SNE to flood eBay with 13,000 slabs?

[ShowcaseNE]

Don't feel bad. I was offered $800 for a Spidey #129 9.4 W by a seller on eBay who didn't even bother to mask who he was with a buying ID...and he had sold the same exact book with ow/w for $1225 a couple days before.

 

My asking price was $1495, which was high, but I sold it for $1300 and ignored the $800 offer. You just have to ignore them.

 

Knowing Green, though, I doubt his offer was poor. (thumbs u

120 shipped for 3 hulks in the 300s is very fair imo. Hell, 100 was too much. They were 49.99 BINs with free shipping. Figure after shipping of about 15$ your looking at a 15-20$ discount. Mix in the fact i had bought from SNE a few times over the years i was basically flabbergasted. It worked out though i ended up getting an unopened case of each of the books for 15$ each.

 

Honesty, humility and humor, and a touch of humanity apparently don't get any brownie points here. What hope does any dealer have facing the boards??

I'll still buy you a beer if I see you in the bar sometime.

[ShowcaseNE]

The economics of collecting is a whole different issue than I have addressed.

 

If you want to focus on economics.....than no one should by any comic book, for any price (aside from the factors you mention) as they are in dollar denomintaed assets. The dollar is worth half of what it was in 2002. If your book(s) has doubled in price since than, inflation adjusted it is actually woth less (because you are not supposed to ignore the capital gains tax that you would pay on the inlated value of the book). Before taxes......comics have lost 20% of their value alone this year.

 

This a trend in the United States, in my opinion, that is permanent and structural in nature. For what it is worth, my professional background is in economics and finance (being an MBA, CPA and ex Wall Streeter)

 

But as I said...my focus this evening ignored the economics of collecting.

 

This statement is incorrect. The dollar, as compared to major international currencies, is worth half of what it was in '03. The dollar, in real dollar value adjusted for inflation, is NOT worth half of what it was worth in '03.

 

I don't want to get into a discusssion about economics all that much.....But comparing the dollar to a basket of global currencies is the correct and appropriate method to measure the dollar.

 

The inflation adjusted method, or index, released by the US Government is not a realistic measure. It is similar to the same type of goofy measure that Wall Street uses when they compare portfolio returns to the S & P index. Both fraudulent comparisons in my opinion because they ignore real pricing in a global market.

 

If you think it is useful, try using it as defense when then the price of oil (a global commodity in which the price is set by world markets, as reflected by "the basket" of currencies) goes to 200...$300 and higher as the dollar devalues.

 

You have it backwards. If you live in the U.S., the correct measure of the value of the dollar is in terms of U.S. prices. The price level is about 20 percent higher now than it was at the beginning of 2002. The price level is lower today than it was a year ago. That the value of the dollar has declined against the euro and other currencies is interesting if you happen to be a European comic collector buying from U.S. dealers (or, for that matter, a U.S. collector buying from European dealers), but otherwise is irrelevant to evaluating the value of U.S. comics to U.S. collectors. "But comparing the dollar to a basket of global currencies is the correct and appropriate method to measure the dollar." This statement makes no sense unless your local supermarkets, department stores, and services stations have started pricing in euros.

 

The "value" of the dollar to anyone living in the United States is determined by the amount of goods and services the dollar can buy, which is affected by the declining exchange value of the dollar only to the extent that the dollar price of imports rises.

 

Oil is currently at $78. It could go to $300, I suppose, because anything is possible. The chances of that happening within the next decade, though, are vanishingly small.

 

Lets agree to disagreee. One of us is missing the point and doesn't know it.

 

Let me finish with this...natural resources are a key ingredient in the factors of production. Natural resources are priced in the global market. Consequently, because the dollar has devalued so much, raw resources (commodities) have sky rocketed vs. a vs. the US dollar. The reason that most produced goods in the United States seem to have, at most, moderated to some extent, is because real wages are down, and productivity is up, which serves the purpose of masking the change in prices for raw materials. This will not continue to occur over the long run. It is a mathematical impossibility. This is the simple version as there are other things that occur which complicate these relatively basic concepts (that is as far I go here though).

