CGC Comic Collecting After 55

[thehumantorch]

At 59, I have seen the booms and busts in Collectibles. The more recent( if 25 years can be considered "recent") was the Crash 1992-ish. New Indies sprung up, Marvel was printing Spidey & X-Men 2x monthly with around 7 Titles( or more), and those print runs were in the MILLIONS, not the 165,000 of the Silver Age Monthlies.

 

The condensed version:

 

My parents got me collecting coins when I was 6. I still have that Barber Quarter given as change at the local mom-and-pop store down the street, 1897-O. I refuse to sell him. Other coins similar to them as well. Hard to part with something you had in your possession for 53 years, at least for me.

 

I must have been 9, the 1966 Tales of Suspense 83 was out: Iron Man on the Cover, fighting Titanium Man just over the Capital Dome, D.C. That was a big deal, as we were in Baltimore at the time. For One Dollar I could get 8 Comics, and after the then-low tax, have one cent left over. If I got a 25 center, I could only get 7 Comics.

 

I did not know who anyone was, and the story stopped around page 11( might be twelve, don't recall), and Captain America story started, which had been continued from a previous Comic Book. The copy had "Siamese Pages" on the Iron Man story. I put the Comic in a food storage bag, and set it away for a keepsake. I would not let ANYONE touch it or read it. My Uncle then gave me Fantastic Four # 71, then Amazing Spider-Man 62 with the Medusa Cover. I was hooked.

 

One day a Postman with those funky blueish shorts and large duffle-bag stops by and asks if we had any Comic Books for sale. We were playing baseball, our daily routine 7 days a week weather permitting, and I wanted to keep playing. My peers convinced me to meet this Post Man, show him your wares.

 

He was Steve Geppi. That first meeting changed my life. He took an extra five minutes( that he didn't have as I am sure he had to finish his routes), he told me I put the comics in the wrong bags, and then said he was going to open a shop not far from our house. My friends all sold their Comics to him, but I would not. I was the ONLY kid that didn't sell at that time.

 

Lo and behold, fast forward a year or two, we were driving on Edmonson Ave., and sure enough, there was that sign near the street: Geppi's Comic World" with artwork like the Globe on that metal sign. I can still remember that like it was yesterday.

 

I went in there to sell everything I had, I needed money for something I long since forgot the reason. He looked at the books, and I guess he knew I was getting Seller's Remorse; he asked me if " you really sure you want to let theses go? Where's that pristine TOS 83?".

 

I changed my mind, put the books back in my car( the 1st car you get when you are still a kid), and went back and spent the last $105.00 on a HUGE collection. Two boxes full. Sure wish I could do that today! .

 

Mr. Geppi must have really liked me because all my friends were in disbelief I got that many SA books for $105.00. Partial runs of ASM, FF. Sure, they weren't the best graded ones, but grading was not important in those days.

 

I returned many times to that shop, then one day Geppi was gone. That house that had the Comic Shop in the back basement was no longer, and I lost momentum so to speak.

 

Fast forward a few decades, I saw a co-worker on his computer, surfing eBay. No biggie. Then one day he and several others were arguing about pricing of Cabbage Patch dolls, Nintendo games, stuff like that. One asked me to let him use my computer as he wasn't issued one, so I let him. But he was not reliable, so to speak, I stayed right there as I watched him.

 

I saw a bunch of ASM's for sale. This was around 1996. I was still at that time very unsure how all that stuff worked, and am NOT technically proficient, even to this day. I can function, but only for specific purposes. I won't spend the time to learn a program anymore like I had to I order to graduate, etc.

 

Just previously, I would read even online, about the Comic Book Bust of 1991-2, and many brick-and-morters were closing faster than a POTUS candidate wiping email servers.

 

Still cloning to the few boxes of Comics I had, I would start looking every now and then to see what they were selling for, out of curiosity.

 

One day in 2000 I opened that eBay account, thinking I could sell ones that I didn't want anymore. Lo and behold, hard to sell with a Zero Rating, and in order to get a high enough rating, you had to be a BUYER. Off to the races, I was spending anywhere from 1K to 10 K per month, every month, on Comic Books.

 

I actually sold me very first Comic Book on Yahoo!Auctions, imho had the better format, better feedback system, but there was no phone support. eBay at the time, had superior phone support, but that quickly changed around 2002, maybe a tad earlier.

 

Yahoo!Auctions was starting to go downhill, a few wanna-be'e went under, and I was savvy enough not to waste my time with them. Heard/read many horror stories about Buyers who never got their items because the I-Escrow went out of business, etc. A real mess. It sure looked like eBay was going to be the winner, the only 800-kb. Gorilla in the Online Commerce.

 

People were coming to me, seeing my Bidding History( a feature eBay did away with in 2010) and got several deals, where I had to just meet so-and-so at their Storage Unit(s) and make Offers. I learned to estimate per box, size the boxes, LOOK at the contents, etc. Next thing I had SEVEN storage units, spending almost 2K per month and this was back in the early 2000's.

