The growing dilemma, where best to buy comics? 4 4

[Badger]

18 hours ago, Cat-Man_America said:

Earlier in the thread a passing mention of the corona virus and convention attendance was made,  While at present, the degree of outbreak and severity is uncertain, the potential threat of this highly contagious virus should be taken seriously.  

Fans used to joke about coming down with “con-grunge” ...usually a flu bug or severe cold... upon returning home from a big show.  The conventional wisdom has been that the risks of getting mildly ill were par for the course.  This time things may be different as the risks the corona virus poses for older folks, appear to be much greater.

Public gatherings at larger shows certainly pose added risk especially if this virus spreads to pandemic proportions as medical experts are predicting.  While this obviously wouldn’t pose a direct threat to on-line auction and virtual store sales, I’d think long term travel planning to big ticket shows like SDCC, NYCC, Chicago, Baltimore and others may take a serious hit.  

Since high anticipated attendance shows require advance logistical planning, ticket acquisition, hotel reservations, etc. (some of which is non-refundable) I wonder if collectors aren’t already adjusting their travel schedules.

Barring a major downturn in the collectors market rivaling the DOW, the obvious beneficiaries of reduced convention attendance would seem to be HA, CC, CLink, MyComicShop, eBay and other on-line dealers and bidding services.

Thoughts on this?

I'm still going to Oafcon this year! 

[Robot Man]

1 hour ago, Mmehdy said:

As our climate turns to summer..and in especially the  warmer areas of the Country look for this virus to slow down and go to the path of least resistance where its winter in a different location. Wonder Con to me is a big "IF" but SDCC in the middle of summer should be unaffected in sunny San Diego. I think all internet businesses will pick up the economic slack and watch for increased sales thru E-Bay, Auctions houses, and retailers with good web-sites. We will be fine.

I’m still on the fence about WonderCon. Never thought I’d say that. The virus is is a concern of course. But the fact it is on Easter weekend again and the fact that 3 of my favorite dealers at least, will be no shows is also a big consideration. I go to buy vintage comics. Without that, not a whole lot of reason to possibly get sick again. 

I have not bought my tickets and might wait until they post their exhibitors list. 

[Badger]

1 hour ago, Robot Man said:

I’m still on the fence about WonderCon. Never thought I’d say that. The virus is is a concern of course. But the fact it is on Easter weekend again and the fact that 3 of my favorite dealers at least, will be no shows is also a big consideration. I go to buy vintage comics. Without that, not a whole lot of reason to possibly get sick again. 

I have not bought my tickets and might wait until they post their exhibitors list. 

That's cool that they post their exhibitors list. No one in my area posts theirs and I've now decided I am not wasting my time going to any of the local cons because I just don't know who will be there. There is really no excuse not to post your list unless you are trying to hide the fact that out of 50 vendors there will only be 2 light weight comics dealers, a strip club, State Farm, and a mobile tattoo parlor.

Edited March 2, 2020 by Badger

[fifties]

On 2/28/2020 at 6:17 AM, Sauce Dog said:

Other than the boards here, I honestly find Instagram to be the best place to find comics of any era - and once connections are made there with the sellers it is very easy to put out the word when looking for a specific book. Met lots of local golden age collectors because of it, and have been able to do many more trades and cheaper transactions. I'll buy from eBay occasionally maybe, but never sell on it.

I just joined Instagram, but can't seem to find any sellers.  Everyone simply posts their books.  What is the best way to locate pre code crime and horror sellers?

[Keys_Collector]

7 hours ago, fifties said:

I just joined Instagram, but can't seem to find any sellers.  Everyone simply posts their books.  What is the best way to locate pre code crime and horror sellers?

It will be difficult to pin point specific sellers of PCH and Horror books.  Your best bet is to do a search with #comicsforsale then choose the tab recent and scroll through everything.  You'll find a mix of books there and occasionally some horror books.  You could also follow accounts like dreamtoreal1, streyflexin, tftv_comics as they occasionally list horror books for sale. 

[Dreamtoreal1]

9 hours ago, fifties said:

I just joined Instagram, but can't seem to find any sellers.  Everyone simply posts their books.  What is the best way to locate pre code crime and horror sellers?

