UPDATE - 1/3/2011: Just put up 58 more Marvel Masterworks Variant Editions on eBay last night - auctions end on Sunday, 1/9/2011 starting at 8:36 p.m. EST until 10:58 p.m. EST. Great chance to get a lot of wonderful, limited reprints at discount prices!
Just wanted to let all you Marvel Masterworks collectors out there that Walkin' Willie's Comix is eBaying a bunch of Marvel Masterworks hardcover Variants. These books are very limited editions with most having print runs of only 1050 to 1450 copies. All of the books offered are brand new with original factory shrink wrap.
Many titles already up and many more to go - starting bids are a little over half of retail which is EXTREMELY LOW for these books as not too many of them enter the secondary market - i.e. most collectors hold on to them as long as they can.
The "Fire Sale" will be going on weekly until the end of January!
Showing posts with label Comic Books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Comic Books. Show all posts
Monday, December 27, 2010
Monday, June 28, 2010
Time To Squidoo.....
Well, I'm probably the last one on the block to write a Squidoo lens. If you are living under a rock, Squidoo.com is an article repository where anybody can write articles for free in the hope that people find them interesting, click on links, generate some modicum of revenue for the author and so on.
Blogs seem best for short articles that describe the daily experiences and happenings of the author and hopefully provide some interesting tidbits to the general public - whether it is on comics or anything else. Squidoo lenses seem better for long articles that have to do with a specific subject and - for the most part - are considered "evergreen" articles. Evergreen articles might be a "How To" article or a critique of a book - in other words, they have no expiration date.
Well, I just published a two part Squidoo "lens" titled "So You Want To Sell Your Comic Collection". Part 1 is here and Part 2 is there. The articles are a little long for blogging so I thought that Squidoo would be the perfect place for these little "gems of prose".
By the way, Squidoo names their articles "lenses" because they are articles that has the author's "focus". Sounds reasonable....
Anyway, comments are certainly welcome and solicited!
Thursday, May 6, 2010
New Comic Collection to debut at Hickory-Con!
We'll be bringing a new collection consisting of 30 long boxes - Bronze Age to present - to Hickory-Con this Saturday, May 8th, 2010 at the Hickory Metro Convention Center in Hickory, NC.
The collection is interesting for not only it's breadth but depth as well. Everything from superheroes, golden age reprints, independents - you name it, it is in there. The individual from which we purchased this collection is a finish carpenter and all of the books came in 32 boxes made of luan plywood. The boxes are even stackable with sort of a tounge-in-grove deal where the comics are not touched by the box above - very interesting but we will need to sell them as they are tough to use for transport due to the weight and no handles. But I digress...
The even better news is that ALL BOOKS ARE $1.00 - that's right - just a buck a piece and ALL of the books are freshly bagged and boarded by yours truly (not so many) and by the always able assistant Melissa (she bagged and boarded a TON of books...). Admission to Hickory-Con is just $3.00 and runs from 10:00 in the morning to 5:00 in the evening.
Whatever we don't sell at Hickory-Con, we will bring to a new show - Fanaticon at the Asheville Art Museum in Asheville, NC on Saturday, May 15, 2010. When it's up, they have by far the best one-day show website that I have ever seen. They are promoting this show RELENTLESSLY so I'm hoping for a great turnout.
After that, we'll be heading to Charlotte, NC on June 4 - 6 for the venerable Heroes-Con 2010. The guest list is absolutely amazing with creators like Mike Mignola (Hellboy), Brian Bolland (fabulous covers like The Killing Joke, Animal Man, Wonder Woman and a TON more), Frank Cho (Liberty Meadows), Bill Willingham (Fables, Elementals) and just too many more to list. We'll be bringing a ton of trades, graphic novels, CGC books and - of course - deeply discounted comic books.
We have a few more shows to do like Charlotte Comicon on August 1st and Dragon*Con over Labor Day weekend but more about those two great shows later.
Hope to see you in Hickory on Saturday - first come, first served for this fabulous comic book collection!
The collection is interesting for not only it's breadth but depth as well. Everything from superheroes, golden age reprints, independents - you name it, it is in there. The individual from which we purchased this collection is a finish carpenter and all of the books came in 32 boxes made of luan plywood. The boxes are even stackable with sort of a tounge-in-grove deal where the comics are not touched by the box above - very interesting but we will need to sell them as they are tough to use for transport due to the weight and no handles. But I digress...
The even better news is that ALL BOOKS ARE $1.00 - that's right - just a buck a piece and ALL of the books are freshly bagged and boarded by yours truly (not so many) and by the always able assistant Melissa (she bagged and boarded a TON of books...). Admission to Hickory-Con is just $3.00 and runs from 10:00 in the morning to 5:00 in the evening.
Whatever we don't sell at Hickory-Con, we will bring to a new show - Fanaticon at the Asheville Art Museum in Asheville, NC on Saturday, May 15, 2010. When it's up, they have by far the best one-day show website that I have ever seen. They are promoting this show RELENTLESSLY so I'm hoping for a great turnout.
After that, we'll be heading to Charlotte, NC on June 4 - 6 for the venerable Heroes-Con 2010. The guest list is absolutely amazing with creators like Mike Mignola (Hellboy), Brian Bolland (fabulous covers like The Killing Joke, Animal Man, Wonder Woman and a TON more), Frank Cho (Liberty Meadows), Bill Willingham (Fables, Elementals) and just too many more to list. We'll be bringing a ton of trades, graphic novels, CGC books and - of course - deeply discounted comic books.
We have a few more shows to do like Charlotte Comicon on August 1st and Dragon*Con over Labor Day weekend but more about those two great shows later.
Hope to see you in Hickory on Saturday - first come, first served for this fabulous comic book collection!
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Marvel Masterworks Variant Editions - We got 'em!
The good news started when Marvel decided to print all of their old and brand new Masterworks Editions in the original gilded gold frame and marble covers. The bad news is that they would only print to initial orders. The first 20 or so did not have the print run numbers on the back of the dust jackets - later Marvel would put the numbers on the dust jackets and they ran (approximately) from 1000 to 1600 copies with most around the 1200 number range. Yep, that's it - only around 1200 or so of each edition. You can go to the Marvel Masterworks Resource Page (well, there are SEVERAL pages...) to find out more about these editions. Particularly, go to the library page and you can find links to all the editions AND the print runs for the early editions.
What is interesting is that the variant edition of Marvel Masterworks Vol. 1 (Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 1) only had a print run of 520, Vol. 2 (Fantastic Four Vol. 1) only had a print run of 500 - and there are some of the early volumes that even had lesser runs. Hence, you will see some of these early volumes on eBay or Amazon at really high prices. And yes, we have a few of those expensive early editions on eBay right now.
Around Vol. 30 or so, folks began to take notice and the print runs started going up (e.g. Vol. 33 - Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 6 - had a print run of 1420). Still, the print runs are still relatively low and so continue to the present. Marvel did the unthinkable by reprinting a few of the early variants - you can identify these by a) a Roman numeral 2 (II) and b) the presence of the print run - both on the back of the dust jacket. It looks like Marvel discontinued the reprints after just a few volumes. The print runs are small so it looks like lack of sales doomed these abominations.
Starting with Vol. 43 - Golden Age Captain America Vol. 1 - and Vol. 57 - Tales To Astonish Vol. 1 - fans could now start getting Golden Age and Atlas Era reprints. Although the regular editions are mostly still in print with a very few exceptions, the variant editions still go out of print almost instantly.
Here at Walkin' Willie's Comix, we try to get as many of the variants as we can afford each month. Usually, Marvel puts out two hardcover variants and one to two trade paperback variants per month. You heard right, Marvel has started reprinting their Marvel Masterworks in a more affordable trade paperback form - and again, both in a regular edition and limited variant edition.
If you are looking for some of these variants for about as affordable as we can go, we have some of our Marvel Masterworks hardcover variants at our eCrater store and some of them at Walkin' Willie's Comix. All of our Marvel Masterworks trade paperback variant editions are at Walkin' Willie's Comix - with more to come in the very, very near future.
But whether you are into the variant editions or the regular editions, the good thing is that Marvel is printing nearly ALL of their stuff from the Golden Age through the early 1980's and while the prices are a tad steep on the hardcovers, they represent a fraction of the prices you would pay to obtain mid-grade single issues. You can get the Journey Into Mystery Vol. 1 variant hardcover (Vol. 106 of the Masterworks series) for $47.99 at Walkin' Willie's Comix. That book covers issues #1 through #10 of the series, which if you were to buy the individual issues at just VG grade, it would run you in the neighborhood of $1800.00! Now that's a bit of price delta!
Anyway, if you want to read more about 'em, again go to the Marvel Masterworks Resource Page. Until next time, 'Nuff Said!
What is interesting is that the variant edition of Marvel Masterworks Vol. 1 (Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 1) only had a print run of 520, Vol. 2 (Fantastic Four Vol. 1) only had a print run of 500 - and there are some of the early volumes that even had lesser runs. Hence, you will see some of these early volumes on eBay or Amazon at really high prices. And yes, we have a few of those expensive early editions on eBay right now.
Around Vol. 30 or so, folks began to take notice and the print runs started going up (e.g. Vol. 33 - Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 6 - had a print run of 1420). Still, the print runs are still relatively low and so continue to the present. Marvel did the unthinkable by reprinting a few of the early variants - you can identify these by a) a Roman numeral 2 (II) and b) the presence of the print run - both on the back of the dust jacket. It looks like Marvel discontinued the reprints after just a few volumes. The print runs are small so it looks like lack of sales doomed these abominations.
Starting with Vol. 43 - Golden Age Captain America Vol. 1 - and Vol. 57 - Tales To Astonish Vol. 1 - fans could now start getting Golden Age and Atlas Era reprints. Although the regular editions are mostly still in print with a very few exceptions, the variant editions still go out of print almost instantly.