 

Started going to Comic Con Shows, now in CA. Went to SD 2000, and the even numbered years until recently. Lost my photos with Geppi, who showed me a great time and spent a few days with him and his family.

 

Then my wife would hear of a collection from her co-workers, friends, associates, etc. For a while there it seemed I was making a deal a week, and the Units were stacked full.

 

I guess it was around 2001, maybe early 2002 I saw the Ad for "Grading Comic Books" that CGC put out back in the day. I joined the Boards in 2002. But quit three times because Stu Cathell and his minions/worshipers chased me off. They had been hounding me on eBay since I started, over nothing. I mean nothing. But ask them, they will tell you all these Felonies and atrocities I committed. You have my blessings. That spilled over here, and Stu and a few others managed to get themselves kicked off, and I still have a ket PM's that were forwarded to me:" I don't care what Cal does on eBay, I only care about CGC Forum. Stop or else face the consequences". Hate wins out, he gets kicked off. Shows up with Shill of the week.

 

Anyway, back to the funny books, I was sending in Comics like crazy. Buying and selling. I started hoarding a few issues of stuff I liked when I was a kid. Every IMSM I saw on eBay/Yahoo/wherever, I was buying it. My oldest daughter made a passing insult: " you should put IMSM in ONE dedicated Storage Unit". So I did that. One shelving unit had the 170-something CGC/PGX slabs. They DO take up more space than raw books by a wide margin.

 

We took a day and counted the raw IMSM,s and I had over 5,000 during the Peak. I never heard of or seen anyone else ever that had one SA Issue like this. Ever.

 

Started to have severe health problems in 2007/2008 - started with the kidney stones. My whole body started to change; no longer able to do physical activities once enjoyed as a younger man. Became bedridden for some of that time during treatments. However, I had the foresight to keep small hand-weights on each side of the bed to at least keep up my arm strength, and that worked.

 

Working at a Casino, they could no longer hold my position as a Floor Man/Evening Manager. I turned into a Prop player, and part-time Dealer, and at least as a Dealer I could be sitting almost all the time. I started as a Dealer many many years ago so the switch was actually a good but rare one.

 

Went years without the kidney problems but they hit again Mid-June this year. back to watching diet, etc.

 

Been gone from the casino Business since last year, so technically my main Income is from eBay. I started that LLC here in CA for investing in Movies, something that I still dabble in, time-permitting. But the time to start downsizing, after my family's continual hounding about those seven storage units, had arrived. So to make life easier, and start cashing in, I started selling heavily 2008-ish.

 

Oh, Comics. Seen the CGC craze create a sub-market; at first every Issue of ASM that were NOT a "key" issue went for $500 and up. Jay Parrino, Greg Manning Auctions, and others entered the fray, to try their hands at CGC comics.

 

Me? I sold that ASM # 5, CGC 8.5 to a Customer in France. There I got my first taste of the "never received" item. Out 2K just like that. PayPal just TOOK the funds right out of my account. Rinse and repeat for a few smaller items. Then I discovered Express International. Just about stopped the sales, but who cared?

Now I no longer ship International, even Canada, because of the complaints of the costs.

 

Seen the Early Releases of Modern Image Comics as MINT 10.0 sell for 3K and up, only to buy them myself for under $300 years later.

 

I rarely sell "Key" comics to avoid the financial exposure, and have sold most of the keys I had in private deals or trades.

 

So the info everyone is looking for here:

 

Just my OPINION:

 

The Economy has lined up four wrecking ball crews on all sides of the Collectibles markets. Sports Cards went down the tubes in the early 2000's, and I had a long-time Dealer come over, he gave me $10,000 cash to take off my hands what I had easily 100,000 invested in. Many people will enjoy that here, me losing that kind of money at anything. But they can have their thrill, as I have my thrill: Those IMSM's I had made up for that small flesh wound many times over, and I STILL keep finding boxes of IMSM's.

 

Anyway, I have seen prices of those NON-KEYS you see on my eBay site bi-weekly start meandering downwards.

 

Kids just don't have the money to plunk down on a non-essential. I have email after email:

1) My wife said get this trash out of her house;

2) My transmission went out and I need the money( for those Buyers' Remorse cases that have been killing me lately - I bought two transmissions this year );

3( I changed my mind;

4) I bought something, the credit card payment is due, and I need cash fast.

 

Many emails similar to the above, you get the picture. I didn't get those in 2000 - 2010. I get one a week or more.

 

I even get the occasional: " can you hire me to work for your calamerica-collectibles?". When I get these, I send them any info and leads I can muster, as I respect those who sincerely want to work. I did manage to get one nice young man a job in SanDiego County through a connection my wife had. Last I heard he is doing well. I consigned his comics a few years ago, he was very happy. I try to help people when I can.

 

I am NOT a doomsday convert, just aware of the surroundings in the collectibles markets. That put me back in coins, a few years ago, when I kept watching Silver drop from $40-something to under $20.00 an ounce, when I parked my truck and started buying Morgan Dollars and Lofty high grade Half Dollars. Like my Comics, I seek out Uber grades, and have had some success flipping coined slabs. But the skill is still better with Comics, but the Coins gap is closing fast.

