Baltimore Comicon Market Report!

[FlyingDonut]

The 2 day Baltimore Comicon was quite fun - I know the table I was working at had slow but steady sales, and by the end we did OK.

 

Lots of foot traffic on Saturday - there was a steady stream of people coming, with new people coming in almost allday. Sunday was lighter, I think because of the combination of the exceptionally nice weather and the Ravens-Steelers game three blocks away, but there were still lots of people.

 

Good to meet ArnoldT, Chris37 and others, also had a very pleasant conversation with Blazing Bob about this board's favorite topic...no, not the CRASH, the other one....

 

Some sales reports - and again, I'm sorry, because I should have kept better records. All "raw"

 

Action 16 Fair $250

More Fun 62 restored VF- $650 (a tremendous buy!)

Green Lantern 40 VG/F $70

Marvel Feature 1 VF $60

Amazing Spider-Man 25 Fine $45

Amazing Spider-Man 38 Fine $40

Amazing Spider-Man 42 NM- $225 (gorgeous! book)

Marvel Mystery 17 no back cover $100

Rawhide Kid 17 (first Kirby book/the Amazing Fantasy 15 of Westerns) coverless $40

 

I'll have to remember some more. Bob?

 

My purchases:

 

Crime Suspenstories 2 VF- $149

Crime Suspenstories 6 FVF $55

Crime Suspenstories 7 VF- $65

Crime Suspenstories 12 VG $21

Harold Hedd 1 first print oversized Fine $24

Funny Book 1 first print (first appearance Cherry Poptart) NM $35

Zap 3 NM first print NM+ $100

 

on these, Comicwiz - OK?

 

very fun!

 

 

 

[Rickdogg]

I spoke to darth the other day and he had nothing but nice comments about everyone he met there GO TO SD BABY!!!!

[chrisco37]

Indeed! The show was a good time. Nice Job, Dan! Good to meet you, Darth, and Blazing Bob! Show was a success for me too (although I didn't sell anything). Was able to fill some holes in my "Steranko Collection". Plus, pick up a couple of other books too. Here is a listing of my purchases:

 

X-Men #49 - awesome copy. white pages, glossy, no-bleed thru (white cover). Would guess an easy 9.2.

 

X-Men #50 - searched show for best copy. Got a VF. Probably would get an 8.0.

 

X-Men #51 - Lots to be had! Picked up a VF pretty cheap.

 

ASM #101 - Nice VF/NM raw from Blazing Bob. Gave me a great deal. This guy is a class act! Had the nicest books at the show!

 

FF #57 - CGC 8.0. Again, Blazing Bob comes thru. My favorite issue needed to be upgraded and got a VF for less than guide, so I was happy!

 

FF #112 - CGC 9.0. Nice copy of impossible to find in higher grades book. On a side note, there was a booth and they were selling a raw copy of this (and it was a really nice copy) for $400!!!! Told them to kiss my @$$.

 

Strange Tales #165 - CGC 7.5. Looked nicer than the grade, price was right, so I bought it (half cause I wanted the book, half cause I wanted to break it out of the slab! Note to CGC: remove from census!)

 

Strange Tales #151 - Had to get Steranko's first. A nice VF- book. Prob a 7.5 or 8.0.

 

Nick Fury #3 - Nice VF book. Bought w/ ASM #101. Thanks again for the hook-up Bob!

 

Nick Fury #4 - Searched the show for this one too. Got a great NM copy for way cheap! (Only Fury I got for under guide! I don't get Wizard, has there been a re-surgence in this title as of late?). An easy 9.2.

 

Nick Fury #5 - White Pages. Awesome cover! Had to search show for best copy, and I think I got it.

 

 

Nick Fury #7 - The nicest copy you've ever seen! Bright colors, sharp corners, no stress marks, white pages. Awesome! This is an easy 9.2, and probably a 9.4!! Might even send this one to CGC it so nice! It pays to hunt!

