Robot Man Posted November 23, 2022 Share Posted November 23, 2022 Been seeing a big influx of deep pocketed Korean buyers at the flea markets in the past year. They push those big canvas sided carts and whipping out rolls of Benjamin’s which they dispense freely. They are buying weird stuff. Old photo albums, quilts, plastic dishes and 78 rpm records. They spent a couple thousand with the guy next to me last month. One guy gave me $200. For a paper box full of worthless comics I was basically giving away to kids. What do they do with this stuff? Money laundering? I looked carefully at the money they gave me. It looked legit. We used to get a lot of buyers from Japan. But they were buying quality Americana that they were selling at home to hipsters. They would come in busloads like tourists. But they are not coming any more. jimjum12 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lou_fine Posted November 23, 2022 Share Posted November 23, 2022 On 11/20/2022 at 12:30 PM, buttock said: They do look good in a slab. But probably even better in a mylar sleeve where all of their colors and brightness can still shine through, but also much more easily accessible if you want to take a closer look and even more so, takes up a lot less storage space. Robot Man 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stock_rotation Posted November 25, 2022 Share Posted November 25, 2022 On 11/21/2022 at 2:55 AM, lou_fine said: Currently showing up in Ritter's WW website as "Sale Pending" at $8,500 with the book now being certified and slabbed as a CGC 9.6 graded copy. Wish that Ritter website allows you to zoom in so that I can see the serial numbers to see if Ritter had done the CPR treatment on his Promise books or not. Mr. Lady Luck and Mmehdy 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lou_fine Posted December 1, 2022 Share Posted December 1, 2022 On 11/24/2022 at 6:15 PM, szav said: BTW...maybe this didn't actually sell for $8,500 on Worldwide? It'll certainly be interesting to see if it can even beat its $5,280 sale price on HA as a 9.4. Well, looks like we can toss another Promise Collection resale into the red Loss side of the ledger, even after a rare successful CPR upgrade: https://www.comiclink.com/auctions/item.asp?back=%2FAUCTIONS%2FSEARCH.ASP%3FFocusedOnly%3D1%26where%3Dauctions%26title%3Dplanet%2Bomics%2B59%26ItemType%3DCB%23Item_1639613&id=1639613&itemType=0#detail Sold for only $4,902 as a CGC 9.6 graded copy, as opposed to $5,280 back in 2021when it was only a CGC 9.4 graded copy. Not sure if it ever sold on Worldwide even though it was listed as a so-called "Sale Pending" at $8,500? jimbo_7071 and Chief1332 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steppenwolfscomics Posted December 1, 2022 Share Posted December 1, 2022 Along the lines of bad Promise Collection resales—Just saw True Crime Comics #2 go for $7100 on CLink. It originally sold for $16,800 on Heritage in 2021. Thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lou_fine Posted December 1, 2022 Share Posted December 1, 2022 On 11/30/2022 at 6:53 PM, Steppenwolfscomics said: Along the lines of bad Promise Collection resales—Just saw True Crime Comics #2 go for $7100 on CLink. It originally sold for $16,800 on Heritage in 2021. Looks like mere peanuts or loose change compared to the Terry-Toons 38 that took a 72% hit as it dipped a tad from $60K down to $16,800. On 11/30/2022 at 6:53 PM, Steppenwolfscomics said: Thoughts? Well, for those who are seriously thinking of trying to flip their Promise Collection books so soon after overpaying for them, maybe this is the wrong thread to be posting in as they should really be posting in the "Post Your Promise Collection Losses" thread. For those winners who won what are some clearly gorgeous HTF books with eye popping color covers and plan to hold them going forward, the beauty of collecting comic books longer term is that time tends to heal all purchasing mistakes, even in the case of overgraded books and more so, even in the case of undisclosed restored books. Courageous Cat, Steppenwolfscomics, whomerjay and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lou_fine Posted December 1, 2022 Share Posted December 1, 2022 On 11/30/2022 at 6:28 PM, szav said: Anyway, despite the apparent loss for whoever, you can no longer say no ones CPRing Promise books...but yeah doubt we'll see many attempts or successful ones anyway. Why bother when even if you get a grade bump you're probably not going to affect the price much. At least not for now. Well, of course there's always going to be the odd exception to every rule, and in this case, the prime exception here would be Worldwide. From a census population POV though, it's kind of sad to see that Ritter is not even bothering to turn in his old labels when he CPR his books. GreatCaesarsGhost and Courageous Cat 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbo_7071 Posted December 1, 2022 Share Posted December 1, 2022 (edited) On 11/30/2022 at 8:38 PM, lou_fine said: Well, looks like we can toss another