What was your STUPIDEST comic collecting move?

[Rodey]

It happens. It how we learn.

[joe_collector]

That one mistake will be my undying shame as some board members NEVER let me forget

 

Hey, considering I helped you pick out the book, and made sure you checked on the MVS *before* bidding..

[cd4ever]

Putting a CGC 9.4 Action 267 up on ebay with a BIN of around 3000. It got bought immediately and 2 weeks later the buyer put it on ebay with no BIN and got nearly 6000 for it. I cried for a month!.

 

Live and learn.

[joe_collector]

My best collecting move was to stop buying moderns, haven't bought any since 1991 or so.

 

Join the club - I got out at a perfect time (Image #1's had just appeared on the shelves) and never looked back.

[the blob]

of course, JC has never made a mistake, ever. always buys low, sells high, fully optimizing every penny, always a step ahead of the market....

 

and if you stopped buying moderns right around the Image #1 doesn't that mean you had been buying moderns for the 1-2 years before that with dreck like X-Men 1, X-Force 1, Spiderman 1, Death of Supes, etc..?

 

(It wasn't genius that resulted in me avoiding those moderns, just dumb luck of getting back into this in stuff in 1993 when it was all pretty clear how silly things were. I did buy a lot of that stuff out of the 25 cent box though.)

 

My other error: Buying a lot of VGish SA Daredevils and Thors in the early/mid 90's. I always tried to get a good price vs. OPG on these, so I think I'm still ahead 10-13 years later, but my money could have certainly been spent better elsewhere.

[scottish]

Yes, and the real kicker is that the seller swears the book HAD the MVS when they shipped it. They were willing to have me ship them the book back to inspect it, but by that point I didn't see the use.

 

It boiled down to them indicating that CGC must have removed the stamp when they graded the book. Didn't come right out and say that, but that was the gist.

 

I just should have checked the dang thing before I sent it off. Not a big deal anyway - supa bought it from me for 400 or something so I lost less than 300.00.

 

And I DID appreciate you picking it out for me.

[scottish]

Putting a CGC 9.4 Action 267 up on ebay with a BIN of around 3000. It got bought immediately and 2 weeks later the buyer put it on ebay with no BIN and got nearly 6000 for it. I cried for a month!.

 

Live and learn.

 

HOLY!

 

I feel that pain from here!

[chromium]

The last comic I bought as a kid was Secret Wars #1, it took me about 15 years to buy another comic and that one was ASM #36 (V2)....so I guess I was lucky to miss the "not-so-good-years"....but once I got back in to comic collecting, I wanted to catch up on the X-men...only knew the Uncanny title from back in the day, but I decided to buy another (unknown to me) X-series.

 

From all the Xbooks of the last 15 years I could have gotten I bought the entire X-men 2099 run in one go....and paid about $3.00 an issue

[greggy]

The last comic I bought as a kid was Secret Wars #1, it took me about 15 years to buy another comic and that one was ASM #36 (V2)....so I guess I was lucky to miss the "not-so-good-years"....but once I got back in to comic collecting, I wanted to catch up on the X-men...only knew the Uncanny title from back in the day, but I decided to buy another (unknown to me) X-series.

 

From all the Xbooks of the last 15 years I could have gotten I bought the entire X-men 2099 run in one go....and paid about $3.00 an issue

[inconceivable]

not too long ago buying ASM 121 and not looking at the back cover...got home and found water damage on the back.....

 

I did that. ASM 122 though. Probably not my stupidest move either.

 

Dan

[sborock]

Bought "high grade" books BEFORE doing my homework about the sellers and learning about color touch, tear seals, trimming, and piece replacement. When I went to sell (I had finished my Marvel SA run so I was changing my habit from Marvel and D.C. SA to D.C. SA only) and thought I was going to make about $40,000, I ended up losing about $16,000.

 

If I was not a fanatic and having fun with the good collectors, I would have been chased out of the hobby, but instead became determind to learn everything I could before spending big bucks again.

 

So even though it was the stupidest thing I ever did in collecting, it was the best learning and motivating experience I have ever had in this hobby.

 

As for buying new books, I do not believe it is stupid. I love them and read at least one every night Some of the best stuff I have ever read in comics is being published today

[toro]

Buying tons of SA VG/Fs at $3 to $5 instead of buying NMs at $10 to $15!!! Hey, I was poor and wanted more books for the buck.

[howardhallis]

Sold Albedo #2 (7.0), 3 and 4 for $200 last year.

 

Bought Marvel Milestone Edition: Strange Tales for $100. It recently sold on eBay for $5.00. Still, it graded a 9.6 and the guy I bought it from became a good friend, so all's well that ends well...

 

Got some Defenders and Dr. Strange 35 cent variants for way too much money from a fellow forumite... but at least I have them all now!

[joe_collector]

of course, JC has never made a mistake, ever. always buys low, sells high, fully optimizing every penny, always a step ahead of the market....

 

Nope, I take no credit for doing everything smart, I just don't do anything stupid.

 

And so far, that's worked for me.

 

I didn't buy into the B&W stupidity and I never bought a single Image book or anything Marvel past when McFarlane left ASM. The only thing I was really buying before I dropped out was Hellblazer and Sandman.

[goldust40]

Well, there's the 5 Turok 1s and Bloodshot 1s still sitting in a box somewhere, the time I sold a NM+ Hulk 181 for £400 (it was 1999, but still....), selling a NM Showcase 60 for £200 at about the same time (still kicking myself over that one) and other similar short - sightedness. Also in 1999 - had the opportunity at an NYC Con to buy 10 -15 unread pristine Swamp Thing 1s for about $30 apiece, but figured two would be enough.

 

Then there was my 4th ever ebay transaction, where I didn't realize that 97.9% positive feedback is actually pizzpoor. The seller had been around a long time but was about (unbeknownst to all) to give up the game, got himself deliberately NARU'd and never sent the books. Kind of a small version of what happened to Steve B. Many ebay buyers would've chucked it in right there, but I decided to learn from my idiocy, and am reasonably happy that I stuck with the bay.

 

But the biggest comic collecting mistake would be not collecting between 1985 and 1992, with the dedication I've had from 1994 onwards. Yeah, hindsight is 20/20....

[joe_collector]

And I DID appreciate you picking it out for me.

 

I thought getting a CGC 9.2 from EBay was pretty fine, and I had assumed you at least cracked it open.

 

The seller was a real dork though, and basically accused CGC of fraud.

[towards2112]

Well, there's the 5 Turok 1s and Bloodshot 1s still ...

 

Yes sir, shot my self in the with a glory gun on those long term winners.

Not to mention Bloodshot # 6.

[goldust40]

Well, there's the 5 Turok 1s and Bloodshot 1s still ...

 

Yes sir, shot my self in the with a glory gun on those long term winners.

Not to mention Bloodshot # 6.

 

And Shadowman 16. What was I thinking??

[towards2112]

You're up a tad late....

Did I mention being in on the ground floor of FUTURE COMICS ??

Bob is actually a great guy, and has always taken care of me pretty

well, considering all his books I've sold over the years....

[goldust40]

You're up a tad late....

 

It's only just gone midnight over 'ere....have to say it's not been easy admitting I bought into all that bland post-Shooter Valiant mulch. Turok 1 was the moment the bubble burst, as you know - it was also when I realized I should stick to the old stuff.

 

Well, at least I didn't buy Turok 2-47.....