3/4/2016
Topic:
Have Comic Books Peaked In Market Value?
Oxbladder
|
I spend a decent amount of time in my LCS every Saturday and there are plenty of young folks that come in and who are subscribers. What is more promising is that for the youngest the parents are very cool with them wanting to buy comics. This was not the case five plus years ago and when I was younger.
There are also more women.
What I find most promising is that if you do not want Marvel or DC fares there is a great wealth of good reads out there. While the smaller publishers still have a hard time getting noticed it is largely their offerings that make this one of the very best time to actually get into comics. You can buy almost any genre and actually get a quality read. There is nothing more important to have than a robust offering of quality material.
IMHO whether all comic fans want physical copies or not really doesn't matter as long as they are buying what they like. There are are always going to be physical comic collectors out there to keep the market going as long as there are people spending money on comics in all forms. |
3/4/2016
Topic:
400 dollars
Oxbladder
|
NYX #3 |
3/6/2016
Topic:
Cover miscut
Oxbladder
|
Nowadays only the most severe miswraps and miscuts will drop the grade. Most of the grading companies will not count them that roughly as they are seen beyond the collector's control.
In this case though it may count for a bit more as that sounds like a considerable miswrap. |
3/24/2016
Topic:
Sizing storage supplies.
Oxbladder
|
Most company's Silver Age bags should fit books from the mid fifties to present without issue unless there is a severe spine roll. IF they do not then the next size up, Golden age, should work. Magazine bags would be way too big. The only time you will need Magazine bags is for actual magazines or if you bag your trades/hard covers and even then most of these will fit a silver or gold age bag.
edited by oxbladder on 3/24/2016 |
3/24/2016
Topic:
Plastic or waterproof comic storage boxes
Oxbladder
|
You will be hard pressed to find many plastic comic storage containers. They are not practical ... or necessarily "safe" for storing comics. Most plastics that would be used would off-gas vapours that are not good for the books. If you use a sealed plastic container you will also run into problems as well because, again, you would seal in gases that may eventually damage your books. While the current plastic comic boxes available are not ideal they would still be one of the best because they are already designed for comic storage and they can breath much like the cardboard storage boxes. Mind you if the environment that your books are stored in isn't good then it really doesn't matter what you store your books in. |
3/24/2016
Topic:
Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice
Oxbladder
|
While I will still see this movie I am still not holding out much hope for it being any good. |
3/24/2016
Topic:
Plastic or waterproof comic storage boxes
Oxbladder
|
Cardboard is a pain but I have found them the best option over the years. Thankfully I don't have to move my boxes very much any more  |
3/24/2016
Topic:
Sizing storage supplies.
Oxbladder
|
Perhaps measure the dimensions of the problem books and go from there? The earlier the SA book the more likely you may need a GA bag. I think some companies, such as Dell, had larger dimensions and are more problematic for the traditional SA dimensions. You really should have no problems with DC and Marvel SA book fitting in most of the SA bags .... unless the company that makes your bags is only considering post 1962 Marvel and DCs.
Oh and the thicker the book the more likely you may have to size up the bag.
edited by Oxbladder on 3/24/2016 |
3/25/2016
Topic:
Oxbladder's stuff 3.0
Oxbladder
|
Yeah, so I have been a bit busy lately and have fallen behind a bit.
New purchases uploaded a few weeks ago:
Other Publishers:
2016 Aftershock Retailer Preview
Assassin's Creed v.2 #5
Archie v.2 #6
Dark Horse Presents v.3 #19
God is Dead Vol.6 Trade Paperback
Insexts #3
Jem and the Holograms Valentine Special
Mickey Mouse #9 (IDW)
Rachel Rising #40
Red Sonja: Travels Vol.1 Trade Paperback
Red Sonja v.3 #2
Tomb Raider v.2 #1
The Shield #2
DC:
Batgirl v.4 v.2 Vol.2 Trade Paperback (figure that one out :/)
Batman: Arkam Knight: Batgirl and Harley Quinn Special #1
Clean Room #5
Catwoman v.4 Vol.7 Trade Paperback
DC Essential Graphic Novels 2016
Poison Ivy: Cycle of Life and Death #2
Slash & Burn #4
Starfire v.2 #9
Secret Six v.4 Vol.1 Trade Paperback
The Legend of Wonder Woman #2
Wonder Woman v.4 #49
Marvel:
1602: Witch Hunter Angela Trade Paperback
All-New, All-Different Avengers #5
All-New Wolverine #5
All-New X-Men v.2 #4
Conan the Barbarian #24 (third copy)
Ms Marvel v.4 #4
All-New Stories Start Now! Marvel Free Previews
Spider-Gwen v.2 #5
Silk v.2 #4
Squadron Supreme v.4 #4
Spider-woman v.6 #4
The Mighty Thor v.2 #4
The Thing #27
The Totally Awesome Hulk #1
The Totally Awesome Hulk #3 |
3/25/2016
Topic:
Oxbladder's stuff 3.0
Oxbladder
|
 |
4/2/2016
Topic:
What makes a "Key" Comic
Oxbladder
|
It's a marketing term these days. It is so over-used though that it is irrelevant now. |
4/2/2016
Topic:
Market Price vs Guide Price
Oxbladder
|
Guide, any guide, will never, ever match actual market values. It is just not possible to track every sale of every book every where in the world and even if they could the guide price would STILL only be an average of those vales.
