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Trading for Preacher Preview

Started by warburger,

49 posts in this topic

warburger

warburger

Posted
Posted

Hi guys, I'd appreciate a little input and advise on my predicament.

 

A local LCS owner (nice guy, always upfront with his customers) found a copy of Preacher Preview in his old boxes. Since he knew I collect Vertigo keys, he informed me of this but said that the price is going to be expensive. Last weekend, at a signing event, he showed it to me as well as to several other patrons. He didn't have a final price but told me he was thinking of about $335 (converted from our local currency).

 

After several days, this became a topic in our FB comic group, of which he is a member. Everyone in the group knew that I was collecting Vertigo so they were coaxing me to get it. The LCS owner admitted though that he might have overpriced it and was willing to let it go for $225-275. He also generously offered trading it for other comics.

 

He told me in private that he was willing to let it go for bulk stock which he dumps in his bargain bins. He valued a short comic box between $25-45, depending on the contents. He can take multiple copies and he is not condition-sensitive.

 

Now, is it wise to take this deal?

 

Here are some things to consider:

 

1. I have 10,000 books, a mixture of drek and keys. I really need to streamline but selling on our local forums is very slow and time-consuming (although profitable). By doing this, I'm hitting two birds with one stone. If I were to trade, should I do full drek or mix it with keys?

 

2. What do you think will the status of Preview issues be in the future? Will they just be as important, if not more, than the first issues? Or is this just a temporary fad that may potentially cost me lots of books should prices plummet?

 

3. I'm not asking anyone to predict the future but if The Walking Dead is any indication, can I reasonably expect that the Preacher TV series will be just as successful?

 

Your thoughts will be highly appreciated. :)

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Balham's Finest

Balham's Finest

Posted
Posted

On your question 3, I very much doubt a Preacher TV show will be anywhere near as successful as The Walking Dead.

 

Post-apocalyptic fiction has always been popular, and is definitely surging these days. Combine that with zombies - which are again a pop culture stalwart - and you have a recipe for success.

 

No doubt that the storytelling in the Preacher comic books is top notch. But given the subject matter I can't see a TV show being anywhere near as big.

 

That said, you should definitely take the opportunity to get rid of as much drek as you can for the book.

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warburger

warburger

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My sentiments exactly @the420kid. Is this merely an aberration in the market or the fast-becoming norm? It's 4 pages of an unfinished story that can be found in its entirety in the first issue. I confess I'm interested to own one because people desire it and place too much value on it, and being a key Vertigo completist, I'm actually torn.

 

If you had the equivalent cash, would you buy it? Or just because it's drek that's why it's relatively easy to let them go?

 

Valiantman, krighton, Balham, Mike, I appreciate your recommendation and will take it strongly in consideration.

 

Is the book really worth 10-12 short boxes of drek? How many pieces would that be? 1500-2000 books?

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jjeanius

jjeanius

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I don't understand the value of this book either, but...it is what it is. And I think his value per long box of drek is very generous. These are books that wouldn't otherwise be worth the time or effort to sell individually, and I've thrown out long boxes of similar material in the past. Getting a book currently worth $200+ in trade for drek is a no-lose proposition.

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Garf

Garf

Posted
Posted
My sentiments exactly @the420kid. Is this merely an aberration in the market or the fast-becoming norm? It's 4 pages of an unfinished story that can be found in its entirety in the first issue. I confess I'm interested to own one because people desire it and place too much value on it, and being a key Vertigo completist, I'm actually torn.

 

If you had the equivalent cash, would you buy it? Or just because it's drek that's why it's relatively easy to let them go?

 

Valiantman, krighton, Balham, Mike, I appreciate your recommendation and will take it strongly in consideration.

 

Is the book really worth 10-12 short boxes of drek? How many pieces would that be? 1500-2000 books?

 

It depends. If the 1500 books are ones you will never read again then they are just taking up space. Do you have the time and means to get rid of them all yourself? Do you think they will even sell? If you can make more money selling some of them yourself in a month or two and have the time then you could just buy the preacher preview and pay it off with what you make. Not an easy task if you are talking proper drek though, especially if you can't put together small runs.

 

With a trade you are usually going to be paying off the dealer for their time. Which is fair enough.

 

Should anyone pay that much for a hot preview? Well you will have to make your own mind up on that. Anyone can turn around and say that Preacher is the best book ever and the TV series will be great and it will bring in lots of new fans who will want the preview... the truth is nobody can say for sure. It's gone past the awareness phase now so you are already paying a premium for it.

 

Boring sexy graph

 

 

9avwjfokytza_small.jpg [/img]

 

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N/A

N/A

Posted
Posted
I don't understand the value of this book either, but...it is what it is. And I think his value per long box of drek is very generous. These are books that wouldn't otherwise be worth the time or effort to sell individually, and I've thrown out long boxes of similar material in the past. Getting a book currently worth $200+ in trade for drek is a no-lose proposition.

