Oxbladder

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7/20/2018 Topic: Cataloging Endeavor - Best Solutions Oxbladder	Personally, I use CLZ. I doesn't have pricing or grading but since I don't sell stuff very often I don't require those sorts of things. A user can add a lot of information themselves as well as submit missing data if they so desire. The nice thing about it, for me since I buy mostly moderns, is I can barcode scan most of the stuff right into the system. Having access to my want list and what I already own right on a phone or tablet is pretty darn handy too. Anyway, since you want pricing I don't think that CLZ will do the trick for you. As for grading, I would suggest investing in the current Overstreet Grading Guide. It has pictures to help you along. But it also doesn't hurt to consult other sources or look at CGC and CBCS graded examples out there. Grading takes time to learn and so you will make mistakes. When grading though remember that it is just not the cover that is being graded but the interior as well. Sure the cover takes most of the grade but I have come across many a comic that looked great but the owner missed a major interior or paper quality defect that basically made the book worthless to me. What I would suggest is that you can give a cursory grade to the books at first but if you decide to sell then give the book a much more rigorous inspection. Don't burn yourself out by grading too many books in a day. Experience comes with grading more books but it is ruined by burning yourself out. Take your time. grade a few books at a time and slowly work your way through. If you are not selling them there is no rushing needed.
7/25/2018 Topic: WHAT'S HOT, WHAT'S NOT Oxbladder	Yeah of course I get logged out.
7/26/2018 Topic: Marketplace Transactions Oxbladder	I have only ever done one transaction through this website and it went well. I made an offer it was accepted and after some back and forth and wheeling and dealing the transaction was done within that time period as well. What you have experienced is common in transactions on the web ... and real life. People are allowed to ask what they want for the books they have and you are under no obligation to buy them if you feel the price is too high. Pretty much most books are common so it comes down to regional demand sometimes. If a seller had to dish out more for book that they now want to sell they are going to ask for more money than they paid out. If they bought it for $3 then they are going to sell it for more regardless of what anyone thinks is the price. At least until they realize (or not) that it is not going to sell for this price. But you would be surprised that even common books that are priced higher can and do sell all the time. In the end though you are completely free to not buy books that you feel are over priced. I'm sure down the road people will accuse you of selling books for too much money. Collectors always want to buy books cheaper and will complain to no end if they feel they are being charged too much even though they are under no obligation to buy those books. edited by oxbladder on 7/26/2018
8/16/2018 Topic: Comic storage,transition to Digital Comics, Ideas? Oxbladder	Comixology is probably your best bet. They have the widest selection of publishers. Marvel Unlimited is great BUT it is about a 6+ month wait to get the stuff that came out this week (for example). However, there are thousands of issues in the library. I usually the the year long membership because it is much cheaper overall. Another alternative is moving to Trades an Hard Covers. I buy quite a few floppies per month but usually only read in trade/hc and digital form. The owner of the store that I buy from sold off most of his floppy collection and replaced it with trades. Now, granted, these take up a bit of room as well they will still take up less than floppies in the end.
8/30/2018 Topic: Hot New Issues Oxbladder	Man - Bat wrote: Riptide #1 (of 4) came out this week was published by Red 5 comics. Possibly low print run? They also published The Rift which was just optioned by Hollywood, might be why it's heating up. Not to get too nitpicky but what exactly is a low print run? You do realize that print runs over 10000 outside of Marvel and DC are very, very uncommon. So in this day and age where most of the top books struggle to exceed 100000 in sales what exactly is a low print run? Low compared to what? If the basement of the Diamond top 300 are in the low thousands and very few people venture outside Marvel and DC for their reading, what is truly a "low" print run? Books like this are prime for rapid large increases if they catch on to larger market because their runs are notoriously small to start with. edited by oxbladder on 8/30/2018
8/30/2018 Topic: Printing defects and affects on Grading Oxbladder	I am going to buck the trend here and say, manufactured that way or not, it is a serious defect and would drop the book by at least a point. So if the book was a 10 otherwise it would grade a 9.0. The grading companies have convince a large part of the market to brush off "printing defects" by saying that this or that was common or something along those lines. My view is unless the entire run has a specific defect then one MUST consider all defects no matter if it was manufactured that way or occurred in the supply chain before it got to the shelves. Why you ask? For the simple reason that if we ignore the manufactured defects and start handing out high grades then what happens if a book shows up that is actually in the same grade or better without that defect? I always like to point to signed or historic writing books like the Marvel Comics #1 Pay Copy. Sure the books are in nice shape, sure they have historical markers, sure one can assign higher value to those markings but please don't tell me that a book without the marking isn't in better condition.
