[Ian_Levine]

So how many people in the world do we think actually DO own an Action 1 ?

(In ANY condition of course)

[JohnBull]

What's a slightly more interesting question is on average, how many owners has each of the surviving copies had over the years ? How long does your average owner keep one for, 5 years or 25 years ?

[Ian_Levine]

Well I hope and I pray that I'm able to keep mine for the rest of my life.