What to do with Moderns?

[skybolt]

I'm at the point where I have to sell off some of my existing collection to finance other purchases. However, even though I'd much rather keep my mid-grade SA and low grade GA books, I'm forced to sell them instead of the moderns.

 

My moderns keep getting the benefit of the doubt since they'd only net me a small return that wouldn't finance other comic book purchases.

 

Do others on these boards keep boxes upon boxes of moderns because a.) they're not worth much today, but may be worth something in the distant future, b.) they are in high grade condition, c.) you have some nostalgic feeling towards them since they were purchased off the rack, or d.) you'd much rather have them around than the minimal financial return you'll receive for them. I feel kind of bad selling a VG/FN copy of X-Men #17, while my Gen-13 run sits nice and snuggly in my long boxes.

[drbanner]

I sent close to a long box of them here recently...

[skybolt]

I sent close to a long box of them here recently...

 

That's true, and I can definitely send a third of my modern collection and not think about it twice.

[(un)cooldude]

You could sell some to me!

 

[DKB]

I'm selling off most of my unwanted moderns on eBay. Literally a half-ton of books. I was pretty suprised how well it went/is going. As long as you have runs, complete series/minis, folks will buy it just to have something to read real cheap.

[skybolt]

I'm selling off most of my unwanted moderns on eBay. Literally a half-ton of books. I was pretty suprised how well it went/is going. As long as you have runs, complete series/minis, folks will buy it just to have something to read real cheap.

 

Do you scan a few of the books or just list an average grade for a certain run. For instance, I have full run Battlestar Galactica from 1979, do I just say NM- to NM and leave it that?

[(un)cooldude]

I'm selling off most of my unwanted moderns on eBay. Literally a half-ton of books. I was pretty suprised how well it went/is going. As long as you have runs, complete series/minis, folks will buy it just to have something to read real cheap.

 

I agree with this completely. I myself buy that way sometimes. For the most part though, I'm currently hunting down select books for runs I already have, or to complete my sole Bronze series that I'm working on. A lot of times, I'm looking for additional copies of stuff I have, or variants and whatnot. I have bought a few runs that looked interesting, just for reading purposes though, so I can relate.

 

My LCS gets the bulk of my comic dollars each month, but this is starting to crawl out of the range of cheap hobby, and into the realm of obsession!

[(un)cooldude]

I'm selling off most of my unwanted moderns on eBay. Literally a half-ton of books. I was pretty suprised how well it went/is going. As long as you have runs, complete series/minis, folks will buy it just to have something to read real cheap.

 

Do you scan a few of the books or just list an average grade for a certain run. For instance, I have full run Battlestar Galactica from 1979, do I just say NM- to NM and leave it that?

 

As a buyer, I pay FAR more interest to ads with a couple of pictures on them. You don't have to do uber-size scans of everything, but a couple of close-ups on choice issues, along with an overall shot of the lot can REALLY make a difference. I know when I run across listings like that, I take the time to look. It certainly makes a big difference as far as I'm concerned.

 

Now...when are you sending me a list?

[DKB]

Average grade. And just take a picture of the entire lot at once. The folks buying reader type lots aren't going to ding ya on grade. You just have to be prepared for some of your auctions going for 0.99. I was more than happy to have folks pay however much to take some of my dreck off my hands. There were more than a few folks that paid just as much for shipping as they did for 15 lbs of comics.

[DKB]

Granted, when I say I was suprised, realize I set my sights real low. I expect the last 10 long boxes to do $500-$600. I might have been setting them a bit too low.

[skybolt]

I'm selling off most of my unwanted moderns on eBay. Literally a half-ton of books. I was pretty suprised how well it went/is going. As long as you have runs, complete series/minis, folks will buy it just to have something to read real cheap.

 

Do you scan a few of the books or just list an average grade for a certain run. For instance, I have full run Battlestar Galactica from 1979, do I just say NM- to NM and leave it that?

 

As a buyer, I pay FAR more interest to ads with a couple of pictures on them. You don't have to do uber-size scans of everything, but a couple of close-ups on choice issues, along with an overall shot of the lot can REALLY make a difference. I know when I run across listings like that, I take the time to look. It certainly makes a big difference as far as I'm concerned.

 

Now...when are you sending me a list?

 

What books are you looking for?

 

By the way, have you conducted any CGC slab type tests on those worthless books I sent a while back?

[(un)cooldude]

I'm selling off most of my unwanted moderns on eBay. Literally a half-ton of books. I was pretty suprised how well it went/is going. As long as you have runs, complete series/minis, folks will buy it just to have something to read real cheap.

 

Do you scan a few of the books or just list an average grade for a certain run. For instance, I have full run Battlestar Galactica from 1979, do I just say NM- to NM and leave it that?

 

As a buyer, I pay FAR more interest to ads with a couple of pictures on them. You don't have to do uber-size scans of everything, but a couple of close-ups on choice issues, along with an overall shot of the lot can REALLY make a difference. I know when I run across listings like that, I take the time to look. It certainly makes a big difference as far as I'm concerned.

 

Now...when are you sending me a list?

 

What books are you looking for?

 

By the way, have you conducted any CGC slab type tests on those worthless books I sent a while back?

 

OMG! that was you?

 

I uhhhhhh....yea.......did.....ummmmmmm........where did I put those?

 

 

It's amazing how the best-laid plans of mice and men get forgotten...gah.

 

To tell the truth....they're still sitting in the box....with the rest of my books. What's even WORSE, is that CGC has now changed the well design, making my testing kind of pointless. Any special requests?? Shall I set them on fire?

