Are YOU a Box-Hog?

[BassGMan]

Hi. As a dealer at small conventions and as an attendee at the larger cons, I have had to deal with the dreaded "box-hog" from both ends. These are the guys that take forever in front of a dealers comic boxes taking out one comic at a time, opening each bag, slowly looking over the condition of the book and repeating, and taking forever to do it. I can understand this for the more expensive books, even $50 and up. But I am talking about those guys pulling out a bunch of $2-$5 comics and taking forever to examine each one for perfection while hogging all the box-front table space. Con tables are so crowded there is usually no other place to send these guys and you certainly can't trust most people to just back up away from the table as they may walk off with your books. And as an attendee, I have had to wait, or had to give up waiting behind a box-hog many times. And then there are the ones that pick up a pile of books out of the box, look at them and then cram them back in any ol' place, rather than where they came from (behind divider and in order, etc.). Another form of a very rude box-hog.

 

I am always polite and a helpful dealer but sometimes I am thinking that I should just tell them they can have there $3 book for free and just get out of my table space. I am all for examining your purchases carefully before you buy, but in doing so one can take into consideration the other attendees and the dealer trying to make his boxes accessable to everyone. Are any of you guys box-hogs or have you had experiences with box-hogs at your tables or in front of you at a con? ------Sid

[Ze-man]

Is it possible for you to make some type of signage that states a few booth rules. asks shoppers to:

 

#1,please do not take out handfuls of comics from box, without asking.

 

#2, be considerate to your fellow comic buyers and handle all comics as if they were your own.

 

#3 Please limit your browesing time to allow others a chance aslo.

 

etc.. etc...

 

 

Well , you get the idea.... would this help , or just make con attendies smash up your stuff even more ?

[mrwoogieman]

I have run into many of those types over the years, usually their smell is enough to keep me moving along....

[deathlok]

I have run into many of those types over the years, usually their smell is enough to keep me moving along....

 

 

All too true, I usually don't like to get that close to some of them. Whew!

[Fan4Fan]

I'm not... quite the contrary, I often get looks from other folks at how quickly I go through a long box (like... dude, why are you even bothering?).

 

A variant are the folks who stand so close in front of the new comic racks that you either have to fondle them to get the book you want or come back another day and hope they're gone.

 

Thanks,

Fan4Fan

[TvComics]

Here is a true story:

 

I was set up at the April Big Apple Show.

 

I had 2 tables with some fairly expensive comics but I also brought 3 long boxes of "Bargains". These Bargains were all $5 or less and had some lower grade silver and some decent random bronze.

 

Well, a "Box Hog" approaches (known to me from the last show) and proceeds to go through all 3 Bargain boxes for what seemed like 1 hour. As he is doing this my blood is starting to boil.

 

Well, now, after hogging the area for nearly 1 hour, he presents me with a $3 comic and asks if I would take $2 for it. Before he even has a chance to finish his question, I answer flatly - NO and take the comic form him and place it back in the box. He leaves muttering something to himself. If I am lucky, I will not see him again.

 

What would you have done?

[goldust40]

Sometimes you gotta grin and bear it - but it really should only take 5 minutes to go through 3 boxes to see if there's anything you may want.

 

If this guy had done it several times before, I would've done the same. It all boils down to how much business you lose due to the Hog in question, and whether they damage or mishandle stock.

 

I hate it when people are so lazy and shiftless that they can't be bothered to put the comic back where they found it.

[Mr. Zipper]

Every time I go to a show, it seems as if there is one box hog that shadows me the whole day.

 

Everytime I dig into a box, this slob will instantaneously appear and squeeze right in next to me. Or, if he gets there first, I just wait and come back later because the though of brushing up against him makes me want to vomit.

 

Throughout the day we'll have numerous encounters.... everytime he turns, he smacks me with his overstuffed backpack... and he shamelessly plops down his other bag, OS Guide and 27 loose sheets of paper on top of the longbox I want to see. Oh yeah, don't forget the old lady grocery pull cart that's carrying 400 books he wants to get signed that day. He'll park that right in the middle of the aisle.

 

Just one of the many joys of crowded cons...

[JLA_ALL_THE_WAY]

Well, now, after hogging the area for nearly 1 hour, he presents me with a $3 comic and asks if I would take $2 for it. Before he even has a chance to finish his question, I answer flatly - NO and take the comic form him and place it back in the box. He leaves muttering something to himself. If I am lucky, I will not see him again.

