Collection Neglection Reflection

Ah Spring, the time of year when I realize I haven’t blogged in a long time. It’s been a long start to the year between an inter-office job change, a business trip to India for a few weeks, and life in general. I was reminded of this after talking to TJ Luca this weekend at the Wayne Toy and Collectible Show.

Check out his blog and work here http://merchattacks.blogspot.com/

Talking to TJ (aka Tom) and seeing another young artist working on their dream reminds me of being an “old” man, a cubicle monkey, an office jockey, and all those other unflattering names for those of us who put the arts aside as a career choice. Then the art “hobby” becomes “something I used to do”.  You can let skills deteriorate, but if you’re creative, that still runs deep in the blood.

After the show on Sunday, I went to my comic boxes to plan for the next show, pulling out cheap books for the bulk bins, and targeting some high dollar ones as well for good eye candy and customers with deep pockets.  It was more and more difficult to sort through my books, and then I realized that I had been neglecting my collection.  Alphabetical order still ruled, but I had created separate subgroups and boxes that weren’t in the main collection.

Collecting comics is something I’m “good” at, but it’s not my career. It’s my hobby, but I was spending less time on it. Collecting was creeping into “something I used to do”.  We all have to prioritize, but I never intended to leave comics by the wayside of my life.

TO THE BLOG!

Part of my decisions last year to sell comics, catalog and research Golden Age books, and collect more expensive key books was tied to having a blog to share some of these experiences. It takes a little effort, but it’s not “hard”. The only deadlines are my own. The expectations are set by me.  So I’m writing today to kick-start myself, kick my own ass, and throw a bit of praise to someone who got me a little fired up again to get back to what I love.

So thanks, TJ.

Follow his twitter here:  https://twitter.com/#!/twitta76

Why I Don’t Hate the Watchmen Prequel Idea

Almost every successful comic character has been written by more than one person.

That’s it.  End of story. 

Watchmen was a fantastic story arc that was self-contained LIKE A STORY SHOULD BE.  A story has a start, middle, and end.  X-Men #1 had that.  Amazing Fantasy #15 had that.  Why should Watchmen be placed so reverently into an untouchable category?

Many fans have wanted more Watchmen.  Toy Deals came and went.  The movie, love it or hate it, was in limbo for years.  But revisionist history and a vocal Alan Moore proclaim that no one want this, that it’s somehow wrong.  The dog who barks loudest gets the dog catcher… or something like that. 

In discussions at my local comic shop last night, we agreed that the ending of Watchmen was best left unsettled, wondering if Rorschach’s journal would see the light of day. That’s not a spoiler; if you’ve never seen or read Watchmen, you can go ahead and overfocus on the journal, but you won’t understand until you watch the actual EVENTS of the movie i.e. what is put into the journal. So poop on you, cynics.

The Watchmen story (the 12 issues/collected book/movie) are a slice of the character’s lives over the course of unfolding events.  We see many flashbacks across the decades prior to the story, and I understand that the readers/viewers were given just enough back story as relevant to the current story. I get that.  But what is the harm in creating new stories? 

To say that “fans” DON’T want new stories is just wrong.  Hey guess what, I’ve been a fan since the 80s and I want more.  Fun fact: not everything is catered to everybody.  From my view, Alan Moore and the rest of the fans have been “wrong” for not giving me more stories until now.  We often forget in the internet era that many, many, many, pieces of media existing prior to the “me me me generation” and that these discussions are not new.  Or insightful, myself included.

With many media, the continuation will by default mean someone else is on board.  Sure the Harry Potter novels are all one author, but you had different directors and even a recasting due to the DEATH.  By Watchmen purist comic book logic, the movies should have ended.  Or most of the Marvel Universe should be dead and filed away after Kirby died and Ditko and Lee stopped working on the titles.  Think about that.

At the end of the day, here’s the deal: these stories are being published. You can read all about the previews on the DC Universe Blog (the hyperlink is to the blog, too many links to relink for you) and at the end of the day, you can choose to buy and read them or not.  If you don’t read it, your story is still your experience.

