Foolkiller's C2E2 2011 Report (Pics and Scans)

[Foolkiller]

Cards were then drawn at 4 PM. The order was as follows:

 

1. Vincent Zurzolo (won tie breaker with Dale Roberts) - chose TOS 39 slab box

2. Dale Roberts (chose raw box with JIMs, TTA, TOS)

3. Doug Gillock (comiclink) (chose ASM 3 CGC 9.6 box)

4. Roy Delic (chose raw ASM box)

5. Al Stoltz (chose esoteric box)

6. Matt Nelson (won tie with me) (chose FF box)

7. Me (chose Avengers/DD box)

8. Bob Storms (chose lot of 5 boxes lot)

9. Harley Yee (chose X-Men box)

10. Tom Brulato (x-men slab box, which was what was left)

 

why wasn't Ted @ Superworld or Jamie Graham invited? Is there some beef there?

 

Also in the midst of one of this "unveiling" sprees have you ever seen a fight or cursing match break out over who gets what and the order in which the comics are dealt out? After all, a dealer's livelihood is at stake based on getting the comics he can most easily flip for the greatest margin.

 

I've never seen Jamie at one of Dave's offerings, possibly simply because he and Dave may or may not be friends -- I have no idea. Ted likely passed, and it may have been financially related, who knows. Generally, you've got to be willing to spend several thousand to make it worth it, and frankly the margins weren't amazing.

 

Have I ever seen a fight? No. A cursing match, not exactly. But some ruffled feathers occasionally.

 

Remember, all these guys do the circuit together, so what goes around comes around.

[cheetah]

That would be me browsing through the boxes in the background. Dale had some nice late-issue Black Terrors that I picked up. Sorry I didn't recognize you for who you were. I would have introduced myself.

 

Dale hard at work...

 

[Silver Surfer]

Thanks for the Con report Brian, I really need to try and make my way to one of these some day.

[500Club]

 

Fabulous report! Great pics!

[500Club]

Hearing that a dealer has gone through a collection is akin to finding out that the Hulk #181 you just paid $1000 for was bought out of a dollar bin for $3. We're human and those emotions are natural. Unfortunately, not everyone can be there "first". There is always going to be a second, third place, etc. I spent nearly a decade of con going always coming late to the game. I went to cons for fun in the beginning, went out late in the evenings and would show up on the con floor in the afternoons. Most of my con going buddies will attest to this. I still always found great books, even late in the game.

(thumbs u

 

For me, the gut feeling is: I'd 've paid $70 for that book Dealer A sold to Dealer B for $50, that Dealer B now has at $90 on his wall.

 

However, it's simply good business for dealers to sell to other dealers and defray their up-front acqusition costs. I can't fault dealers at all for it.

[HouseofComics.Com]

Well, while my pizza was getting cooked I literally raced across the lawn, across the street and ran through the show to see if the book was still available. Sure enough, after sitting there all weekend long I nabbed a tough, high grade key for a client after it sat there in open sight all weekend long.

 

Nice! (thumbs u

 

Fun image of you racing back to the show.

[mackenzie999]

Dealers are insiders and insiders get the breaks in any area of life, that's just how things work. One could always try to become a dealer if passionate enough about it.

[Pirate]

or go out to dinner with people like Roy and pick their brains about comics.. At mid ohio, I learned more at a 2 hour dinner talking to roy than 3 years of listening to seanfingh.

[VintageComics]

or go out to dinner with people like Roy and pick their brains about comics.. At mid ohio, I learned more at a 2 hour dinner talking to roy than 3 years of listening to seanfingh.

 

 

[lou_fine]

I've read in Roy's thread some of the complaints of how it doesn't give collectors a fair shot. 70% of all of Dave's business comes from dealers. They buy more -- and when the collection was open to the public on Friday, Dave told me he only had one or two guys buy anything significant and only a few others show more interest. Collectors just don't give him the same level of attention as dealers. The reality is, there were PLENTY of great books left Friday morning and afternoon, yet the collecting base was not snapping up this stuff. As a collector had I seen the "leftovers" I would have been thrilled.

Hey Brian:

You're probably referring to my posts in Roy's thread. I thought I was very careful not to cast any blame about it. And I don't blame Dave or any of the dealers buying his stuff. I was just saying it's far more fun and fruitful to get to a collection before dealers have gone through it. I'm sure dealers feel the same way if a collection has been picked through before they get to it.

 

I guess it's just human nature to feel a bit upset in these particular types of situations. Especially when you are one of the unlucky ones on the outside looking in.

 

This reminds me to a smaller extent of the Diamond Galleries opening back in the mid-90's which again was based upon an invitation only offer. The perception was made even more pronounced as a small select number of these invitees were then invited back for a Saturday brunch and unveiling of the bulk of Overstreet's personal collection. A definite feeding frenzy that time as boxes were brought out by the wagonload. Needless to say, the dealers and long-time collectors who did not get invited to either of these activities felt left out and were a bit miffed.

 

I certainly understand why the sale was handled in this method, but I also understand why some would feel that this is not a level playing field.

 

 

[white_pages-migration]

So which is the better show C2E2 or Wizard World Chicago in the Summer?

[Pirate]

C2E2 KK

[Ze-man]

As usual , great report Brian. That photo of Storms looking in the brown bag is hilarious, he does not seem to be exactly confident what he is looking at.