8/30/2018 Topic: DC Comic Subscriptions Oxbladder	kds_comics wrote: Dandaroo wrote: I found 50 comics still in the unopened mailing envelopes. They are dated 1994 Superman and batman. I also have 100 unopened 1994/5 Marvel comics sealed in the mailing bags. I am wondering if I should send these out for grading or ? Any advise out there? I would advise caution in sending comics for grading. On regular monthly comics from this era - publisher made too many issues. A regular print run today is 30,000 to 40,000. In 1994 publisher were priming 100,000 - 150,000 on a regular basis. Most are worth very little - I would be careful in picking which ones to grade with so many issues available from this era. KDS Publishers don't "make too many issues". They print to order plus a an over-run of a few percent to account for reorders, damages, etc. It is also a common misconception that all titles in the 90's were printed in the 100's of thousands. Only a small number were. In the case of Batman I would guess that it would be in the range you suggest but you also have to consider that by this time "the crash" was occurring so it is a bit hard to say. I do agree that on the grading front though one must pick and choose .... but that goes for pretty much every era. Keep in mind that most of what has been and will be published are very slow in appreciating. It will be another 5-15 years before you see early to mid 90's Marvels and DCs begin to appreciate. The 80's books are only just starting to edge up now even though print runs back then were also much higher than now (with the exception of a few titles). In the 90's the cheap bins were LOADED with all sorts of 80's (and 70's for that matter since at that time most were consider drek).
9/4/2018 Topic: Is it time to boycott Marvel? Has anyone already? Oxbladder	James Gunn should have been fired. Disney has had their own rules for DECADES and you are only angry after they fired a pervert? Did you know that Disney has been profiting off the free domain for decades but are under zero obligation to surrender back to it? They have been given pretty much free reign to keep their copyrights well beyond when anyone else can ... and you are only angry after they fire a pervert? Really? Really? Yeah I pretty much don't care. There are Marvel book I enjoy and I will keep reading. If I really cared I would boycott all comics so that maybe, just maybe, they decide to break the Diamond monopoly (who get away because there is JUST enough other distribution that it breaks the very low (single digit) percentage that law demands. They ARE a monopoly though. The sad thing is Diamond cares less about the end user than Disney does. edited by oxbladder on 9/4/2018
9/4/2018 Topic: Hot New Issues Oxbladder	The thing is though pretty much everything outside of Marvel and DC is a low print run if you only use those companies print run data. Lots of people like to claim that TWD had a low print run but in actuality the run of 7500 (or whatever) is actually quite high for a non-big two run and for a horror book. When we talk outside Marvel and DC print run are usually small. Runs like you saw/see for Saga #1, Spawn (early issues), and TWD are an exception not a norm. Run usually are under 10000 and when you get to the really small companies like Red 5 you may only be in the hundreds of issues. So you can see that any book outside of the big 2 that gets attention (and it is REALLY hard for that to happen since it is like trying to waterboard someone to pick up something outside the big 2) prices usually go up quick because the print runs never meet demand. It isn't artificial in the slightest but, when talking outside the big 2, the size of the run is pretty much irrelevant because it is going to be small. You also cannot deny that lots of times demand comes from people that have no interest in the actual book they are attracted by the money that this can bring. Speculators some like to call them. It is just a part of it business and a part that isn't ever going to disappear. This speculation can and does lead to readers which is what you want. I have picked up titles that have heavy speculation all throughout my time in comics and it lead to me broadening outside the big a lot more than many fellow collectors. So don't take my comments of as a negative just as something to consider when one is shopping around outside the big two. When compared to a Marvel or DC book that small publisher book you are holding likely has a "low" print run
9/4/2018 Topic: Hot New Issues Oxbladder	I am quite surprised at the Spawn numbers much higher that I expected. Those Valiants have pretty good numbers too. If they are consistent at that then Valiant is doing pretty good. I am actually surprised that there are any books over 100K. However, those might be fluffed up a bit by variants. Batman and Action would likely have two covers a piece (maybe more for the action). So there could be a few people buying two cover every two weeks which makes the numbers look good but doesn't reflect the actual readership on the title, which could be problem if variants ever died (lol like that would ever happen). Thanks for posting those.
