What is your personal story about buying or selling comics that PROVES you're insane? 4 4

[oakman29]

CRAZY? I'll tell you crazy. 

I sold my Incredible Hulk #1 to pay for my daughters wedding on the Queen Mary. Sheesh! I am an I d i o t.

[kav]

50 minutes ago, oakman29 said:

CRAZY? I'll tell you crazy. 

I sold my Incredible Hulk #1 to pay for my daughters wedding on the Queen Mary. Sheesh! I am an I d i o t.

NO!

[kav]

A super soldier would never do this.  He'd have the wedding on a battlefield, after a victory!

[Buzzetta]

Whoever did this tonight... please come forward and discuss. 

 

[astrometric]

On 8/3/2017 at 10:04 AM, FlyingDonut said:

- on something that I will look at for five minutes and put into a long box with its brothers and sisters, never to be seen again. If that's not the definition of insanity, I don't know what is.

Yes I realize above is from 2017 but this is the best stated part because it's so true. And if you have competitive registry syndrome, it takes it to a whole different level vs. just completion syndrome. (Cheers BTW on that FF run; that is a most challenging run in that caliber grade.) 

[FlyingDonut]

4 minutes ago, astrometric said:

Yes I realize above is from 2017 but this is the best stated part because it's so true. And if you have competitive registry syndrome, it takes it to a whole different level vs. just completion syndrome. (Cheers BTW on that FF run; that is a most challenging run in that caliber grade.) 

I am crazy, that's true.

[kav]

14 minutes ago, Buzzetta said:

Whoever did this tonight... please come forward and discuss. 

 

[James J Johnson]

3 hours ago, oakman29 said:

CRAZY? I'll tell you crazy. 

I sold my Incredible Hulk #1 to pay for my daughters wedding on the Queen Mary. Sheesh! I am an I d i o t.

 

[NoMan]

I buy comics and then become bored with the hobby.

I become interested again and buy them all again, often times forgetting where they are in boxes cause I'm too bored to search and find what I have

[october]

14 hours ago, Buzzetta said:

Whoever did this tonight... please come forward and discuss. 

 

It's a newsstand. It's actually right in line with other sales, though people might find that hard to believe.  

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Amazing-Spider-Man-300-CGC-5-5-White-Pages-NEWSSTAND-1st-Full-Venom/114387378864?hash=item1aa204e2b0:g:I7wAAOSwFNhfTsQj

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1988-MARVEL-COMICS-AMAZING-SPIDER-MAN-300-PGX-7-0-RARE-NEWSSTAND-EDITION-CGC/233693434739?hash=item366936d373:g:0RsAAOSwRnVfRuxx

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Marvel-Amazing-Spider-Man-300-Newsstand-CGC-5-0-Venom-First-Appearance/124276053774?hash=item1cef6e170e:g:V2EAAOSwsuBfH6ck

 

[KCOComics]

Back to the OP question, I've got a couple of good ones. 

In 2016 or 2017 New England comics bought a big collection with all the big SA keys and priced them to sell. I pictured black Friday style mobs of people fighting to get their hands on X1, TOS39, DD1 and FF1.  

So I drove down at 2am and slept in my car until they opened at 10am. There were no lines, no mobs, no fighting. At about 7:30 or 8am Bechara Maalouf, the owner of Nostaglic investments (original art dealer) showed up and we talked outside for about 2 hours.  I went home with Xmen 1

[F For Fake]

I'm sure I've told this story, but what the heck. A friend of mine sent me a listing to an estate sale that had a picture of a box of comics, and on top was a copy of Avengers 4 and Tales of Suspense 52 The sale was supposed to open at 9. From past experience with this particular Estate company,  I knew that people usually showed up a couple of hours early to line up, and then they'd give out numbers so you could hold your spot in line and come back at 9. I messaged the sellers to ask what time they thought I should arrive in order to line up, and they told me they'd had a lot of inquiries about the comics, so I'd probably want to get there early, like 5:30 or 6. Well, I decided no one was going to beat me to that Avengers 4, so I got up at 3:30 am, and got to the house just a little before 4. It was a muggy, humid summer morning, pitch black in a residential suburban neighborhood, and I felt like a creep walking around trying to find the front door to the place, when I hear "Hey, good morning!" And sure, enough, even though I got there at 4am, someone else had gotten there at 3!!! So I ended up talking to the guy, I mean, what else was I going to do for 6 hours sitting on the porch of a house? He was a totally nice kid, I'd say very early 20's, and he was interested in the comics, but just generally. He didn't know anything about them, he just liked to buy stuff to sell. So he was interested in comics, toys, whatever else he could find. So, I laid my cards on the table, I told him I was specifically looking for those two books, and I told him why. Didn't see the need to lie to the kid. He said he didn't really care about those in particular, he was just going to buy whatever he found. So, we agreed that we'd work together to find the comics, and we'd work something out. 

