Oxbladder

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4/5/2018 Topic: Some questions about grading Oxbladder	NormanBates wrote: Thank you very much for your detailed answer. I think i understand the whole thing a lot better now. First i thought the price depends on the turnaround time - but it depends on the value of the raw book - and the more valuable a book is, the faster the turnaround is - right? Which seems logical because there are lesser books with very high value, so the turnaround is quicker. It would be a bit that there are less older and more expensive books going through per day but they also don't like to keep more expensive books around too long as the insurance risks are much higher. So in my case, i guess the highest tier is the standard tier with 65 Dollar per book. But where do i get the FMV? I don't think it's the current ebay pricing, right? Is the reference price the one here on CPG? I would check the price here then maybe see what sold prices have been on eBay, Heritage and other sites. Sometime guides are a bit high or a bit low. I'd say: Standard Tier for: - ASM #129 - Batman Adventures #12 - NYX #3 - Strange Adventures #205 Economy Tier for: - Hero for Hire #1 Value Tier for: - Spiderman #162 Modern Tier for: - Moon Girl #28 This sounds like a reasonable expectation. However, if there are any that are sitting on the border of tiers I would make sure I did a check on realized prices before committing. It is hard trying to figure out what a book may get after pressing but if you take a look at some graded examples on defect that are not removable by press and see how they hurt a grade that helps. For example, on NYX there was a common manufacture defect on the back that kinda look like a large cup was sitting on it as there is often a round indent and ripple. It is very faint but all my copies have had it. that presses out. As well as most non-colour breaking light creases. however, as is common with many moderns. The spine corners can have very minor scuffing or abrasions and these will remain and more than likely give the book a maximum of 9.8 for a grade. If there are any other defect on top of that you are looking at a an even lower grade. One or two very minor defects is all they really tolerate. On ASM 129 any spine crease that has colour break may not completely press out and the break mark will still be there and they will dock it marks. And what do they mean with "reholder" - just a new slap without grading? If the slab (holder as they call it) gets cracked you can send it in to be re-holdered. It won't go through the grading process again just get a fancy new case. I see, this is going to be expensive :-(((. It adds up very fast and is even more costly if you don't live in the States. I have only sent stuff in a few times and not very many at a time as I usually will only send stuff in when I have an item worth much more money slabbed that I am intending to sell. This way that item (or two items) cover the total grading costs of everything I send in. I do it this way because there is lots of stuff that I just want slabbed that I have no intention of selling at this time and it obvious that that is something that really does not make practical sense unless you can cover the cost with something you can sell for good coin. edited by oxbladder on 4/5/2018 edited by oxbladder on 4/5/2018
4/9/2018 Topic: Harley Quinn's first official DC appearrance Oxbladder	I would say the "out of canon" would be bringing the character into the regular universe after a few years of being a very popular character in the all-ages universe. The official FA is BA 12 and always will be the "official" FA. The FA in the regular DCU is just a lesser FA. It not like the character dramatically changed either. It's very similar to Captain Marvel (Shazam). His FA was decades ago his first DCU wasn't until the 70's even though DC owned the rights for decades.
4/12/2018 Topic: Acid free storage boxes, is it overkill? Oxbladder	The single biggest thing you can do to preserve your comics is store them in the right environment. Without that it really doesn't matter what you use. Now first are the "acid free" boards you are using from Gerber, as in full or half backs? If not then no I wouldn't bother with an acid free box because that board you are using is not acid free. Gerber Half/Full Backs use fully buffered board and even when they have reached their buffering capacity they remain neutral. All the cheaper boards are "acid free" on one side only and that buffering capacity is usually spent by the time you open the package and they are now slightly acidic. So if you use cheaper boards change to the Gerber full/half backs. As for the boxes it would likely help to have them in "acid free" boxes but whether that help warrants the expense is really debatable. Honestly I don't even know if there are stats out there that show mylar and acid free add and more life to a book stored in a regular bag and board in a regular box. Again if the environment is good that alone is the single biggest factor in preserving paper objects.
4/22/2018 Topic: The movies you would like to see be made! Oxbladder	I doubt the Edmund Fitzgerald. It Got stormy and they didn't close some deck doors and the ship sank. End of story.
4/27/2018 Topic: A pressing question: To press or not to press? Oxbladder	I have local pressing sources and usually will use their services before I send books off. If you have such sources most should be able to tell you if a book will benefit from a pressing. I submitted some books to one guy and I didn't think one book really needed pressing but since I was sending them in for grading I sent it to him anyway and he contacted me later and said it just wasn't worth pressing because there were no visible defects to press out. It got a 9.8. Some books will definitely benefit some may not and if you get them pressed anyway that cost is cutting into the value.
