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  • bigbillguts | Male | 44 years old | Auburn, NY

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Thief of Thieves #1

912 views • Nov 27, '17 • (2) Comments

I haven't ordered from eBay in a LOOOOONG time- I find that I usually pay top dollar for books when I do.  I have had Thief of thieves #1 on my list of comics to own for quite some time now- I read the TPB and I enjoyed the story.  About 2 years ago, this book was super hot on eBay because Hollywood decided that they would turn this into a show.  Now that the buzz has worn off and the show deal is still in the works, I figured I would try and grab a book from an auction.  5 minutes to go an no one bid on it yet?  Starting bid was 19.99... way better than the last time I tried to pick it up!!!  As time expired, I was the only bidder and walked away with what was sold as a mint copy of #1 for $25 after shipping!!!

The comic showed up today, and looks great for the most part- except that this comic is clearly not mint.  The description read:

Grade: 9.8 NM/MT

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Slow Weekend for Comics

1225 views • Nov 19, '17 • (0) Comments

This weekend was Local Comic Shop Day.  Sadly, I was not able to attend due to family obligations.  Hopefully next time!!

To make up for it, I went to the local flea market today.  I usually find nothing in the way of comics when I show up- its always either a pile of waste that was found in a barn, or a bunch of 'valuable' comics from the 90's that are worth tons because they were bagged and boarded, according to the guy who is trying to flip them.... yeah.

I did stumble upon one collection that did have a few things I have been looking for, however!  Alpha Flight 17 (first Big Hero 6) and 2 copies of The new Teen Titans 10 (third DeathStroke).  It was nice to actually find some things that have been on my want list!!  Even better- I got all three comics for $5!!!  Made my bust of a weekend a little less painful, I must say!

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Going to Give CBCS a Try!

1417 views • Nov 14, '17 • (3) Comments

Not too long ago, I stopped by a local shop type store and found a collection of G.I. Joe comics sitting in a brown cardboard box.  They were all in old poly bags and seemed to have been decently taken care of.  I got talking to the shop owner and he told me that they came in as part of an estate auction and that he wanted $40 for the box.  I sifted through the collection and, at the bottom of the box, i came across two CGC graded books - a #1 and a #21.  I knew that getting books graded was not cheap, so I figured $40 for the box (which actually had a complete run of 1-100, with additional unslabbed copies of 1 and 21) was a good price.

I had never given much thought to getting books slabbed- up to this point, I have always been a fan of comics for reading.  But now that I have multiple copies of books and I have digital access to much of anything, I am starting to think it would be nice to get some books graded.  Partly so I can see how far off I am in my guesses of grading, partly to protect some of my investments.

After collecting for a bunch of years, I think I finally have some books worth grading.  I watched a lot of videos and searched around the web to determine if one company is better than another, and to weigh the cost.  The whole culture of grading is pretty new to me and I figured I should do it right- and I had no idea there were so many opinions about grading.  

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Last week, I was able to take a trip to Seattle!  While I was there, I hit up a few of the sights, including the Public Market- this is the spot most famous for being a fresh seafood market where you can watch as huge fish are thrown through the air to be processed for sale.  Cool place that has lots of food and shops, and there is one in particular that I have as my 'must visit' when I go to Seattle- Golden Age Collectables.  Golden Age Collectables is a comic shop one floor below the seafood market- and is a gem of a shop!  My kids made the trip to Seattle with me this time and made their first visit to Golden Age.  The staff members of Golden Age are really cool and made the experience great for my children!  They pulled out a stash of surplus Free Comic Book Day comics and let my kiddos choose a few, and chatted it up with them about DC Super Hero girls and Spidermen.  In talking, we found out that Golden Age Collectables ia not only the oldest comic shop in the US, but they are apparently the oldest comic shop in the world!  They did some research and they are yet to find a shop that has been open as long as they have been!

While perusing, I came across a copy of the Gold foil variant of Kid Lobotomy #1 on the shelf for $8.  I remembered hearing that this book was an error and that the gold foils were going to be destroyed, so I happily picked up this book, knowing that my hometown shops never have anything this cool for sale!

I would highly recommend visitng Golden Age Collectables if you are ever in Seattle!! Great staff and great selection, and more kid friendly than others!!!

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New stash gifted to me!

1683 views • Oct 23, '17 • (0) Comments

Went to the local flea market yesterday and found a small pile of autographed comics for a buck a piece.  Nothing incredible, but there was a run of the DC 1,000,000 comics in there and a Star Trek Generations movie adaptation graphic novel signed by Barbara March, who played Lursa on TNG.  Cool stuff and I was happy to find something on an otherwise strike out day!

Later, I was gifted an older pile of comics from a friend that did not want them taking up space in their house any more.  Lots of DC stuff, and I usually shy away from DC, but it was free and all....  Looking through, I found some gold: 3 copies of Shazam! #1, 1 copy of #25, and 2(!) copies of #28!!!  Forever People #1, New Gods #7, New Teen Titans #2.... very happy to own these keys that I never seem to find in the wild!!! 

My weekend went from meh to amazing in just a few short hours!!

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Finally got my collection catalogued!

2374 views • Aug 2, '17 • (0) Comments

After sitting on it for years, I have finally catalogued my collection!  After keeping a spreadsheet forever and using this site to determine value, I figured it was easier to consolidate to one source.  My only new comic this week was a nice copy of Avengers Annual #10 that I was able to trade some old video games for.  The book looks as if it was dropped on the corner of the upper spine, but this didn't create any spine nicks that broke the color.  This will be a book I send out in my first shipment to CBCS to try out the pressing service.

Anyone out ther have any good luck with the pressing service?  

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