Archie 1 and being robbed for $1500

[Point Five]

Ed, this is awful news. Really hope it works out in the end.

 

 

[Weird Paper]

That really sucks, Ed. I hope you can get some sort of resolution on this.

[Solar]

You send a guy $1500 and you're left Holden nothin' but your Wong.

 

Seriously though, good luck. I hope you get the book or, at the very least, a refund.

[Archie123]

Like I said. His name is Jason and he always answers my emails on Ebay as I always contact him when I have new Archie stuff for sale. DO you want me try to contact him and see what he says?

[bluechip]

Well, I always hate the sorry tales of being robbed that take up space on the boards but they do help avoid the theives that are out there.

 

So the Archie 1 coverless shows up on comiclink and I learn through ebay who actually owns it. So in trying to agree on a price and save on the fees we agree at a price of $1500. He's got some decent sales on ebay and postive feedback and also says he's a board member here. So I send a check and then the obfuscation begins. "Well comic link has the book and they won't let me have it back... etc etc." This is all through ebay PM.

 

BTW the owners name is Holden Wong.

 

So I start to get nervous and call comiclink to try to confirm that Holden does own the book and understandibly they wont' give out that information. Finally after about 10 phone calls and messages he actually answers and says that because of my call I need to go through comiclink now. OK, I say, why don't you send the $1500 back and I'll think about it.

 

Of course no check is returned and no phone calls answered. But it is still listed on comiclink. So I send him a PM (already he has stopped replying to me) and agree that I'll pay the $1670 to comiclink for the book as long as we can work out an agreement on payment. No response. BTW, all the overpriced bids on this book are mine.

 

http://www.comiclink.com/itemdetail.asp?back=%2Fsearch.asp%3Fwhere%3Dsell%26title%3Darchie%2B1%26x%3D0%26y%3D0%26ItemType%3DCB&id=860819

 

So that's pretty much it. As of now I'm out the money. And given that he lives in Montreal it would be tough to retrieve in a legal way. I am willing to accept the possibility this all some big misunderstanding that the check got lost or that his phone was disconnected or that he was out of town in deep Africa for 2 months. As long as I get my money back or the book I'll be happy.

 

If anyone is from the Montreal area can help or is willing to please let me know. I have all the PM's from ebay and a copy of the MO I sent.

 

Here is his information, not for the purposes of hassling him, but if you can attempt to help here it is.

 

Holden Wong

xxxxxx

 

Here's an old address that where he said he moved

 

Holden Wong

xxxxx

 

Ebay ID: mtlhockeyfan514 (386)

 

Here's a simple public search for him, though it's possible there are two Holden Wongs and this isn't him.

 

http://www.classmates.com/directory/public/memberprofile/list.htm?regId=8682959974

 

Hope it works out. If you are the board member who has an archie 1 cover I am surprised you didn't just buy it at 2K to avoid risk of losing it to someone else (I know I would've bought that had I seen it).

 

I recognize the name Holden Wong and had some minor problem that worked itself out eventually, but can't recall precisely what it was. Name is hard to forget, though, since I remember noting that it sounded like a fake porn name (Holden Wong, Holden Dong, etc)

.

[Flex Mentallo]

If you sent a MO via Western Union I would contact them as they are very protective of their clients. They will even get the local police to pay him a little visit! Theft crosses international boundaries, but it is still theft!

[generic user]

for what it's worth, comiclink has the status of the book as "sale pending"

 

http://www.comiclink.com/items.asp?id=4881

 

good luck

 

 

[bluechip]

for what it's worth, comiclink has the status of the book as "sale pending"

 

http://www.comiclink.com/items.asp?id=4881

 

good luck

 

 

 

For only 1700. Had I know I would've just paid the 2K asking price for it. For whatever reason have seen less coverless Archie 1s in 20 years than I have seen covers only. (do NOT have a cover now but figured a coverless was worth 2K even if it was only to have as a reader)

 

.