 

No one can predict the future. But I DID correctly predict competition for CGC, and they have it. I even thought about this myself, and a few big-named Dealers would shock you even to this day. One went a step further than I did, had a prototype made and even showed it to me! I can't put his name here because I need to ask him first, out of respect.

 

What does the future hold for Comic Books? I think that tree will be a sub-market for a few more decades, but after around 2050, most of the KEYS will be centralized in a few hands, and merely stored away. The BILLIONS of Non-keys? You will always have intermittent activity from those who are seeking to unload versus the fewer and fewer speculators that are taking chances. Talk to these men doing this; they will tell you what their thoughts are on this matter.

 

Me? I did almost all my collectibles part-time. Have always had Insomnia, averaging 3 - 5 hours of sleep since I was a kid. Still find time to squeeze as much life in as I possibly can. I used to be the Demon Worker: worked double shifts 10 days in a row, then go home walk the dogs, work at home, etc. No one could out-work me, something that was instilled in me by my Father.

 

Went back to school at 50, when the kidney stones were removed. Had to compete with 20-30 somethings every step of the way but I did it. Drove to UCLA 3 to 5x a week, not an easy feat from where I live. Even managed to score a few small collections that way. One nice girl made the deal for me to Edit her short movie in Avid Symphony Composer 2.09 and she would give me her Father's ASM collection. To be fair to her, I still added some cash and she was amazed. Still friends with her on Facebook to this day. Long since sold those Comics on the 'Bay.Those young whipper-snappers tried to gouge her unmercifully. Yes, most were actually better than me and more experienced, but I made her the best deal. I still do the odd jobs like that today when they pop up. That gets me future work. Funny how that works: give people a great deal they will like you for it. Try to gouge/rip-off, you get the one job, but won't be invited to the party.

 

I confess I tried several times to get out of Comics, for various reasons, and one of them is the Hate transferred from eBay to here. I managed to stop a fraud scheme here, so of course the criminals are never going to like the arresting Officers, so I guess that comes with the territory.

 

The Restoration tricks, switching Covers, books, the "empty package" trick, you name it, I seen it all. Much harder to do with Coins although China and Iran make some real close Counterfeits. That didm 't happen when I was a 6 year old boy.

 

I gotta go, but will be in and out today to answer questions.

 

CAL the eBayer/Heritage Buyer and Seller

 

 

Interesting post Cal. Especially enjoy your early collecting stories, I love to hear how people found this hobby and what it meant to them early on.

[Taadaa]

Awesome.....and I do mean AWESOME post Cal.....Thank you for sharing

 

You believed that BS? You're not a Noob, how do you fall for that gibberish?

 

I enjoyed reading it.

 

Masochist.

 

Stu: how many shill accounts do you have?

 

The Mods have been sleeping at the wheel, eh?

 

That can be changed.

 

CAL who has a purpose here again...

 

The only reason I make shills for you is to point out what a liar you are. When you quit lying I'll quit making IDs.

 

Give it up dude, you're just beating a dead horse.

 

You're right, he'll never change. That's what makes it so fun. Cant you just feel his blood pressure rising in those crusted arteries of his?

[Taadaa]

I can't wait for MetalPSI to meet Jack Remington

 

I know you are totally deranged after all these years.

 

Must be on those Charity scams too, as one of your disciples kept defending you...

 

CAL who knows what's important...

 

Are you talking about when Not Sure's house burned down and you claimed it didn't? That was the lowest I've ever seen you sink, I thought that was beyond even your megalomania.. Did you ever send your private investigator to Kansas to check it out?

[Calamerica]

I can't wait for MetalPSI to meet Jack Remington

 

I know you are totally deranged after all these years.

 

Must be on those Charity scams too, as one of your disciples kept defending you...

 

CAL who knows what's important...

 

Are you talking about when Not Sure's house burned down and you claimed it didn't? That was the lowest I've ever seen you sink, I thought that was beyond even your megalomania.. Did you ever send your private investigator to Kansas to check it out?

 

I never claimed that the house did not burn down. Now once again, like your buddies Mrs. schmidt and Number 6, get the FACTS straight.

 

I did find out what was what and the answer came from the most unexpected source. That matter is closed so find another scam.

 

CAL who turns them in...

[Duffman_Comics]

Getting very shilly here.

 

Nice post, Cal. I'm the same vintage as you, and enjoy those "when I was a boy" posts.

 

I'm happy to see you back posting, even if it's in the third person

[Calamerica]

Thanx, Duff.

 

Some more real quick:

 

I clearly remember when Marvel split up those Titles of Tales of Suspense and Tales to Astonish in early 1968. I was 10-and-a-half, and I could no longer get all my favorite Heroes for the month.

 

The IMSM was that great one-shot, but I didn't want to give up other titles to get him. I remember putting him back. I vowed that one day I was going to be the number one Collector of just that Issue no matter what it took. At one time we counted just over 5,000 raw and 178 CGC/PGX and this one-shot RP3 grading company that went by the wayside circa 2003. I think Ace, the Maxie Roxie company out of Kansas City slabbed one, but I was not around to grab that one.

