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Looking at a Large DC Copper Age Collection
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206 posts in this topic

1 hour ago, Plantman said:

I mentioned this thread to a dealer today. This dealer barely has the room for 60 additional boxes in his basement, but he said he would have paid $900 for the Batman and Detective Comics runs alone. Mind you this dealer seems obsessed with Detective Comics #880 ever since he found a copy for $1.25 at a convention in November. That may be clouding his judgment.

If there were, say, 4 long boxes of Bat books...1000 issues, say...I'd have a hard time justifying $900 for all of that. None of us has a clear idea of just what exactly was in there. Do you want to pay nearly $1/book for perhaps "not 9.8 potential" Batman #503? Or #487? Or #622? I wouldn't.

Or maybe my secret plan all along was to downplay this collection, and then swoop in on whatever Dormian didn't want, for all that sweet, sweet free money...

:D

 

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You are on to me dear watson. But as it turns out, maybe i am the seller, plot twist! And as a a further story line, i thought we were on the coinee board all along. Double plot twist. Dmt decriminalized in Denver! After use, i find we are all a part of same breathing universe, i am you am i am you. and look at those colors. Weee.

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The deal was 25 a long, less if you take all, with all keys intact and overall high grade with complete in order runs.  That is what is called a gift horse.  This thread is not just looking at the mouth, it is xrays and periodontal check.  Yes, at 900 for 4 boxes of bat/detective books, I would do the full check up, are the keys razor sharp, but that is 10 times  the cost of the deal. At average condition, that 900 is full retail, if the books are gemmy and saluting the flag then deal. Last 9.8 Tec 880 i sold was 700 cash. And what is cost of this entire deal (1st mentioned as 60 long, later described as 30 long) at 25 per?  I am not excited by deal now as it has been picked but I still would happily take it at 25 per long for seller, 10 profit per for poster, if you can deliver to my booth in Megacon in a few days.  If I were feeling stupid lazy I could have it all sold for profit on setup day. More importantly, DMT, thumbs up or down?

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8 hours ago, RockMyAmadeus said:

If there were, say, 4 long boxes of Bat books...1000 issues, say...I'd have a hard time justifying $900 for all of that. None of us has a clear idea of just what exactly was in there. Do you want to pay nearly $1/book for perhaps "not 9.8 potential" Batman #503? Or #487? Or #622? I wouldn't.

Or maybe my secret plan all along was to downplay this collection, and then swoop in on whatever Dormian didn't want, for all that sweet, sweet free money...

:D

 

I told my dealer friend all the Batman/'Tec books were in NM- or better condition. (We discussed the collection after Dormian had reported back to the thread.) He was willing to pay slightly more than a $1/book. He said if it's a long enough run of either ASM or Batman, then he will pay a premium because there will eventually be a buyer for those titles.

You weren't specifically mentioned, but the dealer was surprised more than one person in this thread would have turned down the 60 box deal. He echoed earlier posters by saying a list and ordered books made the collection much more valuable. There would be no guessing on the condition of the big books if he could easily pull them.

I have a feeling the dealer would bring a mutual friend to help pick up then pick through the 60 books for him. The picker would, I assume, be willing to be paid with books from the collection.

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9 hours ago, RockMyAmadeus said:

If there were, say, 4 long boxes of Bat books...1000 issues, say...I'd have a hard time justifying $900 for all of that. None of us has a clear idea of just what exactly was in there. Do you want to pay nearly $1/book for perhaps "not 9.8 potential" Batman #503? Or #487? Or #622? I wouldn't.

Or maybe my secret plan all along was to downplay this collection, and then swoop in on whatever Dormian didn't want, for all that sweet, sweet free money...

:D

 

1000 Bat books for $900? 90 cents a book for long long runs of Batbooks that are bagged and sorted? I'll do that all day as can make a significant profit on those books with very little effort. I'll spend half an hour pulling the good ones and sell the rest for $1 each, and they will all sell.

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1 hour ago, gcstomp said:

The deal was 25 a long, less if you take all, with all keys intact and overall high grade with complete in order runs.  That is what is called a gift horse.  This thread is not just looking at the mouth, it is xrays and periodontal check.  Yes, at 900 for 4 boxes of bat/detective books, I would do the full check up, are the keys razor sharp, but that is 10 times  the cost of the deal. At average condition, that 900 is full retail, if the books are gemmy and saluting the flag then deal. Last 9.8 Tec 880 i sold was 700 cash. And what is cost of this entire deal (1st mentioned as 60 long, later described as 30 long) at 25 per?  I am not excited by deal now as it has been picked but I still would happily take it at 25 per long for seller, 10 profit per for poster, if you can deliver to my booth in Megacon in a few days.  If I were feeling stupid lazy I could have it all sold for profit on setup day. More importantly, DMT, thumbs up or down?

