We'll Travel Anywhere To See Any Collection! Yeah Right.

[Illiterati-migration]

One poster stated that if the entire collection was "Dead On Mint" it would only be worth about $6000 retail. This makes me wonder where someone learned math as if you calculated the entire collection via the Overstreet it's almost 20k and that's without the inflated CGC/ebay pricing.(and I have no delusion that it's worth that, I'm just using the posters own statement here which is completely wrong.)

 

Dude, you sell the whole thing for $20,000 then. Good luck. "RETAIL" was the key word there and it's become readily obvious that you have no idea what the comic book market is like these days. You can certainly TRY to sell these books according to strict Overstreet NM prices... and if they ARE in fact NM, you should get about 1/2-3/4 of that "value" IF you're selling it book-by-book (not as a collection) and if you're selling it to individual buyers (not dealers). You yourself have said that a "few" are in NM. I'm guessing that if a "few" of those are NM, then in reality, only a FEW of those few are NM. $6,000 is being generous for common bronze garbage. People know that if your prices are by-the-Overstreet, that someone else will be along five minutes later with muuuuch lower prices (and probably with higher quality books). So, get all bitter and call everyone liars if you want to, you're the one who admits that he's not hip to the scene... if I were you, I might actually defer to people who have experience in the matter.

[arcticbear-migration]

Oh I get it, when it's a dealer talking about traveling anywhere it's just semantics. But someone says Dead on Mint and now that's relative to retail. So what is dead on mint? I take that to be a Mint condition book. And if you're contending that a single 9.9 (that's the mint rating) Hulk 181 is "garbage" than so be it. My point is simple. Even though my collection isn't dead on mint, that statement was erroneous and you know it whether you want to admit it or not. Only a month ago a Hulk 181at 9.8 went for 19 thousand dollars alone. Lower grades are breaking that $2000 mark almost daily which is almost twice what the Overstreet values them at. The point her is that my Bronze age garbage as you call it, has a handful of issues alone that may well (and I suspect will) break that $2000 mark significantly even if the rest winds up just going on a shelf.

 

But let's not use the inflated CGC standard to prove my pointl. Let's just look at hard cold standards. I stated quite accurately that the collection as valued by the Overstreet Guide in nm condition is worth slightly less than $20k. It's published and from what I've been told is the standard for which all this is based. So, care to show me your published standard that supports your claim on this? Or is this just another one of the nebuleous standards only know amongst dealers? And using the same arguement as above, I see examples in the online market where if just the key issues of the collection were sold only in fine or very fine (and I'm reasonably certain my key issues will be a more than that) alone could and will pull significantly more than a couple grand.

 

So what is your real arguement. That I have an issue with conflicting information, or that I just dare to ask a few pertinant questions with regards to the difference between how dealers set prices?

 

I was quoting the parameters the poster set, for which he set a clearly erroneous conclusion that is easy to see examplified by simply going and checking todays prices on ebay. Or is ebay not part of the market? Once again this is just a continuation of a person attack because I happened to challenge a dealers advertising practice.

 

As for me being bitter? Why would I be bitter. I have the books. I'll be sending the key ones in for rating as soon as I figure out some of the requirements for doing it. I'm not the one calling other peoples stuff "garbage" which to me suggests a certain type of comic book elitism I've yet to figure out. I'm just the one that has made some very valid comments and responded to some very erroneous statements. Statements that were made I remind you by some of you "Very Experience" people. Can you really say with a straight face that if someone said they would pay $2000 for a mint grade collection that contains most of the key issues of that age is a credible and honest statement? Now if he'd said that should this be a collection with mostly very fine with some other grade comics that he'd pay that amount, you might have an argueable postion. But the statement that was made is laughable, even to a newbie.

[arcticbear-migration]

Correction to my above statement.

 

I erroneously applied the "dead on mint" statement to the poster that made the coment about being happy to get a like collection for 2k. That poster in fact only stated nm, it was another poster that used the "Dead on Mint" statement for an amount of $6000. I just want to be clear and accurate, however it doesn't change the validity of my arguement one bit. The same circumstances apply.

 

I'm sorry DarthDisel for mis-stating your comment. It was not intentional.

