What Am I Missing with Mile High Comics... 4 4

[october]

He bought the greatest collection in comic history for cover price and leveraged that into an empire of drek. To each their own. An interesting ride at the minimum. 

[roach04]

On 4/19/2023 at 10:08 PM, StillOnly25Cents said:

now I do understand that a number of their listings are on consignment and they may not have full say on the listing price (they certainly should be able to provide solid guidance).

They do provide guidance…but they don’t make you listen lol.  MCS is amazing - incredible operation imo.

Consignments are sometimes comical though - as in MCS will have a book for $100, one consigner will have it for $105 and a 3rd for $2000.  I just assume those guys are using MCS to hold on to their books as long term storage.

[DougC]

Chuck is a very interesting guy who I believe genuinely loves comic books and like many have stated his business isn't really about selling but having the largest of collection of all comics. The one take away everyone needs to understand about him is that he is personable, friendly, and the modern equivalent of a carnival barker that has never met a global disaster he couldn't write a newsletter about being the victim of.

I would not order from their online store due to grading issues but if you reach out to them they will pull copies of books for you to view in person. As an example, ten years ago I was looking for a 9.8 copy of X-Men Forever Alpha: Book Market Variant which is a tough find. MHC had 60+ of them and let me look through them and pick the ones I wanted. Since it was in person the prices for general books were a quarter of what they wanted online.

As for online pricing, chuck uses the very old psychological method of "price perception". In theory a JSA #28 for 100K is meant to shock you, that is the point. That shock is then supposed to numb your brain into then believing that the poorly graded "NM" Darkhawk #1 for $60 with an additional 50% off is a steal for only $30. It works and is used everyday by numerous companies especially in the food industry.

 

[Lightning55]

On 4/19/2023 at 9:59 PM, JollyComics said:

That's 97% increase from $3450 average sales.

The math is off a bit.

A 97% increase is not even double the price.

$100,800 instead of $3450, that's roughly a 2800% increase. Insane.

Never could shop at Chuck's. Found out quickly that it made no sense, prices astronomical, odd online format, waste of time.

[OtherEric]

I will always be fond of Mile High as the first store I ever got back issues from, as mail order back in the very early 80's.  And there have been a very few purchases I've made from them of books that were very low value but I simply could not find anywhere else.  Paying $10 on what should be a $2 book isn't going to worry me to get the last couple items to finish a run.

But yeah, I normally avoid them as nonsensically priced.

[thehumantorch]

On 4/19/2023 at 10:19 PM, Lightning55 said:

The math is off a bit.

A 97% increase is not even double the price.

$100,800 instead of $3450, that's roughly a 2800% increase. Insane.

Never could shop at Chuck's. Found out quickly that it made no sense, prices astronomical, odd online format, waste of time.

I don't think math is Chuck's strong suit.

[lou_fine]

On 4/19/2023 at 7:32 PM, october said:

He bought the greatest collection in comic history for cover price and leveraged that into an empire of drek.

Now this is about the most succinct and accurate statement that I've seen written about Chuckles anywhere.  

[Tec-Tac-Toe]

As has been repeated ad nauseam, including in a post above, and I'll repeat it to be annoying, MHC's grading is in my limited experience abysmal, such that one may argue a MHC's NM means Near Miss from F/VF (7.0). Accordingly, more often than not, getting a 60% discount, for example, on a reported NM has one likely paying much more than elsewhere for a comic book that is nowhere close to being NM even if one took NM to mean VF/8.0 to NM/9.4.

Granted, some posters over the years have reported receiving a NM/M (9.8) from MHC put paying for a 9.4 with a typical MHC's discount. To be a pessimist, those comic books likely slipped past the MHC's team or they would have been priced at, I'll write, 100 times the going rate.

[Mmehdy]

On 4/19/2023 at 6:48 PM, BlowUpTheMoon said:

A friend of mine took this picture at Chuck's a couple of weeks ago. 

what a joke!!!!!

[Bumble Kitty]

On 4/19/2023 at 10:53 PM, Tec-Tac-Toe said:

As has been repeated ad nauseam, including in a post above, and I'll repeat it to be annoying, MHC's grading is in my limited experience abysmal, such that one may argue a MHC's NM means Near Miss from F/VF (7.0).

