Oxbladder

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3/25/2021 Topic: Where in this market does everyone find Oxbladder	Theoldcollector wrote: Sure the ones that have paid the higher prices for their copies are not going to want to sell them for less but there are a ton of these still being graded.There have been 2,000 copies added to CGC in the last 12 months alone and that number is going to keep going up very quickly due to these prices. Yes more money means more graded means more on the marketplace. That means nothing right now and doesn't mean much unless demand drops and it may not. The book is high on the want list of many people. There are lots of books that are not scarce in any way but still command high prices and will continue to do so. What you will get at some point where there is less spacing of prices between grades. More 9.8's on the market will slowly correct the gaps. The market will often defy logic but that's collecting for you. You can find tons of books that you feel should be worth more and other that are far more money than one would expect. The less you worry about what you can't control the better you will feel. Personally, prices of NM #98 don't bother me in the slightest.
3/29/2021 Topic: Zenescope Oxbladder	Well maybe the first two Grimms Fairy Tales and beyond that not a clue.
5/9/2021 Topic: The greed in this market is getting crazy Oxbladder	People can ask whatever they want for a book. You are under no obligation to pay that. There's ALWAYS someone asking crazy prices and there's always going to be complaints about it.
5/9/2021 Topic: LCS Changing for the worst Oxbladder	It always amazes me that people get mad at stores for wanting to get FMV for their products. Why should they leave money on the table just so some "speculator" can turn around and flip a book for more money. If they also find it is more profitable to sell online then by all means do so. Their livelihood is selling comics and comic related products so you go where the money is. buyers have created this environment and I am never going to fault an LCS for trying what they need to make a living.
5/9/2021 Topic: LCS Changing for the worst Oxbladder	the above post was mine. Hard to believe that so many years later you can still get logged out while logged in and composing a response.
5/9/2021 Topic: Marvel leaving Diamond Oxbladder	Meh. Really nothing that big. Diamond will still distribute but they are just not exclusive. Nothing at all like Heroes World. DC took that route and time will tell if they will not break down and use Diamond again. Marvel did it the way that DC should have. It was a strong move to ditch Diamond altogether for two distributors with limited reach and experience. Especially when you are getting spanked in the sales end of things. Other than the odd title here and there DC is an afterthought
5/9/2021 Topic: Marvel leaving Diamond Oxbladder	Meh. Really nothing that big. Diamond will still distribute but they are just not exclusive. Nothing at all like Heroes World. DC took that route and time will tell if they will not break down and use Diamond again. Marvel did it the way that DC should have. It was a strong move to ditch Diamond altogether for two distributors with limited reach and experience. Especially when you are getting spanked in the sales end of things. Other than the odd title here and there DC is an afterthought
8/15/2021 Topic: Does anyone know anything about my DC comic? Oxbladder	It's not rare.
8/22/2021 Topic: Comics Going Up...Where is it coming from???? Oxbladder	Taskmaster wrote: Can anyone explain with NO movie and NO TV are "Common" books going crazy..... Because it doesn't take a movie or a TV show for all books to increase in price the vast majority of books that go up in price because other books around it that may be tied to movie or TV get dragged along with it. There isn't any particular reason other than when the market is hot most books usually will benefit from it. There are loads of apps and forums and whatnot that "help" buyers but really most are just reporting after the fact or, like the key collector app, trying to direct the market. The thing is you don't need any of that stuff because if you buy what YOU want to read and your tastes are fairly diverse you will inevitably purchase books that will go up. 95+% of books are going to be slow appreciators but eventually they will go up. There are times, like now, where you hit a sellers market and almost everything goes up significantly but those are pretty rare and definitely not the time that you should be buying for the investment.The vast majority of those people who wait for the apps, forums or social media are going to be spending more money. They still may profit but not if you just buy what you like when it comes out. 99% of what apps like key collectors lists in any given week aren't what I would even call key because not enough time has passed to REALLY determine that. But that doesn't seem to matter much because many of the books end out going up a bit many just for maybe a month before they level off. Key Collector is definitely the new Wizard Top Ten (for those old enough to remember that mag and it's list). It's all rather amusing. You can make money at it but it's not going to last because eventually people figure out that everything goes up in price, the vast majority slowly. That is never going to change. I consider all of my books an investment but I really don't worry about value unless I am looking to unload some books. When you think like this though you realize that you can make money on everything if you are patient and understand that no matter what the market is doing it is going to take time to get a return on your investment. This market is in a self fulfilling prophecy mode right now so it's a good time to sell. It will end at some point and for a large part is slowing down and becoming a buyer's market again.
8/23/2021 Topic: Comic book preorders Oxbladder	I have always used my lcs' for all subscription needs. I tried one of the online services in Canada, while everything shipped and was packed well it wasn't cheaper than my LCS and reordering or adding later to an order was dubious or non-existent. I understand shipping and such are cheaper down there but unless you don't have an LCS I wouldn't use an online service. That's just my opinion biased by years and years of living in a store rich area with excellent service, discounts, and the opportunity to make connections with the industry that usually have great experience, advice, and stories. edited by oxbladder on 8/23/2021
8/25/2021 Topic: Comic book preorders Oxbladder	Yeah, wouldn't support that store. Thankfully, most of the stores here don't play those games. I see worse behaviour from collectors than from the stores. I could tell you some crazy tales, lol.It always makes me sad to hear some of the crap people go through outside my area. I don't support crappy customers or store owners. Frankly, it mystifies me.