DMT thumbs up.

And stand in line. I've already told the OP that I will pay for the books, pay for shipping to my house in Virginia, and give him a finders fee.

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1 minute ago, blazingbob said:

Thank you to some of the posters for the Zatanna Hughes covers.  I bought a 30K collection that had long boxes of moderns but didn't know about the Zatanna Hughes covers.  

I am just a bait fish in a sea sharks and whales :):jaws:

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Poster lives in florida and was talking about prepping for a show.  Megacon is the big florida show in a few days so if this happens to be the show he is setting up for,or otherwise attending, I thought it would be easy to roll em boxes over to my booth is all.  I just want to me helpful. :foryou: Or healthful? All good, I thought we were having jovial banter. Congrats and best to all involved.

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1 hour ago, FlyingDonut said:

1000 Bat books for $900? 90 cents a book for long long runs of Batbooks that are bagged and sorted? I'll do that all day as can make a significant profit on those books with very little effort. I'll spend half an hour pulling the good ones and sell the rest for $1 each, and they will all sell.

Hey, whatever floats yer boat...

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2 hours ago, Plantman said:

but the dealer was surprised more than one person in this thread would have turned down the 60 box deal.

This is, I imagine, where a lot of the conflict in this thread lies. I said, on multiple occasions, that *I* would not have turned this down, at the prices being floated. But that wasn't the point. The point was that I, and others, I assume, were putting ourselves in the OP's shoes, based on what he wanted, needed, and desired, trying to determine if it was a good deal for him based on his voiced concerns...and that's where most of the "BUY, BUY, BUY YOU FOOL!" people failed. Yes, there are lots of people with already established infrastructure that could easily absorb such a collection...including me...but that was never the point. Based on the OP's statements, this deal was...and probably still is...a marginal one. 

Dealers paying $1 each for long runs of Batman are radically overpaying...at least in the American Southwest. I can go to most conventions, and find every issue of Batman, from #443-up, aside from #563, 567, 600, 608-619, 635, maybe #638, and #700-713, and New 52 #1-15...in "Convention NM" condition...for $1/book. or less...and I don't have to buy the whole runs. I know this, because I already have. I just cherry picked 25 or so 9.8 potential copies...and I'm no novice at that...of multiple Knightfall issues at ECCC in March for $2 each. 

And Batman is, far and away, the best seller DC has. Run of Arak? Arion? Justice League?,Non-Hughes Wonder Woman? Non-Hughes Catwoman? 

Edited by RockMyAmadeus
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"Batman Harley Quinn 9.6

Detective Comics 850 9.8

Detective Comics 880 9.8

Catwoman 51 9.6

Catwoman 74 9.8"

These are a few that op listed as found so far.  If 900 for the 4 boxes of Batman/Tec related is radically overpaying, and it is 10 times what the op had to pay, but with the above books found so far, what is fair to you?  Pull keys and ah covers, i am sure you could do that in 15 minutes.  if you wanted to put a little effort you could trade in to mcs and get some credit for precodes, or you could just freecycle boxes for to be picked up free inside an hour total. is there a deal in last few weeks you would like to talk about that had more potential?  to me it was a 1 in 1000 deal, but again, we all have different experiences, expectations. 

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the original deal was the home run.  the 900 for 4 boxes was not one i would jump at unless i had pressing need for those runs that minute but even that 10 times op cost one i dont see it as radically overpaying with the books found so far.

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1 hour ago, RockMyAmadeus said:

This is, I imagine, where a lot of the conflict in this thread lies. I said, on multiple occasions, that *I* would not have turned this down, at the prices being floated. But that wasn't the point. The point was that I, and others, I assume, were putting ourselves in the OP's shoes, based on what he wanted, needed, and desired, trying to determine if it was a good deal for him based on his voiced concerns...and that's where most of the "BUY, BUY, BUY YOU FOOL!" people failed. Yes, there are lots of people with already established infrastructure that could easily absorb such a collection...including me...but that was never the point. Based on the OP's statements, this deal was...and probably still is...a marginal one. 