I think you are being very kind using the description "abysmal".  

[jdandns]

On 4/19/2023 at 6:35 PM, Cat said:

I don't know if this is still the case, but weirdly their prices used to be cheaper on ebay than their website too. I never could make sense of that. 

This is a definitely a function of the code word sales (usually 40% to 60% off) that can be used on their website, but obviously not on items purchased through Ebay.

The comics were always priced high for my taste (really, my abilities), even back in the mail-order only days, although I did like going through his "50 cent bins" that comprised some of those big yellow full-page (or even multi-page) advertisements that ran regularly in Copper Age Marvels and even the Overstreet Guide if I'm remembering right. I definitely ended up with some very good deals from those lists. 

The real treat for me where Mile High was concerned once the internet got going (late 90's, early 2000's) were the non-comic items on the website, which included movie posters/press kits and magazines (non-comics movie and music music related magazines plus professional fanzines like Amazing Heroes and Comics Interview). I got some incredible steals on some of those, including a complete run of the first couple of years of National Lampoon in decent shape for about $40.

I was also constantly getting Amazing Heroes,  Comics Interviews and Comics Journals (that I didn't have or doubles of covers I liked) for about a buck apiece, and some of those, with pre-comic appearances of certain characters have attained a nice value, plus they've always been loaded with the thing that made me seek them out: unabashed nostalgia. And with some deep dives, you could find those kinds of bargains all the way until around 10 years ago, when even that kind of stuff started being priced at the, um, optimistic level of most comics. 

That said, I've have multiple magazine boxes filled with great stuff that I got at a real bargain from Mile High. Indeed, even certain comics that are now fairly popular were very inexpensive for a long time there, including the 1970's Marvel Hanna-Barbera titles and Marvel Star titles. I remember getting a complete run of the first issues of the Hanna-Barberas (including Scooby-Doo) in nice shape for maybe $2 each. I wish I'd have picked up full sets of those. 

All that to say, there were great bargains to be had at Mile High for a long stretch of time, just not so much on most actual comic books.  

[Tec-Tac-Toe]

On 4/20/2023 at 4:13 AM, jdandns said:

This is a definitely a function of the code word sales (usually 40% to 60% off) that can be used on their website, but obviously not on items purchased through Ebay.

The comics were always priced high for my taste (really, my abilities), even back in the mail-order only days, although I did like going through his "50 cent bins" that comprised some of those big yellow full-page (or even multi-page) advertisements that ran regularly in Copper Age Marvels and even the Overstreet Guide if I'm remembering right. I definitely ended up with some very good deals from those lists. 

The real treat for me where Mile High was concerned once the internet got going (late 90's, early 2000's) were the non-comic items on the website, which included movie posters/press kits and magazines (non-comics movie and music music related magazines plus professional fanzines like Amazing Heroes and Comics Interview). I got some incredible steals on some of those, including a complete run of the first couple of years of National Lampoon in decent shape for about $40.

I was also constantly getting Amazing Heroes,  Comics Interviews and Comics Journals (that I didn't have or doubles of covers I liked) for about a buck apiece, and some of those, with pre-comic appearances of certain characters have attained a nice value, plus they've always been loaded with the thing that made me seek them out: unabashed nostalgia. And with some deep dives, you could find those kinds of bargains all the way until around 10 years ago, when even that kind of stuff started being priced at the, um, optimistic level of most comics. 

That said, I've have multiple magazine boxes filled with great stuff that I got at a real bargain from Mile High. Indeed, even certain comics that are now fairly popular were very inexpensive for a long time there, including the 1970's Marvel Hanna-Barbera titles and Marvel Star titles. I remember getting a complete run of the first issues of the Hanna-Barberas (including Scooby-Doo) in nice shape for maybe $2 each. I wish I'd have picked up full sets of those. 

All that to say, there were great bargains to be had at Mile High for a long stretch of time, just not so much on most actual comic books.  