4/27/2018 Topic: What do you thnk of Marvel's "Fresh Start?" Oxbladder	I agree rperryx. Most of what I have been reading has been consistent so these changes bother me little. Legacy numbering or not. Lots of people forget that it was basically in response to customer claims of not jumping onto long running series that all this rebooting started in the first place.
5/3/2018 Topic: Any Store Owners on here? Oxbladder	Used to be and currently know several in my region. What are your questions?
5/3/2018 Topic: UK Comic Collectors Oxbladder	It has nothing to do with snobbery, scarcity, or anything else. It has everything to do with demand. The bulk of collectors are North American and it costs a lot of money to get pence copies sent here. Not to mention there have been questions over the years as to whether or not they were reprints or not. Some may even still consider them reprints. The long and the short of it though is that the overall demand is low so the prices stay low. Even Canadian newsstand editions of many books don't go for anything at all. I am fairly certain that for most superhero books you could realize decent value for high grade copies of just about every "key" but step away from hero books and it really changes. So this pricing of foreign newsstand copies is largely an artificial manifestation anyway that only a few people partake in.
5/6/2018 Topic: Any Store Owners on here? Oxbladder	Those are going to vary quite a bit depending on the store, region, and what is for sale. It could be as low as several hundred to a few thousand. It can also vary a lot day to day. Usually new comics lead the way in sales totals. Usually Wednesday to Saturday are the busier days because that is when new content arrives and most people come in to pick it up.
5/6/2018 Topic: Avengers: Infinity War, a non-spoiler review Oxbladder	I didn't think it was any better or worse than any of the other movies. Kinda samey. I thought it was a bit disjointed sometimes.
5/17/2018 Topic: help with pricing Oxbladder	Gilgandra wrote: Thought i'd put this question here ... Clear the dust "cough"... Does anyone know what the cover price for "ROBOCOP: CITIZENS ARREST #1 Jim Towe Virgin Cover (1 in 15) is. It does not say on the book. Is this a "you decide what it's worth book". Trying to add info for it that's all. CPG has it as $10 for NM copy https://comicspriceguide.com/titles/robocop-citizens-arrest/pjyqmy BOOM! Like many other companies have cover prices on most variants as the standard price. You do have a few options to find out for sure: 1. Look at the publisher info inside. Sometime the prices are listed there. 2. If you get Diamond's Previews magazine and you have the February issue it may say in the listing. 3. Ask your LCS if he has his order book and ask him/her if they have that specific variant list and if it has a price. Barring that it is fairly safe to assume that it is the same cover price as the standard edition as that is the norm unless it was something exclusively issued under some other company/retailer's name. edited by oxbladder on 5/17/2018
5/17/2018 Topic: help with pricing Oxbladder	Oh yeah. You could also contact BOOM! too.
5/23/2018 Topic: Overstreet?? Oxbladder	No guide is 100% accurate. Whether you use Overstreet or CPG you will never have completely up to date values. Even in this age of global market you will still get regional differences in values. Not to mention all guides are reactionary and only reflect an average (or whatever) for one specific slice of time. Finally, unless you are buying and selling they are actually worth nothing at all.
5/29/2018 Topic: Best way to pack and ship Oxbladder	iear wrote: Hi all - I'm thinking of beginning to sell off my collection of Marvel Comics. The shipping costs seem like they could cut into any potential profits. Any suggestions as to the most cost effective and safest way to ship? What about single books versus shipping a number at a time? Insurance? And lastly, I am scanning each every front and back cover - will that be enough? I'm going to grade them using my best guess ... I don't think I have titles that warrant paying for the grading. How do I assure that there is no challenge on the buyer's end? Most of my comics were read once and then bagged and boarded since they were purchased - and I am the original and only owner. I believe they are all at or close to 9.2/9.4 - does that seem reasonable? Thanks! Shipping can definitely cut into costs that's why not all book are worth selling separately. You should go through what you have to sell and see if it is listed on eBay and whatnot and what realized prices are and anything that is below shipping you may wish to sell in a bulk lot. however, bulk lots will bring in less per book than selling singly. A front and back high def scan is really all you will need along with any description of hidden defects (defects inside the book or not readily apparent in a scan/image. It help to give the page quality too (white, off-white, etc. is the paper supple or starting to get brittle, is the book giving off a acidic or musty odor). You don't have to be terribly exact with your grading because almost no one would agree with you anyway. I would suggest being conservative with the grade. I have found that if you are conservative, descriptive, and provide good scans you can realize the asking price or more. Or you can give a range. The best way to not be challenged is to be descriptive as possible and not miss defects. You cannot please everyone but if you are as honest as possible you don't have to. Also, if you encourage people to ask questions then any reservations they have and don't follow through on is on them not on you. You should also consider how quickly you want to get rid of your books. The more you have the longer it is going to take and the more time it will take to to sell them the less you will make. My time is money and the more time I spend on something the less profit I can make. This is one of the reasons I don't sell a lot of stuff. Keys and lesser keys can sell quick and get you all excited and the profit you can make make you blind to the fact that the regular everyday issues are still in your coffers and you are spending more time trying to get rid of them. I see lots of non-retailers selling stuff and talking about how much profit they made but they, more often than not, do not take into account the time they have spent, the stuff they are left with and the time it is going to take to sell the rest of it. Sometimes it really is worth dealing with a store owner for selling off your stuff. Yes you are going to get well below the market value for it but when you consider what time you have put in and what more you may have to put in you realize that what profits you have made are not really profits at all. (unless you are always buying and selling stuff)