[ft88]

It winds up that he accepted my bid of $1700 today. So I just got off the phone with comiclink and told them the situation. (Not that I suspected the owner of anything, just to let them know that I had already sent him the $1500 directly so I really owed $200+.) That I would send Clink the difference of $200 + s and h as long as the owner was fine with that and he didn't expect $1530 from clink, everything should work out. He said he'd talk to Josh and that what I said made sense.

 

My view on its value is that the coverless book is worth about $1000 by itself but I was willing to spend a premium since I had a cover. Just not double. At this point, paying an excess of $200 to what we agreed to seems to be the "cheapest" way out. If I get the books for $1715 and thus a complete Archie 1 I'll be happy enough.

 

Other than this copy I haven't seen a coverless Archie 1 in 3 years (that was complete, there was one centerfold missing book out there). This is the same coverless copy that sold on ebay about 6 months ago. Other than my cover only, I have not seen another one of those, nor an Archie 1 that was missing a cf or interior page (or large piece out of cover) I have actively looked for 3 years. Maybe at some of the shows they are available?

 

Anyway, I too hope it works out.

 

 

[Point Five]

 

 

[bluechip]

It winds up that he accepted my bid of $1700 today. So I just got off the phone with comiclink and told them the situation. (Not that I suspected the owner of anything, just to let them know that I had already sent him the $1500 directly so I really owed $200+.) That I would send Clink the difference of $200 + s and h as long as the owner was fine with that and he didn't expect $1530 from clink, everything should work out. He said he'd talk to Josh and that what I said made sense.

 

My view on its value is that the coverless book is worth about $1000 by itself but I was willing to spend a premium since I had a cover. Just not double. At this point, paying an excess of $200 to what we agreed to seems to be the "cheapest" way out. If I get the books for $1715 and thus a complete Archie 1 I'll be happy enough.

 

Other than this copy I haven't seen a coverless Archie 1 in 3 years (that was complete, there was one centerfold missing book out there). This is the same coverless copy that sold on ebay about 6 months ago. Other than my cover only, I have not seen another one of those, nor an Archie 1 that was missing a cf or interior page (or large piece out of cover) I have actively looked for 3 years. Maybe at some of the shows they are available?

 

Anyway, I too hope it works out.

 

 

 

I'd say you undervalue a coverless copy which is why you missed it on ebay the first time. If you get this for 1700 and marry it to the cover you have, you'll end up with a complete archie 1 for less than 3K which is considerably less than I think you'd have to pay for a married cover copy if one turned up today COngrats and best luck

[G.A.tor]

can't you just feel the magic in the air

[VintageComics]

If you get this for 1700 and marry it to the cover you have, you'll end up with a complete archie 1 for less than 3K which is considerably less than I think you'd have to pay for a married cover copy if one turned up today Congrats and best luck

 

I agree.

 

I couldn't believe how many kids literally dove for our Archie comics when we were giving them out at Halloween. They were the first to go.

 

Because Archie is so entrenched in American nostalgia I don't see any change in the trend and Archie related titles have finally broken out in a big way.

 

[ft88]

If you get this for 1700 and marry it to the cover you have, you'll end up with a complete archie 1 for less than 3K which is considerably less than I think you'd have to pay for a married cover copy if one turned up today Congrats and best luck

 

I agree.

 

 

Fair enough. I do think that the more monster the key the more value there is in the combination through marriage as opposed to the individual components cover v coverless. I've always wondered about the comparison in value between the two and the resulting premium on a marriage.

 

This is especially true with the scarcer books. I think different books have varying relationship in value. A Suspense 3 complete coverless is probably pretty valuable due to the often missing centerfold. Quite a few books are like that, missing the pull out centerfolds; Superman 1 comes to mind. The same is true for a cover only Batman 1 with the back cover pinup often missing. Some keys just have common missing pieces. I think there are 3 or 4 copies of Exciting 9 that are missing the centerfold. There are quite a few coverless or near coverless Amazing Fantasy 15's out there. With Pep 22, there have been 4 coverless (or 2/3 cover) copies sold in the past few years but very few cover only or complete but missing interior pages.

