Mile High Chuck's place in the hobby

[Heronext]

Took one look at Chuck's website 15 years ago and never went back. I have never bought a single thing from MH and with the prices I don't see how they have any customers at all.

 

But I used to enjoy reading his "Tales From the Database" column. I appreciate the unfiltered glance into the thoughts of a comics businessman. Why advocate that he "tweak his PR" to more closely match what customers want to hear? Isn't there enough spinning and B.S. in the world? What he writes for everyone to read is what most people would keep to a couple close associates. He's opening his personal diary to us. He should get a break at least for having such candor.

[paradigmcomics]

I don't know him personally but the one year I did an almost all $1 comics booth at Megacon, he bought like 12 long boxes from me over the course of the weekend. So I can't complain.

[dupont2005]

I always looked at his newsletter as something I had to suffer through while looking for the discount code. Hopefully it doesn't contain pics.

 

But then I just marked them as spam until they quit showing up.

[Heronext]

I always looked at his newsletter as something I had to suffer through while looking for the discount code. Hopefully it doesn't contain pics.

 

But then I just marked them as spam until they quit showing up.

 

I used to read it in the Comics Buyers Guide. I think that's where it was

[shadroch]

Yes there's always a place for the angry young man

With his working class ties and his radical plans

He refuses to bend he refuses to crawl

And he's always at home with his back to the wall

And he's proud of his scars and the battles he's lost

And struggles and bleeds as he hangs on his cross

And likes to be known as the angry young man

 

William Joel

[Gatsby77]

I last bought from Chuck ~8 years ago, but it was awesome.

 

Less than a year before the movie came out, I ordered 8 copies of Ghost Rider # 1 (1991) for $2.40 per and free shipping. I received only 5 of them, but they were all proper 9.6 NM/M copies, and first prints.

 

In exchange for the remaining three copies that were out of stock, I got a $25 gift certificate, which I later used to fill in some gaps in my 2000s collection by buying some commons.

 

Can't speak for folks' mail-order experience since, but the books were properly graded, and I can't complain since I paid $6 for a $25 gift certificate. If you're looking for 80s-90s drek in bulk and wait for the right codeword, sometimes he even beats LoneStar's pricing.

[Prince Namor]

Took one look at Chuck's website 15 years ago and never went back. I have never bought a single thing from MH and with the prices I don't see how they have any customers at all.

 

But I used to enjoy reading his "Tales From the Database" column. I appreciate the unfiltered glance into the thoughts of a comics businessman. Why advocate that he "tweak his PR" to more closely match what customers want to hear? Isn't there enough spinning and B.S. in the world? What he writes for everyone to read is what most people would keep to a couple close associates. He's opening his personal diary to us. He should get a break at least for having such candor.

 

His 'candor' once told us that he was losing business because of that pesky hurricane Sandy that hit the east coast, flooding thousands of homes, killing people, and costing millions in damage; and that we should buy some comics from him on a codeword sale to help make up for it.

[Prince Namor]

My Grandfather is in his late 80's. He does not care to read Overstreet or check Ebay and does not care to be involved with the online community.

 

With that said, we have a shady local "dealer" that my Grandfather will buy grossly overpriced books from. He's not really concerned with price because in his view these books are not regularly available through any other sources so he'll gladly pay high prices for overgraded books, including some PGX slabs.

 

I can imagine how a dealer with a long time presence like Mile High with an unmatched inventory can stay afloat with customers like my Grandfather. He can walk in, pick something off the wall, and pay whatever is being asked.

 

Yep.

[Heronext]

Took one look at Chuck's website 15 years ago and never went back. I have never bought a single thing from MH and with the prices I don't see how they have any customers at all.

 

But I used to enjoy reading his "Tales From the Database" column. I appreciate the unfiltered glance into the thoughts of a comics businessman. Why advocate that he "tweak his PR" to more closely match what customers want to hear? Isn't there enough spinning and B.S. in the world? What he writes for everyone to read is what most people would keep to a couple close associates. He's opening his personal diary to us. He should get a break at least for having such candor.

 

His 'candor' once told us that he was losing business because of that pesky hurricane Sandy that hit the east coast, flooding thousands of homes, killing people, and costing millions in damage; and that we should buy some comics from him on a codeword sale to help make up for it.

 

Yeah that was stupid

 

I refer mainly to this recent thing about SDCC

[Prince Namor]

Lets see.

You close down four 1,000 square foot stores and open up two 100,000 square foot stores. You are a failure because you don't have as many shops as before.

You go from having seven fulltime workers to almost a hundred, but you still are failing because you no longer have those four shops.

You go from four stores dong $150,000 a year in sales to two shops doing 5,000,000 but you are still a failure because you don't have as many shops as you once did.

You have a warehouse with two million books, but you just can't escape the fact you no longer have as many retail shops as you did.

I get it . I didn't, but now I do.

Having a larger warehouse, more overhead, and more employees does not mean he's doing better.

I agree.

