This week in your collection? 50 50

[Shinwar]

New Comic Book Day pick-ups!

[manetteska]

On 5/24/2022 at 9:01 PM, Jesse-Lee said:

I had the day off today, so I finally did something I wanted to do for a while - I mapped out a route to a few stores that are relatively nearby but that I still hadn't been to. My goal for the day was to spend a leisurely day bumming around, checking out stores and digging in cheap back issue boxes to see if I could find any cool stuff - and that's exactly what I did. I wasn't after big key purchases, I was looking to "dollar dive" (although it's more like "$5-dollar dive" these days).

I went to some great shops and met some really cool owners (shout out to James at Kowabunga Comics!), and while I had an unfortunate exchange with one shop owner, it didn't put a damper on what was a really fun day.

The trip was 147 miles round-trip and I spent $146.75, so that was kind of cool too. Here's what I got:

What happened?

I haven't been to Kowabunga but I did a quick tour of some Milwaukee shops when I was in the area for a concert.

[Jesse-Lee]

On 5/25/2022 at 11:44 AM, manetteska said:

What happened?

I haven't been to Kowabunga but I did a quick tour of some Milwaukee shops when I was in the area for a concert.

Kowabunga is awesome, I can't believe I'd never been there! If you're ever in the area, it's not a far drive out to Oconomowoc (the city where Kowabunga is), and that shop is definitely a destination. Tons of comics, store exclusives, and they had a ton of other collectibles as well, like Pops, toys, etc. Everything is really well organized and they're super helpful there.

As for the incident at one of the other shops I went to, it was strange - sorry, here comes a long story.

I was the only one in the store, and I was having a nice chat with the owner while I was digging in the bins. I had pulled a couple of books, including an X-men 244 newsstand - 1st Jubilee - marked $16 (but the owner said he gives 25% off any books over $11, so it would be a $12 book); and a Teen Titans 20 - 1st Crush - marked at cover price - $4.

So as I'm digging, the owner says, "let me do a quick lookup on the ones you have there, just to make sure they haven't gone up crazy recently." Now for me, that's the cutoff for me ever going back to a store. But obviously in the moment I said "sure, here you go," and handed him the books. His store, his rules.

He looks up the Teen Titans, and yells over to me, "Well, I'm sure you know this is the first appearance of Crush and it's a $20 book."

First of all, of course I knew it's the first Crush, that's why I pulled it. Second, I didn't think it was a $20 book (and it isn't - I looked it up myself after and it usually sells for between $9-13).

I said, "oh yeah? I guess I'll pass on that then." To which he goes off on a rant. He says "I've been starting to look stuff up the past couple of months because everyone comes in here trying to 'screw' me (except he used a non-CGC-board-friendly word in place of 'screw')." He goes on to say, "I'm an honest person, and it seems like everyone else wants to be dishonest. How would you feel if you were selling something, and someone bought it for $4 and you found out it was worth $20? You'd be p-o'ed."

I told him, "I'm not trying to F you, I just went through and found stuff I wanted based on what your price was." He said that's being dishonest and looking to screw him over if I know that something is worth more than the list price.

I disagree on that point - I'm not his employee; it's not up to me to pull books that he can then reprice. I mean, it's his prerogative to do that - it's his shop - but that's the last time I'd set foot in there. The other point is - if he had a book marked $40 and I bought it, and then found out that it actually usually sells for $20, can I get the difference back? The answer to that is no.

So at this point he's turning red and I'm feeling my calm start to slip, so I say, "I guess I'll just take these two then." I had the X-men 244 and a $4 Wolverine run filler (which incidentally should have been a $1 or $2 bin book, but whatever.). He rang me up for $16, I told him to have a nice day, and I left, never to return. So he lost a repeat customer over what amounted to a $10 book he could have sold for $4. And he sold me a $30-40 book for $12, which is weird because he looked that one up too.

As a counter-point, I was at another shop that had some unsorted bins and found a couple of decent books. When I went to checkout, the owner said, "nice finds! This one's worth at least $15 - we like to throw some goodies in there to keep people interested." I guarantee I'll take my money back there for both smaller and larger purchases in the future.

Edited May 25, 2022 by Jesse-Lee

[KvSfan]

On 5/25/2022 at 12:16 PM, Jesse-Lee said:

Kowabunga is awesome, I can't believe I'd never been there! If you're ever in the area, it's not a far drive out to Oconomowoc (the city where Kowabunga is), and that shop is definitely a destination. Tons of comics, store exclusives, and they had a ton of other collectibles as well, like Pops, toys, etc. Everything is really well organized and they're super helpful there.

 

Thanks for the kind words! It was great to meet someone off the boards. 

[Jesse-Lee]

On 5/25/2022 at 1:17 PM, KvSfan said:

Thanks for the kind words! It was great to meet someone off the boards. 

Thank you! Awesome shop, I'll definitely be back (hopefully this Saturday for the sale)!

