shadroch Posted February 12, 2019 Share Posted February 12, 2019 I received a phone call about a week ago from a women trying to sell her sons comics. Right away I found out that he was 53 and she had his permission to sell them. She thought he collected until he went away to college around 1986. She says someone looked at them last month and offered her cover price for everything, but her son said they were worth much more. I drove over to look at them and was disappointed to find they were almost all DCs, ranging from .35 cent cover up to.50 cents, a couple dozen Dollar titles, with a few earlier BA books and a couple later, including a first print Killing Joke. Nice but not spectacular shape. Roughly 300 books. I told her I'd get back to her today with an offer. I'm thinking fifty cents a piece is too much to pay for these but I hate to think that well preserved forty year old DCs aren't worth their original cover price. I'm torn on buying them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kav Posted February 12, 2019 Share Posted February 12, 2019 6 minutes ago, shadroch said: I received a phone call about a week ago from a women trying to sell her sons comics. Right away I found out that he was 53 and she had his permission to sell them. She thought he collected until he went away to college around 1986. She says someone looked at them last month and offered her cover price for everything, but her son said they were worth much more. I drove over to look at them and was disappointed to find they were almost all DCs, ranging from .35 cent cover up to.50 cents, a couple dozen Dollar titles, with a few earlier BA books and a couple later, including a first print Killing Joke. Nice but not spectacular shape. Roughly 300 books. I told her I'd get back to her today with an offer. I'm thinking fifty cents a piece is too much to pay for these but I hate to think that well preserved forty year old DCs aren't worth their original cover price. I'm torn on buying them. Gonna be a lot of work unloading them. I'd pass. jason4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comicquant Posted February 12, 2019 Share Posted February 12, 2019 Sounds like you'd be better off not making an offer. aardvark88 and lizards2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the blob Posted February 12, 2019 Share Posted February 12, 2019 Killing Joke is probably a $50 book, but if you can't identify a few more $10-15 candidates in the pile you have a lot of work ahead of you. I buy this stuff 3 for $2, but I don't hoover it up, I am selective, try to get the copies closest to NM. If the collection is heavy on Batman/Detective from that era I think you have a decent chance even absent semi-keys. There is a Batman market in strict 8.5 or better even for filler books from that era, but that market might cap out at $4-$5 a pop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phicks Posted February 12, 2019 Share Posted February 12, 2019 "Nice but not spectacular shape." - Can you be a bit more specific? 9.0? 8.0? 7.0? And what are the most frequent titles? Batman and Detective will always move. And if there is hi grade JLA, I would take those off your hands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
batman_fan Posted February 12, 2019 Share Posted February 12, 2019 I would reply “Your son’s collection is very nice but when I went back and looked at what I already have there is very little I need for my collection so I will sadly have to pass. Good luck in selling the collection, I am certain there is someone out there that will be very excited to acquire it” Buzzetta, Turnando, Artboy99 and 1 other 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bird Posted February 12, 2019 Share Posted February 12, 2019 2 minutes ago, batman_fan said: I would reply “Your son’s collection is very nice but when I went back and looked at what I already have there is very little I need for my collection so I will sadly have to pass. Good luck in selling the collection, I am certain there is someone out there that will be very excited to acquire it” Very tactful - better than my thought of showing up with one Benjamin and saying take it or leave it nocutename 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadroch Posted February 12, 2019 Author Share Posted February 12, 2019 1 hour ago, Phicks said: "Nice but not spectacular shape." - Can you be a bit more specific? 9.0? 8.0? 7.0? And what are the most frequent titles? Batman and Detective will always move. And if there is hi grade JLA, I would take those off your hands. I'd say most of the books would be 8.0-9.0. A few Batman but just as many, Claw, Steel and other winners. DCs of this era were very slow sellers. I didn't carry the full DC line in my store as some titles simply didn't sell enough copies to meet the minimum purchase for that issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FineCollector Posted February 13, 2019 Share Posted February 13, 2019 I've never put any effort into buying late 70s to early 80s DC, so I could find a use for it personally, but to resell? Batman, Detective, and Flash are all you'll move out of there. I don't see this being worth your time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kav Posted February 13, 2019 Share Posted February 13, 2019 4 hours ago, Bird said: Very tactful - better than my thought of showing up with one Benjamin and saying take it or leave it And by one Benjamin he means this book: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WolverineX Posted February 13, 2019 Share Posted February 13, 2019 Pass. Don't waste your time. kav 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moondog Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 Not worth it, Bill. Late 70s - 80's DCs for the most part are the worst. kav 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCheli Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 There are some semi-keys from that time, though. Firestorm #1 or Black Lightning #1. First Deadshot in Detective/Rogers and Englehart in that title, too. Joker #1 (though I think that's at 25-center). A VF Killing Joke #1 can get you $50. And Batmans from the late 70s sell pretty well. Not every collection needs to include a $100 book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
faster friends Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 Could have DCCP 26 or NTT #1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
letsgrumble Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 Arak Son of Thunder Caption Atom DC Star Trek Night Force The Warlord Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlowUpTheMoon Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 On 2/12/2019 at 2:47 PM, shadroch said: I'm torn on buying them. Too bad you can't ask someone who owned a successful comic book store in the 1980s - 1990s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCheli Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 12 minutes ago, letsgrumble said: Arak Son of Thunder Caption Atom DC Star Trek Night Force The Warlord Well, they sell in my $1 bins eventually... I think it all depends on how you're trying to sell the books. For me, who does very little mail order, I would put the comics from a collection like this in my $1, $3, and $5 bins and they'd sell. If you're selling here or eBay, it may not be worth your while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the blob Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 On 2/12/2019 at 2:47 PM, shadroch said: I received a phone call about a week ago from a women trying to sell her sons comics. Right away I found out that he was 53 and she had his permission to sell them. She thought he collected until he went away to college around 1986. She says someone looked at them last month and offered her cover price for everything, but her son said they were worth much more. I drove over to look at them and was disappointed to find they were almost all DCs, ranging from .35 cent cover up to.50 cents, a couple dozen Dollar titles, with a few earlier BA books and a couple later, including a first print Killing Joke. Nice but not spectacular shape. Roughly 300 books. I told her I'd get back to her today with an offer. I'm thinking fifty cents a piece is too much to pay for these but I hate to think that well preserved forty year old DCs aren't worth their original cover price. I'm torn on buying them. Are you torn on buying them because you aren't getting many calls like this where you live now? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadroch Posted February 16, 2019 Author Share Posted February 16, 2019 2 hours ago, the blob said: Are you torn on buying them because you aren't getting many calls like this where you live now? That is part of it, but I have a strange feeling on this one. It sounds weird but I have an emotional connection to it. I think this woman needs money and her son is trying to sell his comics to help her. If they don't sell, I just might end up overpaying for them. It's not about the money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
faster friends Posted February 16, 2019 Share Posted February 16, 2019 I’ll kick in if you want a partner. I like to help people and I’m a DC guy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