[Illiterati-migration]

But someone says Dead on Mint and now that's relative to retail. So what is dead on mint? I take that to be a Mint condition book. And if you're contending that a single 9.9 (that's the mint rating) Hulk 181 is "garbage" than so be it. My point is simple. Even though my collection isn't dead on mint, that statement was erroneous and you know it whether you want to admit it or not.

 

MY point was that NOBODY is going to pay strict Overstreet prices for common books. Now, the "NOBODY" is hyperbole as apparently there are insufficiently_thoughtful_persons born every minute and the clarification is needed, but I'm sure you see what I'm saying.

 

Can you really say with a straight face that if someone said they would pay $2000 for a mint grade collection that contains most of the key issues of that age is a credible and honest statement?

 

Take it (the collection) to a store. Let me know what they offer you for it. Then we'll see if it's closer to TWO grand or TWENTY grand.

 

And man, get over it. If someone says they will "travel anywhere" to look at books, at NO point does it say "We will travel anywhere to look at ANY books." Tell me how you would have phrased that so it would be clearer for you.

[Illiterati-migration]

I erroneously applied the "dead on mint" statement to the poster that made the coment about being happy to get a like collection for 2k. That poster in fact only stated nm, it was another poster that used the "Dead on Mint" statement for an amount of $6000. I just want to be clear and accurate, however it doesn't change the validity of my arguement one bit. The same circumstances apply.

 

Fine, take it to a dealer and we'll see if it's closer to six grand or twenty. It'll probably still be closer to two.

[FlyingDonut]

I was the poster who said $6000, and I'll stand by that price. RETAIL price is a hell of a lot different from the Overstreet price. Lets assume, just for kicks, that you have NM books, generic NM books.

 

Here's a couple of examples of realized prices from eBay:

 

Astonishing Tales 25-28. Overstreet NM: $76

realized price ( Item # 2165031769 ) for Astonishing Tales 25-28 and 30-36, all high grade, $49.99.

 

Captain America 175, Overstreet VF $11

realized price ( Item # 2166606540) $2.36

 

Chamber of Darkness 4, Overstreet NM $60

realized price for the dreaded "NICE" grade: Item # 2165135753 ) $11.50

 

The point isn't to disparage your collection. It is quite nice. But RETAIL and Guide prices are significantly off at this point, especially for Bronze Age books.

 

And I do have some clue about the market. Just a little. If you can get $20,000 for this collection, I will stand on my head at Wizard World Chicago and whistle Dixie.

[OldGuy]

Most local shops (in Albuq.) wouldn't even make an offer to take anything but the keys (not even for free). They have boxes and boxes of the non-key books that they can't give away, much less make money on. Walk that collection into a store here and the offer would be closer to $1,000 then $2,000 just for the keys (assuming they are 8.0 - 9.4).

[arcticbear-migration]

I think we've established that a dealer isn't going to pay more than what you say. Are you contending that a dealer is the only way your going to be able to sell your comics? I see no evidence of that today.

[drbanner]

I took another look at your list AB, and frankly, if I had all the books on that list in true NM, I could sell just about every single one of them for OVER Overstreet NM guide value, raw, with no problem. The majority of them are 20-cent Marvels that guide for like $10-15 in NM (non-keys)...easily affordable for most collectors, and not-so-easy to find in true NM. I'll buy any of your NM 20-centers for full guide!!

 

Unfortunately, the problem is that for anything below NM-, you're looking at a market value of 25-50% guide (for the grade), maybe closer to guide on the keys. Price spreads on Bronze Age books need to increase drastically, with G/F prices being sliced and diced, and NM prices jumping...

[Illiterati-migration]

I think we've established that a dealer isn't going to pay more than what you say. Are you contending that a dealer is the only way your going to be able to sell your comics? I see no evidence of that today.

 

The dealer aspect was what we were discussing at the time. Obviously I'm not retarded and I know there are many different places to sell your books... and as Donut has shown you, they're just as "lousy" when compared to the Overstreet prices (at least on Ebay... hell, at Cons they'd be even cheaper... or they just wouldn't sell). Good luck.

[arcticbear-migration]

Old Guy, that's a completely coherent and honest evaluation in my opinion. And I don't have delusions otherwise. I also realizing that selling to a dealer at this point is probably not going to be to my advantage, nor is attempting to sell the vast majority of the comics at all.

