What is with the rabid collector?

[nocutename]

They suck out all the fun out of this hobby. Up until this year I have only met cool, nice fans but my last two comic expeditions have left me wanting to leave this hobby.

 

I went to a garage sale yesterday that was posted on Craigslist. I had emailed the seller to ask what type of comics they had and they replied mostly Marvel and the collection was around 1993 and up. I wasn’t going to go because I don’t read Marvel but curiosity got the best of me. So I hit the sale about an hour after it started. When I got there, a guy with a young child was going through the long boxes. I accidentally started looking at one of the boxes he was purchasing so I moved on to the only box still covered. The guy asked me to move to his picked through boxes as he was getting ready to look at that box. He was still searching his current box at the time and I was already into the new box. I replied, no I want to look through a new box as I started finding some DC titles.

 

The guy went nuts and called me a flipper and was literally jumping at every book I took out of the box. He didn’t stop ranting at me for the entire time I looked through the box. He played the kid card too but she was perfectly fine and having a ball. This guy actually left his daughter on the lawn with complete strangers so he could load up the car that was around the corner.

 

I had a similar experience at the NY show I attended earlier this year. Where another collector intervened quite nastily during my transaction. Because of that episode, I probably am going to skip the shows this year. I think I am done going to garage sales too. When I look at these books now all I remember is the terrible experience.

 

Thanks for reading my rant. I am quite bothered by what happened yesterday.

[MCJ]

I'm sorry to hear that you had a few bad experiences, but I hope you don't give up on the hobby. Who knows, you just might find that extremely rare golden age DC at the next garage sale or on Craigslist...and leave the Marvels for the rest of us

[fantastic_four]

You should have asked him exactly how badly he wanted his daughter to see her father get his beaten and his comics taken away from him and jammed down his throat.

[lscomics]

Don't let it get to you. I've run across this type of collector as well. They tend to be wholly oblivious to the world around them, including their children. The mentality of such an individual departs from the category of OCD and into hoarder. They feel like they have to be the first one to look through a box and if someone else has gone through it before them that there's nothing worthwhile left in said box. I've seen this behavior at many cons for many years. The odd thing, at least to me, is that as long as they don't actually see anyone look through a box they will look through it, believing they're the first one in the whole room to search the books within. In most cases they, while browsing a dealer's wares, won't look away from whatever box they're flipping through. It's almost as though they themselves are subconsciously aware of the behavior they exhibit and do this as a means of fooling themselves into thinking the rest of the boxes in the room are unpicked.

 

Thanks for reading my reply to this rant.

[Not*Sure*]

People like that in every hobby. I think it is more rudeness in general. People are getting worse about it. I agree it takes the fun out of things a bit. Don't take it personal they are just jerks who think they are more entitled than you are..or something like that.

 

I go to live auctions and there is always that one person who thinks "HEY I wanted that you so and so!"

Once at a live auction, I bought 27 "flats" boxed lots of costume jewelry. It was a bad weather day snow on the ground etc low turnout. I got them for a song. The jewelry was the bomb costume jewelry from the 30-60's some designer pieces etc nice. I don't tell people I am buying to sell. I just say I buy for fun. The next auction I was telling about the great jewelry that I got so cheaply (less than $150 plus I bought more than the flats of jewelry) This woman got really angry. She snapped at me "THIS is MY living I sell jewelry for profit. Then an insufficiently_thoughtful_person comes in here and buys stuff I could be selling just to let it sit around." Now by that time I had already made about $400 in profit off the stuff. I just said "Hey you weren't there so what do you care?" This auction we were at that day had slim pickings jewelry wise. A few dozen flats of out and out rubbish. One had a ring I liked just for myself personally. I was willing to go maybe $15 for it. The bids usually start at a $1 I bid then she bid etc etc until this box I would not have paid $16 for went for $40.

 

She got very cross and said "You will not be winning any jewelry today. This is a BUSINESS for me and for yahoos like you to try to cut me out..well I have more money you WILL lose." I thought this was hilarious because I had no intentions of buying any of the other lots they were really junkers. But well she did challenge me. So I bid on everything and she aggressively bid against me. She could not help herself it was funny. boxes I would not have given a $1 she ended up buying for $50+ a lot. She smirked and said "Told you see you get nothing when you bid against "real" buyers who do this as a profession."

 

I thought she was stupid..she could have had the boxes for next to nothing had she not been so rude to me.

 

The best part was after the main auction, she left. I am a picker. I wait until everyone is gone (heck I will even help out the auction staff with tables etc)Then left overs I get. For some reason they did not go through all the furniture like dressers and stuff. And as they are loading out they find jewelry boxes in the drawers. The auctioneer let me have them 6 old fashioned leather bound boxes for $1 each. Way better jewelry in there than the junky new stuff she purchased at such a $$$$. I found loads of neat stuff in there I sold.

 

I figure I try to be nice and people want to sell me thier stuff. Glad to let me take it off their hands. Often at live sales my aquaintances will put there unwanteds on my "pile o stuff area" I get all sort of cool stuff for free.

