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Has anyone dealt with Sparkle City Comics?
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95 posts in this topic

Hi, I've been lurking here for a while after I've been getting back into comics as a hobby after years of not collecting actively.

 

I'm not sure what category I fit into as a collector, but as somebody who went from being a "comic nerd" at high school (during the late 80s and early 90s - I cry when I think back on the mint multiple McFarlane comics I discarded) to being a pro cartoonist to years later buying back some of the stuff I had as well as the stuff I'd read about and salivated over, it's been fun.

 

The exception is when you think you've been shilled on Ebay. I apologise for resurrecting a topic that some might think has been done to death, but I really want to get opinions on something. I've bought a couple of early Uncle Scrooge CGC comics from sparklecity on Ebay, and the bidding pattern on the latest one seemed weird.

 

Here's the page with the bids on it http://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewBids&_trksid=p4340.l2565&rt=nc&item=350556378506. As you can see, everyone apart from this mystery man stopped bidding early on, leaving only me and this other guy. He bid me up another 200% over that last guy's bid. Now, he might just have wanted it, but does that seem strange to you? The final price doesn't seem that inconsistent to other prices I've seen on Heritage Auctions, which is where I've been buying a bit of stuff, but I have a bad feeling about this auction.

 

I thought Sparkle City has a good reputation, but can anyone else vouch for him?

 

Thanks for reading and I hope the rumours of flaming new members aren't true.

 

If he is legit, I'd like to keep buying from him, but something didn't seem right about this one.

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And there's that thinly veiled flame I was talking about.

 

I actually tried looking for a search button and just saw that it was part of the menu the whole time.

 

Are you saying there are other threads about this guy on here?

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the bidding account activity doesnt look shilly... it looks under-used (its the only auction he bid on in the last month) but maybe he/she's just a high grade duck collector and he doesnt have a lot of holes to fill?

 

price seemed to fall in line with gpa of other books around it grade wise.

 

Sparklecity auctions seem to get lots of attention so its unlikely to lead to a "deal" cause theres always someone else out there looking for a deal too...

 

Maybe this guy owns a higher grade version of the book and was "price supporting" his own book (seen that done before), or maybe he owns a lower grade book that he's trying to help inflate that price...

 

all speculation, in the end it doesnt look like a shill account (multiple auctions with same seller, rarely winning, only bidding on one seller's auctions)... just an infrequent one.

Edited by Miraclemet
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Hey Miraclemet,

 

Thanks for the reply ... yeah I wasn't completely convinced that there wasn't anything dodgy going on, but I had to ask. I've read articles on different sites as well that talk about Sparkle City as being highly reputable, so I didn't have any intention of casting any shadows on that reputation as I'm very happy with the purchase. As I'd said in the original post, and you also confirmed, the price does seem consistent with the market rate of that particular issue in that condition.

 

To be honest, the only thing that made me think there was anything to worry about was the thread I'd just read on here about how some people have given up on Ebay altogether due to the high level of game playing - not necessarily even by the seller themselves - that can make for an uncomfortable buying situation.

 

Duck people can fall into categories outside the regular comic collector "type" anyway, which can make an interesting Venn diagram.

 

By the way, that's a really nice looking signature you have. I've started looking at Bronze Age horror myself. Does that interest extend to Argento films and the like, or is it just the comics you're into?

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I hope the rumours of flaming new members aren't true.

:flamed::flamed: :flamed: :flamed: :flamed: :flamed: :flamed: :flamed::flamed::flamed: :flamed: :flamed: :flamed: :flamed: :flamed: :flamed::flamed::flamed: :flamed: :flamed: :flamed: :flamed: :flamed: :flamed::flamed::flamed: :flamed: :flamed: :flamed: :flamed: :flamed: :flamed::flamed::flamed: :flamed: :flamed: :flamed: :flamed:

 

Hate to disappoint.

 

Well your little joke might have gotten you a new customer, do you ship outside the US? Hopefully you won't disappoint on that one ...

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I was watching that specific book. The price doesn't seem out of line to me. That 8.5 sold for $710 and a 9.0 sold for $800 earlier this year. I wouldn't be too worried about it.

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Have you tried the search button?

 

Easy there BUTM. The search function on the boards isn't exactly easy to use.

 

Unless your user name is BUTM.

 

It's Blowie.

 

You are correct. My apologies.

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Have you tried the search button?

 

Easy there BUTM. The search function on the boards isn't exactly easy to use.

 

1) click search

2) type in "sparkle city"

3) set the date range to a year

4) click submit

5) read a wealth of info about sparkle city

 

Which of those steps is the tricky one? (shrug)

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Have you tried the search button?

 

Easy there BUTM. The search function on the boards isn't exactly easy to use.

 

1) click search

2) type in "sparkle city"

3) set the date range to a year

4) click submit

5) read a wealth of info about sparkle city

 

Which of those steps is the tricky one? (shrug)

 

(.5) Pry eyes away from FF's sig line .gif

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Ah that's good, I have to admit, I'm more than pleased with what I've gotten from them so far, and yeah, the more I find out about them, the better they seem. They could definitely win awards for the way they package comics alone. So more importantly, about that gif ...

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