Frustration in hunting and market observation 2 2

[doomwhistle]

First off, let me be clear. This isn't an angry post. Just an observation from my last 6 months of book hunting on foot. And I am frustrated.

Is anyone else finding it increasingly hard to find any Silver, Copper or Modern day keys in their local comic book hunting? I live in Los Angeles and frequent close to 8 different comic book stores from Pasadena CA to South Bay CA. Nothing...and I mean nothing is in stock. Pre MCU hype and Disney+ PR, you could find many keys behind the counter. Heck, some were even in the bins. I remember picking up New Mutants #98 raw and even an ASM #300 in the same shop for under a couple hundred bucks in 2019. Now...nothing.

 

And when you do find something, prices are out of control. On top of this, surprisingly, the shop owners bemoan this current situation. They appear angry that they have no back stock and now make their coin on the numerous variants that are released weekly. Some even damn KeyCollector or other aggregate sites that drive hype for certain books and ignore others. Tourists come in, FOMO into everything and leave nothing behind. I even heard a few owners state the "no one is selling right now. People are speculating on what they have and thus not selling. Keycollector and GoCollect ruined it all."  Now, I am uncertain if this is entirely true given many things can influence collectible economics. But perhaps there is some kernel of truth in their rants.

Is anyone else experiencing this? How are people getting their books? Swap meets? Garage sales?

[ADAMANTIUM]

On 5/23/2022 at 11:17 AM, doomwhistle said:

First off, let me be clear. This isn't an angry post. Just an observation from my last 6 months of book hunting on foot. And I am frustrated.

Is anyone else finding it increasingly hard to find any Silver, Copper or Modern day keys in their local comic book hunting? I live in Los Angeles and frequent close to 8 different comic book stores from Pasadena CA to South Bay CA. Nothing...and I mean nothing is in stock. Pre MCU hype and Disney+ PR, you could find many keys behind the counter. Heck, some were even in the bins. I remember picking up New Mutants #98 raw and even an ASM #300 in the same shop for under a couple hundred bucks in 2019. Now...nothing.

 

And when you do find something, prices are out of control. On top of this, surprisingly, the shop owners bemoan this current situation. They appear angry that they have no back stock and now make their coin on the numerous variants that are released weekly. Some even damn KeyCollector or other aggregate sites that drive hype for certain books and ignore others. Tourists come in, FOMO into everything and leave nothing behind. I even heard a few owners state the "no one is selling right now. People are speculating on what they have and thus not selling. Keycollector and GoCollect ruined it all."  Now, I am uncertain if this is entirely true given many things can influence collectible economics. But perhaps there is some kernel of truth in their rants.

Is anyone else experiencing this? How are people getting their books? Swap meets? Garage sales?

 when 2019 issues with LCS started there were a few things.

Some had already started doing Facebook Live videos with claiming posts and shipping, those who hadn't done it before started doing it. When your forced to shut down indoor shopping periodically or without notice you improvise.

That said, certain close to me LCS who had then started ended up with only moderns "in store", as they had to save the "good stuff" for these LCS Facebook vids throughout the week.

Then and only if no one claimed it on Facebook, would it go into store stock. LCS could sell it for cheaper on Facebook, hence the line I always dreaded, "$10 here today on facebook, if it makes it to the store then $15!"

So people were getting it "cheaper" during Facebook, but it left the stores ravished, EXCEPT>>>>>

Except for bigger ticket slabbed items, that no one would impulse purchase during Facebook. Even though you could use PayPal credit and etc. with these shows and with all the LCS doing them, that meant 5 to 6 shows on Facebook per week. They offered shipping or pick up in store, but all the vids left you a couch potato, and or, broke as a joke to pick up bigger ticket items.

This is just one instance with a detailed summary. Also those not hurting for money are collecting and don't need to sell, if this also dries up supply, well then that is something else entirely  

[doomwhistle]

Interesting. The advent of no touch technology in a post covid world can certainly fuel the scarcity of books. I didn't consider that. Still, what is boggling my mind are all these videos online demonstrating people going to swap meets or pawn shops. There, they "score" a super rare book. Am I just missing something here? Is it safe to say, "look elsewhere for your comic book back issue/key finds?"

Are any of you finding the books you want in stores? 

 

 

[ADAMANTIUM]

On 5/23/2022 at 12:26 PM, doomwhistle said:

Interesting. The advent of no touch technology in a post covid world can certainly fuel the scarcity of books. I didn't consider that. Still, what is boggling my mind are all these videos online demonstrating people going to swap meets or pawn shops. There, they "score" a super rare book. Am I just missing something here? Is it safe to say, "look elsewhere for your comic book back issue/key finds?"

