Mile High Chuck's place in the hobby

[mikenyc]

Dupont, you continue to rely on faulty information in your criticisms, including how he got his money, what he did with the Church collection, and what he has done since. Maybe you should read up on him a little more before you continue. It's not difficult; it's all over the web.

 

Also, I'd say that his current gigantic store is about ten times more impressive than any of the shops that he's owned in his forty years in business. Add in likely the largest (or one of the two largest) online stores, he's doing very well for himself.

 

Not based on his incessant whining in his newsletters, he seems to always be on the verge of collapse. Unless it's like when a boardie starts a sales thread with a derivation of "my blank is blank and I need money".

[dupont2005]

When Chuck says he lost money at Comicon, I believe him

 

If Chuck lost money at Comicon and other dealers made money, who's the genius?

[dupont2005]

If he had $1800 worth of comics to sell, at age thirteen, in the 70's, am I wrong to assume his startup capital probably came from his parents? What did mowing a lawn pay back then?

 

He had ten thousand comics at age eighteen. Any info on what he did for the startup capital for that?

[dupont2005]

Adjusted for inflation, he sold roughly ten thousand dollars worth of comics in one sitting when he was thirteen years old.

[COI]

If he had $1800 worth of comics to sell, at age thirteen, in the 70's, am I wrong to assume his startup capital probably came from his parents? What did mowing a lawn pay back then?

 

He had ten thousand comics at age eighteen. Any info on what he did for the startup capital for that?

 

Who cares where the money came from? Do you really think that the only thing you need to keep a business above water for decades is start-up capital?

 

That logic is on par with someone in Uganda attributing your ability to make a living to the lottery of being born in America.

[RCheli]

If he had $1800 worth of comics to sell, at age thirteen, in the 70's, am I wrong to assume his startup capital probably came from his parents? What did mowing a lawn pay back then?

 

He had ten thousand comics at age eighteen. Any info on what he did for the startup capital for that?

 

Your reading comprehension is lacking. Go back to the history lesson above and see all the things factually wrong with your criticism.

[dupont2005]

If he had $1800 worth of comics to sell, at age thirteen, in the 70's, am I wrong to assume his startup capital probably came from his parents? What did mowing a lawn pay back then?

 

He had ten thousand comics at age eighteen. Any info on what he did for the startup capital for that?

 

Who cares where the money came from? Do you really think that the only thing you need to keep a business above water for decades is start-up capital?

 

That logic is on par with someone in Uganda attributing your ability to make a living to the lottery of being born in America.

Startup capital doesn't hurt, and neither do two major windfall finds. These are things other successful comics retailers likely didn't have, and although their backstock of drek may not be as impressive as Chuck's, I bet there are plenty taking more home than him annually and living under much less overhead and debt. That's what it's really all about, right? Calling someone who does have those things a genius when compared to those who don't is exactly like calling an American McDonalds worker successful for not being born in Uganda. But only if the guy in Uganda actually made more money at Comicon. Because that's what happened. Businessmen made more money than Chuck, are bringing home more than Chuck, and have built more with less. Those guys are good businessmen in my opinion.

 

Again, all I am stating is that Chuck is not a genius businessman. Not that I have anything against him, I'm just not impressed. For some reason, me not being impressed with a guy who can't sell comics at comicon and instead showed me his nipples in a mass email recently is sacrilege

[dupont2005]

If he had $1800 worth of comics to sell, at age thirteen, in the 70's, am I wrong to assume his startup capital probably came from his parents? What did mowing a lawn pay back then?

 

He had ten thousand comics at age eighteen. Any info on what he did for the startup capital for that?

 

Your reading comprehension is lacking. Go back to the history lesson above and see all the things factually wrong with your criticism.

Not reading comprehension, memory. Fine. He sold (adjusted for inflation) ten thousand dollars worth of comics at age sixteen over the course of three days.

 

If a sixteen year old kid listed ten thousand dollars worth of comics for sale on the board today, would you assume he was selling his dads collection, or would you assume he's some kind of comics selling genius?

[DeadpoolJr.]

Ask GIJOEISAWESOME he was 10, and people here didn't realize it for a while. Though some did speculate that his father was helping him a lot.

[40sJohn]

Chuck's place in the hobby... he's a hall of famer.

 

I would say his place is legendary if for no other reason than the acquisition of the Edgar Church collection and then bringing it to market. I never tire of reading his rendition of the story and I think his story resonates with all of us and the hope that there is always some undiscovered trove of pristine GA books out there. That simple event alone and then using it to build the largest retail site for comics is admirable - very admirable and one that makes him legendary. I think it's obvious that Chuck cares for the hobby and has positively contributed to it over the years.

 

However, his business practice of overgrading his comics hurts him. If he wants to charge high prices for a rightly graded comic, then more power to him. But to overcharge for an overgraded comic is dubious. Unfortunately that is also a part of his legacy and one that I wish he had more desire to correct. Imagine the impact that he could have pushed in the hobby had he been a better grader like a Doug Sulipa.

