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Books you just cant find in the Wild
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4,477 posts in this topic

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16 hours ago, Lazyboy said:

No. I don't care (much) about rarity.

Thank you for the cordial reply.  I think your quote above reflects how we may have two very different approaches to how we each individually choose to collect comics -- I by contrast care quite a bit about relative rarity between types as one of the cornerstones of my approach to comics today.  I think for modern age comics especially, the more-rare newsstand type gives me two ways to win instead of one, when collecting a given issue (one way to win: I make a good choice about which issue to collect; second way to win: the rolling snowball of growing newsstand awareness in the hobby causes the newsstand type to garner an ever-growing premium over direct editions, with the passage of time).

For collectors like me who do care about relative rarity, it is only natural to want to hear what people throughout the hobby think, understanding all the while that pinpoint accuracy is impossible and that estimates are just a guide.   From my perspective, if an anonymous message board handle tells me I should not be receptive to estimates by someone like Chuck Rozanski whose website proclaims to be America's Largest Comics Dealer with over 10 million comics, and who has described the herculean effort their team undertook to "break out" newsstand inventory (just think of the marvelous internal data he would have gathered in the process!), can you see how from my perspective it feels like someone telling me to "shut out" his voice from the newsstand rarity conversation is unreasonable?

My ears are always open to sources I deem trustworthy, and my openness is reflected in the outstanding invitation that I posted publicly for the person known here as "RMA" to step forward as a named source to be quoted in articles, with my offer to give RMA a full 500 word spotlight quote in the main body of one of my most highly trafficked newsstand articles (I felt that offer was very generous; it is five times the length of the comment that RMA cited in the other thread).  I'm sure other writers like me would be interested in having this person in their rolodex of experts to quote in articles; they could be a huge benefit to the hobby in such a capacity.  I haven't seen a response yet but it is still within the one week that I had indicated the offer was good for (can I count on you or @comix4fun to act as a mediator in the event my offer is accepted or countered?).

Best,

- Ben p.s. For me, the idea of "I'm smart enough to realize this and won't even try" is defeatist; I instead choose to study relative rarity, to collect estimates from sources I deem knowledgeable and reputable, to study census data even while knowing it isn't going to be perfect, and also to apply logic and assumptions that I deem reasonable (such as, for example, population disparity as a guidepost to understanding relative rarity between the types Marvel/DC published for US vs. Canadian newsstands in the 1980's).  This is a slideshow I put together on the topic of newsstand rarity discussions and estimates: https://rarecomics.wordpress.com/newsstand-rarity-discussion-estimates/

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4 hours ago, xcomic said:

Thank you for the cordial reply.  I think your quote above reflects how we may have two very different approaches to how we each individually choose to collect comics -- I by contrast care quite a bit about relative rarity between types as one of the cornerstones of my approach to comics today.  I think for modern age comics especially, the more-rare newsstand type gives me two ways to win instead of one, when collecting a given issue (one way to win: I make a good choice about which issue to collect; second way to win: the rolling snowball of growing newsstand awareness in the hobby causes the newsstand type to garner an ever-growing premium over direct editions, with the passage of time).

Yes, I'm a collector and you're a speculator who thinks that the market won't collapse before the newsstand hype can reach enough suckers.

4 hours ago, xcomic said:

For collectors like me who do care about relative rarity, it is only natural to want to hear what people throughout the hobby think, understanding all the while that pinpoint accuracy is impossible and that estimates are just a guide.   From my perspective, if an anonymous message board handle tells me I should not be receptive to estimates by someone like Chuck Rozanski whose website proclaims to be America's Largest Comics Dealer with over 10 million comics, and who has described the herculean effort their team undertook to "break out" newsstand inventory (just think of the marvelous internal data he would have gathered in the process!), can you see how from my perspective it feels like someone telling me to "shut out" his voice from the newsstand rarity conversation is unreasonable?

Yes, because your perspective is too limited. You're not educated enough on the subject. You also make many faulty assumptions based on the limited information (and misinformation) that you have.

Chuck has been a Direct dealer for decades. He also gets most of his back issue inventory from other dealers, so of course it's going to be mostly Direct editions. His numbers are completely irrelevant to the actual reality of extant copies.

4 hours ago, xcomic said:

My ears are always open to sources I deem trustworthy, and my openness is reflected in the outstanding invitation that I posted publicly for the person known here as "RMA" to step forward as a named source to be quoted in articles, with my offer to give RMA a full 500 word spotlight quote in the main body of one of my most highly trafficked newsstand articles (I felt that offer was very generous; it is five times the length of the comment that RMA cited in the other thread).  I'm sure other writers like me would be interested in having this person in their rolodex of experts to quote in articles; they could be a huge benefit to the hobby in such a capacity.  I haven't seen a response yet but it is still within the one week that I had indicated the offer was good for (can I count on you or @comix4fun to act as a mediator in the event my offer is accepted or countered?).

You need to be more selective and more closely scrutinize your sources.

I very highly doubt @RockMyAmadeus will take you up on your offer.

4 hours ago, xcomic said:

Best,

- Ben p.s. For me, the idea of "I'm smart enough to realize this and won't even try" is defeatist; I instead choose to study relative rarity, to collect estimates from sources I deem knowledgeable and reputable, to study census data even while knowing it isn't going to be perfect, and also to apply logic and assumptions that I deem reasonable (such as, for example, population disparity as a guidepost to understanding relative rarity between the types Marvel/DC published for US vs. Canadian newsstands in the 1980's).

It's not defeatist. Anyone can make wild guesses. An estimate is an educated guess that won't be perfect, but should be close because it's based on enough relevant information (Hint: simple population size is not enough relevant information to make estimates about a specific product).

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28 minutes ago, Wolverinex said:

Nice, whats the story on how you found it?

It's an epic tale, so grab some food and a comfortable seat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I've been aware of the error editions for many years. I don't specifically look for them (mostly because they are beyond the endpoint of my Marvel collection), but notice and double-check the issues when I'm flipping though boxes.

I found this one in a box at C4 this past weekend.

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19 hours ago, fastballspecial said:

I can find that copy although only 2 or 3 copies in years of looking.

The direct error is impossible to find I only know 2 boardies that have found copies. 
I still look, but I realize I have no chance of ever finding one.

 

Now I want to know which one I found in a 3/$1 box earlier this year. Too bad I don't know which of the 100 boxes in my garage it's located!

Edited by Hey Kids, Comics!
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18 minutes ago, cortown71 said:

Anyone want to try help this guy out? He didn't believe me when I told him it has to have the 25 cent bubble to be the error.

Thing is the cgc label is actually the error.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Uncanny-X-Men-423ERROR-CGC-9-0-VF-NM-Pricing-Error-On-Cover-Newsstand-Variant-/232529506435?

Can't help people who can't help themselves.

Edited by Wolverinex
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1 hour ago, cortown71 said:

Anyone want to try help this guy out? He didn't believe me when I told him it has to have the 25 cent bubble to be the error.

Thing is the cgc label is actually the error.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Uncanny-X-Men-423ERROR-CGC-9-0-VF-NM-Pricing-Error-On-Cover-Newsstand-Variant-/232529506435?

Someone's asking $60 for a raw VG on  MCS. So for a 9.0 that's probably right. 

https://www.mycomicshop.com/search?q=Uncanny+X-Men+423

 

:roflmao:

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