But don’t deny me the opportunity.  If you don’t like chocolate cake, I’m not going to tell the bakery they’re wrong for putting it on the counter.

DC’s New 52 Roundup Review… of the Ones I Still Read

I dropped Grifter.

Holding issue #4 of Grifter in my hands, I started to have doubts. Flipping through each page beautifully (and I mean beautifully) illustrated by CAFU, my heart slowly broke, like seeing your boss avoid you all day right before getting fired. The story wasn’t dragging me in or holding my interest. The $2.99 per issue price just wasn’t going to work out for a “wait and see” strategy.  I was already $9 invested in the title, and we all know the comic companies love to issue trade paperbacks after a handful of newstand issues are in the can.

“I’m breaking up with Grifter.”

With my head hanging low, I pulled my coat closed in front of me and placed the issue carefully back on the shelf. Grifter, one of my favorite characters, was ruined by the New 52.

In DC’s relaunch/reboot of all its characters, Grifter was the one I was most worried about. This poor guy has been a member of the ill-fated Team 7 from Image Comics, the “origin” point for many of the Wildstorm Universe characters. Then his WildCats squad was tossed around the galaxy as well as the Image comics buyout by DC and rebooted so many times that the title began to use “2.0″ and “3.0″ in the actual cover title. Cole Cash (his real name for those who don’t follow embedded links) was getting flatter and flatter as a character, going from loner dual pistol wielding John-Woo-esque anti-hero to… a dude in a wheelchair.

DC’s reboot at least kept the black tee-shirt and the mask. But not much else.

In an attempt to make him “gritty”, Grifter was put on the run with some thin amnesia and a plotline of “is it alien abduction/invasion” that mixed together the worst parts of They Live and Mac and Me. I was embarrassed to be caught reading this crap. Dang it, I’m one of the last 3 people with all 3 Grifter action figures (well, the 2 and the PVC molded statue) and they didn’t care about ME.

DC dropped the ball.

(I’ll skip the hyperlinks in the next section, but google/wiki the titles for more info…)

I had already dropped BatWing, JLA, Stormwatch, I Vampire, and any Green Lantern or Legion of Superheoes titles from the New 52. All I had left was Batman, Detective, Batman & Robin… and the 3 titles of New 52 that I love, Batgirl, Animal Man, and Batwoman.

Batgirl

You’ve got to read these titles. Batgirl is the best take I’ve yet to read on the character. She’s the perfect mix of aspirational hero, coming of age young adult, and insecure abandoned child. New 52 claimed Barbara Gordon’s back was fixed by some gene-therapy/stem-cell/BS spinal fix, but that’s a detail worth tucking away. Being an 18-25 year old woman is hard enough, let alone the fear of her body giving out, the distance she is forced to keep from her father to hide her secret, and the uncontrolled distance between her and her estranged mother. Batman, the mentor, is also an incomplete father figure, and at the end of the day, Barbara can only trust herself, since no one can ever know “the real her”. Sound familiar to anyone who’s been through puberty? Batgirl is awesome. The art is great and yes, there’s tons of action. Her fight against the villain named Mirror was a brutal beating that she lost… at first.

Animal Man

Animal Man is hard to describe. I’m going to assign you some homework and tell you to find an issue from the new series online, check out the dark inky artwork, and tell me you’re not intrigued. Being a “less than cool” superhero is tough enough, but finding out that your daughter in the private sector is your superpower heir as well as part of a larger cosmic apocalypse involving the primal forces of nature can be… well… “daunting” is an understatement. I pray the SyFy network doesn’t make a bad TV series out of this, but it would fit well on a station where Warehouse 13 and Sharktopus go hand-in-hand.

Batwoman

Lesbians, ghosts, and death. You in? JH Williams takes your breath away with his art. Kate Kane is an artist’s dream, a woman who is part goth, part glamour, part soldier, part martial artist. Being able to portray so many types of body language in a single character leads to endless possibilities, and every issue has a couple new panels where I shake my head and say “why didn’t anyone draw THAT pose before?” The story is an intertwined cat-and-mouse where our heroine (who likes girls) deals with chasing a girlfriend, chasing a ghost, and chasing criminals while being chased herself by the government.  I wish Grifter was able to pull off this kind of complexity while retaining the personality of a strong-willed superhero.