 

I do find it very satisfying to marry up two books into a complete one. Especially on a big book.

 

 

[G.A.tor]

If you get this for 1700 and marry it to the cover you have, you'll end up with a complete archie 1 for less than 3K which is considerably less than I think you'd have to pay for a married cover copy if one turned up today Congrats and best luck

 

I agree.

 

 

Fair enough. I do think that the more monster the key the more value there is in the combination through marriage as opposed to the individual components cover v coverless. I've always wondered about the comparison in value between the two and the resulting premium on a marriage.

 

This is especially true with the scarcer books. I think different books have varying relationship in value. A Suspense 3 complete coverless is probably pretty valuable due to the often missing centerfold. Quite a few books are like that, missing the pull out centerfolds; Superman 1 comes to mind. The same is true for a cover only Batman 1 with the back cover pinup often missing. Some keys just have common missing pieces. I think there are 3 or 4 copies of Exciting 9 that are missing the centerfold. There are quite a few coverless or near coverless Amazing Fantasy 15's out there. With Pep 22, there have been 4 coverless (or 2/3 cover) copies sold in the past few years but very few cover only or complete but missing interior pages.

 

I do find it very satisfying to marry up two books into a complete one. Especially on a big book.

 

and, who is to say that the cover you are marrying to the interior, isn't really the original cover, seperated during those wild 60's

[bronzilla]

Oh Man I am so sorry to hear that! You have been looking for a copy to go with your cover for so...long!!

 

I hate thieves!

[VintageComics]

I do find it very satisfying to marry up two books into a complete one. Especially on a big book.

 

 

I find it satisfying too, what is difficult is valuing a portion of a book properly.

 

I'd probably value the cover/interior at 50/50 of fair market value.

 

I know how much you love this book so I really do hope it works out for you.

 

 

 

[Batty Scrooge]

If this were in General, I am sure they'd have had plenty of fun with it, but I am shocked that his name would really be "Holden Wong."

 

 

I didn't notice that until then. Yeah, seems like a obvious fake but then agan...maybe not.

 

I hate hearing stories like this. I hope it works out.

They are in a tight spot. Not only might they not want to get between this issue for a non comiclink buy, but they can't really disclose who owns the book. But I will try again with them and then let them decide what to do if anything.

 

Ed

 

If the seller cashed the money order, then its NOT his book, it is your book as you now have a cashed money order to prove ownership. I would tell Comic-Link that the book is yours and it could be considered fraud to sell your book. Its the same as me stealing a book from you and then comic-link sells it for me. If they are aware of your purchasing the book from the seller than they would be an accessory if they complete this consignment.

[ft88]

Just got an email from comiclink that Holden acknowledged payment and that all I need to do is send comiclink the difference. Since comiclink has the book in hand, I feel pretty confident about the deal going through to completion.

 

Can't wait to post pictures of the wedding.

[Bruce1971]

If this were in General, I am sure they'd have had plenty of fun with it, but I am shocked that his name would really be "Holden Wong."

 

 

I didn't notice that until then. Yeah, seems like a obvious fake but then agan...maybe not.

 

I hate hearing stories like this. I hope it works out.

They are in a tight spot. Not only might they not want to get between this issue for a non comiclink buy, but they can't really disclose who owns the book. But I will try again with them and then let them decide what to do if anything.

 

Ed

 

If the seller cashed the money order, then its NOT his book, it is your book as you now have a cashed money order to prove ownership. I would tell Comic-Link that the book is yours and it could be considered fraud to sell your book. Its the same as me stealing a book from you and then comic-link sells it for me. If they are aware of your purchasing the book from the seller than they would be an accessory if they complete this consignment.

 

Congrats!!!