They're Still Out There! 22 22

[Aman619]

Well, fuzzy as in out of focus? It’s unavoidable on many scanners that focus on the scan bed glass. Cause in a slab the cover is further away. Just run a little unsharp mask. It compares adjacent pixels and increases contrast, which adds sharpness. Just don’t run it more than once! It eliminates any mid tones pushing them all lighter or darker, and gets more and more pixelated 

[Aman619]

1 hour ago, Mmehdy said:

6% apr on annual basis on the remaining balance after your 25% down with one month for free, so it works out to about 5.5  annual if you take the full year on the balances due that month. If you belong to a credit union you might be able to bet a much better rate but, you have nothing to lose you could put down  25% and at the end of the 30 days pay off the balance in full with no interest charge. If you pay with credit card  even if they ding you 2.5% and its interest free balance transfer that could be another way to go. We over 5000 OO GA books, so you have a lot of options available to you.

Here’s the credit card fee. I don’t think it’s waived for Promise books, is it? So paying with a card AND using their time payments offer will add up. 
 

[Mmehdy]

1 minute ago, Aman619 said:

Here’s the credit card fee. I don’t think it’s waived for Promise books, is it? So paying with a card AND using their time payments offer will add up. 
 

I would check with Ha.com..I would suppose if you were buying a large number of books, you be able to get them to adjust that fee, as opposed to buying a single book. I generally pay by E-check which is no fee directly out of my checking account or by check.

[comicdonna]

Heritage  scans have been drastically amped up these days.  This is the same book, and both scans are from Heritage. 

 

[The Lions Den]

17 hours ago, lou_fine said:

Well, not sure if it should be a 9.4 from a strict structural point of view, regardless of the large fugly dust shadow.  

From a structural point of view, I don't really care too much for the off-center wrap as evident by the bottom portion of the spine.  Then again, I don't believe that CGC hits the grade of a book too hard for this type of clear visual defect since I assume they probably view it more as a production related issue.  

You are correct...

[buttock]

2 hours ago, Aman619 said:

Here’s the credit card fee. I don’t think it’s waived for Promise books, is it? So paying with a card AND using their time payments offer will add up. 
 

Leveraging debt to pay for comic books is a terrible idea.  Especially in this auction where there's going to be a feeding frenzy with insane prices.  If you don't have the money in the bank, don't spend it in an exponential market.  

[jimbo_7071]

44 minutes ago, buttock said:

Leveraging debt to pay for comic books is a terrible idea.  Especially in this auction where there's going to be a feeding frenzy with insane prices.  If you don't have the money in the bank, don't spend it in an exponential market.  

I have to agree. At that point collecting is an addiction rather than a hobby. There's always another comic book. In fact, there's always another copy of the same comic book, as the purchaser of this comic has indubitably learned by now.

[Aman619]

54 minutes ago, buttock said:

Leveraging debt to pay for comic books is a terrible idea.  Especially in this auction where there's going to be a feeding frenzy with insane prices.  If you don't have the money in the bank, don't spend it in an exponential market.  

That’s what I’m implying. Or saying. Pointing out …. Just making the purchase even more expensive . 

[tth2]

I don't think there's anything wrong with putting the books on a payment plan so long as you can ultimately afford to pay for them.  There are a lot of great books in this auction and not everyone may have the cash flow to pay everything upfront.   

[buttock]

2 minutes ago, tth2 said:

I don't think there's anything wrong with putting the books on a payment plan so long as you can ultimately afford to pay for them.  There are a lot of great books in this auction and not everyone may have the cash flow to pay everything upfront.   

I'll finance you at 10%

[tth2]

3 minutes ago, buttock said:

6 minutes ago, tth2 said:

I don't think there's anything wrong with putting the books on a payment plan so long as you can ultimately afford to pay for them.  There are a lot of great books in this auction and not everyone may have the cash flow to pay everything upfront.   

I'll finance you at 10%

Thanks for the generous offer!  