Sitting back and looking at my New 52 issues, I’ve got to pose the obvious question: was it a success for me, the long-term fan? Like most things in life, the answer is a shade of gray when we wish for black and white answers.  I’ll always read Batman & Detective. I picked up some new titles that I love for characters I didn’t usually follow. I dropped some old friends. That’s life, though. We don’t always get what we want, but we still get something. Nothing’s perfect. But life goes on, and so does the New 52.

Looking forward to the next wave… cautiously.

I’ll Take My No-Prize in Mathematics Now…

Two weeks until the Philadelphia Comic-Con.

I’ve been stewing in my own juices and number hell trying to figure out how to get the most money while offloading the most comics. I’d LOVE to be able to clear out at least one full long box of 300 books to make some space in my comic cave closet, but I’d also like to make a decent profit at the show without undercutting myself.  I’m bringing six boxes, but it’s highly unlikely I’ll move half of those books unless I give them away…

I have a couple of boxes that are bargain books; lovely modern era books from the 1990s through literally this year that have very low collector value, but are in excellent condition and great ways for someone to backfill their runs. I don’t mind getting $1 for a $2.99-3.99 cover priced book. These are effectively magazines, if you really want to get zen about comic book purchasing decisions. These were meant to be disposable reading once upon a time.

At the last show, I saw a couple of guys with 25 cent book boxes. They had lots of traffic, and people went nuts buying armloads of comics. Many, I noticed, were kind of beat up but good stories and characters. My $1 books were lightly picked at by the discerning collector.

Hmm.

(I love a well placed ‘hmm’ in a story.)

Should I choose to stay the course and stick with $1 books? Or should I go dirt cheap and 25 cent them? Or should I go middle ground and get rich or die tryin’ i.e. go the 50 cent route?

300 comics @ $1.00 = $300
300 @ $0.50 = $150
300 @ $0.25 = $75

In addition, I’m bringing some graded books that should be a decent higher value, from $30-150 each. I’ll be lucky to sell 4 or 5 of them, as graded books really need to be matched with a perspective buyer. It is tough to push a CGC slab at someone as an impulse buy, like trying to sell a manual transmission sports car to a quadriplegic; it’s nice to look at and park it in front of your house, but you can’t open it up and really get the full thrill.  It will be tough to get the “exact” graded value, but I can at least put these at a flat discount on the graded guide price; a CGC grade is what it is, there’s nothing subjective about a book being in “fine to very fine”. It’s a 6, 7,  or 8. Period.

My third tier is my ungraded X-Men. I have about 100 or so bronze to copper age X-Men that are ungraded, bagged and boarded, and in the Fine to Near Mint range, 6.0-9.4. I’ll most likely never get the true value for these, so I’ve put together a spreadsheet checklist for my books with the approximate CPG prices for 6.5 and 9.4 copies. Here’s an example using the first appearance of Kitty Pride, X-Men 129:

X-Men 129 @ 6.5 = $20.00
X-Men 129 @ 9.4 = $100.00

Averaging the prices together gives me $60. (I’ve added a column on the sheet for the average of the range).

Hmm.

Looking at the book’s condition, it’s probably an 8.0-8.5. The books in the 1970s/early 1980s are highly sought after in near mint condition, and due to the collecting boom and abundance of issues, it’s tough to get $60 for it.

Let’s add another column, a 25% discount of the average of the ranges. X-Men 129 is now $45.

A scan of ungraded eBay copies shows completed sales in the $10-20 range, so maybe using the 6.5 price is a good idea, right?

Now let’s look at X-Men 175, a double sized anniversary issue.

6.5 = $2.40
9.4 = $12.00
Average = $7.20
25% discount = $5.40

Really not sure this issue should go into the bargain range and be $2, but $5.40, let’s call it $5, seems more “right”. Single copies have sold for $4-5 on eBay, but they’ve also been sold in combined lots of 2-5 comics for $10.

