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Available older keys "drying up" a report from NYCC
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223 posts in this topic

2 hours ago, ORRGO THE UNCONQUERABLE said:

I’m kind of going round and round on this— Assuming it had trimming I bought a really good looking FF #3 for $320. People are acting like I bought it for $1600 or more and got ripped off.  The worst case scenario is I bought it for that much THINKING it’s perfect and I try and SELL it for multiples of what I bought it for — then a buyer points out it’s trimmed and it’s “only” worth what I paid.  I’d argue even then that a slightly trimmed FF#3 is worth more than $320. But it’s all a moot point because I don’t sell comics I buy.
 

I’m not a “flipper” and I don’t buy “hot keys” hoping they’ll go up. I want FF#5 because it’s an amazing Kirby issue with the first appearance of my favorite villain AND I’d be that much closer to completing my run. Not because it’s “hot”  “Hot” books and playing the market has no interest for me. I want the Eternals because it’s Kirby not because there’s a movie coming out. 
 

for all the people thinking I got ripped off- what would you price the comic I posted? $150 bucks? There’s no universe where you can buy that early of an FF with a nice cover and white pages for that amount unless you have a Dolorean and hit the pedal to 88 miles per hour. 

I would say if you are happy with the book, good for you.  It has very good eye appeal.  Is it trimmed?  Maybe but if you are happy, that is all that matters.  (thumbsu

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On 10/7/2019 at 7:19 PM, dupont2005 said:

That or just walk if you don’t like the price, which is what I do

Right! It just seems like way too much work for a couple bucks discount. 

If a sellers book is the grade I want , and the price is right . I will buy, if not ? I dont . There will be another one around the corner that may be better. 

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2 hours ago, Dale Roberts said:

As much as I would benefit from the perception of this being true, I haven’t seen any evidence of it. I’m still finding lots of good books. The sources may change but the books are out there. 

Gotta say if Dale says availability is still alive then I'll side with that (thumbsu. IMO he and Reece are the best people to buy from by a mile! 

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4 hours ago, oakman29 said:

Right! It just seems like way too much work for a couple bucks discount. 

If a sellers book is the grade I want , and the price is right . I will buy, if not ? I dont . There will be another one around the corner that may be better. 

That is why I would ask for a lower price. It isn't so hard to find these in NM condition, when they are found at all. Until that changes, I would only want lower grade issues if the price was really low. I even find NM copies at flea markets sometimes, even if I have to sort them out of a pile of trash.

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15 hours ago, ORRGO THE UNCONQUERABLE said:

You seem annoyed/angry that I got a nice looking FF #3 for $320 bucks. Who said anything about me selling it, I was just speculating and what it’s probably worth. And if it’s “trimmed” (I don’t think it is) then okay I have a great book with minor restoration. I just am a fan of fantastic four and want to own the full run and am happy with any book that looks okay. I’m not looking to “flip” anything.

my point about comic shops (at least in LA) is that I would like to go to them but their selection and prices don’t match eBay. I guess I could see your argument if I was looking exclusively for high grade RAWs and was dropping thousands on single issues but I’m not. I just go to a shop and they don’t have much in terms of silver age back issues - and I live in a major city, I can only imagine if I lived someplace smaller the selection of comic stores would shrink.

I posted FF 3 (cuz someone asked me to) as an example of a nice find. I’m not trying to argue comic shops should close, I love comic shops I’m arguing that for me it makes more sense to use eBay for price and selection. 
 

granted - many of the places I buy from are mike high or comic stores, I just don’t happen to live next to shops that have great selections and multiple grades of silver age issues. 
 

people get really persnickety here, geez. 

 

Wow, that FF#3 without question looks sliced and diced with possibly the bottom edge having avoided the knife!  By the way, trimming is not minor restoration.  It is arguably the worst type of restoration performed, call it mutilation of a comic book.  And I'd be extremely concerned about color touch and tear seals on this book as well.  Best of luck with it.  Since you're not selling it and are happy, enjoy it in your collection.

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I wouldn't be mad if I bought that book for 320$.Would it go for around the same in a plod?I don't buy many slabs,and restored in a case is brand new to me.I'm starting to think there's some great deals to be had in purple labels,depending on the resto work.Personally I'd maybe avoid a trimmed book,but that comic doesn't look terrible to me (shrug)

Oorgo,if you're happy with your comic,I'm happy for you.I'd be delighted to get one for that price.

 

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3 hours ago, porcupine48 said:

I wouldn't be mad if I bought that book for 320$.Would it go for around the same in a plod?I don't buy many slabs,and restored in a case is brand new to me.I'm starting to think there's some great deals to be had in purple labels,depending on the resto work.Personally I'd maybe avoid a trimmed book,but that comic doesn't look terrible to me (shrug)

Oorgo,if you're happy with your comic,I'm happy for you.I'd be delighted to get one for that price.

 

I used to be able to get some amazing deals on purple label books...

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On 10/4/2019 at 8:23 AM, drotto said:

 

I just brought this up because when I commented to two dealers, they both said they felt early keys in generally were drying up, and "disappearing " into permanent collections.

That's a good line to put pressure on buyers to compromise and purchase what they see.

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4 minutes ago, sfcityduck said:

That's a good line to put pressure on buyers to compromise and purchase what they see.

Yes sir!Just like the'well,someone said they'd be back in five minutes to buy it,but if you've got cash now,it can be yours.They might be mad,but I like you'

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On 10/11/2019 at 2:15 PM, october said:

eBay is a GREAT place to buy if: 

  • You know how to grade to CGC standards. 
  • You are good at recognizing defects in small scans and less than ideal pictures. 
  • You can spot every type of restoration, especially color touch. 
  • You have a lot of time on your hands to search. 
  • You don't mind returning books. 

If any one of those doesn't apply, you are going to have a bad time. 

Great list.  Add:

*  You can ignore blatantly false claims of “high grade” in a sales listing

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18 minutes ago, the blob said:

I think the whole notion makes little sense. No doubt gen Xers, yers, and millenials are buying these books, but aren't boomers selling too? (Or dropping dead and their estates are?)

Many flippers and small time dealers have been stock piling any “keys” if they haven’t been made into a movie yet waiting to sell at announcements/trailers.  

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3 hours ago, Knightsofold said:

Many flippers and small time dealers have been stock piling any “keys” if they haven’t been made into a movie yet waiting to sell at announcements/trailers.  

I think the OP was talking more about big stuff (admittedly, the OP was looking for high grade mid-60s batmans, not AF 15s or Captain America 1s, but seemed to be repeating dealer banter re: big books...). Not the next Eternals 1 or whatever movie hyped book is out there.

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On 10/5/2019 at 12:27 PM, october said:

I'd say overall I make about half of what I did in my best year (probably 2015), though to be fair I knew those results were not sustainable.

 

is this total sales or profit or both?

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