 

Most products that are measured by the Goofy US price inflation index have components in them that reflect (intentionally, I might add) items that have high concentrations of depressed labor prices, and elements of productivity.

 

The dollar and real inflation (or dollar devaluation) would be completely exposed for what it is if it were compared to a basket of natural resources which everyone on the planet had to compete for.

 

As I said....it doesn't matter all that much if you never need to buy anything that isn't priced in the global market, such as oil, copper, zinc, coffee, or even concrete for builing, and on and on and on. But that's not the case, is it?

 

As long as Americans continue to work harder, and longer, for less money, the problem of inflation and the devaluation of the dollar wiil stay under the radar for most Americans, which has been illustraded, in my opinion, by the back and forth discussion here.

 

Agreeing to disagree is fine, but here are a couple of last points:

 

1. You seem to be buying into the notion that the price statistics compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics are somehow cooked for political reasons. Resist this idea because it is completely untrue. These statistics are compiled by career govt employees who have civil service protection. The economists who run the BLS are either career officials, who stick around from one administration to the next, or academic economists who hold their positions for a while and then return to colleges and universities. All of these people -- and I do mean all -- are doing the best they can to compile statistics that reflect the prices that the average consumer faces. For technical reasons, this is not an easy job. But anyone who argues that the numbers are fudged in any way for political reasons simply does not know what he is talking about.

 

2. Changes in the foreign exchange value of the dollar affect the domestic purchasing power of the dollar only through their effect on import prices. This is basic economics.

 

3. There have been swings in the foreign exchange value of the dollar comparable to those we are seeing today without the catastrophic effects on the U.S. price level that you seem to expect. Check out the 1980s, for example.

 

4. There is a pretty good argument to be made that on purchasing power parity grounds the dollar is currently undervalued, not overvalued, against the euro, British pound, Japanese yen, and Canadian dollar. (It is still pretty clearly overvalued against the Chinese yuan.) The current low value of the dollar is being driven by the extremely low level of U.S. interest rates compared to foreign interest rates. The main determinant of the demand for the dollar in the short run is the willingness of foreign investors to buy dollars to invest in dollar-denominated assets. At the height of the financial crisis there was a flight to safety by investors worldwide that temporarily masked the effects on the value of the dollar from low U.S. interest rates. Now that things have calmed down, investors are naturally enough showing a preference for higher-yielding assets denominated in foreign currencies. Eventually, though -- the futures markets are currently saying June of next year -- U.S. interest rates will rise, and with them the value of the dollar. So, on purchasing power grounds and given the most likely future movements in U.S. interest rates, the most likely movement in the foreign exchange value of the dollar is up rather than down.

 

Thus endth the sermon.

 

I don't think the CPI is very accurate (the rest of the world doesn't either), for reasons already discussed. I might feel differently if they included items such as college tuition, health insurance premiums and energy, etc. in their calculations.

 

While it is possible that the dollar can stabilize or strengthen (markets never move in straight lines)...I believe it is in an irreversible, downward spiral that is now out of control. Raising rates, which are being priced into futures contracts as you suggest (but even that changes month to month) will only weaken the US economy more. And it will certainly not prevent our government from engaging in the monetization of our debt (simply printing money to buy US debt back), something history has shown leads to the downfall of any economy with a fiat currency. If I thought the United States could stop montetizing it's debt (I don't...because the ""fat lady would not only stop singing", she'd drop dead on the spot of a heart attack.), I might feel differently. The main reason the downward spiral of the dollar is out of control is because Congress never pays the bills. They haven't paid the bills in almost 50 years as evidenced by the constantly growing federal debt. There is no evidence that they ever intend on paying any bill voluntarily (so the world does it involuntarily by devaluing the dollar). The rest of the world understands this because the dollar continues to get hammered. In my opinion, it really doesn't matter how, as an American, you want to measure inflation. As long as our country needs goods produced in other countries, or, needs to borrow money from foreign nations to finance it's debt (another practice that is being curtailed involuntarily, and, consequently, why the Federal Reserve doesn't haven't any choice now except to monetize it....or default), the value of our currency will always be determined by the global market place.

