philahab Posted March 15, 2023 Share Posted March 15, 2023 (edited) I don’t know if this is a question anyone can help with but I am desperate and I thought I would put it out there. First some background, I am a 59-year-old comic book collector who has been collecting comics and toys since I was bout 5 years old. About 5 years back, I was seriously injured (I have one leg, my spine was fractured at the neck level, and the tendons of my right hand were damaged). While I have recovered from most of my physical injuries and am now able to work again, the accident and time our of work cost me a very deep financial cost that I still have not been able to fully recover from. Add to the fact that I have 2 kids in college and am sole support for a family of 4 and you probably can get the picture. Selling off parts of my collection helped somewhat but frankly my problem is that I am disorganized and never really cataloged my collection which I estimate to be about 2000 books, as well as toys and action figures, and includes items from the 1960’s to about 2010. Because of that, and just working to support my family, I never have time to organize and grade everything. I live in the Grand Rapids, MI area and what I want to know is if there are any collectors looking for a large collection (I am willing to sell basically everything I have) who would be willing to spend the time to catalog what I have and make an offer. I recognize that is a big ask but my hope is that the collection is valuable enough to at least help minimize my current debt and get me back to financial stability. Please don’t respond if you just want to mock my situation, tell me how stupid I am for not keeping better track of my collection, or are a con artist looking to rip me off. I always loved this community, and I am hoping that I can get responses from decent people who understand my situation and want to help. Thanks. Update: I have also attached some pictures. I also included other things I have collected including video games, statues, toys, and bound collections of comic series - as well as some random comics to show everyone that the conditions can tend to vary significantly. As you can see I have not stored everything properly and I am aware of that, although I do believe most of my collection is at least in a very good to fine or better condition but it does vary. I recognize that everyone would likely like a detailed list of everything and that is where I come up short. Still, I hope it gives everyone a better idea of what I am hoping to sell. Edited March 20, 2023 by philahab Add information Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattTheDuck Posted March 16, 2023 Share Posted March 16, 2023 I don't live in your part of the country, unfortunately, although I couldn't help with the grading piece anyway. Are the books bagged and boarded, or does that need to be done as well? I hope some of our Michigan members can step and with suggestions. All the best! Dr. Balls 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KCOComics Posted March 16, 2023 Share Posted March 16, 2023 I am sorry to hear about your situation. My recommendation would be to contact @mycomicshop I know they have a network of people who can evaluate collections and likely make you an offer on the entire thing or possibly consign books depending on the value. You may want to scan through the collection to identify any and all keys. The tough thing with big collections is, you usually have a handful of books that are worth something and the rest are just a headache. However, if this is a collection from the 60s and its largely marvel, you might have a better ratio. revat, theCapraAegagrus and RedKryptoniteSuperman 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steveinthecity Posted March 16, 2023 Share Posted March 16, 2023 @philahab Have you contacted Tardy’s Comics who are local to you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehumantorch Posted March 16, 2023 Share Posted March 16, 2023 On 3/15/2023 at 1:44 PM, philahab said: I don’t know if this is a question anyone can help with but I am desperate and I thought I would put it out there. First some background, I am a 59-year-old comic book collector who has been collecting comics and toys since I was bout 5 years old. About 5 years back, I was seriously injured (I have one leg, my spine was fractured at the neck level, and the tendons of my right hand were damaged). While I have recovered from most of my physical injuries and am now able to work again, the accident and time our of work cost me a very deep financial cost that I still have not been able to fully recover from. Add to the fact that I have 2 kids in college and am sole support for a family of 4 and you probably can get the picture. Selling off parts of my collection helped somewhat but frankly my problem is that I am disorganized and never really cataloged my collection which I estimate to be about 2000 books, as well as toys and action figures, and includes items from the 1960’s to about 2010. Because of that, and just working to support my family, I never have time to organize and grade everything. I live in the Grand Rapids, MI area and what I want to know is if there are any collectors looking for a large collection (I am willing to sell basically everything I have) who would be willing to spend the time to catalog what I have and make an offer. I recognize that is a big ask but my hope is that the collection is valuable enough to at least help minimize my current debt and get me back to financial stability. Please don’t respond if you just want to mock my situation, tell me how stupid I am for not keeping better track of my collection, or are a con artist looking to rip me off. I always loved this community, and I am hoping that I can get responses from decent people who understand my situation and want to help. Thanks. Welcome to the boards. Your collection's value is mostly dependent on how many valuable and easy to sell books there are. When I look at a collection for sale I evaluate the significant books, come up with bulk number for lower value books - eg there's 500 books that take a while to sell with an average value of $20 each and I might value them at $3k to $4k, and the rest is basically stuff I have nowhere to store and essentially worthless to me. How well the collection is sorted, are the books nicely bagged and boarded - never underestimate how expensive it is for a dealer to bag and board the collection and how much time it will take him - will also be a factor Perhaps you could give us some examples of better books in your collection? KCOComics 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revat Posted March 16, 2023 Share Posted March 16, 2023 I think you might be better off with just letting folks come take a look and make an offer on all of them 2000 isn’t soooo many books to most dealers or big buyers, rather than sorting and selling piecemeal. Given your situation even if they were sorted (which you have to pay someone to do) it would still be a lot physical labor and trouble to price the books then sell them individually in singles or lots. if you’re really looking to maximize value then you gotta get one of your kids to do it. but I like the mycomicshop suggestion from above Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theCapraAegagrus Posted March 16, 2023 Share Posted March 16, 2023 On 3/15/2023 at 10:07 PM, KCOComics said: My recommendation would be to contact @mycomicshop This is probably the best advice that I can offer, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoroLad Posted March 16, 2023 Share Posted March 16, 2023 I unwittingly provided comic book organization services to my father for years. Looking back, the work was not professional quality, but you can't beat the price! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
