One of the most extreme collections you will ever see

[Scrooge]

Without even having half of her devotion to collecting, I've turned around and sold items for 250 - 300 times what I paid for them in the space of a few months, and I wasn't even trying to sell these items at the top end (i.e. sent them in for grading) as I would have most certainly bumped it up to anywhere from 500 to 800 times my original investment. Doesn't happen all the time, but when you're surrounding yourself with that many items and variations within a specific line, your bound to hit home run after home run.

 

 

You could have sold items in the span on months for 500-800x what you paid? You were consistently paying $1 for things worth $500-800?

 

Did you even read my post?

 

Um, yes. You said you have sold things for 250-300x in the span of months, and could have sold them for 500-800x. What do you think you said?

 

My reading comprehension matches that of October. That's what you stated sans the "consistently" part but that's what you say.

[october]

Without even having half of her devotion to collecting, I've turned around and sold items for 250 - 300 times what I paid for them in the space of a few months, and I wasn't even trying to sell these items at the top end (i.e. sent them in for grading) as I would have most certainly bumped it up to anywhere from 500 to 800 times my original investment. Doesn't happen all the time, but when you're surrounding yourself with that many items and variations within a specific line, your bound to hit home run after home run.

 

 

You could have sold items in the span on months for 500-800x what you paid? You were consistently paying $1 for things worth $500-800?

 

Did you even read my post?

 

Um, yes. You said you have sold things for 250-300x in the span of months, and could have sold them for 500-800x. What do you think you said?

 

My reading comprehension matches that of October. That's what you stated sans the "consistently" part but that's what you say.

 

Maybe he meant 250-300 percent? Big difference between 250-300% and 250-300x.

[Scrooge]

Without even having half of her devotion to collecting, I've turned around and sold items for 250 - 300 times what I paid for them in the space of a few months, and I wasn't even trying to sell these items at the top end (i.e. sent them in for grading) as I would have most certainly bumped it up to anywhere from 500 to 800 times my original investment. Doesn't happen all the time, but when you're surrounding yourself with that many items and variations within a specific line, your bound to hit home run after home run.

 

 

You could have sold items in the span on months for 500-800x what you paid? You were consistently paying $1 for things worth $500-800?

 

Did you even read my post?

 

Um, yes. You said you have sold things for 250-300x in the span of months, and could have sold them for 500-800x. What do you think you said?

 

My reading comprehension matches that of October. That's what you stated sans the "consistently" part but that's what you say.

 

Maybe he meant 250-300 percent? Big difference between 250-300% and 250-300x.

 

Maybe that's Canadian math?

[comicwiz]

Without even having half of her devotion to collecting, I've turned around and sold items for 250 - 300 times what I paid for them in the space of a few months, and I wasn't even trying to sell these items at the top end (i.e. sent them in for grading) as I would have most certainly bumped it up to anywhere from 500 to 800 times my original investment. Doesn't happen all the time, but when you're surrounding yourself with that many items and variations within a specific line, your bound to hit home run after home run.

 

 

You could have sold items in the span on months for 500-800x what you paid? You were consistently paying $1 for things worth $500-800?

 

Did you even read my post?

 

Um, yes. You said you have sold things for 250-300x in the span of months, and could have sold them for 500-800x. What do you think you said?

 

You're dwelling on the payout when in actual fact I was responding/refuting the assertion that she would be lucky to get what she put into the collection.

 

Of the top of my head, I can think of at least two solid examples where I was able to cover a lot purchase price with a single item. There have been more, but these are two of the most recent.

 

The first involved a set of first movie Star Wars ships in the box. When I contacted the owner, there were 5 pieces in the original discussion. When I got there, he pulled out a 6th piece. He decided to throw that into the purchase. That single piece covered the entire price I paid for everything, with a slight profit.

 

The second involved another lot purchase of carded figures and some more obscure items. For some unusual reason, the seller decided to throw in a rare sealed boxed item for a song when I originally offered to pay 10 times that amount (and I even reminded him of that). He declined and said he already felt he was getting a good price on the rest of the stuff. I turned around and sold that ungraded for 250 times what it actually cost, but in reality, it covered the entire purchase price of the entire lot.