I have read where folks, as you did, were able to get bargains (some still may). I, on the other hand, despite seeing the MHC adds you mention and others, if I correctly recall,did not order from MHC until much later likely because I was already ordering from several dealers as well as purchasing in person in New Jersey and New York, later Florida. In other words, I was already up to my eyeballs in new and back issue comic book purchases. However, in hindsight, I should have purchased even more.

[theCapraAegagrus]

On 4/19/2023 at 10:08 PM, StillOnly25Cents said:

I can find thousands of ridiculous listings by MCS on ebay

now I do understand that a number of their listings are on consignment and they may not have full say on the listing price

Solved your own puzzle.

[comicginger1789]

On 4/19/2023 at 8:09 PM, Doctor Obscure said:

Not trying to troll... genuinely wondering what the deal is, what your thoughts are. Can prices go up if the store in question is notable due to ads within comics? I'm asking seriously here...

Just as a random example. Iceman #2 is 65.00 in NM at Mile High Comics. Sixty-Five Dollars. 

What am I missing.

By contrast, Iceman #2 is 7.20 in VF at MyComicShop.  Seven Dollars and Twenty Cents. No, I do not work at MCS and I have no prior interaction with Mile High. I genuinely went on Mile High to look for back issues and initially thought there was a mistake with the various non key eighties books I looked at.

So... what am I missing about this store?

 

 

I think that at this point, as others have alluded to, Mile High Does Not Care. They have comics, a huge "collection" and almost operate more as a museum nowadays. And hey, mycomicshop may sit on that $7.20 comic for a while. Mile High, likely forever. But Mile High attracts the comic people who don't know comics in and out. So yeah, they may make hundreds of sales a year that are 5 or 6 times what a self respecting collector would pay just because they get the "rookie" market who is simply wowed by the spectacle of the place.

[JollyComics]

On 4/19/2023 at 11:19 PM, Lightning55 said:

The math is off a bit.

A 97% increase is not even double the price.

$100,800 instead of $3450, that's roughly a 2800% increase. Insane.

Never could shop at Chuck's. Found out quickly that it made no sense, prices astronomical, odd online format, waste of time.

I knew I miscalculated it.  Thanks for correcting it.

This time, I paid attention.  I found the calculation -

100800 is a 2821.7391304348% increase of 3450 -  the math format here (please ignore the black bars which should be either a fraction bar or vinculum):

Percentage of increase =	|3450 – 100800|   3450
=	97350   3450
=	28.217391304348
=	2821.7391304348%

Edited April 20, 2023 by JollyComics

[Robot Man]

Mile High prices have always been “Mile High”.

I was at the Casual Con in Buena Park when Chuck debuted the Church collection. He was asking 2-3 times guide. People were blown away. But the books were jaw dropping. PCH and other “non popular” titles at the time were double guide but only guided for $3-8 or so apiece. Most were hitting the superhero books so I went for the other stuff. I had about $200. on me and blew most of it in his booth. Who’s smiling now? 

[JollyComics]

On 4/20/2023 at 10:14 AM, Robot Man said:

Mile High prices have always been “Mile High”.

I was at the Casual Con in Buena Park when Chuck debuted the Church collection. He was asking 2-3 times guide. People were blown away. But the books were jaw dropping. PCH and other “non popular” titles at the time were double guide but only guided for $3-8 or so apiece. Most were hitting the superhero books so I went for the other stuff. I had about $200. on me and blew most of it in his booth. Who’s smiling now? 

[Ryan.]

On 4/19/2023 at 10:06 PM, roach04 said:

Chuck had a giant bowl of noodles

This made me laugh for some reason.

[BlowUpTheMoon]

On 4/19/2023 at 9:48 PM, BlowUpTheMoon said:

A friend of mine took this picture at Chuck's a couple of weeks ago. 

I wonder what percentage Chuck would buy my VG copy of Brave and the Bold #28 for?   I'd be happy with 15% of $100,800.00

[LowGradeBronze]

On 4/20/2023 at 2:38 AM, Robot Man said:

Hey, weed and women’s clothes are expensive these days…

I now have this bizarre picture of Chuck in my mind, leaning against 30 foot warehouse shelving, in a dress, high heels and having a toot. 

Edit: hadn't realised until after I posted this, that Chuck likes drag. You learn something every day! 

Edited April 20, 2023 by LowGradeBronze