Anyone with any exp. with comickeys?

[Joanna]

You guys have got it all wrong. The problem with hammer is that he doesn't sell Wonder Woman comics! That's the heart of the matter. That's why so many peopple are upset. All he sells are those silly Marvel things.

 

(note: not that I actually know that he doesn't sell DC's, because I can't afford high grade books - no need to name call with me, I'll readily admit it -- and I never looked at his auctions, nor am I buying anything right now. Still, it's a proven fact that if you like Wonder Woman comics you are automatically a fine, upstanding citizen. See the light, Hammer! It beckons you!)

 

-- Joanna

[HooDeeDoo]

I don't see what all the bashing is about. If Hammer (comic-keys) allows refunds then noone should be getting their panties all up in a wad. I'd say the criticism is completely justified if he was using several fly-by-night accounts on ebay to pawn off his wares or if he was selling "hi-grade" out of the back of a pickup ;p. The fact is he maintains an ebay account with a lot more positive than negs. He also has a presence here to reply with his detractors.

 

Just my 2 cents as a casual observer.

 

First of all, he advertises his books as being "UNRESTORED" (in all caps, no less).

 

For instance:

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=32739&item=2168593296

 

So, if he claims they are unrestored, then they SHOULD be unrestored and not: "Oh, if they come back with color touch I'll give you your money back". By him making the claim they are unrestored, he is vouching for their pedigree (and I don't mean that in the Mile High sense).

 

Books like this Spidey don't just miraculously "turn up" again and again and again and again and again from the same person.

 

Keep in mind, Surgeon Richard has actually listed books that were slabbed. Why in the world would he sell this Spidey for $22K when he knows he can get more if it were slabbed at 9.4? Just put your little thinking cap on and get back to me on that.

 

[fantastic_four]

Is there anyway to close this pandora's box I unwittingly opened?

 

We should close it...every single point made has been made in previous threads. However, the people who argue this is pointless are wrong; these posts have helped a few people. I'm not going around hunting for information on comic-keys...I mean I did back when I was considering buying a major book from him, but not once I got enough dealer opinions to realize it wasn't just an isolated rumor.

 

Three of the nine people I referred to earlier posted their experience on this board, three of them I know from prior ebay deals, and another three people e-mailed me after reading these forums. Two of those three people were asking me if I thought they should call the cops in his home town, but I suggested to them that they just ask him for refunds since I've never heard of him not giving one once asked. And both of those people got their refunds.

[lighthouse]

You know... I reread the Second Genesis TPB last week (r: Byrne's 101-105) for the first time in quite a while... and it was a whole new experience having a personality that went with the last name "Sandsmark"... I kept expecting the character to start throwing down with MajorKhaos or something... brought a whole new dimension to the story for me...

[Illiterati-migration]

Oh boys, he gives refunds. Real crooks don't give refunds. Deal with it.

[HooDeeDoo]

 

2) He REFUNDS THE MONEY. That's FINE by me. He deals a LOT of hard-to-find books. If a few of them are restored, that's pretty much par for the course, in my opinion.

 

You're obviously not a high grade collector or someone who spends larges sums of money on a single book. When you DO start spending serious money, you won't be quite so cavalier about this.

 

And comparing Koos to Saddam?

 

Oh, is that the last name you know him by? He has so many, I have a hard time keeping them straight.

 

Incidentally, no, I wasn't comparing him to the late Saddam Hussein. I was merely making a point - that was lost on you.

 

 

 

 

[murph0]

Whatever happened to the "story" of some lawyer bringing up a lawsuit against him? I believe this was mentioned in the original thread and that was almost a year ago?

 

Brian

[BachelorOfComix]

Oldguy: I don't need facts to support where I stand on this issue. The problem is that people that are saying what we should (or should not) do aren't providing facts.

