Dealer Rankings 2011

[FFB]

Bob's ethics are beyond reproach and I have happily bought from him on the internet several times and been happy with almost every purchase from a pricing and grading standpoint. (There was one book where he missed some damage and the book wound up being overgraded, but that happens to everyone from time to time and Bob took the return with no hassles.) I know I'll never get ripped off by Bob Storms.

 

But in person, I have just never been able to get him to be anything other than gruff or even rude on occasions. I don't care where he's from; it's an attitude that I don't enjoy dealing with when I'm trying to spend money at a booth.

 

But that particular personality trait cannot detract from the fact that he's a great dealer to work with if you're not in the same room with him. It definitely would not keep me from buying from his website.

 

I think that is understating things a bit. I no longer focus my collecting on SA, but I used to make a point of visiting Bob's booth each year at cons and say hi and admire a key or two. I no longer bother. Too gruff for my taste.

 

We all know Bob's personality can be a bit gruff at times -- as he has that New York attitude.

[Old Fashion PB and J]

Number 3: Worldwide Comics: Owners, Steve Ritter and Matt Nelson, Dallas, Texas (though being moved back to Ohio)

 

Pros: The unbelievably high quality inventory that Worldwide Comics carries is truly staggering, particularly when you see the New Arrivals that are constantly pouring in. The amount of high grade books that are listed, the keys, the pedigrees, the aggressiveness with which they buy, all make for an incredible breadth of high grade inventory. The prices are, generally speaking, extremely competitive. It's clear that their goal is to continue to turn inventory. When you combine how much new high grade inventory, the grades that are obtain, the scarcity of many books, and the reasonable price, they become solidified at #3.

 

Cons: If you don't like pressed books, they are probably not the dealer of choice. Also, the revelation of their ebay auctions being shilled seriously damaged their credibility, and to this day, the incident has not been publicly addressed with any real satisfaction. With that said, I don't, for a minute, doubt the integrity of Steve and Matt. They are, as I have told them, responsible ultimately though for the actions of their employees and so it is as if they have committed those acts themselves. You've got to respond somehow.

 

The Bottom Line: High grade, pedigrees, keys, all eras of materials, deep inventory, constantly fresh material -- it just adds up. I think of Worldwide as one of the best resources out there.

 

how did I miss this, link?

It was a short thread, about 130 pages long.

 

Titled "lets play shill or no shill!"

[oakman29]

It's the truth with Bob. I wish he had more DC stock... Im just not a big Marvel guy, and I would rather give him my money then anyone in this hobby. Well, him and Rick Whitelock.

 

Rick and Bob will always be my first choice.

[Foolkiller]

Nice report Brian, but I really feel you should include the little guys who help preserve those multi-million dollar books that 4 of the top 5 dealers and countless others on your honorable mention list.

 

Also, when you finally make this into an annual book like the overstreet, I got page 3 and the back cover. I called it.

 

How about this... if I was making a list of top dealers who deal in supplies, I'd only need one slot: Hot Flips, the very best for service and quality.

[DanCooper]

Number 6: Joe Verenault: Owner, JHV Associates, Woodbury, NJ

 

Pros: Starting off the pros with, Joe is tagged as the "laziest dealer in comics", isn't generally how I'd start, but I'd probably start by debunking that moniker. First, Joe is a laid back guy and I definitely perceive that he is working less now than he used to while with Sparkle City and earlier in his JHV career. The reality is, Joe still acquires a pretty good amount of new material (as I noticed with a couple of nice new collections he picked up this year) and still acquires a number of rare Golden Age pieces. Joe is an accurate grader and frankly one of the few dealers I've never heard a bad word about from anyone. He's extremely friendly and a guy you can talk to about a variety of subjects beyond comics.

 

Cons: Joe's inventory is strong, but his acquisition of new material largely relies on luck (old contacts making contact with him) as he's not aggressive about acquiring new material any more. That makes him hit or miss at times about seeing "new stuff" at shows. Also, his prices can be aggressive on keys and slabs. But overall, I do find him negotiable and easy to work with, but those drawbacks I listed above are worth noting.

 

The Bottom Line: There is no more honest guy in comics -- and frankly few with a better reputation. Jim Payette may be one of the only other dealers with whom other dealers speak with a lot of respect towards in the same way they seem to regard Joe. I think of Joe as someone who I wish more dealers could emulate in terms of personality and professionalism. One of the absolute best guys in the entire hobby I've ever met.

