FineCollector

Yeah... Montreal's a den of thieves. If Alex from Million is still around, he's a good guy, and Charlie at CQ isn't shy about handling big books, but I wouldn't recommend anyone else.

As a result of paying elevated shipping from the US, you could say Canadian collectors and dealers have to pay more than our neighbors in the US, but using that as a buying tactic is a bit of a stretch. What part of Canada are you in? In-person is easiest. Couldn't hurt to get a few local offers, and then weigh it against opinions here. Just be clear you're shopping it around.

Help! I just bought some Heavy Metal magazines that were stored in Heavy Metal branded binders, but I'm having trouble getting them out. These are stored by hanging the magazine on a peg by its centerfold. The pegs slide around inside the bracket, but after pulling the first two magazines out, the pegs won't move far enough out of the way to get the other mags out. Pictured is a binder with two pegs free, and the mag is hanging on the third peg. I'm pulling the centerfold off by tugging on the book, and the outer cover is scraping against the empty pegs. The binders are starting to tarnish and rust. Would it offend anyone if I cut the pegs to free the books, and threw out the binders?

I strongly disagree with this point. You're more likely to buy something after touching it, that's an established sales principle. Comics have to be out in the selling area, or they mostly won't move. We all may have more refined tastes now, but when you were starting out, how many comics did you buy just because they looked cool? Even now, flipping through a box will tempt me to buy comics I wasn't looking for, or even aware of, especially when they're discounted. Go back to when you were a novice collector, never having seen many books before, and tell me you knew exactly what to ask for, compared to what you've since collected, or are collecting today. Keys, Amazing Spider-Man, Batman, Deadpool, and movie-of-the-month books don't need help selling, but that'll be a minute portion of anyone's sell stock. If I need a dozen issues of Incredible Hulk between 200-300, do you think I'm going to make you pull two long boxes off a shelf in the back, and drag them up front, or bother you to pull the singles out? Unless the clerk looks young AND fresh AND bored, I'm probably not going to make you do all that work for what might end up a $10-20 transaction.

I say that about most of the "keys" that people come up with.

I kept my copies of that 12 part X-Men crossover sealed for years. I think one of the price guides (Overstreet Fan, maybe?) finally said that they were the same price whether the bags were sealed or not, as long as the contents were complete, so I finally sliced the tops open and read them. I've kept them in the bags with the cards still inside, and I have to admit, I'm not in any hurry to throw them out, my OCD is too strong.

I'm jealous... great price on a beautiful Cardy.

Disappointing. I havent bought a new comic since Flashpoint, but I would've bought a Savage Sword mag. What does Savage Sword offer that they arent already doing in Barbarian?

I'm a glass half-empty guy, and even I found that depressing.

Squirrel Girl, anyone?

I wish Wizard still published a monthly. The young flippers never asked this question when Wizard was in print, they just carried around their ragged copy, seeking out all the highlighted books they were "supposed" to have. You'll find that the guys who scoured Wizard for keys and variants in the 90's and early 2000s are mostly not collecting anymore. Not exciting enough, other interests, family obligations... things like that. It's really important to decide what characters or companies you want to focus on, or you'll have a mixed box of unrelated minor keys that no one cares about. On the other hand, if you were a Wizard kid, welcome back! See you again in 10 years...

I'm extremely fussy for staples, and I hate buying anything twice. It's worth the premium to see books in person, and make sure it's my forever copy.

I turned up a run of Amazing Spideys in a collection not long ago, and didn't know the Mary Jane drinking coffee, and Black Cat covers were anything special. If you're not interested in moderns, there wasn't anything to say about Spider-Man after the Mephisto story that everyone hated.

Many comics weren't cut at a 90 degree angle, you may see severe examples described as diamond cut. That alone doesn't mean it was trimmed. More telling would be if the edge isn't straight... very difficult to make a long, perfectly straight cut with scissors.