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n2wdw's comic book room
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890 posts in this topic

Local Con in Northern Virginia

 

Today I went to a local con at a firehouse in Annadale VA. It's snowing today but the turn out still seemed to be pretty good. Here's how it looked outside the firehouse.

 

 

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The wall books weren't worth mentioning, except these (this was the only serious SA/GA dealer at the show -- he had more wall displays but I didn't get pictures):

 

 

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Cons are no longer my favorite place to buy old comics. I guess I'm getting too old and impatient to spend a lot of time looking through long boxes only to find the dealer has every comic in the run except the one I need. The internet is a lot easier.

 

I used to love going through $1 boxes. But that was when I was collecting runs of comics. Now I've pretty much finished off all my runs. Having said that, I'm probably spending more time and money now than anytime before on my collection. But now I'm going for keys and grails, Matt Bakers, GA GGA, etc. You can find these comics at cons, but the selection is sparse and when a dealer has it he knows it's special so prices are usually high. Prices are usually better on eBay or here on the boards. So nowadays I don't go to cons for comics.

 

Nowadays I go to cons to find different fun stuff. And yes, I do buy comics but it's more serendipity buys. Finding something I didn't know existed. So here's what I got. I picked up these inexpensive GA GGA humor books for about $4 each, and also a cool Terry and the Pirates glass for $5.

 

 

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The same dealer was selling old paperbacks. I bought this lot for about $15.

 

 

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This was my big purchase of the day, the Rocketeer Artist Edition. I got it for $80.

 

 

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I picked up a few new statutes for my comic book room, Zatanna and Poison Ivy. The dealer sold the pair for $80.

 

 

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My last purchase before walking out the door was this Game of Thrones sketch cover. It was priced at $75 but the seller let me have it for $60.

 

 

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Local Con in Northern Virginia

 

 

The wall books weren't worth mentioning, except these (this was the only serious SA/GA dealer at the show -- he had more wall displays but I didn't get pictures):

 

 

IMG_0184_zpslhet0uxi.jpg

 

 

 

I like that photo. There are lots of books I own on that rack - and a few others I'd like to own!

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Here are a few things I've picked up lately (Biro, Jeanie and Morena Baccarin)

 

Recently I've been collecting comics with cover art by Charles Biro. I don't know a lot about him, but his art really has an impact on me. And his comics are cheap compared to other artists like Baker and Schomburg.

 

 

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Here's a Jeanie comic that I recently bought from jimjum12 here on the boards. I always look forward to his sales. In my view this is a classic GGA cover and I was really happy to add it to my collection.

 

 

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I collect autographs of actors in my favorite movies and TV series. Right now 2 of my favorite TV shows are Gotham and Homeland (I'm catching up on them). Morena Baccarin is in both. I like her character more in Gotham than Homeland, but she is good in both. Here's an autographed photo I just recently got (certified by PSA):

 

 

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I like that photo. There are lots of books I own on that rack - and a few others I'd like to own!

 

You're lucky to have those books! There were a bunch I wanted but I didn't even ask the price -- it wasn't that kind of con for me, I didn't want to be tempted and spend too much money.

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The 100 and Eliza Taylor

 

The release date of The 100 is coming up, February 1st! This show just gets better and better, and Season 4 should be fascinating as they pick up from the end of last season. To celebrate, here's an autograph photo of Eliza Taylor from my collection. Eliza of course plays Clarke in the show.

 

 

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My Birthday Present -- A Schomburg Grail

 

My birthday is a week after New Years so I was shopping for a present for myself. I decided on this classic Alex Schomburg cover. At the moment my main collecting focus is my Matt Baker collection, where I'm trying to get a copy of every comic with a cover by Baker. I'm just under a third there. By my count there are 299 Baker covers and so far I have 92 (including Amazing Ghost Stories #16 that I just dropped a flag on last night).

 

But in terms of classic covers -- the ones you'd put in a museum if a museum ever had a comics exhibition -- Schomburg has more than Baker, and by a wide margin (IMHO). And his is one of them, Fighting Yank 23. It's the most I've ever paid for a Schomburg, but I actually think I got a good deal on it. I think the seller may have been hurt a bit because he didn't put "Schomburg" in the title or description of his eBay listing. I just happened to stumble on it by accident. We then went back and forth a couple days trading offers, and finally reached agreement late last night. Thanks for reading.