 

BTW, if anyone ever witnesses Joe and Payette holding a discussion together (about ANY subject other than comics!!) - DO NOT WALK AWAY FROM THAT CONVERSATION!!!

 

You will witness one of the GREAT DEBATES that could be shown on one of the evening cable networks like CNBC or Fox!!!

 

OT Brian - Your "MONEY" is "DEAD" this year! - MD

[Foolkiller]

FK--no surprise that this is a much-appreciated thread that you provide every year. Here's my question for you: As an Overstreet Advisor, what would the likelihood be of having something like this drawn up and included in the market report? If the point of that section is to give collectors a sense of where the market is moving, wouldn't it be helpful to go a step further and give them a sense of where to go to pursue these hot books? Most people know you as one of the established, knowledge collectors here and value the insights you provide. What would the possibilities be of broadening the audience even more?

 

I'm not really sure they'd want me calling balls and strikes to guys who are advertisers in the book and potentially ticking off some people who were included and those that weren't. I think some people would be upset with some of my comments, even if they made the list, because any negative is hard to swallow.

 

I've often thought about blogging about the hobby, but the reality is, my demands on my time wouldn't afford me the opportunity to be consistent.

 

However, I may be also become an advisor for CPG (Tom Gordon, the President, has offered me a slot) and I think that may be the platform I would try to do more of these types of information and lists.

[Foolkiller]

Number 6: Joe Verenault: Owner, JHV Associates, Woodbury, NJ

 

Pros: Starting off the pros with, Joe is tagged as the "laziest dealer in comics", isn't generally how I'd start, but I'd probably start by debunking that moniker. First, Joe is a laid back guy and I definitely perceive that he is working less now than he used to while with Sparkle City and earlier in his JHV career. The reality is, Joe still acquires a pretty good amount of new material (as I noticed with a couple of nice new collections he picked up this year) and still acquires a number of rare Golden Age pieces. Joe is an accurate grader and frankly one of the few dealers I've never heard a bad word about from anyone. He's extremely friendly and a guy you can talk to about a variety of subjects beyond comics.

 

Cons: Joe's inventory is strong, but his acquisition of new material largely relies on luck (old contacts making contact with him) as he's not aggressive about acquiring new material any more. That makes him hit or miss at times about seeing "new stuff" at shows. Also, his prices can be aggressive on keys and slabs. But overall, I do find him negotiable and easy to work with, but those drawbacks I listed above are worth noting.

 

The Bottom Line: There is no more honest guy in comics -- and frankly few with a better reputation. Jim Payette may be one of the only other dealers with whom other dealers speak with a lot of respect towards in the same way they seem to regard Joe. I think of Joe as someone who I wish more dealers could emulate in terms of personality and professionalism. One of the absolute best guys in the entire hobby I've ever met.

 

BTW, if anyone ever witnesses Joe and Payette holding a discussion together (about ANY subject other than comics!!) - DO NOT WALK AWAY FROM THAT CONVERSATION!!!

 

You will witness one of the GREAT DEBATES that could be shown on one of the evening cable networks like CNBC or Fox!!!

 

OT Brian - Your "MONEY" is "DEAD" this year! - MD

 

sure is, sure is. But I'm guaranteeing getting off the mat next year.

[Timely]

Considering Jef Hinds cheated me countless times on expensive books when I was just starting out as a 15 year old kid, I'd say he is dead bottom on my list. If he'll cheat a kid, who knows what he'd do to an adult!

[Tsimanga]

Damn... this list is spot on to what I would rate also. Great read... kudos...

[Foolkiller]

Nice report (thumbs u ... but doesn't Foolkiller buy mainly comics that are higher-grade?

 

Certainly and Foolkiller is probably also treated better by dealers than the average collector (me) b/c he is 1) super nice & sociable (unlike me) and 2) spend more than I would. That said, it doesn't change that his assessment seems fair.

 

The bulk of my purchases, particularly for flipping, come from stores, scavenging and other collectors. I buy almost exclusively high grade for myself, but purchase all sorts of grades for inventory. In addition, I buy low grade/mid grade keys fairly frequently.

