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Just Returned From A Comic Con

Started by Marty Mann,

19 posts in this topic

Marty Mann

Marty Mann

Posted
Posted

Went to my first Comic Con in years and I must say it was really

crowded...both with shoppers and costumed characters.

I was disappointed to see only one dealer with CGC books on display.

The other dealers seemed to have a huge supply of 80's and 90's

books for $1.00 up...very limited supply of GA or 70's comics.

A lot of toys and games but very few collectable items.

Didn't see much buying and didn't see anyone trying to sell anything

to the dealers.

All in all it was a pleasant experience...just not what I expected.

 

mm

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VintageComics

VintageComics

Posted
Posted
Our CGC bubble is not always as large as it seems.

 

well... dealers need books on hand to sell them. maybe they'd get more slabbed if the turn-around times weren't so crazy.

 

Some dealers do well selling books that are not in slabs - no turnaround times, no additional costs, no scaring off people who are afraid of CGC slabs (there is a myth that plastic makes all books more expensive when in fact that is not always the case).

 

Different strokes for different folks.

 

 

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lizards2

lizards2

Posted
Posted
Our CGC bubble is not always as large as it seems.

 

well... dealers need books on hand to sell them. maybe they'd get more slabbed if the turn-around times weren't so crazy.

 

Some dealers do well selling books that are not in slabs - no turnaround times, no additional costs, no scaring off people who are afraid of CGC slabs (there is a myth that plastic makes all books more expensive when in fact that is not always the case).

 

Different strokes for different folks.

 

I don't know why a dealer would slab books if he can sell for the same price raw. Many books don't warrant slabbing in the first place - like 99.99% of them.
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VintageComics

VintageComics

Posted
Posted
Our CGC bubble is not always as large as it seems.

 

well... dealers need books on hand to sell them. maybe they'd get more slabbed if the turn-around times weren't so crazy.

 

Some dealers do well selling books that are not in slabs - no turnaround times, no additional costs, no scaring off people who are afraid of CGC slabs (there is a myth that plastic makes all books more expensive when in fact that is not always the case).

 

Different strokes for different folks.

 

I don't know why a dealer would slab books if he can sell for the same price raw. Many books don't warrant slabbing in the first place - like 99.99% of them.

 

It's all going to come down to the business model of each dealer.

 

Some dealers carry both to cater to more than one type of client.

 

I personally prefer only CGC graded books, that way I don't have to argue about grades with anyone.

 

I always go out of my way to show people who are not interested in CGC graded books that they can remove the books from the holder though. Often they're surprised to entertain the notion but is certainly opens their eyes and helps them look past just the CGC holder.

 

To each their own.

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dupont2005

dupont2005

Posted
Posted
Our CGC bubble is not always as large as it seems.

 

well... dealers need books on hand to sell them. maybe they'd get more slabbed if the turn-around times weren't so crazy.

 

Some dealers do well selling books that are not in slabs - no turnaround times, no additional costs, no scaring off people who are afraid of CGC slabs (there is a myth that plastic makes all books more expensive when in fact that is not always the case).

 

Different strokes for different folks.

 

Some people read them :o
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vaillant

vaillant

Posted
Posted

I agree with Lizards, but I understand what Roy says, because CGC grading, for books which are at last a little expensive, offers a warrant. Of course, this becomes totally unpractical at a distance.

I would buy – and break out of case – any kind of book which is quite expensive, but it just doesn’t make sense to spend 35-40 USD to have one or two encased books shipped to me in Italy.

 

So, if I was buying from Roy, which I trust, I would ask him to break the case for me before he ships… Ha! Ha! Ha! :insane:

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VintageComics

VintageComics

Posted
Posted

So, if I was buying from Roy, which I trust, I would ask him to break the case for me before he ships… Ha! Ha! Ha! :insane:

 

I've done exactly that with some international sellers.

 

If I'm interested in a comic but not the CGC grade or case, I have had them crack them out for me to reduce shipping costs. Works out great.

 

(thumbs u

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porky

porky

Posted
Posted

So, if I was buying from Roy, which I trust, I would ask him to break the case for me before he ships… Ha! Ha! Ha! :insane:

 

I've done exactly that with some international sellers.

 

If I'm interested in a comic but not the CGC grade or case, I have had them crack them out for me to reduce shipping costs. Works out great.

 

(thumbs u

 

wacky.... seems like putting enough cardboard to equal the protection a slab gives would end up with a similar weight (shrug)

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lizards2

lizards2

Posted
Posted

So, if I was buying from Roy, which I trust, I would ask him to break the case for me before he ships… Ha! Ha! Ha! :insane:

 

I've done exactly that with some international sellers.