 

All that being said, we all have our opinions. It doesn't necessarily make any of us right or wrong.

 

One more time and then I will stop beating you up on this. In fact, college tuition and health insurance premiums both are included in the CPI. So is "energy," if by this you mean expenditures on gasoline, home heating oil, residential natural gas, and so on. I don't know what you mean by the "rest of the world" not believing the CPI is accurate. So far as I have ever heard, the U.S. BLS is respected around the world for doing an excellent job of determining the price level in the United States, given the (inevitable) budget constraints under which it must operate. I know of no informed argument that the statistical agencies of other countries do a markedly better job of measuring their price levels. The CPI is not perfect, but to argue that it somehow grossly misrepresents the price level in the United States is simply incorrect.

 

And, no, I don't work for the BLS, nor do any of my friends or relatives.

 

At this point, we really are beating a dead horse......your latest arguments have very little to do with either supporting, or not supporting your position which seems to be that the CPI is a valid, unbiased, nonpolitical measure that can't be wrong because it is put together by honest, Washington beaurocrats who don't have an ax to grind.

 

The rest of the world, which I incorrectly thought was self explanatory (I tell people all the time how slow I am), are the other 6.7 billion plus people on the planet who recognize the dollar by the rate at which it is exchanged by their respective countries. All, of them, without exception, would disagree with you.

 

If you think I am wrong, misguided, confused, not particulary bright and completely uninformed (I think I got them all), then I suggest you try and explain to the central bankers and the 6.7 billion plus people they both directly and indirectly represent, why the dollar should have been devalued less, and why, according to the authority of the US Bureau of Labor and the CPI, they have it wrong.

 

Somehow, I don't think this thread is going to do wonders for your business.

 

Again, you are completely missing the point.

[Green]

Don't feel bad. I was offered $800 for a Spidey #129 9.4 W by a seller on eBay who didn't even bother to mask who he was with a buying ID...and he had sold the same exact book with ow/w for $1225 a couple days before.

 

My asking price was $1495, which was high, but I sold it for $1300 and ignored the $800 offer. You just have to ignore them.

 

Knowing Green, though, I doubt his offer was poor. (thumbs u

120 shipped for 3 hulks in the 300s is very fair imo. Hell, 100 was too much. They were 49.99 BINs with free shipping. Figure after shipping of about 15$ your looking at a 15-20$ discount. Mix in the fact i had bought from SNE a few times over the years i was basically flabbergasted. It worked out though i ended up getting an unopened case of each of the books for 15$ each.

 

Honesty, humility and humor, and a touch of humanity apparently don't get any brownie points here. What hope does any dealer have facing the boards??

I'll still buy you a beer if I see you in the bar sometime.

i just told it how it happened. Im really not that worried about it. I will still browse your listings. If the price is right i will buy something, if its close ill send a message. It wasnt the first time you shot me down and it wont be the last. I will hold you to that beer.

[RockMyAmadeus]

 

This is one of the longest picture-less quotes I have ever seen.

 

Beautiful, ain't it...?

[RockMyAmadeus]

 

Somehow, I don't think this thread is going to do wonders for your business.

 

Luckily, ShowcaseNE has rabid followers, who pay crazy prices for his stuff, so he doesn't have much to worry about.

[rjrjr]

Having said THAT, I will say THIS...

 

If we EVER have a renaissance in comic collecting in this country, the likes of which we saw in the early 90's, all of us who own high grade copies of these books will be very, very, very wealthy.

 

When books like Batman #428, which has a low, relatively static number of 9.8s on the census (23, and already sold for high prices, meaning the odds of many more showing up are not likely, even with pressing), are noticed by "the masses", there's no reason for such a book not to be worth $2,000-$3,000 in 2009 dollars.