 

Anyway, shortly after Hulk, Cap, Shellhead and Subby got their own Titles, the Silver Surfer came out. He was 25 cents, and again I could not afford him. So when the winter broke, I was cutting lawns, trimming hedges, doing odd jobs for what seems like slave wages, but I didn't care. I started spending $2.00 per month.

 

I had ordered comics from that old Rogofsky ad in the border yellow in the Ad pages, and he treated me very fairly. There were others, and as I did not have a checking account, and my parents said "no" to write me a check, I had to get Money Orders. This went on for a few years, and not once did I ever get ripped off! Those guys word was their bond, and they backed up everything they advertised!

 

So I completed runs in just about all Marvel Titles.

 

Fast forwarding in my early 20's, and this ex-girlfriend had her "relative" who had been mooching off of me stole the Key Comics while I was on TDY for Uncle Sam. S/he took ASM 1, 50, 100, TTA 1, 27, TOS 1, 39 - 46, Avengers 1, 4, and a few others. I did not catch this at first, but one day my mother came to visit and we were laughing about how she went to read's drugstore and forgot Thor # 150, the Hela Goddess Cover. There had been a snowstorm and she was in a hurry to get home and forgot. We laughed. So I went to my closet to get one of the several copies of Thor 150 to show her what it looked like, and I noticed that the boxes seemed partially emptied, and there is no worse feeling when you realize that your childhood items you valued so much were brazenly taken from you.

 

I had never been faced with that kind of adversity before. My mother knew what to do, she goaded me into calling the Frederick County Sheriff's Department. They came out, and somewhere in the investigation the Officer had me write down the list of all the people who had visited the last six months.

 

My mother questioned this "Rogers" guy with my ex-girlfriend named Lynn, from N. Carolina. I happened to still have her phone number written somewhere, and to my amazement that Officer phoned her right then and there! They would never do that today, trust me.

 

She hung up on him when asked about this "Rogers" clown. I gave him all info I knew about Lynn, and in those days you didn't wait 2 minutes to get a life history like today. He said he would get back to us. Also advised me to take an inventory of every book missing. I was too embarrassed to tell him that I never took an Inventory, but I KNEW those Keys were missing.

 

Long story short, the very first time I ever got a lawyer was a positive ending result; this Lynn spilled the beans on this con man "Rogers" and all I can remember was that he was from NYC. Supposedly never driven or owned a car. he could talk anyone into either giving him a ride, money for a cab( when it used to be $5.00 to another city or state), or even "borrow" a car. Strange that no one ever questioned his ability as he bragged about saving fees on no Driver's License, etc. But times were different I guess.

 

"Rogers" tells the Police that he never had the comics. The Police told him something to the effect that they were going to Issue a Warrant out for his arrest if either the books or Western Union wired cash showed up by a certain date. I can't recall if it was 30 or 60 days. On the last day( either the 29th or 59th day) a package from USPS showed up. I thought it was something for work, but I had to sign for it. Every book was mysteriously appeared in that box. The TOS 39 had a 4" vertical tear in the Front Cover at the center right side, but I didn't care; the books were returned.

 

I called Mr. Geppi and he gave me a real good price for them all, and actually eked out a small profit. Mr. Geppi had his brother-in-law working for him at that time, I can't recall his name, but he got the authorization over a long distance phone call to give me that check for those books. I did keep some, I whittled the boxes down to a few small white boxes, stuff like TOS 70 - 99, TTA 59 - 102, Iron Man 1 - 25, ASM 2 - 100, etc. At that time I only had ONE IMSM. I know: hard to believe.

 

Fast forwarding some more, the eBay years.

 

I was buying every IMSM that was offered, except the lowest grade junkers. I bought Paperheart's NM 9.4 right here off the Forum, and many others. I don't think I ever sold one here, but I could be wrong. I just can't recall at the moment.

 

eBayers would email me and ask me to sell them an IMSM, sometimes two or three. I always obliged them. A few still buy off of me today. That is not why I sold them the copies, I figured having MOST would be good enough.

 

After my illnesses in 2007/8, I decided to start selling. I slowly started selling the CGC copies as I could see downward pricings, the GPA came out somewhere at that time, and I read the posts many times without ever commenting, especially the Sales threads.

 

After I had enough here, I decided to sell the majority of all CGC/PGXers. Most are gone. I used Heritage, and they did a great job for me.

 

I am keeping the very first copy of TOS 83 my Uncle gave me: I got NM 9.4 w/Siamese pages. I am also keeping a few of the "stolen" comics, and the ASM # 121, CGC 7.0 was the last Comic in that box sent to me from NYC, so I had him slabbed. I must have had an unconscious leaning on caring for Iron Man; the # 1 also got a NM 9.4, and I sold him about three years ago for great Coin. I had that copy for over 35 years.

 

I am very cognizant about people in my home after that. I had homes, and used to rent out rooms, etc. but made sure the Comics were in Storage.

 

Real crazy about my Coins, because they are easier to walk away with. I won't let my family touch them. Comics, they help me occasionally, so that is different, but the Coins only I work them.