 

In addition, I didn't jump in collecting high grade. I started out as a completist and originally my "target" range were nice mid grades. I looked at thousands. Even now, I will buy mid or mid/high grade books with eye appeal. Show me a Cap 100 with deep colors and white cover with some damage but nice pages? I'll buy it. Still.

 

Doesn't matter if I had a 9.6 or a 9.8 (which I do), I'd still buy the book.

 

So I am always drawn to all grades and tend to try and evaluate the dealer's ability to grade those books as well.

 

But that being said, the skew of this list is towards the high grade, but even if I took that out, I can tell you the top 5 would remain the same, but I may have to add some dollar book folks etc. I probably could even do a dollar dealer ranking etc.

[Foolkiller]

Considering Jef Hinds cheated me countless times on expensive books when I was just starting out as a 15 year old kid, I'd say he is dead bottom on my list. If he'll cheat a kid, who knows what he'd do to an adult!

 

You'll note he didn't make the list... that's just a list of all the dealers I could think of... not necessarily any sort of allusion to what I think of them. Hell, Danny Dupcak is on the list of dealers.

[Dick Pontoon]

Yup, there's certainly a few questionable names on the master list.

 

Brian, I know you have limited time but if you ever wanted to hit these annual threads out of the park, including the business name along with the dealer name on the initial list of consideration would be terrific. I have to admit that I don't know who everybody on the list is.

[Foolkiller]

Yup, there's certainly a few questionable names on the master list.

 

Brian, I know you have limited time but if you ever wanted to hit these annual threads out of the park, including the business name along with the dealer name on the initial list of consideration would be terrific. I have to admit that I don't know who everybody on the list is.

 

I'll try and do that tomorrow.

[TheShadowKnows]

what did we just lose?

[DrWatson]

what did we just lose?

*spoon*

[seanfingh]

A racist scumbag. Good riddance to bad rubbish.

[Cheryllynn]

I was unaware Worldwide is moving back to Ohio!

C'mon back!

[Mac Man]

FK--no surprise that this is a much-appreciated thread that you provide every year. Here's my question for you: As an Overstreet Advisor, what would the likelihood be of having something like this drawn up and included in the market report? If the point of that section is to give collectors a sense of where the market is moving, wouldn't it be helpful to go a step further and give them a sense of where to go to pursue these hot books? Most people know you as one of the established, knowledge collectors here and value the insights you provide. What would the possibilities be of broadening the audience even more?

 

I'm not really sure they'd want me calling balls and strikes to guys who are advertisers in the book and potentially ticking off some people who were included and those that weren't. I think some people would be upset with some of my comments, even if they made the list, because any negative is hard to swallow.

 

I've often thought about blogging about the hobby, but the reality is, my demands on my time wouldn't afford me the opportunity to be consistent.

 

However, I may be also become an advisor for CPG (Tom Gordon, the President, has offered me a slot) and I think that may be the platform I would try to do more of these types of information and lists.

 

So what you're telling me is, if I understand you properly, that only optimistic, candy-coated info is welcome? I shouldn't be snarky, but if the market reports are meant to be fair and balanced, I would think some negatives will naturally be there. On the other hand, I understand Rick's balanced report was left out from this year's as well.

 

Maybe you should take that position...

[HOTFLIPS]

Nice report Brian, but I really feel you should include the little guys who help preserve those multi-million dollar books that 4 of the top 5 dealers and countless others on your honorable mention list.

 

Also, when you finally make this into an annual book like the overstreet, I got page 3 and the back cover. I called it.

 

How about this... if I was making a list of top dealers who deal in supplies, I'd only need one slot: Hot Flips, the very best for service and quality.

 

Awwww shucks. Thanks Brian

[HOTFLIPS]

Nice report Brian, but I really feel you should include the little guys who help preserve those multi-million dollar books that 4 of the top 5 dealers and countless others on your honorable mention list.

 

Also, when you finally make this into an annual book like the overstreet, I got page 3 and the back cover. I called it.

honorable mention

 

Who me??

the little guy

 

Im confused. I thought I was the little guy (in terms of the market) who helps preserve your million dollar comics??

I am a little guy right there with you (thumbs u

 

I would say you are a little bigger than me Rick. My best book doesnt even compare to your dollar book inventory. All the Golden and Silver books you got is absolutely nothing to sneeze at. And you are very knowlegable too. I cant even grade a book which is why I choose to sell supplies. If your a little guy, im a fly on the wall.