Here at Walkin' Willie's Comix, we try to get as many of the variants as we can afford each month. Usually, Marvel puts out two hardcover variants and one to two trade paperback variants per month. You heard right, Marvel has started reprinting their Marvel Masterworks in a more affordable trade paperback form - and again, both in a regular edition and limited variant edition.
If you are looking for some of these variants for about as affordable as we can go, we have some of our Marvel Masterworks hardcover variants at our eCrater store and some of them at Walkin' Willie's Comix. All of our Marvel Masterworks trade paperback variant editions are at Walkin' Willie's Comix - with more to come in the very, very near future.
But whether you are into the variant editions or the regular editions, the good thing is that Marvel is printing nearly ALL of their stuff from the Golden Age through the early 1980's and while the prices are a tad steep on the hardcovers, they represent a fraction of the prices you would pay to obtain mid-grade single issues. You can get the Journey Into Mystery Vol. 1 variant hardcover (Vol. 106 of the Masterworks series) for $47.99 at Walkin' Willie's Comix. That book covers issues #1 through #10 of the series, which if you were to buy the individual issues at just VG grade, it would run you in the neighborhood of $1800.00! Now that's a bit of price delta!
Anyway, if you want to read more about 'em, again go to the Marvel Masterworks Resource Page. Until next time, 'Nuff Said!
Monday, February 22, 2010
The Walkin' Willie's Comix Forum Contest!
As we said in yesterday's post, we are trying to get a forum going at Walkin' Willie's Comix and so we are going to have a contest to see who can write the best comic book review.
We were going to say that this is a sweepstakes but sweepstakes are luck of the draw while a contest depends on skill to win.
Now all you have to do is go to the forum, register, click on "Comic Book User Reviews", click on new topic and then write away!
A comic book review is defined in this context as any review of any product and/or event relating to comic books. It can be trades, graphic novels, single issues, action figures, busts, games, movies, TV shows, comic conventions, an artist's work, a writer's work, a publishing company - you name it. It just has to be a review of something relating to comic books.
While a review is mostly an opinion, any factual references must be correct - e.g. you can't say "Amazing Spider-Man #617 published by DC Comics" because that is not correct.
The contest begins immediately and runs to midnight (EST) March 28, 2010. All work submitted must be your own - we know how to Google search too. You are permitted to edit your entry until the deadline. Contestants agree that while they retain creator's rights of the review, contestants also agree to allow Walkin' Willie's Comix to publish their review royalty free on this blog - i.e. walkinwillie.blogspot.com following the contest entry deadline (3/28/2010) as well as maintain the forum entry. Walkin' Willie's Comix will agree to provide full credit to the author whenever and/or if it is published. If the entry contains foul language, it will be either edited or disqualified and the contestant notified.
How will the entries be judged? Well, first and foremost, the review has to be interesting and well written. Poor use of grammar and spelling errors will not disqualify an entry but it sure won't help. It is fine to say that XYZ trade is great but better if you say why it is great - same goes if you are not giving a rave review. In fact, whether you pan the item or sing its praises has no consequence - what counts is that the review is well thought out, well written and informative. We like humor if humor makes the review zing - we like it serious if that puts the review over the top - the main thing here is a) to have fun and b) get our forum movin'!
Now for the prizes.....
1st Prize is a CGC 9.8 copy of The Amazing Spider-Man #199 - click here for a larger image.
2nd Prize is a shrinkwrapped copy of The Walking Dead Omnibus #2 - forget the watermark, just part of the scan.
3rd Prize is a Dynamic Forces copy of The Amazing Spider-Man #600 - Alex Ross cover.
Please ask all questions on the forum by replying to the sticky post that covers the rules.
Really looking forward to seeing what you folks come up with - so get crackin' and have fun!
We were going to say that this is a sweepstakes but sweepstakes are luck of the draw while a contest depends on skill to win.
Now all you have to do is go to the forum, register, click on "Comic Book User Reviews", click on new topic and then write away!
A comic book review is defined in this context as any review of any product and/or event relating to comic books. It can be trades, graphic novels, single issues, action figures, busts, games, movies, TV shows, comic conventions, an artist's work, a writer's work, a publishing company - you name it. It just has to be a review of something relating to comic books.
While a review is mostly an opinion, any factual references must be correct - e.g. you can't say "Amazing Spider-Man #617 published by DC Comics" because that is not correct.
The contest begins immediately and runs to midnight (EST) March 28, 2010. All work submitted must be your own - we know how to Google search too. You are permitted to edit your entry until the deadline. Contestants agree that while they retain creator's rights of the review, contestants also agree to allow Walkin' Willie's Comix to publish their review royalty free on this blog - i.e. walkinwillie.blogspot.com following the contest entry deadline (3/28/2010) as well as maintain the forum entry. Walkin' Willie's Comix will agree to provide full credit to the author whenever and/or if it is published. If the entry contains foul language, it will be either edited or disqualified and the contestant notified.
How will the entries be judged? Well, first and foremost, the review has to be interesting and well written. Poor use of grammar and spelling errors will not disqualify an entry but it sure won't help. It is fine to say that XYZ trade is great but better if you say why it is great - same goes if you are not giving a rave review. In fact, whether you pan the item or sing its praises has no consequence - what counts is that the review is well thought out, well written and informative. We like humor if humor makes the review zing - we like it serious if that puts the review over the top - the main thing here is a) to have fun and b) get our forum movin'!
Now for the prizes.....
1st Prize is a CGC 9.8 copy of The Amazing Spider-Man #199 - click here for a larger image.
2nd Prize is a shrinkwrapped copy of The Walking Dead Omnibus #2 - forget the watermark, just part of the scan.
Please ask all questions on the forum by replying to the sticky post that covers the rules.
Really looking forward to seeing what you folks come up with - so get crackin' and have fun!
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Trying To Get A New Forum Going
Like every good webmaster knows, community is one of the best ways to generate traffic - it also provides a lot of useful information too.
And yes, there is a lot of junk as well. Regardless, a good, informative, well-moderated forum can provide a lot of tips, tricks, and just plain infotainment.
Well, we are starting up a forum at Walkin' Willie's Comix
Having said all the above, how in the heck are we gonna get folks to come there and provide input. Simple - we are going to do it the old fashioned way - we bribe them!
Simply put, we are going to have two sweepstakes. The first one will be for folks to come up with forum topics - or sub-forums if you will.
The second sweepstakes is for the best comic blog entry - your chance to wax eloquently - and hopefully passionately - about something comic book related.
But for "bribes" - um, sweepstakes - to work, we have to come up with some decent prizes. That will be my task and so I will go to the warehouse tomorrow morning and see what comic book baubles I have that would entice someone to write like freakin' Shakespeare.
So get your thinkin' caps on - we will be back tomorrow with the details for the first sweepstakes. This oughta be fun....
And yes, there is a lot of junk as well. Regardless, a good, informative, well-moderated forum can provide a lot of tips, tricks, and just plain infotainment.
Well, we are starting up a forum at Walkin' Willie's Comix
Having said all the above, how in the heck are we gonna get folks to come there and provide input. Simple - we are going to do it the old fashioned way - we bribe them!
Simply put, we are going to have two sweepstakes. The first one will be for folks to come up with forum topics - or sub-forums if you will.
The second sweepstakes is for the best comic blog entry - your chance to wax eloquently - and hopefully passionately - about something comic book related.
But for "bribes" - um, sweepstakes - to work, we have to come up with some decent prizes. That will be my task and so I will go to the warehouse tomorrow morning and see what comic book baubles I have that would entice someone to write like freakin' Shakespeare.
So get your thinkin' caps on - we will be back tomorrow with the details for the first sweepstakes. This oughta be fun....
Monday, February 15, 2010
Feel Sorry For Kevin Smith? Don't Think So
One of the funniest things happened yesterday when Kevin Smith, movie director/actor/sometimes comic book writer was kicked off a Southwest Airlines flight because he was too big. Now, in no way am I making fun of overweight people as struggling with one's weight is one of the toughest challenges in almost everyone's life - and goodness knows that overweight people have been discriminated against for centuries.
No, it is because we are comic book retailers that this is so funny - i.e. at last Mr. Smith gets his comeuppance - or a partial one at least. You see, in 2002, he began writing the six issue mini-series "Spider-Man/Black Cat: The Evil That Men Do" and the first three books were published that year. However, it wasn't until 2006 that the last three issues were published!
Kevin Smith was considered a comic book writing superstar from his stints on Green Arrow and Daredevil so like many retailers, we ordered VERY heavy on those first three issues and sold quite a few but the HUGE lag between issue #3 and issue #4 caused interest to wither and die for this mini-series. Retailers were left holding the bag on this one as so many of us had ordered hundreds of #1's and several copies of #2's and #3's that just sat in the bins because who wanted to buy the first three copies of the mini-series when absolutely no one had any idea when the last three issues were going to come out.
A search on eBay shows these issues can be had for two bucks or less - they were $2.99 cover price - and no one is really buying them. A completed auction search shows that one copy of issue #1 sold for only $0.99 and one that was signed by artist Terry Dodson with a certificate of authenticity only fetched $2.25 with a measly two bids. Bottom line is that the book is dead, dead, dead and in my humble opinion, Kevin Smith is the person to blame for it but we retailers were the ones who were punished.
Now no one wants to see anything really bad happen to Mr. Smith - e.g. like getting hurt in an accident - but to see him get a dose of humility is wonderful. The only thing we didn't like about the whole deal is that Southwest Airlines apologized and offered him a $100 voucher. Fact is, Mr. Smith had bought TWO tickets for a later flight but wanted to get on the earlier flight where only one seat was available SO it isn't like he didn't get the flight he paid for already. Well, unless he threw a temper tantrum and refused to fly on it - who knows? TMZ came out with an article on the situation and after reading it, we tend to think Southwest Airlines is the good guy in this situation and the overall tone of the article comments seem to support that.
So Mr. Smith, looks like what goes around, comes around...
(OK, OK....enough of the schadenfreude - time to sell some comic books...)