 

The books with fewer than 10 copies on the census? Through the roof.

 

But that is a gargantuan if, and it's not looking good for the near future.

 

 

There are quite a few collectors, like myself, who are sitting on duplicate copies of Marvel and DC books like Batman #428, Thor #337, Daredevil #181, New Mutants #98, Uncanny X-Men #266, Secret Wars #8, etc. As a collector, I have no desire to slab my copies. I was and continue to be very picky about the condition of the comics I add to my collection. I've been known to hit several LCSs if my preferred LCS does not have the new comics I want in the condition I want.

 

Quite a few books from the 80s on up are secured in middle-aged collectors (I'm 40 years old) collections. Many of us don't bother slabbing our comics because we'd rather buy more comics with that money or we are not actively collecting comics right now. (How many comic collectors from the 80s and 90s drifted over to collecting action figures and never came back to comic collecting, but still have their comic collections? They probably do not know about CGC or follow the current prices of comics.) I'm not planning on parting with any of my comics anytime soon, which is why I have no plans to slab the comics.

 

I run into people all the time who talk to me about the comics they have when they learn I collect them. Many don't take care of the comics ("how much is this worth?" is a common question I hear as I'm shown a rag of a comic), but several of the collections I've seen are well preserved. They were previous collectors who just lost interest in comics. My favorite is a collection of Mad #1-23 that looked new off the stand that a fellow worker has. Why does he have these comics and why were they never read? It's fascinating to me, but he has no plans to part with them anytime soon.

 

I look at CGC prices as a curiosity. I find it fascinating someone will spend so much money on a book encased in plastic with a number telling what the grade of the book is when there are so many of those comics available not encased in equal condition. Take a Battlestar Galactica #1 that sells for $50-60 in 9.8. I personally have 60+ copies of this comic, some of which I'd wager would grade at 9.8. I never spent more than $2-3 for that issue; many were acquired for a much, much lower price. I see the same thing though with many 70s and 80s titles, Marvel Star Wars comics, early Valiant comics, Uncanny X-Men comics, etc.

 

Thanks,

Ron

[Topnotchman]

All of this Economics with the value of the dollar practically causes me to think to much, almost bursting a blood vessel in my forehead. Lets keep this thread to comics, like the daunting 13,000 modern 9.8's, move the other stuff to the water cooler section.

[BlowUpTheMoon]

 

 

There are quite a few collectors, like myself, who are sitting on duplicate copies of Marvel and DC books like Batman #428, Thor #337, Daredevil #181, New Mutants #98, Uncanny X-Men #266, Secret Wars #8, etc. As a collector, I have no desire to slab my copies. I was and continue to be very picky about the condition of the comics I add to my collection. I've been known to hit several LCSs if my preferred LCS does not have the new comics I want in the condition I want.

 

Quite a few books from the 80s on up are secured in middle-aged collectors (I'm 40 years old) collections. Many of us don't bother slabbing our comics because we'd rather buy more comics with that money or we are not actively collecting comics right now. (How many comic collectors from the 80s and 90s drifted over to collecting action figures and never came back to comic collecting, but still have their comic collections? They probably do not know about CGC or follow the current prices of comics.) I'm not planning on parting with any of my comics anytime soon, which is why I have no plans to slab the comics.

 

I run into people all the time who talk to me about the comics they have when they learn I collect them. Many don't take care of the comics ("how much is this worth?" is a common question I hear as I'm shown a rag of a comic), but several of the collections I've seen are well preserved. They were previous collectors who just lost interest in comics. My favorite is a collection of Mad #1-23 that looked new off the stand that a fellow worker has. Why does he have these comics and why were they never read? It's fascinating to me, but he has no plans to part with them anytime soon.

