Oxbladder

all messages by user

1/23/2017 Topic: digital code-covering stickers Oxbladder	At one point the best the third party graders would give a book with the sticker removed was 9.6 or if that was the only defect then 9.8. I don't know if that has changed. So I always say expect at least a drop of .2 for that defect.
2/5/2017 Topic: Your Opinion: Most Iconic Covers Oxbladder	Except Thor will only get a sissy swing out of that stance (The hammer should have been in the opposite hand or his left leg should be forward.)
2/6/2017 Topic: Your Opinion: Most Iconic Covers Oxbladder	Pfft. He would fall over like a dead quail.
2/7/2017 Topic: Collection Advice Oxbladder	You could donate them to some charity/hospital. I have heard of people doing that. Apparently you can get tax relief from doing such a thing. Other here might be able to clarify or verify that. I don't know if searching will turn anything up since the forum has been deader than JFK since it's restart.
2/12/2017 Topic: Collection Advice Oxbladder	colbalt91 wrote: Your friend started collecting comics at just the wrong time. By coincidence I just picked up an old issue of The Comics Books Journal # 183 dated January 1996 and it has two articles describing the meltdown of the comics industry. The article on Marvel talks about how they were doing great 1994 and then had an absolute disaster in 1995. The other article discusses all of Diamond Distributors cutbacks due to the collapse of the comic book industry. If they had listened to dealers in 1993 and 1994 instead of the bean counters the collapse never would have happened. That like so many other things get ignored. Because no one actually discusses the real reasons for the early to mid 90's market adjustment they could well repeat it in the future
2/21/2017 Topic: Art Work in New Marvel Comics Oxbladder	I don't have a problem with who Marvel has working for them. DC could use a cycling of artists. I believe it benefits the entire market to cycle in new blood and Marvel has done a lot of that in the last number of years. Of course the small publishers do more cycling in but hardly anyone ever takes the chance on the smaller pubs so at least one of the big two does it. Now if they could just cycle some of the young guys into top writer positions.
2/21/2017 Topic: need good laugh? went to comic store on vacation. Oxbladder	Stores are free to charge what they feel the local market will pay. You don't like it don't buy it. I have seen lots of people trying to rip off people on eBay as well. I went to a recent local show and lots of people were over grading and over-charging for books. they were trying to get online prices. Yes, there are unscrupulous dealers out there but it really sickens me how many people bust the chops of brick and mortars considering the vast majority of the books on the market now had their introduction onto the market from just such stores. The shop owner I buy from gets all sorts of jack-asses in trying to get a deal just so they can turn around and flip the book on eBay. Hell, I have heard lots of people talk here how they ripped off dealers of their asking price. /rant
2/23/2017 Topic: Where Have All the Users Gone Oxbladder	kds_comics wrote: Only 26 users online at CPG in middle of the day? Where has everyone gone? Are we waiting for CPG 3.0? What am I missing here? KDS When you disappear and give little clue when you are going to come back ... And stay down for, well, ever you never get the original crowd back. Never mind having a nonfunctional mobile interface. CPG simply just lost their crowd by their own hand. I also believe they killed themselves and continue to do so by not rapidly addressing problems on the forum side and guide side. In the time it takes CPG to address shortcomings most other services have addressed theirs many, many times over. Now I'm not a paid user of this site so I have nothing at stake but there are others that are and it must be frustrating as all hell to dole out the cash they do and watch other similar products continue to grow and advance around them. I use another cataloging service and they update services quite often during the year. Granted they don't have pricing as a part of that but I honestly don't care because that isn't a big deal at all to me. (Though they did once post about combining forces with CPG a few years back.)
2/23/2017 Topic: Get Out Oxbladder	As soon as they made the pre-release Rotten Tomatoes rating a big deal in their ads prominent it went on my "no chance in hell" list. Looks like murder porn.
2/23/2017 Topic: WHAT'S HOT, WHAT'S NOT Oxbladder	That book has been on the rise for a number of years ... Along with plenty of other Bronze Age books that are getting in 40+ years old.