 

This isn't an exact science, and you don't always hit home runs, but my point was that when you surround yourself around the kind of collection amassed by this Joe collector, a collector with savvy and acumen could leverage lot purchases in the manner I have demonstrated above and end up having covered their original investment, with the sale of the remaining items being all profit.

 

Patience and dedication are important assets to a collector, only second to knowledge.

[october]

Without even having half of her devotion to collecting, I've turned around and sold items for 250 - 300 times what I paid for them in the space of a few months, and I wasn't even trying to sell these items at the top end (i.e. sent them in for grading) as I would have most certainly bumped it up to anywhere from 500 to 800 times my original investment. Doesn't happen all the time, but when you're surrounding yourself with that many items and variations within a specific line, your bound to hit home run after home run.

 

 

You could have sold items in the span on months for 500-800x what you paid? You were consistently paying $1 for things worth $500-800?

 

Did you even read my post?

 

Um, yes. You said you have sold things for 250-300x in the span of months, and could have sold them for 500-800x. What do you think you said?

 

My reading comprehension matches that of October. That's what you stated sans the "consistently" part but that's what you say.

 

Maybe he meant 250-300 percent? Big difference between 250-300% and 250-300x.

 

Maybe that's Canadian math?

 

Maybe....otherwise I am moving to Canada to sell Star Wars toys!

[miraclemet]

Without even having half of her devotion to collecting, I've turned around and sold items for 250 - 300 times what I paid for them in the space of a few months, and I wasn't even trying to sell these items at the top end (i.e. sent them in for grading) as I would have most certainly bumped it up to anywhere from 500 to 800 times my original investment. Doesn't happen all the time, but when you're surrounding yourself with that many items and variations within a specific line, your bound to hit home run after home run.

 

Do you mean 250-300% or actually 250-300x initial purchase

 

I cant imaging being able to turn over a collectible for that type of multiplier unless it was all original off the rack/off the shelf purchases...

[october]

You're dwelling on the payout when in actual fact I was responding/refuting the assertion that she would be lucky to get what she put into the collection.

 

Well, yes, I am dwelling on the payout, because making 250-300x in the span of months is a 25,000% profit....which is pretty incredible. I understand parting out collections, I do it all the time. I have even covered large purchases with the resale of a single item. What I haven't done often is sell things for the kind of markups you are talking about. Even my home runs are usually in the 10-50x category, which is still pretty damn good.

[comicwiz]

You're dwelling on the payout when in actual fact I was responding/refuting the assertion that she would be lucky to get what she put into the collection.

 

Well, yes, I am dwelling on the payout, because making 250-300x in the span of months is a 25,000% profit....which is pretty incredible. I understand parting out collections, I do it all the time. I have even covered large purchases with the resale of a single item. What I haven't done often is sell things for the kind of markups you are talking about. Even my home runs are usually in the 10-50x category, which is still pretty damn good.

 

So you're response is to be condescending when the intent was to prove it is possible for someone to come out ahead in this manner? I wasn't doing this to grandstand but to refute the claim that the only way to amass a collection like this is by taking a bath.

[Dr. Balls]

Without even having half of her devotion to collecting, I've turned around and sold items for 250 - 300 times what I paid for them in the space of a few months, and I wasn't even trying to sell these items at the top end (i.e. sent them in for grading) as I would have most certainly bumped it up to anywhere from 500 to 800 times my original investment. Doesn't happen all the time, but when you're surrounding yourself with that many items and variations within a specific line, your bound to hit home run after home run.

 

Man, you must be surrounded by completely oblivious people who have no idea of the value of anything with turnarounds like that. You need to skip comic books and get into real estate.

 

It's quite the opposite in my location - people think that $20 comics are worth $50. I'm lucky if I can find a $10 comic I can sell for $20 anywhere, at any time whether it's a garage or estate sale, auction, personal sale or second hand store. I can tell you that 9 times out of 10, when I find books, the owners are looking to get 2-3x what they are actually worth because they "seen them comics books on the tv and theys worth lotsa money."

 

In other news, I find this video incredibly sad.

[comicwiz]

Without even having half of her devotion to collecting, I've turned around and sold items for 250 - 300 times what I paid for them in the space of a few months, and I wasn't even trying to sell these items at the top end (i.e. sent them in for grading) as I would have most certainly bumped it up to anywhere from 500 to 800 times my original investment. Doesn't happen all the time, but when you're surrounding yourself with that many items and variations within a specific line, your bound to hit home run after home run.