Guides are meant to put you in the ball park. Where your seat in that park is going to be is going to vary widely. As such it is incumbent on a collector to do their homework if they want to buy or sell a book for the best price.
Think about it. There are thousands upon thousands of titles and issues have been released over the decades. Just how are guides and their small crew of employees supposed to track all of these titles/issues and their transactions?
Heck I find eBay prices often not realistic either because you are often dealing with incredibly impulsive people with too much money and very little rational thought. |
4/3/2016
Topic:
BatMan VS. SuperMan Dawn of Justice Review
Oxbladder
|
Really bad writing for this one. First 45 minutes was okay middle dragged. End was good. Gadot was great. Doomsday was ridiculously overpowered. The Superman incident made zero sense. Batman's dream within a dream was unintelligible. Luthor was really poorly acted and written and if they are going dark and brooding for Flash that will be an epic fail. All that aside it wasn't bad but sure wasn't good and I really don't get why some folks went so gaga over it. Perhaps they just aren't as well versed on DC mythos as they would think. It clear the screenwriter and Snyder aren't.
edited by Oxbladder on 4/3/2016 |
4/3/2016
Topic:
BatMan VS. SuperMan Dawn of Justice Review
Oxbladder
|
RocknRollguitarplayer wrote:
Well, with the Professional Critics, that have participated in critiquing to the point of revealing the entire script, i hoped to only bring an entertaining review to entertain interest, not spoil... You Rock, I appreciate the post! jokerbangedquinn wrote:
Thanks for the spoiler...
Some of us intentionally avoid any press and reviews until we have seen the movie. If you can, in the future, preface with a comment that your post contains spoilers, either in the topic title or first few lines of your post it allows people to avoid getting their entertainment spoiled. |
4/7/2016
Topic:
Market Price vs Guide Price
Oxbladder
|
It's not about being a narcissistic sociopath at all. It is about not leaving money on the table. eBay and much of the online world has created a lack of patience and as such people often will be very impulsive and jump when the rest of the marketplace says jump and spend more than they should. If people want to dump cash on you then why would you refuse? I purchased a NYX #3 for $20. Then I got it pressed and graded and offered it at $350 CAD which was the going rate at the time for a graded 9.8. I don't, and neither does the buyer, feel that they were soaked.
As far as I am concerned if people want to (sometimes needlessly) throw cash around that is their business and, if I have what they want, I am going to try and get fair market value for the item(s). If I was running a brick and mortar store I would most definitely be selling at as close to market value as possible. In this neck of the woods that often means selling for more than the market likes to purchase them. IS that soaking? Nope and do you want to know why? Most of the people that are asking for a bargain are not putting the book in their collection. Those folks tend not to argue price. Most of them are trying to get the book at the cheapest price possible so they can turn around and flip it on eBay.