So I’m thinking a variable pricing plan may be in order, with earlier issues holding at the discount while later ones will keep a floor value of some sort. I’ll have to tinker further, but looking at the overall strategy across the three types of books I’m selling, the compromises may be the best way to get books moved. Maybe some of those X-Men go into the dollar bin, and maybe I make a 25 cent box or two. 

Get rich, or die tryin’ sounds much better than shooting yourself in the foot for the sake of a buck.

To Sell Or Not To Sell

I’m facing a couple of collecting crossroads questions this week.

The most recent issue, discovered today, is that my newly received limited edition Marvel Universe Archangel X-Force variant action figure is clearing $100 on eBay. I’m torn.

I love Angel/Archangel, real name Warren Worthington III. He’s one of my favorite guilty pleasures as a character. I have a couple of different versions of him from various toy lines, but this one is special.

The X-Force Archangel represents the zenith of anger and rage in a character who started off with every good intention of being a hero. You don’t need a sofa and a psych degree to figure out my personal interest. But dang it, $100 is a $100!

Modern collecting for, well, modern items, is a flash in the pan profit for many pieces. A figure or comic that is brand new will flare up to a nice profit in the short run, or microrun. Animal Man #1 from the DC New 52 comics has already undergone multiple printings, and the book has flared up to $25 in the microrun, but is already lowered to a $12-15 price, with a further bottom possible. Most “rare” collectibles appeal to a rabid but small base, so after the initial maniacs make their purchases, the flippers find an inventory with a sudden lack of buyers. Supply has exceeded demand, and we all know that the subjective pricing of collectibles can fall out quickly.

See: 1980s-1990s Baseball Cards if you need an example.

See: X-Men #1 (all five covers of the Jim Lee launch)

Sometimes though, a truly difficult to obtain rarity can still push a price to a decent investment level.

See: Jetfire Leader Class action figure from Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. This toy is now bouncing below $100 (60-80), but steady and stable given that this is now a few years old, from a 2009 movie and toy line.

But Archangel is sentimental to me. I got this from a limited edition promotion to subscribe to Marvel Digital Comics for a one year period, so it “cost” me $60. The subscription, prorated at $5 a month, is well worth it for every 2 new comics per month that I read online instead of purchasing, so I still consider my “cost” basis as zero dollars; this was something I received for free for a service I was willing to pay for, that is saving me money already.

But $100 is a $100.

I don’t like “flipping”. I’ve gotten into too much trouble buying and flipping toys during the microrun. When X-Men Origins: Wolverine was released, I bought a number of the figures and was able to sell at least half of them at $12-15 each, with a cost of about $7 each. The other half, I sold at or below cost for an average of $5.50 or so, including some lot sales.  I made money, but I was better off buying half the inventory and being content with that initial cash bump.

So I’m sitting here typing, staring at Archangel, and wondering if maybe I should take all my other Angels and Archangels, and sell them, and just keep this one as a reminder to hold onto something really special. Or maybe it’s my ego, flaunting my wealth. Warren Worthington III would agree with both justifications.

Christmas Shopping

Not much going on recently, lots of price shopping and scouting for books.

I’m planning on the Philly Comicon again in January, more details to come. My strategy is to push a bunch of CGC books as well as dollar books, and putting together some bundles of comics to try to get those sold. Stuff like the old Darkhorse Body Bags limited series, the Catwoman miniseries from the 80s, etc.

I’ll be working on another long update soon. Classes just finished up and I’m almost d0ne with the holiday shopping, so I’ll be able to put something really nice together then.

Stay warm.

Dan Marino Went to Pittsburgh, and Stanley Leiber Created Spider-Man

Stanley Leiber is Stan Lee’s real name.

Stan Lee co-created many of Marvel’s characters with the assistance of Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko.

Spider-Man is hyphenated.

As a collector, reader, and fan, the above facts are ingrained in my five senses. In order to talk shop, do a proper online search, and to win bar trivia at Buffalo Wild Wings and Houlihan’s, these are things I need to know.

Things I SHOULD know.