Not so much about finding sellers, but follow the hashtags  #goldenagecomics #precodehorror #horrorcomics #igcomicfamily #comicbooksforsale

What's your handle? I will follow you 

 

[Sauce Dog]

4 minutes ago, Dreamtoreal1 said:

Not so much about finding sellers, but follow the hashtags  #goldenagecomics #precodehorror #horrorcomics #igcomicfamily #comicbooksforsale

What's your handle? I will follow you 

 

This right here, after exploring those tags you will start to find collectors to follow that showcase the stuff you are looking for. To add to the list try #comics4sale #igcomics #cgccomicsforsale

I would also start with @elite_comics11 as they are the largest and most trusted seller on there.

[MrBedrock]

On 2/29/2020 at 12:23 PM, batman_fan said:

On 2/27/2020 at 12:25 AM, MrBedrock said:

I am pretty convinced that every collector can get exactly what he or she needs at www.bedrockcity.com, or by visiting Bedrock City the next time you are in Houston.

Phase Plasma Rifle with a 40W range?

Which comic is that?

[MrBedrock]

On 3/2/2020 at 10:21 AM, Mmehdy said:

As our climate turns to summer..and in especially the  warmer areas of the Country look for this virus to slow down and go to the path of least resistance where its winter in a different location. Wonder Con to me is a big "IF" but SDCC in the middle of summer should be unaffected in sunny San Diego. I think all internet businesses will pick up the economic slack and watch for increased sales thru E-Bay, Auctions houses, and retailers with good web-sites. We will be fine.

By that time everyone could already be dead.

[batman_fan]

13 minutes ago, MrBedrock said:

Which comic is that?

 

 

[fifties]

4 hours ago, Dreamtoreal1 said:

Not so much about finding sellers, but follow the hashtags  #goldenagecomics #precodehorror #horrorcomics #igcomicfamily #comicbooksforsale

What's your handle? I will follow you 

 

My handle there is eightracker.  Someone else is following me, even though I haven't posted anything.  What is the purpose of following?

[Keys_Collector]

4 minutes ago, fifties said:

My handle there is eightracker.  Someone else is following me, even though I haven't posted anything.  What is the purpose of following?

The purpose of following someone is to see their posts in your feed when you scroll through your own page.  Some profiles are also private and only allow you to view their page if you follow them.

[Cat-Man_America]

On 3/2/2020 at 10:21 AM, Mmehdy said:

As our climate turns to summer..and in especially the  warmer areas of the Country look for this virus to slow down and go to the path of least resistance where its winter in a different location. Wonder Con to me is a big "IF" but SDCC in the middle of summer should be unaffected in sunny San Diego. I think all internet businesses will pick up the economic slack and watch for increased sales thru E-Bay, Auctions houses, and retailers with good web-sites. We will be fine.

Mitch, I agree with your points about online and auction sales.  Brick & mortar retailers should be able to weather this without too much disruption of service.  

That said, your observations for the spread of this pathogen 🦠 are based on an understanding of seasonal flu exposure.  The corona-virus is a cold virus, which is a totally different “bug”.  It may not behave the same way in warm weather, we just don’t know yet.  

Novel corona is highly contagious with 20 times the statistical death rate of flu.  Based on the known cases thus far reported in the U.S. it may be even higher than 2%.  Also, a viable, fully tested vaccine is at least a year away.  

Those with respiratory issues or who are immune suppressed are considered at highest risk.  Medical professionals are coming down on the side of caution, recommending avoidance of large crowds whenever possible and frequently using hand sanitizers.  

I suspect sporting events will suffer dramatic drops in attendance and if this turns into a worldwide pandemic as predicted it’ll be a game changer (pun intended) for public events like SDCC and NYCC.

I’m not pushing any panic buttons here, just trying to encourage awareness.  We should have thoughtful, serious discussions on the impact this is having on our hobby and how to address it.

[Cat-Man_America]

35 minutes ago, fifties said:

My handle there is eightracker.  Someone else is following me, even though I haven't posted anything.  What is the purpose of following?

It supposedly helps if you’re running for Office.

