rumrunner71

Late to the party here but hopefully helpful. For context, I used to work for a subcontractor for USPS that was responsible for transferring packages from trucks to planes. All of the mail would come to us in large bags, which we unloaded from the truck and shoved into containers to go on the plane. We were paid by weight density per container, so while we didn't smoosh anything, those bags were tossed and crammed in. Few times, we had registered mail. When these trucks came, a postal employee followed in a car behind and had to remove a lock tag from the truck before we could open it. The registered mail was in a heavy, hard plastic locked case. The employee would watch us place it in a container, and then no matter how empty the container was, he would place another lock tag on it after sealing it and then follow the container to the plane, where he would oversee it being put on the plane. So, yeah, there is a reason registered can be a good way to go for security and safety. Not perfect but far more involved than non-registered.

Great stuff! Thanks for sharing all this

Well, there goes any thought of me getting work done this morning I can't remember being so eager to see new posts in a thread. Thanks for sharing this with us!

At this point in comics, it might be more significant if a character lasts a few years NOT getting killed off temporarily

Pretty sure that business is lost already, regardless of the 2k

Totally get that, and couldn't agree more with your last statement about these last few years. I'm glad to have made a bit of cash with the boom in prices but some of those prices in the last two years....yeesh. Definitely coming back to reality

I'm a bit split on the comics market crashing completely. On the one hand, yeah, I don't want to lose a ton of money in what I already have. But on the other hand, I wouldn't mind seeing some of the books I'd like to own become more affordable.

I will admit to nothing...unless you're a subscriber

I think having this thread preserved for posterity does more than the PL. Isn't the PL just for buyers and sellers?

Yep, and all that will be left is investors in big dollar books. Not people collecting because they love it or people trying to complete a run. Sad, but I have to agree with you, as much as I hate to say it.

Then there's those innovators with a talent for having a wank, who turn it into a business

Don't get me wrong, I read every ish of Wizard in the 90s. But Jesus Christ, it was basically Maxim for comic books. By their forecasts back then, the safest comic investments were anything bordering on softcore p*rn. How much hype does Lady Death really need?

Congratulations, you won the internet for today Seriously cool book and equally seriously cool history. Thanks for sharing this with us and glwts!

This is great. Running a business is different from having a hobby or even having a talent. It's a sh*t ton of work....but work that has to get done. When you can't deliver, it's time to stop selling your services. There's a lot in the thread about empathy, but this is business, with a lot of money at stake. Sure, there's room for good business relationships that can give some flexibility with personal circumstances. But at the end of the day, your customers only owe you one thing: timely payment for a job well done. They don't owe you patience. And "empathy" doesn't mean they owe you their business. That doesn't make them "wolves." It makes them customers holding you accountable.

I feel like you got some good answers here: the impact of mass production in driving demand for originals, the perfection of "imperfections," the stigma of the PLOD, the sense that repairs are not original, etc. There were also some who said resto doesn't impact their decisions that much. I'm not sure that everyone misunderstood you. You got some solid responses. What else are you hoping to hear?