No, it is because we are comic book retailers that this is so funny - i.e. at last Mr. Smith gets his comeuppance - or a partial one at least. You see, in 2002, he began writing the six issue mini-series "Spider-Man/Black Cat: The Evil That Men Do" and the first three books were published that year. However, it wasn't until 2006 that the last three issues were published!
Kevin Smith was considered a comic book writing superstar from his stints on Green Arrow and Daredevil so like many retailers, we ordered VERY heavy on those first three issues and sold quite a few but the HUGE lag between issue #3 and issue #4 caused interest to wither and die for this mini-series. Retailers were left holding the bag on this one as so many of us had ordered hundreds of #1's and several copies of #2's and #3's that just sat in the bins because who wanted to buy the first three copies of the mini-series when absolutely no one had any idea when the last three issues were going to come out.
A search on eBay shows these issues can be had for two bucks or less - they were $2.99 cover price - and no one is really buying them. A completed auction search shows that one copy of issue #1 sold for only $0.99 and one that was signed by artist Terry Dodson with a certificate of authenticity only fetched $2.25 with a measly two bids. Bottom line is that the book is dead, dead, dead and in my humble opinion, Kevin Smith is the person to blame for it but we retailers were the ones who were punished.
Now no one wants to see anything really bad happen to Mr. Smith - e.g. like getting hurt in an accident - but to see him get a dose of humility is wonderful. The only thing we didn't like about the whole deal is that Southwest Airlines apologized and offered him a $100 voucher. Fact is, Mr. Smith had bought TWO tickets for a later flight but wanted to get on the earlier flight where only one seat was available SO it isn't like he didn't get the flight he paid for already. Well, unless he threw a temper tantrum and refused to fly on it - who knows? TMZ came out with an article on the situation and after reading it, we tend to think Southwest Airlines is the good guy in this situation and the overall tone of the article comments seem to support that.
So Mr. Smith, looks like what goes around, comes around...
(OK, OK....enough of the schadenfreude - time to sell some comic books...)
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Discount Comic Books - They Are Everywhere.....
Can't go to Comic-Con International in San Diego this year? No problem...
Every comic book you can think of is on the internet in one way or another. There are thousands of sites up now - some of them are comic dealer's own sites (ahem....www.wwillie.com and www.walkinwilliescomix.com to name just two...) and others are auction/store type sites like eCrater, eBid, Bonanzle, Comic Link and Comic Connect. And of course, there is the 800 lb Gorilla in the room ... eBay (which has shed a few pounds for sure...) ....I...have...only...scratched...the...surface.
Sure, we want our share of the pie too. That's why we are putting up thousands of books on our discount comic book site - www.walkinwilliescomix.com. We are in the middle of putting up a nice run of bronze and copper age X-Men and a huge run of DC Romance and Silver/Bronze Wonder Woman will be up in the coming weeks. We have a lot of Atomic Age Western stuff too. Don't believe we have great discounts? Here's a copy of Superman #300 in FINE condition from a reputable dealer for $8.99 - we have the same book in FINE for $1.99 - I could give a ton of examples just like that one but you get the picture.
The main message here is that great comic books can be had for ridiculously low prices if you do your due diligence. This is a buyer's market - take advantage of it!
Every comic book you can think of is on the internet in one way or another. There are thousands of sites up now - some of them are comic dealer's own sites (ahem....www.wwillie.com and www.walkinwilliescomix.com to name just two...) and others are auction/store type sites like eCrater, eBid, Bonanzle, Comic Link and Comic Connect. And of course, there is the 800 lb Gorilla in the room ... eBay (which has shed a few pounds for sure...) ....I...have...only...scratched...the...surface.
Sure, we want our share of the pie too. That's why we are putting up thousands of books on our discount comic book site - www.walkinwilliescomix.com. We are in the middle of putting up a nice run of bronze and copper age X-Men and a huge run of DC Romance and Silver/Bronze Wonder Woman will be up in the coming weeks. We have a lot of Atomic Age Western stuff too. Don't believe we have great discounts? Here's a copy of Superman #300 in FINE condition from a reputable dealer for $8.99 - we have the same book in FINE for $1.99 - I could give a ton of examples just like that one but you get the picture.
The main message here is that great comic books can be had for ridiculously low prices if you do your due diligence. This is a buyer's market - take advantage of it!
Monday, January 4, 2010
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
We at Walkin' Willie's Comix would like to thank everyone for support as well as sending out our best wishes for a great 2010!
Change is constant. You either manage change by first embracing it or you get run over by it. We choose the former rather than the latter.
A short review of where we were at the beginning of 2009 and where we are now. At the beginning of 2009, the company car was a 1998 Toyota Camry and the sole website we had was one that dealt only in modern back issues. Not good.
Things have changed. Now the company car is a 2007 Ford Expedition bought to transport the lovely Melissa and myself to comic conventions as well as provide the engine for moving our goods around the country. Secondly, the old Walkin' Willie's Comix was given a total makeover and now sells trade paperbacks, graphic novels and CGC graded books.
Finally, we launched our Walkin' Willie's Comix Discount Comic Books website in mid-September and it is growing on a weekly if not daily basis. The sole purpose of this new website is to put up - as fast we can - our inventory of Golden Age through Modern books. All it takes is a cursory glance for one to realize that some of the best comic book deals on the Internet are found right on this website. Books are anywhere from 20% to 90% off of graded guide! This is a no-frills site as its only purpose is to sell as many comic books for as low a discount price as possible.
That is 2009 in review - except for the comic conventions which we talked about in other blog posts. A lot of change...
Now to 2010 and what you can expect...
First, we plan on launching around 20 eBay auctions a week. Yes, it would be nice to make a buck or two off of these auctions but the main purpose is to move traffic to our websites. We have a bunch up there now and more going up every week.
Secondly, we will hit the road for a modest convention schedule. While it is a bit stark, it allows us to pay our complete attention to the websites while still getting out a meeting the comic book fans. Nonetheless, we will start out the year on 3/12/2010 in Orlando for three days at Mega-Con, then go to Heroes-Con in Charlotte, NC on June 4th through 6th and finally end up the year for the four-day-you-gotta-go-once-before-you-die Dragon*Con over Labor Day weekend (September 3-6, 2010). We will also do one or two one-day shows in the Southeast - mostly North Carolina and Virginia.
Now that we're firmly settled in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina, we can give our complete and full attention to the business of Walkin' Willie's Comix. What that means is that you - our customers - can count on regular updates to our websites if not a little more regular blog content - we are looking at what we can do on Facebook and Twitter as well.
Finally, we have another announcement to make later this quarter - more on that later - but the bottom line is that we are poised and ready to make 2010 the best Walkin' Willie's Comix year yet! We sincerely hope 2010 is your best year too!
Change is constant. You either manage change by first embracing it or you get run over by it. We choose the former rather than the latter.
A short review of where we were at the beginning of 2009 and where we are now. At the beginning of 2009, the company car was a 1998 Toyota Camry and the sole website we had was one that dealt only in modern back issues. Not good.
Things have changed. Now the company car is a 2007 Ford Expedition bought to transport the lovely Melissa and myself to comic conventions as well as provide the engine for moving our goods around the country. Secondly, the old Walkin' Willie's Comix was given a total makeover and now sells trade paperbacks, graphic novels and CGC graded books.
Finally, we launched our Walkin' Willie's Comix Discount Comic Books website in mid-September and it is growing on a weekly if not daily basis. The sole purpose of this new website is to put up - as fast we can - our inventory of Golden Age through Modern books. All it takes is a cursory glance for one to realize that some of the best comic book deals on the Internet are found right on this website. Books are anywhere from 20% to 90% off of graded guide! This is a no-frills site as its only purpose is to sell as many comic books for as low a discount price as possible.
That is 2009 in review - except for the comic conventions which we talked about in other blog posts. A lot of change...
Now to 2010 and what you can expect...
First, we plan on launching around 20 eBay auctions a week. Yes, it would be nice to make a buck or two off of these auctions but the main purpose is to move traffic to our websites. We have a bunch up there now and more going up every week.
Secondly, we will hit the road for a modest convention schedule. While it is a bit stark, it allows us to pay our complete attention to the websites while still getting out a meeting the comic book fans. Nonetheless, we will start out the year on 3/12/2010 in Orlando for three days at Mega-Con, then go to Heroes-Con in Charlotte, NC on June 4th through 6th and finally end up the year for the four-day-you-gotta-go-once-before-you-die Dragon*Con over Labor Day weekend (September 3-6, 2010). We will also do one or two one-day shows in the Southeast - mostly North Carolina and Virginia.
Now that we're firmly settled in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina, we can give our complete and full attention to the business of Walkin' Willie's Comix. What that means is that you - our customers - can count on regular updates to our websites if not a little more regular blog content - we are looking at what we can do on Facebook and Twitter as well.
Finally, we have another announcement to make later this quarter - more on that later - but the bottom line is that we are poised and ready to make 2010 the best Walkin' Willie's Comix year yet! We sincerely hope 2010 is your best year too!
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Inflation and CGC - CGC 9.8 vs. 9.6
CGC Expert Greg Buls is again our guest columnist and today's topics are on Inflation and CGC and CGC 9.8 vs. 9.6. Greg Buls has been a dealer-collector for more than 20 years. He found the pedigree Circle 8 collection in 1991. Greg operates S&V Collectibles on Comiclink - some really nice stuff you gotta check out!
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Inflation and CGC - The commodity markets are driving inflation, and it seems to be seeping into everything. But the recent spike in collectible bronze and silver age CGC books can't be accounted for by looking at any other market. Almost across the board, consistently higher prices are being fetched for desirable items. This effect is most likely due to collectors viewing CGC books as a good store of value. As the dollar is devalued, quality CGC books look like a reasonable place to put those dollars, there's now an eight year established marketplace for these books, and with few exceptions, books fetch a decent percentage of market value unless presented very poorly. So sellers now have some confidence that they will be able to get a decent price on the quality CGC books they buy. Unless the stress on the credit and mortgage markets brings a lot of quality collections to market in a short period of time, I expect these price increases to continue.