 

People have tried to tussle over yard sale finds. People have taken items out of my basket at the thrift shop. People argue with me for buying up stuff.

 

Once I found a yard sale where the guy had beautiful vintage rings big gaudy 60's stuff. I pulled them out of a display case and put them on every finger and said "Ooooh pretty how much?" He said I could have the rings for 50 cents each and the slide top display for $10 if I wanted it. I made a deal for everything all the jewelry not just the rings and the display cases. A lady anxiously waiting behind me snapped "NO way that is not fair you can't buy them all!!" I was like WHAT is not fair??? He has a price I paid the price because she didn't get there 10 minutes earlier is not my fault. She told the guy he was being unfair by not giving everyone a chance and she should get to chose something for herself. Why? Had she shown up first I am sure she would have done the same thing I did.

 

Why fight over a box of comic books? Why get snarky over a jewelry auction?

 

For the same reason I have seen grown people knock a toy out of a kids hand then snap it up and buy it to resell..they are rude, greedy, and have some sort of sense they are more entitled to that book/toy/ jewelry than you are.

 

Ridiculous.

 

I try to be nice considerate etc. I find at sales or auctions it works in my favor.

but some people think the only way to be is a jerk..

 

I find if I am nice and friendly sometimes people will call me if they find other similar items they want to sell "Oh this is a nice book I had these Archies when I was little do you have more?" They will call me back and say "Hey I found my old books I was telling you about do you want to buy some other Archies? I have Romance comics too."

 

Just take the high road and hope the guy gets kicked in the nads later by Karma.

 

 

 

 

[Not*Sure*]

Don't let it get to you. I've run across this type of collector as well. They tend to be wholly oblivious to the world around them, including their children. The mentality of such an individual departs from the category of OCD and into hoarder. They feel like they have to be the first one to look through a box and if someone else has gone through it before them that there's nothing worthwhile left in said box. I've seen this behavior at many cons for many years. The odd thing, at least to me, is that as long as they don't actually see anyone look through a box they will look through it, believing they're the first one in the whole room to search the books within. In most cases they, while browsing a dealer's wares, won't look away from whatever box they're flipping through. It's almost as though they themselves are subconsciously aware of the behavior they exhibit and do this as a means of fooling themselves into thinking the rest of the boxes in the room are unpicked.

 

Thanks for reading my reply to this rant.

 

yeah I have seen those too. If you even LOOK like you are trying to look over there shoulder they cover the box like it is a big secret thing.

 

 

[Not*Sure*]

I went to a sale once and there was a sad looking box of toys..except one toy was a $300 or so doll and it was MIP. I bid against someone else until I got it for $40. The lady comes over and says "Hey I was bidding on that box because my little girl wanted a doll out of it." I said "Oh well I only wanted one of them she can have her pick of the rest" She says "She wants the little one in the package." I was like "Ah well that is a 1963 collectible and the only one I wanted out of the lot sorry but there are over a dozen different dollies she could have to play with." "Oh but she had her heart set on that one." She kept on and on. I knew she knew what it was . Later I caught her in my stuff on the table with it in her hand. I was like "Hey you know I paid for that!" She was like "Oh it is a shame you are so mean to break a little girls heart over a doll."

 

sure..sure she wanted to give it to her daughter to play with uhhuh..

 

I am positive had I not been watching my stuff from afar like a hawk it would have disappeared..

 

 

[lscomics]

Don't let it get to you. I've run across this type of collector as well. They tend to be wholly oblivious to the world around them, including their children. The mentality of such an individual departs from the category of OCD and into hoarder. They feel like they have to be the first one to look through a box and if someone else has gone through it before them that there's nothing worthwhile left in said box. I've seen this behavior at many cons for many years. The odd thing, at least to me, is that as long as they don't actually see anyone look through a box they will look through it, believing they're the first one in the whole room to search the books within. In most cases they, while browsing a dealer's wares, won't look away from whatever box they're flipping through. It's almost as though they themselves are subconsciously aware of the behavior they exhibit and do this as a means of fooling themselves into thinking the rest of the boxes in the room are unpicked.

 

Thanks for reading my reply to this rant.

 

yeah I have seen those too. If you even LOOK like you are trying to look over there shoulder they cover the box like it is a big secret thing.

 

Those are the ones.

[Not*Sure*]

I think they are the source of that "comic con smell" I think they purposefully stink themselves up. So that if you try to get near their precious long box they are looking through you can't stand there long without leaving for fresh air.

 

there has to be some explanation I mean everyone knows what a shower is. Yet there they stand reeking over a long box covering it like they will find an overlooked Action#1 priced at $1 or something..

 

"Stay away I must have the precious..it calls to us..tricksy it is it hides in boxes.. I must find the precious"

 

I think It is harder for us..being ladies..they look at you like "You no look at comic books..you female..girls.... go looks at cosplay boothes and leaves us with the preciouses"

[nocutename]

I still don't get how you leave you child walking around on someone's front lawn unattended. The seller had to stop what she was doing to watch this guy's kid.

