Great boneheaded comics shopping mistakes of all time!

[Titan777]

DD #1 in NM for $15

- AF #15 in NM for $40

- ASM #1 in NM for $35

- FF #1 in NM for $50

- Hulk #1 in NM for $25 or 30

 

Amazing Fantasy #15 for $40........was it that low?? it would have been good to be a collector of #1's or first appearances in those days

[supapimp]

I think I've got you all beat on this one.

 

Early in my collecting days (1974-5), my brother and I decided to really get some decent back issues by saving our allowances, pooling the proceeds and placing one "big" order to Robert Bell, one of the biggest mail-order dealers, out of Hauppage (sp?) NY. After many months, we had $40 accumulated... which for us was a lotta dough.

 

Bell was well known for having nigh-to-ridiculous prices for the time - he'd charge about 90-120% of guide at a time when most charged 60-80%. But he "guaranteed" that all books were in "NM to Mint." Even considering the evolution of the grading process, he was pretty true to his word; VF+ was the lowest I think I ever saw from him, and that was a rare slip.

 

So we're looking through the little pink catalog Mr. Bell would send you for 25 cents and an SASE, trying to decide how to allocate our $40. I still have the same copy of the catalog, sans cover, in my collection somewhere, with notes about which books we decided to get. We got some great deals of course, by today's prices, but we wanted to get a fair number of comics, so we spread it out: $2 each for ASM 25 and 26 in NM, $6 for DD #2 in NM, $3 for TTA #39 or 40 , etc.

What did we pass up?

- DD #1 in NM for $15

- AF #15 in NM for $40

- ASM #1 in NM for $35

- FF #1 in NM for $50

- Hulk #1 in NM for $25 or 30

 

....okay, I'm getting all verklempt now... hope yer happy!

 

wassup my city dwelling brother? i was like 4 in 1974-75.

[chrisco37]

Here's one for you...

 

A old friend of mine used to know a guy in his neighborhood that was a collector. My friend and I were in the 8th grade, and went over to this dude's house. He had file cabinets full of comics, all in mylars or mylites. He had every SA Marvel you could think of. Gave me a copy of ASM #64! I eventually sold it, but I'll bet it was a 9.2-9.4.....anyway......he opens up one drawer and pulls out the grail! Actually 2 of them! AF #15 w/ proof of purchase statement from the dealer. It said something to the effect of, "Congratulations on your purchase of Amazing Fantasy #15, the first appearance of Spider-Man" and next to it was the total. $4 a piece!

 

If only........

 

Chris

[garthgantu]

Speaking of *giving away* comics, I've presented some beauts to friends and relatives as wedding gifts. I can't remember most of the exact issue #s, but of the six or seven I've given away, all were pretty early SA Batmans or Detectives, in mid-grade or higher. Two I recall vividly: the Batman or Detective where Batman is handing an embattled G.I. a new rifle, and saying something like "here you go, son, a gift from the folks back home" and Robin's chiming in about the "7th War Bond" or something; the other was a 'Tec, I think, with Batman on skies...?

 

Kinda wish I'd hung onto those now, especially since most of the people I gave them to really didn't appreciate them at the time, and probably lost 'em by now!

[Joanna]

Speaking of wedding gifts, I had a friend who loved Batman, so I gave him an original page of John Byrne Batman art for a wedding present. He went nuts -- I've never seen anyone so excited. He's an asipring comic artist, and he'd never owned any original art before. The irony here was that I was really friends with his bride-to-be and only knew him through her. But I looked at all the gifts they'd gotten and their registry and realized that guys are massively unrepresented when it comes to wedding gifts. So I wanted to give him something that he wanted. She was extremely understanding about it, for which I'm grateful.

 

-- Joanna

[shadroch]

Heres a slightly different take. In the early 1990s I sold my Fine copy of Marvel Comics for a nice piece of change. After paying off my student loans,credit cards and such, I had about 5 Grand left. I bought 500 shares of Marvel Comics at about 8 dollars. They split repeatedly and my investment was now 4000 shares worth twenty something dollars each. My $4,000 was now almost 100,000. Did I sell? Hell No.... I borrowed $5,000 at 10.9 interest and bought more. Long story short ---Ron Perlman drove the company into bankruptcy and I am surfing the web on a three year old WebTv. But I still have those fantastic Limited Edition Stock Holder Reports. The only bright side of deal was I have come to suspect the Marvel#1 was probrably restored,and that my other alternative investment was a couple of cases of X-Men 1(Special Collectors Edition).

[jonnydouble]

Speaking of wedding gifts, I had a friend who loved Batman, so I gave him an original page of John Byrne Batman art for a wedding present. He went nuts -- I've never seen anyone so excited. He's an asipring comic artist, and he'd never owned any original art before. The irony here was that I was really friends with his bride-to-be and only knew him through her. But I looked at all the gifts they'd gotten and their registry and realized that guys are massively unrepresented when it comes to wedding gifts. So I wanted to give him something that he wanted. She was extremely understanding about it, for which I'm grateful.

 

-- Joanna

 

WOW....why didn't I think of that when it came to the registry?..sure beats a breadmaker.

 

Jonny D.

