Finding/Buying A Collection: The Imagination Stage 3 3

[shadroch]

On 5/26/2022 at 4:55 PM, Beastfeast said:

I'm imagining 80 miles east of LV as where Old Man Logan took place.  

I'm not in Las Vegas. I'm 90 miles south east of Tucson.  El Paso is 290 miles east with literally nothing in between.  As I was driving thru Douglas there was a sign saying no gas or services for the next 100 miles.

[ADAMANTIUM]

On 5/26/2022 at 7:42 PM, shadroch said:

I'm not in Las Vegas. I'm 90 miles south east of Tucson.  El Paso is 290 miles east with literally nothing in between.  As I was driving thru Douglas there was a sign saying no gas or services for the next 100 miles.

I assume you made it though? And hopefully bars on your phone just in case?

Hoping it turns out well

[shadroch]

I'm here .Nice easy ride. It's my first time going this way and it was closer to seventy miles to the gas station.  I've got service where I am but it was an eight mile ride on a dirt road to the guys place, so he is coming to meet me. This whole county used to owned by one guy

Edited May 27, 2022 by shadroch

[lostboys]

Batman, Superman, Spider Man !

 

[shadroch]

I've got to come back this way.  There are a number of historic sites I wasn't aware of.  The guy's late, but I think he is an Apache. 

[Bird]

On 5/26/2022 at 9:40 PM, shadroch said:

The guy's late, but I think he is an Apache. 

beware, he is there already, watching

[Phicks]

Decloak!

 

[Domo Arigato]

On 5/26/2022 at 8:20 PM, shadroch said:

I'm here .Nice easy ride. It's my first time going this way and it was closer to seventy miles to the gas station.  I've got service where I am but it was an eight mile ride on a dirt road to the guys place, so he is coming to meet me. This whole county used to owned by one guy

The comics are over there in that six foot deep rectangular hole.  

Let me grab my shovel and we can go take a look at them.

 

[Robot Man]

On 5/26/2022 at 2:19 PM, shadroch said:

I'm on my way to see a collection in a few minutes. Guy bought a storage locker and it had three boxes of comics. Really big comics- which I take to mean treasuries, and he said there were ten cent comics up to $1. He thinks some are in their orignal plastic bags. He's eighty miles east of me, even further remote than I am so I doubt many buyers will go look at his stuff. 

I would have asked for a few pictures and a bit of info before I drove 80 miles. Especially with the cost of gas these days. Or, maybe you just need a road trip. Wish you good luck. 

[shadroch]

Sadly, it was pretty much a dud.  I hear three boxes and I think comic boxes- 500-700 books.  Three boxes to him meant three boot boxes with the books stored flat.  Maybe 100 books, possibly a few more.  In addition, there is a shopping bag with a few Marvel Treasury books, bagged and boarded and in better than average condition.  A bunch of ten cent Dells and some oddball titles that looked okay at first glance but lots of bug chew on the bottom, A few books have the worst chew I've ever seen.  Some books might make VG or fine, but most are fair to weak goods.  One box had about thirty Bronze Age Marvels but they were waterlogged and the bags stuck together.   The seller said he found them doing a clean out and wanted $500.   He said he saw one book on ebay for $50.  He showed me the listing and it was a closed listing for a book in VF while his was a 1.8 with minor chew.   I saw about $50 in value but had only given the stuff a glimpse.  I take another look, see a few books are better than I'd thought and offer him $50.  He asks $100 and I say I'd have paid you the hundred if you'd driven to me. I tell him it cost me thirty dollars to get here and he says seventy.   I agree and I pay him via zelle.  Here is a tip that some of you will get.  We agreed on seventy dollars, and I sent him the agreed amount and added a five dollar tip.  The look on his face was priceless when he got the tip, and hopefully he calls me first the next time he has something of interest. 

The drive was nice, I met someone who might be a good connection, I have some spots to hit on a day trip and it cost me $100 all in.  I'm going up to the inter-state to go home. It's about forty miles longer but I don't dare risk Route 80 at night with this precious cargo.   I didn't notice any lights and going over the mountains in the dark  doesn't appeal to me.  I'll post some photos tomorrow if I don't get distracted.

 

[comicginger1789]

On 5/26/2022 at 11:28 PM, shadroch said:

Sadly, it was pretty much a dud.  I hear three boxes and I think comic boxes- 500-700 books.  Three boxes to him meant three boot boxes with the books stored flat.  Maybe 100 books, possibly a few more.  In addition, there is a shopping bag with a few Marvel Treasury books, bagged and boarded and in better than average condition.  A bunch of ten cent Dells and some oddball titles that looked okay at first glance but lots of bug chew on the bottom, A few books have the worst chew I've ever seen.  Some books might make VG or fine, but most are fair to weak goods.  One box had about thirty Bronze Age Marvels but they were waterlogged and the bags stuck together.   The seller said he found them doing a clean out and wanted $500.   He said he saw one book on ebay for $50.  He showed me the listing and it was a closed listing for a book in VF while his was a 1.8 with minor chew.   I saw about $50 in value but had only given the stuff a glimpse.  I take another look, see a few books are better than I'd thought and offer him $50.  He asks $100 and I say I'd have paid you the hundred if you'd driven to me. I tell him it cost me thirty dollars to get here and he says seventy.   I agree and I pay him via zelle.  Here is a tip that some of you will get.  We agreed on seventy dollars, and I sent him the agreed amount and added a five dollar tip.  The look on his face was priceless when he got the tip, and hopefully he calls me first the next time he has something of interest. 