Promise Collection resale into the red Loss side of the ledger, even after a rare successful CPR upgrade: https://www.comiclink.com/auctions/item.asp?back=%2FAUCTIONS%2FSEARCH.ASP%3FFocusedOnly%3D1%26where%3Dauctions%26title%3Dplanet%2Bomics%2B59%26ItemType%3DCB%23Item_1639613&id=1639613&itemType=0#detail Sold for only $4,902 as a CGC 9.6 graded copy, as opposed to $5,280 back in 2021when it was only a CGC 9.4 graded copy. Not sure if it ever sold on Worldwide even though it was listed as a so-called "Sale Pending" at $8,500? I don't think it actually sold for $8,500. I have seen a book from Worldwide's site "sell" on CLink only to magically end up back in Ritter's hands. I guess we'll have to wait and see whether this sale was real. Color me unsurprised if it shows up in Ritter's booth or on CLink again in a few months. Edited December 1, 2022 by jimbo_7071 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steppenwolfscomics Posted December 1, 2022 Share Posted December 1, 2022 On 11/30/2022 at 11:37 PM, lou_fine said: Looks like mere peanuts or loose change compared to the Terry-Toons 38 that took a 72% hit as it dipped a tad from $60K down to $16,800. Well, for those who are seriously thinking of trying to flip their Promise Collection books so soon after overpaying for them, maybe this is the wrong thread to be posting in as they should really be posting in the "Post Your Promise Collection Losses" thread. For those winners who won what are some clearly gorgeous HTF books with eye popping color covers and plan to hold them going forward, the beauty of collecting comic books longer term is that time tends to heal all purchasing mistakes, even in the case of overgraded books and more so, even in the case of undisclosed restored books. Ha, I didn’t know about the Terry Toons 38 ouch. I certainly overpaid for my Justice Traps the Guilty 1, 2, 5, 6, and 9 Promise Collection books (especially 2 and 5). I have no intention of selling them though as they are for my permanent collection and registry set. I would like to see them be worth what I paid for them someday though just so I don’t feel too stupid ThothAmon, buttock, goldust40 and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whomerjay Posted December 1, 2022 Share Posted December 1, 2022 On 11/30/2022 at 8:38 PM, lou_fine said: Well, looks like we can toss another Promise Collection resale into the red Loss side of the ledger, even after a rare successful CPR upgrade: https://www.comiclink.com/auctions/item.asp?back=%2FAUCTIONS%2FSEARCH.ASP%3FFocusedOnly%3D1%26where%3Dauctions%26title%3Dplanet%2Bomics%2B59%26ItemType%3DCB%23Item_1639613&id=1639613&itemType=0#detail Sold for only $4,902 as a CGC 9.6 graded copy, as opposed to $5,280 back in 2021when it was only a CGC 9.4 graded copy. Not sure if it ever sold on Worldwide even though it was listed as a so-called "Sale Pending" at $8,500? The major points- Promise books tend to be overgraded and not CPR candidates, overhyped, and buyers paid sums that won’t allow a quick flip- thus far are supported by the data. That said, if this Planet 59 is a legit 9.6 (iffy from scan; plus is there a dust shadow at bottom front and back?), 5-6k seems reasonable for a pedigreed Planet second only to the Church copy. In 5 years it will easily sell for more given the trajectory of Planets. Although now knowing this 9.6 was pressed, I’d rather have the unpressed 9.4. jimbo_7071 and Courageous Cat 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robot Man Posted December 1, 2022 Share Posted December 1, 2022 On 12/1/2022 at 4:37 AM, Steppenwolfscomics said: Ha, I didn’t know about the Terry Toons 38 ouch. I certainly overpaid for my Justice Traps the Guilty 1, 2, 5, 6, and 9 Promise Collection books (especially 2 and 5). I have no intention of selling them though as they are for my permanent collection and registry set. I would like to see them be worth what I paid for them someday though just so I don’t feel too stupid If you bought them for your personal collection, you love them and you didn’t go into debt for them, you are not stupid. But if you paid to the moon to hopefully make a profit, you will probably have a long wait and should have your head examined. I have never gone out on a limb or paid more than I was comfortable with for any comic in my collection. Thusly, I did not bid on any of the Promise books and probably won’t ever own one. That is more than OK with me. Mmehdy, jimjum12, Steppenwolfscomics and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MasterChief Posted December 6, 2022 Share Posted December 6, 2022 Group of Timely’s up for auction later this month at Heritage... GreatCaesarsGhost, buttock, batman_fan and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreatCaesarsGhost Posted December 10, 2022 Author Share Posted December 10, 2022 The Promise Cap 1 graded 3.5 sold for $240k in November of 2021. In Heritage’s current auction, ending tomorrow, there’s a Cap 1 4.5 currently sitting at $180k. December auctions tend to be weaker than the rest of the year, and