CapnDoug

all messages by user

4/15/2016 Topic: Comic Book Eras CapnDoug Administrator	Honestly, if we want to start calling something the copper age, the years from 1986 to 1994-1996 or so would be the best fit. Basically, the production value of a single issue seems to have gone up, while print runs plummeted. Where exactly you put this break would not be clear, but it would make sense to put the break after the crash of the mid-90's. We might even be able to say that we are in a seperate age from that as well, with the New 52 and Marvel Now allowing for a fairly clean break in 2011. But then again, no one can really point to when the Bronze Age started (I've heard death of Gwen Stacy, debut of Punisher, debut of Conan, etc), so pinpointing the start of these ages would be tricky, too.
4/16/2016 Topic: Comic Book Eras CapnDoug Administrator	genuine_article_comics wrote: Respectfully, I'm not sure what purpose these names serve. I can't think of another artistic field that labels eras the way comics do. Film and music don't do this. They may refer to a "golden age" but it's not the same as comics naming all the eras. Why do we need to name the eras? Actually, film kind of does. I just doesn't feel the need to ensure that every year is part of an era, like the Silent Era, the Studio Era or the New Hollywood era.
4/16/2016 Topic: Comic Book Eras CapnDoug Administrator	genuine_article_comics wrote: CapnDoug wrote: genuine_article_comics wrote: Respectfully, I'm not sure what purpose these names serve. I can't think of another artistic field that labels eras the way comics do. Film and music don't do this. They may refer to a "golden age" but it's not the same as comics naming all the eras. Why do we need to name the eras? Actually, film kind of does. I just doesn't feel the need to ensure that every year is part of an era, like the Silent Era, the Studio Era or the New Hollywood era. Hmmm..I suppose that's true, good point. What purpose do "silverage" or "goldenage" etc. names serve? Is it just for casual conversations? They're not offensive by any means but I'm curious why we use them at all. To me, they serve as a decent guide post when I am buying a collection. If I am told that it's 3 long boxes, mostly modern and bronze age Marvel, but there are a fair number of mid and low grade Silver Age DC, too, I know what to expect and still have the joy of finding things as I'm going through it. Same goes for eBay. It's mostly a guidepost for age. Using it as anything more doesn't make sense. That's kind of why my preference would be for some sort of distinction for before and after the 90's crash. Comics published between 1986 and 1994 or so are just so easy to find. After that, comics tend to be rarer, but much better taken care of. Plus, I tend to see anything that was published before about 1995 as kind of interesting, since that was when I started collecting regularly. It doesn't hold any force or effect, just a slightly better guide post.
4/17/2016 Topic: Comic Book Eras CapnDoug Administrator	BburgDaddy-o wrote: CapnDoug wrote: Honestly, if we want to start calling something the copper age, the years from 1986 to 1994-1996 or so would be the best fit. Basically, the production value of a single issue seems to have gone up, while print runs plummeted. Where exactly you put this break would not be clear, but it would make sense to put the break after the crash of the mid-90's. We might even be able to say that we are in a seperate age from that as well, with the New 52 and Marvel Now allowing for a fairly clean break in 2011. But then again, no one can really point to when the Bronze Age started (I've heard death of Gwen Stacy, debut of Punisher, debut of Conan, etc), so pinpointing the start of these ages would be tricky, too. I have a question, then. Assuming that at some point a greater percentage of titles from '86-'96 become desirable again, which of the more obscure ones might become "must-haves" for either collectors or investors? It's not so much that they aren't desirable. I put some of the death of Superman stuff or the Todd McFarlane Spider-Man #1 in the dollar bin and it moves pretty easy. It's not that people aren't interested in them. It's that they are not hard to find. Issues from that era are so over produced. Add that to the fact that most of the issues went into collections where the were cared for, or put into a box where someone thought they were going to pay for their future child's education and if you want these issues, you can find them without much difficulty. Heck, even the really valuable stuff from the era like New Mutants #98 is easily available, so long as you are willing to pay for it. Even some of the more obscure titles from that era are not hard to find, since again, people thought they were going to be valuable and put them away to appreciate in value, not realizing that publishers were milking this collectability for all it was worth (see the massive number of chrome/metallic ink/hologram covers in addition to the gimmicky keys like the 1993 Marvel Annuals, the replacement Superman/Batman/Green Lantern/Spider-Man/Thor, etc.) There are so many of these out there.
4/19/2016 Topic: Marketplace Transactions CapnDoug Administrator	Shotgun22 wrote: Does anyone know the user Apenza? I've made two different offers in at least $100 or more on books and no response? Help? Does not show up as an actual member in the database.
4/19/2016 Topic: Flash 129 and other recent Flash changes CapnDoug Administrator	The office staff is aware of this issue. Hopefully, it should be corrected soon.
4/19/2016 Topic: Batman v Superman Dawn of Justice Variant Polybag CapnDoug Administrator	There is no conclusive answer that I have seen about how removing a comic from its polybag effects value. It all seems to come down to personal preference. If you need to know what's inside, opening it may be the only way.
4/19/2016 Topic: Marketplace Transactions CapnDoug Administrator	I'm going to refer you to the previous response about not having the "last log in" info for the marketplace. If they have posted on the forums, I could find out, but if they are not forum users, I don't see that info.
