Ton of Noob questions! 0

[Whisper]

I haven’t been collecting in years, but caught the bug again. Started subscriptions at my local LCS (not really that local, but there hasn’t been a comic shop in 30 miles for years). I started to look for an app to catalog my stuff, and went to work going through everything. It’s like Christmas early, because I had no idea I had some of the books I did. 

I’ve never sold a comic, and still have all the ones I collected in the late 80’s early 90’s. Because of the app, I found all the keys I had and didn’t even know it. Many of my comics were straight up readers, and I was too young to really know better about handling and care, but I do have several that are in fairly nice condition. I want to preserve these, and maybe get them slabbed. They’re probably not big value books, but they’re part of my collection so I have a connection.

Now the questions… How would I go about finding a local source for people that know how to clean and press? Is it even worth doing? I tried searching for forums, but the only forum I’ve really ever found and participated on is this one. I kind of want to learn more about the issues I have, and see if any of them are worth displaying, and just generally chat about comic stuff. I wouldn’t even know what series are out these days, that would be a good read and worth adding to the collection.

[KCOComics]

On 12/15/2021 at 7:19 PM, Whisper said:

 

Now the questions… How would I go about finding a local source for people that know how to clean and press? Is it even worth doing? I tried searching for forums, but the only forum I’ve really ever found and participated on is this one. I kind of want to learn more about the issues I have, and see if any of them are worth displaying, and just generally chat about comic stuff. I wouldn’t even know what series are out these days, that would be a good read and worth adding to the collection.

 

I'm not sure there is a tried and true way to find a local presser. You could post the question here and ask for a presser in your general area. People might have suggestions. 

Most of us send our books to a couple of seasoned pros. CFPcomics.com is a well known and trusted presser. It's run by a board member.  If you are going to get your books graded you can also use CCS (which is a CGC owned company).  

Just be warned TATs on pressing and grading and at all time highs. 

As for chatting about comics, you can post questions here. In comics general or in the modern area. 

Congrats on coming back to the hobby! 

 

[Whisper]

I appreciate the response. I figured rather than chasing gaps in my current collection, I’d try and get back into some new books I’ve never read. The LCS I’m using now doesn’t really do back issues, so I started doing some pre orders, then just started up some subscriptions. Looks like a couple new Venom books are out, so its real confusing what the difference is. Got pre-orders in on 4-5, grabbed 1 and two as they were in stock, but not seeing 3 anywhere. I started a Carnage, but not sure when that comes out.. Picked up a BRZKR to read, to see if I like it. King Spawn as well, but Ill have to find some back issues there. 

The comics I thought might be candidates were ASM 298, 299, 301, maybe some of my Alpha Flight which I think was really early 80s. Couple of vol 3 Silver Surfers.

That reminds me, I was trying to enter a book into my app, and they didn’t have the newsstand edition, so I started to add it. It was a volume 1 based on all of the other entries, but the first page said volume 4. Is that an error, and if so, how can you tell if it’s rare, or if the whole print run had the error. I get the feeling my Darkness vol 2, #3 error was pretty much the whole print run and doesn’t impact the rarity of the book. 

[theCapraAegagrus]

On 12/15/2021 at 7:19 PM, Whisper said:

I wouldn’t even know what series are out these days, that would be a good read and worth adding to the collection.

Too many, and I personally have not read anything that I would consider "good" or "great" since about 2018. I did buy DC's Future State, which was published this year, but haven't read the event yet.

I usually suggest picking a character or genre and go looking at legacy/current issues for that, which it looks like you may be doing with Venom. I have heard that Immortal Hulk is good.

[marvelmaniac]

Besides this site I am also a member of 5 different Facebook groups related to comics.

If you are looking to talk about/discuss/ask questions/share there are Facebook groups for each genre, if you are interested in modern/new books there is probably a Facebook group dedicated to that.

 

[comicginger1789]

On 12/15/2021 at 9:55 PM, Whisper said:

I appreciate the response. I figured rather than chasing gaps in my current collection, I’d try and get back into some new books I’ve never read. The LCS I’m using now doesn’t really do back issues, so I started doing some pre orders, then just started up some subscriptions. Looks like a couple new Venom books are out, so its real confusing what the difference is. Got pre-orders in on 4-5, grabbed 1 and two as they were in stock, but not seeing 3 anywhere. I started a Carnage, but not sure when that comes out.. Picked up a BRZKR to read, to see if I like it. King Spawn as well, but Ill have to find some back issues there. 

The comics I thought might be candidates were ASM 298, 299, 301, maybe some of my Alpha Flight which I think was really early 80s. Couple of vol 3 Silver Surfers.

That reminds me, I was trying to enter a book into my app, and they didn’t have the newsstand edition, so I started to add it. It was a volume 1 based on all of the other entries, but the first page said volume 4. Is that an error, and if so, how can you tell if it’s rare, or if the whole print run had the error. I get the feeling my Darkness vol 2, #3 error was pretty much the whole print run and doesn’t impact the rarity of the book. 

Welcome back to comics!

If you named which state you are in (or province) I am sure someone could recommend a good presser and cleaner. 

As for getting some books graded, the ASM 298, 299 and 300 are great candidates. Not personally a fan of Alpha Flight but if you are, then slab away. 

Finally, a lot of the apps haven't made the distinction between newsstand and direct because, for a lot of books, it doesn't matter. Yes there are newsstand collectors but generally for run-of-the-mill books, they value them the same (maybe a couple bucks more) than their direct counterparts. The only real bump you see in newsstand books is on key issues, especially ones later into the 80 and early 90s. As for that potential volume error, you'd probably have to share more about what book it is and a photo and people could shed some light. Lots of minor print error stuff like that out there. Take this error from the late 70s where the issue did not print on the comic

Neat...but because there are a ton out there, the value really isn't there, despite people advertising as such. It seems to take a unique error like double covers or even upside down covers or inks totally changing the colour scheme of a cover (like Fantastic Four 110) for collectors to really go ga ga for oddities like that. There are enough sites out there too if you search "error comics" that highlight the ones that sell for decent money. 

[BlowUpTheMoon]

On 12/15/2021 at 7:19 PM, Whisper said:

How would I go about finding a local source for people that know how to clean and press?

If you're on Facebook, there's groups dedicated to finding vetted pressers.