Are any of you finding the books you want in stores? 

 

 

all of the above, yes do if possible.

I am still finding all ages of books at my LCS in Dallas, TX. What I have a problems with is Dallas is the "home" of the competitors, and it is starting to be hard to find "CGC related" items  I hope this is not a growing trends  

[HouseofComics.Com]

I don't feel that it's like that six hours north, here in the Bay Area. A lot more stores started to carry back issues and we now have two stores at the north and south edges (Rohnert Park and Los Gatos) that are essentially back issue only shops. I also follow a local flea market hunter on IG and he's constantly finding books there too.

You may not like the prices, but the books are in the stores up here. Don't even get me started with how great the supply is in Sacramento, with the behemoth A-1 Comics, numerous other stores, and a new back issue only store up there too.

[Jesse-Lee]

I've gotten all of these in the last two weeks at local shops, all for less than $80 total, which seemed like some pretty good deals to me based on eBay prices and past experience. I've actually sold some of the same issues (not these exact comics pictured below - I just bought these - but the same issues as these) for a nice sum in the past, to the point where I've gotten more than $80 total for just a few of the 15 books shown.

I find that the shops around here have a pretty decent amount of back issues, and they always seem to have some kind of sale or special going on. There's one shop where I've gotten books like Critters 1 for example for $10 and turned around and sold it for $60. The local shows are even better - I've found some cool stuff in $1-$5 bins at local shows in the past year (X-men Adventures 1 newsstand for $4; Howard the Duck 1 - first Gwenpool for $1, stuff like that). Maybe I'm just in a lucky pocket or area, but there's a lot of good hunting left around here.

I'm off work this week, and tomorrow I'm spending my day driving to some shops that are a little further away that I've never visited before - I'll share back if I find any cool stuff.

[HouseofComics.Com]

Isn't Comic Cellar down there packed with old books and modern keys? Con dealer GoDaddyO's Comics shares a shop with his daughter and I think his stuff is available, at least sometimes. Knowing how big the area is, perhaps these are out of your range.

[manetteska]

@littledoom does a lot of work in the LA area.

[doomwhistle]

Thanks for all the responses. Makes me feel even worse, since I have no luck in LA.
Part of the reason is we have the major Hollywood studios in Burbank and the Valley. Execs send their gofers out to grab many books for the next Hollywood hit. I've seen this first hand. Heck, reminds me of the B/W TMNT bandwagon era and even the Batman craze pre crash in 1989.

Here are some of the stores I frequent and, overall, great people but hardly any copper, silver or key moderns.

Legacy Comics - Glendale - Plenty of graded books but VERY expensive.
House of Secrets - Burbank - some stuff here and there.
Comic Bug - Culver City / South Bay - Great people, great community, not many keys
Golden Apple - Los Angeles - Some graded books and hardly any raw books.
Collector's Paradise - Hardly any early books
Continental Comics - Van Nuys - Owner is very knowledgable and has ALOT of back issues; mostly commons. But hardly any keys. 
Earth 2 - North Hollywood - Some back issues/keys - mostly commons. Hardly anything sought after
Galaxy of Comics - Lakeview Terrace - maybe 10-12 slabs up on a wall. Great people. Tons of common books
Geoffrey's Comics - Redondo Beach - Good people - hardly any keys
Frank & Sons - Rowland Heights - Big super bazaar of collectibles. I go once in a while and find a good book or two.

As I said, there is nothing out here in LA or I am blind. Or maybe I need to change my strategy and just stick to online? 
 

Edited May 23, 2022 by doomwhistle

[Jesse-Lee]

On 5/23/2022 at 2:08 PM, doomwhistle said:

Or maybe I need to change my strategy and just stick to online?

The good news is there are still deals to be found on eBay, believe it or not. The bad news is that it takes a lot of "work" to find the really amazing deals. If you don't love the hunt of looking through literally hundreds of posts, finding hidden gems and overlooked auctions/BINs, and occasionally taking a gamble on condition/shipping methods/suspect packing, then it's not going to be worth it. I personally love throwing on a movie late at night when the family has gone to bed, and just scrolling through eBay for a couple of hours looking for those diamonds in the rough. They're definitely fewer and far between than they used to be, but they are out there.

