JTLarsen

44 minutes ago, Aweandlorder said:

I'll reply to you with a simple reply since most of the effort you put into discussing my conclusions are nothing but a lot of wind with no grounds. 

We all believe in what we believe

I believe that an over inflated book spiked due to NOTHING but a headline is shilled. Emphasis on the word OVER INFLATED. Not HEADLINE. There's no conspiracy in that statement. This is business as usual in our market. 

You dont.

It just so happens to be that this time it's directly involving a politician. 

Not a popular TV show/movie. Not a popular writer/ artist. Heck, there wasn't eve a pe*is involved with this one

And that my friend is the beginning of the end. 

Think about what you just allowed to happen here, think about what you accepted as a reality in our hobby. That will set the ground for another big tear in our already suffering industry. And it's because people like you allow it to exist 

My grounds? For what? If you're disputing the factuality of something I'm saying, share with the class. What have I said that's untrue?

Your proof that the book is shilled rests on the following:

- The book is over inflated. That's a subjective opinion.

- It spiked to to nothing. Sorry, "NOTHING." Again, subjective. I and others have laid out multiple reasons OTHER PEOPLE might have for the price spike.

Your belief in the subjective opinion of over-inflation, and your groundless ignoring of the fact that OTHER PEOPLE have genuine reasons to want this book... do not constitute proof that it's been shilled. Shilling is a pretty well-defined phenomenon that others on this site have proven adept at documenting. Try that.

Your claim that I just killed the hobby, I think, does more to undercut your credibility than anything here. So, thanks.

On 5/26/2019 at 3:18 PM, Aweandlorder said:

The cop-out answer would be I don't know. However, I'm gonna guarantee you it will be a sought out book because there was a tremendous effort to make this a hit. When this book came out I received notices from many comic book stores, one who I know for a fact were paid by devils due to promote it. It was all over fb and many blogs. People were hyping it massively. 

Think about what we're talking about here for a second it's a comic book about a politician, with no emphasis on story, art and with no key significance. 

Yet it was promoted up the wazoo. 

There were massive money's poured on to this obscure title. For no other reason than to push a political narrative. 

There are many other political figure books, most of which are published by Bluewater Comics, which are as obscure as this comic should've been had it not been promoted and then marketed cleverly by the publisher

33 minutes ago, Aweandlorder said:

And once again for all of those who BELIEVE otherwise: 

THERE IS NO CEASE AND DESIST ON THIS BOOK 

The book is readily available to purchase on eBay. 

Until this has changed this is the only piece of news you need to relate to

Your willingness to just assert things as fact without any basis is kind of amazing/terrifying.

Just because DC hasn't unleashed the lawyers to pro-actively quash any sales doesn't mean they never issued a cease-and-desist letter. One news/gossip outlet reported that DC did just that. DC HAS NOT DENIED IT.

You've cited ZERO proof that DC sent NO cease-and-desist letters. If you have that proof, please share it. Otherwise, the statement that "THERE IS NO CEASE AND DESIST ON THIS BOOK" is utterly baseless. Maybe it wasn't sent to EVERYONE. Maybe DC hasn't bothered to follow it up with legal action. Maybe, just maybe the cease-and-desist was pro forma so they can cite it in future copyright battles. But you have literally NO source to claim that DC issued NO cease and desist. I will admit, of course, that you putting it in all caps sure feels impressive, though. So, I guess if font size is the new substitute for facts, you've proved your point. 

On 5/26/2019 at 3:18 PM, Aweandlorder said:

The cop-out answer would be I don't know. However, I'm gonna guarantee you it will be a sought out book because there was a tremendous effort to make this a hit. When this book came out I received notices from many comic book stores, one who I know for a fact were paid by devils due to promote it. It was all over fb and many blogs. People were hyping it massively. 

Think about what we're talking about here for a second it's a comic book about a politician, with no emphasis on story, art and with no key significance. 

Yet it was promoted up the wazoo. 

There were massive money's poured on to this obscure title. For no other reason than to push a political narrative. 

There are many other political figure books, most of which are published by Bluewater Comics, which are as obscure as this comic should've been had it not been promoted and then marketed cleverly by the publisher

There's a stunning amount of not-good-thinking-ness going on here, so let's take some time to unpack it.

"I don't know" isn't the cop-out answer to whether the book will hold its value, it's the only honest answer.

