Greetings all! Over the course of the last month or so I was able to attending/participate in a couple of different comic-cons. One larger scale and two smaller. As a 501st trooper I often get to spend a great deal of time browsing/shopping, and just observing. It’s difficult to make generalizations on just a couple cons but much of what I saw really wasn’t a surprise based on conversations we have here (in no particular order):
- CGC books continue to not really sell from what I saw with the exception of some of the true mainstays like ASM 300, Hulk #340, etc. I actually saw CGC/CBCS graded books in lesser condition sell fairly well over the more expensive high grades however. People wanted the book and the lower grade price points made them a good option.
- I can’t believe some of the junk that people grade. Yeah, we talk about this all the time but it is incredible to me. I saw one guy with a booth that had no less than 300 slabs and even with pretty dirt cheap pricing they just sat there because they were all just really crappy books. So many bad variant covers especially, store exclusives. He couldn’t give the junk away.
- Godzilla comics sell
- Invincible comics sell
- Sonic Comics sell
- Naughty girl comics sell
- Horror comics sell (the Jason, Freddy, Aliens, Michael Meyers type books)-
- Dollar books/bins remain what folks love. It is the “run filler” buyers with their notebooks that make the comic world go round imo. I loved sitting and watching folks bring their own comic boxes and go through those type of boxes and literally fill them with run filler type books and such. I think the strength of the comic book collecting community remains to be the quiet collector folks who just love comics and buy anything and everything if it is something they don’t have.
- POPS sit unsold and are starting to just take up space. Convention bigwigs need to start reducing the vendors that deal in these. They are just taking up space.
- A continuation of a bunch of vendors/dealers that are selling junk that nobody wants and certainly nobody is going to over pay for. Comic con bigwigs need to trim this fat and start understanding that being restrictive/and calculating in who is at their cons will yield bigger returns then taking anyone simply because it generated a booth fee payment.
- I know nothing about “Furries”, “manga” and much of the younger generation interests and if I want to be successful in comic selling/meeting their needs I’d best start paying attending or learning a bit.
- This point is certainly dependent on your goals but I will continue to firmly believe that going to a con on the First day pays far more dividends then going on the final day. If you are looking for rare books in cheap bins, good buy $1 books, harder to find stuff, etc…you just need to be there first. Simple as that. A great majority of the books I have pictured would 100% never made it to the additional days. No way.
- Knowledge pays off. This forum, all of you, the knowledge we share…absolutely invaluable. Gives us a step up. You often think that the other folks looking in bins are going to snag stuff you are after and that they have that same knowledge, but more often than not they go right buy some really good stuff. I’m sure I miss stuff also, but branch out, study, learn about everything you can. So much gold out there for the taking. All things take work…put in the time and it pays dividends.
- Yep…cash is king. Use it to your advantage.
- Seems silly but 100% do you own math/add up the books you want and then present them to the dealer for you deal/bartering. On at least one occasion, the dealer had bad math (I don’t believe he was trying to cheat me) and if I hadn’t paid attention I would have overpaid by $150. With a big ole stack of books, it’s easy to just not really pay attention or miscalculate.
- To the point above, I continue to believe letting the dealer give you the “deal” price is a better avenue then you making the initial offer. You can always counter/say no and it gives them the perception of being in the driver seat.
- Prices are starting to normalize thankfully. Not so much on the older silver/golden/big books but all the other stuff. I think a good majority of dealers have finally started to understand and adjust. Some of these folks still set up like a museum/show off dealers and they don’t sell a thing. I’ll never understand that. Takes me all of a minute to tell if a dealer is still working with their COVID time prices in their boxes. I just move on. Not worth my time. One dealer who was pretty nice/receptive I had a conversation with him…simply told him. You have some really nice stuff but your prices are just not remotely close to what they should be right now.
- For the most part, people would barter, deal, work with me pretty well. One booth wouldn’t and he sort of falls into the category above. I can’t wrap my head around that. The book was $280 and I offered $250 cash. At $250 it was actually right at, even a bit above FMV. He wouldn’t budge…nothing. I really wanted the book (DC 100 page spectacular #4) but I had to pass on principle.
- All the random first appearance type books, spec type fodder, books we generally talk about…sit on walls. Spider-Boy, Ultimate spiderman, stuff like that…everyone has them, everyone has them priced too high. and nobody buys them.
- Hitting the con…head to the back/smaller booths and work your way back. The routine/always at show players tend to be at the entrance…but you don’t want them. You want the smaller, new to a con sellers in the back. They need to make their money back, they have the new/fresh inventory. Try to move quick (but not too quick lol). You can immediately get a sense of the golden nugget booths.
- Yes, I love Dave Stevens…so do most. For all that is holy please don’t overpay for his stuff. They are everywhere. People have boxes of that stuff. His books are at every booth for absurd amounts. Yes, I’m contradicting myself as you’ll see one I bought below but it was in a dollar bin lol.
Anyway, sorry…still rambling. Here are my various pick ups. Again, had I not been there on the first day (and right at opening), I highly suspect I wouldn’t have gotten the majority of these. They just wouldn’t have lasted. The biggest/best pick up is that Silk Spectre Bruce Timm variant. That books is an absolute ghost and it was sitting there in a bin at $25. Fun mix of books. Clearly, my continued focus is on Bronze age horror/Wrightson/Adams, etc. I did grab some newer stuff that was just “fun” and that I never see such as the Galacta book. Regards.