Other folks started showing up around 6, and were angry that we'd been there so early and had beaten them to the punch. But the thing is, being first in line doesn't mean you're going to be the first to find what yo uwant. Once the doors open, it's still a mad dash. However, I knew from experience that comics considered "valuable" were usually kept at the front register. So, when the doors opened, I went in with my new buddy. He was immediately drawn to a big box of comics on the floor, whereas I went straight to the register and picked up the Avengers 4 and ToS. I brought the rest of the stack back to him. The box he'd gone through was mostly beaten to death Archies and Dell's, along with some National Geographics and stuff like that. I showed him that I got the two books I wanted, and I handed him the rest of the stack to see if he wanted them. There were some early Spidey's, 11 and 13 I think, a DD 4, and some DC SA books, like the Superman/Flash race, etc. I could have bought them all since I'd gotten to them first, but  I kept my end of the deal. He was tickled to have them, and I was pleased that I'd gotten the books I wanted. I paid $125 for the Avengers 4 and $40 for the ToS 52. The Av4 is around a 2.5 and the ToS is about 3.5-4. They're two of my favorite books in the collection just because of that whole weird morning.

The weird epilogue is that after my new friend bought those comics, he'd left them with the checkout folks to go look at toys and stuff. When came back, someone had stolen the comics. It took him some time, but he eventually tracked down a couple of guys who run a antique store, who admitted to "accidentally" picking them up. He got the books back, so, happy ending, but man, there are a lot of vultures out there.

[Buzzetta]

57 minutes ago, october said:

It's a newsstand. It's actually right in line with other sales, though people might find that hard to believe.  

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Amazing-Spider-Man-300-CGC-5-5-White-Pages-NEWSSTAND-1st-Full-Venom/114387378864?hash=item1aa204e2b0:g:I7wAAOSwFNhfTsQj

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1988-MARVEL-COMICS-AMAZING-SPIDER-MAN-300-PGX-7-0-RARE-NEWSSTAND-EDITION-CGC/233693434739?hash=item366936d373:g:0RsAAOSwRnVfRuxx

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Marvel-Amazing-Spider-Man-300-Newsstand-CGC-5-0-Venom-First-Appearance/124276053774?hash=item1cef6e170e:g:V2EAAOSwsuBfH6ck

 

I have 1 graded and four raw copies of the book... I am pretty sure I have a newsstand copy or two.

I sincerely believe the book is highly overrated be it newsstand or direct.  If people honestly want to pay that much, I will consider sending a few down in my next submission and put them out there at an obscene price. 

[fmaz]

I found it odd when I just got notification of some likes on a post I started from 2017. LOL.  But this is a a great post to revive... these are all timeless stories to share of how nuts we all are.  Glad to see it going again! 

[Buzzetta]

2 minutes ago, fmaz said:

I found it odd when I just got notification of some likes on a post I started from 2017. LOL.  But this is a a great post to revive... these are all timeless stories to share of how nuts we all are.  Glad to see it going again! 

I just took you back to February 21st, 2014. 

[littledoom]

15 minutes ago, fmaz said:

I found it odd when I just got notification of some likes on a post I started from 2017. LOL.  But this is a a great post to revive... these are all timeless stories to share of how nuts we all are.  Glad to see it going again! 

[Robot Man]

Yeah, Estate Sales in my area are VERY compettive and tough. I look every week but pass on most.

A few weeks ago I saw one that was literally 10 minutes from my house. Was 3 generations of families in the house. The latest residents were in their 60's. The place was packed! Lots of vintage stuff. In the pictures I spotted some early baseball stuff, a couple nice bakelite radios and a few nice super early political items. No comics. Decided to give it a try.

Sale started at 8:00 AM. Got up and was there by 5:00. They said no lists and people had to be physically in line. There was one lady standing there. . Got out of my car and heard a voice in the dark. It was a friend of mine's wife. We started talking and she told me I was number 9. Huh? Where's the line? People were in their cars. OK, number 9 when they usually let in 10 I was cool I thought. I was talking to Kelly and asked what she wanted. She wanted the toys. Well, the toys looked pretty crappy to me. '70's character stuff I didn't want. She told me she was #2, was with a friend and they got there at midnight. The #1 was a girl who drove about 70 miles, wanted vintage clothes and had gotton there at 10:30 the night before!

I had figured out the layout of the house by the pictures and told Kelly where the stuff we both wanted was. Right next to each other. She agreed to grab three of the things I wanted as she grabbed her stuff if she made it in first. We talked and soon it was 8:00. I went back to my place in line. Everybody filed in as the lady counted the people. Just as I was about to step in, the door closed in my face! Apparently Kelly AND her friend and another couple couple counted to 10. I was #11...

The woman running it explaned it to me so I had to stand there until someone left. That was it. The first 10 people in always snag everything good. After an agonizing half an hour someone left and I got in. I ran into Kelly and she had two of the 3 things I really wanted. I had missed out on a beautiful tin litho Taft metal plate from 1908. Probably what I wanted the most. I frantically looked around and there were the two 1940's colorful vintage radios still sitting there priced $50. each. I couldn't believe they were still there. I grabbed them and went through the house. Pretty much nothing good left. One of the bedrooms had tons of paper. Including a small pile of 12 cent comics which turned out to be low grade stinkers. I did grab several 1940's radio premium character paper items and a nice Mickey Mantle baseball bat. Somebody got a large pile of 1940's Vargas pinup calendars but don't think I missed much.