9.8 vs 9.6 - One of my collecting interests is DC 100 page giants. I collect them in 9.6 only, oww pages or better. I only have a dozen or so, but hope to eventually have the entire set. I've passed on white page 9.8s that I've had graded because keeping them would have been too expensive - by selling the one 9.8 I could purchase 3 9.6s. This is my collecting philosophy on these because most in this grade fall into the $100-$400 price range, making them the targets of interest for most high grade collectors. Once you've seen thousands of 9.6s and 9.8s, the only really meaningful difference is scarcity. That doesn't mean that 9.8s and 9.6s are indistinguishable, but that they are close enough that the price spreads aren't as meaningful: though 9.8s will almost always sell for some significant percentage more than 9.6s, the number of collectors willing to pony up for them is more limited. Assuming a rocky economy in the future, the broadest base of collector support will likely be for the 9.6s.
Comiclink - If you're interested in vintage books, both raw and CGC, you can't find a better marketplace than Comiclink. Both their exchange and their auctions are full of amazing material. Comiclink acts as an agent between seller and buyer. Buyers pay CL, and sellers ship the books to CL. When the book and payment are both received, CL takes their flat 10% and completes the transaction. Considering listing, selling, and Paypal fees, it's probably a cheaper platform than Ebay, and yields more on the average book. I'm selling most of our premium material through CL now, so if anyone has a want list you'd like us to keep on file, please send it so we can intercept books for you before they go to CL.
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Thanks again Greg! Again remember to check out Greg on Comiclink.
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Inflation and CGC - The commodity markets are driving inflation, and it seems to be seeping into everything. But the recent spike in collectible bronze and silver age CGC books can't be accounted for by looking at any other market. Almost across the board, consistently higher prices are being fetched for desirable items. This effect is most likely due to collectors viewing CGC books as a good store of value. As the dollar is devalued, quality CGC books look like a reasonable place to put those dollars, there's now an eight year established marketplace for these books, and with few exceptions, books fetch a decent percentage of market value unless presented very poorly. So sellers now have some confidence that they will be able to get a decent price on the quality CGC books they buy. Unless the stress on the credit and mortgage markets brings a lot of quality collections to market in a short period of time, I expect these price increases to continue.
9.8 vs 9.6 - One of my collecting interests is DC 100 page giants. I collect them in 9.6 only, oww pages or better. I only have a dozen or so, but hope to eventually have the entire set. I've passed on white page 9.8s that I've had graded because keeping them would have been too expensive - by selling the one 9.8 I could purchase 3 9.6s. This is my collecting philosophy on these because most in this grade fall into the $100-$400 price range, making them the targets of interest for most high grade collectors. Once you've seen thousands of 9.6s and 9.8s, the only really meaningful difference is scarcity. That doesn't mean that 9.8s and 9.6s are indistinguishable, but that they are close enough that the price spreads aren't as meaningful: though 9.8s will almost always sell for some significant percentage more than 9.6s, the number of collectors willing to pony up for them is more limited. Assuming a rocky economy in the future, the broadest base of collector support will likely be for the 9.6s.
Comiclink - If you're interested in vintage books, both raw and CGC, you can't find a better marketplace than Comiclink. Both their exchange and their auctions are full of amazing material. Comiclink acts as an agent between seller and buyer. Buyers pay CL, and sellers ship the books to CL. When the book and payment are both received, CL takes their flat 10% and completes the transaction. Considering listing, selling, and Paypal fees, it's probably a cheaper platform than Ebay, and yields more on the average book. I'm selling most of our premium material through CL now, so if anyone has a want list you'd like us to keep on file, please send it so we can intercept books for you before they go to CL.
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Thanks again Greg! Again remember to check out Greg on Comiclink.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Walkin' Willie's Comix Big Fat Sale Now at 35% OFF!
That's right - Walkin' Willie's Comix Big Fat Sale is now at 35% OFF!
The prices are still set at retail but when you add comics to your shopping cart, you will see the 35% discount.
Also, please remember that you acrue even more discounts the more you buy - check this out:
$10.00 or more: 10% additional OFF!
$35.00 or more: 15% additional OFF!
$75.00 or more: 20% additional OFF!
If you win one of my eBay items (more to go up there very, very soon), you get 30% additional OFF! In fact, if you bought an eBay item from us during the last 12 months, you should have received your discount coupon. If you didn't, just e-mail us and we will get it to you pronto!
Finally, you might want to check out our eCrater Store - lots of tradepaperbacks, hardcovers and graphic novels at insane discounts.
Happy Shopping!
The prices are still set at retail but when you add comics to your shopping cart, you will see the 35% discount.
Also, please remember that you acrue even more discounts the more you buy - check this out:
$10.00 or more: 10% additional OFF!
$35.00 or more: 15% additional OFF!
$75.00 or more: 20% additional OFF!
If you win one of my eBay items (more to go up there very, very soon), you get 30% additional OFF! In fact, if you bought an eBay item from us during the last 12 months, you should have received your discount coupon. If you didn't, just e-mail us and we will get it to you pronto!
Finally, you might want to check out our eCrater Store - lots of tradepaperbacks, hardcovers and graphic novels at insane discounts.
Happy Shopping!
Thursday, August 28, 2008
It's Dragon*Con Time, Baby!
Very short post to let you know that Walkin' Willie's Comix will be at the 2008 Dragon*Con in Atlanta Georgia - which starts on Friday, August 29, 2008 and ends on Monday, September 1, 2008 (Labor Day).
This mega con covers 3 gigantic hotels and gets more than 40,000 visitors each year. I truly believe that every mortal soul should go to Dragon*Con at least one time in their life. There is art, film, music, comics, movies, contests, panels - well, 32 programming tracks in all (maybe more). Absolutely the best media convention in the world!
Walkin' Willie's Comix is bringing over 50 boxes of trade paperbacks and graphic novels - something for everyone!
C'mon down - it's one helluva party!
This mega con covers 3 gigantic hotels and gets more than 40,000 visitors each year. I truly believe that every mortal soul should go to Dragon*Con at least one time in their life. There is art, film, music, comics, movies, contests, panels - well, 32 programming tracks in all (maybe more). Absolutely the best media convention in the world!
Walkin' Willie's Comix is bringing over 50 boxes of trade paperbacks and graphic novels - something for everyone!
C'mon down - it's one helluva party!
Thursday, August 21, 2008
You Just Never Know......
Awhile back I discussed eCrater in a somewhat recent blog article and thought I would share an experience that absolutely floored me!
We recently received an order on eCrater for three bargain bin books - each going for 50 cents apiece. In other words, a small order. Now we would hope and strive to treat each order as if it totaled a grand or better so our main focus was to ship the order promptly making sure that the books were packed properly to avoid damage. OK, we got that done and case closed, right?
Well, as Lee Corso says on ESPN's College Gameday, "Not so fast, my friend"....
I happened to check my Google Analytics to see what kind of traffic my blog and my eCrater store were getting and noticed that one of the referrals was from a website called Auction Insights. As I had not heard of the site, I wanted to check it out to see how someone would get from their site to my site. I figured there would be a list of links somewhere or something like that - no biggie.
Well, I just about passed out when I got there because there was a three-part review of eCrater with the second part dealing with eCrater from the buyer's perspective. The reason that I was reaching for the smelling salts is that the buyer's perspective review was done using the small order from my eCrater website described above. It had screen shots from my site and everything! While the article is still on the homepage as of the date of this article, it will eventually go into archive mode so here is a direct link to the article.
WOW! You just can't buy - at least not cheaply - this type of internet marketing. And to think that it came from a small order, one that I really hadn't thought about after it was shipped. Not only that but the article on Auction Insights caused me to look at the rest of their articles - some really helpful stuff on there for those of you in the online selling biz, particularly if you are using eBay or some other web based store.
While I felt that I had already learned the lesson of treating every single order as if it was the most important one, this experience just reaffirmed that lesson to me.
Why? Because you just never know.....
We recently received an order on eCrater for three bargain bin books - each going for 50 cents apiece. In other words, a small order. Now we would hope and strive to treat each order as if it totaled a grand or better so our main focus was to ship the order promptly making sure that the books were packed properly to avoid damage. OK, we got that done and case closed, right?
Well, as Lee Corso says on ESPN's College Gameday, "Not so fast, my friend"....
I happened to check my Google Analytics to see what kind of traffic my blog and my eCrater store were getting and noticed that one of the referrals was from a website called Auction Insights. As I had not heard of the site, I wanted to check it out to see how someone would get from their site to my site. I figured there would be a list of links somewhere or something like that - no biggie.
Well, I just about passed out when I got there because there was a three-part review of eCrater with the second part dealing with eCrater from the buyer's perspective. The reason that I was reaching for the smelling salts is that the buyer's perspective review was done using the small order from my eCrater website described above. It had screen shots from my site and everything! While the article is still on the homepage as of the date of this article, it will eventually go into archive mode so here is a direct link to the article.
WOW! You just can't buy - at least not cheaply - this type of internet marketing. And to think that it came from a small order, one that I really hadn't thought about after it was shipped. Not only that but the article on Auction Insights caused me to look at the rest of their articles - some really helpful stuff on there for those of you in the online selling biz, particularly if you are using eBay or some other web based store.
While I felt that I had already learned the lesson of treating every single order as if it was the most important one, this experience just reaffirmed that lesson to me.
Why? Because you just never know.....
Monday, August 11, 2008
Marvel Masterworks Variant Editions
Over the next few weeks, we will be auctioning Marvel Masterworks early first print variant editions. The first lot which is on eBay right now has Marvel Masterworks #4 through #8.
When Marvel started these variants they didn't let us know how many would be printed like they did in later editions. Originally, these variants would be knockoffs of the original editions but soon, they started changing the colors of the dust jackets and such.
