Foolkiller's 2014 Dealer Rankings

[Foolkiller]

Brian it is awesome someone of your caliber and knowledge in our hobby,

takes the time and effort to do this.

Such a useful and informative tool if you will, for all of us and the comic reading and collecting individuals that venture here.

 

If C-link were to actually do a full overhaul and redesign their site - would that move them up a peg or even couple pegs in your opinion?

 

If ComicLink overhauled their site I imagine they would absolutely move up.

[Point Five]

I'd wager to say I've visited more stores across the country than almost anyone on the boards...

Sounds like it's time for a new forum sale.

 

 

[Foolkiller]

Number 7: Joe Verenault, JHV Associates – Woodbury, NJ

 

"The fact that literally nobody in the comic community has a bad word to say about him is a testament in and of itself to his incredible legacy."

 

 

I'll rain on this parade - Joe has been a HORRIBLE fantasy baseball owner the last couple of seasons. Bet your DEAD MONEY on it!!

 

HAHA.

[Ogami]

There is only one dealer on your list that would make my list (due to my specific collection) and I think that's a problem. It means that comic books are big enough that one style of dealer list simply isn't enough.... And consider crafting a few different top ten dealers lists! I know I would appreciate it. (Graphic novels, independents, dollar books, OA, yellow labels, for example)

 

I think your points are valid, however I'm not sure it's fair to expect Brian to put such lists together. Brian's a high-end collector and his list reflects both his interest and arena of expertise.

 

Other lists would be great if others in those areas would want to do them. From a purely selfish interest, I'd love to see a list of nation's top brick-and-mortar shops, where I've no doubt we'd make the top ten with a fair shot even at the top spot. But I doubt anyone on the boards is going to trek around the country and check out a couple of hundred shop candidates in order to compile such a list. We would never make Brian's list (nor should we) as we don't do conventions, don't have an ecommerce site beyond limited eBay, and being in Ohio, don't generally have access to the really great collections.

 

There are lots of niche dealers and specialties, each with their top contenders... but it would take an array of people to put such rankings together, and unfortuanetly, it's not likely to happen.

 

Brian's list, for what it is, is a great and thoughtful bit of work, and always fun to read.

 

It's not so much that I'm asking Brian to create all of these different lists so much as either that or calling his list what it is, and as you say, a list that reflects the niche collector that he is.

 

But I agree it's a very nice list with a great deal of effort put into it.

[COI]

Number 8: Nick Beckett, Comicana Direct – London, United Kingdom

 

Pros: One of the best graders in the business, Nick Beckett runs what I consider to be Great Britain’s best vintage comic book website and the UK’s best overall dealer. With an incredibly large inventory of books spanning all eras, Nick is able to feed the appetites of vintage comic book buyers of the UK. Nick deals with everyone with complete honesty. He does a great job interacting with customers and maintaining top quality customer service. His ability to appeal to both US and UK based customers demonstrates he is not adjusting his prices upwards strictly to market to the UK base which may not have as many savvy customers.

 

Cons: The website is almost cumbersome to use and the updates are not nearly frequent enough. Comicana probably isn’t as aggressive or hasn’t been as successful in pursuing significant keys on a regular basis. In addition, new arrivals can get lost in a sea of moderns and the books are not broken out into books of different eras. This makes seeing the material difficult. While not a significant negative, there’s very little convention presence for Comicana, which is related to a number of factors.

 

Bottom Line: Nick Beckett is and remains one of the few people that I would buy sight unseen from and trust the grade. Can’t say that about many dealers.

 

Nick will often downgrade books that have been removed from their CGC holders, with full disclosure, AND the price will accurately reflect Nick's stricter assessment of the book.

 

Not sure that many other dealers or collectors would do that.

[FlyingDonut]

There is only one dealer on your list that would make my list (due to my specific collection) and I think that's a problem. It means that comic books are big enough that one style of dealer list simply isn't enough.... And consider crafting a few different top ten dealers lists! I know I would appreciate it. (Graphic novels, independents, dollar books, OA, yellow labels, for example)

 

I think your points are valid, however I'm not sure it's fair to expect Brian to put such lists together. Brian's a high-end collector and his list reflects both his interest and arena of expertise.

 

Other lists would be great if others in those areas would want to do them. From a purely selfish interest, I'd love to see a list of nation's top brick-and-mortar shops, where I've no doubt we'd make the top ten with a fair shot even at the top spot. But I doubt anyone on the boards is going to trek around the country and check out a couple of hundred shop candidates in order to compile such a list. We would never make Brian's list (nor should we) as we don't do conventions, don't have an ecommerce site beyond limited eBay, and being in Ohio, don't generally have access to the really great collections.

