Sparklecity?

[Peter G]

I love the sheep ! ! !

 

 

Baaaaaaa

 

I remember the sheep in the 1980s

 

SparkleCity always had some of the nicest books back then

 

Everything was mylared at SparkleCity booth, which was unusual for the time

 

Not the same Sparkle City. NeatStuff bought the name. The SparkleCity of ebay is NeatStuff.

 

I did not know that but makes sense

 

Vinny of Metropolis had an amazing interview with the Founder of the original SparkleCity a few years back on Comic Zone

 

It was a fascinating interview but sadly the owner (forget his name) fell on hard times

 

Such a shame because SparkleCity truly was one of the best dealers of the 80s

 

Jay Maybruck. He was the original flipper...... a real buying machine. He would buy up all the choice material before the shows opened and then take them to the next show at double mark up. He was one of the early full timers..... realizing a person could make a living on the show circuit. That Comic Zone interview (several parts) was intense..... his story would actually make a great Indy film. GOD BLESS...

 

-jimbo(a friend of jesus) (thumbs u

 

Yes, thats the name, Jay Maybruck. What a visionary !

 

I wish I was older in the 1980s, would have loved to have participated in the comic book market at that level as a dealer.

 

Nowadays, it seems all so different, with CGC and the higher price points, it is much harder I would imagine to generate such high margins.

 

..... books really were "undervalued" back then. The guys who really came out were the ones building inventory in the 80's and were ready to go when the 90's hit. Maybruck was at the head of the pack. Fishler worked for him before going on to found Metro. GOD BLESS...

 

-jimbo(a friend of jesus) (thumbs u

 

Wow. I did not know that Fischer worked for Jay. That is a fascinating piece of information. I bet Fischler learned alot from Jay.

[Peter G]

http://mylifewithcomicbooks.blogspot.com/2009/12/my-life-with-comics-part-11.html

[Sqeggs]

I love the sheep ! ! !

 

 

Baaaaaaa

 

I remember the sheep in the 1980s

 

SparkleCity always had some of the nicest books back then

 

Everything was mylared at SparkleCity booth, which was unusual for the time

 

Not the same Sparkle City. NeatStuff bought the name. The SparkleCity of ebay is NeatStuff.

 

I did not know that but makes sense

 

Vinny of Metropolis had an amazing interview with the Founder of the original SparkleCity a few years back on Comic Zone

 

It was a fascinating interview but sadly the owner (forget his name) fell on hard times

 

Such a shame because SparkleCity truly was one of the best dealers of the 80s

 

Jay Maybruck. He was the original flipper...... a real buying machine. He would buy up all the choice material before the shows opened and then take them to the next show at double mark up. He was one of the early full timers..... realizing a person could make a living on the show circuit. That Comic Zone interview (several parts) was intense..... his story would actually make a great Indy film. GOD BLESS...

 

-jimbo(a friend of jesus) (thumbs u

 

Yeah, Maybruck was definitely an, um, ah, interesting guy! I did listen to that interview, but Maybruck babbles to such an extent that it's hard to make sense of his justifications for his past behavior.

 

Isn't he back working at Sparkle City?

[sacentaur]

Let's not deify Jay Maybruck just yet please, much of the "hard times" he endured were notoriously self-inflicted.

 

I'm glad to see Joe V. still around, he's a great guy and one of my favorite people in the hobby.

 

The current version of Sparkle City has its own share of problems - check.

[Peter G]

Let's not deify Jay Maybruck just yet please, much of the "hard times" he endured were notoriously self-inflicted.

 

I'm glad to see Joe V. still around, he's a great guy and one of my favorite people in the hobby.

 

The current version of Sparkle City has its own share of problems - check.

 

Just curious, why do u say they were "self inflicted"?

 

just curious on ur perspective

[Sqeggs]

Let's not deify Jay Maybruck just yet please, much of the "hard times" he endured were notoriously self-inflicted.

 

I'm glad to see Joe V. still around, he's a great guy and one of my favorite people in the hobby.

 

The current version of Sparkle City has its own share of problems - check.

 

Just curious, why do u say they were "self inflicted"?

 

just curious on ur perspective

 

Sounds like you don't know the Maybruck story. It's a doozy.

[Xela]

Let's not deify Jay Maybruck just yet please, much of the "hard times" he endured were notoriously self-inflicted.

 

I'm glad to see Joe V. still around, he's a great guy and one of my favorite people in the hobby.

 

The current version of Sparkle City has its own share of problems - check.

 

Just curious, why do u say they were "self inflicted"?

 

just curious on ur perspective

 

Sounds like you don't know the Maybruck story. It's a doozy.

 

do tell...

[Peter G]

Let's not deify Jay Maybruck just yet please, much of the "hard times" he endured were notoriously self-inflicted.

 

I'm glad to see Joe V. still around, he's a great guy and one of my favorite people in the hobby.

 

The current version of Sparkle City has its own share of problems - check.

 

Just curious, why do u say they were "self inflicted"?

 

just curious on ur perspective

 

Sounds like you don't know the Maybruck story. It's a doozy.

 

I thought I did but I confess now I am not so sure

[sacentaur]

It's a personal story with some very ugly details, so I doubt anyone will want to gossip about it here.

 

Suffice to say that I wouldn't give Maybruck the time of day, and I'll bet I'm not alone in that regard.

[Peter G]

It's a personal story with some very ugly details, so I doubt anyone will want to gossip about it here.

 

Suffice to say that I wouldn't give Maybruck the time of day, and I'll bet I'm not alone in that regard.