[Illiterati-migration]

You know... I reread the Second Genesis TPB last week (r: Byrne's 101-105) for the first time in quite a while... and it was a whole new experience having a personality that went with the last name "Sandsmark"... I kept expecting the character to start throwing down with MajorKhaos or something... brought a whole new dimension to the story for me...

 

Gads, I would be great in a great comic book. I could go out and triumph over my extremely evil (yet completely, woefully inept) nemesis "SlobberinTime The Ambulance Chasing Shyster" before I go party with tons of impossibly-built superbabes! Booya!

[fantastic_four]

Oh boys, he gives refunds. Real crooks don't give refunds. Deal with it.

 

Experienced ones might...and if comic-keys is Dupcak, he's had well over a decade of experience at it. Dupcak was banned from advertising in Overstreet and CBG around 1991-1992 and served time for collectibles fraud in the mid-90s.

 

Think about it--how many people can detect restoration? Less than 1%. How many buyers send their books off to get professionally checked for restoration? WAY under 50%. The sell through on people who still don't know their books are restored would be enormous; well worth the trouble of taking refunds on the small percentage of people who find their books are restored. You don't give refunds, the cops come knocking on your door a lot sooner than later.

[BachelorOfComix]

Experienced ones might...and if comic-keys is Dupcak...

That's a monstrous "IF". I recall hearing many months ago that someone was going to "out" Comic-Keys/Dupcheck with solid evidence. Absolutely NOTHING to date...........

 

[Illiterati-migration]

Oh boys, he gives refunds. Real crooks don't give refunds. Deal with it.

 

Experienced ones might...and if comic-keys is Dupcak, he's had well over a decade of experience at it. Dupcak was banned from advertising in Overstreet and CBG around 1991-1992 and served time for collectibles fraud in the mid-90s.

 

Think about it--how many people can detect restoration? Less than 1%. How many buyers send their books off to get professionally checked for restoration? WAY under 50%. The sell through on people who still don't know their books are restored would be enormous; well worth the trouble of taking refunds on the small percentage of people who find their books are restored. You don't give refunds, the cops come knocking on your door a lot sooner than later.

 

If they don't check, then they don't CARE that much, do they? You guys have lost here. There's no argument you can make on this slippery slope that is going to give you any sort of foothold.

[fantastic_four]

Experienced ones might...and if comic-keys is Dupcak...

That's a monstrous "IF". I recall hearing many months ago that someone was going to "out" comic-keys/Dupcheck with solid evidence. Absolutely NOTHING to date...........

 

Definitely an excellent thing to bring back up...nobody has publicly posted that proof. Which is why MajorKhaos and the others are justified in defending comic-keys.

[HooDeeDoo]

EVERY serious dealer keeps his buyer's identities a secret as much as humanly possible. Metropolis didn't go around telling the world which books they sold to Nic Cage, or they wouldn't have sold him many books at all. Yes, a certain amount of information winds up being public. But if I spend $3K on a book from you tomorrow, I both expect and demand that you do your best to protect my privacy. And if you choose to ignore that, it will be the last business we do.

 

I am not commenting directly on comic-keys feedback profile here, just your general statement... Maintaining customer privacy is a paramount goal for any serious antiquities dealer...

 

RING! RING!

 

What's that I hear? Oh, it's the Clue Phone!

 

Hello?

 

Lighthouse, it's for you!

 

 

Metropolis doesn't have "private feedback".

 

Harley Yee doesn't have "private feedback".

 

Bob Storms doesn't have "private feedback".

 

Jason Ewert doesn't have "private feedback".

 

Dan Greenhalgh doesn't have "private feedback".

 

Gary Dolgoff doesn't have "private feedback".

 

Mark WIlson doesn't have "private feedback".

 

Ed Jaster doesn't have "private feedback".

 

Heritage doesn't have "private feedback".

 

PCE doesn't have "private feedback".

 

Anytime someone wants to contact a buyer from one of these dealers, they can send them an email. None of these dealers is keeping their eBay customers a secret. Granted, their regular transactions are private, and should be, but like they told you on the Clue Phone, I'm talking about eBay customers.