 

There are lots of niche dealers and specialties, each with their top contenders... but it would take an array of people to put such rankings together, and unfortuanetly, it's not likely to happen.

 

Brian's list, for what it is, is a great and thoughtful bit of work, and always fun to read.

 

I've been to Bookery Fantasy a couple of times, and I must say that for a store in the middle of nowhere Ohio - Fairborn is a "suburb" of Dayton - the selection and staff were really attentive, it was a clean, well lit store, and the selection was very solid. (thumbs u

[Jeffro.]

Number 8: Nick Beckett, Comicana Direct – London, United Kingdom

 

Pros: One of the best graders in the business, Nick Beckett runs what I consider to be Great Britain’s best vintage comic book website and the UK’s best overall dealer. With an incredibly large inventory of books spanning all eras, Nick is able to feed the appetites of vintage comic book buyers of the UK. Nick deals with everyone with complete honesty. He does a great job interacting with customers and maintaining top quality customer service. His ability to appeal to both US and UK based customers demonstrates he is not adjusting his prices upwards strictly to market to the UK base which may not have as many savvy customers.

 

Cons: The website is almost cumbersome to use and the updates are not nearly frequent enough. Comicana probably isn’t as aggressive or hasn’t been as successful in pursuing significant keys on a regular basis. In addition, new arrivals can get lost in a sea of moderns and the books are not broken out into books of different eras. This makes seeing the material difficult. While not a significant negative, there’s very little convention presence for Comicana, which is related to a number of factors.

 

Bottom Line: Nick Beckett is and remains one of the few people that I would buy sight unseen from and trust the grade. Can’t say that about many dealers.

 

Nick will often downgrade books that have been removed from their CGC holders, with full disclosure, AND the price will accurately reflect Nick's stricter assessment of the book.

 

Not sure that many other dealers or collectors would do that.

 

Not many, that's for sure

[JazzMan]

Number 8: Nick Beckett, Comicana Direct – London, United Kingdom

 

Pros: One of the best graders in the business, Nick Beckett runs what I consider to be Great Britain’s best vintage comic book website and the UK’s best overall dealer. With an incredibly large inventory of books spanning all eras, Nick is able to feed the appetites of vintage comic book buyers of the UK. Nick deals with everyone with complete honesty. He does a great job interacting with customers and maintaining top quality customer service. His ability to appeal to both US and UK based customers demonstrates he is not adjusting his prices upwards strictly to market to the UK base which may not have as many savvy customers.

 

Cons: The website is almost cumbersome to use and the updates are not nearly frequent enough. Comicana probably isn’t as aggressive or hasn’t been as successful in pursuing significant keys on a regular basis. In addition, new arrivals can get lost in a sea of moderns and the books are not broken out into books of different eras. This makes seeing the material difficult. While not a significant negative, there’s very little convention presence for Comicana, which is related to a number of factors.

 

Bottom Line: Nick Beckett is and remains one of the few people that I would buy sight unseen from and trust the grade. Can’t say that about many dealers.

 

Nick will often downgrade books that have been removed from their CGC holders, with full disclosure, AND the price will accurately reflect Nick's stricter assessment of the book.

 

Not sure that many other dealers or collectors would do that.

 

That's a very good way of describing Nick. I've never been disappointed by his grading nor by his service. I miss his never ending sales threads before he opened shop.

[jimjum12]

Number 8: Nick Beckett, Comicana Direct – London, United Kingdom

 

Pros: One of the best graders in the business, Nick Beckett runs what I consider to be Great Britain’s best vintage comic book website and the UK’s best overall dealer. With an incredibly large inventory of books spanning all eras, Nick is able to feed the appetites of vintage comic book buyers of the UK. Nick deals with everyone with complete honesty. He does a great job interacting with customers and maintaining top quality customer service. His ability to appeal to both US and UK based customers demonstrates he is not adjusting his prices upwards strictly to market to the UK base which may not have as many savvy customers.

 

Cons: The website is almost cumbersome to use and the updates are not nearly frequent enough. Comicana probably isn’t as aggressive or hasn’t been as successful in pursuing significant keys on a regular basis. In addition, new arrivals can get lost in a sea of moderns and the books are not broken out into books of different eras. This makes seeing the material difficult. While not a significant negative, there’s very little convention presence for Comicana, which is related to a number of factors.

 

Bottom Line: Nick Beckett is and remains one of the few people that I would buy sight unseen from and trust the grade. Can’t say that about many dealers.

 

Nick will often downgrade books that have been removed from their CGC holders, with full disclosure, AND the price will accurately reflect Nick's stricter assessment of the book.

 

Not sure that many other dealers or collectors would do that.

