Midtown Comics, NY 2 2

[Robot Man]

Selling back issue comics in a store is probably a losing proposition these days. The days of GA/SA/BA collections walking through the door are pretty much over. 

Besides, most people are looking for keys, movie books and sleepers they can make money off. Too hard for stores to get and are sold the day they are put out. 95% probably just sits and collects dust.

My LCS doesn’t sell back issues, nor do they buy the few collections that walk in. They make it on current issues but more on Funko, Action Figures, and Pokémon cards. I only go in for supplies anymore. I once scored a nice little collection of SA including keys that walked in the door in a paper bag that they passed on. Did a deal in the parking lot. 

Only stores I know that stock the good stuff are Bedrock City in Houston and A-1 in Sacramento. Always a good selection. I’m sure there are a few more, but am not familiar with them. 

[Pat Thomas]

Anybody coming through Central Alabama should check out Bob's Comics in Trussville. Unlike most of today's shops, he focuses on back issues primarily. Has hundreds of rows of back issues and thousands of $1 comics. He has 3 walls full of keys. It's definitely a throwback shop. Plus, Bob can be a grouch sometimes.

[Muno42]

All the best shops have a grouch! 

[BlowUpTheMoon]

1 hour ago, serling1978 said:

Joseph Koch's warehouse in Brooklyn

There's a video tour someone made floating around here somewhere. 

[lordbyroncomics]

47 minutes ago, BlowUpTheMoon said:

There's a video tour someone made floating around here somewhere. 

I'm gonna look for that as I'd love to visit such a place.

[BlowUpTheMoon]

1 hour ago, wisbyron said:

2 hours ago, BlowUpTheMoon said:

There's a video tour someone made floating around here somewhere. 

I'm gonna look for that as I'd love to visit such a place.

 

[lordbyroncomics]

@BlowUpTheMoon- Thank you! Yeah, I like Very Gary's channel, never saw this one.

[Robot Man]

17 hours ago, BlowUpTheMoon said:

 

Yeah, went there once. What a mess. Huge place. Just a huge maze of junk. The same thing happened to me. Pulled out a few OK books then he turned on ebay. I just said thanks and left. I believe he had quite the stock back in his day but it’s been cleaned out. Total waste of time. 

[Ken Aldred]

22 hours ago, BlowUpTheMoon said:

 

Thanks for posting that.  I would've found the warehouse and its stock far too overwhelming.

I recall Koch and Dolgoff being popular sources for British dealers back in the 90s, lots of mid-grade Silver Age Marvels and obscure Bronze Age DCs.

But, it looks like a bit of a dump.  The Avalanche seems to have lost its Wonder somewhat.

[speedcake]

2 hours ago, Ken Aldred said:

Thanks for posting that.  I would've found the warehouse and its stock far too overwhelming.

I recall Koch and Dolgoff being popular sources for British dealers back in the 90s, lots of mid-grade Silver Age Marvels and obscure Bronze Age DCs.

But, it looks like a bit of a dump.  The Avalanche seems to have lost its Wonder somewhat.

Maybe it was a different experience digging there before the internet or before ebay really got big.

[Prince Namor]

On 3/19/2021 at 2:17 PM, ExNihilo said:

I've been to the Times Square location and their selection isn't all that surprising.  Given where it's located, I'm guessing it caters to the occasional tourist who pops in for a look.  As such there's a ton of non-comic collectibles in there, plus probably fewer keys than we'd hope for.  I feel like Midtown used to be good for filling holes in collections, but not so much anymore.

Back when Action Comics #1000 came out, they had the variant cover by Jim Lee.  It was touted as the "Touring Variant", I think because Jim was supposed to go for a signing.  Anyways, the book drops and retails for $80.  Sells out almost instantly.  After market price shoots up to $160.  Two days after release, Midtown suddenly has "additional stock" which they list at...$160.  That sells out as well.  A few days later yet again, they magically find more stock which they list at $120.  I did end up buying a book at $120, but the entire situation left a sour taste in my mouth.  A) that books were held back and B) that they were listed at market and not MSRP.  In my mind, if you are the primary vendor of a good, you should be selling them at the listed retail price, especially during the first week of release.  That'd be like a comic shop getting a book Tuesday night and realizing one of the books has a 1st appearance so they put one copy on the rack and put the other 25 on eBay at 10x cover.  I've sworn off Midtown since.