 

 

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Kevin Taylor

 

Kevin Taylor is an erotic artist. His most famous characters are Girl and Jill. In the early 2000s he used to go to the SDCC. He was practically giving his art away so I have a few, including an entire 4 page short story (pages for less than $100). Back then he told me he was having a hard time drawing in the small comic form factor because of his hand. So he was getting out of comics and moving to other areas of art. He also moved to Europe (I think to Spain). You still see his work up on eBay sometimes, and I think he takes commissions.

 

Here's his sketchbook from 2006 I picked up recently on eBay. This is the color version; there's a B&W version too (which is rarer).

 

 

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Here are a couple sketches Kevin did for me at those SDCCs. The first -- on the Gen13 cover -- is his Girl character. The second is Kevin's interpretation of Gwen Stacy.

 

 

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Junie Prom #5 and Kamen's All Top #8 (from Tomorrow's Treasures)

 

Here are a couple books I picked up on eBay lately. The first is Junie Prom #5. This cover has always reminded me a little of Cindy #37.

 

 

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I also picked up this copy of All Top #8. Among defects, trimming is probably the one I dislike the most (along with missing pages and water damage). But I decided to go for it because the trimming was limited to the back of the top cover.

 

I bought the comic from Tomorrow's Treasures. His eBay instructions are interesting. He makes his listings BIN/Best Offer, but essentially says he's not going to even respond to what he considers to be unreasonable offers.

 

I can't tell you the number of times I've made what some might consider "lowball" offers on eBay, and they were immediately accepted. My approach has always been, I'm going to offer what I'm willing to pay, and if you counter or reject my offer that's fine. The internet is a big marketplace, I'll just move on to the next thing. Sometimes -- about 1 out of 50 times -- I get a rude response where the seller is offended by my offer (sometimes it happens here, sometimes on eBay). I don't get that. As a selller why would you not want to receive all offers? That gives you control to either accept, counter or reject. How is this not a good thing?

 

Anyway, back to TT. I've done business with him at cons. I've gotten some good books from him over the years. I'm sure he doesn't remember, but he once gave me a really good explanation on how to price out restored books. I've never bought anything from him on eBay, because of his instructions. He's inviting offers via BIN/BO, but he's sort of not too via his instructions. So I don't want to waste his time or mine. On this book his asking price was $300. Because of the defects I decided to go ahead and make an offer. My offer was $250 (a little under 20% off). I didn't expect him to respond (his instructions say he won't respond if he considers the offer unreasonable). But he did. Within a few hours he accepted my offer.

 

As I often do when I win something on eBay from somebody, I immediately browsed his other eBay offerings. I found a Phantom Lady with a Matt Baker. Like the All Top it has defects, but acceptable to me at the right price. His price on this one was higher, and what I was willing to pay was more like 35% off. I thought about making an offer, but in light of his instructions, I decided I didn't have the energy to deal with it.

 

 

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Jae Lee

 

I'm not a big collector of sketch books, but I had to get this, a signed sketchbook by Jae Lee. I've been a Jae Lee fan since his early work on Namor. Here are a few Lee CGC books in my collection.

 

 

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Frank Frazetta's Famous Funnies Covers

 

A boardie here listed Famous Funnies 210 for sale the other day. I bookmarked the link and then slept on it. The next day I saw it had not yet sold. I made an offer for about 20% off. The boardie's original price was fair but I'd bought a lot lately, and sometimes what I offer is based on what I can afford to spend at the moment. I assume we're all that way. I can't tell you the number of times I've offered what's left in my pocket for that last comic as I'm leaving the convention floor to go home. Anyway, we were able to reach agreement, so now I've got this classic Frazetta cover.

 

 

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Frazetta's classic run in Famous Funnies ran from 209-216. In addition to 210, I also have 209 and 211. So, still another 5 to go. The quest continues.

 

 

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Spawn 9 (Angela) and January C-Link (Matt Baker)

 

I have a small collection of Spawn. I have about the first 40 issues or so, and then I collect other issues with covers by Todd McFarlane when I come across them. The only graded issue I have is #9 with the first appearance by Angela. I wish it was 9.8; maybe someday I'll upgrade.

 

 

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I also have the German embossed edition of Spawn 9. I've always found embossed editions to be really cool. This was graded by the EGS company in Europe. I didn't even know there was such a company until I saw this on ebay. Since it was graded 9.9, I guess it makes my average grade 9.8 so maybe it's not so bad that I have the other 9.6.