 

WTF did you bring him for lunch?

 

 

And from what I heard, that dinner at La Folie's was epic. I am officially jealous.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[acatl-migration]

Foolkiller thanks for sharing, there's alot of info here that news guys like me can learn from. Great report and great pic's...thanks again.

[Ant-Man]

At any rate, what are you going to do, book is gone... however... a few minutes later I run into Greg Reece, and I tell him the story. Turns out he's the guy who bought it! He offers to basically sell it to me at cost (even though he knew it'd be a home run for him). That's a stand up guy.

 

Have seen similar comments about Greg throughout these boards and had the pleasure of buying from him myself this year. While I'm more likely to be in the "Silver Age Blowout" boxes than looking at the wall, he has something for everyone. Even saw him help out an individual who was participating in a scavenger hunt. Worth your time if you have the opportunity.

[sckao]

 

Great report!

 

And for all the naysayers... Who said Life was fair? Make your own breaks.

 

 

 

[dem1138]

I guess it's just human nature to feel a bit upset in these particular types of situations. Especially when you are one of the unlucky ones on the outside looking in.

 

This reminds me to a smaller extent of the Diamond Galleries opening back in the mid-90's which again was based upon an invitation only offer. The perception was made even more pronounced as a small select number of these invitees were then invited back for a Saturday brunch and unveiling of the bulk of Overstreet's personal collection. A definite feeding frenzy that time as boxes were brought out by the wagonload. Needless to say, the dealers and long-time collectors who did not get invited to either of these activities felt left out and were a bit miffed.

 

I certainly understand why the sale was handled in this method, but I also understand why some would feel that this is not a level playing field.

 

 

But this only reinforces how everyone is rationalizing this situation. From what I understand, when Geppi unveiled all of those books there was indeed a feeding frenzy. However, just like in the current scenario, those buyers were spending a significant amount of money and they were buying multiple books if not boxes. And from what I understand, in the Geppi instance, that no one really mentions when they talk about all the great books that were there, is that none of the books had prices. And apparently Geppi later sent huge bills for the books taken that were far and above the guide and a lot of the buyers were very upset at what they felt were exhorbitant prices. At least in this scenario there were prices and everyone invited had an opportunity to look at the books first. It makes a lot of sense to only invite those who have proven that they will spend the money and buy in bulk.

[Jeffro.]

Dave invited his "dealer friends" for the opportunity to preview the collection on Thursday between 3 and 4 PM. I've read in Roy's thread some of the complaints of how it doesn't give collectors a fair shot. 70% of all of Dave's business comes from dealers. They buy more -- and when the collection was open to the public on Friday, Dave told me he only had one or two guys buy anything significant and only a few others show more interest. Collectors just don't give him the same level of attention as dealers. The reality is, there were PLENTY of great books left Friday morning and afternoon, yet the collecting base was not snapping up this stuff. As a collector had I seen the "leftovers" I would have been thrilled.

 

I don't really care either way, but why not let collectors get first crack, and sell to the dealers at the end of the show? If collectors don't buy much, so what? The dealers will still buy what they would have bought at the beginning of the show. And if the collectors do buy stuff, then Dave doesn't have to sell at the reduced rate. Given how all the dealers seem to have been salivating over the comics, it sounds like they would have been willing to do their buying a day or two later.

 

This is why I rarely buy books at conventions... it's simply not a level playing field for collectors. Have a lot of fun walking around and checking out the overpriced books that have already traded hands though!

 

Seems like one of the recurring comments I hear from collectors who go to the "big" shows is that dealers overprice their stock. Don't know if it's true. Anecdotel to be sure and I'm sure there are deals to be had. However, I think there is a definite kernel of truth there.

[Foolkiller]

I went to lunch with my friend Mary Ann -- we just ate at the Hyatt hotel Friday. The show opened to the public around 1 PM, and I had already done some shopping so there wasn't any need to rush back. I wanted to eat light since Andre Zilli, myself, Bob Storms, Tom Gordon and his buddy Brian were all going to Morton's later that evening.

 

When I got back, here's a sampling of some of the costumes we saw:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After walking around some more, I stopped by what was Torpedo Comics and is now "Big Truck Comics" still run by John Dolmayan and a partner -- with Steve Wyatt also in tow. I looked through display, and found many nice books. Vincent and John were having some funny banter and I really enjoyed hanging out there for a bit. Picked some very nice books as well.

 

 

 

 

Left the show around 6:00 and went with Andre back to his room to pick up a lot of books he let go because they weren't in his collecting wheelhouse:

 

 

 

 

 

After that went to dinner with Andre, Storms, Mary Ann, Tom Gordon, and his buddy Brian. Had a fantastic time at Morton's, then caught up with Mike Strahan (transplant), Jim McCallum (CGCworld), and Mike Miles. We went to a local club, then briefly met Ali Jae, Joe Pierson and Jon Jesperson out for a drink. The other guys went back to the club, Storms went home and I hung out with the CGC group for a bit, then went back to the hotel and crashed around 2 AM.

[OldGuy]

And for all the naysayers... Who said Life was fair? Make your own breaks.

 

(thumbs u

 

If you're sitting around waiting for something good to happen to you, you'll almost always be disapointed.