 

For Insurance, we had to have deadbolts, cameras, etc. Cost of doing business.

 

Hope this finds everyone well.

 

CAL who will be back for more tidbits later...

 

 

 

 

[porcupine48]

[oakman29]

[Calamerica]

Somewhere in 2006, I received a box, return addy was "Anonymous, box 12345, Los Angeles, CA, 90021".

 

It had FIFTY pristine, uncut COVERS of IMSM. The staple holes were never cut. Of course I still have them.

 

I wrote to that address five times before I finally gave up. No response. The letters were all returned " Insufficient address".

 

I cannot explain this one, and it is a very unusual incident.

 

CAL

[porcupine48]

pics

[Calamerica]

I am working on getting videos on YouTube...

 

Don't have that many IMSMs left, should have videoed them years ago.

 

I did take pics of the encapsulated, and have them somewhere...

 

CAL the KING of IMSM

[RockMyAmadeus]

I guess it was around 2001, maybe early 2002 I saw the Ad for "Grading Comic Books" that CGC put out back in the day. I joined the Boards in 2002. But quit three times because Stu Cathell and his minions/worshipers chased me off. They had been hounding me on eBay since I started, over nothing. I mean nothing.

 

 

That's not what happened, and I was there to witness it.

 

You did there what you do here, which is bombast. No sense in pretending otherwise, but you ought to understand by now that it rubs people the wrong way, and people react to you accordingly.

 

It does impress me, however, how many of the Johnny-come-latelies to the eBay boards have things quite a bit skewed in their minds. You're not at all the only one. Several of you "remember" things quite a bit differently than they actually happened.

 

People like what you say, when you're not claiming victim status.

 

 

[Calamerica]

I guess it was around 2001, maybe early 2002 I saw the Ad for "Grading Comic Books" that CGC put out back in the day. I joined the Boards in 2002. But quit three times because Stu Cathell and his minions/worshipers chased me off. They had been hounding me on eBay since I started, over nothing. I mean nothing.

 

 

That's not what happened, and I was there to witness it.

 

You did there what you do here, which is bombast. No sense in pretending otherwise, but you ought to understand by now that it rubs people the wrong way, and people react to you accordingly.

 

It does impress me, however, how many of the Johnny-come-latelies to the eBay boards have things quite a bit skewed in their minds. You're not at all the only one. Several of you "remember" things quite a bit differently than they actually happened.

 

People like what you say, when you're not claiming victim status.

 

 

You were part of the PROBLEM, not the solution.

 

My memory is more accurate than I expected you to credit me for.

 

I begrudgingly, agonizingly, painstakingly and probably with regret agreeing with you the " Johnny-come-lately's" that want a dog in this fight. remember GSims that refused to sell to me on the Seller's Forum? I did not. He chose Stu's side. he was upset at my fighting back, as if I have no right to defend myself( I call that FACISM).

 

But I have other fish to fry, might be back sometime today...

 

CAL

[That Ron Dude]

Great story. Great insight. Thank you.

 

At 59, I have seen the booms and busts in Collectibles. The more recent( if 25 years can be considered "recent") was the Crash 1992-ish. New Indies sprung up, Marvel was printing Spidey & X-Men 2x monthly with around 7 Titles( or more), and those print runs were in the MILLIONS, not the 165,000 of the Silver Age Monthlies.

 

The condensed version:

 

My parents got me collecting coins when I was 6. I still have that Barber Quarter given as change at the local mom-and-pop store down the street, 1897-O. I refuse to sell him. Other coins similar to them as well. Hard to part with something you had in your possession for 53 years, at least for me.

 

I must have been 9, the 1966 Tales of Suspense 83 was out: Iron Man on the Cover, fighting Titanium Man just over the Capital Dome, D.C. That was a big deal, as we were in Baltimore at the time. For One Dollar I could get 8 Comics, and after the then-low tax, have one cent left over. If I got a 25 center, I could only get 7 Comics.

 

I did not know who anyone was, and the story stopped around page 11( might be twelve, don't recall), and Captain America story started, which had been continued from a previous Comic Book. The copy had "Siamese Pages" on the Iron Man story. I put the Comic in a food storage bag, and set it away for a keepsake. I would not let ANYONE touch it or read it. My Uncle then gave me Fantastic Four # 71, then Amazing Spider-Man 62 with the Medusa Cover. I was hooked.

 

One day a Postman with those funky blueish shorts and large duffle-bag stops by and asks if we had any Comic Books for sale. We were playing baseball, our daily routine 7 days a week weather permitting, and I wanted to keep playing. My peers convinced me to meet this Post Man, show him your wares.

 

He was Steve Geppi. That first meeting changed my life. He took an extra five minutes( that he didn't have as I am sure he had to finish his routes), he told me I put the comics in the wrong bags, and then said he was going to open a shop not far from our house. My friends all sold their Comics to him, but I would not. I was the ONLY kid that didn't sell at that time.

 

Lo and behold, fast forward a year or two, we were driving on Edmonson Ave., and sure enough, there was that sign near the street: Geppi's Comic World" with artwork like the Globe on that metal sign. I can still remember that like it was yesterday.