there’s a bunch of financial headwinds, but I gotta believe this book will pop at the end Badger 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbo_7071 Posted December 10, 2022 Share Posted December 10, 2022 On 12/10/2022 at 8:27 AM, GreatCaesarsGhost said: The Promise Cap 1 graded 3.5 sold for $240k in November of 2021. In Heritage’s current auction, ending tomorrow, there’s a Cap 1 4.5 currently sitting at $180k. December auctions tend to be weaker than the rest of the year, and there’s a bunch of financial headwinds, but I gotta believe this book will pop at the end It could, but the rusty staples will hurt it. If I could afford to buy a Cap #1 in 4.5, I would wait for one that didn't have rusty staples. (I remember considering going after 8.0 that ended up selling for $40,000 back in 2000 or 2001. That would have been a pile of money for me back then, but I sure wish that I had gone for it.) Mmehdy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreatCaesarsGhost Posted December 10, 2022 Author Share Posted December 10, 2022 (edited) On 12/10/2022 at 7:48 AM, jimbo_7071 said: It could, but the rusty staples will hurt it. If I could afford to buy a Cap #1 in 4.5, I would wait for one that didn't have rusty staples. (I remember considering going after 8.0 that ended up selling for $40,000 back in 2000 or 2001. That would have been a pile of money for me back then, but I sure wish that I had gone for it.) I understand, but the staples on the Promise copy were even rustier. Still got $240k,but I know for fact that that one was purchased by a crypto guy who didn’t know the difference as a side note, I would say the crypto guys who bought into the Promise collection will likely notice that their asset didn’t appreciate. But these guys are better off than if they kept all their funds in cryptocurrency. I’m looking for more Promise books to come back to auction because the owners need money Edited December 10, 2022 by GreatCaesarsGhost jimbo_7071 and tth2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrBedrock Posted December 10, 2022 Share Posted December 10, 2022 I think "the crypto guys" are just a boogeyman we made up to excuse the excesses of our friends. tth2, lou_fine, szucchini and 1 other 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreatCaesarsGhost Posted December 10, 2022 Author Share Posted December 10, 2022 (edited) On 12/10/2022 at 12:18 PM, MrBedrock said: I think "the crypto guys" are just a boogeyman we made up to excuse the excesses of our friends. I've seen this sentiment expressed before, most recently by @tth2, and I appreciate your gentle, humorous way of expressing disagreement. It was @G.A.tor that told me he knew the Cap 1 purchaser and that he was a crypto guy looking for a place to put his money. And the timing seems right, to me. Crypto was flying high at about the time the Promise collection came to market, and as this whole thread has repeated time and again, the prices those books went for were nothing less than insane. To me it felt like there was all of a sudden more money guys throwing in. I hope I'm right, because it means we will start seeing more and more Promise books back on the market. But you may be right: we may have met the careless spenders, and it may be us Edited December 10, 2022 by GreatCaesarsGhost tth2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrBedrock Posted December 10, 2022 Share Posted December 10, 2022 On 12/10/2022 at 12:28 PM, GreatCaesarsGhost said: I've seen this sentiment expressed before, most recently by @tth2 Well darn it. I thought I actually had an original thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreatCaesarsGhost Posted December 10, 2022 Author Share Posted December 10, 2022 On 12/10/2022 at 12:42 PM, MrBedrock said: Well darn it. I thought I actually had an original thought. All your thoughts are original. I'm glad you're here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G.A.tor Posted December 10, 2022 Share Posted December 10, 2022 On 12/10/2022 at 1:28 PM, GreatCaesarsGhost said: I've seen this sentiment expressed before, most recently by @tth2, and I appreciate your gentle, humorous way of expressing disagreement. It was @G.A.tor that told me he knew the Cap 1 purchaser and that he was a crypto guy looking for a place to put his money. And the timing seems right, to me. Crypto was flying high at about the time the Promise collection came to market, and as this whole thread has repeated time and again, the prices those books went for were nothing less than insane. To me it felt like there was all of a sudden more money guys throwing in. I hope I'm right, because it means we will start seeing more and more Promise books back on the market. But you may be right: we may have met the careless spenders, and it may be us The cap 1 buyer more of an action figure guy than crypto I think (I had a fair number of crypto buyers so maybe I was confused or rambled ). But he did pick up a lot of key books in 2021/22 GreatCaesarsGhost 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...