There is no doubt that the original Masterworks published in 1992 & 1993 are probably the most valuable but these early variants clearly have the lowest print runs and are hard to find, especially in the shrink wrap. While we do not have exact figures for all editions, the print run for these early variants was about 350 to 620 - i.e. not a whole lot of them to go around.
Here are a couple of good resources to check out:
Marvel Masterworks Library - A great resource which lists almost all the editions for each Marvel Masterwork - a few holes that need to be filled but a great resource.
Marvel Masterworks - Wikipedia - another great resource, especially for newbies.
We have about 15 more early edition first print variants to go up on eBay so bid early and often!
When Marvel started these variants they didn't let us know how many would be printed like they did in later editions. Originally, these variants would be knockoffs of the original editions but soon, they started changing the colors of the dust jackets and such.
There is no doubt that the original Masterworks published in 1992 & 1993 are probably the most valuable but these early variants clearly have the lowest print runs and are hard to find, especially in the shrink wrap. While we do not have exact figures for all editions, the print run for these early variants was about 350 to 620 - i.e. not a whole lot of them to go around.
Here are a couple of good resources to check out:
Marvel Masterworks Library - A great resource which lists almost all the editions for each Marvel Masterwork - a few holes that need to be filled but a great resource.
Marvel Masterworks - Wikipedia - another great resource, especially for newbies.
We have about 15 more early edition first print variants to go up on eBay so bid early and often!
Saturday, July 19, 2008
HOORAY! Our First eCrater Order!
Walkin' Willie's Comix is proud to announce that we received our first eCrater order this month. Just in case you were living on some remote island or just completely out of touch with reality, you can get to our eCrater store just by cruising to this URL: http://walkinwilliescomix.ecrater.com
The Walkin' Willie's Comix eCrater Store mainly will serve up trade paperbacks, graphic novels, hardcovers and bargin bin comics from Silver Age to present. Almost all of the trades, graphic novels and hardcovers are at least 35% off and all of the DC and Marvel books are 38% off of the normal retail price - and they are brand spanking new to boot!
The single issues are WELL below guide, most of the time at 30% of graded guide or less!
The bad news is that it will take awhile to build traffic. eCrater was started in 2004 and while that is a million lifetimes internet-wise, it is still young. Most folks that sell on eBay stay in a tunnel vision mode - i.e. they just don't look around for other venues to sell their stuff. Walkin' Willie's Comix has been on eBay since 1997 and we only found out about eCrater this year - so we were in tunnel vision mode ourselves. Here is an interesting article called "eBay's Death By A Thousand Cuts" which provides a few alternatives to eBay.
The good news is that eCrater is totally FREE for buyers AND sellers!! The only fees a seller will incur are PayPal fees and/or Google Checkout fees. eCrater makes money two ways: 1) If you want preferred placement for your products, you can do so for modest fees and 2) eCrater gets a kickback from Google Checkout.
The other good news is that sellers can offer products at a substantial discount as there are no listing fees or final value fees. THAT in and of itself is wonderful!
Finally, the eCrater forums harken back to the early days of eBay when there was a much more communal feel. There are several posts where one eCrater store will advertise for links for other eCrater stores to include on their own store website (not eCrater). We will be doing that type of cross linking soon. In fact, our first eCrater order was from another eCrater seller - living in Japan no less. Sure, eBay still has the most eyeballs but selling there is becoming a drag - in fact the next article on our blog will focus on our problems with selling on eBay and we'll promise not to whine.... too much....
The Walkin' Willie's Comix eCrater Store mainly will serve up trade paperbacks, graphic novels, hardcovers and bargin bin comics from Silver Age to present. Almost all of the trades, graphic novels and hardcovers are at least 35% off and all of the DC and Marvel books are 38% off of the normal retail price - and they are brand spanking new to boot!
The single issues are WELL below guide, most of the time at 30% of graded guide or less!
The bad news is that it will take awhile to build traffic. eCrater was started in 2004 and while that is a million lifetimes internet-wise, it is still young. Most folks that sell on eBay stay in a tunnel vision mode - i.e. they just don't look around for other venues to sell their stuff. Walkin' Willie's Comix has been on eBay since 1997 and we only found out about eCrater this year - so we were in tunnel vision mode ourselves. Here is an interesting article called "eBay's Death By A Thousand Cuts" which provides a few alternatives to eBay.
The good news is that eCrater is totally FREE for buyers AND sellers!! The only fees a seller will incur are PayPal fees and/or Google Checkout fees. eCrater makes money two ways: 1) If you want preferred placement for your products, you can do so for modest fees and 2) eCrater gets a kickback from Google Checkout.
The other good news is that sellers can offer products at a substantial discount as there are no listing fees or final value fees. THAT in and of itself is wonderful!
Finally, the eCrater forums harken back to the early days of eBay when there was a much more communal feel. There are several posts where one eCrater store will advertise for links for other eCrater stores to include on their own store website (not eCrater). We will be doing that type of cross linking soon. In fact, our first eCrater order was from another eCrater seller - living in Japan no less. Sure, eBay still has the most eyeballs but selling there is becoming a drag - in fact the next article on our blog will focus on our problems with selling on eBay and we'll promise not to whine.... too much....
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Heroes-Con Hangover.....
Well, it has been over a week since Heroes-Con 2008 and I am still trying to get my act together. We might be in a recession but I had by far my best Heroes-Con with only one 10'x10' booth! My previous high watermark was Heroes-Con 2006 in which a) we had four 10'x10' booths and b) the comics creative community rallied behind Shelton Drum and Heroes-Con when those dillweeds from Wizard tried to put Heroes-Con out of business by trying to schedule a Wizard World convention in Atlanta the same weekend.
Now we had the usual array of trades and hardcovers but also scored a nice Marvel Silver Age lot and a really, really nice collection of high grade DC giants from the Silver and Bronze Ages. What I learned is that folks will part with their money if you have what they want. By the way, this was all cash and checks as I don't have a merchant account to take credit cards (don't want one either...). In fact, we were so busy that I really didn't get out and see the convention.
My girlfriend, Melissa, was really working the crowd. It was her first comic convention and she acted like she had done it all her life. Melissa was and is a tremendous asset not to mention fun as all get out. She was like "Hey, we gotta do more of these... you need to start scheduling some cons!!!" .... whatta gal!
All in all, it was a great show - dealers and collectors were both buying like crazy. If you want a great blow-by-blow report, check out the Heroes-Con blog. It is a fun read if nothing else - the inimitable Dusty Harbin scribes in his usual entertaining, witty style.
Can't wait until next year....
Now we had the usual array of trades and hardcovers but also scored a nice Marvel Silver Age lot and a really, really nice collection of high grade DC giants from the Silver and Bronze Ages. What I learned is that folks will part with their money if you have what they want. By the way, this was all cash and checks as I don't have a merchant account to take credit cards (don't want one either...). In fact, we were so busy that I really didn't get out and see the convention.
My girlfriend, Melissa, was really working the crowd. It was her first comic convention and she acted like she had done it all her life. Melissa was and is a tremendous asset not to mention fun as all get out. She was like "Hey, we gotta do more of these... you need to start scheduling some cons!!!" .... whatta gal!
All in all, it was a great show - dealers and collectors were both buying like crazy. If you want a great blow-by-blow report, check out the Heroes-Con blog. It is a fun read if nothing else - the inimitable Dusty Harbin scribes in his usual entertaining, witty style.
Can't wait until next year....
Friday, May 16, 2008
Comic Book Age Categories
Greg Buls is again our guest columnist and today's topic is on the Comic Book "Ages". Thing is, I tend to agree with Greg on this topic and it is one of the more hotley debated comic book topics (with the other two being grading and the pros/cons of CGC - sorry, we don't debate stuff like who is better: Marvel or DC anymore..... um, we don't do we?)
Greg Buls has been a dealer-collector for more than 20 years. He found the pedigree Circle 8 collection in 1991. Greg operates S&V Collectibles on eBay - some really nice stuff you gotta check out!
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Presently, books are divided along age lines that don't make a lot of sense. The golden/atom age runs from the superheroes through Showcase #4, which introduces the Silver Age flash, in 1956. The silver age runs through 1969, and the bronze age begins in 1970, ending in 1980. The Showcase #4 makes some sense as a starting point for the silver age, but the rest is arbitrary. Let me suggest a better categorization. If anyone reads this who discusses these things online, please take this and run with it if you think it's a worthwhile debate.
Golden age: Through 1949 or 1950. At that point, the size of the books changed, as did the paper quality. This cutoff would also coincide with the beginning of the real world atom age, since the Soviet Union began to challenge US atomic supremacy about this time.
Atom age: 1950-1960 & Silver age: 1961-1968 - Aside from the weak argument for the Silver age beginning with Detective #225 and the introduction of Jon Jonzz, there is only one other 50s book that is ever mentioned as the best starting point for the Silver age, Showcase #4. From 1956 through FF #1 (or perhaps Tales to Astonish #27, 1st Ant Man), nothing of note happens. The marginal exceptions include the introduction of secondary characters such as Adam Strange and the Challengers of the Unknown. An argument can be made for Showcase #22, introducing the Silver age Green Lantern, but if you like that book and era, why not the #4? Both of these suffer from two of the same shortcomings: They don't introduce truly new characters and concepts - they are adaptations of existing characters. Not so Adam Strange and the Challengers, but they are not significant enough to warrant starting the Silver age with their first appearance.
Likewise Brave and the Bold #28, which simply teams up existing characters. No, the Silver age has to begin where it really begins, with FF #1. It was all new, enduring, and it signified the opening of the Lee/Kirby creative floodgates which would change comics forever. Had Marvel stayed limited to monster books and Torch/Cap stories, the face of comics would be radically different today. Marvel exists and is propelled ever onward on the strength of characters introduced from FF #1 on. DC is still largely coasting on the work of the 1940s (with hats off to Vertigo).