[doomwhistle]

On 5/23/2022 at 12:15 PM, Jesse-Lee said:

The good news is there are still deals to be found on eBay, believe it or not. The bad news is that it takes a lot of "work" to find the really amazing deals. If you don't love the hunt of looking through literally hundreds of posts, finding hidden gems and overlooked auctions/BINs, and occasionally taking a gamble on condition/shipping methods/suspect packing, then it's not going to be worth it. I personally love throwing on a movie late at night when the family has gone to bed, and just scrolling through eBay for a couple of hours looking for those diamonds in the rough. They're definitely fewer and far between than they used to be, but they are out there.

I love this ritual. Glad I am not the only one doing this.

[littledoom]

On 5/23/2022 at 12:08 PM, doomwhistle said:

Thanks for all the responses. Makes me feel even worse, since I have no luck in LA.
Part of the reason is we have the major Hollywood studios in Burbank and the Valley. Execs send their gofers out to grab many books for the next Hollywood hit. I've seen this first hand. Heck, reminds me of the B/W TMNT bandwagon era and even the Batman craze pre crash in 1989.

Here are some of the stores I frequent and, overall, great people but hardly any copper, silver or key moderns.

Legacy Comics - Glendale - Plenty of graded books but VERY expensive.
House of Secrets - Burbank - some stuff here and there.
Comic Bug - Culver City / South Bay - Great people, great community, not many keys
Golden Apple - Los Angeles - Some graded books and hardly any raw books.
Collector's Paradise - Hardly any early books
Continental Comics - Van Nuys - Owner is very knowledgable and has ALOT of back issues; mostly commons. But hardly any keys. 
Earth 2 - North Hollywood - Some back issues/keys - mostly commons. Hardly anything sought after
Galaxy of Comics - Lakeview Terrace - maybe 10-12 slabs up on a wall. Great people. Tons of common books
Geoffrey's Comics - Redondo Beach - Good people - hardly any keys
Frank & Sons - Rowland Heights - Big super bazaar of collectibles. I go once in a while and find a good book or two.

As I said, there is nothing out here in LA or I am blind. Or maybe I need to change my strategy and just stick to online? 
 

P Dot’s has good stuff., try going to the cons. Ontario Revolution was this past weekend. There’s stuff in the OC also. Go everywhere 

[doomwhistle]

What site would you all recommend to keep up with the incoming conventions?

[Beastfeast]

Grain of salt and all that but when I was hunting in LA (2018-2020), there was SO much to find.  Garage sales, yard sales, estate sales, Offer-up, etc...It was great.  I eventually got burnt out with all the driving but if you're down to do the work, you'll be rewarded.  LA is a BIG market and there's plenty to go around.  

I never did go to shops because I just assumed it would be overpriced or picked.  

[ramithard]

I see you mentioned Frank and Sons...great place but the comic vendors have dwindled down to a small amount

[JollyComics]

I remembered there were so plenty of them in LA area during late 80's and early 90's. Most of them were sitting in the walls or glass displays for months but few were sold.  I had enough time to buy them when I had enough cash.  I always asked for the business cards and was ready to call them to pick them up.  No pressure.

Moving back in Chicago in 1992 before the BIG quake in Northridge, I can relate you TODAY. There is ALMOST NOTHING in those comic book stores today. There are very few books but overpriced.

I used to go to the estate sales at least 7 times a year with many fantastic findings until the early summer of 2020.  Now, it is NOTHING EXCITED to be found anywhere within 150 miles in radius of my driving.  I went to the estate sale and waited for a person showing up and outbid me by $1000 last year.  After that, there is nothing and nothing and absolutely nothing but all books are now on the private auctions.  It sucks!!!

[GeeksAreMyPeeps]

It makes sense in a hot market that you're not going to find keys at a decent price. If you do find keys, the price which might seem expensive now may seem like a bargain in a few years.

[followtheleader]

As Adamantium said, the FB Live situation really changed things. 

I love it for toys, I hate it for comics.    

I really liked it for stores when they were shutdown for COVID.  Probably kept the majority open.  

Truth is, it massively globalized things for those stores that will partake.  And due to that, there is no going "back to the norm" unless there is a sizeable global recession (I know, many argue we are in one).  Get 75+ people in a FB Live session and you're going to make money.

Patrick

[fastballspecial]

Oh my heart bleeds for all your boardies living in big cities that can find books. Oh the agony. 
@jsilverjanet

Please.... been doing this for 20 years in a small midwestern town. Make connections, network,
research, get off your arse and hunt. Suck it up.

 

 

Edited May 24, 2022 by fastballspecial

[waaaghboss]

Ditto, the only GA book I saw in person growing up was that amtrack giveaway i found in a quarter bin.