 

If I'm interested in a comic but not the CGC grade or case, I have had them crack them out for me to reduce shipping costs. Works out great.

 

(thumbs u

 

wacky.... seems like putting enough cardboard to equal the protection a slab gives would end up with a similar weight (shrug)

Cardboard weighs less, and the size is more manageable. I've had sellers crack out books for me, and I've done the same for buyers to reduce shipping costs. Additionally, I just cracked a book out recently prior to shipping because the buyer wanted it out so he could read it.
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mikenyc

mikenyc

Posted
Posted
Our CGC bubble is not always as large as it seems.

 

well... dealers need books on hand to sell them. maybe they'd get more slabbed if the turn-around times weren't so crazy.

 

Some dealers do well selling books that are not in slabs - no turnaround times, no additional costs, no scaring off people who are afraid of CGC slabs (there is a myth that plastic makes all books more expensive when in fact that is not always the case).

 

Different strokes for different folks.

 

 

I must say that the myth is perpetuated by most of my LCSs. Their CGC wares, which are usually minuscule, are priced way too high 99% of the time. That's why these boards are truly ground zero for properly priced slabs. (worship)

 

 

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VintageComics

VintageComics

Posted
Posted

So, if I was buying from Roy, which I trust, I would ask him to break the case for me before he ships… Ha! Ha! Ha! :insane:

 

I've done exactly that with some international sellers.

 

If I'm interested in a comic but not the CGC grade or case, I have had them crack them out for me to reduce shipping costs. Works out great.

 

(thumbs u

 

wacky.... seems like putting enough cardboard to equal the protection a slab gives would end up with a similar weight (shrug)

Cardboard weighs less, and the size is more manageable. I've had sellers crack out books for me, and I've done the same for buyers to reduce shipping costs. Additionally, I just cracked a book out recently prior to shipping because the buyer wanted it out so he could read it.

 

Word. Plastic is dense and heavy, plus the book (and therefore the cardboard) is much smaller than the slab.

 

When you're talking international shipping on cheap books it makes all the difference in the world.

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dupont2005

dupont2005

Posted
Posted
Our CGC bubble is not always as large as it seems.

 

well... dealers need books on hand to sell them. maybe they'd get more slabbed if the turn-around times weren't so crazy.

 

Some dealers do well selling books that are not in slabs - no turnaround times, no additional costs, no scaring off people who are afraid of CGC slabs (there is a myth that plastic makes all books more expensive when in fact that is not always the case).

 

Different strokes for different folks.

 

 

I must say that the myth is perpetuated by most of my LCSs. Their CGC wares, which are usually minuscule, are priced way too high 99% of the time. That's why these boards are truly ground zero for properly priced slabs. (worship)

 

Prices here are great on a lot of things and it's true sometimes you can buy a slab here cheaper than raw goes for on eBay. With things like sketch covers it seems they aren't even available raw so if someone who doesn't get out to cons wants to own a sketch cover this is the place to be. There are lots of instances when buying "collectible" comics when a slab is competitively priced, or the only option on a rare item. On a lot of the $10 and under stuff though I think all but a select few people are not willing to pay a cent extra for the slabbed copy, and others will be fine paying $50 and up for it because it's in premium grade.
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vaillant

vaillant

Posted
Posted
wacky.... seems like putting enough cardboard to equal the protection a slab gives would end up with a similar weight (shrug)

 

Hi porky. As Roy already explained, you can’t lower so much the bar with the weight/encumbrance a CGC case. It‘s a lot unlikely to have it shipped for about 10-17USD as I often manage to have my comics shipped to me in Italy.

If you pack smartly, comics are well protected even if not in plastic or tough cardboard. For example, I had to ship back a book Filter81 sent me by mistake, and since it was a 30-40 USD book it made no sense to make a big package.

So, I bagged & boarded it in a poly sleeve (more space-savy than average mylars), wrapped up in pluriball, and stuffed it in a cardboard envelope.

The result: I spent just 11 Euro because I choose myself to have tracked shipping, otherwise I would have spend 9 Euro. Which is a lot in any case, for such an inexpensive comic, but a lot less than a more costly shipment method would have been.

 

I am not prevented towards CGC: it just makes no sense to spend so much money to have the slabs shipped overseas, and one time out of two having them cracked.

Besides, there is a psychological element which makes you relient to break the case even if you want: I really can’t understand why I did not break free my Fantastic Four #3 yet, and the only rationale behind this is: should I decide to sell it, it will be better in case.

 

It‘s more than an impression: CGC cases are a sort of tomb, unless we are speaking of really high value books, and besides this they are still unreal to a good 98% of european collectors, which are used to format and sizes which would require a variety of plastic cases you can’t even imagine… :)

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