Bronze age: 1968-1984 (that's right, I said it! 1984!). 1968 saw the next big wave in comics: Hulk, Cap, Submariner, Captain Marvel, and Iron Man all kicked off their modern incarnations in 1968. 1968 also saw the beginning of meaningful speculation; up until about the late 1980s, it seemed like these books were a dime a dozen. One can dispute the significance of these re-launches, but this break makes more sense than 1970, which is totally arbitrary. Another change around this time is worth noting. For the bulk of the silver age, the cover paper of the books was different than they were from about 1968 on. Look at the paper and texture of a 1965 comic cover, and compare it to the paper and texture of a book like Amazing #58-64, or any of the Silver Surfers. The Surfers have what is essentially modern paper, no different than books published a decade later, while the 1965 book's cover paper is distinctly different in appearance and texture. There's little consistency to this change, some Spideys in the #60s and #70s seem to have reverted to the old paper, and this is true of other titles as well.
Modern age: 1985-present - As for the period extending through 1984, the reflects both scarcity and market realities. The direct market came into being in 1984 (and Geppi smiled, and saw that it was good). Up until that point, comic stores were newsstand distribution sites; unsold copies generally went back and were mulched. The DM both increased margins and introduced overstocks to many dealers who had not previously been in a position to purchase extras. The result is that books from 1985 and on are generally more plentiful than their earlier counterparts. And again, while there is some room for disagreement about the significance of 1984, at least there's some significance to it, 1980 as a cutoff is completely arbitrary.
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Thanks again Greg! Again remember to check out Greg's offerings on eBay - great stuff every week.
Greg Buls has been a dealer-collector for more than 20 years. He found the pedigree Circle 8 collection in 1991. Greg operates S&V Collectibles on eBay - some really nice stuff you gotta check out!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Presently, books are divided along age lines that don't make a lot of sense. The golden/atom age runs from the superheroes through Showcase #4, which introduces the Silver Age flash, in 1956. The silver age runs through 1969, and the bronze age begins in 1970, ending in 1980. The Showcase #4 makes some sense as a starting point for the silver age, but the rest is arbitrary. Let me suggest a better categorization. If anyone reads this who discusses these things online, please take this and run with it if you think it's a worthwhile debate.
Golden age: Through 1949 or 1950. At that point, the size of the books changed, as did the paper quality. This cutoff would also coincide with the beginning of the real world atom age, since the Soviet Union began to challenge US atomic supremacy about this time.
Atom age: 1950-1960 & Silver age: 1961-1968 - Aside from the weak argument for the Silver age beginning with Detective #225 and the introduction of Jon Jonzz, there is only one other 50s book that is ever mentioned as the best starting point for the Silver age, Showcase #4. From 1956 through FF #1 (or perhaps Tales to Astonish #27, 1st Ant Man), nothing of note happens. The marginal exceptions include the introduction of secondary characters such as Adam Strange and the Challengers of the Unknown. An argument can be made for Showcase #22, introducing the Silver age Green Lantern, but if you like that book and era, why not the #4? Both of these suffer from two of the same shortcomings: They don't introduce truly new characters and concepts - they are adaptations of existing characters. Not so Adam Strange and the Challengers, but they are not significant enough to warrant starting the Silver age with their first appearance.
Likewise Brave and the Bold #28, which simply teams up existing characters. No, the Silver age has to begin where it really begins, with FF #1. It was all new, enduring, and it signified the opening of the Lee/Kirby creative floodgates which would change comics forever. Had Marvel stayed limited to monster books and Torch/Cap stories, the face of comics would be radically different today. Marvel exists and is propelled ever onward on the strength of characters introduced from FF #1 on. DC is still largely coasting on the work of the 1940s (with hats off to Vertigo).
Bronze age: 1968-1984 (that's right, I said it! 1984!). 1968 saw the next big wave in comics: Hulk, Cap, Submariner, Captain Marvel, and Iron Man all kicked off their modern incarnations in 1968. 1968 also saw the beginning of meaningful speculation; up until about the late 1980s, it seemed like these books were a dime a dozen. One can dispute the significance of these re-launches, but this break makes more sense than 1970, which is totally arbitrary. Another change around this time is worth noting. For the bulk of the silver age, the cover paper of the books was different than they were from about 1968 on. Look at the paper and texture of a 1965 comic cover, and compare it to the paper and texture of a book like Amazing #58-64, or any of the Silver Surfers. The Surfers have what is essentially modern paper, no different than books published a decade later, while the 1965 book's cover paper is distinctly different in appearance and texture. There's little consistency to this change, some Spideys in the #60s and #70s seem to have reverted to the old paper, and this is true of other titles as well.
Modern age: 1985-present - As for the period extending through 1984, the reflects both scarcity and market realities. The direct market came into being in 1984 (and Geppi smiled, and saw that it was good). Up until that point, comic stores were newsstand distribution sites; unsold copies generally went back and were mulched. The DM both increased margins and introduced overstocks to many dealers who had not previously been in a position to purchase extras. The result is that books from 1985 and on are generally more plentiful than their earlier counterparts. And again, while there is some room for disagreement about the significance of 1984, at least there's some significance to it, 1980 as a cutoff is completely arbitrary.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks again Greg! Again remember to check out Greg's offerings on eBay - great stuff every week.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Is eBid Too Good To Be True?
This is the way the internet works. I get an e-mail from WebProNews.com about how eBay is forcing our friends in Austrailia to use PayPal as the only method of payment. Obviously, the predictible righteous indignation ensues - and I agree that it is a tough tactic move by eBay - but it got me to thinking about alternatives to eBay. There are a bunch of them out there but they all seem...well.... not too professional, not enough items, etc., etc., etc.
I even looked at some of the comic book auction sites like Heritage Auctions and ComicLink and they are good but you can't brand your logo, establish your identity - i.e. everything runs through them and your only contact with the buyer is when you ship your product.
But I looked at one that really got my eye and that is
eBid. You can sign up for a lifetime membership as a seller+ for only $49.99 and that is it! No more listing fees and no more final value fees. Now think about that for a moment. You pay a one time fee and you can sell as much stuff as you want. By the way, this is not some shameless plug because a) I have not signed up yet and b) eBid doesn't have an affiliate program (yet...) and so there is no kickback for ol' Willie. Believe me, I am trying to figure out what the catch is but I haven't found one yet.
WhateBid reminds me of is eBay back in 1997 or so when it was pretty much undiscovered. You could get instant help on the forums from the eBay folks and it was not a public company so it was a LOT more user friendly.
Thing is, I will always have an eBay store of some sort - just too daggone many eyeballs BUT ifeBid and my own website start taking off, I will severely limit my participation on eBay. I'm getting ahead of myself here... I will try eBid and see how it goes. I will post back in a month or two and describe my experience.
-----------------------------------------
Update:eBid does indeed have an affiliate program - that's a good thing....
As usual, comments and questions are welcome and solicited.
I even looked at some of the comic book auction sites like Heritage Auctions and ComicLink and they are good but you can't brand your logo, establish your identity - i.e. everything runs through them and your only contact with the buyer is when you ship your product.
But I looked at one that really got my eye and that is
What
Thing is, I will always have an eBay store of some sort - just too daggone many eyeballs BUT if
-----------------------------------------
Update:
As usual, comments and questions are welcome and solicited.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Submitting Comic Books to CGC
CGC Expert Greg Buls is again our guest columnist and today's topic is on submitting comic books to CGC CGC. Greg Buls has been a dealer-collector for more than 20 years. He found the pedigree Circle 8 collection in 1991. Greg operates S&V Collectibles on eBay - some really nice stuff you gotta check out!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I thought it would be helpful to share some submission tips for those people who are interested in submitting comic books to CGC.
1. Bag the books by invoice with the invoice. Using magazine bags or even shopping bags, keep each lot together. If an invoice has more than one bag worth of books on it, write the corresponding invoice number on the bags that don't contain an invoice.
2. Make the books accessible - there's no reason to tie a bundle of books up completely with tape. If they are nestled snugly in bubble wrap, they should be fine even without tape, bubble wrap won't shift in transit. If you use peanuts, it's best to ship a box within a box, but if that's not possible just make sure the books are bagged in clumps and well settled, push the peanuts down all around, you'd be surprised how they will settle in shipping if you just float them in and close the box. Likewise, make the books accessible. CGC recommends sending books in mylars, but you can also just bag and board them. I don't think the graders' mindset is affected by whether the book is in a new bag and board or a mylar. If you do bag and board them, don't tape the individual bags closed, we never tape our bags, and I'm sure graders appreciate not having to mess around with the tape. The bags will remain sealed by virtue of being well wrapped in a larger bag.
3. Spine, spine, spine. I've seen time and again how CGC is likely to be somewhat forgiving with regard to the corners of the spine, but if you want to get 9.6-9.8s, the spine should be flawless or nearly flawless.
4. Clean your books. The best eraser is a soft white art gum eraser. I've tried them all, the softer the better, and you want white, not amber or any other color. These erasers are about 1"x2"x1/2". I like to cut the eraser in half so that I have two approximately 1"x1" squares, then in half again diagonally, so that from one eraser I get four triangular erasers. These are smaller and easier to hold and use, and are better for more delicate work because of the size, and more exacting in their application because of the sharp corners. Before you start working on a book, check the paper quality. If the cover feels somewhat stiff, or is tanning, consider skipping it, covers can be torn fairly easily if they are not supple.
Now what you're looking for is dirt, which generally shows up as greyish in color. And unless you have an expert touch, you only want dirt in white areas. It's just too easy to take color off with an eraser to ever make it worthwhile to try and clean a dirty area over color. Always go from the inside out, never from the corners in, or from the edges in. You'll find that the eraser will pick up some of the dirt, but the bulk of it will come from the eraser remnants which accumulate as you work. You don't want to brush those off until the end, they make the work much easier.
I've seen plenty of books that are high grade and are nonetheless dirty. But it can make a difference at the margins, when a grader is on the fence. And cleaner books always have more eye appeal, so at the least you're probably making the book a little easier to sell and making the eventual owner (even if that's you!) happier with the book.