 

Well, thats it for me. Sorry I didn't list prices. Great show and can't wait for next one.

 

Chris

[notch_top]

Chris,

 

How about some prices paid on those beauties?

 

M

[cansecofan]

Glad to hear the show went so well. I missed the show but will be there next year! Was CGC busy with submissions? How big was the crowd there, etc?

 

-Adam

[chrisco37]

CGC wasn't even there, much to Darth's dismay! Crowd was good all day....I got there before show opened and line stretched all through the lobby and up and around some steps, but once show opened it moved quickly....Like, Donut said, good steady flow (I was there from 10-1)...couldn't guess on the # of people, except there were alot!

 

Chris

[MonumentalCo]

Another successful year is now behind us at the Baltimore Comic Con. Without a doubt the show was well promoted and put on by Marc Nathan and everyone involved. It was great gettting to put a face with the names of many from this forum. The crowd was good. The costumes were great! (loved that Golden Age Flash costume) The show as always was successful.

[ArnoldTBlumberg]

I can safely say without hesitation it was the most fun I've had at a con in years just getting to talk to people. I was sitting right next to George Tuska and Martin Nodell - what's not to love?

[FlyingDonut]

following Arnold's post, I had a wonderful half hour discussion with Martin Nodell's son and grandson, who was very interested in all of the stuff we had for him. And, in the "how geeky is this" category, George Perez drew a Flying Donut logo for my staff badge!

[aardvark88]

Donut,

U have good taste. The Harold Hedd stuff by Rand Holmes is hilarious. R Holmes passed away near Nanaimo which is outside Vancouver, BC, Canada.

[FlyingDonut]

One of the best comics I've ever read is "The Anus Clenching Adventures of Harold Hedd" #2 - just fabulous.

[ArnoldTBlumberg]

Probably one of the most amusing things from the weekend was how many people came and asked me if we did certified grading. I get the impression some folks still don't know what Gemstone even does .

 

Oh and there were the guys with portfolios who wanted to show me their work for possible publication. I always feel bad saying "But...we don't actually publish the comic books *themselves*..." But what can ya do?

 

[comicwiz]

That Zap 3 "first print" you bought; sounds like a good price; the only thing I wonder -- do you have yourself a copy of Jay Kennedy's guide? If so, just double-check that it is in fact a first print. I've had numerous occassions where undergrounds were pawned-off as first prints... not everyone actually checks -- there is a distorted comfort in selling books for premium without verifying their print... and if everything checks out, then you did good... nice covers --- that's got the classic full-cover art wrap that underground collectors love.

 

As for the EC's -- nicely done! Those are usually tough in F+ or better range.. and for the prices you paid -- wow. Like I said, nicely done. As for the Harold Hedd, and the Funny Book 1 -- I've seen more and more of these turn up in high-grade.. its almost as if all these dealers hoard the stuff until someone decides to list the material on ebay, or at a con, and then everyone and their mother decides to follow. Cherry Poptart is always popular, so f.a. are always a good angle to cover for collectors. Not too fond of the stories, but nonetheless, there is a huge enough following for the Cherry stuff.

 

My only question.. was any of the stuff you bought slabbed? Did you see any underground stuff slabbed? What was the most expensive underground you saw at the show?

[FlyingDonut]

Thanks for the heads up!

 

There weren't any slabbed undergrounds, but there were a LOT of them - Bruce Ellseworth, a big dealer from New Orleans, had a whole display wall of very expensive books. I sort of passed his table as they were too expensive and he's not my favorite dealer. He had a first print Zap 1, but I didn't look at the price.

 

Didn't buy any slabbed stuff at the show - there was a lot of it, but I'm looking for a nice solid reading set of the Crime Suspenstories, so slabbed books aren't really for me. I'm going to go ahead and slab the Zap and the FA.

 

And, I think Cherry Poptart is just a gas - its basically Betty and Veronica having jungle sex, but there's always a call for that!