F For Fake

Full story on the SW books is in the Modern forum Dollar Books thread. Couldn't pass up this FOOM. They'd also just gotten in a bunch of Fireside books, but I passed for the time being, as the Silver Surfer had already sold. May go back for the Hulk and FF if they're still around.

From the lot I posted over in the Dollar Bin thread, all of these were newsies plus a couple more!

Not a dollar box exactly, but I think it counts. My LCS has a section in the back of the shop where they sell sets of comics. There are often good deals to be found here, if you're willing to buy a big run of books, as they often don't break out the "hot" issues, they just sell the run as a run. Stopped by the LCS today, while everyone was crying about Last Ronin being sold out, I made my way to the back. Found this set of Star Wars KotOR 18-44, for $39.99, plus 10% off. So it comes out to about $1.40 per book, or thereabouts. I haven't been keeping up with all of the SW goings on, but I knew that issues of this title have been popping lately, so I took a chance. Looks like I did well! Not only are some of the recent hotter issues like 25, 31, 34, 40 and 42 all present, but about half the run are newsstands! Yippee! Condition averages out to VFNM, there are a couiple of VF/VF+ books, and a few true NM, so all in all not too shabby.

Please don't make me contemplate my mortality like that!

This shop isn't open on Tuesdays, just Wed-Sun. So normally the DC books show up with everything else. They said that they'd been told that their DC order for this week was supposed to be here today, but now they're being told tomorrow. Some sort of USPS deal. I dunno. I'm glad I"m not a shopowner, ordering seems like a nightmare these days.

Must...not...buy...Star Wars...toys... Willpower...fading...

I'm willing to eat this to test the authenticity!

I needed to run by my lcs today to pick up some cash they owed me from some stuff I'd sold, so I figured I may as well get there at opening and take a crack at these books you guys are talking about. They opened at noon, there was a line of about 10 people! That's unusual for this store. Got in and everyone was peeved because Last Ronin was already sold out. I asked my guy and he said that normally they only have three people subbed to the Turtles books, but in the last week they'd had 10 people call to reserve one. So that ate up their shelf copies. They were going to try to order more, but weren't sure if they'd get them. Didn't bother me because I was only going to pick it up if it was handy, but several folks were disappointed. The thing is I know this is legit, this is not a store that holds back copies to sell at a markup. If you're a holds customer, you get what you order at cover price plus your discount. ANything that's left goes on the stands. It's fair, and I've always liked that about them. Batgirl 50 was also a bust as DC failed to get the books to them on time, they're hoping to get their DC's in tomorrow. The only DC that arrived on time was Three Jokers.

After I read your post, I went over to the MMW boards and read the IST/TOW thread. Wow. It's crazy that things have fallen apart like that. I guess I got lucky with my last shipment coming so quickly. I haven't placed an order since then because there hasn't been anything I needed. Yesterday I ordered the Absolute Swamp Thing books, I guess we'll see how it goes. So it seems like there are a couple of things going on, 1. IST isn't sufficiently staffed and 2. continued pandemic supply chain issues. Does that sum it up? The latter I understand, though I'd hoped it was improving, seeing as how the last couple of big release week books took longer to sell out than had been the case the last few months. But the former doesn't make any sense. Surely IST should have their staffing issues straightened out by now. And I guess a third factor is the whole DC Diamond/UCS/Penguin/etc distribution shake up. Very strange times. I agree, I don't like Amazon either, primarily due to the shipping. I'd say 75% of the books I've gotten from them have some sort of damage. But sometimes they're the only game in town, so I take my chances. I certainly hope you get an answer soon. That's simply unacceptable. I guess I'll see how things go with my order from yesterday. If IST doesn't rebound, I'm not sure what the answer is. I guess I'll be buying fewer books. My local shop offers a 25% discount on trades/hc's, so that may be the answer. Then again, if distribution is affecting the big retailers, they may not have any better luck getting the books either. Good luck and I hope you hear something soon, please let us know if you do!

Hmm, that's interesting. I was aware of grumblings and rumors about their sister site Tales of Wonder, who haven't updated in some time, but I hadn't heard anything new about IST. For instance, I ordered the LoSH Omni on that same day as you, and got in about a week later. My previous order had only taken a week as well. I considered this a great step forward as my orders over the spring and summer had taken a bout a month each time to get here, due to USPS slowdown. I'd hate to see IST go under, as they're the best bet for hardcovers and collections. No one else can approach their price anymore (Amazon doesn't even try, which is a shame, as they used to be pretty close) and their shipping is the absolute best, as far as safe packing is concerned. Today the new volume of Absolute Swamp Thing was released, along with a reprinting of Vol 1. IST's price? $58 per book. Amazon? $90 each. Next best price is Cheap Graphic Novels, at $70 for #2 and $60 for #1. CGN isn't bad, but IST is hard to beat. I've only used CGN a few times, and I've had good experiences, so that might be a good alternative for you and others. Their prices are solid and packing is good. But IST is my #1 choice. I don't sweat shipping delays as I'm in no hurry, as long as I know the books are coming. I hope they don't get dodgy in that regard. I'd be surprised if there was an issue fulfilling your order, though, because LoSH and Conan 4 weren't instant sellouts. They hung around for a few weeks. I think LoSH just sold out last week, actually. So they should have had the books in stock for you for sure. So that's all very odd. Bronze, Have you contacted them directly about the delayed shipment? I've had good luck reaching them by email.

This was true for a long time, but the recent announcements of Marvel's acquisition of the line, and reprints as well as new series coming, has really stoked the fires on this one. 9.6's are $250-$400 now, 9.4s are $200+. This is a good book to have in any shape at the moment! #1 9.8 is a $1-1.5k book these days. Insanity! Of course, the tough book in grade is #2. 9.8's are nearly impossible. As you'd know, since I got mine for you to complete my set a few years ago!

Well, as you know, sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and pay up for the good stuff. The way the market is these days, full price for keys seems reasonable to me, so whatever you paid for it, nice pick up. Looks like a very pretty copy!

Sweet! Love the date stamp, too! (One day before my b-day!)

Yup, 100%! I remember seeing the Dreadnok Assaul sets in the WIsh Book when I was a kid, and thinking they were ugly as sin! Why would I want those ugly- repaints when I could get a brand new vehicle??? Of course, now I'm prepared to pay through the nose to get one of those "ugly-" Dreadnok sets, if I can ever find one! And yeah, with comics, 2nd prints and higher were basically garbage. If it wasn't a first print, it wasn't worth having. Now I'm on the hunt for those books all over again? Who knew??

As always, @greggy knows whats up. Tons of sweet stuff, but I have to single this book out. This is one of my all time favorite covers, and I think it's a criminally underappreciated book. Took me a while to find a 9.8, but I did dig one up a few years ago, to go with my very small Giant Naked Space Babes set!