Been good being on these boards for the last few weeks. Nice community here.
One thing I have noticed is that there are a lot of ‘pump and dump’ and other concerning suggestions about some of the more popular sources of spec i.e. CBSI, Key Collector, CBNS, etc. I’ve actually subscribed to a couple of sites that take some flak here.
I don’t really know any of the people who run these sites, but where are the more reliable sources of spec? Or am I here already : )
I’ve been here since 2013 when I started collecting again. And to be honest, I haven’t looked back since. My collection is full of different style of books that I never thought I would have or like. I have couple of valuable books thanks to the tips I’ve gotten here. The community is great and that’s the big plus
Thanks for being here. To me (and this is completely biased) this is the best community. The main site and the forum do two different things that often overlap. The forum is a quick place for people to drop news, discuss the news, and hit on key books quickly. Also a great place to hang out and BS. While people do talk about other places pumping and dumping, use every tool in your tool box to spec on comics, especially if you are flipping books. If a bit of news hits and you find it on another site, use it. If you are buying for long term holds, do be aware that many places have an agenda and from time to time do have a reason for promoting books with no spec behind it.
I use all available free sources and try and verify info is true before going all in. Including CHU, CBR, Key Coliector, Etc. I’ve only visited CBSI once or twice. I know that Nico was doing a write up at comic book scalping and it appears he’s at CBSI and he knows his shit. I’m not sure of others over there but use everything that’s available to help you.
I’ve really only had one issue with Go Collect about an article that was completely false about Maya Lopez’s first appearance. The writer was saying everyone was chasing the wrong book (Daredevil #9) and she only appeared in cameo at a distance. That people should be chasing after Daredevil #10. He made it a point to say that they hadn’t looked at the book and he had.
Well he was absolutely full of shit. She appears in several panels on 9 different pages including her origin in number 9. I pointed it out several times via comments that were never approved. I then sent them an email where they feigned concern and would have an editor look into it. They never changed, retracted or posted the correct info so I haven’t used them since.
So very true. Read/scan Previews, determine if it’s a book you’ll like, want to read, think has potential.
Other things to consider when it comes to speculation:
Scan community sites like this to see what others are talking about.
Read POP culture news sites for upcoming movies/tv films news (since most spec is wrapped around such news)…
Use common sense as well when reading other spec sites. Normally you can get a sense if it’s just them pumping a book they all loaded up on in hopes you buy at marked up secondary prices.
Avoid groups that ban you for disagreeing with them or any type of dissent presented (there’s plenty of them out there). We won’t ban you at CHU if you disagree with others. I think we’ve only banned a few bad apples for just being turd blossoms by making things personal with attacks, trolling, etc.
And if you can, avoid paying for speculation if you can (at least that’s my stance). All too often you’re just paying for spec that you can find elsewhere for free.
And golden rule #1 for me is, if you missed a book that heated up, never pay premium secondary prices. If your intent was to buy low and flip yourself, just skip the book and move on to the next potential book. There will always be others that heat up.
I use key collector, CBSI, go collect, covrprice, CBR, bleeding cool, and CHU.
CBSI - I like to look at the top 10 list every friday.
Go Collect- I love slabs and typically send off books in batches of 25 to get graded. I use them for pricing on slabs. I ignore any of their spec articles.
Covrprice - I use them for raw boom pricing, I also like their hot list that shows trending sales.
CBR and Bleeding Cool - I check these when I’m bored and have read everything else. They rarely have any useful spec, bleeding cool was right about Daredevil 25 recently but I can’t really think of anything else.
CHU - bulk of my time is on here, it’s hands down the best place. Someone on here will also have read all the other sites and made a post if its relevant. You could ignore everything else and get the news you need here. It’s the only forum I ever post on.
I look at most of these sites, but in the short time I’ve been here, CHU has been fantastic. The collective knowledge people have here as well as being able to have a chill conversation is really a great combination.
CovrPrice is fantastic for pure data. It really is like a stock index such as NASDAQ. There is no agenda, no opinions. Just data.
Be careful with covrprice though, they do list all sales but you will often see it skewed by one weird sale.
Like 30 copies of a book will sell for $4 and then one randomly sells for $159 for no reason so their average price shoots up. I wish they would eliminate the outliers.
It’s still a great resource just look at all the sales not just the average price.
100%…there are some weird anomalies, that’s why you have to look closer at what books sold and for how much each day. You’ll notice it when you look at the data closer. It is annoying, but not sure how they fix that.
I think if they just eliminated the top price sale and bottom price sale it would fix most problems. If the book is really getting valuable the next high price sale would let the previous one show up and on and on.
Some of this could be because someone sold a slabbed version but didn’t have it listed as a slabbed version correctly on eBay. So that price gets counted as a raw sale.
Yeah, that’s a good point. A lot of those high sales are because people didn’t distinguish it was a slab. That being said, not sure that omitting the lowest sales price would work.
Either way, CovrPrice is a really great unbiased resource.
I use everything for pricing and spec. CHU, CBSI(a few people, mainly Nico), Gary Nusser who mostly does his own thing with The Comic deSPECtive, Jimmy Linguini(Alex) of Comic Book Wars, Go Collect, CovrPrice, Key Collector(started using again recently but I vet all alerts because Nick is Nick), Comic Book Realm, GPA and probably some other stuff I am forgetting. I feel CHU is the most transparent of them all so far
I think any and all of those sources are fine. They’re not inherently going to get things wrong. I just think that regardless, the best speculators will always do their own fact-checking of assertions. I posted some Disney Investor Day speculation here in late 2020 that was criticized for Rogue Squadron errors. Rightfully so. No information is good if untested and unchecked.
I’d also say that each individual in the market has their own set of guiding principles, morals, and scruples. There are those out there looking to inflate the reputation of a certain issue, variant, etc. Those who might be biased due to a conflict of interests. This doesn’t mean they are necessarily wrong. Will the store variant they have an interest in creating heat up and sell for more? Maybe. About as good a chance as any other crammed into the market out there. Just be on your toes, though.
Wow, I’ve been asked to “use my mind” by a drunk wooky! For that alone, it was worth joining this forum : )
Thanks for all of the responses, they are much appreciated.
I have been collecting comics for reading for 40 years, but only started thinking about them as investments about 4 years ago. Luckily I had a few in decent conditions from the 80s that are now worth something (although not enough to retire on : )
Been stung a couple of times by ‘pump and dump’ before I even knew that was a thing! I am in the UK, so I acted in haste a couple of times, as waiting around had previously led to loosing out. FOMO v Fear of Being Scammed…it’s a hard life! I am feeling like I am finding my feet now, but was interesting to note there are agendas within agendas to look out for.
Also noted that Go Collect FMV prices on some books is a little questionable, albeit good much of the time.
No ambition to be a quick flipper, but interested in buying items that have potential to build over time. I typically buy 2-3 copies of books that might hit that criterion, one for my own collection and a couple to sell when the time is right.
As along time collector, I find it a bit distasteful when potential buyers are referred to as suckers and idiots in some places on the net, but that’s just me. This forum hits the mark in being respectful (and I understand why a couple of ex-posters had to be shown the door).
Anyway, look forward to giving and receiving information on here over the coming weeks and months.
It might help you sleep at night to know that I’m ironically “Drunk”. I was sober for 5 years after a battle with addiction. I have the token beer now and again nowadays. Never more than 1, but never say never.