9/21/2021 Topic: Questions about Bagging and Boarding Oxbladder	For standard trade paperbacks that have four to 8 issues I suggest bags that are 7 1/2" wide. The extra space will not be an issue. This will cover most trades. The smaller format but larger than standard-sized digests, trades use the same size bag and just fold the excess over and tape it down. Gold Age sized bags will be needed for standard Hard cover collected editions that range up to 8 issues and thicker soft cover trades. DC Black Label trades will need a magazine bag. Depending on the format you may need treasury, Life, Art Print, and newspaper sized bags. Any excess fold and tape down. edited by oxbladder on 9/21/2021
9/21/2021 Topic: The greed in this market is getting crazy Oxbladder	Defiant1 wrote: Theoldcollector wrote: leigh28 wrote: And yet people are buying them. If no one was greedy we'd still be paying cover price for things The value of a book worth more than cover price is not from greed that is just what the market says it's actual worth is. Greed is someone ripping off their fan base and asking well over current market prices knowing that some of their fans will fall for it and think they are getting a good deal. Greed is when LCS are pulling books on the day of their release and telling their customers they sold out only to turn around and sell the books a week later for high prices. There is a difference between greed and the value of books going up. If I'm running a business and trying to stock desirable comics that customers want, I will buy what I can for the price I can. If I have to buy comics at market value, I have to mark it up in price to make a profit and sustain my business. This is not greed. It is running a business. Does it make you pay more? Yes. Does eBay make retailers pay more to restock? Yes. What do you think a comic business is supposed to do? Try to sell unpopular garbage that collectors don't care about? Fruitlessly hope that someone will want to sell a hot comic to them for 50% of what they can get on eBay? This is how business works. You buy product to sell at the cheapest price you can. You stock products people actually want. You mark it up standard percentages so that you pay business expenses and make a profit. Profit is not greed. It's what sustains the economy and keeps people gainfully employed. In the 90's I saw a store sell out of the "Death of Superman" issue. Customers who had not pre-ordered the comic were demanding they get a copy or they'd do business elsewhere. The store owner was buying back the comics they had just sold to customers and paying them cover price or more. The customers who didn't care as much about it were getting their money back or even a small profit so the store could restock and meet the demand of their customers. The store would mark the issues double the price they had paid to buy them back. A $3 comic became a $6 comic instantly. Customers were still demanding the comic and threatening to shop elsewhere. The cycle repeated and by the end of the evening, the store was charging about $18. Keep in mind that if a store has to buy back a comic for cover price, they made no profit at all on the initial sale. They lost money. They have to mark it up or they are just giving comics away. Amen. Dealers get a lot of flack yet most of it is just not right. Are there some unscrupulous dealers but there are LOTS of customers that are just plain rude. In my neck of the woods my LCS gets a lot of BS from all sorts of "collectors" that are using apps like Key Collector to guide their purchases but will give my LCS for either upping prices to just under market value (he gets serious flack for selling at market value even though he does charge premiums until the common issues go to back issue or the low ratio (1:10, 1:20, etc), selling out of books, not grouping key issues into one section, and a whole host of other things. All of these guys are usually trying to speculate and never order the books in advance. He even gets flack for either not ordering, not ordering enough, or selling out of books these people don't order themselves. When you step outside Marvel and DC stores often have to take all the risk on what to stock because these guys won't assume any risk.
9/21/2021 Topic: Have the movies really made thousands of new colle Oxbladder	I doubt the movies have added all that much. Helped add some maybe.
9/21/2021 Topic: Comics Going Up...Where is it coming from???? Oxbladder	Heritage, eBay, and many other online sites have loads of people that are more than willing to pay more, and there are loads of people that will pay more even if they know they can get a copy cheaper. My LCS has often had people seriously mull over buying a book but then balk at buying it because it was a bit too much only to find out later that they paid double for the same book because it was on sale for X% off. I kid you not. Almost every graded book is sold far over market value. How many books sell for over cover? Heck every book you buy has been marked up to guarantee a profit. People here order tons of stuff that is in stock around town and is often cheaper than online and no shipping costs. there are guys that sell at small shows here and consider they made a profit if they make above their table costs. Tell me if you spent 2 hours a day for five days getting g ready transported your goods there early to set up sat there for 7+ hours and made $400 over your tables spent $100 on other stuff or food,, then transported everything back home and spent a few hours packing everything back into place. Have you really made any money at all? How much is your time worth? Not everything is going to drop all that much nowadays so if people are overpaying clearly demand or desperation is the norm not the exception.
9/29/2021 Topic: Highest possible grade with detached cover... Oxbladder	The only way you would get above a max grade of a 3.0 is if they gave it a qualified grade which are complete BS.
10/18/2021 Topic: Absolutely Crazy! White Widow #1 Variants Oxbladder	Sex sells especially in comics.
12/8/2021 Topic: To Grade Or Not To Grade? Oxbladder	Troybo wrote: but more importantly, they seem to be less stringent with the grading of newer comics versus older issues. The converse is true of older comics: CGC tends to grade the older issues with more leeway, while holding the newer issues to a higher standard. This is not what I have heard, read, or experienced. Fact is there's no substantial difference, at least consistently. As for realized prices, CGC tends to get more but if you fix a CBCS book at CGC price you will get it. edited by oxbladder on 12/8/2021
12/28/2021 Topic: The Department of Truth #6 Oxbladder	Did you count the cover in that total and all ad pages? GCD says 32 pages so there should be 8 total wraps.
12/28/2021 Topic: Clarification requested for Thundercats #1 Oxbladder	There was no specific Canadian Direct Market printing by publishers. There was no reason to when the price tags were all displayed with pricing for the three different countries. The newsstand market had different requirements which include UPC and specific pricing. Eventually they scrapped the single price label for multi price.