5. Many defects which don't break through the paper and leave a white crease can be corrected by gentle manipulation. This is something that requires practice, be sure to practice on inexpensive books. It's a good idea to wear surgical gloves whenever you intend to do anything other than lightly hold a book, and to always wear gloves when handling expensive books.
Subtle manipulation can correct a number of problems. First, you can square off the corners more fully if they are blunted by holding the book with one hand, and with the other hand holding a piece of paper towel or toilet paper, enfold the spine between your thumb and forefinger so that you are very lightly pinching the spine, and draw the paper along the spine, from about two inches from the corner past the end of the spine. That may not sound clear, so what you are trying to accomplish is to lightly reverse the appearance of the blunting. Blunting means that the paper has been to one degree or another crushed at the corner, so you're brushing the paper the other way. Second, finger bends and corner bends that don't break color can often be mitigated or removed completely be lightly bending the paper back the other way.
Finally, a good art store will have a folding or creasing tool made of bone. If a cover has some some dents or finger bends (crescent shaped bends which are caused by gripping the cover too tightly when opening the book) you can mitigate or remove them by rubbing the bone tool over the affected area, rubbing on the inside of the cover, smoothing out the paper where there is a problem. Sometimes this can literally stretch the paper a bit, so that you have what looks like the beginnings of a bubble. With books like this it's not a bad idea to flatten them out a bit under heavy weight. When using the bone tool, be sure that the surface under the book is not hard like wood or glass, or soft like cardboard. The ideal is a backing board type paper, which offers a slight give.
6. Don't pre-screen your first submission or two. CGC allows you to tell them to send back, uncertified, any books from a particular invoice that don't meet a pre-determined grade level. By not pre-screening, you will have a better idea of how close you are to the mark. CGC charges $3 for pre-screen rejects, and that adds up if your grading is off or sloppy. If you get lower grades than you anticipated, or more pre-screen rejects, call CGC for the grading notes on any book where you think they dropped the ball, or you can't see why it's graded as it is. CGC keeps detailed grading notes on every book, even pre-screen rejects.
7. Regarding book values, err on the side of caution. For instance, if you have a nice Ghost Rider #1, you probably don't want to submit it on the express tier ($1000-$4000 value) because the book has to be a 9.6 to top $1000. If you send it in standard ($250-$1000) and it grades a 9.6, CGC may move it into the express category, or may not. The reverse is not true - if you send in an 8.5 Ghost Rider #1 that should have been on the economy tier and you send it express, they'll be glad to provide the express service.
8. Be willing to be humbled. CGC is strict and fair.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks again Greg! Again remember to check out Greg's offerings on eBay - great stuff every week.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I thought it would be helpful to share some submission tips for those people who are interested in submitting comic books to CGC.
1. Bag the books by invoice with the invoice. Using magazine bags or even shopping bags, keep each lot together. If an invoice has more than one bag worth of books on it, write the corresponding invoice number on the bags that don't contain an invoice.
2. Make the books accessible - there's no reason to tie a bundle of books up completely with tape. If they are nestled snugly in bubble wrap, they should be fine even without tape, bubble wrap won't shift in transit. If you use peanuts, it's best to ship a box within a box, but if that's not possible just make sure the books are bagged in clumps and well settled, push the peanuts down all around, you'd be surprised how they will settle in shipping if you just float them in and close the box. Likewise, make the books accessible. CGC recommends sending books in mylars, but you can also just bag and board them. I don't think the graders' mindset is affected by whether the book is in a new bag and board or a mylar. If you do bag and board them, don't tape the individual bags closed, we never tape our bags, and I'm sure graders appreciate not having to mess around with the tape. The bags will remain sealed by virtue of being well wrapped in a larger bag.
3. Spine, spine, spine. I've seen time and again how CGC is likely to be somewhat forgiving with regard to the corners of the spine, but if you want to get 9.6-9.8s, the spine should be flawless or nearly flawless.
4. Clean your books. The best eraser is a soft white art gum eraser. I've tried them all, the softer the better, and you want white, not amber or any other color. These erasers are about 1"x2"x1/2". I like to cut the eraser in half so that I have two approximately 1"x1" squares, then in half again diagonally, so that from one eraser I get four triangular erasers. These are smaller and easier to hold and use, and are better for more delicate work because of the size, and more exacting in their application because of the sharp corners. Before you start working on a book, check the paper quality. If the cover feels somewhat stiff, or is tanning, consider skipping it, covers can be torn fairly easily if they are not supple.
Now what you're looking for is dirt, which generally shows up as greyish in color. And unless you have an expert touch, you only want dirt in white areas. It's just too easy to take color off with an eraser to ever make it worthwhile to try and clean a dirty area over color. Always go from the inside out, never from the corners in, or from the edges in. You'll find that the eraser will pick up some of the dirt, but the bulk of it will come from the eraser remnants which accumulate as you work. You don't want to brush those off until the end, they make the work much easier.
I've seen plenty of books that are high grade and are nonetheless dirty. But it can make a difference at the margins, when a grader is on the fence. And cleaner books always have more eye appeal, so at the least you're probably making the book a little easier to sell and making the eventual owner (even if that's you!) happier with the book.
5. Many defects which don't break through the paper and leave a white crease can be corrected by gentle manipulation. This is something that requires practice, be sure to practice on inexpensive books. It's a good idea to wear surgical gloves whenever you intend to do anything other than lightly hold a book, and to always wear gloves when handling expensive books.
Subtle manipulation can correct a number of problems. First, you can square off the corners more fully if they are blunted by holding the book with one hand, and with the other hand holding a piece of paper towel or toilet paper, enfold the spine between your thumb and forefinger so that you are very lightly pinching the spine, and draw the paper along the spine, from about two inches from the corner past the end of the spine. That may not sound clear, so what you are trying to accomplish is to lightly reverse the appearance of the blunting. Blunting means that the paper has been to one degree or another crushed at the corner, so you're brushing the paper the other way. Second, finger bends and corner bends that don't break color can often be mitigated or removed completely be lightly bending the paper back the other way.
Finally, a good art store will have a folding or creasing tool made of bone. If a cover has some some dents or finger bends (crescent shaped bends which are caused by gripping the cover too tightly when opening the book) you can mitigate or remove them by rubbing the bone tool over the affected area, rubbing on the inside of the cover, smoothing out the paper where there is a problem. Sometimes this can literally stretch the paper a bit, so that you have what looks like the beginnings of a bubble. With books like this it's not a bad idea to flatten them out a bit under heavy weight. When using the bone tool, be sure that the surface under the book is not hard like wood or glass, or soft like cardboard. The ideal is a backing board type paper, which offers a slight give.
6. Don't pre-screen your first submission or two. CGC allows you to tell them to send back, uncertified, any books from a particular invoice that don't meet a pre-determined grade level. By not pre-screening, you will have a better idea of how close you are to the mark. CGC charges $3 for pre-screen rejects, and that adds up if your grading is off or sloppy. If you get lower grades than you anticipated, or more pre-screen rejects, call CGC for the grading notes on any book where you think they dropped the ball, or you can't see why it's graded as it is. CGC keeps detailed grading notes on every book, even pre-screen rejects.
7. Regarding book values, err on the side of caution. For instance, if you have a nice Ghost Rider #1, you probably don't want to submit it on the express tier ($1000-$4000 value) because the book has to be a 9.6 to top $1000. If you send it in standard ($250-$1000) and it grades a 9.6, CGC may move it into the express category, or may not. The reverse is not true - if you send in an 8.5 Ghost Rider #1 that should have been on the economy tier and you send it express, they'll be glad to provide the express service.
8. Be willing to be humbled. CGC is strict and fair.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks again Greg! Again remember to check out Greg's offerings on eBay - great stuff every week.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Buying CGC Bronze/Silver/Gold
Time for a guest columnist and today, that guest is Greg Buls and he weighs in on buying older CGC graded books. Greg Buls has been a dealer-collector for more than 20 years. He found the pedigree Circle 8 collection in 1991. Greg operates S&V Collectibles on eBay - some really nice stuff you gotta check out!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There's more to be said about this than can easily be fit into one article, so I'll make a hodge-podge of notes, hopefully you'll find something useful. We'll define bronze age in the traditional way, 1970-1980.
As always, what you buy will depend on your goals. Do you want a complete run of Iron Man in nice condition? Then a nice 7.0 #1 and 8.0s on most of the rest of the 12-20 centers is probably great – many 7.0s and most 8.0s have nice eye appeal, and a full run in these kinds of grades and up would be formidable, and would make a nice looking collection. But many 12 and most 15-20 cent Iron Mans are abundant in 8.0, so unless you find them cheap or want them just to have them, turnover (and thus investment potential) is limited in these kinds of grades. One month you may find someone willing to pay $40 for an Iron Man #11 in 8.0, other months the same book will sell for $20 (not enough to cover encapsulation).
Bronze age books can be divided into two general periods in terms of scarcity, 1970-1974 (20 centers) and 1975-1980 (25-40 centers). The latter are considerably easier to find, as a rule. Really old comics are valuable because they are scarce. Most collections ended up at the dump or the recycler. That said, in the late 1960s, a degree of speculation began. It first manifest with the relaunch of the secondary Marvel characters in 1968, with Hulk 102, Cap 100, Sub-Mariner #1, Captain Marvel #1, and Iron Man #1. All of these books, and late silver/bronze age in general, are more common than issues from the 1966-1967 period. Books from 1964 and 1965 are scarcer still, and books from the early 1960s are very tough, particularly in high grade. So the minimum grade for investment depends upon the age of the books. Here's a very general guide for dates/cover prices and minimum investment grades:
1930s - late 1950s: 10 cents, 6.0. Many 6.0s (fines) are very appealing, and for many books of this era, around 6.0 is the best you can do without getting into really big money. It would seem logical that 1950s books would be easier to find in 6.0 and up than 40s books, but 50s books are often harder to find than their 1940s counterparts.