You just described what a large percentage of modern forum sellers do on these boards. They buy for wholesale price from a distributor and then sell it based on market value.

I'm no fan of Midtown Comics, but they're just following the market. 

If they sold it for 'MSRP', the flippers would just buy it and make the money.

Why would they want to give away that profit to someone else?

[Cushing Fan]

4 hours ago, Prince Namor said:

You just described what a large percentage of modern forum sellers do on these boards. They buy for wholesale price from a distributor and then sell it based on market value.

I'm no fan of Midtown Comics, but they're just following the market. 

If they sold it for 'MSRP', the flippers would just buy it and make the money.

Why would they want to give away that profit to someone else?

Personally I wouldn't mind buying the book I wanted at market value from Midtown but the fact that they wouldn't provide a scan and said they were not responsible for their grading plus no returns was just ridiculous.  I ultimately just bought the book I wanted at market price from another dealer who provided scans of the book to me.

[Ken Aldred]

2 hours ago, Cushing Fan said:

Personally I wouldn't mind buying the book I wanted at market value from Midtown but the fact that they wouldn't provide a scan and said they were not responsible for their grading plus no returns was just ridiculous.  I ultimately just bought the book I wanted at market price from another dealer who provided scans of the book to me.

I think you did the right thing.  Particularly in the current, overheating speculator market you should have many vendor options and similar copies to choose from.  Even a few years ago when I was buying books in the three-figure range I wouldn't buy without a scan or grade screening process, and now, with many of those same books in the four-figure range and completely unaffordable to me, a common sense observation is that such processes have become even more important to buyers like yourself who are still involved with the back issue market.  It's a risk, at current levels, that I'm unwilling to take; a circle I don't wish to intersect with anymore.

No grading, no screening, not much of a problem at present, as it shouldn't be too difficult to find someone else more obliging and more transparent to fill those gaps for you.

Edited March 21, 2021 by Ken Aldred

[drotto]

From one purchase online for a GA and past discussions on this forum, they grade one to two grades high on raw books.  something listed as a 9 is almost certainly a 8.5 if not an 8.  The issue is they will price it at the higher end of the 9 market, so not technically unreasonable, until you figure in the downgrade.

[lordbyroncomics]

20 hours ago, Ken Aldred said:

Thanks for posting that.  I would've found the warehouse and its stock far too overwhelming.

I recall Koch and Dolgoff being popular sources for British dealers back in the 90s, lots of mid-grade Silver Age Marvels and obscure Bronze Age DCs.

But, it looks like a bit of a dump.  The Avalanche seems to have lost its Wonder somewhat.

Yeah, I watched the video and completely trust Very Gary's assessment. I think it's the concept of a 'Comics Warehouse' that seems appealing. I can see how, cleanliness aside, it would just be overwhelming and possibly disorganized.

Because of the decline of back issues at comic stores (again, we all understand why this happens), it really does make your relationship with an online seller or sellers more crucial. I also look forward to certain cons where there's a heavy comic component (Baltimore Comic Con comes to mine) where great vendors have a healthy dose of Golden-Silver-Bronze. 

[drotto]

1 hour ago, wisbyron said:

Yeah, I watched the video and completely trust Very Gary's assessment. I think it's the concept of a 'Comics Warehouse' that seems appealing. I can see how, cleanliness aside, it would just be overwhelming and possibly disorganized.

Because of the decline of back issues at comic stores (again, we all understand why this happens), it really does make your relationship with an online seller or sellers more crucial. I also look forward to certain cons where there's a heavy comic component (Baltimore Comic Con comes to mine) where great vendors have a healthy dose of Golden-Silver-Bronze. 

My LCS does a good job at keeping back stock and even key books around.  I know he does this by offering better purchase prices then most dealers.  He may cut into profit margin this way, but it keeps him supplied.

[Prince Namor]

9 hours ago, Cushing Fan said:

Personally I wouldn't mind buying the book I wanted at market value from Midtown but the fact that they wouldn't provide a scan and said they were not responsible for their grading plus no returns was just ridiculous.  I ultimately just bought the book I wanted at market price from another dealer who provided scans of the book to me.

I'm talking about a Modern Comic that just came out. No way in hell I'm buying a Silver Age comic from them with any value.