As for there being a tremendous effort to make it a hit--also true of tons of comic books that are not sought out. Some companies even have marketing departments to market their comic books.

I love that you say "I know for a fact" that stores were paid by the publisher to promote their comic book and treat it like a conspiracy. Did you know McDonald's pays TV stations to air their ads? I know that FOR A FACT! #Busted. 

Your notion that those who disagree with you should "Think about what we're talking about here for a second" is condescending but also hilarious. Your suggestion is that it SHOULD be a failure because it doesn't emphasize story or art or key significance. In other words, it lacks the very attributes that make comic books succeed--among the ALMOST INSIGIFICANT number of people who care about comic book stories, art, and key significance. Instead, all this comic book has is its celebration in print form of a politician who is massively popular with millions of people. And yet, despite its failure to reach a niche audience and its potential to reach a mass audience, it was promoted anyway. HMMM!! Suspicious, I tells ya!

The book wasn't marketed or promoted cleverly. No one was talking about it until DC was reported to have sent a cease-and-desist. You have no proof that Devil's Due somehow engineered this happening and yet you freely imply it. You also hint darkly that it's being done to promote a political agenda. The outlets that pushed this the hardest were Fox News and the NY Post. Are the comic's creators clearly sympathetic to AOC? Sure. Are they being bankrolled by George Soros? You have zip evidence to even imply anything close to that, but there you are.

This is a pretty simple story. A small comic book publisher did a bunch of variants of a comic the comic book community didn't care much about. One store--in THE BRONX--did a cover that was VERY well done, that was too close to a MASSIVELY popular pop-culture icon. The confluence of politics, pop culture, and the conflict (media love conflict) of DC opposing the cover--combined with the supposition that the cease-and-desist would limit an already small supply--stimulated heavy interest in MULTIPLE collector communities and constituencies (comics, politics, Latina culture, feminism, etc.) who would naturally feel justified paying high prices since the item's status as a limited-edition collectible had been attested to in mass media.

And, yes, other variants went up, too... AFTER some of those outlets issued confusing reports that weren't clear about WHICH cover was limited--AND some sellers began capitalizing (purposely or unwittingly) on the confusion by marketing some of the variants that seemed vaguely Wonder Woman-ish and/or had appeared in those confusing media reports... leading to a spike of interest (already abating) in some of the wrong variants.

To the vast majority of Americans, the going price of THIS limited comic is FAR more understandable than the going price for, say, a J. Scott Campbell variant or a low-print Spawn variant. 

11 hours ago, Aweandlorder said:

I think you're missing the point.. the whole purpose of this scam was to promote this book, which basically promotes the politician. This book was heavily advertised by several vendors before this "recall" occurred and no one cared for it. Now her book is selling like hotcakes all across the board. Not just the "recalled" variant. 

This same exact retail phenomenon occurred with Rick & Morty books. One book was shilled to death and as a result all associated books from that title skyrocketed. 

Since this is such a winning formula, this will happen again in the future with another title, and another, and another... 

welcome to a new era in comic book retailing

Other copies moved up in large part because some news outlets incorrectly identified the variant.

10 hours ago, GeeksAreMyPeeps said:

Mainstream as far as comics goes, is what I meant, in case that wasn't clear. (i.e. not this book)

Understood.

7 hours ago, ygogolak said:

Right, bartending was just for fun.

She is popular with millions, i was saying.

7 hours ago, GeeksAreMyPeeps said:

Any time there's a recalled comic or something that would limit distribution it's hot for a second. And then they almost always cool off. Only mainstream titles that were recalled have any real staying power as far as collectibility goes.

A young and famous politician popular with millions depicted as Wonder Woman is about as mainstream as it gets.

There's a lot of confusion around this one, which I hope I can clear up.

The original report by Bleeding Cool stated that DC filed a cease-and-desist letter to stop Devil's Due and Collector's Cave in New York from selling their store-exclusive variant of this comic, which had a variant cover painted by Carla Cohen and a print run of 250.

The New York Post and Fox News used a picture of the Washington Warrior variant in their stories about this, and now lots of people seem to think the Washington Warrior variant is rare. It's not. You can still buy it for cover.

If anyone else has additional info on this, please share, but I see a lot of people rushing to make decisions based on fake news that has led them to act against their own economic self-interest. Because irony is not dead.