 

 

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On to something completely different, there were tons of Baker comics on sale this month on the ComicLink auction. Most were too low grade for me to be interested in. I don't mind low grade, in fact I prefer it to keep the price down, but for me to be interested the cover still has to present well and these did not (IMHO).

 

There were a couple exceptions. Pictorial Romances 17 in CGC 6.5 sold for $1500. To me that's just madness. Yes, it's a giant size and those square spines are hard to find in higher grades. But the cover is only so-so (again IMHO). I just can't see spending that much when, for the same money, you could get a major SA or GA first appearance key. Here it is, so you can make your own decision about whether you think it's worth $1500. (Once again IMHO, there is only 1 Baker cover worth that kind of money, Giant Comics Edition 12.)

 

 

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Here is my only win last night, Pictorial Romances 15. I wish it was CGC but what can you do. It's not high enough grade to make it worth the effort to resubmit to CGC. But I might still crack it out to read it. I won it for $245 which is much more my speed for these Bakers.

 

 

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Back To the Top Spot on the Lady Mechanika Set

 

I lost the top spot on the LM registry set last year. But through a bunch of December sales I was able to pick up enough books to get back to the top. I barely have the lead so we'll see if I can stay at the top.

 

 

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Here are some of the books I recently bought.

 

 

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The jewels of my LM collection are these sketch covers by Joe Benitez. I bought them from FrankJP a few years ago. Thanks for reading.

 

 

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Spawn 9 (Angela) and January C-Link (Matt Baker)

 

I have a small collection of Spawn. I have about the first 40 issues or so, and then I collect other issues with covers by Todd McFarlane when I come across them. The only graded issue I have is #9 with the first appearance by Angela. I wish it was 9.8; maybe someday I'll upgrade.

 

 

Spawn%209%20CGC%209.6%2021_zpsaecrpxuh.jpg

 

 

I also have the German embossed edition of Spawn 9. I've always found embossed editions to be really cool. This was graded by the EGS company in Europe. I didn't even know there was such a company until I saw this on ebay. Since it was graded 9.9, I guess it makes my average grade 9.8 so maybe it's not so bad that I have the other 9.6.

 

 

Spawn%209%20German%20EGS%209.9%2099_zpsaotmskkz.jpg

 

 

On to something completely different, there were tons of Baker comics on sale this month on the ComicLink auction. Most were too low grade for me to be interested in. I don't mind low grade, in fact I prefer it to keep the price down, but for me to be interested the cover still has to present well and these did not (IMHO).

 

There were a couple exceptions. Pictorial Romances 17 in CGC 6.5 sold for $1500. To me that's just madness. Yes, it's a giant size and those square spines are hard to find in higher grades. But the cover is only so-so (again IMHO). I just can't see spending that much when, for the same money, you could get a major SA or GA first appearance key. Here it is, so you can make your own decision about whether you think it's worth $1500. (Once again IMHO, there is only 1 Baker cover worth that kind of money, Giant Comics Edition 12.)

 

 

RAD894ED2017111_11411_zpszqzjtkwk.jpg

 

 

Here is my only win last night, Pictorial Romances 15. I wish it was CGC but what can you do. It's not high enough grade to make it worth the effort to resubmit to CGC. But I might still crack it out to read it. I won it for $245 which is much more my speed for these Bakers.

 

 

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Great pickups, always an engaging read. Your dedication to your Journal is commendable. Just for clarification: Are you including Phantom Lady #17 and Seven Seas #4 in that group of Bakers worth that kind of money or strictly 'romance' books?
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Just for clarification: Are you including Phantom Lady #17 and Seven Seas #4 in that group of Bakers worth that kind of money or strictly 'romance' books?

 

Hey Sagii, thanks for visiting and posting. To be honest, I don't know. Market may be more than I'm willing to pay. But if they're the last 2 books I need to complete my goal, and I have the money (i.e., it's before I retire and I'm still making decent money), maybe I'll go for it.

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Pappy and Fried Chicken

 

I'm a big bourbon fan and I was in SF last week for work. I heard about the Hard Water bar at Pier 3 of the Embarcadero (http://hardwaterbar.com/). The holy grail of bourbon is of course Pappy Van Winkle, and they have a flight of Van Winkle 10yr, 12yr, 15yr, & 20yr. Since I had time I had to try it out.

 

Hard Water has so many bourbons they need a ladder to get to them, like the wine angels at Aureole in the Mandalay Bay in Vegas.