 

What would you have done?

 

I had the same thing happen to me when I used to sell cards. A guy poured over my bargain box for eternity...with his magnifying glass...making it difficult -if not impossible- for others to browse. After making numerous counter-offers on other bargain cards, he presented me with my $4 1989 Gary Sheffield Upper Deck Rookie & his proposal, "Would you go half on this?"

 

Without hesitating I said, "Sure, I'll go half!" Then I tore the card in...half! The dweeb nearly had a heart attack.

 

Rick

[goldust40]

ROFL!!! Wish I'd been there.

[FFB]

 

The best $4 you ever spent!!!

[BassGMan]

 

Throughout the day we'll have numerous encounters.... everytime he turns, he smacks me with his overstuffed backpack... and he shamelessly plops down his other bag, OS Guide and 27 loose sheets of paper on top of the longbox I want to see. Oh yeah, don't forget the old lady grocery pull cart that's carrying 400 books he wants to get signed that day. He'll park that right in the middle of the aisle.

 

Just one of the many joys of crowded cons...

 

Geez, your description of this typical box-hog is so dead on that it is almost giving me the shivers. And yes, as somebody else said, these guys usually DO have some kind of offensive body odor. One trick some of these guys use: they pull out a couple nice comics from one of your boxes, then put some of their own junk on top, then when they leave they pick up your books along with their own stuff. A typical con-scam. I had a girlfriend watching my table long ago, someone pulled this trick with a Giant-Size X-Men #1 that (at the time-maybe ten years ago) I had a $100 price tag on. My girlfriend was not aware enough to notice this. The box-hog in question most likely noticed that and took advantage of the situation. -----Sid

[JLA_ALL_THE_WAY]

Here's the kicker:

 

Mr Peepers -with his magnifying glass- was trying to lowball me on a card...that was noticeably off-centered!!!

 

Does this qualify as one of those "not seeing the forest for the trees" scenarios?

 

Rick

[jimm94]

At last year's Wondercon, I witnessed a near fistfight due to this. Guy #1 is looking though a long box of mid-grade silver, and Guy # 2 comes up and says "Do you mind if I look in the box next to that one?". Guy # 1 says "Yes, I do mind." Numerous profane insults were exchanged - mostly having to do with how bad Guy # 2 would kick Guy # 1's butt, and that they should step outside to settle their differences.

 

At first, I thought that they were friends and just joking around. I stood there absolutely stunned because I could not fathom that two grown men would almost come to fisticuffs over old pieces of paper. Finally, Guy # 1 declined the proposed azz-whoopin' and walked away.

 

That was the first time I ever felt embarrased to be a comic book collector.

 

-Jim

[BassGMan]

Yeah, when some box-hogs are examining a box's contents they sometimes appear to be in some kind of daze with thoughts of pricing, condition, want list, and all that. I can see how disturbing a box-hog in a box-trance can be as dangerous as getting a little too close to a mother bear's cubs. -----Sid

[thanos_oftitan]

I had a guy opening and smelling quarter books. Funniest thing I ever saw.

[NewtSamson]

I had a guy opening and smelling quarter books. Funniest thing I ever saw.

smelling? What's up with these guys? I only go through quarter. fifty cent bins, even dollar bins just to help complete runs or to see any comics I may of never thought of picking up and reading.

Some of these guys who look in the bargon bins, think they'll find an Action Comics #1 the way they box hog those boxes. I think with any colector there is a line of defense...lets say you plan to make your way from box A to Box Z and some guy is looking in BOX B.....the mind set of these guys is that "WHAT IF HE FINDS THAT Action Comics #1 t that I crave in BOX B before I ever make my way to it".......Theres enough bargon stuff to go around fellows. If you can't find issue 6 of secret wars 2 because the guy got it before you could....well try another dealer dweeb !!!!

[BassGMan]

I had a guy opening and smelling quarter books. Funniest thing I ever saw.

 

Actually, that is not too strange. He probably heard about how CGC will be expanding page quality notations in 2005 to include scent comments.

 

For example:

 

White pages, fresh pulp scent

Off-White to White pages, slight tobacco scent

Cream pages, moldy scent

 

------Sid

[Wally's Comics]

dude, you for got the ever so important seven eleven spinner rack scent

(a light musk consisting of slurpees, tic-tacs and big league chew)

[Rip]

Did he have big glasses on also....I think I know who it is....