 

I look at CGC prices as a curiosity. I find it fascinating someone will spend so much money on a book encased in plastic with a number telling what the grade of the book is when there are so many of those comics available not encased in equal condition. Take a Battlestar Galactica #1 that sells for $50-60 in 9.8. I personally have 60+ copies of this comic, some of which I'd wager would grade at 9.8. I never spent more than $2-3 for that issue; many were acquired for a much, much lower price. I see the same thing though with many 70s and 80s titles, Marvel Star Wars comics, early Valiant comics, Uncanny X-Men comics, etc.

 

Thanks,

Ron

 

Awesome post.

[RockMyAmadeus]

Having said THAT, I will say THIS...

 

If we EVER have a renaissance in comic collecting in this country, the likes of which we saw in the early 90's, all of us who own high grade copies of these books will be very, very, very wealthy.

 

When books like Batman #428, which has a low, relatively static number of 9.8s on the census (23, and already sold for high prices, meaning the odds of many more showing up are not likely, even with pressing), are noticed by "the masses", there's no reason for such a book not to be worth $2,000-$3,000 in 2009 dollars.

 

The books with fewer than 10 copies on the census? Through the roof.

 

But that is a gargantuan if, and it's not looking good for the near future.

 

 

There are quite a few collectors, like myself, who are sitting on duplicate copies of Marvel and DC books like Batman #428, Thor #337, Daredevil #181, New Mutants #98, Uncanny X-Men #266, Secret Wars #8, etc. As a collector, I have no desire to slab my copies. I was and continue to be very picky about the condition of the comics I add to my collection. I've been known to hit several LCSs if my preferred LCS does not have the new comics I want in the condition I want.

 

Oh, I know. I have 50+ copies of Batman #426-429 each.

 

Quite a few books from the 80s on up are secured in middle-aged collectors (I'm 40 years old) collections. Many of us don't bother slabbing our comics because we'd rather buy more comics with that money or we are not actively collecting comics right now. (How many comic collectors from the 80s and 90s drifted over to collecting action figures and never came back to comic collecting, but still have their comic collections? They probably do not know about CGC or follow the current prices of comics.) I'm not planning on parting with any of my comics anytime soon, which is why I have no plans to slab the comics.

 

I run into people all the time who talk to me about the comics they have when they learn I collect them. Many don't take care of the comics ("how much is this worth?" is a common question I hear as I'm shown a rag of a comic), but several of the collections I've seen are well preserved. They were previous collectors who just lost interest in comics. My favorite is a collection of Mad #1-23 that looked new off the stand that a fellow worker has. Why does he have these comics and why were they never read? It's fascinating to me, but he has no plans to part with them anytime soon.

 

I look at CGC prices as a curiosity. I find it fascinating someone will spend so much money on a book encased in plastic with a number telling what the grade of the book is when there are so many of those comics available not encased in equal condition. Take a Battlestar Galactica #1 that sells for $50-60 in 9.8. I personally have 60+ copies of this comic, some of which I'd wager would grade at 9.8. I never spent more than $2-3 for that issue; many were acquired for a much, much lower price. I see the same thing though with many 70s and 80s titles, Marvel Star Wars comics, early Valiant comics, Uncanny X-Men comics, etc.

 

Thanks,

Ron

 

The difference here is pretty easy to understand. There are, in every field, collectors who want the very best quality that money can buy. And that's fine, because it helps to support the rest of the market.

 

However, the problem comes with basic human nature and lack of agreement on definitions, especially when dealing with items whose value depends on their level of preservation.

 

Where human nature comes in is when someone is selling an item. To them, the item is "flawless" and "in perfect condition", whether it actually is or it isn't. It's THEIR item, so obviously...even subconsciously...it's better than any OTHER item out there that they do NOT own.

 

And, of course, there's just the greedy liars who know full well they're lying and do it anyways.

 

The second part is lack of agreement on definitions. When people use qualititative words like "small", "tiny", "large", "average" to describe their items, what do those words mean? There is no accepted definition of the word "small" as it relates to comic book grading. It's all perspective. Small to you may be hideously unattractive and huge to me.