[Sauce Dog]

58 minutes ago, fifties said:

My handle there is eightracker.  Someone else is following me, even though I haven't posted anything.  What is the purpose of following?

You will get followed by some random accounts, a good chance those are bot scripts running and just auto following whatever accounts they find (hoping you will in turn follow them back, eventually boosting their social following number, at which point they unfollow everyone and sell their account to someone else to use with thousands of followers).

Following means you see those peoples content in your feed, so I like to follow only those sellers & collectors I deal with and want to see the latest offerings from. Even if they don't official 'sell' on Instagram, it is a very open community so just asking if they would accept offers is often fine and you will find many are advertising their comics just for that purpose - fishing for someone to reach out.

[fifties]

38 minutes ago, Sauce Dog said:

You will get followed by some random accounts, a good chance those are bot scripts running and just auto following whatever accounts they find (hoping you will in turn follow them back, eventually boosting their social following number, at which point they unfollow everyone and sell their account to someone else to use with thousands of followers).

Following means you see those peoples content in your feed, so I like to follow only those sellers & collectors I deal with and want to see the latest offerings from. Even if they don't official 'sell' on Instagram, it is a very open community so just asking if they would accept offers is often fine and you will find many are advertising their comics just for that purpose - fishing for someone to reach out.

Is there a way to stop them from following me?

[Mmehdy]

1 hour ago, Cat-Man_America said:

Mitch, I agree with your points about online and auction sales.  Brick & mortar retailers should be able to weather this without too much disruption of service.  

That said, your observations for the spread of this pathogen 🦠 are based on an understanding of seasonal flu exposure.  The corona-virus is a cold virus, which is a totally different “bug”.  It may not behave the same way in warm weather, we just don’t know yet.  

Novel corona is highly contagious with 20 times the statistical death rate of flu.  Based on the known cases thus far reported in the U.S. it may be even higher than 2%.  Also, a viable, fully tested vaccine is at least a year away.  

Those with respiratory issues or who are immune suppressed are considered at highest risk.  Medical professionals are coming down on the side of caution, recommending avoidance of large crowds whenever possible and frequently using hand sanitizers.  

I suspect sporting events will suffer dramatic drops in attendance and if this turns into a worldwide pandemic as predicted it’ll be a game changer (pun intended) for public events like SDCC and NYCC.

I’m not pushing any panic buttons here, just trying to encourage awareness.  We should have thoughtful, serious discussions on the impact this is having on our hobby and how to address it.

Lets hope it is affected by the season, the real question is whether or not it comes back winter time..who knows but I dont see a market correction in GA comics for true comic book collectors...it might go up, down or around but it the TIME you sell that counts.

[Dreamtoreal1]

1 hour ago, fifties said:

Is there a way to stop them from following me?

You can make your account private and then Only people you accept can follow you and see what you post

[Cat-Man_America]

I think we’re going to see stronger business relationships develop between dealers and customer collectors via mail, PMs, and phone negotiations.  Auctions will do well. Also, limited contact businesses like browsing at LCS probably won’t suffer too much disruption.  For many older folks these scenarios may take the place of conventions due to the increased Covid-19 risks, especially if the contagion spreads to pandemic proportions.  In the near term, big group events are likely to be cancelled or rolled back based on the advice of medical professionals.  While I love searching dealer walls for grails and hangin’ with friends at shows, attending crowded events at the risk of bringing home a highly contagious virus isn’t on my bucket list. 

I look forward to traveling to conventions again when the threat diminishes and/or a vaccine is available!

 

 

 

Edited March 8, 2020 by Cat-Man_America

[Cat-Man_America]

On 3/4/2020 at 4:12 PM, Mmehdy said:

Lets hope it is affected by the season, the real question is whether or not it comes back winter time..who knows but I dont see a market correction in GA comics for true comic book collectors...it might go up, down or around but it the TIME you sell that counts.

The comic collecting market probably won't suffer as much, especially GA.  On-line sales and auctions don't require direct personal contact or travel.

It's group interaction that's going to take the biggest hit, at least in the near term.  This'll be a rough ride for large scale events like conventions, sports, celeb signings, etc.