In all seriousness, when I was in my heaviest slab buying phase back in the early 2000s, I was on payment plans all the time.  Could I have afforded to pay for them upfront?  Yes, but then I would have had to dip into savings, sell stocks or mutual funds, etc.  It was more worthwhile for me to stretch out payments, even with a finance charge, so that I could pay solely out of monthly cashflow and not tap into the nest egg.  

[MattTheDuck]

I'm not a big fan of debt, BUT I also don't want to see this hobby completely dominated by people who can pay cash right now for super expensive books.  Any insufficiently_thoughtful_person can write a check.  If someone's financial situation does not allow them to pay cash, refusing to take on manageable time-payment debt means they will never be able to buy expensive books unless their financial circumstances improve, perhaps dramatically.  Sometimes you have to wait a long time for that to happen.  I'd rather see some books in the hands of less well-heeled but more dedicated collectors.  Debt is a tool, but you do have to know how to manage it.

[buttock]

29 minutes ago, tth2 said:

Thanks for the generous offer!  

In all seriousness, when I was in my heaviest slab buying phase back in the early 2000s, I was on payment plans all the time.  Could I have afforded to pay for them upfront?  Yes, but then I would have had to dip into savings, sell stocks or mutual funds, etc.  It was more worthwhile for me to stretch out payments, even with a finance charge, so that I could pay solely out of monthly cashflow and not tap into the nest egg.  

That's fair and perfectly reasonable.  But I don't get the sense that's what is being encouraged here.    

[Doctor Dositheus]

[bpc3qh]

2 hours ago, buttock said:

Leveraging debt to pay for comic books is a terrible idea.  Especially in this auction where there's going to be a feeding frenzy with insane prices.  If you don't have the money in the bank, don't spend it in an exponential market.  

I'm getting heartburn just thinking about it.

[Mmehdy]

53 minutes ago, MattTheDuck said:

I'm not a big fan of debt, BUT I also don't want to see this hobby completely dominated by people who can pay cash right now for super expensive books.  Any insufficiently_thoughtful_person can write a check.  If someone's financial situation does not allow them to pay cash, refusing to take on manageable time-payment debt means they will never be able to buy expensive books unless their financial circumstances improve, perhaps dramatically.  Sometimes you have to wait a long time for that to happen.  I'd rather see some books in the hands of less well-heeled but more dedicated collectors.  Debt is a tool, but you do have to know how to manage it.

That is the point on that 12 month financing...to protect the TCBC...the flipper widget buyer is not gonna wait 12 minutes let alone 12 months to get possession of the books. The key to those investors is buy, flip, and make a profit. Gold, Silver whether comics or coins there is no difference. I would never advise any board member here not to buy responsibly...EVER. Some of  you take a chance and dive off the board, but is should be done with careful consideration of your entire financial picture. Yes, you have to do a balancing act between getting these Comic books  once every 20 years mega OO collection books. But MatttheDuck you are spot on and I too would rather see the promise books in the hands responsible collectors who can respect and appreciate these books for what they are. The time payments creates a somewhat equal footing for the TCBC to get a part of the promise collection against the economic forces who have a investment bankroll.

Edited May 30, 2021 by Mmehdy

[Mmehdy]

2 hours ago, buttock said:

Leveraging debt to pay for comic books is a terrible idea.  Especially in this auction where there's going to be a feeding frenzy with insane prices.  If you don't have the money in the bank, don't spend it in an exponential market.  

It is a valid concern, however there are over 5000 Promise books to be auctioned in the next 18 months, so at some point either during the weekly auctions or Signature there will be an opening to get some books from this collection without the feeding frenzy. I agree if it was Billy Wrights '367 over two auctions the competition would be stiff. But, I think if you  are patient  there will be some "sane" deals out there that both you and I come across.

[Aman619]

what is a TCBC?  True Comic Book Collector?  Terribly Crass Babe Chaser?

[tth2]

8 hours ago, Aman619 said:

what is a TCBC?

All I know is that every time I see the acronym, I suddenly get a craving for frozen yogurt.

[linmoth]

That’s too funny Tim, me too! 

5 minutes ago, tth2 said:

All I know is that every time I see the acronym, I suddenly get a craving for frozen yogurt.