How have label chasers affected the hobby

[delekkerste]

Let's not kid ourselves. What passes here as "active investing" in comics is really just a glorified euphemism for RETAILING. Buy comics/collections on the cheap, mark up the prices and then try to re-sell them at a profit. That is the very definition of retailing! Buying a company, fixing it up and then taking it public or selling it is completely different. Buying whole companies and then selling them = private equity investing. Buying goods and then selling them = retailing. I'm quite sure that many would-be comic "investors" here would earn a better return on their time and money by just taking a second job or starting a real business or educating themselves to do real investing or learning a new skill or trade on the side. They may not be as enjoyable, but the prevailing mentality here seems to be "I like comics, thus I have a God-given right to profit handsomely from them". No wonder the hobby is so ed up these days.

[Aman619]

so Joe, why was your name here COMIC INVESTOR if you now say you never invested in comics (except for 2 issues way back when?

[joe_collector]

I've explained it a few times already, but basically it was because that URL was available and none of the others I tried were. It was also pre-CGC, so the term didn't have quite the same punch as it does now.

[Aman619]

well. it does emphasize comic INVESTING. Seems pretty obvious that if (even then) INVESTing in comics was the furthest thing from your mind (except for the 2 books you mentioed earlier today) that you would never have chosen that name. COMIC-anything would have been better considering how you now claim to have always been (except for those 2 books) 180 degrees from INVESTing in comics.

 

I only point this out because aside from the bombasticness of your posts, and the silly name calling ( etc) you seem perfectly comfortable about stating anything you care to at the moment, regardless of the inconsistency of your statements over the long haul.

 

And aside from the condescending tone you use, THIS inconsistency is your biggest impediment to anyone taking you seriouslu around here. I say this of course knowing you dont really care what any of us think of you.....you have just posted 11136 times solely for kicks over the last 3 years...

 

know what I mean bubbela?

[joe_collector]

well. it does emphasize comic INVESTING. Seems pretty obvious that if (even then) INVESTing in comics was the furthest thing from your mind (except for the 2 books you mentioed earlier today) that you would never have chosen that name.

 

Wow, it's amazing how you know more of my own motivations than I do. Now the only question is how you can squeeze your head through doors.

 

When I got back into comics circa 1998 or so, EBay was a very exciting way to buy comic books, and I wanted the site to have that sort of emphasis; what comics were selling for on EBay, good buys, trends, etc. If you ever went to the site, that was pretty obvious.

 

I must have typed in hundreds of "comicbuyer.com/comicvalues.com/etc." and came up with nada. There are virtually no good comicxxx.com names left so when I saw comicinvestor.com was available, I nabbed it.

 

Read whatever you want into that, them's the facts.

[krazykat-migration]

This whole thing is just a giant mess...and I'm not sure CGC will be able to clean it all up this late in the game. The only thing keeping it all from crashing down is the fact that the majority of collectors/investors are unaware. I read it time & time again on these boards that " the majority of collectors don't care ", and how " overblown these issues are on these boards ".

 

It's only a matter of time before NDP & SCS become 'common knowledge', and the multiples being paid for CGC 9.8s over 9.6s disappear. How many 9.8s or better do you think have suffered from post-slabbing damage? How many 9.6/9.8s were once 9.0/9.2s?

 

Even if you were to set all of the above aside....it has been well documented on these boards that grades can fluctuate +/- .2 upon resubmission.

 

Call it a 'game'.....call it a 'gamble', but once the RISK becomes publicly identified....it's over. Just my opinion of course.....