The San Diego Comic con losing its appeal to the vintage collector? 3 3

[MrBedrock]

On 7/28/2023 at 3:28 AM, 50YrsCollctngCmcs said:

Granted SDCC is the Gorilla of Comic Cons but I like variety in my life. With retirement coming up in a few years what other conventions should I consider heading out to for some good old comics fun? OafCon is one that I hear is old school fun and maybe Chicago. I did the New York circuit as a kid so that wouldn't interest me too much. Is Baltimore still a good show?

Charlotte and Baltimore are the best pure comic shows by far right now.

[adamstrange]

On 7/28/2023 at 1:27 PM, MrBedrock said:

Charlotte and Baltimore are the best pure comic shows by far right now.

How was SD Con for you this year?

[MrBedrock]

On 7/28/2023 at 12:32 PM, adamstrange said:

How was SD Con for you this year?

It was okay. We were busy, but it didn't have the same energy as in years past. For instance there was absolutely no activity during set up. I had no one looking through boxes or early shopping. Literally zero pre-show sales. That has never happened before.

[adamstrange]

On 7/28/2023 at 1:36 PM, MrBedrock said:

Literally zero pre-show sales. That has never happened before.

[october]

On 7/28/2023 at 12:36 PM, MrBedrock said:

 Literally zero pre-show sales. 

I haven't done a ton of shows in the last year or so, but the ones I have done I've gone during setup. In years past there was always a ton of competition for buying, but not recently. Like...none.

[buttock]

On 7/28/2023 at 12:31 PM, october said:

I haven't done a ton of shows in the last year or so, but the ones I have done I've gone during setup. In years past there was always a ton of competition for buying, but not recently. Like...none.

All the flippers have moved on.  

[MrBedrock]

On 7/28/2023 at 2:16 PM, buttock said:

All the flippers have moved on.  

Roy was there.

[buttock]

On 7/28/2023 at 1:49 PM, MrBedrock said:

Roy was there.

Roy is everywhere. 

[MrBedrock]

On 7/28/2023 at 2:57 PM, buttock said:

Roy is everywhere. 

I have gotten so tired of the magnifying glass, flashlight brigade going through slabs looking for potential upgrades, then trying to beat me up on my prices on the books they pull.

This conversation happened at the Santa Clara Shortboxed show...

Roy: You have a couple of books on your wall that I want to look at. Can I come back ( behind the table ) and look?

Me : Hi Roy. It is great to see you. I am having a great show. I hope you are doing well.

Roy: (confused) Can I come back there?

Me: We are good, Roy. I hope you have a great show.

Roy: (incredulous) I can't buy books from you?

Me: We are good Roy. It is great seeing you. I hope you have a great show.

I guess that is why I had no pre-show sales in SD.

[buttock]

On 7/28/2023 at 2:13 PM, MrBedrock said:

I have gotten so tired of the magnifying glass, flashlight brigade going through slabs looking for potential upgrades, then trying to beat me up on my prices on the books they pull.

This conversation happened at the Santa Clara Shortboxed show...

Roy: You have a couple of books on your wall that I want to look at. Can I come back ( behind the table ) and look?

Me : Hi Roy. It is great to see you. I am having a great show. I hope you are doing well.

Roy: (confused) Can I come back there?

Me: We are good, Roy. I hope you have a great show.

Roy: (incredulous) I can't buy books from you?

Me: We are good Roy. It is great seeing you. I hope you have a great show.

I guess that is why I had no pre-show sales in SD.

I don't know what I would do if I were in your shoes.  On one hand, they're good for business, and sales are sales.  But if they were beating me up on prices, that would be really bothersome.  I would imagine that it's mostly tact/personality that gets to you over time.   

[MrBedrock]

On 7/28/2023 at 3:31 PM, buttock said:

I don't know what I would do if I were in your shoes.  On one hand, they're good for business, and sales are sales.  But if they were beating me up on prices, that would be really bothersome.  I would imagine that it's mostly tact/personality that gets to you over time.   

I have found that that group always chooses books that will sell easily. They are not putting together runs. They aren't looking for esoteric stuff. They aren't taking chances or gambling. It has to be a slam-dunk. So they will pick books that will always sell. Why not save those books for customers that I appreciate and who would appreciate the books.

Edited July 28, 2023 by MrBedrock

[adamstrange]

On 7/28/2023 at 4:51 PM, MrBedrock said:

Why not save those books for customers that I appreciate and who would appreciate the books.

