Some questions about collecting

[Ariamus]

Hi,

 

I had some questions about buying and collecting comics. I love to read comics and I buy a lot of current books from Marvel, DC, and others. In addition to being an avid reader, I'm also interested in the collectability of comics. I've recently started buying CGC graded books of my favorite titles and I'm hoping to build complete sets of CGC graded books but that's well into the future. Here are my questions:

 

1) I currently buy my books from a local comics shop. They offer a 20% discount off cover price on the books I reserve through them and they put all my books into poly bags for me. I've always thought this to be a pretty good deal and I can't find any other comics shops in my area with as good a deal. However, one problem I've run into comes from my interest in the collectability of comics. I do some speculation and try to get two nice copies of "hot" books but the problem is that the shipping and handling process often damages books slightly and it's often hard to find a high grade copy of a new book that's "hot off the presses". The long and short of it is that I was wondering what my options in dealing with a distributor. Where should I look for information on distributors?

Do distributors generally offer discounts and incentives similar to those described above that my local shop does?

What sort of premium do distributors charge for subscriptions?

When can I expect to receive my books on a weekly basis if I do go with a distributor?

 

2) I've made some purchases recently with speculation in mind and I now want to get some books graded but I'm a bit confused about CGC's "Modern" grading. What are the differences between a book that receives a "Universal" grade and one that receives a "Modern" grade? What are the disadvantages and advantages of one method over another?

 

3) I know that Mylar bags are better for storing and preserving comics but I'm having a hard time finding them. What's the best place to get them at a reasonable price?

 

4) What should I look for in boards for my bags?

 

5) I store my collection in long boxes with each comic individually bagged and boarded. Because I read so many comics on a monthly basis, it would be a major pain to just fill my long boxes sequentially and therefore, I have many long boxes and some of them are less than full The problem I run into is that the books in these boxes tend to slide down so that they rest at an angle and the results are warping and spine stress marks. Is there anything I can do to avoid this nuisance?

 

Thanks in advance for everyone's help.

[Rickdogg]

 

1) I doubt distributors would deal with us small guys. You need to get your books through a subscription service or your local comic store.

 

2) The red label is no longer used...only the blue universal so no worries.

 

3)You can ask your local dealer to purchase some for you from Diamond directly. If not you can go to Gerber for a nice supply Gerber Comic Products which will cost you a pretty penny. Here's also a link to another thread in here which has links to other suppliers: LINK

 

4)The good stuff which can be bought at the above link

 

5) Fill her up buddy. What else you think you should do? Maybe get short boxes?

[murph0]

Hello, nice to see you posting here..

 

1.> I don't think you can go through a distributor directly unless you order a TON of copies of titles. Your best bet is to either find a discount subscribing service (which are quite easy to find, I use one where I pay dealer cost plus free shipping but I don't know for sure who it's through). Or you could find out where Darthdiesel gets his modern stuff from, the guy is a Modern CGC'ing machine!

 

2.> There is no difference except for the price. One thing you do have to keep in mind though if the modern book is worth more then 200 dollars, you have to use a different grading tier. Also, you have to send in at least 4 books for Modern. Despite those requirements, Modern grading usually has quicker turnaround so you'll get your books back more quickly.

 

3.> For bags and boards check out any of the following: www.bcemylar.com, www.egerber.com, or www.jhcomics.com. If you don't like these www.bagsunlimited.com is an option but probably a fall-back choice rather then first choice.

 

4.> For boards you want something that has some kind of buffer, is non-acidic, and at the very most..has a microfiber sheet in between..

 

5.> I use filler..like worthless comics and stuff them in so the box is full. But if I don't have filler, I would stuff styrafoam or something of the sort in there so they don't move around.

 

GL

 

Brian

[chrisco37]

Welcome to the forum.....

 

1. Ricky and Brian are right. Big boy distributors don't usually mess with us small fries. Like Brian said, you might want to check with Darth. He always has sweet books. I've bought from him many times. Class A guy.

 

2. "Modern" books used to get a red lable. CGC has done away with that. No diff in Mod. or Universal. Just be aware of the value of the book, as Brian already stated.

 

3. EGerber is the best. A little pricey, but very nice. I would suggest Mylite2's over a Mylar bag. They have a flap so you can 'seal' your book. Mylites are a cheaper alternative and do not have the acids that the regular poly-bags have. I store my new books in poly-bags, and change them every couple of years (it's a pain, but it's probably the only way I'd ever remember all the books I have). I use Mylite2's for all of my HG Silver books and any of the books regarded as 'keys'.

For backboards, I use the standard 'comic shop' backboards for the new books (these get changed with the bags). Mylite2's get Gerber Full-backs. These are extremely sturdy and are acid-free. Just recently ordered 200 Mylite2's and 200 Fullbacks. Price was just short of $100 w/ shipping.

 

4. See above.

 

5. I use TPB's to fill empty spaces.

 

Chris