Holy Moly!

[Drummy]

Yes, but look at the bid history! A no-feedback user called "bonitachica" is bidding up these books (and perhaps others). I am not one to make judgmental assumptions on this kind of activity, but often when I see such repetitive bids from one newcomer I wonder what is going on.

 

Is the bidder a big-time BSD who prefers to remain anonymous to the Ebay public and these boards?

 

Is the bidder simply punishing qualitycomix for some unknown reason?

 

Is it another JIM owner who wants to drive up prices as high as possible?

 

There may be other speculations. It's too bad these auctions have such a bidding history early on - it's making me cautious. Maybe Eide's should do some checking on bonitachica and cancel some bids if they're pulling a thrill/joy bid out of their [!@#%^&^].

 

By the way, I love these books!

 

Dan

[burntboy]

Man, those books are just awesome.

 

why is the #103 going for 4x's the bid of the #105. the guide prices are very close..

[supapimp]

JIM's are SUPAhot!

[COI]

Man, those books are just awesome.

 

why is the #103 going for 4x's the bid of the #105. the guide prices are very close..

 

For some reason, #103 always seems to command a premium over the surrounding issues. It's the first appearance of a 3rd rate character, which alone dosen't explain it. I think it's the cover.

 

The run is beautiful, but since my preference is for 9.0/9.2, I'll probably stay away. When large runs like this are offered at once, record prices are always set in the bidding frenzy, including the "lower" graded copies. The JIM #109 in 9.0 is already very close to what I paid for a 9.2 a year and a half ago. But for those of you looking for 9.4/9.6 copies, this is a golden opportunity.

[COI]

I never understood why people bid books up so fast. For one thing, you're tipping your hand as to what you're going after, and you're only adding fuel to the fire. Many of these books have already passed the "thrill" or "watch bid" level, and most of the current bidders(like QualityComix) seem serious, so why be so agressive so early? Is it intimidation?

[namisgr]

But for those of you looking for 9.4/9.6 copies, this is a golden opportunity.

 

You got that right - a golden opportunity to have your max bids run up to crazy multiples of guide by a zero feedback bidder. Perhaps this person is a legitimate, serious bidder, but I'm concerned about the integrity of the auctions involving this bidder.

[supapimp]

ego

[COI]

But for those of you looking for 9.4/9.6 copies, this is a golden opportunity.

 

You got that right - a golden opportunity to have your max bids run up to crazy multiples of guide by a zero feedback bidder. Perhaps this person is a legitimate, serious bidder, but I'm concerned about the integrity of those auctions involving this bidder.

 

Geez, I didn't notice that.

 

I'm not trying to flame, but it seems like quite a coincidence that there is a 0 feedback bidder bumping up these bids, on auctions where the reserves seem to be set at record lows. Eides is infamous for high reserves, and I'm puzzled as to why they set them so low on such rare and in-demand books.

[COI]

ego

 

Maybe, but for a serious collector, it seems incredibly stupid to raise the prices on the books you intend to buy. If it is Ego, they should save it for when they actually aquire the books.

[qualitycomix]

The zero feedback bidder is legitimate. He didn't express any reason why he's using a new handle, but I guess I understand.

 

The bidding right now on these books is only the tip of the iceberg. Especially on a few particular copies.

 

Brent

[COI]

i want this book bad!

 

STT 107

 

Man, Iove that book as well.

 

I was outbid at the last second by $10 on this copy:

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2246034407&sspagename=STRK%3AMEDW%3AIT&rd=1

 

[COI]

He didn't express any reason why he's using a new handle, but I guess I understand.

 

I definetly understand wanting privacy, as I tend to be very private as well. It's good to hear that everything's on the up and up. It be a shame if these landmark auctions were tainted with shilling or "punishment bidding".

 

Good luck. But if it were me, I'd save my agressive bidding for the last 10 seconds.

[lou_fine]

From what I have heard of Eides' collection, these books do not qualify as a Pedigree because they are not all original owner copies. Apparently Eides would cherry pick the finest books from collections that were brought in to his store and keep them for his personal "vault". Each time a new collection came in he would compare the best books to his own copies, holding onto the highest graded copy for himself each time. If you consider he had a steady stream of quality material to choose from, and was upgrading from the late 1960's onwards you can see how he ended up with such unbelievable books.

 

r100;

 

Shh...don't let the cat out of the bag. Before you know it, prices will start to cool on some of these books if people start to get the impression there are more high grade copies out there.

 

Seriously though, Eides is not the only comic shop owner to be doing this. I know of 2 long-time comic shops in the city that have been in business for around 30 years. Both of these owners have been following the same technique for upgrading their personal SA collections ever since their stores opened. In fact, one of them was able to pick up a high grade original owner GA collection. This one would probably qualified for pedigree status since the majority of them would grade out to between 9.2 and 9.6 with off-white to white pages. Only thing holding them back is that they are later GA ranging from 1944 to 1948 without any key books. Only book that comes close to being a key is All-Star #36.

