Went to a Comic Book Show today

Morgoth

I went to a local comic book show today with my daughter who is 2. I was intersted since I set up at the local cards shows I wanted to see what the differences were.

1. The show was about 3X as big as any of the local card shows, it was packed with dealers and stuff.

2. They charged $4 admission which I wasn't too happy about as all the shows I set up at are free. It also is located in the same exact place I do shows at.

3. There was about 10X the traffic at the show. It was PACKED with people.

4. I had a heck of a time looking at anything with my daughter with me. I actually just looked at the stuff on display as I had to hold her the entire time as she got scared of the crowd.

5. The dealers are not very friendly or willing to deal. Most acted offended if I asked what their lowest price would be on an item. Three dealers said they had to have book value on everything I like because it was hot (spiderman).

6. Dealers are hugely unorganized. Every dealer literally had 1000's of comics and almost 0 had them in alphabetical order or in a logical way. Some employed the pile method of hiding the books you actually want to buy.

7. You really have to comparison shop at the shows and condition is much tougher to define. I found 2 copies of Amazing Spiderman #50 that were in similar condition but 75 apart in price, I am glad I found the second copy as I almost bought the first. However the condition of the 2 books was very hard for me to judge on which was better. I think I bougt the better copy but I need more experience I think.

8. Graded comics are not very popular at this show. I found about 10 books total graded. 8 were golden age key issues in VF to F shape. One was Wolverine #1 and the other was ASM #300 CGC 92 which I almost bought for $100 but decided to look on ebay first.

Lastly I ended up with 20 issues of ASM including 2 keys (33 and 50) for my collection and 2 Daredevil issues. I am collecting the first 350 issues of ASM and first 200 Daredevils.

storm888

Excellent report.

I have found that as a buyer/seller, ANY type of collectible show that
charges "admission" is a better show than the ones that are "free."

Dboneesq

Since I know even less than you about comics, I'll just agree! LOL

Seems like comics, at least in your part of the country, are MUCH more alive than cards! I had no idea. (However, I will say that last month I went into NYC ... I live on Long Island ... with my ten year old daughter for the day. We spent the entire day there and had a lot of fun. I did see a comic book store so I went in to see if they had any cards ... NOPE ... all comics and hero action related stuff ... and the place was VERY crowded ... and there were TWO floors!)

Morgoth

For all the perceived goofiness comics sure do bring in the crowds and money. One thing about comics is that for 20 bucks you can 20 to 40 comics that will give you hours of reading enjoyment.

al032184

Do you see any graded comic cards at these shows? or anywhere for that matter? I like the 93 Skybox Marvel Masterpieces set, and was thinking of starting a graded one.

JackWESQ

As Storm888 said, excellent report. But my favorite part?



<< <i>Some employed the pile method of hiding the books you actually want to buy. >>



Awesome.

/s/ JackWESQ

vladguerrero

1. from my experience there are less shows per year and when the have one they are much more successful than card shows.
2. as another poster has said it seems the better shows charge admission.
3. i've done very well with original comic book art lately, MUCH better than cards.
4. because most comics are transported in monster boxes that is also has dealers dispay as they get their best bang for their buck at a shows table, not 2 year old friendly .
5. i've found this to be the case in the comics industry, usually as marked, whether that be book or 50%, the most success I've had with deals is dealers looking to clear house.
6. that's craziness! usually I find comic dealers ultra organized, except a few who half ass it.
7. oh yeah, last show I went to I brought a list of what I wanted, first place I found things the guy charged book, the next 30% off book, the next 50% off book, it pays to put in the time.
8. i was sort of surprised that graded comics weren't as prevalent at the last show I went to as well, there was no graded vintage, just a handfull of modern key issues and recent variants. grading obviously provides somewhat of standardized condition scale but they also mark comics as restored, etc... seems like a valuable tool for vintage stuff. I bought a wizard magazine a few months ago and they have a grading section for prices, they also showed sales of highend comics that were very high so obviously someone's buying them.

