FSF

I use to have a subscription but stopped because I no longer by CGC books. I agree is a solid tool all around for frequently sold books. They did have a week trial when I signed on so I guess they no longer do that.

My biggest end or year gripe would be Christmas. Although there are plenty of things I do like about the holiday season, I think the concept of giving presents, apart from children, are a complete waste of time and money.

I ultimately went with a small pair of decent scissors cutting the top, right and bottom side. It was pretty easy but something that should not be done with high grade books without being very careful. This book was an overgraded 9.6 modern (Gal Gadot foil cover) so not much risk in price but I like the book a lot so I'm much happier with it out of it's tomb. BTW, I thought we were all automatically geeks for collecting comic books in the first place?

Thanks for the ideas.

So I got the book extricated from the outer shell. But now I'm left with a semi-rigid mylar thingy that could get real ugly if I try to pry open any further. Best I can think is to try and scissor the top edge. Any better ideas?

Does the fact that the front cover has a lot coloring and the back much less so, especially along the edges, have anything to do with it?

I would never have comics to put in a storage unit but for the OP storage guy, what are your views on indoor storage facilities vs. outdoor. Just curious in general.

It's hard to imagine how it isn't the Green Goblin. The guy is Spidey's best friend's father. He's also an alter-ego billionaire. He killed Spidey's girlfriend in a memorable way and also died a glorious death shortly thereafter. He and Peter Parker are both science geek geniuses. And to top it off, he just looks like a nasty villain and also looks very cool.

Nothing really jumps out at me though I don't find any of them objectionable. Good job on the name. i like it.

Flash Thompson

The first post in this thread might give you some sense though by no means comprehensive, not that I am by any means an expert.

Off the top of my head, there are 3 realistic options, none of them all that enticing. 1) Buy it in on ebay 1-2 issues at a time. The benefit being you have more immediate satisfaction but the downside being the shipping costs. 2) Buy it in batches of 6-12. Benefit being low shipping costs but downside is waiting to satisfy your craving. 3) Drive longer to another LCS. Not even sure if that is a realistic option for you.

What does the term "dealer" even mean in today's world? Obviously, there are full time dealers who sell comics, many who have done it forever. However, with the advent of the internet in full force, it seems like any collector who strategically is on the lookout for good deals and flips them is doing basically the same thing on a smaller scale. I personally have zero appetite for doing that even once but a lot of collectors seem to engage in that. So to the OP, yes buy any good deals you can and flip them if that's your thing. But don't feel the need to call yourself a "dealer" per se and have to commit time running around in circles telling yourself you have to make things happen. Just be on the lookout with your preferred sources such as ebay, new items at MCS, long boxes at Cons and whatever. The more hours you spend on this, the less each hour will yield IMO. Also, understand your primary motivation in doing this. I mean, if it's money, you will be better off trying to get a PT job at In N Out or Costco which seem to pay $15-20 hour depending on where you're located.

The one thing worth looking through their inventory for me, on occasion, is that they sometimes have modern variants that they don't know squat about and occasionally you'll see a $10-40 type book for less than $5. I personally don't wast time looking to pick things off but if it is something that is on my wantlist, then I'll buy it.

This just proves yet again that no good deed goes unpunished.