[manetteska]

On 5/25/2022 at 12:16 PM, Jesse-Lee said:

Kowabunga is awesome, I can't believe I'd never been there! If you're ever in the area, it's not a far drive out to Oconomowoc (the city where Kowabunga is), and that shop is definitely a destination. Tons of comics, store exclusives, and they had a ton of other collectibles as well, like Pops, toys, etc. Everything is really well organized and they're super helpful there.

As for the incident at one of the other shops I went to, it was strange - sorry, here comes a long story.

I was the only one in the store, and I was having a nice chat with the owner while I was digging in the bins. I had pulled a couple of books, including an X-men 244 newsstand - 1st Jubilee - marked $16 (but the owner said he gives 25% off any books over $11, so it would be a $12 book); and a Teen Titans 20 - 1st Crush - marked at cover price - $4.

So as I'm digging, the owner says, "let me do a quick lookup on the ones you have there, just to make sure they haven't gone up crazy recently." Now for me, that's the cutoff for me ever going back to a store. But obviously in the moment I said "sure, here you go," and handed him the books. His store, his rules.

He looks up the Teen Titans, and yells over to me, "Well, I'm sure you know this is the first appearance of Crush and it's a $20 book."

First of all, of course I knew it's the first Crush, that's why I pulled it. Second, I didn't think it was a $20 book (and it isn't - I looked it up myself after and it usually sells for between $9-13).

I said, "oh yeah? I guess I'll pass on that then." To which he goes off on a rant. He says "I've been starting to look stuff up the past couple of months because everyone comes in here trying to 'screw' me (except he used a non-CGC-board-friendly word in place of 'screw')." He goes on to say, "I'm an honest person, and it seems like everyone else wants to be dishonest. How would you feel if you were selling something, and someone bought it for $4 and you found out it was worth $20? You'd be p-o'ed."

I told him, "I'm not trying to F you, I just went through and found stuff I wanted based on what your price was." He said that's being dishonest and looking to screw him over if I know that something is worth more than the list price.

I disagree on that point - I'm not his employee; it's not up to me to pull books that he can then reprice. I mean, it's his prerogative to do that - it's his shop - but that's the last time I'd set foot in there. The other point is - if he had a book marked $40 and I bought it, and then found out that it actually usually sells for $20, can I get the difference back? The answer to that is no.

So at this point he's turning red and I'm feeling my calm start to slip, so I say, "I guess I'll just take these two then." I had the X-men 244 and a $4 Wolverine run filler (which incidentally should have been a $1 or $2 bin book, but whatever.). He rang me up for $16, I told him to have a nice day, and I left, never to return. So he lost a repeat customer over what amounted to a $10 book he could have sold for $4. And he sold me a $30-40 book for $12, which is weird because he looked that one up too.

As a counter-point, I was at another shop that had some unsorted bins and found a couple of decent books. When I went to checkout, the owner said, "nice finds! This one's worth at least $15 - we like to throw some goodies in there to keep people interested." I guarantee I'll take my money back there for both smaller and larger purchases in the future.

Been there, done that. It's one thing (though also a pain) if the store doesn't have a price on anything, but to have a price and then change it is extra slimy.

[KCOComics]

On 5/25/2022 at 1:16 PM, Jesse-Lee said:

Kowabunga is awesome, I can't believe I'd never been there! If you're ever in the area, it's not a far drive out to Oconomowoc (the city where Kowabunga is), and that shop is definitely a destination. Tons of comics, store exclusives, and they had a ton of other collectibles as well, like Pops, toys, etc. Everything is really well organized and they're super helpful there.

As for the incident at one of the other shops I went to, it was strange - sorry, here comes a long story.

I was the only one in the store, and I was having a nice chat with the owner while I was digging in the bins. I had pulled a couple of books, including an X-men 244 newsstand - 1st Jubilee - marked $16 (but the owner said he gives 25% off any books over $11, so it would be a $12 book); and a Teen Titans 20 - 1st Crush - marked at cover price - $4.

So as I'm digging, the owner says, "let me do a quick lookup on the ones you have there, just to make sure they haven't gone up crazy recently." Now for me, that's the cutoff for me ever going back to a store. But obviously in the moment I said "sure, here you go," and handed him the books. His store, his rules.

He looks up the Teen Titans, and yells over to me, "Well, I'm sure you know this is the first appearance of Crush and it's a $20 book."

First of all, of course I knew it's the first Crush, that's why I pulled it. Second, I didn't think it was a $20 book (and it isn't - I looked it up myself after and it usually sells for between $9-13).

I said, "oh yeah? I guess I'll pass on that then." To which he goes off on a rant. He says "I've been starting to look stuff up the past couple of months because everyone comes in here trying to 'screw' me (except he used a non-CGC-board-friendly word in place of 'screw')." He goes on to say, "I'm an honest person, and it seems like everyone else wants to be dishonest. How would you feel if you were selling something, and someone bought it for $4 and you found out it was worth $20? You'd be p-o'ed."