 

Would someone like to share with the class the name of a single dealer other than Surgeon Richard who has private feedback?

[murph0]

rofl the clue phone. Almost as good as the 00Bruce thread down in Marketplace.

 

Brian

[Illiterati-migration]

Hoo said: There are many of you who are tired of this topic. However, there are many of us who are tired of Surgeon Richard's business practices. Often, as people (as oppossed to other vertebrates) we just want a problem to go away rather than actually getting to the bottom of it and fixing the problem. That's what going on here. "Oh, we've talked it to death! Can we PLEASE change the subject?!?" Talk talk talk. It's like the UN for heaven's sake! If we TALK about Saddam long enough maybe he'll just go away.

 

THEN Hoo said: Incidentally, no, I wasn't comparing him to the late Saddam Hussein. I was merely making a point - that was lost on you.

 

Sure looks like you're drawing an analogous relation there.

 

Oh, and: You're obviously not a high grade collector or someone who spends larges sums of money on a single book. When you DO start spending serious money, you won't be quite so cavalier about this.

 

If I WERE someone who wanted to spend huge amounts of comic books, I wouldn't buy from someone unless they had a refund policy like Hammer... or high feedback like Hammer.

[fantastic_four]

If they don't check, then they don't CARE that much, do they? You guys have lost here. There's no argument you can make on this slippery slope that is going to give you any sort of foothold.

 

Don't take offense to this...but this is part of what clobberintime meant by your lack of experience buying expensive books. Nobody who shells out hundreds or thousands of dollars for a comic wants to find out a few months or years later that the comic is worth 50% to 90% less than what they paid due to restoration. The first time I realized the Daredevil #1 I paid $1900 for from a dealer was restored, I felt physically ill. It's not that they don't CARE, it's just that collectors typically don't send books to CGC. I almost never slab books; the X-Men #7 I bought from comic-keys is still unslabbed and I don't have any reason to slab it. I don't slab any of my books unless they're worth more than $400 or so, I suspect they're restored, and there's still time to get a refund from the seller.

[Joanna]

You know... I reread the Second Genesis TPB last week (r: Byrne's 101-105) for the first time in quite a while... and it was a whole new experience having a personality that went with the last name "Sandsmark"... I kept expecting the character to start throwing down with MajorKhaos or something... brought a whole new dimension to the story for me...

 

'House, first time I saw it in print it was a little freaky. John gave me the page where it was first mentioned and I have it on my wall, next to my computer. He signed it "To that other Sandsmark, Joanna". He always maintained that Joanna was Cassie's aunt (Helena's sister). The funniest typo was in a later issue, under another writer (not John), when he accidently called Helena "Joanna". A bunch of people wrote in asking if she'd changed her name, while others wanted to know how I'd become a character in the comic. One of the more surreal typos.

 

-- Joanna

[HooDeeDoo]

Sure looks like you're drawing an analogous relation there.

 

Only if you're dense.

 

 

 

If I WERE someone who wanted to spend huge amounts of comic books, I wouldn't buy from someone unless they had a refund policy like Hammer... or high feedback like Hammer.

 

"A fool and his money are soon parted."

[Illiterati-migration]

Don't take offense to this...but this is part of what clobberintime meant by your lack of experience buying expensive books.

 

Hey, no way to be offended by the truth, and if that's what Clob actually meant by his comment, then I apologize. (It's not, but that's another matter entirely.)

 

And if that's actually the case, here's a little advice for all you big-dollar dropping comic collectors out there:

 

Learn to check for restoration. Hell, if you drop $4,000.00 for a book, invest a few extra bucks and have the thing checked if it's that important to you. If you can't tell, then just stick with the "if I can't see it, it's not there" idea.

 

The restoration argument is losing air faster and faster... pretty soon it's going to be as flat and empty as Clob's head!