 

Man, you must be surrounded by completely oblivious people who have no idea of the value of anything with turnarounds like that. You need to skip comic books and get into real estate.

 

It's quite the opposite in my location - people think that $20 comics are worth $50. I'm lucky if I can find a $10 comic I can sell for $20 anywhere, at any time whether it's a garage or estate sale, auction, personal sale or second hand store. I can tell you that 9 times out of 10, when I find books, the owners are looking to get 2-3x what they are actually worth because they "seen them comics books on the tv and theys worth lotsa money."

 

In other news, I find this video incredibly sad.

 

The gold syndrome is everywhere, and all one needs for proof is a few craigslist absurdity threads. But leveraging your collection as I have described happens, although it doesn't just fall in ones lap. It does require leg work, time and effort (which in my opinion are sunken costs) and the only explanation I have for having unearthed these kinds of finds is others weren't willing to do it.

[miraclemet]

In other news, I find this video incredibly sad.

 

I get what you mean, but she seemed happy about her collection. How often did she comment on how excited she was to find a particular item, regardless of condition?

 

The collection started with her kids and continued after they left, I'm sure some of it is tied back to those memories with her kids, and that's a nice thing.

 

There's certainly some "completism" in her collecting (having to have every language version of every GI Joe thing) but it seems like her joy is mostly in the hunt (and we've all been there!)

 

I was glad to see her handling boxes like they were what they were (collectible toys), and that she was photographing the toys (assumabley to share her love of them in some way (maybe on the internet) and handling them, not treating them like delicate pieces of blown glass that would lose value with the presence of a single fingerprint...

[comicwiz]

In other news, I find this video incredibly sad.

 

I get what you mean, but she seemed happy about her collection. How often did she comment on how excited she was to find a particular item, regardless of condition?

 

Exactly. This is someone who clearly appreciates the means more than the end goal itself.

[october]

You're dwelling on the payout when in actual fact I was responding/refuting the assertion that she would be lucky to get what she put into the collection.

 

Well, yes, I am dwelling on the payout, because making 250-300x in the span of months is a 25,000% profit....which is pretty incredible. I understand parting out collections, I do it all the time. I have even covered large purchases with the resale of a single item. What I haven't done often is sell things for the kind of markups you are talking about. Even my home runs are usually in the 10-50x category, which is still pretty damn good.

 

So you're response is to be condescending when the intent was to prove it is possible for someone to come out ahead in this manner? I wasn't doing this to grandstand but to refute the claim that the only way to amass a collection like this is by taking a bath.

 

I am just trying to figure out if those numbers you posted are accurate, because they are amazing. It's a simple yes or no response to "have you really sold items for 250-300x what you paid". That's it.

[Ogami]

 

In other news, I find this video incredibly sad.

 

In my humble opinion, this video goes from sad all the way through crazy town, then back to awesome land. I was telling my wife and twelve year old about this about an hour ago- there is a point when a compulsive person goes from 40 cat lady crazy all the way through to animal park habitat and something sad and obsessive becomes honorific and valuable.

 

I consider this woman, if not the premiere, then one of the top 3-5 top cataloguer/librarians of her chosen field of study. She is effectively keeping this segment of human creativity in excellent shape, in great care, and with great record keeping for the next generations of aficianodos.

 

viva la librarians!

[comicwiz]

You're dwelling on the payout when in actual fact I was responding/refuting the assertion that she would be lucky to get what she put into the collection.

 

Well, yes, I am dwelling on the payout, because making 250-300x in the span of months is a 25,000% profit....which is pretty incredible. I understand parting out collections, I do it all the time. I have even covered large purchases with the resale of a single item. What I haven't done often is sell things for the kind of markups you are talking about. Even my home runs are usually in the 10-50x category, which is still pretty damn good.

 

So you're response is to be condescending when the intent was to prove it is possible for someone to come out ahead in this manner? I wasn't doing this to grandstand but to refute the claim that the only way to amass a collection like this is by taking a bath.

 

I am just trying to figure out if those numbers you posted are accurate, because they are amazing. It's a simple yes or no response to "have you really sold items for 250-300x what you paid". That's it.

 

I provided the response, but you're choosing to ignore it or are choosing to be obtuse. Maybe if you didn't take my comment out of context, you might believe what I'm saying more??!! I really don't know what more there is to say about it.