1961-1963: 10-12 cents, 6.5-7.0
1964-1965: 12 cents, 7.5
1966-1967: 12 cents, 8.0
1968-1970: 12-15 cents, 8.5
1971-1974: 20 cents, 9.0
1975-1977: 25-30 cents, 9.2-9.4
1978-1980: 35-40 cents, 9.4-9.6
Regarding page quality, Anything off white or better is generally acceptable, insofar as there is little resistance from buyers with pages in this range. Cream and worse will depend on the book. Some books, particularly from the 1950s and early 1960s, are more common with cream pages than with off white pages. In some cases, for some 50s and 60s key books, cream to off white is the best page quality available. If you're intent upon putting together a complete collection of these older books, you may wait forever for an off white to white or white book.
DC vs Marvel: Marvel has always been the big boy on the block for silver and bronze, and continues to be. Unless you branch into Timelys, you can't pursue the Marvel super heroes before 1961. While there are many more Marvel than DC collectors, there are also many more Marvel silver and bronze books than there are D.C.s. This is true in virtually all grades, so as a result, higher grades on D.C.s are scarcer than their Marvel counterparts, so there can be fierce competition for the DC plums, even if you are bidding against a smaller pool of collectors. What to buy depends largely on taste. If it's a decision based on mainly financial considerations, go with Marvels, they've always been more broadly collected than D.C.s, so are probably safer overall.
Picking an era: Again, this is a matter of taste, but there are many more collectors of silver and bronze than there are of gold. High grade mainstream gold (8s and up) will always be easy to sell because it's so scarce, but lower grades (6-7.5) may have to wait for a buyer. This isn't so true of the minimum investment grade silver age books. You may have to wait for the right buyer for an Adventure #59 in 6.0, but there's a line around the block for 1963 Ffs and Spideys in 7.0.
The census is a key determinant of good investments when you're looking at bigger books. With low census issues, if there are a few dozen or more submissions, a pattern has been set. If there's only one 9.6 among 50 submissions, a 9.8 is unlikely, and it's unlikely that there will be half a dozen 9.6s once 100 copies have been graded. Paying a premium for the sole top census copy can be worth doing when there's a decent number of submissions, otherwise it's risky on anything from the late 1960s on, and riskier the later you get into the bronze age.
www.gpanalysis.com has valuable sales tracking data and should be used by anyone buying expensive books.
As a general rule, CGC was looser with grades and tougher with page quality in their first few years. You'll see CGC serial numbers into two ranges: those starting with 00-02, and 06 and up. These are also the ranges for the two types of holders, small print and large print. With many, many exceptions, they were generally a little harder on page quality and easier on grading in the old holder period. When sellers don't provide good scans, it's a good idea to ask for them, particularly if the book is in an old holder. I will always prefer a book in a new holder to a book in an older one. However, there are some new holders with low invoice numbers. In some cases, these are books that have been re-encapsulated because a holder was scratched or otherwise damaged, or the owner wanted a page quality check, in hopes of an upgrade. In other cases, dealers simply had an old invoice that they used for submission. The only way to know for sure is to get a good scan.
Scarcity and demand are the driving elements in the investment end of things. A good example: I was watching the sole 9.6 (no 9.8s) copy of Strange Adventures #205, 1st Deadman, 1968 (oww). I expected the book to close between $2500 and $3000. It closed just over $4000. That same month, somewhere in the world, a Hulk 181 (1974) in 9.6 was trading for around the same price. There are 117 Hulk 9.6s (and 11 9.8s and one 9.9). But there are also about 100 times as many Wolverine fans as there are Deadman fans. This is an extreme example on both ends – supply and demand. Here are three general rules that can actually be applied with some consistency: First, if a title or character has consistently been in demand, that will probably continue to be the case. Second, at least from the silver and golden age, if an issue has always been scarce it will probably continue to be scarce. Third, except perhaps in extreme cases like the one mentioned above, dollar for dollar you're probably better off investing in high demand, more common books (Amazing Spiderman) than lower demand, scarce books (Tales to Astonish).
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks Greg! Again remember to check out Greg's offerings on eBay - great stuff every week.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There's more to be said about this than can easily be fit into one article, so I'll make a hodge-podge of notes, hopefully you'll find something useful. We'll define bronze age in the traditional way, 1970-1980.
As always, what you buy will depend on your goals. Do you want a complete run of Iron Man in nice condition? Then a nice 7.0 #1 and 8.0s on most of the rest of the 12-20 centers is probably great – many 7.0s and most 8.0s have nice eye appeal, and a full run in these kinds of grades and up would be formidable, and would make a nice looking collection. But many 12 and most 15-20 cent Iron Mans are abundant in 8.0, so unless you find them cheap or want them just to have them, turnover (and thus investment potential) is limited in these kinds of grades. One month you may find someone willing to pay $40 for an Iron Man #11 in 8.0, other months the same book will sell for $20 (not enough to cover encapsulation).
Bronze age books can be divided into two general periods in terms of scarcity, 1970-1974 (20 centers) and 1975-1980 (25-40 centers). The latter are considerably easier to find, as a rule. Really old comics are valuable because they are scarce. Most collections ended up at the dump or the recycler. That said, in the late 1960s, a degree of speculation began. It first manifest with the relaunch of the secondary Marvel characters in 1968, with Hulk 102, Cap 100, Sub-Mariner #1, Captain Marvel #1, and Iron Man #1. All of these books, and late silver/bronze age in general, are more common than issues from the 1966-1967 period. Books from 1964 and 1965 are scarcer still, and books from the early 1960s are very tough, particularly in high grade. So the minimum grade for investment depends upon the age of the books. Here's a very general guide for dates/cover prices and minimum investment grades:
1930s - late 1950s: 10 cents, 6.0. Many 6.0s (fines) are very appealing, and for many books of this era, around 6.0 is the best you can do without getting into really big money. It would seem logical that 1950s books would be easier to find in 6.0 and up than 40s books, but 50s books are often harder to find than their 1940s counterparts.
1961-1963: 10-12 cents, 6.5-7.0
1964-1965: 12 cents, 7.5
1966-1967: 12 cents, 8.0
1968-1970: 12-15 cents, 8.5
1971-1974: 20 cents, 9.0
1975-1977: 25-30 cents, 9.2-9.4
1978-1980: 35-40 cents, 9.4-9.6
Regarding page quality, Anything off white or better is generally acceptable, insofar as there is little resistance from buyers with pages in this range. Cream and worse will depend on the book. Some books, particularly from the 1950s and early 1960s, are more common with cream pages than with off white pages. In some cases, for some 50s and 60s key books, cream to off white is the best page quality available. If you're intent upon putting together a complete collection of these older books, you may wait forever for an off white to white or white book.
DC vs Marvel: Marvel has always been the big boy on the block for silver and bronze, and continues to be. Unless you branch into Timelys, you can't pursue the Marvel super heroes before 1961. While there are many more Marvel than DC collectors, there are also many more Marvel silver and bronze books than there are D.C.s. This is true in virtually all grades, so as a result, higher grades on D.C.s are scarcer than their Marvel counterparts, so there can be fierce competition for the DC plums, even if you are bidding against a smaller pool of collectors. What to buy depends largely on taste. If it's a decision based on mainly financial considerations, go with Marvels, they've always been more broadly collected than D.C.s, so are probably safer overall.
Picking an era: Again, this is a matter of taste, but there are many more collectors of silver and bronze than there are of gold. High grade mainstream gold (8s and up) will always be easy to sell because it's so scarce, but lower grades (6-7.5) may have to wait for a buyer. This isn't so true of the minimum investment grade silver age books. You may have to wait for the right buyer for an Adventure #59 in 6.0, but there's a line around the block for 1963 Ffs and Spideys in 7.0.
The census is a key determinant of good investments when you're looking at bigger books. With low census issues, if there are a few dozen or more submissions, a pattern has been set. If there's only one 9.6 among 50 submissions, a 9.8 is unlikely, and it's unlikely that there will be half a dozen 9.6s once 100 copies have been graded. Paying a premium for the sole top census copy can be worth doing when there's a decent number of submissions, otherwise it's risky on anything from the late 1960s on, and riskier the later you get into the bronze age.
www.gpanalysis.com has valuable sales tracking data and should be used by anyone buying expensive books.
As a general rule, CGC was looser with grades and tougher with page quality in their first few years. You'll see CGC serial numbers into two ranges: those starting with 00-02, and 06 and up. These are also the ranges for the two types of holders, small print and large print. With many, many exceptions, they were generally a little harder on page quality and easier on grading in the old holder period. When sellers don't provide good scans, it's a good idea to ask for them, particularly if the book is in an old holder. I will always prefer a book in a new holder to a book in an older one. However, there are some new holders with low invoice numbers. In some cases, these are books that have been re-encapsulated because a holder was scratched or otherwise damaged, or the owner wanted a page quality check, in hopes of an upgrade. In other cases, dealers simply had an old invoice that they used for submission. The only way to know for sure is to get a good scan.
Scarcity and demand are the driving elements in the investment end of things. A good example: I was watching the sole 9.6 (no 9.8s) copy of Strange Adventures #205, 1st Deadman, 1968 (oww). I expected the book to close between $2500 and $3000. It closed just over $4000. That same month, somewhere in the world, a Hulk 181 (1974) in 9.6 was trading for around the same price. There are 117 Hulk 9.6s (and 11 9.8s and one 9.9). But there are also about 100 times as many Wolverine fans as there are Deadman fans. This is an extreme example on both ends – supply and demand. Here are three general rules that can actually be applied with some consistency: First, if a title or character has consistently been in demand, that will probably continue to be the case. Second, at least from the silver and golden age, if an issue has always been scarce it will probably continue to be scarce. Third, except perhaps in extreme cases like the one mentioned above, dollar for dollar you're probably better off investing in high demand, more common books (Amazing Spiderman) than lower demand, scarce books (Tales to Astonish).
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks Greg! Again remember to check out Greg's offerings on eBay - great stuff every week.
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