 

Anyway, I sell most of the comics I collect after I read them. I don't care if someone calls me a flipper for that. I don't understand why anyone should concern themselves with what others purchase. It is a private transaction between parties A & B so they others should C their way out of it.

 

 

[MCJ]

That's why the internet is so wonderful (sarcasm font)--you don't have to interact with people if you don't want to.

 

I'm just waiting for an episode of Hoarders where the neighborhood cat lady has a copy of AF 15 lining her birdcage and her cats making a nest out of Tec 27.

 

My screams would reverberate through the neighborhood. The horror!

 

A few more auction stories like these and I might think of taking a taser with me next time...

 

Btw, did anyone catch that episode of storage wars where one of these yahoos was recounting his best storage locker ever was one filled with thousands of old comic books? That episode almost made me cry. I'm a delicate flower.

 

Don't let the OCD/Aspergers/frakkers get you down--you have just as much of a right to be there as they do. Out think or out-negotiate the rest. Then sell your spoils to the people lazy enough to watch Hoarders or Storage Wars...

[lscomics]

I think they are the source of that "comic con smell"

 

You just might be on to something here.

[Not*Sure*]

I watched one of those "clean up your house shows" And they come to the lady's hall closet. The clean it up host says "now this is a LINEN cabinet.What are all these papers doing in here?" The homeowner explains she worked for a publisher and she kept original art for covers and illustrations that the company was going to throw out. The host fo the show explains "This is TRASH you understand THEY thought it was trash and were throwing it away..NOW it is clutter in you hall closet. First let's throw out the trash"

 

They proceed to toss every bit of the original art works and illustrations into a huge dumpster. I was like WTF ??seriously? I would have saved it in a heartbeat.

 

Before the housefire had some nutbag came into my house I am sure they would see a lot of "trash" that was worth $$$. I admit we were hoarders but my husband is talented at stacking and packing stuff creatively the house wasn't trashed ..just full of stuff..

 

unfortunately one persons trash is someone elses carp..

 

 

[MCJ]

The story of the Church collection was like that. How much was lost because the family didn't know what they had?

 

I imagine your grandkids (that were running around in the Batman costumes) will grow up to like comics. Hopefully they'll begin collecting, too.

[mikenyc]

You should have asked him exactly how badly he wanted his daughter to see her father get his beaten and his comics taken away from him and jammed down his throat.

 

+1

[1st-and-keys]

Don't allow anyone the satisfaction of taking something away from you that you enjoy. Use it as motivation for your comic hunt ! My

[comics-rock]

You should have asked him exactly how badly he wanted his daughter to see her father get his beaten and his comics taken away from him and jammed down his throat.

 

+1

 

seriously though, the fear of violence works really well in a situation like this one. i think i would ve had a quiet word in his ear. if that didnt work then perhaps an attitude reajustment in the form of a clenched right fist applied to the face at 70 miles an hour, bout 180 lb per square inch. when the cops turn up, simply tell them it was an unintential reaction brought about by this guy grabbing my and saying " up for a good time big boy".... last thing hes going to want to go to court to defend...a sex assault charge.....next 60 years of this guys life he will be unbelievably polite and considerate to strangers at garage sales...( thats if he ever attends one again)...

[comics-rock]

You should have asked him exactly how badly he wanted his daughter to see her father get his beaten and his comics taken away from him and jammed down his throat.

 

+1

 

seriously though, the fear of violence works really well in a situation like this one. i think i would ve had a quiet word in his ear. if that didnt work then perhaps an attitude reajustment in the form of a clenched right fist applied to the face at 70 miles an hour, bout 180 lb per square inch. when the cops turn up, simply tell them it was an unintential reaction brought about by this guy grabbing my and saying " up for a good time big boy".... last thing hes going to want to go to court to defend...a sex assault charge.....next 60 years of this guys life he will be unbelievably polite and considerate to strangers at garage sales...( thats if he ever attends one again)...

 

oh, and dont let this disuade you from collecting...there are insufficiently_thoughtful_persons everywhere...

[Speedy-D]

You should have asked him exactly how badly he wanted his daughter to see her father get his beaten and his comics taken away from him and jammed down his throat.

 

+1

 

seriously though, the fear of violence works really well in a situation like this one. i think i would ve had a quiet word in his ear. if that didnt work then perhaps an attitude reajustment in the form of a clenched right fist applied to the face at 70 miles an hour, bout 180 lb per square inch. when the cops turn up, simply tell them it was an unintential reaction brought about by this guy grabbing my and saying " up for a good time big boy".... last thing hes going to want to go to court to defend...a sex assault charge.....next 60 years of this guys life he will be unbelievably polite and considerate to strangers at garage sales...( thats if he ever attends one again)...

Have you checked out The Boys? It might be your kind of comic.

[kdoginohio]

I still don't get how you leave you child walking around on someone's front lawn unattended. The seller had to stop what she was doing to watch this guy's kid.

Yeah, well that wasn't even my kid! So there Mr. Angry Long Box Diver! I gave her $20 to run interference! She's actually thirty-five years old. Found her in a Russian asylum.

 

 

 

 

Seriously though, write it off as a bad experience and move on.