 

Guess Im just going to have to listen to the CZ interviews later today

 

Im on vacation and bored so its a good way to kill some time

[buttock]

Maybruck was very forthcoming in the interviews. My recollection isn't clear enough to comment on specifics, but there were many issues that he discussed publicly.

[Chicago Boy]

What are the CZ interviews?

[PovertyRow]

What are the CZ interviews?

 

Check here.

 

http://www.comiccollecting.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=362

[buttock]

http://www.comiczoneradio.com/

 

Enjoy!

[Sqeggs]

http://www.comiczoneradio.com/

 

Enjoy!

 

I listened to those interviews a few weeks ago after someone mentioned them in the thread on Ernie Gerber (Maybruck was not Gerber's biggest fan) and Maybruck rambles to such an extent that unless you already know the story, it's hard to figure out what he's talking about. Vinnie Z tries to keep him on track, but it's heavy sledding.

[RICK STARR]

I love the sheep ! ! !

 

 

Baaaaaaa

 

I remember the sheep in the 1980s

 

SparkleCity always had some of the nicest books back then

 

Everything was mylared at SparkleCity booth, which was unusual for the time

 

Not the same Sparkle City. NeatStuff bought the name. The SparkleCity of ebay is NeatStuff.

 

I did not know that but makes sense

 

Vinny of Metropolis had an amazing interview with the Founder of the original SparkleCity a few years back on Comic Zone

 

It was a fascinating interview but sadly the owner (forget his name) fell on hard times

 

Such a shame because SparkleCity truly was one of the best dealers of the 80s

 

Jay Maybruck. He was the original flipper...... a real buying machine. He would buy up all the choice material before the shows opened and then take them to the next show at double mark up. He was one of the early full timers..... realizing a person could make a living on the show circuit. That Comic Zone interview (several parts) was intense..... his story would actually make a great Indy film. GOD BLESS...

 

-jimbo(a friend of jesus) (thumbs u

 

Yes, thats the name, Jay Maybruck. What a visionary !

 

I wish I was older in the 1980s, would have loved to have participated in the comic book market at that level as a dealer.

 

Nowadays, it seems all so different, with CGC and the higher price points, it is much harder I would imagine to generate such high margins.

 

..... books really were "undervalued" back then. The guys who really came out were the ones building inventory in the 80's and were ready to go when the 90's hit. Maybruck was at the head of the pack. Fishler worked for him before going on to found Metro. GOD BLESS...

 

-jimbo(a friend of jesus) (thumbs u

 

Wow. I did not know that Fischer worked for Jay. That is a fascinating piece of information. I bet Fischler learned alot from Jay.

 

 

Stephen was very young at his time with Sparkle (18 or 19). It wasn't to long before he set up his own tables at cons loaded with multiple copies of key Marvels and DCs and some GA.

[comicstock]

It's a personal story with some very ugly details, so I doubt anyone will want to gossip about it here.

 

Suffice to say that I wouldn't give Maybruck the time of day, and I'll bet I'm not alone in that regard.

 

Guess Im just going to have to listen to the CZ interviews later today

 

Im on vacation and bored so its a good way to kill some time

 

 

Sounds like a great vacation...

[zosocane]

Were any of the books they were listing their own stock, or were they all consignments? Did anyone here in the GA boards consign with them? What was their commission structure like? I think eBay's fee structure has changed, hasn't it? Maybe their business model wasn't as profitable after eBay fees went up.

 

About a year ago I asked what their consignment fee was, and I was told 20% generally, but for big ticket books the percentage could be brought down. They felt 20% was justified because their auctions tend to fetch high prices.

 

Did the eBay & PayPal fees come out of the commission, or were those paid by the consignor on top of the commission?

 

20% + fees seems like an atrocious deal to me. The one time I bought a book in a Sparkle City auction, I put in a high bid because it was a nice book, not because it was a Sparkle City listing. My bid would've been exactly the same with Joe Schmoe selling it.

 

I can't recall whether the 'Bay and PP fees came out of the 20% commission or whether those were on top of the commission. My sense is that it was all rolled in (but, as seller, you're still out 20% which is chunky). You compare that to ComicConnect which generally charges 10% on graded material, and 20% is up there. But hard to argue that, for whatever reason, the Sparkle City listings would command strong hammer prices. I haven't followed the results of Sparkle auctions over the last several months since their breadth of material has waned, so I don't know if Sparkle still commands strong 'Bay sales.

[sacentaur]

Maybruck rambles to such an extent...

 

Do you think he was just nervous or is his brain fried?

[woowoo]

I love the sheep ! ! !

 

 

Baaaaaaa

 

I remember the sheep in the 1980s

 

SparkleCity always had some of the nicest books back then

 

Everything was mylared at SparkleCity booth, which was unusual for the time

 

Not the same Sparkle City. NeatStuff bought the name. The SparkleCity of ebay is NeatStuff.

 

I did not know that but makes sense

 

Vinny of Metropolis had an amazing interview with the Founder of the original SparkleCity a few years back on Comic Zone

 

It was a fascinating interview but sadly the owner (forget his name) fell on hard times

 

Such a shame because SparkleCity truly was one of the best dealers of the 80s

 

I got my Detective 10 and 12 from them think it was 81 paid full guide at the time for n/mint unrestored copys. Had them in safe for 25 years had them graded they came back 8.0 m and 7.0 m from pgx. I did look them over real good black light and all did not see any Restore on them . I been doing this since the 70s did not find any the 15 i got as vf unrestored i did find resto on it so i never sent in.