[ninanina]

OK, here's mine.

 

13 copies of Star Wars 107 in my hands at Doug Sulipa's Comic World.)Back in the old days when he still had a retail store). Thought about buying them all, but decided on just one. Still have it though, but I coulda' had 12 more.

 

Saw X-Men 94 on a 7-11 comic rack, and decided not to buy it.

 

Sold a ton of Silver Age comics back in '79 so I could pay my House Tax. Well, I was in a bind and oddly enough at the time I truly believed they wouldn't be worth much more anyway. That's the reason when I hear "gloom & doom" scenarios re: the future of this hobby, I never agree with it.

 

[joe_collector]

Sold a ton of Silver Age comics back in '79 so I could pay my House Tax. Well, I was in a bind and oddly enough at the time I truly believed they wouldn't be worth much more anyway. That's the reason when I hear "gloom & doom" scenarios re: the future of this hobby, I never agree with it.

 

Exactly.

[Smokinghawk]

Speaking of wedding gifts, I had a friend who loved Batman, so I gave him an original page of John Byrne Batman art for a wedding present. He went nuts -- I've never seen anyone so excited. He's an asipring comic artist, and he'd never owned any original art before. The irony here was that I was really friends with his bride-to-be and only knew him through her. But I looked at all the gifts they'd gotten and their registry and realized that guys are massively unrepresented when it comes to wedding gifts. So I wanted to give him something that he wanted. She was extremely understanding about it, for which I'm grateful.

 

-- Joanna

 

Joanna, you rock.

 

My wife bought me a bunch of ASM's in the 30s-40s for our first anniversary, cleaning out the local comics store. I love it when people do stuff like that.

 

[Smokinghawk]

Oh, here's my boneheaded SELLINGT experience.

 

Last year...

 

My family needed a new dishwasher, but we're BROKE, with a new baby, and limited income (I'm a social worker). So I bite the bullet and decide to sell my Hulks 180, 181, and 182 in VF-NM (with the MVS, mind you...)

 

So I load these bad boys up on Ebay, with great scans and everything.

 

And then I do a brain fart and title the auction "Hulk 180-182, VF/NM."

 

Anyone see the problem?

 

I was so dumb I didn't even catch my mistake until AFTER the $385 auction ended.

 

[supapimp]

Oh, here's my boneheaded SELLINGT experience.

 

Last year...

 

My family needed a new dishwasher, but we're BROKE, with a new baby, and limited income (I'm a social worker). So I bite the bullet and decide to sell my Hulks 180, 181, and 182 in VF-NM (with the MVS, mind you...)

 

So I load these bad boys up on Ebay, with great scans and everything.

 

And then I do a brain fart and title the auction "Hulk 180-182, VF/NM."

 

Anyone see the problem?

 

I was so dumb I didn't even catch my mistake until AFTER the $385 auction ended.

 

DAMN! how did i miss that auction?

[Titan777]

I would have told the buyer that there was a problem with the auction title and that people didnt realize exactly what the auction contained .......I definitely would not loose $1200 over a posible neg!

[lou_fine]

Late to arrive on this thread. Anyways, this is my biggest missed opportunity to date so far in terms of collecting:

 

I was offered the Overstreet copies of ASM #2 - #10 for the grand sum of $1,000 back in '88 or '89 from a broker friend of mine's. These were apparently the copies which he had handpicked off the newsstand and also upgraded throughout the years if a higher condition copy came along. I basically turned the offer down because I felt that if I had the #2 through #10, I would always be thinking about the #1 whcih was missing from the set.

 

I have no idea what the set would be worth nowadays, but for sure it would be a lot more than $1,000. At the time though, comic book prices had been stagnant for a few years, although a NM AF#15 had just sold for $2,200 when the OPG was at $800 or $1,000. Looking back on it, the timing would just have been perfect because the Silver Age market was just on the verge of having their first major breakout.

 

Anyways, to make a long story short, the set ended up going to Steve Geppi who then flipped it over to Steve Hunter. Last I heard, the set ended up in the hands of Dave Anderson. Don't know if he still has it since I haven't talked to him in the last few years.

[Smokinghawk]

I would have told the buyer that there was a problem with the auction title and that people didnt realize exactly what the auction contained .......I definitely would not loose $1200 over a posible neg!

 

I shoulda, you're right. But I promised by wife that I'd buy us a new dishwasher...and did I *mention* that she has the same outfit as MJW in Ultimate Spidey #40??

 

 

[ninanina]

....and did I *mention* that she has the same outfit as MJW in Ultimate Spidey #40??

 

Pictures, we need pictures!

[Smokinghawk]

....and did I *mention* that she has the same outfit as MJW in Ultimate Spidey #40??

 

Pictures, we need pictures!

 

hmmm...I can post pictures, OR I can stay married to my wife. Can't do both.

 

She wins.

 

 

[Midnight8992-migration]

I say go with the pictures...

 

lose a wife, but gain the respect of comic nerds like us everywhere...

[garthgantu]

Haven't seen this come up in this thread yet, but I'm guessing there are some comic collectors out there who passed up the 35-cent Marvel "variants" trying to save a nickel...? Now THAT would be a painful mistake...