 

What CGC does, then, is solve both problems. They remove the bias aspect of selling, because they have no stake in the item in question, and so can remain impartial, and they have their own set of standard definitions that they don't generally part from. When someone buys a CGC 9.8 book, they know that it's going to, 999 times out of 1,000, fall into a very specific and small range of preservation. No longer do buyers have to pay "NM/M" prices and receive items that are actually Fine (and this has happened every day, all day, for decades now.)

 

This is why people pay premiums for these books. You and I may say a book is 9.8, and given my track record, I've been pretty darn good at it so far, but you and I are nobodies. It is not until CGC says it is a 9.8 that it becomes, in the mind of the market, a genuine 9.8. Thus the buyer can have a reasonable expectation about what he's going to receive, instead of constantly "hoping for the best."

 

This is why I pay for their services.

[sterlingcomics]

This is why people pay premiums for these books. You and I may say a book is 9.8, and given my track record, I've been pretty darn good at it so far, but you and I are nobodies. It is not until CGC says it is a 9.8 that it becomes, in the mind of the market, a genuine 9.8. Thus the buyer can have a reasonable expectation about what he's going to receive, instead of constantly "hoping for the best."

 

This is why I pay for their services.

(thumbs u

[THE_BEYONDER]

When someone buys a CGC 9.8 book, they know that it's going to, 999 times out of 1,000, fall into a very specific and small range of preservation.

 

Not sure preservation is the right term here.....

[BlowUpTheMoon]

When someone buys a CGC 9.8 book, they know that it's going to, 999 times out of 1,000, fall into a very specific and small range of preservation.

 

Not sure preservation is the right term here.....

 

That phrase also struck me as odd.

[rjrjr]

This is why people pay premiums for these books. You and I may say a book is 9.8, and given my track record, I've been pretty darn good at it so far, but you and I are nobodies. It is not until CGC says it is a 9.8 that it becomes, in the mind of the market, a genuine 9.8. Thus the buyer can have a reasonable expectation about what he's going to receive, instead of constantly "hoping for the best."

 

This is why I pay for their services.

(thumbs u

 

 

Back to the Battlestar Galactica #1 as my example. I can buy one issue graded at 9.8 for $60 or I can buy 20 issues in NM condition for $60. Of those 20 issues, what are my chances of one of them being in 9.8? Is that issue slabbed really worth 20x the average price of the comic raw? Which would you rather own?

 

I find it fascinating that someone is willing to pay multiple of guide for some books in a slab, when the book itself normally does not sell for more than 25% of guide raw. In the case of BG #1, it guides at $12 in 9.2, routinely sells at $3 or less in NM, but fetches $60 for a slabbed 9.8. I'll buy the 20 issues and wager I come out ahead in 20 years over the person who buys that single book slabbed.

 

Let's assume the same book in 9.6 goes for $30 slabbed. What are the chances if I buy 10 issues for the same price, one of them is a 9.6? Is the slabbed book really worth 10x the raw book?

 

I understand why people would pay for the slab for old, high value books. The percentages make sense to me. But new modern books that routinely sell for $1-3 raw going for 20x that cost? Again, I regard those sales as a curiosity.

 

Question is, you attend a convention and see the book you want slabbed for $60. You also find a copy of the book raw for $3. Outside of the slab, you see no difference between the grades of the comics. Do you buy the slabbed comic or the raw comic? To me, the cost of the service is not worth more than the actual book itself, so I'm going to buy the raw book for $3.

 

Thanks,

Ron

[Logan510]

This is why people pay premiums for these books. You and I may say a book is 9.8, and given my track record, I've been pretty darn good at it so far, but you and I are nobodies. It is not until CGC says it is a 9.8 that it becomes, in the mind of the market, a genuine 9.8. Thus the buyer can have a reasonable expectation about what he's going to receive, instead of constantly "hoping for the best."

 

This is why I pay for their services.

(thumbs u

 

 

Back to the Battlestar Galactica #1 as my example. I can buy one issue graded at 9.8 for $60 or I can buy 20 issues in NM condition for $60. Of those 20 issues, what are my chances of one of them being in 9.8? Is that issue slabbed really worth 20x the average price of the comic raw? Which would you rather own?