[comicwiz]

 

In other news, I find this video incredibly sad.

 

In my humble opinion, this video goes from sad all the way through crazy town, then back to awesome land. I was telling my wife and twelve year old about this about an hour ago- there is a point when a compulsive person goes from 40 cat lady crazy all the way through to animal park habitat and something sad and obsessive becomes honorific and valuable.

 

I consider this woman, if not the premiere, then one of the top 3-5 top cataloguer/librarians of her chosen field of study. She is effectively keeping this segment of human creativity in excellent shape, in great care, and with great record keeping for the next generations of aficianodos.

 

viva la librarians!

 

She seems happy with the role of curator. If we see her in an upcoming segment of hoarders we might have to rethink it, although I'd be suspicous of the families motivations to intervene.

[october]

You're dwelling on the payout when in actual fact I was responding/refuting the assertion that she would be lucky to get what she put into the collection.

 

Well, yes, I am dwelling on the payout, because making 250-300x in the span of months is a 25,000% profit....which is pretty incredible. I understand parting out collections, I do it all the time. I have even covered large purchases with the resale of a single item. What I haven't done often is sell things for the kind of markups you are talking about. Even my home runs are usually in the 10-50x category, which is still pretty damn good.

 

So you're response is to be condescending when the intent was to prove it is possible for someone to come out ahead in this manner? I wasn't doing this to grandstand but to refute the claim that the only way to amass a collection like this is by taking a bath.

 

I am just trying to figure out if those numbers you posted are accurate, because they are amazing. It's a simple yes or no response to "have you really sold items for 250-300x what you paid". That's it.

 

I provided the response, but you're choosing to ignore it or are choosing to be obtuse. Maybe if you didn't take my comment out of context, you might believe what I'm saying more??!! I really don't know what more there is to say about it.

 

Since a straight answer isn't forthcoming, I'll take it as a "no" and keep my day job.

[comicwiz]

You're dwelling on the payout when in actual fact I was responding/refuting the assertion that she would be lucky to get what she put into the collection.

 

Well, yes, I am dwelling on the payout, because making 250-300x in the span of months is a 25,000% profit....which is pretty incredible. I understand parting out collections, I do it all the time. I have even covered large purchases with the resale of a single item. What I haven't done often is sell things for the kind of markups you are talking about. Even my home runs are usually in the 10-50x category, which is still pretty damn good.

 

So you're response is to be condescending when the intent was to prove it is possible for someone to come out ahead in this manner? I wasn't doing this to grandstand but to refute the claim that the only way to amass a collection like this is by taking a bath.

 

I am just trying to figure out if those numbers you posted are accurate, because they are amazing. It's a simple yes or no response to "have you really sold items for 250-300x what you paid". That's it.

 

I provided the response, but you're choosing to ignore it or are choosing to be obtuse. Maybe if you didn't take my comment out of context, you might believe what I'm saying more??!! I really don't know what more there is to say about it.

 

Since a straight answer isn't forthcoming, I'll take it as a "no" and keep my day job.

 

[Buzzetta]

I had about half of a carded Star Wars line assembled before I went back to comics in 2010. Nothing to crazy, I was going after one of every figure, no variants or anything like that. One day I noticed that some of the bubbles had started to yellow. Thinking I was imagining things, I put them back and checked a year later in 2010. They were worse than I remembered. They were then sold immediately. I kept an entire loose set though of all the major variants and a Yak Face. The SW figures were made of a softer plastic and seem to keep up nicely.

 

I was just talking about this with comicwiz. Do you mind naming which figures had their bubbles turning yellow? Were they ROTJ? POTF?

 

Assorted one but mostly POTF if I remember right. I had bought a lot of the POTF carded figures as I know those only become more expensive with time. If I remember correctly the Han in Carbonite was the worst offender along with an EV-9D9. I recently sold off one of the last three I had kept, a near perfect POTF Obi Wan Kenobi figure as it too started to yellow. All I have left are two AFA grade figures. A ESB 1st release of Yoda 32 back I think and a ROTJ Fett.

 

Everyone needs a Fett.

[sterlingcomics]

They don't call it "extreme" for nothing. Good for him if it makes him happy. There's also a fine line between it being healthy and not. I'm guessing this is an example of the later.