new comics and the people who mangle them

[the blob]

a little bit OT here, but today i watched the devastation as an old lady went through the new comic racks looking for a batman comic for her grandson. taking each one out, gasping at the price, and shoving it back on the rack, making sure to fully mangle each and every one.

 

ultimately the owner showed her the "younger readers" batman comic comics (which are always mangled anyway, of course) and that seemed good enough

 

I was very tempted to point her to the 50 cent bin where I'm sure there are some early 90s batmans, but a 70 year old lady crawling around looking through the bin would have been unseemly

 

with new comics being $2.50 - $4.00+, and many shops being happy to give you a bag and board with each purchase of a new comic at full retail, why not just have them bagged and boarded on the rack, maybe leave one out there to get mangled and looked at?

 

at full retail, i want a 9.4 - 9.8 copy even if i have no intention of ever slabbing or even selling in the next 20 years

[deathlok]

[kiltman]

My LCS has signs all around the comics telling people how to handle them

 

He has a beeper at the entrance so that whenever anyone comes in he can keep his beady eyes on how people handle them.

[(un)cooldude]

My LCS has signs all around the comics telling people how to handle them

 

He has a beeper at the entrance so that whenever anyone comes in he can keep his beady eyes on how people handle them.

 

Ha!

 

Are you sure you and I don't frequent the same comic shop? *laughs*

[Ares]

a little bit OT here, but today i watched the devastation as an old lady went through the new comic racks looking for a batman comic for her grandson. taking each one out, gasping at the price, and shoving it back on the rack, making sure to fully mangle each and every one.

 

ultimately the owner showed her the "younger readers" batman comic comics (which are always mangled anyway, of course) and that seemed good enough

 

I was very tempted to point her to the 50 cent bin where I'm sure there are some early 90s batmans, but a 70 year old lady crawling around looking through the bin would have been unseemly

 

with new comics being $2.50 - $4.00+, and many shops being happy to give you a bag and board with each purchase of a new comic at full retail, why not just have them bagged and boarded on the rack, maybe leave one out there to get mangled and looked at?

 

at full retail, i want a 9.4 - 9.8 copy even if i have no intention of ever slabbing or even selling in the next 20 years

 

Totally agree. I go to one store where all the news books are bagged and boarded before they are put on the shelves. Much easier to find books in good condition

[uclapeterg]

a little bit OT here, but today i watched the devastation as an old lady went through the new comic racks looking for a batman comic for her grandson. taking each one out, gasping at the price, and shoving it back on the rack, making sure to fully mangle each and every one.

 

ultimately the owner showed her the "younger readers" batman comic comics (which are always mangled anyway, of course) and that seemed good enough

 

I was very tempted to point her to the 50 cent bin where I'm sure there are some early 90s batmans, but a 70 year old lady crawling around looking through the bin would have been unseemly

 

with new comics being $2.50 - $4.00+, and many shops being happy to give you a bag and board with each purchase of a new comic at full retail, why not just have them bagged and boarded on the rack, maybe leave one out there to get mangled and looked at?

 

at full retail, i want a 9.4 - 9.8 copy even if i have no intention of ever slabbing or even selling in the next 20 years

 

a lot of stores do this. They leave one "reading copy" and the rest are bagged and boarded.

[SignatureSelect]

THe shop I go to I get there when the comics come in and pick them as they are coming out of the box and bag and board them right there

[Smokinghawk]

A store in my hometown of Huntsville, AL does a nice job of this, but here in Oklahoma City the comic shops just set them on the shelves.

[SteveLRoberts5]

I totally agree. I went to Border's Books that have a small stash of new comics. While I was there, some guy was bending the books. I suggested that he not do that. I guess some people don't see the value in a good looking book :-(

[jimm94]

At the shop I used to buy moderns from, the employees caused more damage to the books than the customers.

[Hobgoblin]

A store in my hometown of Huntsville, AL does a nice job of this, but here in Oklahoma City the comic shops just set them on the shelves.

 

Hawk, I had no idea anyone else here besides DiceX lives in OK. (I hope that I didn't give away a big secret there, Dice). Also kind of funny that I will be moving to your homestate in a month.

 

Here in Stillwater, THE comic shop in town bags every new comic, which is nice. Back where I grew up, all the shops just put them directly on the racks/shelves. It's nice not having to buy bags for my new books.

[Hobgoblin]

Speaking of damaged books, did anyone else's LCS get in a bad shipment of Spider-Man: Breakout #3? Every issue seemed to have the "Marvel spine crease" ten times worse than normal.

[SignatureSelect]

Alot of marvel books are getting that crease lately

[SignatureSelect]

It is really starting to upset me because I collect marvel more than I do DC but lately marvel titles are struggling and they arrive in poor condition

[Hobgoblin]

It is really starting to upset me because I collect marvel more than I do DC but lately marvel titles are struggling and they arrive in poor condition

 

Yeah, luckily the Ultimate books don't have the crease. But then again, you can't read Ultimate books and expect them to not break down the spine

[Zanarkand]

Wow you guys. I have been a collector for 20 years, lived in three states during that time, and patronized regularly at least a dozen comic shops over the same time period. I have never bought a modern that came pre-bagged & boarded. Not once. Who does that? The Beverly Hills LCS?

[drice6900]

Wow you guys. I have been a collector for 20 years, lived in three states during that time, and patronized regularly at least a dozen comic shops over the same time period. I have never bought a modern that came pre-bagged & boarded. Not once. Who does that? The Beverly Hills LCS?

 

Most of the shops I frequent don't do it unless they are variants/valuable issues. They do offer to bag and board when you bring your selections to the register, for a small fee (25 cents or so).

[Hobgoblin]

Must be a midwestern thing?

[jimm94]

I caught a bad case of the modern bug yesterday, so I went to one of the local shops and picked up over $100 worth of comics (which did include a few TPB's). I was able to find a very nice copy of every book. I didn't cherrypick through all copies, but I found ones I was happy with. If I'm paying $2.50 - $3.00 per copy, I want nice books!

 

The girl at the register put two creases in the spine of almost every single copy because she grabbed each book by the spine when she scanned them.

 

I hate being a mint freak for moderns. I didn't say anything, but it makes me feel like such a jerk.

[Hobgoblin]

I caught a bad case of the modern bug yesterday, so I went to one of the local shops and picked up over $100 worth of comics (which did include a few TPB's). I was able to find a very nice copy of every book. I didn't cherrypick through all copies, but I found ones I was happy with. If I'm paying $2.50 - $3.00 per copy, I want nice books!

 

The girl at the register put two creases in the spine of almost every single copy because she grabbed each book by the spine when she scanned them.

 

I hate being a mint freak for moderns. I didn't say anything, but it makes me feel like such a jerk.

 

A girl working at a comic shop That is something I have yet to see. But that girl needs to learn that people don't want bent comics. Someone needs to teach her how to handle them. I probably wouldn't have said anything either, but I'm sure there are plenty of forumites who would have, so I don't think you're that much of a mint freak.