Tales from the Data Base Part 3

[ninanina]

I realized that one day my wife would one day need to sell my collection. So, along with inviting a dealer to help her get rid of the balance of her collection, I also wanted to observe to see how it's handled.

 

With the exception of the Edgar Church (Mile High) account, very little is discussed by dealers on how they go about acquiring collections.

 

I discussed inviting the dealer with her and reminded her that because he was a dealer, she could not expect what I gave her for the books because he had to re-sell them.

 

The first evening he was there, I learned a lot about what I missed. He knew exactly what to look for. I learned that certain "love story" books were used for new artists such as Steranko etc. and those were some of the ones he put aside. A Vampirella 1 was pulled. He methodically went through each pile and pulled what I believed to be the better graded copies of almost everything. He pulled runs of Sgt. Rock, Army at War, Weird War, and any other ones he found. He came across a copy of Jonah Hex and Swamp Things 1st appearance in Weird Western and House of Secrets and asked if I wanted them. I put them away to purchase at a later date.

 

In total he wrote a check for approximately $2300.00 when all was said and done.As mentioned in my 1st post, the dealer did not want to purchase the Vampirella. He did not notice the NM price went up to $400.00 US and put it back. His purchase price on all the comics were based on a percentage of NM regardless of condition so this book was a bit too pricey for him.

 

I felt pretty good about what happened. Felt she got a fair dollar for her books, and the dealer also helped me with a couple comics I missed. My commision for the referral was a cool 15% value of the total purchase price in back issues.

 

It was discussed that I would be there whenever he came back for more purchases from her. I wanted to do this so I could observe as well as make sure the old lady was treated fairly. She methodically listed everything that was purchased because she was that kind of person. I noticed the other dealer had purchased the Vampirella set, but the 1st issue was not listed. She didn't know where it went and the dealer I invited told her that she sold it to him although she had no record of it. Can't say he took it without paying, but there is no record of the sale. She could have forgotten about it, but I'm not sure to this day. Some of the other things he said and did only make me suspicious. But that's all it is, a suspicion.

 

He invited himself over to make dinner for her one day. To get into her good graces? It worked. By now he was so totally in control that he was able to take boxes of Silver/Bronze Age comics home, grade them there and give her a check without her even knowing what he took.

 

I witnessed this when he bull-dozed himself into the closet that she promised I could look at 1st, before anyone else could. Hammer, we now know what was in the closet. He pulled VF runs of Adventure, Superman, Action, Dells and Gold Keys of the era. I really wanted to know what he was going to do with these and after he took them to his car he admitted he was going to sell the Dells and Gold Keys to another dealer. This is the first time he admitted to this. He also said I could come by and visit if I wanted and would call when the other dealer arrived that evening. He never called. To this day he has not told me what he paid for the books, nor has he offfered to pay the commisions in back issues he promised for these comics as well as any other books he may have purchased over the last few weeks. I am grateful for what I learned, but I felt lied to and taken advantage of.

 

I asked him how a date stamp affects the grade. He answered that any comic with a date stamp is an automatice VG. And I know he graded her comics that way.

 

I asked him how a subscription crease affects the grade. Again, he answered, automatic VG. Anybody else have opinions on this?

 

I asked him if dealers really do fly in from out of town to look at a collections. He answered with, not the one I have.Not enough books and the collection is too small.

 

There were comics in the Fair range. Many he was able to get free or paid very little for. She and I both felt because of the condition, they had little value. After all, he said so. One was an X-men 3 with the top 1/4 of the cover missing. (Title)

I remember a pile of 30 or 40 Blackhawks. These were the early issues from 200 and up printed by National Periodicals before DC took over. Granted they were quite beat up but I learned later that even these had some value. I think she only got a buck or two a book. (Can't remember for sure but it was very little)

 

I asked him why he wanted them and he told me he likes to read them. Later I told him I didn't buy the explanation and found out that he keeps some for parts (restoration) and/or he simply re-sells them.