 

I'm of the opinion he's probably stretching himself pretty thin and not operating as efficiently as he could be.

I would also agree with that.

 

I'm betting that although he has the largest known inventory and the highest known overhead he's probably not generating the most revenue.

I'll bet mycs is kicking his arse.

 

That is bad business.

Sure, but he wasn't ALWAYS operating like that.

 

I'm thinking he possibly refinanced everything, used everything else for collateral, is having trouble staying above water, and despite all that will not change his business model until it's too late.

He made a small change in adjusting his prices, but yeah, he needs to do something different... the market is changing...

 

Just checking his offerings at his marketplace, I'm thinking that although he has the largest inventory, it might also be the most worthless and cherry picked inventory made up of overgraded common stuff.

He's got a LOT of garbage books.

 

He makes a fool out of himself every month in his newsletter.

Well...not EVERY month....

 

He claims to not be doing well. There are rumors from people closer to him than either me or you saying he's probably not doing well.

 

His prices are out of touch with reality.

He's high, so to speak.

 

His website is out of date and not up to the standard of his competition.

His website is lame...

 

His booths are not getting traffic.

No, he was getting traffic. He just wasn't selling as much as he would have liked.

 

His Valentines day codeword sale lasted over five months.

That's a bad sign.

 

Despite having a longtime head start in comics retail, and even online comics retail, he missed his opportunity to be the king of online comics retail, handing that over to DCBS and Amazon.

Well... DEPSITE all of that... Chuck IS a successful businessman. He's been doing this for almost 40 years. He won't walk away from it broke.

We can go on all day about how whatever he's doing now doesn't look good, but the fact still remains, he's BEEN successful. Regardless of how anyone views him.

[That Ron Dude]

I don't see what he did for the industry or why he is considered legendary. Because he bought some comics through a newspaper ad? Because he has lots of comics?

 

You know who is legendary in the automotive industry? People who design, engineer, and manufacture automobiles. Not a single used car salesman is significant to the auto industry. Not even the biggest used car salesman.

 

Not meant simply to be contradictory or argumentative but Joe Gerard is a legendary used car salesman. He has written, "How to sell anything to anybody" and a second book on how to lead a decent and ethical life, which reflects his Christian values. I read it and got something from it which I can relate if you wish. He is in the Guinness Book of World Records. I recommend the first book especially, even if it is just to see what salesmen are doing to us.

[That Ron Dude]

I read the entire thread and I feel a bit like the guy who wrote the poem about Richard Corey. I don't know Chuck. I think I talked to him once at a convention in Toronto before deciding not to buy his overpriced books. He certainly doesn't know me.

 

I have heard that he has 7,500,000 books. That makes 30,000 long boxes. Are there that many long boxes at the Chicago Convention? Are there 300 dealers there with a hundred boxes each?

 

If my number is right (and that is a big if) and if even 5% of the books are collectable, unleashed all at once that could make a dent in the market. But I am not his accountant and I don't know what he has so this is a bit like reading tea leaves.

 

I think that even when Chuck is given every benefit of the doubt, and even when his own account of the events are accepted as true, he didn't handle the purchase from the Church family very well. There are things he could have done to make it more respectable which I (and others) discussed on the Chuck at SDCC thread.

 

To answer the title of this thread directly, he will be remembered, if this hobby is remember at all, for purchasing the Church comics.

 

I know of dealers who are scum, whom I have never heard a good word about. When I have met the people their manner seems to reflect the stories. I have known another dealer, Harry Kremer, about whom I never heard a bad word. I know others in between. I really don't know where Chuck sits on this continuum but it doesn't have to be at the extremes. It may be, but it doesn't have to be.

 

I bought about a $100 of 1990's books from him. I needed 25 books to complete a set. He had 22 of them. With the price cut in half, they were about 150% over market value but there were all there at once. I knew what I was doing. I assume most of the others who buy from him are not naive either, but make the purchases for their own reasons.

 

Chuck is about my age. Back then very few people even knew that comics had a collectable value. You could find good comics at school yard sales (like my Avengers #3), lemonade stand sales (like my Sgt. Fury #1), and kid's accumulations (a hundred other early silver age Marvels) and buy them, literally, for a few pennies. I answered an ad in a community newspaper asking $3.00 for 300 comics. I got them, and as I was pulling out another comic fan was pulling in. That sort of thing happened all the time.

 

An energetic and committed operator with a bit of seed money could make a fortune and many did. Intelligence didn't seem to be part of the equation. Often, unscrupulousness or what have heard called "being a good businessman" did seem to be part of it. The smart kids were going off to med school. No smart kid was going to commit himself to a business where he would never meet girls, while selling children's literature to young men (like me) who were stuck in a state of arrested childhood. Let's get real here.

 

Chuck has probably made a lot of money and though I would never recommend him to anyone, his business plan works. Employing 100 people though, doesn't make you a genius. I have heard that he works hard but I don't know him so who can say? I will assume that he works hard, is a good businessman and had a lucky strike.