So, caveat emptor.

12 hours ago, Kon_Jelly said:

I've yet to find anything that works the way I want it to. Right now I'm using a Numbers spreadsheet (similar to Excel, but I have multiple tables per sheet view), but it's getting a bit out of hand with the number of books I have. I've tried CLZ and wasn't happy with it. I feel like there should be a pretty easy answer, since it's really just a simple database. 

I just started trying Airtable, and it does 90% of what I want, but I can't get the look to be exactly what I'm going for. 

At this point I'm contemplating just making my own. I've got a background in Oracle databases and a bit of SQL, but I'll need to learn some PHP for the front end. I'm surprised there aren't more developer collectors that have already done something like this. 

How do you want it to work?

8 hours ago, Whizzer said:

Although it's in London, 30th Century Comics has a great selection of British esoteric comics. I'm sure they'd have no problem doing mail order to the U.S.

They don’t! 😜

On 5/5/2019 at 1:57 PM, Revol said:

If you are in Dublin check out the following stores for old British comics:

Sub City Comics . They have two stores in the city centre, and have large back issue stock. 

https://www.subcitycomics.ie/

There is a second hand book and record store that often has very obscure music magazines, comics and old annuals called The Secret Book and Record Store (it's also known as Freebird Records)

https://www.facebook.com/The-Secret-Book-and-Record-Store-124706510933587/

http://www.freebird.ie/

There are other very good comic shops in Dublin; The Big Bang , Forbidden Planet and Dublin City Comics, but they mainly stock new comics and US back issues.

Thanks so much, this is a great start! Do you know of places other than Dublin? We're going to be traveling a bit outside the city...

On 5/6/2019 at 1:26 PM, tv horror said:

Good news for you and bad news for someone else The Forbidden Planet in Belfast has just got thousands and thousands of back issues at the expense of someone either dying or needing money. They range from £3-£15.00 and a the early silver age are £15.00 Daredevil's Spider-man Iron man. They also have a few 1st appearances She Hulk Legion Phoenix Dark Phoenix Carnage (don't tell Swami for £30.00) Amazing 300 for £200 and Iron man 1 for £300 (is that a good price for about a 5.0?). Good luck. 

Thanks for all the tips... are you in Belfast?

UK boardies, can you help me?

I'll be traveling through Ireland and Northern Ireland (and possibly Edinburgh) this summer. The big comic stores there all seem to focus on American comics, but I'm looking for UK stuff!

Early, UK stuff by Grant Morrison, Garth Ennis, Alan Moore, Brian Bolland... 

2000AD, sure, but I'm looking for much rarer stuff... the music magazines where they cut their teeth, fanzines, the counter-culture magazines Bolland did work for in the early '70s.

So... where should I be looking? Are there collectors there that I should be reaching out to before I go?

Please help.

Sincerely,

A supporter of the Lend/Lease Act.

On 4/20/2019 at 11:53 PM, srezvan said:

LCS $0.50 boxes. The Swamp Thing is a comic convention program with cover by Wrightson.

That doesn’t quite look like Wrightson. Would you mind posting it in full?

 Capt. Marvel Adventures 19 (UK variant) 1st mention of Marvelman.

3 hours ago, PeterPark said:

This top 50, being Overstreet, should be value based only, as the guide tries to be non-sentimental in it's own lists

Um, no. If they want it value based only they’ll just refer to their own values. And there are non-sentimental reasons other than $ to rank some books higher than others. The hobby is commodified enough as it is, thanks.

On 3/5/2019 at 11:05 AM, carefulsum said:

A cameo/ brief appearance will NEVER be as important or valuable than a first FULL appearance of a important character. 

Darkseid on line 2.

B&B 60.

So where’s the list of foreign variants???

There is no other version. It was a mistaken listing. Like B&B 54. 

Quiero.

His Ghost Rider variant just made a spec site hot list. Multiple covers from his variant month appreciated well beyond cover price. And that’s just modern Adams. The classics are still outdistancing the runs around them.

Yes.

Any recommendations for stores that carry UK back issues? Native stuff or UK versions of US stuff? Do book stores carry any? Antique shops? We'll be in both Ireland and Northern Ireland.

1 minute ago, JTLarsen said:

 

Replace it with Wonder Woman 72.

Or Suicide Squad 23, for that matter.