 

I went in there to sell everything I had, I needed money for something I long since forgot the reason. He looked at the books, and I guess he knew I was getting Seller's Remorse; he asked me if " you really sure you want to let theses go? Where's that pristine TOS 83?".

 

I changed my mind, put the books back in my car( the 1st car you get when you are still a kid), and went back and spent the last $105.00 on a HUGE collection. Two boxes full. Sure wish I could do that today! .

 

Mr. Geppi must have really liked me because all my friends were in disbelief I got that many SA books for $105.00. Partial runs of ASM, FF. Sure, they weren't the best graded ones, but grading was not important in those days.

 

I returned many times to that shop, then one day Geppi was gone. That house that had the Comic Shop in the back basement was no longer, and I lost momentum so to speak.

 

Fast forward a few decades, I saw a co-worker on his computer, surfing eBay. No biggie. Then one day he and several others were arguing about pricing of Cabbage Patch dolls, Nintendo games, stuff like that. One asked me to let him use my computer as he wasn't issued one, so I let him. But he was not reliable, so to speak, I stayed right there as I watched him.

 

I saw a bunch of ASM's for sale. This was around 1996. I was still at that time very unsure how all that stuff worked, and am NOT technically proficient, even to this day. I can function, but only for specific purposes. I won't spend the time to learn a program anymore like I had to I order to graduate, etc.

 

Just previously, I would read even online, about the Comic Book Bust of 1991-2, and many brick-and-morters were closing faster than a POTUS candidate wiping email servers.

 

Still cloning to the few boxes of Comics I had, I would start looking every now and then to see what they were selling for, out of curiosity.

 

One day in 2000 I opened that eBay account, thinking I could sell ones that I didn't want anymore. Lo and behold, hard to sell with a Zero Rating, and in order to get a high enough rating, you had to be a BUYER. Off to the races, I was spending anywhere from 1K to 10 K per month, every month, on Comic Books.

 

I actually sold me very first Comic Book on Yahoo!Auctions, imho had the better format, better feedback system, but there was no phone support. eBay at the time, had superior phone support, but that quickly changed around 2002, maybe a tad earlier.

 

Yahoo!Auctions was starting to go downhill, a few wanna-be'e went under, and I was savvy enough not to waste my time with them. Heard/read many horror stories about Buyers who never got their items because the I-Escrow went out of business, etc. A real mess. It sure looked like eBay was going to be the winner, the only 800-kb. Gorilla in the Online Commerce.

 

People were coming to me, seeing my Bidding History( a feature eBay did away with in 2010) and got several deals, where I had to just meet so-and-so at their Storage Unit(s) and make Offers. I learned to estimate per box, size the boxes, LOOK at the contents, etc. Next thing I had SEVEN storage units, spending almost 2K per month and this was back in the early 2000's.

 

Started going to Comic Con Shows, now in CA. Went to SD 2000, and the even numbered years until recently. Lost my photos with Geppi, who showed me a great time and spent a few days with him and his family.

 

Then my wife would hear of a collection from her co-workers, friends, associates, etc. For a while there it seemed I was making a deal a week, and the Units were stacked full.

 

I guess it was around 2001, maybe early 2002 I saw the Ad for "Grading Comic Books" that CGC put out back in the day. I joined the Boards in 2002. But quit three times because Stu Cathell and his minions/worshipers chased me off. They had been hounding me on eBay since I started, over nothing. I mean nothing. But ask them, they will tell you all these Felonies and atrocities I committed. You have my blessings. That spilled over here, and Stu and a few others managed to get themselves kicked off, and I still have a ket PM's that were forwarded to me:" I don't care what Cal does on eBay, I only care about CGC Forum. Stop or else face the consequences". Hate wins out, he gets kicked off. Shows up with Shill of the week.

 

Anyway, back to the funny books, I was sending in Comics like crazy. Buying and selling. I started hoarding a few issues of stuff I liked when I was a kid. Every IMSM I saw on eBay/Yahoo/wherever, I was buying it. My oldest daughter made a passing insult: " you should put IMSM in ONE dedicated Storage Unit". So I did that. One shelving unit had the 170-something CGC/PGX slabs. They DO take up more space than raw books by a wide margin.

 

We took a day and counted the raw IMSM,s and I had over 5,000 during the Peak. I never heard of or seen anyone else ever that had one SA Issue like this. Ever.

 

Started to have severe health problems in 2007/2008 - started with the kidney stones. My whole body started to change; no longer able to do physical activities once enjoyed as a younger man. Became bedridden for some of that time during treatments. However, I had the foresight to keep small hand-weights on each side of the bed to at least keep up my arm strength, and that worked.

 

Working at a Casino, they could no longer hold my position as a Floor Man/Evening Manager. I turned into a Prop player, and part-time Dealer, and at least as a Dealer I could be sitting almost all the time. I started as a Dealer many many years ago so the switch was actually a good but rare one.

 

Went years without the kidney problems but they hit again Mid-June this year. back to watching diet, etc.