Congrats on the pick ups!

Morgoth

There were some local artists but other than that nobody dealt in original art which was disappointing. I only have 1 original page and its from Countdown to Infinite Crisis as I am huge Blue Beetle (Ted Kord) fan.

I think next show in Oct I will be able, hopefully, to spend more time looking through all the boxes. I am a big 80s fan and bronze collector and I want to finish my Doom Patrol, Hitman and Preach runs someday as well. I am sure there were copies at the show but I didn't have the ability to look through each box as none had what was in it on the outside to help (besides a box labeled G-K that had Avengers in it).

I am leaning strongly to start buying sliver age (pre 1970) books graded. I am too lazy to look at every single page for marks, tears stains etc and it seems you really have to be careful in those years if you want decent, F to VF shape books.

I saw tons of cards but none graded. I did not look for sketch cards, next time I will

otwcards

<< <i>For all the perceived goofiness comics sure do bring in the crowds and money. One thing about comics is that for 20 bucks you can 20 to 40 comics that will give you hours of reading enjoyment. >>



I know that there are probably a few guys here that probably have repeated "reading" enjoyment from a few magazines they've bought in the past. Those fold-out centerfolds can be pretty tough holding up with one hand...

hammered

Boy, I remember attending a few shows in the Denver area in the early 90s that were sparsely attended
I wonder if the past decade or so of successful superhero movies has increased interest in the old books

Morgoth

I think so, if you look at who is writing comics today it's a who's who of hollywood script writers, directors etc. Kevin Smith, JM Strycizinski, Joss Whedon the list goes on. The guy who writes Heroes is a comic book guy. Hollywood is trying to kill themselves for the next big franchise (my money is on Fables) but basically anything Frank Miller and Alan Moore is going to get a look.

vladguerrero

<< <i>

<< <i>For all the perceived goofiness comics sure do bring in the crowds and money. One thing about comics is that for 20 bucks you can 20 to 40 comics that will give you hours of reading enjoyment. >>



I know that there are probably a few guys here that probably have repeated "reading" enjoyment from a few magazines they've bought in the past. Those fold-out centerfolds can be pretty tough holding up with one hand... >>



LOL, no doubt


Morgoth, I'm a big Alan Moore collector, I even have about 10 original artwork pages from his books.

ElToroLoco

Thanks for the info on the comic book show, I didn't even know those existed apart from Comic-Con SD. I'd have to say comic grading is reserved for actual collectors holding on to what they have. I'd also think the the price of grading a comic isn't quite as cheap as cards. That should explain the lack of graded books out there. I have a decent collection of comics and plan on grading only a few issues, Wolverine #1 and Semper Fi #1, all for my personal collection.

Morgoth

Which Moore books do you have art from? I have heard of museums trying to get some of Gibbons Watchmen originals for modern art displays. I think if the cover for Watchmen #1 ever came up for sale it could break some records for comic art.

Miracle Man and Swamp Thing would be my favs. to get art from.

I am always looking for Blue Beetle and Booster Gold art.

TheHun

One of the reasons you might see less graded comics - collectors still like to read them.
Having been a guest artist at several conventions, I would overhear many collectors say they buy two of any issue - one to read and one to put away. Cards can be read even after slabbing.

Morgoth - I may have a few issues of Doom Patrol and Swamp Thing. I'll check to see what I have.

cheers

vladguerrero

My fav is V For Vendetta, so I have a great page from that, also enjoyed From Hell (which really seems to be the biggest hit or miss with individual collectors of Moore's work, some loved it, some didn't), Tom Strong's, I have a Terra Obscura #3 cover which is kinda cool. Am I allowed to post comic images in here?

Here's a few of my pieces sitting in a folder on my desktop, the Chapter 1 From Hell page and Tom Strong were recently sold... they are photo's not scan's so hopefully they look okay.