 

 

Simple

Accurate

 

(thumbs u

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Mike's Rack

Mike's Rack

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To me, it depends if you can efficiently sell of the drek. To me, the labor involved in liquidating drek / the value of my time makes drek a liability on my balance sheet. For example, if it takes me 2 hours of labor to sell a box of drek, either blowing it out on craigslist or selling it at a convention, I would have to make about $70 a box. I don't have any available means to sell drek for $70 a box, so it's better for me to give it away and spend the two hours doing something more productive. I could sell the preview with 15-20 min of labor, so it is much more valuable to me than the derk.

 

Your LCS on the other hand can probably sell the drek with very little labor, so they can maximize the potential return because of their facility. That's how you get a win win situation and no one is ripping anyone off, just maximizing their efficiencies.

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the authority

the authority

Posted
Posted
My sentiments exactly @the420kid. Is this merely an aberration in the market or the fast-becoming norm? It's 4 pages of an unfinished story that can be found in its entirety in the first issue. I confess I'm interested to own one because people desire it and place too much value on it, and being a key Vertigo completist, I'm actually torn.

 

If you had the equivalent cash, would you buy it? Or just because it's drek that's why it's relatively easy to let them go?

 

Valiantman, krighton, Balham, Mike, I appreciate your recommendation and will take it strongly in consideration.

 

Is the book really worth 10-12 short boxes of drek? How many pieces would that be? 1500-2000 books?

 

It depends. If the 1500 books are ones you will never read again then they are just taking up space. Do you have the time and means to get rid of them all yourself? Do you think they will even sell? If you can make more money selling some of them yourself in a month or two and have the time then you could just buy the preacher preview and pay it off with what you make. Not an easy task if you are talking proper drek though, especially if you can't put together small runs.

 

With a trade you are usually going to be paying off the dealer for their time. Which is fair enough.

 

Should anyone pay that much for a hot preview? Well you will have to make your own mind up on that. Anyone can turn around and say that Preacher is the best book ever and the TV series will be great and it will bring in lots of new fans who will want the preview... the truth is nobody can say for sure. It's gone past the awareness phase now so you are already paying a premium for it.

 

Boring sexy graph

 

 

9avwjfokytza_small.jpg [/img]

 

I like the graph and I think its mostly accurate. I don't know a lot about the Preacher Preview in particular but I do know there is a new generation just now finding Preacher, Sandman, Hellblazer, and the like. I would expect all of these books to be in demand regardless of TV shows and movies. They are high quality art and reading material.

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the authority

the authority

Posted
Posted
To me, it depends if you can efficiently sell of the drek. To me, the labor involved in liquidating drek / the value of my time makes drek a liability on my balance sheet. For example, if it takes me 2 hours of labor to sell a box of drek, either blowing it out on craigslist or selling it at a convention, I would have to make about $70 a box. I don't have any available means to sell drek for $70 a box, so it's better for me to give it away and spend the two hours doing something more productive. I could sell the preview with 15-20 min of labor, so it is much more valuable to me than the derk.

 

Your LCS on the other hand can probably sell the drek with very little labor, so they can maximize the potential return because of their facility. That's how you get a win win situation and no one is ripping anyone off, just maximizing their efficiencies.

 

Completely agree with this. I would however examine what you are calling drek if you haven't done so lately. I had about 20 long boxes of what I considered junk a few years ago. I went through some of them the other day and found a few first Fantomex books, lots of Superman/Doomsday stuff, and a lot of other stuff that has become hot again recently. Things change.

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MrWeen

MrWeen

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Posted
i'd sort through the drek and make sure it's true bottom of the barrel junk with no future redeeming value whatsoever.

 

If it's all Alf, Groo and Ralph Snart I would send it on its merry way

 

I would not classify Groo and Snart as Drek. Both of those series are worth every penny for those who actually read comics.

 

 

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MrWeen

MrWeen

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Posted
My sentiments exactly @the420kid. Is this merely an aberration in the market or the fast-becoming norm? It's 4 pages of an unfinished story that can be found in its entirety in the first issue. I confess I'm interested to own one because people desire it and place too much value on it, and being a key Vertigo completist, I'm actually torn.

 

 

This comic preview was popular when it came out and sold for a premium back then. I'm still surprised why some of you are so clearly opposed to this book holding a high value. It's the first appearance of the series, extremely rare and very hard to get high grades because of the way it was printed. These are all things that should make people like us salivate over the possibility of owning one. I have yet to hear a single valid argument against the importance of this comic preview.

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the420kid

the420kid

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Posted
My sentiments exactly @the420kid. Is this merely an aberration in the market or the fast-becoming norm? It's 4 pages of an unfinished story that can be found in its entirety in the first issue. I confess I'm interested to own one because people desire it and place too much value on it, and being a key Vertigo completist, I'm actually torn.

 

 

This comic preview was popular when it came out and sold for a premium back then. I'm still surprised why some of you are so clearly opposed to this book holding a high value. It's the first appearance of the series, extremely rare and very hard to get high grades because of the way it was printed. These are all things that should make people like us salivate over the possibility of owning one. I have yet to hear a single valid argument against the importance of this comic preview.

 

I would say its because, in my mind, extremely rare would be a book from the 30's or 40's you just can't pop on ebay and grab. Preacher previews seem plentiful on ebay and they were printed 10 years ago.

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