 

Been gone from the casino Business since last year, so technically my main Income is from eBay. I started that LLC here in CA for investing in Movies, something that I still dabble in, time-permitting. But the time to start downsizing, after my family's continual hounding about those seven storage units, had arrived. So to make life easier, and start cashing in, I started selling heavily 2008-ish.

 

Oh, Comics. Seen the CGC craze create a sub-market; at first every Issue of ASM that were NOT a "key" issue went for $500 and up. Jay Parrino, Greg Manning Auctions, and others entered the fray, to try their hands at CGC comics.

 

Me? I sold that ASM # 5, CGC 8.5 to a Customer in France. There I got my first taste of the "never received" item. Out 2K just like that. PayPal just TOOK the funds right out of my account. Rinse and repeat for a few smaller items. Then I discovered Express International. Just about stopped the sales, but who cared?

Now I no longer ship International, even Canada, because of the complaints of the costs.

 

Seen the Early Releases of Modern Image Comics as MINT 10.0 sell for 3K and up, only to buy them myself for under $300 years later.

 

I rarely sell "Key" comics to avoid the financial exposure, and have sold most of the keys I had in private deals or trades.

 

So the info everyone is looking for here:

 

Just my OPINION:

 

The Economy has lined up four wrecking ball crews on all sides of the Collectibles markets. Sports Cards went down the tubes in the early 2000's, and I had a long-time Dealer come over, he gave me $10,000 cash to take off my hands what I had easily 100,000 invested in. Many people will enjoy that here, me losing that kind of money at anything. But they can have their thrill, as I have my thrill: Those IMSM's I had made up for that small flesh wound many times over, and I STILL keep finding boxes of IMSM's.

 

Anyway, I have seen prices of those NON-KEYS you see on my eBay site bi-weekly start meandering downwards.

 

Kids just don't have the money to plunk down on a non-essential. I have email after email:

1) My wife said get this trash out of her house;

2) My transmission went out and I need the money( for those Buyers' Remorse cases that have been killing me lately - I bought two transmissions this year );

3( I changed my mind;

4) I bought something, the credit card payment is due, and I need cash fast.

 

Many emails similar to the above, you get the picture. I didn't get those in 2000 - 2010. I get one a week or more.

 

I even get the occasional: " can you hire me to work for your calamerica-collectibles?". When I get these, I send them any info and leads I can muster, as I respect those who sincerely want to work. I did manage to get one nice young man a job in SanDiego County through a connection my wife had. Last I heard he is doing well. I consigned his comics a few years ago, he was very happy. I try to help people when I can.

 

I am NOT a doomsday convert, just aware of the surroundings in the collectibles markets. That put me back in coins, a few years ago, when I kept watching Silver drop from $40-something to under $20.00 an ounce, when I parked my truck and started buying Morgan Dollars and Lofty high grade Half Dollars. Like my Comics, I seek out Uber grades, and have had some success flipping coined slabs. But the skill is still better with Comics, but the Coins gap is closing fast.

 

No one can predict the future. But I DID correctly predict competition for CGC, and they have it. I even thought about this myself, and a few big-named Dealers would shock you even to this day. One went a step further than I did, had a prototype made and even showed it to me! I can't put his name here because I need to ask him first, out of respect.

 

What does the future hold for Comic Books? I think that tree will be a sub-market for a few more decades, but after around 2050, most of the KEYS will be centralized in a few hands, and merely stored away. The BILLIONS of Non-keys? You will always have intermittent activity from those who are seeking to unload versus the fewer and fewer speculators that are taking chances. Talk to these men doing this; they will tell you what their thoughts are on this matter.

 

Me? I did almost all my collectibles part-time. Have always had Insomnia, averaging 3 - 5 hours of sleep since I was a kid. Still find time to squeeze as much life in as I possibly can. I used to be the Demon Worker: worked double shifts 10 days in a row, then go home walk the dogs, work at home, etc. No one could out-work me, something that was instilled in me by my Father.

 

Went back to school at 50, when the kidney stones were removed. Had to compete with 20-30 somethings every step of the way but I did it. Drove to UCLA 3 to 5x a week, not an easy feat from where I live. Even managed to score a few small collections that way. One nice girl made the deal for me to Edit her short movie in Avid Symphony Composer 2.09 and she would give me her Father's ASM collection. To be fair to her, I still added some cash and she was amazed. Still friends with her on Facebook to this day. Long since sold those Comics on the 'Bay.Those young whipper-snappers tried to gouge her unmercifully. Yes, most were actually better than me and more experienced, but I made her the best deal. I still do the odd jobs like that today when they pop up. That gets me future work. Funny how that works: give people a great deal they will like you for it. Try to gouge/rip-off, you get the one job, but won't be invited to the party.

 

I confess I tried several times to get out of Comics, for various reasons, and one of them is the Hate transferred from eBay to here. I managed to stop a fraud scheme here, so of course the criminals are never going to like the arresting Officers, so I guess that comes with the territory.

 

The Restoration tricks, switching Covers, books, the "empty package" trick, you name it, I seen it all. Much harder to do with Coins although China and Iran make some real close Counterfeits. That didm 't happen when I was a 6 year old boy.

