Off Panel Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 31 minutes ago, blazingbob said: For those with no sense of market reality I am now offering Blazingbob's burial services. Coffins, jackets, makeup services. If you are going to bury them, at least make them look good. I really feel like cremation might be more on brand for “Blazing”bob. blazingbob 1 Link to post Share on other sites
WoWitHurts Posted January 25 Share Posted January 25 8 hours ago, blazingbob said: For those with no sense of market reality I am now offering Blazingbob's burial services. Coffins, jackets, makeup services. If you are going to bury them, at least make them look good. I won’t need a coffin or jacket but I may take you up on the makeup. Link to post Share on other sites
Buzzetta Posted January 25 Share Posted January 25 10 hours ago, blazingbob said: Comics are so hot I've created a new sideline - Blazingbob's Barbecue sauce when you are slaughtering the hog. You realize that Blazing Bob's BBQ Sauce is actually a pretty marketable name? I expect to see a pyramid of bottles available at some point next to your booth like that guy that sells hot sauce at Big Apple / NYCBM. In all seriousness... I would try a bottle. I am always looking for a good bbq sauce. SpideyFein 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Buzzetta Posted January 25 Share Posted January 25 10 hours ago, blazingbob said: For those with no sense of market reality I am now offering Blazingbob's burial services. Coffins, jackets, makeup services. If you are going to bury them, at least make them look good. Ehhh... Never gave this much thought... I mean... who cares? At that point I'm dead. I either have a LOT more important things to worry about or nothing at all. Link to post Share on other sites
tommyjasmin Posted January 25 Author Share Posted January 25 14 hours ago, Buzzetta said: Ehhh... Never gave this much thought... I mean... who cares? At that point I'm dead. I either have a LOT more important things to worry about or nothing at all. Just make sure and leave instructions to place your five favorite comics in your coffin with you. :-) Link to post Share on other sites
tommyjasmin Posted January 25 Author Share Posted January 25 So those were fun detours and Bob has plenty of new business ideas, but I was hoping for more commentary and possible explanations for the price insanity. The consensus so far seems to be: As wombat and others noted, stimulus might explain low-end activity, but not the jumps on expensive keys. NOTE: the comic index tracks low-grade uncertified sales also, not just high-end CGC. As PKJ noted, most collectibles are very hot, not just comics. The only other collectibles "stock" index I am aware of is the PCGS 3000. It showed decent, but not insane growth in 2020. (Pic below) I could, and may, create in index for coins as well. It's a fair amount of work though. As alexgross noted, the "new office" for many is a likely factor. I think this is a big deal - many people are "working" from home now, with little or no supervision. That means more browsing eBay and more clicking on Bid buttons. We know a lot of people are hurting, really struggling, and our hearts go out to them. As (Buzetta and Poekaymon I think?) noted, however, others are actually doing quite well during the pandemic, with ironically, extra disposable income. Maybe much of this insanity is just the very wealthy diversifying their investments? This wasn't touched on, but studios (mostly Marvel) finally getting movies right drove a lot of new interest and demand for comics. I'm not sure how to quantify that. Please chime in with your thoughts folks, is that a fair summary, or what did I miss? Apologies if I did not fairly/accurately translate some of your intent/statements. alexgross.com 1 Link to post Share on other sites
the blob Posted January 26 Share Posted January 26 On 1/23/2021 at 7:52 AM, GermanFan said: When all the funny money is spent and the destruction of the economy is visible for everyone, comic prices will go down big time. Food and housing is more important than Comics. The speculators will leave. Old long time collectors (or their aires) will be forced to sell in order to fund retirement. There is just no way that comic prices sustain this level. And there will be no wave of chinese comic collectors coming in. Chinese collect their own stuff. Folks have been saying this for the last 20 years. I'm not saying things won't cool off, or certain things will cool off, but we already had a recession, a little one i guess, diluted by a bunch of money printing. we're supposed to be in a recovery right now, remember? PKJ 1 Link to post Share on other sites