The drive was nice, I met someone who might be a good connection, I have some spots to hit on a day trip and it cost me $100 all in.  I'm going up to the inter-state to go home. It's about forty miles longer but I don't dare risk Route 80 at night with this precious cargo.   I didn't notice any lights and going over the mountains in the dark  doesn't appeal to me.  I'll post some photos tomorrow if I don't get distracted.

 

Definitely pictures!

Also I encourage others to highjack and use this thread to share collection finds…be they studs or duds 

Edited May 27, 2022 by comicginger1789

[BlowUpTheMoon]

On 5/27/2022 at 1:31 AM, comicginger1789 said:

Definitely pictures!

[ramrodcar]

On 5/26/2022 at 10:28 PM, shadroch said:

here is a tip that some of you will get.  We agreed on seventy dollars, and I sent him the agreed amount and added a five dollar tip.  The look on his face was priceless when he got the tip, and hopefully he calls me first the next time he has something of interest.

100% this, goodwill goes a long way; in addition to being respectful/personable, when you give them a little more than then ask (because they don't know what they have/what it's worth), they call you back first when they find a forgotten box and they give out your number as a referral when they have a friend with comics looking to sell. Case in point, I recently picked up a beater bronze Marvel collection from 1977-1981, so no GSX1, X-Men 94, IH181, etc... I gave him a little more than he was asking because his ask was too low. The guy called me back two weeks later after he found his Hulk box, that he forgot about, and to my surprise, the only pre-1977 book was a beater IH181 with MVS intact. Goodwill and respect/integrity pays dividends.

[shadroch]

So on the way there, I took Route 80 and it was 87 miles.  The guy suggested I go up to US -10 and take that to Benson, then pick up Route 80.  I drive 52 miles to Benson, plot in my GPA and I'm 81 miles from my house.  It took me a bit over an hour to get there, and two and a half to get home- taking the short cut.  Only in Arizona.

[MattTheDuck]

[Robot Man]

On 5/26/2022 at 8:28 PM, shadroch said:

Sadly, it was pretty much a dud.  I hear three boxes and I think comic boxes- 500-700 books.  Three boxes to him meant three boot boxes with the books stored flat.  Maybe 100 books, possibly a few more.  In addition, there is a shopping bag with a few Marvel Treasury books, bagged and boarded and in better than average condition.  A bunch of ten cent Dells and some oddball titles that looked okay at first glance but lots of bug chew on the bottom, A few books have the worst chew I've ever seen.  Some books might make VG or fine, but most are fair to weak goods.  One box had about thirty Bronze Age Marvels but they were waterlogged and the bags stuck together.   The seller said he found them doing a clean out and wanted $500.   He said he saw one book on ebay for $50.  He showed me the listing and it was a closed listing for a book in VF while his was a 1.8 with minor chew.   I saw about $50 in value but had only given the stuff a glimpse.  I take another look, see a few books are better than I'd thought and offer him $50.  He asks $100 and I say I'd have paid you the hundred if you'd driven to me. I tell him it cost me thirty dollars to get here and he says seventy.   I agree and I pay him via zelle.  Here is a tip that some of you will get.  We agreed on seventy dollars, and I sent him the agreed amount and added a five dollar tip.  The look on his face was priceless when he got the tip, and hopefully he calls me first the next time he has something of interest. 

The drive was nice, I met someone who might be a good connection, I have some spots to hit on a day trip and it cost me $100 all in.  I'm going up to the inter-state to go home. It's about forty miles longer but I don't dare risk Route 80 at night with this precious cargo.   I didn't notice any lights and going over the mountains in the dark  doesn't appeal to me.  I'll post some photos tomorrow if I don't get distracted.

 

Sorry. But this is exactly what I expected. When someone says 10 cent books, I always expect low grade Dells. Sounds like stuff I would just leave when I find them in the wild. No photos or better descriptions, I would just pass.

Time and gas are worth a lot to me these days. I also have a LOT of books already. Stuff I don’t want to bother with or store anymore. No storage fees for me.

Hopefully, it was a nice road trip and who knows, maybe you made a good connection for the future…

[Dr. Balls]

On 5/26/2022 at 1:53 PM, ramrodcar said:

I can't imagine trading sweet sweet Kirby/Stan/Ditko for Rob Liefeld...

I am thankful my 23-year old self understood the magnitude of that trade.

[JJ-4]

On 5/26/2022 at 7:41 PM, Domo Arigato said:

The comics are over there in that six foot deep rectangular hole.  

Let me grab my shovel and we can go take a look at them.

*spit take*

I laughed again when I re-read this! 

[Robot Man]

On 5/26/2022 at 7:41 PM, Domo Arigato said:

The comics are over there in that six foot deep rectangular hole.  

Let me grab my shovel and we can go take a look at them.

 

I have a couple of good stories similar from when I was young and stupid...

[Shadow]

I miss going to used book stores in the late 70's and discovering old comics... Most of the store owners were all about the hardcover and paperback books. Didn't know the value of the comics. My vivid memory is downtown Chicago circa 1980. For a whopping $1.75 I bought JLA #15 (still have it, probably a 7.0) and Captain America #101 (Where wakes the Sleeper? Got rid of it in 1986 during college) My 14 year old self wished he had more money and time to keep digging through the boxes. But mom and dad were not inclined to stay there that long...