 

[jaeldubyoo]

Rightly or wrongly, Chuck Rozanski has his place in comic history. His name will forever be linked to the greatest comic collection ever discovered. Doesn't matter if he is or was a successful businessman. There are few names more well-known in the hobby than his.

 

Being a successful businessman is not a requirement for fame. His place in the hobby is not based on his business successes or failures. It always points back to one thing. The Church Collection. End of story.

 

 

[shadroch]

If he had $1800 worth of comics to sell, at age thirteen, in the 70's, am I wrong to assume his startup capital probably came from his parents? What did mowing a lawn pay back then?

 

He had ten thousand comics at age eighteen. Any info on what he did for the startup capital for that?

 

There's plenty of information out there, but you keep putting out so much misinformation, its hard to know where to start. Mile High 2 did not come his way because he put out a newspaper ad. But whats the point. Haters are going to hate, even after its repeatedly pointed out they are clueless .

[VintageComics]

So his career peaked with the discovery of the greatest collection ever. What did you want him to do to top it? All he did with it was turn it into an empire. What an underachiever.

 

I wasn't criticizing him. I just said that his claim to fame is finding the Church books..mostly which was luck.

 

I don't know if I'd consider his stores an 'empire'. He's been a successful retailer for the 4 decades since, but then so have several other people.

 

I'd consider an empire an organization that dominates. Metropolis or Heritage an empire.

[dupont2005]

If he had $1800 worth of comics to sell, at age thirteen, in the 70's, am I wrong to assume his startup capital probably came from his parents? What did mowing a lawn pay back then?

 

He had ten thousand comics at age eighteen. Any info on what he did for the startup capital for that?

 

There's plenty of information out there, but you keep putting out so much misinformation, its hard to know where to start. Mile High 2 did not come his way because he put out a newspaper ad. But whats the point. Haters are going to hate, even after its repeatedly pointed out they are clueless .

Thinking he's not a genius equates to hate now?

 

The fact that some poor uneducated folks are suckered into paying his obscener prices makes him a "legend" in the hobby?

 

By that standard PGX is pretty legendary. Haters gonna hate.

[mysterio]

So his career peaked with the discovery of the greatest collection ever. What did you want him to do to top it? All he did with it was turn it into an empire. What an underachiever.

 

I wasn't criticizing him. I just said that his claim to fame is finding the Church books..mostly which was luck.

 

 

Finding the collection was mostly luck, but there is something to be said for being able to make something of that opportunity at that time and place. How many of us would have been able to do what he did at that age, at that time in the hobby's evolution?

[DavidTheDavid]

For the Comic-Con video, on Hulu Plus,

 

Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope

 

I think Chuck seemed fine in it. His back and forth over the 500k comic was a bit baffling, but I've never dealt with a comic worth more than $2500 so who knows how I'd react.

[dupont2005]

So his career peaked with the discovery of the greatest collection ever. What did you want him to do to top it? All he did with it was turn it into an empire. What an underachiever.

 

I wasn't criticizing him. I just said that his claim to fame is finding the Church books..mostly which was luck.

 

 

Finding the collection was mostly luck, but there is something to be said for being able to make something of that opportunity at that time and place. How many of us would have been able to do what he did at that age, at that time in the hobby's evolution?

I was under the impression Chuck wasn't the only interested party in that collection.

[VintageComics]

So his career peaked with the discovery of the greatest collection ever. What did you want him to do to top it? All he did with it was turn it into an empire. What an underachiever.

 

I wasn't criticizing him. I just said that his claim to fame is finding the Church books..mostly which was luck.

 

 

Finding the collection was mostly luck, but there is something to be said for being able to make something of that opportunity at that time and place. How many of us would have been able to do what he did at that age, at that time in the hobby's evolution?

 

Finding a hoard of killer comics (or them finding you, rather), buying them at a fraction of the price and reselling them for a huge profit?

[dupont2005]

It was a rare occurrence, but I consider it more of a lottery win type of good fortune rather than a discovering the double helix type of good fortune. Several people were doing exactly what he was doing at the time. I'm not sure Chuck invented placing want ads in newspapers. So he got the lucky call. Or rather, if my memory isn't failing me again, several people got the lucky call and one was able to borrow more capital than the rest.

[VintageComics]

It was a rare occurrence, but I consider it more of a lottery win type of good fortune rather than a discovering the double helix type of good fortune. Several people were doing exactly what he was doing at the time. I'm not sure Chuck invented placing want ads in newspapers. So he got the lucky call. Or rather, if my memory isn't failing me again, several people got the lucky call and one was able to borrow more capital than the rest.

 

He was the only one that replied, from my recollection.

 

And I think he purchased the collection in more than one trip as he didn't have the funds to buy it all at once.