 

While I was down at the vault, he pointed out another saftey deposit box that had the HG SA books. These were generally just as nice if not nicer than the GA books. Didn't noticed any of the later JIM's much past #100, but had a pretty solid run of the ones before #100. I guess I should have paid more attention, but I was more interested in the GA books at the time. Actually, I believe he's really more into the SA DC's since he's often stated that everybody collected the early Marvels compared to DC's based upon what walked into his store over the years.

 

I've often asked these guys about grading their books, but they seem to brush off the idea. Point of view seems to be that there's no reason to grade them unless it's time to sell them which won't be for another few years. Slabbing more high grade copies would only inflate the census report and may keep the prices down. Might as well leave them sitting in the bank vault while the market pushes the prices up on their books. Similar to showing your maximum auction bid at the beginning of the auction instead of waiting until the end.

 

Bottom-line: How common do you think this practice is with some of the long-term LCS's and will we be seeing a lot more HG early SA as time goes by? Forget about BA since they just laugh whenever I mentioned some of the prices to them.

[uclapeterg]

He didn't express any reason why he's using a new handle, but I guess I understand.

 

I definetly understand wanting privacy, as I tend to be very private as well. It's good to hear that everything's on the up and up. It be a shame if these landmark auctions were tainted with shilling or "punishment bidding".

 

Good luck. But if it were me, I'd save my agressive bidding for the last 10 seconds.

10 seconds?? why not 5 seconds???

[batman_fan]

I think it is a lot more common that some people may expect. Less than 0.3% of my collection is graded. I know of one high end Timely collector that has nothing graded and he is only buying NM books (and has been for some time). I have looked through his collection and it will make you sit back in amazement. There was a guy in the Bay area that was buying every high grade silver age Marvel he could find for double guide in the late 80s. I never saw his collection, but one dealer he bought from saw it and said he had multiple runs of every Marvel title with Journey into Mystery his favorite. Back then he was spending over 20k per year on silver age stuff. He was definitely not an isolated case.

[tth2]

The zero feedback bidder is legitimate. He didn't express any reason why he's using a new handle, but I guess I understand.

 

Glad to hear it's nothing underhanded. It didn't seem like Eides' MO to use shill bidders, and certainly no one would do it so early in the process. I am going to enjoy sitting back and watching these auctions.

[tth2]

What in the world is going on? Now Qualitycomix is gone from the bidding on JIM 104, leaving this bonitachica person the highest bidder again, but down at $1000 from a much higher bid earlier on.

[tth2]

I've often asked these guys about grading their books, but they seem to brush off the idea. Point of view seems to be that there's no reason to grade them unless it's time to sell them which won't be for another few years. Slabbing more high grade copies would only inflate the census report and may keep the prices down. Might as well leave them sitting in the bank vault while the market pushes the prices up on their books.

 

Lou, this doesn't make a lot of sense to me. If, as you seem to believe (and which I agree with), there is a direct correlation between scarcity and price for HG SA DC, then everyone should be rushing to slab their books first and selling, to command the premium collectors will pay for the "only" CGC 9.4 book. By waiting to submit their books, they are taking the risk that theirs will be the second, or third, or fourth 9.4 or better of a certain title.

 

Example: the "only" CGC 9.4 Flash 123 just went for over 11X Guide at Heritage. Do you really think that a second 9.4 Flash 123 will command that kind of multiple or price? RR has listed the 9.4 PC Aquaman 1 forever at some astronomical price, which no one would pay. Since then, a 9.6 Aquaman 1 has appeared, and the value of the 9.4 Aquaman 1 has undoubtedly plunged in value (in terms of what anyone would pay for it, not that that would ever affect what RR would actually charge for it). Bottom line, if one of these dealers you know has a 9.4 or better Showcase 8, 13, 14, 22 or B&B 29 or 30, they'd be well advised to get it graded and sell it now, before one of these many other dealers you mentions decides to cash in first. The Marvel market is deep enough, and enough new blood is coming in all the time, to absorb multiple copies of any issue and continue to rise in price. The DC market currently is not that deep, and I don't foresee a large number of new collectors, or even speculators, moving in.

[COI]

What in the world is going on? Now Qualitycomix is gone from the bidding on JIM 104, leaving this bonitachica person the highest bidder again, but down at $1000 from a much higher bid earlier on.

 

Maybe they set up some sort of agreement as to who goes for what? Either way, this is exactly my point about bidding like a madman early in the game. There's no reason for it. Everything may be on the up and up, but if I wasn't a member of this forum, and didn't have some backround on the bidders, this bidding would look like 2 people playing some sort of thrill bid game, and it would keep me away. Again, I'm not saying Qualitycomix and this "bonitachica" are not legit, but if I were the seller, I think I'd be worried about how it all looks.

[COI]

He didn't express any reason why he's using a new handle, but I guess I understand.

 

I definetly understand wanting privacy, as I tend to be very private as well. It's good to hear that everything's on the up and up. It be a shame if these landmark auctions were tainted with shilling or "punishment bidding".

 

Good luck. But if it were me, I'd save my agressive bidding for the last 10 seconds.

10 seconds?? why not 5 seconds???

 

Good point. Maybe I should adjust my sniping software. 3 seconds sounds good...