2/24/2017 Topic: Where Have All the Users Gone Oxbladder	I hope they mange to meet your needs. I wasn't telling people to leave just pointing out CPG needs to up their game. The state of the forum is flat out their own doing.
3/16/2017 Topic: So, I am ready to liquidate portions of my collect Oxbladder	Just to counter the earlier notion that people who buy slabs are not collectors. That's horse crap. I know plenty of collectors who buy slabbed books and the older and more pricey the books are the more likely they will be looking to buy slabbed books because the worry of getting a restored book is basically eliminated and, when it comes to them or their heirs selling the books it makes the liquidation process much easier. Not to mention with CGC and CBCS you know what to expect for the various grades. Of course the desire for books to go to a good home is always desireable but it is something you cannot ultimately guarantee. edited by Oxbladder on 3/16/2017
3/16/2017 Topic: Legion Oxbladder	CPG has one of the worst search scripts on the planet that's why.
3/19/2017 Topic: When to replace bags and boards Oxbladder	Mylites and mylars are the way to go as long as you also use a Full or Half back. Regular boards are only buffered on one side or have a thin coating on both sides and that buffer is almost always spent by the time you open and use them. Now polypropylene and polyethylene bags and regular boards can last a long time but it is going to depend a lot on your storage environment. If it is hot or humid the bags will need replacing far more often than a proper dry, dark, and cool environment. I swap bags as they are needed and that can vary widely from a few years to a decade or more. The most important thing before worrying about bags is to have good control over the comic environment. If you don't give them a good storage environment it really doesn't matter at all what you store them in. Keep in mind some of the best old pedigrees were not stored in bags and boards for a good portion of their life. What they did have was good environmental conditions. edited by Oxbladder on 3/19/2017 edited by Oxbladder on 3/19/2017
3/24/2017 Topic: Finally! My comic to be published by IDW! Oxbladder	He just wrote the book.
3/24/2017 Topic: CGC Remains a Mystery Oxbladder	It all depends on the end goal. Are you selling? Are you keeping them? Are you looking for easy liquidation by your heirs once you are dead and gone? The simple answer is yes grading can be beneficial but not in every case. I would say that you should have at least one or two books that have a high value, preferably in any grade, that you can turn around and sell if you are wanting some graded books to keep in your collection. That is what I do. It is a very costly enterprise otherwise. Now if you are selling it is going to depend on what books, what grade you think you can get and how much they sell for graded at that grade. You can get more for almost any graded book but sometimes it would not be much, if at all, above the cost of the grading. If you have older books, silver and gold, in decent shape (6.0 and above) then grading can be more worthwhile. Before you do anything you should study the market and learn how CGC and CBCS grade the various grades and eras so that you can better estimate the grade of the books you would like to get graded. Be very critical and don't forget about the interior. While much of the grade depends on the exterior that doesn't mean the guts get ignored. Game breaking defects are often hidden away inside.
3/24/2017 Topic: How long does it take to go from Bronze to Gold? Oxbladder	CPG has been circling the bowl for years.
3/25/2017 Topic: CGC Remains a Mystery Oxbladder	It really isn't a hard process. You submit a book under a tier and which tier depends on the age and raw value of the book now. You also cover shipping both ways. Your books are insured while at CGC or CBCS and on the way back. While waiting to be graded they are stored in a vault. I don't know of anyone losing a book while it was on the grounds of either company.
4/3/2017 Topic: Staple Pop and its effect on grade and value Oxbladder	By "popped" do you mean it has detached from one part of the book?
4/5/2017 Topic: Do most people add shipping at the end of a sale? Oxbladder	I charge shipping on top of the comic sales and would charge exact shipping. As for packing you place the comic in a bag and with a boards then sandwich it between two rigid pieces of cardboard making sure it can't shift around. Then wrap it in bubble wrap and place it in a box. You can also place it in a bubble envelope but a box is better.