X-Men Gold #30 (and polybagged books) 0

[ExNihilo]

Gonna ask that people keep this spoiler free for the time being since I won't be picking up my books until June 30th (or at least use spoiler tags where relevant).

So there is a J Scott Campbell Classified edition that is polybagged in white because the cover is a spoiler.  Naturally I asked my shop to hold the JSC classified, JSC standard, and the standard cover for me.  The problem is, I never open my polybagged books.  X-Force #1?  Superman #75?  X-Ecutioner's Song?  All still polybagged.  I realize the books are worth less than cover, but there is some stubborn part of my head that insists I keep them bagged.  I'm almost tempted to buy a 2nd copy of the JSC Classified just so I can open it.  I mean, clearly I'm picking up a standard cover which will act as my reader copy so it's not like i'm missing out on the inner contents.  And if I really wanted to, I could just go online and see the cover.  But despite all of this, the temptation for a 2nd copy is still there.

So I ask you, comic collecting community, what do you do for your personal collection (read: non CGC slabbed copies)?  Do you also keep your books unopened?  Do you buy 2 copies and open one?  Or do you get one and just stare at a white bag (or in Superman #75's case, a black bag)?

[Juno Beach]

I open them. The polybag is garbage. 

[Coolio McCool]

Everybody hates polybags for the reasons you mentioned, people don't want to have an internal debate for hours just to decide whether to read a comic. In the case of XMG 30, good luck finding a second copy for cover price, just buy a regular cover and read it instead.

[ExNihilo]

14 hours ago, Juno Beach said:

I open them. The polybag is garbage. 

I agree, but the illogical part of my brain says to keep it in a polybag the way people keep their toys in the plastic packaging.

[ExNihilo]

2 hours ago, Coolio McCool said:

Everybody hates polybags for the reasons you mentioned, people don't want to have an internal debate for hours just to decide whether to read a comic. In the case of XMG 30, good luck finding a second copy for cover price, just buy a regular cover and read it instead.

Oddly enough, the book wasn't in a rush to move at my LCS.  They apparently had 6 copies to start and when i called after lunch, they had only sold 3 (4 if you count the one I had placed in my sub folder).  I would imagine the after work crowd must have plucked the remaining 2, but it wasn't so hot that it was gone within the first few hours of opening.

[BishopT]

For this one, I absolutely took it out. It's a really nice cover of my two favorite X Men characters when I was a kid. I'd probably get another copy and keep it sealed for a decent price (i.e. under $10) because there will always be people who want it in the polybag, but otherwise, it's a book for my personal collection. The other JSC variant with Kitty and Peter is great, too, but this one is really good. 

[williamblood]

7 hours ago, ExNihilo said:

Oddly enough, the book wasn't in a rush to move at my LCS.  They apparently had 6 copies to start and when i called after lunch, they had only sold 3 (4 if you count the one I had placed in my sub folder).  I would imagine the after work crowd must have plucked the remaining 2, but it wasn't so hot that it was gone within the first few hours of opening.

unless you follow comic news online you wouldnt know about the bait and switch wedding, i think thats why it sat

[fastballspecial]

I think it sucks that the story I loved as a kid has been turned into this. 

[Coolio McCool]

My local store was charging $6 for the polybagged book and sold out Wednesday afternoon. It looks like price on the 'bay is around $12 shipped and holding steady. I think the regular cover and the non-secret JSC variant will end up worthless, who wants a fake cover that shows a fake event that never happened? The polybagged version could end up worthless too, who knows. The secret cover really isn't that great, but at least it's not fake news.

This was one case where Marvel had a semi-legit reason to polybag, but it's still questionable. You normally don't see the ending of books / comic books spoiled on the cover, I think they could have gotten JSC to draw something else.

[GeeksAreMyPeeps]

On 6/22/2018 at 10:47 AM, Coolio McCool said:

My local store was charging $6 for the polybagged book and sold out Wednesday afternoon. It looks like price on the 'bay is around $12 shipped and holding steady. I think the regular cover and the non-secret JSC variant will end up worthless, who wants a fake cover that shows a fake event that never happened? The polybagged version could end up worthless too, who knows. The secret cover really isn't that great, but at least it's not fake news.

This was one case where Marvel had a semi-legit reason to polybag, but it's still questionable. You normally don't see the ending of books / comic books spoiled on the cover, I think they could have gotten JSC to draw something else.

Apparently he *did* draw something else. A few "decoy" covers were created

[Comic_Sam]

Has anyone seen the poly bag with two books in it? My LCS just posted that three of their poly bags have two books but they haven't opened them. 

Edited June 26, 2018 by aznfevr

[ygogolak]

10 hours ago, aznfevr said:

Has anyone seen the poly bag with two books in it? My LCS just posted that three of their poly bags have two books but they haven't opened them. 

Then how do they know there are two books?

[Ladic]

On 6/21/2018 at 10:34 AM, Coolio McCool said:

Everybody hates polybags for the reasons you mentioned, people don't want to have an internal debate for hours just to decide whether to read a comic. In the case of XMG 30, good luck finding a second copy for cover price, just buy a regular cover and read it instead.

is it really hard to find the xmen gold poly bagged? they had a huge stack at my local comic shop on Saturday.

[CKinTO]

I know what you mean re: polybag. I still have the entire X-Cutioner's song in the polybags from my childhood, haha. As you said, none of these are worth cover price today, so from my perspective, it's worth more from a "nostalgia" perspective for me to keep in the polybag to remember my childhood collecting years than to open it up now to archive better.

If you still can't shake that "polybag-goodness" feeling, just buy 2. If you can get for cover or online for $12 shipped, why not, just do it. Open one to enjoy the art, keep the other in the polybag. We spend a lot more than $12 on a lot dumber things than our own OCD proclivities.

[sirwesker]

Its hard to resist those collecting impulses. I totally get it. But its always important to remember first and foremost to enjoy the experience, rather than having it being a chore, even if its just mental. A comic sitting in a bag does nothing for you. Enjoy the experience of opening it and seeing the cover you want to see. It will probably be a freeing experience. 

We can't take any of these things with us when we go, so just remember to enjoy them. Their value is meaningless over the long term. 

[speedcake]

I'm a sucker and grabbed two copies of the polybagged variant. One to open, one to keep forever entombed in its worthless polybag

[BeholdersEye]

Unless it's like a trading card pack where the contents are different, random and there's a valuable chase insert potentially inside, I feel that Polybagged books might not command top dollar if unopened because you can't see the condition, especially of the spine, so most collectors would assume a modern poly bagged book to be 9.2, and would opt for buying an opened edition at a higher grade if the prices were the same.  I'd open up the poly bag, keep the original poly bag, and then see the condition if it's worth grading or if you're not into grading, just keep the book in the open bag and put that in a standard comic bag and board to archive.

[MetalPSI]

I have a reader copy and polybag copies of X-Cutioners song myself