 

...as for what I'm looking for.....well..nothing really in particular. I kind of stumble across a lot of stuff by accident these days. Hence the request for a list. However....got any copies of 'Jon Sable: Freelance' that you want to offload? That's about the only 'modern' book I'm really actively seeking. Sure, there's a lot of individual issues I'm sort of watching out for, but it's a shotgun pattern at best. Hell, I forget about more books than I care to remember most of the time. Again, the reason for my 'stumble across' comment.

 

PM me?

[skybolt]

I'm selling off most of my unwanted moderns on eBay. Literally a half-ton of books. I was pretty suprised how well it went/is going. As long as you have runs, complete series/minis, folks will buy it just to have something to read real cheap.

 

Do you scan a few of the books or just list an average grade for a certain run. For instance, I have full run Battlestar Galactica from 1979, do I just say NM- to NM and leave it that?

 

As a buyer, I pay FAR more interest to ads with a couple of pictures on them. You don't have to do uber-size scans of everything, but a couple of close-ups on choice issues, along with an overall shot of the lot can REALLY make a difference. I know when I run across listings like that, I take the time to look. It certainly makes a big difference as far as I'm concerned.

 

Now...when are you sending me a list?

 

What books are you looking for?

 

By the way, have you conducted any CGC slab type tests on those worthless books I sent a while back?

 

OMG! that was you?

 

I uhhhhhh....yea.......did.....ummmmmmm........where did I put those?

 

 

It's amazing how the best-laid plans of mice and men get forgotten...gah.

 

To tell the truth....they're still sitting in the box....with the rest of my books. What's even WORSE, is that CGC has now changed the well design, making my testing kind of pointless. Any special requests?? Shall I set them on fire?

 

...as for what I'm looking for.....well..nothing really in particular. I kind of stumble across a lot of stuff by accident these days. Hence the request for a list. However....got any copies of 'Jon Sable: Freelance' that you want to offload? That's about the only 'modern' book I'm really actively seeking. Sure, there's a lot of individual issues I'm sort of watching out for, but it's a shotgun pattern at best. Hell, I forget about more books than I care to remember most of the time. Again, the reason for my 'stumble across' comment.

 

PM me?

 

I'd say keep them, and if someone posts a thread of books not to be CGC slabbed, those 2 would make perfect examples.

 

I'll be honest with you, I stopped collecting moderns back in 1997 (mostly Spider-Man, X-Men, etc.). I have some titles like Speed Racer that I want to get rid off, but the point I was trying to make is that I'll still keep 50% of my modern collection just because those books are worth more to me than $500.

[uclapeterg]

I have a couple of mid grade SA and BA FF runs on Ebay right now (shameless plug) and I've scanned each individual issue and put them in smaller boxes for clicking to the larger size and usually choose one of the scans that's representative grade wise of the entire lot as the big default picture. And I choose an average grade for the lot.

[OldGuy]

I sell moderns all the time on Ebay. I'm very happy to get 30% of cover and when it's done in 12 issue lots I find it's well worth it. I just sold Punisher (the current series) 1-12 for $14.99.

 

The way I see it, I get new books (off the rack) for 10% off cover price (I could get a better discount on-line, but like to support my LCS). I read them. I then sell them for 30-50% of cover (depending on how "hot" the book is). So in the end I'm only paying 60-40% of cover price to "borrow" new comics.

[october]

 

Do others on these boards keep boxes upon boxes of moderns because a.) they're not worth much today, but may be worth something in the distant future, b.) they are in high grade condition, c.) you have some nostalgic feeling towards them since they were purchased off the rack, or d.) you'd much rather have them around than the minimal financial return you'll receive for them.

 

e.) I keep them around because I actually like to read them.

[the blob]

In the back of my head I still feel like I want to keep one each of titles I like such as ASM, X-Men, Wolvie, DD, Hulk, FF, Avengers, etc. I'm not as fond of DC, so I'd be ok letting most of those go.

 

The Image, Comico, Malibu and other dreck has mostly been cleared out via mixed lots. I avoided most of the valiant nonsense, so I only have left over the pre-unity issues. I've also gotten rid of a bunch of lousy 90s marvels this way.

 

Luckily I stayed away from moderns in the 90s, although I did fish some stuff out of quarter bins and such, so I still have a couple of long boxes. At least I didn't pay cover price for X-Men 297 or whatever.

 

Sometimes I just can't help myself though. I'll find myself fishing through a bargain bin and stumble on a JRR Daredevil cira late 80s in perfect condition (but that I already own) and tell myself "this has gottah be worth 50 cents" --- so I wind up just getting more moderns that take up the space of stuff I've gotten rid of. Ditto for 1980s Punishers for the first year or two of that series or Larsen Spideys.... I let myself get sucked into this stuff too easily.

[jbud73]

Burn that Modern Drek

 

Seriously I think most of us have a lot of it just sitting there.

[Aman619]

hey - - theres just 15 more years until 90s comics reach the magic 30 year plateau of collectability!! You couldnt GIVE Bronze junk away 10-15 years ago. Course th ereal test will be in the next 5 years if th eheavily hoarded 80s books ever take off with todays slab collectors. Jury is still out on that one. American Flagg #1s anyone?

[the blob]

Most of this stuff should be put out 5/$1 so that kids can buy them and trash them. Unfortunately, most kids wouldn't approach someone selling them like this on the sidewalk and most cruddy parents wouldn't just grab a few for their kids.

 

We talk about comics at 7-11s and all that, but what about those remainder bags they used to have? Put eight 80s/90s dreck comics sealed up in a polybag so you can only see the one on front for $2 or whatever. You don't think these would sell if they made sure to put a popular comic as the front comic like a spidy, wolvie, x-men, etc.? Question is whether it would be worth it to collect the comics, put them in bags and distribute them to stores for only 25 cents a comic? (Well, probably only 12.5 cents a comic given that you have to wholesale them at a discount if a store will be willing to carry them)