the blob Posted January 26 Share Posted January 26 It makes sense to me to sell stuff that has jumped a lot, but there's plenty of stuff that has cooled off or is in waiting I wouldn't. There are deadpool books that were nice $10-$25 sellers that are $5 now. Thanos stuff is mehh ... as is a lot of cosmic stuff. A lot of my black panther stuff from the 70s doesn't seem to have much urgency to sell right now. There are DC books like these I assume... I don't think the hysteria has moved war or horror any outside a few wrightson or adam covers, the kirby new gods stuff is ho hum outside the keyest keys. And your sort of run filler SA and BA is still sitting there, no mad rush on that, it didn't go up. Yes, some of these books are suddenly desireable and the 5th appearance of whatever or some cross over nobody ever cared about, but a lot of it has not been touched by the recent hysteria. I don't see any reason to sell the $2-6 books though, nor do I really have the energy or inclination when there is so much other krap that is suddenly worth $10+. Link to post Share on other sites
Silver Posted January 26 Share Posted January 26 (edited) I wonder how many dealers that though 2020 would be awful for sales after the pandemic started ended up doing very well and now are questioning the cost of traveling all over the country to go to conventions? Edited January 26 by Silver silverseeker, Asianassassincomics and alexgross.com 3 Link to post Share on other sites
onlyweaknesskryptonite Posted January 26 Share Posted January 26 On 1/24/2021 at 9:35 PM, Buzzetta said: Ehhh... Never gave this much thought... I mean... who cares? At that point I'm dead. I either have a LOT more important things to worry about or nothing at all. 12 hours ago, tommyjasmin said: Just make sure and leave instructions to place your five favorite comics in your coffin with you. :-) maybe start a company that takes your current collection and turns it into a coffin for you . Then you can take it with you. Link to post Share on other sites
BigLeagueCHEW Posted January 26 Share Posted January 26 I mean, WTH! Why?????? When I just picked this up: Link to post Share on other sites
MisterX Posted January 26 Share Posted January 26 I'm wondering if maybe the Millennial Generation suddenly got into collecting this past year? There's a lot of them, I'm told... I've read many opinion pieces decrying Millennial spending habits in the past, most specifically, they don't like "stuff" the like "experiences." Also, they apparently were spending all their disposable income on avocado toast. Perhaps Covid-19 has opened their eyes to new ways of spending (and I suppose, making) their hard earned dollars? All this money's got to be coming in from somewhere. If not Millennials, maybe it's just dudes laundering drug money. P.S. One of my teenage sons collects Pokemon. Another collectible hobby that's gone berserk! He can't complete any more with the deep pocket buyers, which I think overall is a worrying sign for any collectible hobby. Link to post Share on other sites
Popular Post MatterEaterLad Posted January 26 Popular Post Share Posted January 26 8 hours ago, BigLeagueCHEW said: I mean, WTH! Why?????? When I just picked this up: There's gotta be a percentage of collectors who never cruise eBay and buy predominantly from the large auction houses. I had a book on eBay for a year at $3600. Then I sent it to an auction house and someone paid $5800. It made no sense to me, but I was happy with the sale. Legion of Goom, silverseeker, BigLeagueCHEW and 2 others 5 Link to post Share on other sites
lou_fine Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 (edited) On 1/24/2021 at 9:13 AM, WoWitHurts said: On 1/23/2021 at 9:14 PM, Mercury Man said: Have a cousin who worked for one of the Big Firms in Chicago for 40+ years, since retired. His advice to me in March- If you believe in America, now is a good time to get into the Market. Buy the SPDR ETF for starters. I took his advice. Made some money. Not nearly as much as a bigger shark, but I did ok. Point being, there are a people a lot smarter and well positioned than me, who did the same, and probably made 6 to 7 figures since March. I went all in on 1 April 2020. Waiting to cash out anytime after 1 April 2021. Currently up 227% Well, if you are talking about crazy equity markets, how about all of the Game Stoppers who probably made that kind of a return between their breakfast and lunch if they were lucky enough to have guess the right way with their bets. Sounds as though they figured the market is rigged anyways, so why not take those big hedge fund managers out to the wood shed and beat the crappers out of them like they normally do to everybody else when they sell short. Sounds as though some of tthose hedge funds lost billions and billions of dollars the past few weeks with Game Stop moving from below $20 earlier this month to below $40 last week and now rocketing up 90%+ today to a close of almost $150 followed by a further 40%+ in the after hours with a high of over $240. All I can say is that the shorts must really be feeling it as I believe that 150% of this company's shares have been shorted. Ouch!!! Edited January 27 by lou_fine PKJ 1 Link to post Share on other sites