 

I find it fascinating that someone is willing to pay multiple of guide for some books in a slab, when the book itself normally does not sell for more than 25% of guide raw. In the case of BG #1, it guides at $12 in 9.2, routinely sells at $3 or less in NM, but fetches $60 for a slabbed 9.8. I'll buy the 20 issues and wager I come out ahead in 20 years over the person who buys that single book slabbed.

 

Let's assume the same book in 9.6 goes for $30 slabbed. What are the chances if I buy 10 issues for the same price, one of them is a 9.6? Is the slabbed book really worth 10x the raw book?

 

I understand why people would pay for the slab for old, high value books. The percentages make sense to me. But new modern books that routinely sell for $1-3 raw going for 20x that cost? Again, I regard those sales as a curiosity.

 

Question is, you attend a convention and see the book you want slabbed for $60. You also find a copy of the book raw for $3. Outside of the slab, you see no difference between the grades of the comics. Do you buy the slabbed comic or the raw comic? To me, the cost of the service is not worth more than the actual book itself, so I'm going to buy the raw book for $3.

 

Thanks,

Ron

 

 

My only question is why do you have 60 copies of BG #1?

[rjrjr]

My only question is why do you have 60 copies of BG #1?

 

Why do any of us collect what we collect?

 

This is actually a good question.

 

I collection science fiction titles. I find myself buying duplicates all the time, even though I know I keep telling myself I'd own more different issues if I didn't. Even though I have over 20 copies of Star Wars #1 in NM condition, I cannot help but pick up another copy if I can get it for $12 or less. This is true for other issues like BG #1 ($2 and under), Dark Empire #1-6 ($1 and under), Micronauts #1 ($2 and under), Star Wars Tales #10 (cover and under), any Realm Press BG issue ($3 and under), Logan's Run #1-7 ($2 and under), Shogun Warriors #1-20 ($1 and under), Buck Rogers #1-9,11-16 ($2 and under), Adventures (Malibu) Planet of the Apes #20-24, etc.

 

Several of those BG #1s were bought in lots of 10 a few years ago on E-Bay. I just could not pass them up when I saw them for the price.

 

It's a sickness I guess.

 

Ron

[cloudofwit]

My only question is why do you have 60 copies of BG #1?

 

Why do any of us collect what we collect?

 

This is actually a good question.

 

I collection science fiction titles. I find myself buying duplicates all the time, even though I know I keep telling myself I'd own more different issues if I didn't. Even though I have over 20 copies of Star Wars #1 in NM condition, I cannot help but pick up another copy if I can get it for $12 or less. This is true for other issues like BG #1 ($2 and under), Dark Empire #1-6 ($1 and under), Micronauts #1 ($2 and under), Star Wars Tales #10 (cover and under), any Realm Press BG issue ($3 and under), Logan's Run #1-7 ($2 and under), Shogun Warriors #1-20 ($1 and under), Buck Rogers #1-9,11-16 ($2 and under), Adventures (Malibu) Planet of the Apes #20-24, etc.

 

Several of those BG #1s were bought in lots of 10 a few years ago on E-Bay. I just could not pass them up when I saw them for the price.

 

It's a sickness I guess.

 

Ron

 

This kind of sickness. Priceless.

[Johnny G]

[font:Arial Black]Wow! So much negativity and hostility.

 

Where does it come from?[/font]

 

The 30 and 40's books were lost to the paper drives because no one thought they would ever be worth anything.

 

The late 40's and early 50's were barely bought because no one thought they would ever be worth anything.

 

The late 50's and 60's were thrown out because no one thought it was possible that the stuff being printed was anything other than pure junk and no one thought they would ever be worth anything.

 

The dealers in the 70"s started selling what was previously thought to be junk in the 40's and 50's, but still threw out the books from the 60"s because no one thought they would ever be worth anything. The dealers in the 80's threw out the 70's books because no one thought they would ever be worth anything.