While sometimes I hiccup on Stan Lee’s real name (Leiber versus, say, Leibowitz or Leiberman) I generally get it right. But I’m not blindsided by the data.

On Sunday, I was selling mostly toys at the Wayne Toy & Collectible show once again. It was my first show this year where I did not have an able-bodied assistant/friend travel with me to work the table, so I spent many hours eavesdropping on the conversations of the buyers and sellers around me, especially the merchants seated across from me. The two men running the table were very gregarious and brought a beautiful pea green Schwinn from 1970 which drew a lot of traffic. They also had a few pieces of memorabilia from football, mostly centered around the Dolphins.

(For those who don’t know, the 1972 Dolphins NFL team went undefeated during the regular season AND won the Super Bowl. The closest any other team has come to replicating this was the 2007 New England Patriots who went 16-0 in the regular season and lost the Super Bowl to the New York Giants.)

At their table, these gentlemen had a huge poster of the 1972 Dolphins team, framed, that was signed by every single member of the team. It’s a massive rarity and highly collectible for any football fan. Behind the poster they also had signed footballs from the ’72 team as well as other Dolphins items. On the side of the table, also framed, was a Dan Marino jersey in navy blue and gold.

Now depending on your age, you may remember Dan Marino as a great NFL quarterback. You may also remember him as “that dude in Ace Ventura”, or “the guy from the Isotoner glove commercials”. More recently. you’re aware of him as the guy in the Nutri-System ads or that calmly angry sportscaster who keeps mentioning on a regular basis that his NFL records are/were being broken and/or threatened by Tom Brady, Brett Favre, Drew Brees, and John Elway. You can google these guys yourself if you’re not familiar with them.

If you are familiar with any of these Hall of Fame caliber gentlemen, there’s a good chance you’re a sports or NFL fan, or maybe even a sports collector.  We all know that superfans have a passion about all things involving their hobby, knowing loved and hated icons with intense depth and clarity.

With superfandom comes great responsibility.

A dealer at the show, one I have seen and talked to numerous times who sells a large amount of sports related items, came up and asked who was the player for the signed ”Marino” jersey.  The table merchants, ever the cantankerous ones, smugly replied that it was “Dan Marino’s” to the dealer who was wearing an NFL team jersey (which will remain anonymous to protect the innocent…)

“What team is that for?”

“Pittsburgh.”

“Steelers?”  (The Steelers have worn BLACK and gold since the Spanish Inquisition; this jersey was navy blue…)

“College.”

Dan Marino, an NFL Hall of Fame Quarterback who is arguably in the top 10 if not top 5 quarterbacks of all time, went to the University of Pittsburgh for college where he went to the Sugar Bowl, the Cotton Bowl, and twice came in fourth in Heisman Trophy voting. Kind of a big deal.

Many people have varying degrees of fandom for their passions. I know that Speedball’s real name is Robbie Baldwin, but I don’t hold an obscure fact on a very low popularity character over the heads of my fellow fans as a sign of my alpha-nerd status. I have many friends who love comics and characters, but don’t know if Green Lantern is from Marvel or DC.

But if you’re going to be selling sports merchandise at a show on a regular basis while proudly wearing a football jersey, please, for the love of God, learn that Dan Marino went to Pittsburgh. Come on, man.

As a seller, you need only one thing, one thing, to make every sale a success, and that’s being trustworthy. If you can establish trust via conversation, or transferred credibility, or a freaking quiz show, you will have a successful transaction.

I wouldn’t buy a comic from a guy who didn’t know how to spell “Spider-Man”, and I wouldn’t buy sports memorabilia from a guy who didn’t know Dan Marino went to Pittsburgh.

The two nice guys who were actually selling the Dan Marino jersey didn’t make a sale on the uniform, but they sold plenty of other items, including the pea green Schwinn… which was sold to a friend of the seller.

Someone he trusted.

 
(Disclaimer: many of the pop culture references are meant as just examples of things that the majority of the public may know, but I do not assume like a jerk that comic books are fully integrated into our society; I get it, I’m a nerd. I am totally not judging Joe Average.  But my argument is still valid; an “expert” should be an “expert” on the more common facts within his trade.)