6/4/2018 Topic: "Raw" Prices vs. "Graded" Prices Oxbladder	Jc102602 wrote: I don't agree with this. Having a third party validate or confirm the quality of an item of value should always increase the price of that item, especially since the owner absorbed the cost (sometimes heavy) of getting the item valued. This is a common practice across other areas and is justifiable since we are not certified graders and can be biased. Also, the slab offers a degree of protection not offered by just a bag and board. The thing is though is the owner of the book is purchasing the grading service. A buyer has to agree that there is a value to that service to be willing to pay over raw realized values. If a seller who has a graded book for sale wants more for sure then they are going to have to ask for more money and be willing to wait for a buyer to be willing to spend that extra money. Basically a service only adds value if the buyer agrees it adds value. In the case of graded books in most cases it does. But it is not always true. More often than not it is on keys and mostly higher grades. On some book you will find that the difference between graded and "raw" book is much more variable where raw values can be the same or higher. In such cases often the market on graded will adjust the next time one is up for sale. In my experience, it is is an extremely rare occurrence where a graded version of a book will go for the exact same price as its raw counterpart (unless the seller is intentionally going below guide to sell fast). If this site is going to take a position otherwise, then the price quoted on CPG just isn't based in reality or what's actually happening in the market. The position should be to price a book on as much data as possible and from as many different sources and regions as is possible. If there is no data the should be no listed value. In other words, they shouldn't be setting prices based on a algorithm. Now that isn't always realistic.
6/5/2018 Topic: CGC case crack Oxbladder	Hmm...It sounds like the outer shell may have been opened previously. You could send it in for reholdering. This is way cheaper than sending it for regrading. I would be concerned whether or not the outer case was cracked open/tampered with. Could you post pictures of the damage?
6/5/2018 Topic: Best way to pack and ship Oxbladder	I would think USPS is likely the most reasonable shipping option, however, depending on the value of the book, insurance limits and tracking it may not always be the best option. There is no guarantee you won't get into a back and forth about the grading but if you try to be as accurate/descriptive as possible there will be no debate. Remember though that you have to be really anal when grading. Even very small defects need to be accounted for. As for packaging. I would think that the Priority boxes that I have seen coming out of the US would work quite well for shipping up to 10 issues. When packing you have to make sure you pack them in such a way that they cannot suffer any damage. When shipping singles or a couple of books you have to sandwhich them between durable cardboard. The more issue you pack in the sandwich you will have to wrap them up in bubble wrap. Then you have to make sure that they are stable in the package they are placed in and that if the package is dropped or crunched the books will not be impacted.
6/11/2018 Topic: UPC; Why input? Whats it for? Oxbladder	UPC's can be very helpful. It can tell you which printing you have (if there are more than one printing that is) and it can tell you if you have a variant or not. I am not sure why you wouldn't think that not every number needed to be entered. Generally, most online data entry systems don't recognize spaces and in the case of UPC's there are not really spaces. I know it looks like and when they are just printed out without a barcode they put dashes in but that is more for the use of sellers/distributors as parts of the code can categorize a product. For example, almost all trade paperbacks and hard covers start with 978 and only have 13 digits while comics all have different lead numbers based on who is the publisher and have extended digit sequences that identify issue number, which cover (variant) you have (if any), and which printing. To scanners though there are no spaces just a series of numbers 12-13 digits long plus and extension for comics.
6/11/2018 Topic: UPC; Why input? Whats it for? Oxbladder	It wouldn't hurt if they provided more info as to why it is handy to have the UPC number (and that the whole number is necessary). If you look online there are explanations of how to read a barcode for your own use. I used to not pay them much heed but over the last few years I have found them very helpful. Some of the smaller publishers don't always have the most handy barcodes but for most one only needs to look at the barcode and you can tell exactly what issue, printing, and version/variant you have.
7/20/2018 Topic: Comic Book Men the end Oxbladder	I can't believe that the show lasted as long as it did. I watched probably less than a minute of it and regretted it.