 

[Prince Namor]

This is probably all a bit (or more) of ego on Chuck's part.

What is more important? Selling comics or stroking your ego?

Lone Star doesn't have a booth at SDCC...

If it doesn't make money, or benefit your business, why do it?

Is the face time really THAT important? Is it THAT beneficial?

Maybe concentrate on running your business by serving the needs of who buys from you and you'll get all the customers you can handle.

[topofthetotem]

I'll say one good thing about Chuck.

He found the church books and possibly saved them from the trash.

[ttfitz]

He found a valuable comic collection. The proceeds floated him for a while but looks like that's coming to an end. Since he made multiple millions of dollars off one deal he's never had to have competitive prices, a website from this millennium, or reasonable overhead. He just had to write big fat checks for dealers inventory then up the price a thousand percent and watch people who didn't know any better buy it all.

 

 

First off, he didn't make millions off the Church collection. I'd wager he made more off the final figures with MH2 than he did with MH1.

His prices thru the early 90s were quite competitive and dealers used to hate when MH did a show. His mail order prices were pretty good, too. He offered a decent volume discount and many dealers bought from him.

At some point, he must have realized it was dumb to sell stuff at cheap prices when he could no longer replace the material and prices were always rising. That business plan no longer works, but he still has a flourishing store, mailorder and internet company.

He's forgotten more about this business than most of us will ever learn.

He's become a bit of a joke, but he wasn't always one.

In the late 1980s, Marvel and DC paid good money to have Buddy Saunders and Chuck come to their dealer seminars and anyone who listened learned a good bit.

 

Buddy Saunders is a true businessman and is a winner.

 

Doesn't he have less stores than he used to? That seems to be the criteria some folks use.

 

Buddy has zero stores. What a loser.

[dupont2005]

I don't see what he did for the industry or why he is considered legendary. Because he bought some comics through a newspaper ad? Because he has lots of comics?

 

You know who is legendary in the automotive industry? People who design, engineer, and manufacture automobiles. Not a single used car salesman is significant to the auto industry. Not even the biggest used car salesman.

 

Not meant simply to be contradictory or argumentative but Joe Gerard is a legendary used car salesman. He has written, "How to sell anything to anybody" and a second book on how to lead a decent and ethical life, which reflects his Christian values. I read it and got something from it which I can relate if you wish. He is in the Guinness Book of World Records. I recommend the first book especially, even if it is just to see what salesmen are doing to us.

How has he impacted the car industry? Salesmen can be famous among other salesmen easily. They can write books, hold seminars, but if what they sell is used then their impact on the industry tends to be minimal. Their entrance didn't change anything, their exit won't change anything. Nobody can deny that Goodwill is a successful thrift store, but what is their place in the fashion industry?

[dupont2005]

Well... DEPSITE all of that... Chuck IS a successful businessman. He's been doing this for almost 40 years. He won't walk away from it broke.

We can go on all day about how whatever he's doing now doesn't look good, but the fact still remains, he's BEEN successful. Regardless of how anyone views him.

Yeah, if he's not upside down in debt (which is a possibility) it sounds like he could exit right now and be a comfortable millionaire. I'm convincing myself that debt may be a factor, and if he liquidated he might not be taking home much.

[shadroch]

"I'm convincing myself "

 

 

Perhaps the only correct thing you have posted in this entire thread.

[dupont2005]

"I'm convincing myself "

 

 

Perhaps the only correct thing you have posted in this entire thread.

Unlike others who claim to have intimate knowledge of his personal finances, I'm being realistic.

[Calamerica]

I must put MY in this terrible Thread trashing another Dealer:

 

Chuck R is going to get the last laugh over you clowns( the asinine wanna-be's who know NOTHING and can't/won't contribute FACTS) who are daringly assuming to know everything about him from his true motives AND finances.

 

I just cannot believe what I have been reading the last five or so years on this Forum. No wonder it will be bye-bye within three years or less.

 

I just cannot locate that great Revenge thread that was started by some newbie-type back in early 2003, this wanna-be started a Thread implicitly to bash Chuck R.

 

His lone, and baseless, meritless gripe was that Chuckie refused to sell him some mid-grade TOS books. Chuck got on here, and responded( paraphrasing):

 

To xyz,

 

You repeatedly put me and my coworkers down online here AND on the eBay Comics Chat, or anywhere that will accept you.

 

Now you expect me to sell to you.

 

I have decided to sell my merchandise to more appreciative and understanding and LIKEABLE Customers.

 

I should post here that I hope you understand our stance here at Mile High, but as your posts here tell any reasonable person that you do NOT share the basic camaraderie necessary for a smooth online Forum, I can take it that ALL other areas of your life must be full of strife, and thus a lot of "missing pieces".

maybe you will find Dealers that don't care how you treat them; only after your Dollars. Maybe we all do get what we deserve in this life.

 

Sincerely,

 

Chuck R.

 

That was the greatest Thread of either 2002 or 2003. Sadly I can't find it.

 

CAL who never had a problem with Chuck R.