tommyjasmin Posted January 27 Author Share Posted January 27 23 hours ago, Silver said: I wonder how many dealers that though 2020 would be awful for sales after the pandemic started ended up doing very well and now are questioning the cost of traveling all over the country to go to conventions? Dealers schlepping to shows where already hurting pre-pandemic. Last show I went to was a late 2019 pre-COVID Wizard World with a $65.00 admission price. Before knowing I had to grab ankles at the door, I offered to take my kid and a friend, and told the wife to come along too, but they all declined. That would have set me back over $250 just to get four people in the door. That's just not right. The room was very sparse, the mood among dealers very down. I spoke to most of them, and they were pissed. "Come on, let the kids in!" and similar sentiments. How are you supposed to get young kids into comics when they can't afford to walk in the door? Unrelated side-note, there was one shady dealer who was clearly cracking slabs. (Several I examined had been tampered with). Wait, I actually have a pic I snapped at that booth, hang on... Check this out - you can't tell me for a second CGC accidentally put a 1940s Jungle Comics label on a 1970s Jungle Action. Very disturbing. onlyweaknesskryptonite and silverseeker 2 Link to post Share on other sites
Larryw7 Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 6 hours ago, tommyjasmin said: Dealers schlepping to shows where already hurting pre-pandemic. Last show I went to was a late 2019 pre-COVID Wizard World with a $65.00 admission price. Before knowing I had to grab ankles at the door, I offered to take my kid and a friend, and told the wife to come along too, but they all declined. That would have set me back over $250 just to get four people in the door. That's just not right. The room was very sparse, the mood among dealers very down. I spoke to most of them, and they were pissed. "Come on, let the kids in!" and similar sentiments. How are you supposed to get young kids into comics when they can't afford to walk in the door? Unrelated side-note, there was one shady dealer who was clearly cracking slabs. (Several I examined had been tampered with). Wait, I actually have a pic I snapped at that booth, hang on... Check this out - you can't tell me for a second CGC accidentally put a 1940s Jungle Comics label on a 1970s Jungle Action. Very disturbing. Who was the dealer? Link to post Share on other sites
WoWitHurts Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 9 hours ago, lou_fine said: Well, if you are talking about crazy equity markets, how about all of the Game Stoppers who probably made that kind of a return between their breakfast and lunch if they were lucky enough to have guess the right way with their bets. Sounds as though they figured the market is rigged anyways, so why not take those big hedge fund managers out to the wood shed and beat the crappers out of them like they normally do to everybody else when they sell short. Sounds as though some of tthose hedge funds lost billions and billions of dollars the past few weeks with Game Stop moving from below $20 earlier this month to below $40 last week and now rocketing up 90%+ today to a close of almost $150 followed by a further 40%+ in the after hours with a high of over $240. All I can say is that the shorts must really be feeling it as I believe that 150% of this company's shares have been shorted. Ouch!!! I am more of a long term contrarian. I could never go in on Gamestop. I like my gambles to be of a educated nature. That stuff is bananas. Link to post Share on other sites
blazingbob Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 9 hours ago, tommyjasmin said: Dealers schlepping to shows where already hurting pre-pandemic. Last show I went to was a late 2019 pre-COVID Wizard World with a $65.00 admission price. Before knowing I had to grab ankles at the door, I offered to take my kid and a friend, and told the wife to come along too, but they all declined. That would have set me back over $250 just to get four people in the door. That's just not right. The room was very sparse, the mood among dealers very down. I spoke to most of them, and they were pissed. "Come on, let the kids in!" and similar sentiments. How are you supposed to get young kids into comics when they can't afford to walk in the door? Unrelated side-note, there was one shady dealer who was clearly cracking slabs. (Several I examined had been tampered with). Wait, I actually have a pic I snapped at that booth, hang on... Check this out - you can't tell me for a second CGC accidentally put a 1940s Jungle Comics label on a 1970s Jungle Action. Very disturbing. I second this post, what dealer was doing this? Link to post Share on other sites
DanCooper Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 (edited) 10 hours ago, tommyjasmin said: Check this out - you can't tell me for a second CGC accidentally put a 1940s Jungle Comics label on a 1970s Jungle Action. It may possibly be a CGC label error and should have been for Jungle Action #11 (1972) instead (Black Panther seen in picture) and the wrong book info was chosen when the label was assigned. When you look up the certification number in the CGC system, it does show the Golden Age Jungle info though: Edited January 27 by DanCooper Link to post Share on other sites