Not to be too much of a here, but if this original deal was a marginal one he shouldn't be doing this. There was quite literally no downside - NONE - in buying the original collection at 60 boxes. The original collection at 30 boxes has even LESS of a downside. If you can only support 11 and there's 95% drek in the other boxes, you take all of them  and  throw the drek out before you get home. Arion? Toss is. Arak? Toss it. Shadow of the Bat? Toss it. Everything you can't move quickly you shed and shed fast. On the way home give them to the library. At $25 per long for this kind of stuff you are looking at - easily - a 10-20X return on your money across the board. At 30 boxes he's looking at $750 to put them in his car. Given what he's said, a 10x return is the minimum I would expect

1 hour ago, RockMyAmadeus said:

Dealers paying $1 each for long runs of Batman are radically overpaying...at least in the American Southwest. I can go to most conventions, and find every issue of Batman, from #443-up, aside from #563, 567, 600, 608-619, 635, maybe #638, and #700-713, and New 52 #1-15...in "Convention NM" condition...for $1/book. or less...and I don't have to buy the whole runs.

BUYERS are paying $1 for long runs of Batman, and those books have zero actual cost to you because you've already made your number back. 

1 hour ago, RockMyAmadeus said:

. I just cherry picked 25 or so 9.8 potential copies...and I'm no novice at that...of multiple Knightfall issues at ECCC in March for $2 each. 

And how much did your time cost to do that? And how much did you have to pay to get in? And to get there? These books were presented to the OP as a done deal. The OP's original posting indicated he spent two hours looking at the first 11. Take all of them and spend three hours total. 

1 hour ago, RockMyAmadeus said:

And Batman is, far and away, the best seller DC has. Run of Arak? Arion? Justice League?,Non-Hughes Wonder Woman? Non-Hughes Catwoman? 

Throw them out instantly. Dump them all. Give them to a library. You're not keeping these books because we all agree they're dogs, but you're buying them to get the rest of the books. You're keeping Wonder Woman 9. You're dumping the other 150 or so books because they're garbage. Those 150 books cost you $15, which you will make back tenfold on the 9.8 184. On the way home give them to a library or a Goodwill. 

1 hour ago, RockMyAmadeus said:

This is, I imagine, where a lot of the conflict in this thread lies. I

There shouldn't be any conflict. The OP missed out on something that very rarely happens. This was (and still is) nearly riskless free money.

Edited by FlyingDonut
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1 minute ago, FlyingDonut said:

There shouldn't be any conflict. The OP missed out on something that very rarely happens. This was (and still is) nearly riskless free money.

You are not the OP. Your concerns are not the OP's. What is, to you, "nearly riskless free money" may not be to the OP, based on all the various factors already discussed.

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2 minutes ago, FlyingDonut said:

And how much did your time cost to do that? And how much did you have to pay to get in? And to get there?

Those were sunk costs that would have been paid regardless. Factoring them in "after the fact" is, at the very least, fuzzy accounting.

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8 minutes ago, FlyingDonut said:
1 hour ago, RockMyAmadeus said:

And Batman is, far and away, the best seller DC has. Run of Arak? Arion? Justice League?,Non-Hughes Wonder Woman? Non-Hughes Catwoman? 

Throw them out instantly. Dump them all. Give them to a library. You're not keeping these books because we all agree they're dogs, but you're buying them to get the rest of the books. You're keeping Wonder Woman 9. You're dumping the other 150 or so books because they're garbage. Those 150 books cost you $15, which you will make back tenfold on the 9.8 184. On the way home give them to a library or a Goodwill. 

The time and labor cost to "throw them out instantly" may not be something the OP was or is willing to do.

Handling them...to any degree...may not be something the OP was or is willing to do.

That's a factor, a real one, that influences the decision.

Quote

Not to be too much of a here, but if this original deal was a marginal one he shouldn't be doing this.

He shouldn't be buying comics at all, just because this original deal may not have suited his wants, needs, and desires..?

That seems...harsh.

hm

 

 

Edited by RockMyAmadeus
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45 minutes ago, RockMyAmadeus said:

The time and labor cost to "throw them out instantly" may not be something the OP was or is willing to do.

Handling them...to any degree...may not be something the OP was or is willing to do.

That's a factor, a real one, that influences the decision.

He shouldn't be buying comics at all, just because this original deal may not have suited his wants, needs, and desires..?

That seems...harsh.

hm

 

 

He was willing to do two hours the day he picked them up. I'm adding another hour. And yes, if this deal - which is about as perfect as it gets - seems marginal I believe no deal ever will be good enough.

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1 minute ago, FlyingDonut said:

He was willing to do two hours the day he picked them up. I'm adding another hour. And yes, if this deal - which is about as perfect as it gets - seems marginal I believe no deal ever will be good enough.

Okey dokey. I can think of multiple deals that would be more than good enough to suit the OP, based on his own descriptions, but ok.

PS. As you know, "willing to look through them" is not the same thing as "willing (or able) to cart them off."

Edited by RockMyAmadeus
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