 

 

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Here's the flight. They have additions, the 23yr for $50 and the 13yr Rye for $50. But I decided to just go the the base flight (which was pricey enough, $175 for 4 half oz pours).

 

 

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Without getting too bourbon geek, I'll just say the 10yr and 12yr were as expected. The 20yr was a disappointment. The 15yr was freaking awesome!

 

After the Pappy's I got a Jefferson Ocean. It was a 2 oz pour. I like this label because I went to the University of Virginia. And I've always been intrigued by this particular bourbon because they say they age it on the ocean. But it tasted like water compared to the Pappys.

 

 

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Hard Water is just a bar. A hip bar, but just a bar. No tables, just bar counters and stools. But the food is good. Along with the bourbon, I got 5 small courses: (1) Housemade BBQ Chips & French Onion dip; (2) Pork Belly Cracklins; (3) Crispy Oyster Po Boy; (4) Duck Pot Pie; and (5) 2 pieces of Spicy Nashville Style fried chicken. They were each small but afterwards I was stuffed. I completely killed my diet. But it was worth it! Here's the food (everything but the po boy). Thanks for reading.

 

 

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Hello New Boards - Say Hi To 2 New Baker Covers (Diary Secrets 14 and Teenage Romances 31)

 

I'm still trying to adjust to the look of the new boards.  I guess we don't get signatures anymore.  Or maybe things are still settling in.

 

Anyway, here are 2 new Baker covers I picked up recently on eBay.  The Baker market is still subject to randomness of who's looking at the time, because it cost me more for the 1st book than the 2nd (whereas I think the value is vice versa -- then again, the full cover Bakers always go for more than the piecemeal covers, even though I think the latter are sometimes fascinating).  I'm happy to have both though.  I recently updated my Baker cover list.  I used to list 299 comics, now I have 292 (I delete some reprints).  With these 2 I have a third of them (96 comics).

 

 

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The Nook In My Comic Book Room

 

In my comic room, there's a small nook that's about 4' x 5'.  I've built shelves and this is where I keep some of my special collections, such as Matt Baker and Dave Stevens comics and my Fiction House collection.  Here's what the nook looks from outside the room.  As you can see there's a window where I've put blankets on the ledge for my cat to sit.

 

 

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Here's a better picture of the cat ledge, with the window open.  My house is on canals that lead out to an inland bay.  The bay is great for fishing and crabbing.  This picture was taken about a month ago in the winter, so there are no boats at the docks.  The window looks to the north.  So, if you go out my house and walk about 3 blocks to the right you hit the Atlantic.

 

 

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I store my books in mylar with a thick acid free backing board.  They're stored standing up.  On the bottom shelf, moving from right to left, there's my Dave Stevens collection.  Most of my DS collection is slabbed but these are my raw copies of books I've decided not to grade, or autographed copies.  To the left of the DS books is my raw Matt Baker raw collection.  On the top shelf at the far right is my Alex Schomburg raw collection.  Sorry about having to take the pictures at an angle.  The room is too small to take them head on.

 

 

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I store my graded Bakers in another part of the comic room.  Here's a picture.

 

 

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I also display some graded Bakers in plastic holders in the nook.

 

 

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Here's a picture of my Fiction House collection.  It amounts to a couple of small stacks of mostly bondage GGA covers (many of them classic covers, IMHO).

 

 

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On the other side of the room I store my Modestly Blaise collection.  I store hardbacks, paperbacks and miscellaneous mags and other paper collectibles here.  I keep the Modesty trades stored in another location of the comic room.  Thanks for reading.

 

 

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2 hours ago, n2wdw said:

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I've been trying to fight my urge to bag all books, since it seems to decrease my - and the kids - motivation for reading the books (the hassle of unbagging books :facepalm: ). I can see you're ahead of me, maybe I should just give up and start bagging tonight, sigh :)

You've got a great view from your nook window! And I'd love to visit Hard Water someday :cloud9:

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1 minute ago, Rune said:

I've been trying to fight my urge to bag all books, since it seems to decrease my - and the kids - motivation for reading the books (the hassle of unbagging books :facepalm: ). I can see you're ahead of me, maybe I should just give up and start bagging tonight, sigh :)

You've got a great view from your nook window! And I'd love to visit Hard Water someday :cloud9:

Modesty Blaise are the only books I bag (I use Mylites).  A few years ago I found fungus on some of the books.  So I cleaned them off and put them in bags and that seemed to solve the problem.  I don't bag any of my other books. 

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