 

I gotta go, but will be in and out today to answer questions.

 

CAL the eBayer/Heritage Buyer and Seller

 

[RockMyAmadeus]

I guess it was around 2001, maybe early 2002 I saw the Ad for "Grading Comic Books" that CGC put out back in the day. I joined the Boards in 2002. But quit three times because Stu Cathell and his minions/worshipers chased me off. They had been hounding me on eBay since I started, over nothing. I mean nothing.

 

 

That's not what happened, and I was there to witness it.

 

You did there what you do here, which is bombast. No sense in pretending otherwise, but you ought to understand by now that it rubs people the wrong way, and people react to you accordingly.

 

It does impress me, however, how many of the Johnny-come-latelies to the eBay boards have things quite a bit skewed in their minds. You're not at all the only one. Several of you "remember" things quite a bit differently than they actually happened.

 

People like what you say, when you're not claiming victim status.

 

 

You were part of the PROBLEM, not the solution.

 

 

Right...and, as usual with internet claims, there's not even an attempt at evidence forthcoming....just the claim. So, I think you were part of the problem, you think I was part of the problem, I joined at the beginning, you joined 3 years later.

 

Who's right...?

 

I know that, from the very beginning, those of us who were there had a pretty tight bond, from my perspective, and I made friends that last to this day, nearly 18 years later. I know that, from the very beginning, it was a nice environment to be in, and everyone got along pretty well. I know that, after a few years, things began to degenerate. I know that things began to degenerate right around the time when new people came around who weren't interested in being "part of the group", but rather insisted on things being done their way, whether it was openly (like you), or behind the scenes, as with others. I know that I moved on in late 2002, and never looked back, because I was tired of the bickering (and, really, coming from me, that's saying something, eh? But bickering is different from vigorous debating...the key difference being that the former is personal, while the latter is not.)

 

 

My memory is more accurate than I expected you to credit me for.

 

 

I neither gave nor took credit from your memory at all. The accuracy of your memory never entered my mind.

 

 

I begrudgingly, agonizingly, painstakingly and probably with regret agreeing with you the " Johnny-come-lately's" that want a dog in this fight. remember GSims that refused to sell to me on the Seller's Forum?

 

 

No. This may surprise you, but you're not the center of my world.

 

 

I did not. He chose Stu's side. he was upset at my fighting back, as if I have no right to defend myself( I call that FACISM).

 

But I have other fish to fry, might be back sometime today...

 

CAL

 

 

Ok. Understand that I say all this as someone who is not necessarily opposed to Cal being Cal.

 

[David P Hartman]

R.I.P. for this thread.... fraid sew....

[porcupine48]

waiting for your posts...

[David P Hartman]

So, I turned 62 a couple days ago, and made the way to the local SS office, to get the low down on things. I've been self employed since about 1990. Prior to that I worked in the manufacturing industry as machinist, machine shop foreman, NC programming, then manufacturing engineering. I recall my base salary in 1990 was right at 40K (annually), or what would work out to 20 bucks an hour.

So, as it turns out, I'm suppose to start receiving a little over eleven hundred a month, starting the 3rd week of Jan. which will cover rent and beyond, thank you very much! Anyway, I guess all those years of waking up cursing at the alarm clock will start paying off! It still doesn't quite seem real, yet!

It's interesting that when I turned 18, they dropped the drinking age to 18 (old enough to fight, old enough to drink... thank you Vietnam Nam) and I hit 62, and what do you know.... they legalize pot (in CA)! Now, I just might be on the lookout for a rocking chair! They must have motorized versions by now?

I guess I may not have to start selling off those 150+ long boxes of books after all! And trying to get money out of a comic dealer is ..... Like passing a camel through the eye of a needle. With two humps!

[oakman29]

So, I turned 62 a couple days ago, and made the way to the local SS office, to get the low down on things. I've been self employed since about 1990. Prior to that I worked in the manufacturing industry as machinist, machine shop foreman, NC programming, then manufacturing engineering. I recall my base salary in 1990 was right at 40K (annually), or what would work out to 20 bucks an hour.

So, as it turns out, I'm suppose to start receiving a little over eleven hundred a month, starting the 3rd week of Jan. which will cover rent and beyond, thank you very much! Anyway, I guess all those years of waking up cursing at the alarm clock will start paying off! It still doesn't quite seem real, yet!

It's interesting that when I turned 18, they dropped the drinking age to 18 (old enough to fight, old enough to drink... thank you Vietnam Nam) and I hit 62, and what do you know.... they legalize pot (in CA)! Now, I just might be on the lookout for a rocking chair! They must have motorized versions by now?

I guess I may not have to start selling off those 150+ long boxes of books after all! And trying to get money out of a comic dealer is ..... Like passing a camel through the eye of a needle. With two humps!

 

Happy birthday!

[01TheDude]

don't you get get significantly more monthly from SS if you delay taking your draw as soon as you qualify? I know my dad did this and it was a drastic difference. Might be smart to give that some thought or consult a money manager.