4/19/2016 Topic: Marketplace Transactions CapnDoug Administrator	He might be a member. I just tried to search for him and didn't find him. Not sure why. As for why he's not accepting, he might not be getting the emails, may have lost his log in info, may no loner have the comics.... There are too many reasons to make any assumptions.
4/21/2016 Topic: PROPHET #1 CapnDoug Administrator	http://comicspriceguide.com/titles/prophet/shqw http://comicspriceguide.com/titles/prophet/shqt Which Prophet series are you looking for?
4/21/2016 Topic: DC Famous 1st Edition HUGE SIZE reprints (1970s?) CapnDoug Administrator	The Famous 1st Editions have some value since they are exact reprints of the originals, so they are good reader copies and their large size make them harder to store and therefore harder to find in high grade. As for the rest of the collection, searching is usually part of the fun. Lots of good stuff in every era.
4/26/2016 Topic: Books right off the shelves CapnDoug Administrator	ComicFan70 wrote: Hi all, Thanks for the replies, apologies for the delay, RL health gets in the way. After reading these, I think I can safely say that, just as chukueke said, I take my time to find the best looking one on the shelves. I don't bring bags/boards with me, but I do gingerly open them and read them, quickly put them in bags, etc. So, I think my initial grade of 9 'off the rack' was a little on the low side, as I've probably seen, picked up, handled, read and put away books at least a 9.4+. And as erichey was saying, I keep care to keep my books out of the sun, humidity, etc. As a quick Q - Does anyone totally rebag their books with new boards, bags every 5-7 years as I've heard, or is this an urban LCS legend? I push my rebagging to every 10 years, but yes, I do fell better making sure that the bags and boards not really old. I've seen comics that were still in their original bags from the 80's and 90's and can safely say that it is not just an LCS urban legend. Those bags had almost liquified in spots and the boards had the back ad burned onto them. Replace your bags and boards, but you can stretch the timeline a bit.
4/30/2016 Topic: Where do I CapnDoug Administrator	So... I'm thinking that was a typo and you were looking for the company that grades and certifies comics and not the government organization that handles disease outbreaks. It that's the case: https://www.cgccomics.com/
4/30/2016 Topic: Ruk's list-Who has the best collection CapnDoug Administrator	rixmaxx wrote: So what does one have to do to get on this list? I thought my numbers were good enough but I've never seen my name on the list.....What am I missing? Thanks I think the list actually does include everyone, but the lists published with every update are only a portion of the list up to the person who is lowest on the list and in need of updating. So, if the person who was number 5 on the list asked for an update, the update would only show five people on the list.
4/30/2016 Topic: Marketplace Transactions CapnDoug Administrator	Honestly, I've asked the site staff to see if there is a way to mark members who are selling issues that have not visited the site in over a certain amount of time. I figure 6 months is sufficient. Not sure if that's possible, but it would make things easier. I assume that is probably what the issue is. Someone posted an issue a long time ago and has not been on the site in some time, but the issues remain until the individual actually takes them down.
4/30/2016 Topic: CapnDoug's Back Issue Discoveries CapnDoug Administrator	So, I haven't posted anything in a while, mostly because I haven't actually bought anything in a while. I did buy a few things at one con I worked, but that was a while back and that was the last of it. Not because I'm not interested. I am. But because I had a larger expense that was taking priority. At the moment, I am in New Jersey visiting Kairi. I know she doesn't post a lot, but she is a spam killing machine. Anyway, she just graduated from university and while she and I were together with her parents and family, it seemed like a great time to ask her to marry me. She said yes. So... that's the reason for no updates. I've been spending money on an engagement ring and plane tickets rather than comic collections.
5/1/2016 Topic: Ruk's list-Who has the best collection CapnDoug Administrator	Oh, in that case you just need to sign up. Submit the number of issues you have in your collection, the graded value of your collection and you'll be added.
5/4/2016 Topic: Misprint of Justice League International #68 9/94 CapnDoug Administrator	While I can't speak to that specific issue, I think that's a Zero Hour thing. The issues I have from that event and they tended to end with blank pages for story telling reasons. I may be wrong, but I don't think that's a misprint.
5/12/2016 Topic: Tales of Suspense 77 CapnDoug Administrator	The big thing is usually how or when the signature is taking place. If both of them are signing at an event where there is a CGC Signature Series documentation (or however it's done), then it wouldn't make a ton of difference. If, however, you are getting Hayley Atwell to sign the comic at one event, then sending it in to CGC or CBCS, you will probably be doing yourself a disservice by having her sign an older issue. If the signature is not documented, it usually gets a "qualified grade" which can turn off a lot of collectors. In that case, a more modern comic would probably be best.
5/13/2016 Topic: Dynamic Forces? CapnDoug Administrator	Dynamic Forces is an online/mail order retailer (not sure if they are still around) that published a lot of special covers as an incentive for people to buy from them. In many cases, the number of copies were limited to a set number (the C of A might have a number on it to indicate that), so they were sealed with the sticker to ensure that they were authentic. They do have some value, but in most cases, the vast majority of the copies produced were all preserved and kept unread, meaning that there is not a massive demand outpacing the supply. I have put one or two of mine in better bags, carefully removing the sticker and affixing it to the new bag (and if the bag has a special mark on it, I preserve that behind the board). I have heard that this is ok, though there are probably some that would see this as damaging the original product. I don't think there is a set rule about what to do about the additional thing included with comics, like a special polybag, but it is best to keep them with the issue, even if they are being altered.