 

With the possible exception of the main keys, and dependant upon what they actually rate out as, I think I'm inclined to just keep the vast majority, read them and as one person so aptly stated in a different thread, fall in love with them all over again. Then maybe give them to my kids.

 

This whole thing really isn't about what I can or can't sell them for. It's about statements that aren't really 100% true. There's almost an air that the only place you can sell them is through a dealer. Maybe I'm missing something, but it's almost like there's a resentment that there are other alternatives anymore. That's all I'm saying.

[arcticbear-migration]

I appreciate that. The issue is finding someplace or someone to have them rated. CGC would be too expensive for the vast majority, and I need to actually find someone close to where I live to undertake the task so that I and others can get a fair impression of what they are.

 

With that said, it may not be worth having most rated since I'm sure there would be a significanat charge for doing over 850 comic books. My best guess at this point is the vast majority will fall in the Very Fine range, with a few going higher and a couple going lower. But obviously my impression could be good or bad. I'm fairly reserved about trying to rate them as 1. the are mine, and frankly that would not make me an objective grader, and 2. there seems to be many fine points I don't understand. For instance, I've gone through the overstreet grading guide, and it seems to me that many of the scans I've seen say on ebay are not really consistant from my untrained eye. I've seen and compared 9.4 and 9.6 grade Hulk 181's to mine and frankly don't see much difference. In a couple cases I've thought mine had less flaws than the one's that were slabbed. However when I scanned mine it looked like [!@#%^&^]. Nothing like the real comic. In fact most all the scans have come out disappointing. I must be doing something wrong.

[arcticbear-migration]

I never said nor implied that you were retarted

[Illiterati-migration]

I never said nor implied that you were retarted

 

I wasn't worried about it.

[OldGuy]

"I think I'm inclined to just keep the vast majority, read them and as one person so aptly stated in a different thread, fall in love with them all over again. Then maybe give them to my kids."

 

I can't think of anything better then reading them and sharing them with your kids. That sounds like an outstanding idea to me.

 

"There's almost an air that the only place you can sell them is through a dealer."

 

I sure hope I didn't help fuel that notion. If you decide to sell your comics I highly favor the idea of you selling them all on E-bay. Slab the keys and sell the rest in lots (keeping all books of a title together). You will make more money selling them yourself on E-bay then any other way.

 

Good luck with what ever you decide.

[arcticbear-migration]

That's what I'm getting is a sense of what's best. But I think instead I'll slab the keys, and keep the others and pass them down to my kids. Who knows in twenty more years maybe Tomb of Dracula 1 will be selling for mega bucks. . Thanks.

[Darthdiesel]

It's published and from what I've been told is the standard for which all this is based

 

The Overstreet is a guide only; the prices are not set in stone and actual prices realized for comics sold depends on the current flux of market and factoring in: timing, advertising, current supply in similar condition available and others.

 

The point I was trying to make was that if I saw a collection like this and $2000 was the asking price, I'd think it was a good price...not great, but just good. I have spent $2000 in the past week on absolute [!@#%^&^]...I've been amassing a VF/NM bronze collection for almost over $10K in the last year. If you want to realize the guide prices, then get your books slabbed. THe current state of the market WILL NOT be paying close to guide for your slabbed raw books because they are all too common and available in similar or better condition, if not in the local store 5 blocks away, then at the next comic show or con, or online...

$20000 in the guide means nothing really unless yours were the only books available and there was a bustle of activity and demand on those particular books you had in your collection. There are plenty of bronze books that can be had in like or better conditon for less than NM guide.

 

re: Your first point about dealers not coming to see your collection; I still say they are not falsely advertising as they are "willing to travel anywhere if they are going to purchase the collection and (only if that condition is met) because it is something they are interested in.

 

 

[Darthdiesel]

It's published and from what I've been told is the standard for which all this is based

 

No problem - too many posts!!!!

 

I was never knocking your collection. I'm just saying that I almost got one like it, similar in condition and implied I spent more on accumulating that from different sources AND if I had found a collection like yours for sale at $2K , the I would have saved a lot of time and money and jumped all over it.