All in all, I was happy and real lucky to have a friend in line ahead of me. Sometimes it helps to have a lot of knowledge and to be open minded. I rarely go to these sales. Just can't stand the frantic pushing and shoving. Only one other time in my life it was worth it and I scored. Usually, getting up early doesn't matter and it is rarely worth it.

I know several estate sale people. They often call me in first when they get stuff I want. These things are real shifty and political. But once in a while...

 

[Robot Man]

Annother estate sale find many years ago.

My wife saw this listing. Turns out this house was on my way to work. Started at 9:00. Got there at 6:30. There was a decent line. I walked up to the front and started talking to a guy who was #1. Turned out he was there for the comics too. Well, that's the end of that...

Guy was real cool and friendly though. Being collectors, we had a good talk. He finally said, he was only there for the Superman, Batman and The Green Hornet. He didn't want the rest. He suggested I just walk in with him and he would hand me the rest of the pile! OK, sounds good to me.

We walked in and he went right to where you pay and the comics were in a glass case priced from $5-$10. each. He indeed took the 3 he wanted, paid and left after me thanking him so much for his kindness.

I started talking to the seller and he reaches under the table and pulled out another small stack that wasn't out. My eyes bugged out. Best one was a Detective Joker cover. I think I threw back the Looney Tunes and a couple carpy Dells and bought the rest. Man, I just NEVER see GA at these sales. Got to work about an hour late, slipped in and put them in my drawer.

Here is the picture from the estate sale listing.

[Robot Man]

I have many finds over the years. How about just one more?

I wife sells antiques and one of her venues is an online "antique store". I occasionaly, put some of my stuff in there and sell via the mail.

One guy that buys stuff every so often from me contacted me once since he knew I collected comics. Told me he had "located" a small pile of older ones and would I be interested. We talked and since he lives about a half an hour away we agreed to meet half way in a mall parking lot. I told him what I looked like and what my car was. I asked him the same and he simply said, I would know who he was. Whaaa?

We agreed to meet at 9:00 pm because he "worked nights". So, I show up at the time we agreed in pretty much a deserted parking lot. I sat there for about 20 minutes then a police car pulled up next to me! Oh, boy, I was about to get rousted.

One of the officers asked me my name and when I told him, he extended his hand and said who he was. I was a little surprised to say the least. He kind of warmed up and I said this seemed kind of like a dope deal. He smiled and opened his trunk. These were in a paper bag. I asked him how much and he said a hundred bucks. I said sure and paid him, took them and away he went.

Got his phone number and we have dealt several times since. Mostly, me selling him stuff. I did get a beautiful Rickenbacker electric guitar from him about a year later.

 

[ft88]

I had set up a meeting over lunch so I left work in my business casual long pants and collard shirt.  Head to to Eastern MD and start to realize it's a trailer park city.  As I pull in to the double wide on blocks I notice the guy who called me is out side and is waving at me - so I have the right "house".  He's about 50 years old thinning hair and a bit out of shape.  How do I know he's out of shape?  Because he's not wearing a shirt or shoes and is pasty white.  He looks like the guy in Robocop who gets run over by the van and totally disintegrates.  So into the double wide we go.

It's hot.  Did I mention it was July, and we're in an unconditioned trailer at 1 pm.  I'm instantly sweating.  I'm just thinking how fast I can make this deal happen.  Stack of comics is 1970s which were good but not great.  But what sold the deal were the 40+ Mint of Card Micronaut figures.  A couple other 70s toys and a few Megos topped it.  I think I paid $400 for everything and got the hell out of there just dripping in sweat.  Dude never had his shirt on the whole time.  It took the 40 min drive of A/C to dry out my shirt.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Second story is pretty good by not as funny.  Craigslist ad.  Guys father dealt in comics off and on and had sold off all the keys.  But the dad had died so he had about 30 long boxes or so.  Some really nice 1950s War Atlas and War books.  A group of high grade 1940s but no real keys.  But also there were 50 copies each of Eternals 1 and 2 (I bought these just a few months before the movie announcement, so I priced them at maybe $2 each.)  There was a long box of Howard the Duck 5 and a short box of Amazing Adventures 31.  So some really random stuff.  

Here's the group pic of the Eternals 1 along with the other 30 cent variants.  Atlas War books are in little mini piles.  About 100 total of them.  

I think I sold about 5 copies of the #1 for $10 or so and then the rest averaged about $100 each once the movie news came out.  Most were in the 7-8.0 range so likely 2 to 3 times that now.  

The deal was fun-crazy but the timing of the movie news and having just a s#$^ ton of #1 and a variant to boot made the whole deal pretty memorable.

 

 

 

Edited September 29, 2020 by ft88