9/4/2018 Topic: Is it time to boycott Marvel? Has anyone already? Oxbladder	I don't know much about Gunn. It is unfortunate that he is gone because the Guardians was good. As for keeping the script...did they drop it? I thought they were just looking to replace Gunn as director and not the script. I would think that sometimes though script may get dropped when a new director is brought in just because they may want to take the material in different direction. I agree it is a shame that Gunn is gone but I am willing to give the new director a chance. For the most part Marvel has done a decent job with their movies. I wasn't a big fan of Ragnarok but that was more because Thor wasn't very Thor-like in it and I really, really hated the rock character. With Thor being a comedian and the lame Aussie rock guy it made for a very light movie when the subject matter is actually quite dark ... or it is supposed to be.
9/4/2018 Topic: What was your first comic? Oxbladder	I honestly don't remember. I had a bunch of Archies and Duck books long before I collected. I know for sure I only have at least three books left from my first five years of collecting one would be very close to the first book I bought and that is Human Torch #1 (1970's). I bought it back issue not new off the stands. I wouldn't be surprised if one of my very first was an issue of Invaders.
9/18/2018 Topic: The Spider-Verse is Hot Oxbladder	What people should be watching more than a rise is if any such increases stick. 1st Spider-gwen and Spiderwoman are not going to get much of a kick because they already saw one and are established. their prices are holding which is a much better sign for the future. Spider-ham, etc are seeing a kick because those characters are older and have room to move but unless they get a more frequent exposure they will more than likely just get their boosts in events such as these. There is a chance for some to make money but what is far more desired is lasting market presence which will only become apparent as this event goes on an and in months after.
9/18/2018 Topic: Ms. Marvel Vol. 2 #1 Oxbladder	Is this universal or just on eBay? I know that lots of people consider eBay the last word on market prices but there still exist regional price variation and lots of non-internet still take place and in that market prices can vary widely for a multitude of reasons.
9/18/2018 Topic: The Predator movie Oxbladder	Not to be nit-picky when has there ever been logic applied in the Predator franchise It's a freaking alien and there is absolutely no proof of alien life yet!
9/24/2018 Topic: Comicxposure Oxbladder	Some companies are just damn slow, too. I order some back issues of Heavy Metal from them and it took like three months for them to finally ship/arrive. Not saying that this is the case here but in this world of "I want it now" there are still places that work at their own pace. That being said you always have the option of recovering your expenses if you used your CC/Paypal. BTW the BBB is a pointless path they have little to no power or meaning nowadays.
10/26/2018 Topic: Variant covers: How many is too much? Oxbladder	Variants are here to stay whether you like it or not. Collectors like the art and the money they can make and for publishers it is an easy means of pumping up the sales. Does it get ridiculous? That is subjective. If people are buying in, and they usually buy in, then no they are not doing too much. Are they "artificially" scarce? Perhaps but not really since for decades scarcity has been dependent on number believed to be in circulation out there. Yeah they are not scarce in the same way as say a book from the 40 or 50's but those decades had a COMPLETELY different mindset. Now it is all about collectors then it was just a form of entertainment that few people saw much value in holding on to. It is interesting too that people complain about variants being artificially rare but they don't complain about small press book being artificially rare. Many small print book may have print numbers only in the hundreds or low thousands (well below big variant counts in many cases) and never appreciate in value. Heck there are 30's - 60's era books that probably have as few as one know copy that don't have a lot of value on the market because no one cares. So scarcity is a very relative thing whether a book is old or just came out today. Availability can drive prices but only if people care. If people are paying big dollars for current variants then they want them and how available the book is is going to drive the price. Supply and demand is the name of the game. BTW, if you don't like and don't want variants published then you are going to have to convince the collectors because very little happens without their permission (dollars).
10/26/2018 Topic: SUPERMAN #75 - PLATINUM VARIANT Oxbladder	The answer is maybe. It completely depends on the buyer. I don't care but others will. edited by oxbladder on 10/26/2018
10/26/2018 Topic: Ms. Marvel Vol. 2 #1 Oxbladder	Then a value increase may be warranted. I know in th e past there was a section where one could suggest price increases on the forum. You would usually have to have some evidence to show though (complete ebay prices/item #s, etc)
11/20/2018 Topic: Local Comic Shop Day Oxbladder	I bought the Cheryl Blossom and the shiny version of Blackbird #1(a shiny Bartel cover is just too much to resist for me). I hope to buy the Power Rangers Blind Box in the near future.