"Civilians" with old comics.
WetRats
Posts: 6,314
Last week a friend called me & said she had a couple old comics for me to look at.
I didn't even ask any details, because every time this happens, they're worthless junk.
When she showed up with a couple of CGC slabs, my interest peaked a bit, but we all know theres a lot of worthless junk in slabs.
Then she handed them to me.
Brave & Bold #28 graded 2.5
JLA #2 graded 5.0
"Yeah," I said, "These might be worth something."
I didn't even ask any details, because every time this happens, they're worthless junk.
When she showed up with a couple of CGC slabs, my interest peaked a bit, but we all know theres a lot of worthless junk in slabs.
Then she handed them to me.
Brave & Bold #28 graded 2.5
JLA #2 graded 5.0
"Yeah," I said, "These might be worth something."
Comments
Pfftt! They're just characters. The real question is were the creators worth the slab?
Bridging from the other thread, I'm having a hard time reconciling the "characters suck" statement with slabbing anything.
Personally, I find the whole slabbing thing ridiculous, and a bit of a con game. But then, I worked at a comic shop, and I know how to grade a comic and don’t have to trust someone else’s opinion. Either way, though, I’d advise her to hang on to those two until the movie comes out, or perhaps just before the movie is released.
Thanks!
Makes me think they are hot. Check the SNs at http://www.stolencomic.com/
@Trev you would be an amusing host to watch on Antiques Roadshow-- "Well, the good news this shoe horn dates all the way back to the Civil War! So, okay, little lady, where were YOU in 1865, eh? Why don't you go ahead and sit down. We're going to be here for awhile. You want a soda from the machine? You killed him. You killed him. No don't answer yet. . . Look you needed the money, right?. . ." ;)
Please read the whole post next time and place your concerns in the other forum.
Now that you've gotten defensive about it, I might ask exactly how you were trying to help anyone by dismissing the books in question as unimportant? Or was the help from the other thread? Now I'm confused.
ETA: That's not my dislike.
That's what always happens.
Except this time. :D
So what say you? fair or not for a civilian to even try to approach the regulars with known valued comics?
The shop that I used to work at typically offered 30% of guide for books that we thought we could turn around. We also didn't grade the books coming in door. We also sold for 10-20% off of guide when we were pricing books. If someone came in with a bag of books that they were insistent on selling, that we weren't interested in, we might have offered up to $0.25/book.
My current LCS will buy anything that you bring him, but he's going to start at $0.10 per book.
And just because the SN are sequential doesn't mean they are not hot -- it just means they are probably from the same collection. It doesn't hurt to put the word out just in case.
If someone snagged your valuable CGC books, wouldn't you want them back? Even if they passed to someone reputable through someone who they trusted who got them from a former tenant?
Comics are super liquid right now and not easily traceable thanks to the various auction houses.
Could all be legit too, again not judging, but to dismiss the possibility out of hand on books that valuable?
I can point you to a million stories about collections being walked around that people 'inherited'. usually from 'their dead uncle'.
Don't make snide judgments because I am cautious. You and I have both been around here long enough that I would think you'd know me better.
But for what it is worth, I do stand by my original point- before we got more of the story, all we heard was that this was a friend of Stewart's asking him about these books. Wariness is fine, but I think jumping to betting his friend owns stolen books felt a little judgmental in a story about a friend rather than a stranger. Especially as we hadn't heard yet where the books came from. That was my point. Given that it is a friend, the idea that the friend herself might not know they were stolen, or that is sometimes the case with the way these books circulate, is always something that you could have suggested at the same time you suggested they were hot books. As, again, we were talking about someone's friend. That's all I meant.
To be honest I am seeing more collectibles going up for sale daily from cards to comics and even some Red Skeleton Stiens. I keep telling the owners the hardest part is finding buyers interested. I am yet to see anything sealed by the older crowds or even valued by any rating companies.
The fact is, unless you have comics from the ’70s or earlier—with some exceptions obviously—you shouldn’t expect to get much money selling back issues. Your best bet is to sell any key issues individually, and sell the rest in lots. Get an Overstreet Guide to see what’s worth making a real effort to sell, and dump the rest cheap.
Big difference between a 2.5 and a 9.2.
a mere $120,000 for a comic is a bargain.
:)