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Key Collector App - What's the verdict?
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390 posts in this topic

I remember when this app was in its infancy about, off the cuff, a year ago..? They popped up on the boards asking for feedback and I haven't seen much since... It appears to have firmly taken root. It used to be entirely free, but now has some features that require subscription. I used it recently when thumbing through a title I wasn't up-to-speed on, but outside of that I have no idea...

What are your thoughts on the app? What about the "for fee only" features? I'm most curious about "Hot Keys" & "Spec Deck". Is it mainly speculating on moderns? Is it sliced/diced into golden, silver, bronze, etc...? I honestly don't know what those sections provide or how they're structured. Please don't share any of their information, only what it entails and your general impression on value of the service. My intention is not to circumvent their business model... 

@Key Collector Comics - Please chime in if I'm rubbing you the wrong way and I'll close the thread. In my opinion, all publicity is good publicity. Best case, you get a bump in awareness... Worst case, you get feedback on your app... Either way a win I would think, but hit me up if you want me to take action.

C_

Edited by Callaway29
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I like it a lot as well. The paid features are pretty straight forward from what I can tell and you get notifications/alerts for future speculation, if you're into that sort of thing.
I've only recently subscribed, but the first "alert" I acted upon has already paid for the $20 yearly subscription,and even that was pulled from my own collection, I haven't even tried using it at a LCS yet.

You are able to separate the ages (GA, SA, BA, etc.) which I imagine is nice when you know you're looking through books of a certain era.

I appreciate all the effort that went into this app.

Here's a video where Nick (the creator) explains some of those paid features:

 

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3 hours ago, FineCollector said:

WTF are all those Spidey issues he says are keys?  Telling a young collector to buy the first appearance of the Gibbon is in no way helping them enjoy comic books.

Hey now! That was also Stan Lee's last solo story in the ASM series (except for the 365 & 600 compilations). 

 

In any case, I like the App, but they are going overboard with almost every 1st appearance being a "key", though it is a nifty format, easy to navigate and use. I give it one thumbs-up.

Edited by jcjames
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I can be a nit picker but what the heck.  I like the app for what it is, but I hate that they have password parameters.  8 characters, one cap and one small.  I am sooooooo sick of passwords.  It is a comic book app...1234 will do as a password.  Sorry, can't help it. 

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9 hours ago, FineCollector said:

WTF are all those Spidey issues he says are keys?  Telling a young collector to buy the first appearance of the Gibbon is in no way helping them enjoy comic books.

Yeah it wouldn't be one to dismiss, especially with the remarks that a few on this thread and have regarding it being Stan Lee's last AMS (barring 356 and 600) ~

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7 hours ago, Bart Allen said:

Yeah it wouldn't be one to dismiss, especially with the remarks that a few on this thread and have regarding it being Stan Lee's last AMS (barring 356 and 600) ~

You made me go back and look.  The app doesnt say last Stan Lee ASM, it just says first Gibbon.

My point remains the same: experienced collectors dont need the app.  It's simply there to teach young collectors what they're supposed to buy, rather than what they might like.  Lord knows, they'll enjoy the first appearance of Aunt May's mailman far more than if they'd bought a run of insignificant Morrison Animal Mans, right?

You're right, let's keep teaching novice collectors to only buy keys.  They'll get bored with their books, they'll be disappointed the scrap keys they picked out of bins havent gone up, and they'll leave the hobby in a couple of years.  You're poisoning the people we need to develop, to continue the hobby as the older generation leaves, but as long as you pull a few $5 books out of a dollar bin, it will all have been worth it, right?

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38 minutes ago, ComicsAndCode said:

I might be in the minority with my opinion, but I think this app does a disservice to the comic hobby. It pretty  much fosters the speculator mentally of collecting and sadly it does have the ability to artificially inflate prices of “key” issues. Also there is little visibility in what goes into valuation, what is the data sample size and data sources.

Too gimmicky for me.

So does every " XYZ Age Books That Are Heating Up" thread on this forum. 

 

And my comment about the Gibbon issue also being stan's last solo ASM story was partly tongue in cheek. It's actually a personal key for me for that reason. I know I'll never own his FIRST stories in each title, but I can own each of his last. 

 

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14 hours ago, FineCollector said:

You made me go back and look.  The app doesnt say last Stan Lee ASM, it just says first Gibbon.

My point remains the same: experienced collectors dont need the app.  It's simply there to teach young collectors what they're supposed to buy, rather than what they might like.  Lord knows, they'll enjoy the first appearance of Aunt May's mailman far more than if they'd bought a run of insignificant Morrison Animal Mans, right?

You're right, let's keep teaching novice collectors to only buy keys.  They'll get bored with their books, they'll be disappointed the scrap keys they picked out of bins havent gone up, and they'll leave the hobby in a couple of years.  You're poisoning the people we need to develop, to continue the hobby as the older generation leaves, but as long as you pull a few $5 books out of a dollar bin, it will all have been worth it, right?

Wait a minute...the hobby isn’t built solely on keys, 1sts, and oodles of variants????  The hell you say!

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On 2/2/2019 at 8:42 PM, Spidey 62 said:

I can be a nit picker but what the heck.  I like the app for what it is, but I hate that they have password parameters.  8 characters, one cap and one small.  I am sooooooo sick of passwords.  It is a comic book app...1234 will do as a password.  Sorry, can't help it. 

You do realize this made your handle here quite vulnerable 

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I'd say this could be pretty handy when presented with opportunities outside one's normal area of expertise. There are other, probably better sources of this information, but I always have my phone with me and if I came across a box of Archies or something well out of my wheelhouse I'd be more inclined to investigate.

Edited by mackenzie999
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On ‎2‎/‎2‎/‎2019 at 8:45 AM, DeadOne said:

 

Here's a video where Nick (the creator) explains some of those paid features:

 

I love the expression on his face:  'If you don't use this, you are a doofus!'

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