 

By now, I realized that most of the stuff he was buying was to sell to other dealers. I thought, he was buying these to sell to other collectors. But that fact made me realize that I should have called Doug again, because I found out that Doug (Comic World) was the dealer he was selling many of these books to. Not all, but some. He kept it a secret until near the end.

 

Naturally, I didn't tell the old lady any of this. As far as she was concerned, she was very happy with what she got for her son's comics. A lot more than the $2000.00 she was hoping for. In the end, that's the most important thing. I also got back the comics I had to sell 20 years ago, to pay a tax bill I couldn't afford . So, I'm happy.

 

If I ever run across a collection like this again.I discussed what happened with my wife.She is not looking forward to the day that she'll have to worry about selling my comics. "Lotta GREED in this business."

 

 

[FlyingDonut]

again, let us be clear - the little old lady most definitely did not get screwed here, as she received 12.5X more than she thought it was worth (admittedly she was clueless), and 25% more than you thought it was worth, getting her 25K. The dealer was a total and complete scumbag, but from the standpoint of the "little old lady", she did alright.

[Crackandpresstoan11]

Great story, but why do you keep on posting it over and over? This is at least the 4th time you have told this story in the past week or so.....

[ninanina]

Agreed.

 

This post wasn't about an old lady getting screwed. I did make it clear she was happy with the deal and there is nothing, BUT NOTHING more important than that.

 

My reasons for telling the story and why I called it what I did revolved around Chuck's account of the Edgar Church (Mile High) collection. From the point of view of the dealer.

 

In this case, I was able to witness what was happening and reported what I observed from the point of view as an observer.

 

I can't help feeling that if this dealer wrote the story about how he bought this collection it would have sounded a lot more along the lines of what Chuck wrote, and certainly not what I wrote.

 

[ninanina]

 

Tom,

I am sorry it seems that way, but one of the guys asked for me to get into this story in more detail.

 

The first time I printed it, it was just a quick summation of what happened and I was perfectly happy to leave it at that. I actually repeated the story once more, but because of the detail, spread it out over 3 parts. So in reality, I've only printed it twice.

[Bugaboo-migration]

Yep.....look for Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 to get the whole detailed story.

 

Thanks for telling it ninanina......very interesting read.

[GP_]

thanks for telling the story again! Very interesting to see how it works from our side

[blowout]

Interesting story.......and actually a nice idea to split it into 4 parts. If you had posted it all in one hit I doubt too many of us would have taken the trouble to read through it all.

[supapimp]

i don't mind the story being separated into parts, im just wondering when your going to release the idenity of this scumbag, gypsy, thief, and so called comic book dealer.

[Bugaboo-migration]

CI HAS POSESSED SUPA..........RUN FOR THE HILLS!

 

:::Shouts "Godzillaaaa"....takes two steps...trips....and falls down like an insufficiently_thoughtful_person:::

[ninanina]

Sorry superpimp, but if it helps, I very much doubt anyone here deals with him.

 

I was happy to have witnessed the whole thing and so was my wife. What she learned was to treat each book for the value it represents. That much was lost to the seller by allowing the dealer to take boxes of comics home without her even knowing what was in them and the condition. The value of the comics lost their importance. To her they were merely books taking up space. The dealer knew this and treated them accordingly once he gained her trust and confidence. That's how he was able to get away with it.

[Guest]

Wheeew......Im glad the bad dealer in question isnt Doug. Hes awesome and I cant imagine him screwing ANYONE over.

[ninanina]

Neither can I. Class act.

[Guest]

agreed....

[blowout]

My kingdom for an Iron Fist 14 CGC 9.8

 

35 cent variant?

[Guest]

OOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHH..........yes Ill take it in Variant form! I think the highest grade given for that one is a 9.2.

[blowout]

Could be the ultimate holy grail D.

You'd have to fight me for it though (actually nah, i'd settle for a 9.6 ).

[Guest]

Cool...its settled....you get the 9.6 and Ill get the 9.8!!

[PovertyRow]

but one of the guys asked for me to get into this story in more detail.

 

Yep. That was me. I asked for said author to pause a bit, reflect, and proffer a more detailled accounting, which said author has graciously supplied and I, for one, find it fascinating.

 

DagNABit!