[Robot Man]

On 7/28/2023 at 1:13 PM, MrBedrock said:

I have gotten so tired of the magnifying glass, flashlight brigade going through slabs looking for potential upgrades, then trying to beat me up on my prices on the books they pull.

This conversation happened at the Santa Clara Shortboxed show...

Roy: You have a couple of books on your wall that I want to look at. Can I come back ( behind the table ) and look?

Me : Hi Roy. It is great to see you. I am having a great show. I hope you are doing well.

Roy: (confused) Can I come back there?

Me: We are good, Roy. I hope you have a great show.

Roy: (incredulous) I can't buy books from you?

Me: We are good Roy. It is great seeing you. I hope you have a great show.

I guess that is why I had no pre-show sales in SD.

There are certain folks I just won’t sell to. I just don’t need their money bad enough. And, yeah, these books will sell themselves.

I ran into Roy coming into Torpedo. We had a brief non-comic conversation…. He always has to tell me things he doesn’t like about “Cali” and that he is here all the time. I have to remind him that I LIVE in LA and was born and raised here. I want to like the guy but…

[Robot Man]

On 7/28/2023 at 11:31 AM, october said:

I haven't done a ton of shows in the last year or so, but the ones I have done I've gone during setup. In years past there was always a ton of competition for buying, but not recently. Like...none.

I think we’re are seeing more push than ever on prices. Buyers are very choosy and dealers have to buy the right books. No one is wholesaling a nice collection these days.

[Bumble Kitty]

On 7/28/2023 at 10:36 AM, MrBedrock said:

It was okay. We were busy, but it didn't have the same energy as in years past. For instance there was absolutely no activity during set up. I had no one looking through boxes or early shopping. Literally zero pre-show sales. That has never happened before.

By the time the show officially opened on Wednesday at 6 PM, I already had spent $11,000.  I wish I had spent a portion of that at your booth, as I was eyeing two books that you have.

That money was spent earlier in the day on a new home HVAC system.  As one other dealer commented, I made an adult purchase.  That is very true, but I still wished I had bought two of your books.  

 

[MrBedrock]

On 7/28/2023 at 5:26 PM, Robot Man said:

 I want to like the guy but…

...I like to watch him strut...

...away.

[joeypost]

On 7/28/2023 at 4:13 PM, MrBedrock said:

I have gotten so tired of the magnifying glass, flashlight brigade going through slabs looking for potential upgrades, then trying to beat me up on my prices on the books they pull.

This conversation happened at the Santa Clara Shortboxed show...

Roy: You have a couple of books on your wall that I want to look at. Can I come back ( behind the table ) and look?

Me : Hi Roy. It is great to see you. I am having a great show. I hope you are doing well.

Roy: (confused) Can I come back there?

Me: We are good, Roy. I hope you have a great show.

Roy: (incredulous) I can't buy books from you?

Me: We are good Roy. It is great seeing you. I hope you have a great show.

I guess that is why I had no pre-show sales in SD.

If it makes you feel better, I didn’t have any pre-show sales either at SDCC. 

Edited July 29, 2023 by joeypost

[zzutak]

On 7/28/2023 at 12:16 PM, buttock said:

All the flippers have moved on.  

Possibly.  More likely that they've been iced out by the steep/severe decline in the once extremely flippable Marvel mega-keys, keys, minor keys, and micro-keys.  These folks were never very well capitalized, and now they're buried in books they simply can't sell.  GPA prices on this material are generally down 30~40% from the Mar-Apr 2022 highs.  Nobody is biting on their ridiculous BIN listings, and they simply can't afford to risk losing their shirt by offering this material via no reserve auctions.

[buttock]

On 7/28/2023 at 6:01 PM, zzutak said:

Possibly.  More likely that they've been iced out by the steep/severe decline in the once extremely flippable Marvel mega-keys, keys, minor keys, and micro-keys.  These folks were never very well capitalized, and now they're buried in books they simply can't sell.  GPA prices on this material are generally down 30~40% from the Mar-Apr 2022 highs.  Nobody is biting on their ridiculous BIN listings, and they simply can't afford to risk losing their shirt by offering this material via no reserve auctions.

Yeah.  I didn't expect them to last, nor did most people.  They were in it for the money while it was easy to do so.  Now it's back to more collectors.  

[50YrsCollctngCmcs]

Buy and hold works for me in all my investments! Especially comics!