So I actually have very little sympathy for collectors. Whatever mess they complain about they are often the ones to blame (prices, number of variants, etc are all on the heads of collectors). |
4/7/2016
Topic:
Shipping humour
Oxbladder
|
And that shipping time for expedited is about right too since expedited is no longer the descriptor for the fastest services. It is pretty much akin to regular nowadays. |
4/7/2016
Topic:
Oxbladder's stuff 3.0
Oxbladder
|
Thanks HR! Frison is awesome especially her RS covers. I don't mind the new Tomb Raider it flows from the new game mythos pretty well. |
4/8/2016
Topic:
Oxbladder's stuff 3.0
Oxbladder
|
Added to the gallery in the past few weeks:
Marvel:
A-Force v.2 #3
All-New, All-Different Avengers #6 and 7
All-New Wolverine #6 regular and Women of Power variant
All-New X-Men v.2 #5 and 6
The Amazing Spider-man & Silk: The Spider(fly) Effect #1
Amazing Spider-man v.4 #9 Women of Power variant
Black Widow v.7 #1
Captain Marvel v.9(or is it 10) #3 regular and Women of Power variant
Giant-Sized Conan #1 (Duplicate copy)
Mockingbird #1 regular and Women of Power variant
Ms Marvel v.4 #5 regular and Women of Power Variant
Patsy Walker, A.K.A. Hellcat! #3
Scarlet Witch v.2 #4
Spider-Gwen v.2 #6 regular and Women of Power Variant
Silk v.2 #5 and 6
Spider-verse Trade Paperback
Squadron Supreme v.4 #5
Star Wars: Chewbacca Trade Paperback
Spider-woman v.6 #5
Thors Trade Paperback
The Mighty Thor v.2 #5 regular and Women of Power Variant
The Totally Awesome Hulk #4
The Uncanny Avengers #7 Women of Power variant
DC:
Batman & Robin Eternal Vol.1 Trade Paperback
Black Canary v.4 Vol.1 Trade Paperback
Batgirl v.4 #49
Birds of Prey Vol.2 Trade Paperback
Clean Room #6
DC Comics Bombshells Vol.1 Trade Paperback
Justice League #48
Justice League Vol.7 Hard Cover
Poison Ivy: Cycle of Life and Death #3
Slash & Burn #5
Starfire v.2 #10
Starfire v.2 Vol.1 Trade Paperback
The Legend of Wonder Woman #3
Teen Titans v.5 Vol.2 Trade Paperback
Wonder Woman v.4 #50
Other Publishers:
Assassin's Creed v.2 #6
Archie v.2 Vol.1 Trade Paperback
Adventure Time Vol.8 Trade Paperback
Cry Havoc #2 and 3
Donald and Mickey: The Walt Disney's Comics and Stories 75th Anniversary Collection Trade Paperback
Donald Duck #11
Dark Horse Presents v.3 #20
Dejah Thoris #1 and 2
Enormous v.2 #5
Insexts #4
Jem and the Holograms #12
Mickey Mouse #10
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #0 (Pink Ranger cover) and 1
Monstress #4
Orphan Black: Helsinki #4
Phonogram: The Immaterial Girl Trade Paperback
Red Sonja v.3 #3
Revival #37
Stumptown Vol.1 Hard Cover
The Beauty Vol.1 Trade Paperback
Titan Comics 2016 Jan-June Preview
Tokyo Ghost Vol.1 Trade Paperback
Thief of Thieves Vol.5 Trade Paperback
Tomb Raider v.3 #2
Uncle Scrooge #12
Vampirella v.3 #1
Witchblade: Borne Again Vol.3 Trade Paperback
Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #729
Walt Disney's Donald Duck: Tycoonraker Trade Paperback
Walt Disney's Uncle Scrooge: Perils of Pandora's Box Trade Paperback
Walt Disney's Donald Duck: The Complete Sunday Comics 1939-1942 Hard Cover
edited by oxbladder on 4/8/2016 |
4/10/2016
Topic:
Market Price vs Guide Price
Oxbladder
|
It is not immoral at all obtaining a bulk set of books well under going rate. If the seller doesn't do the leg work to ensure they get what they want then that is not MY problem. I have been perfectly honest in my dealings in the past and more often than not it is the collector that has tried to rip me off. Information is out there that anyone can obtain with very little effort to ensure they never "become a victim". There are countless example out there of people buying stuff at garage sales, flea markets or whatever that turned out to be priceless works of art or historical significance. I doubt there isn't a single person out there that wishes that wouldn't happen to them. Being educated can pay off and remaining ignorant can be costly. That isn't sociopathy, it is just a fact of life. Just like buying low and selling high is how you earn profit. if you look at any collecting hobby all sellers would be sociopaths since they are asking over MSRP for (most) back issues and manufactures/publishers are selling to them for well over their cost.
Yes their are gougers out there but the fact that they get away with it speaks more to the customer's state of mind than the seller. The seller is trying to make money and they are going to take every advantage they can. That is how business works.
There was a seller here that gouged customers for decades. People complained about it but he went out on his terms and wasn't forced out. What does that tell you of where the burden of blame lies?
edited by Oxbladder on 4/10/2016 |
4/10/2016
Topic:
Soliciting opinions
Oxbladder
|
I like the ideas but the second one, going by past experience, would only lead to more frustration than anything else since you absolutely must have those in charge of the site very frequent visitors which they are largely not. There have been issues of various sorts dogging the site for a very long time and the list only seems to grow.
To be fair it is a really tall order to try and be the perfect online guide when you do not have the financial and human resources to get it done.
edited by Oxbladder on 4/10/2016 |