 

Not many, that's for sure

 

 

.... only other one I've seen do it is boardie Edgerx ..... GOD BLESS...

 

-jimbo(a friend of jesus) (thumbs u

[mintcollector]

Hello All,

 

Good to see that CL is not number one! I won't comment any further on that.

 

Truth be told I really like Greg Reece and advise anyone on this forum to give him your business! He has helped me build a high grade collection of key issues that I am proud to own.

 

I also would like to give honorable mention to both Metropolis Comics and High Grade Comics (Bob Storms). Both are great to work with and have also contributed to my collection.

 

Overall a great report!

 

Thanks again Brian!

[Flaming_Telepath]

Thanks to Brian for another informative and balanced report...great work, mate.

 

Thanks also for his kind words and also the words of many of the boarders.

 

It's tough getting recognised your side of the pond, as most of our business is obviously conducted in the UK, so the willingness of many people to think 'outside the box' is much appreciated.

 

I'm also in broad agreement with a number of Brian's 'cons' regarding Comicana Direct and certainly, there are a few points he raised that we already have in the works to change. (thumbs u

 

And thanks also to the people that buy from us here and through the site...we wouldn't have made such progress without you all.

[comicdonna]

Awesome Brian!

[silverseeker]

Number 7: Joe Verenault, JHV Associates – Woodbury, NJ

 

Pros: Each year that goes by, my respect and appreciation for how good a dealer Joe Verenault has been over the past 30 years or so just continues to grow. The fact that literally nobody in the comic community has a bad word to say about him is a testament in and of itself to his incredible legacy. In dealing with him, Joe still turns up significant new inventory each and year, generally multiple times a year, all while maintaining a relatively low profile. It probably goes without saying, but Joe is honest, direct and a pleasure to deal with. He’s adjusted to bringing “real” 50% off boxes of very nice silver/bronze books that are not marked up and not comprised of only dead titles. Still a major presence with a significant inventory of high end keys, both slabbed and raw, Joe continues as one of the giants in vintage comic books.

 

Cons: Joe doesn’t have much of a web presence beyond a very limited ebay store and has dialed back his convention presence to a nominal number of shows. While “specializing” shouldn’t necessarily be considered a negative, the lack of knowledge and dealings in the copper/modern market is somewhat of a negative given the current landscape and how incredibly important that sector is to what is considered today, the vintage landscape. Of course, nobody is suggesting Joe run out and buy all NM 98s, but the reality is, some amount of presence in that area would bolster his place on this list. Somehow, I’m guessing Joe’s ok with how things went and how he’s doing now.

 

Bottom Line: Joe is the dean of comics. The highest compliment I could pay to anyone is to tell you that regardless of comics, Joe is a great person. He’s the best.

 

The dealer I most wish would come back to the SDCC.

+1

[silverseeker]

Thanks Brian for putting together this well-thought-out ranking...looks like it's already led to some interesting discussions.

[tth2]

Thanks to Brian for another informative and balanced report...great work, mate.

 

Thanks also for his kind words and also the words of many of the boarders.

 

It's tough getting recognised your side of the pond, as most of our business is obviously conducted in the UK, so the willingness of many people to think 'outside the box' is much appreciated.

 

I'm also in broad agreement with a number of Brian's 'cons' regarding Comicana Direct and certainly, there are a few points he raised that we already have in the works to change. (thumbs u

 

And thanks also to the people that buy from us here and through the site...we wouldn't have made such progress without you all.

Brian forgot to mention the "cranky geezer of an owner" factor when describing Comicana.

[Aces]

Awesome Brian!

+1

Good work. (thumbs u

[FineCollector]

Your list of sellers, while always a joy to read, really does me no good, as they don't carry the material I'm looking for. As a result, I'd hardly call them the top ten. Call this list what it is, the big money GA and SA Sellers list.

 

Ogami, I'm closer to your price range than Foolkiller's, but you want to see high end dealers at a show. They discount a lot of what the smaller dealers feature on their walls.

 

Meanwhile, I'm resisting the urge to tell an anecdote from a Wizard World Boston con that would probably drop one of the dealers off the list entirely... but this isn't a bashing thread.

 

My request would be to continue the list, at least #11-20. Nosebleeds are great, but I'm hoping there are a few people here looking for more pedestrian books.

[HarveySwick]

Great thread! Thank you for doing this!

[toro]

Another year, another misspelling of my name!

 

 

 

You are on the island of misfit dealers. Maybe this year Santa Brian will come.

[Bomber-Bob]

 

Meanwhile, I'm resisting the urge to tell an anecdote from a Wizard World Boston con that would probably drop one of the dealers off the list entirely... but this isn't a bashing thread.

 

 

You can't make a statement like that and not expound. We deserve to know.