 

The dealers in the 90's continued to throw out the books from the 70's and added the 80's to the pile because no one thought they would ever be worth anything.

 

Everyone wants those 70's books back.

 

And now the 80's are in.

 

Today dealers are throwing out the 90's (because they reflect the attitudes of the todays collectors) because no one thinks they will ever be worth anything.

 

Is it my imagination, or is there a pattern here???

 

I don't want to be the contrarian here, and I definetely would not want to disagree with so many who feel the 80's and 90's books are so worthless. (By the way...how many of you know that getting 9.8's on post glut 90s era books is actually not all that easy for two reasons....they didn't print that many (because no one thought they would ever be worth anything), and the paper is extremely fickle.)

 

All of a sudden, I have this desire to run to my warehouse and see what else I can waste my money on.

 

I was tired earlier....But I now feel completely rejuvenated! What in the world is wrong with me??

 

 

 

 

 

 

No one will ever admit to it, but one word - JEALOUSY! You'll notice it is always the same ones who "have something to say". It really is sad that these people aren't in therapy!

 

For the most par, this has been a good read! Thanks to all who have contributed (thumbs u

 

Don't get me wrong, this applies to a certain group of people around here. It is pretty blatant and obvious who they are. It's a shame really, as I know a lot of good people have either left, or no longer desire to post because of the stupidity that follows. There are stil good guys/gals around here that I, for one, am happy to read when they post... unfortunately they are becoming fewer every day it seems.

 

Anyways, my issues!

 

Good luck with the sale. I am one of those ones that are "jealous"! However, in an admirable type of way. I am lucky enough to have a rather sizable collection, however, nothing compared to what you have been able to accomplish as a dealer, From what I can tell, that has been quite a lot! Good on you! Obviously, you have been able to stay in business and make money at the same time. How else would you be able to "throw away" money on slabbing 13000 "worthless books"? Who knows, maybe you DO know something most of us don't...

 

John and my

[comics-rock]

Wheres Flaming Telepath? I hear the guys raw grading and resto detection leave much to be desired.

 

You have a good memory, Pat! (thumbs u

 

Three purchase with SNE.

 

Three cases of overgrading (more than a point in two case).

 

Two cases of undisclosed restoration...and both of them were so bloody obvious that my cat pointed them out to me.

 

Now, every dealer....everybody...will drop the ball from time to time - nobody is infallable.

 

But those sorts of ratios, and that sort of missed resto, lead me to believe one of two things. Either (a) nobody bothers to check for resto and they use 'bag grading' or (b) there is knowledge of the problems...but they know if they send enough of this sh!te out, a lot of it will stick.

 

your cat can detect restoration??? cool, that must come in handy...

[Flaming_Telepath]

Wheres Flaming Telepath? I hear the guys raw grading and resto detection leave much to be desired.

 

You have a good memory, Pat! (thumbs u

 

Three purchase with SNE.

 

Three cases of overgrading (more than a point in two case).

 

Two cases of undisclosed restoration...and both of them were so bloody obvious that my cat pointed them out to me.

 

Now, every dealer....everybody...will drop the ball from time to time - nobody is infallable.

 

But those sorts of ratios, and that sort of missed resto, lead me to believe one of two things. Either (a) nobody bothers to check for resto and they use 'bag grading' or (b) there is knowledge of the problems...but they know if they send enough of this sh!te out, a lot of it will stick.

 

your cat can detect restoration??? cool, that must come in handy...

 

I'm thinking of loaning him out to SNE.

[FlyingDonut]

I find it fascinating that someone is willing to pay multiple of guide for some books in a slab, when the book itself normally does not sell for more than 25% of guide raw. In the case of BG #1, it guides at $12 in 9.2, routinely sells at $3 or less in NM, but fetches $60 for a slabbed 9.8. I'll buy the 20 issues and wager I come out ahead in 20 years over the person who buys that single book slabbed.

 

(thumbs u well said!