I told him, "I'm not trying to F you, I just went through and found stuff I wanted based on what your price was." He said that's being dishonest and looking to screw him over if I know that something is worth more than the list price.

I disagree on that point - I'm not his employee; it's not up to me to pull books that he can then reprice. I mean, it's his prerogative to do that - it's his shop - but that's the last time I'd set foot in there. The other point is - if he had a book marked $40 and I bought it, and then found out that it actually usually sells for $20, can I get the difference back? The answer to that is no.

So at this point he's turning red and I'm feeling my calm start to slip, so I say, "I guess I'll just take these two then." I had the X-men 244 and a $4 Wolverine run filler (which incidentally should have been a $1 or $2 bin book, but whatever.). He rang me up for $16, I told him to have a nice day, and I left, never to return. So he lost a repeat customer over what amounted to a $10 book he could have sold for $4. And he sold me a $30-40 book for $12, which is weird because he looked that one up too.

As a counter-point, I was at another shop that had some unsorted bins and found a couple of decent books. When I went to checkout, the owner said, "nice finds! This one's worth at least $15 - we like to throw some goodies in there to keep people interested." I guarantee I'll take my money back there for both smaller and larger purchases in the future.

 

You mean you had the audacity to pay the marked price for an item? At a retail establishment?

Sounds pretty dishonest to me! 

[Cat]

This is nothing compared to what you all get, but I got my first CGC slab! Very exciting for me. It's an Amazing Spider-Man (2014) Neal Adams variant cover (the book didn't matter, the next bit did) signed by Neal Adams, and also by Dan Slott, incidentally. 9.8SS. I had a great experience with the seller, who I won't out as I don't have his permission, but I'm stealing his pic, because it's better than anything I can take. I'm thrilled to have an Adams sig, especially after his sad passing. Beautiful cover by Neal, and my slabginity is officially broken. 

[Pitboss]

On 5/26/2022 at 1:35 AM, Cat said:

This is nothing compared to what you all get, but I got my first CGC slab! Very exciting for me. It's an Amazing Spider-Man (2014) Neal Adams variant cover (the book didn't matter, the next bit did) signed by Neal Adams, and also by Dan Slott, incidentally. 9.8SS. I had a great experience with the seller, who I won't out as I don't have his permission, but I'm stealing his pic, because it's better than anything I can take. I'm thrilled to have an Adams sig, especially after his sad passing. Beautiful cover by Neal, and my slabginity is officially broken. 

 

You f'ed now! 

[onlyweaknesskryptonite]

On 5/26/2022 at 2:15 AM, Pitboss said:

You f'ed now! 

after CGC'S announcement that would be most of us.  

[GMcGurty]

I bought about 300 comics from 2010-2021, mostly mini-series like King Thor, lots of Batman, other DC etc + about 30 graphic novels. Just about everything was in NM+ or better shape!(new and unread). All for $175! 

[B2D327]

On 5/26/2022 at 2:35 AM, Cat said:

This is nothing compared to what you all get, but I got my first CGC slab! Very exciting for me. It's an Amazing Spider-Man (2014) Neal Adams variant cover (the book didn't matter, the next bit did) signed by Neal Adams, and also by Dan Slott, incidentally. 9.8SS. I had a great experience with the seller, who I won't out as I don't have his permission, but I'm stealing his pic, because it's better than anything I can take. I'm thrilled to have an Adams sig, especially after his sad passing. Beautiful cover by Neal, and my slabginity is officially broken. 

Congrats 

[Cat]

On 5/27/2022 at 3:02 AM, B2D327 said:

Congrats 

Thanks, mate! 

[ADAMANTIUM]

I finally snagged a copy

Cause why not

 

[D84]

Edited May 26, 2022 by D84

[ADAMANTIUM]

On 5/26/2022 at 4:24 PM, D84 said:

More fun for sure

 

[Terry JSA]

On 5/26/2022 at 5:24 PM, D84 said:

Nice pickup! A classic cover by Bernard Baily! 

[D84]

On 5/26/2022 at 6:05 PM, Terry JSA said:

Nice pickup! A classic cover by Bernard Baily! 

It's my all-time favorite Spectre cover.

[Cat]

On 5/26/2022 at 4:35 PM, Cat said:

This is nothing compared to what you all get, but I got my first CGC slab! Very exciting for me. It's an Amazing Spider-Man (2014) Neal Adams variant cover (the book didn't matter, the next bit did) signed by Neal Adams, and also by Dan Slott, incidentally. 9.8SS. I had a great experience with the seller, who I won't out as I don't have his permission, but I'm stealing his pic, because it's better than anything I can take. I'm thrilled to have an Adams sig, especially after his sad passing. Beautiful cover by Neal, and my slabginity is officially broken. 

Aa I've now got the seller's permission, it was board member @Ares. Terrific to deal with, and an absolutely nice and generous guy. Don't worry Ares, your book is in a good home now! 

Edited May 27, 2022 by Cat

[D84]

I was so excited about the More Fun Comics 65, that I forgot this one.