Today is the Day

I don’t know how I feel. The DC universe is getting a do over. 52 titles are getting the reboot. I can almost feel the collective DC board hoping and praying this marketing scheme will prevail. I for one said there was no way I was going to pick up Justice League of America #1, and I meant it. Didn't I? Here I sit in front of my computer waiting for the USPS service to arrive and drop off my latest CGC graded comic book before heading to my LCS to pick up my new books.

I plan on getting Flashpoint #5 and although I have not been following the side storylines I may pick them up as trades if I really need them for the storyline. But why did I even pick up Flashpoint to begin with? I love cliff hangers. Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child are great novelists in my opinion and when I saw the last page of issue #1 of DC’s major story of the year I was hooked. I loved the twist of Thomas Wayne surviving and his son Bruce Wayne was killed instead after seeing Zorro.

So what am I going to do when I am in my LCS skimming through the comic book? Am I going to buy it? Will I pass? Will I love it so much I will spend my hard earned money on a copy in a CGC Gem Mint ten? As a Marvelite, I should pass. As a person who is limited in space, I should pass. My limited funds tell me to pass. But my collector’s heart scrams at me to buy 50 copies. So maybe I’ll just get one, you know, to read it.

Thanks for Reading

Trimming my collection

Working nights hinders the ability to enjoy the day, but every once in a while I escape from my humble abode and walk out into the sky to go pay my rent. This slight escape allows me to bask in the sun and try to darken my pale skin. I make this trek every month and I follow this by creating a budget on how the next month is going to be. This pre-planning helps me collect the comic books I enjoy so much. I am at the end of my New Mutants run that I have diligently pursuing for about over the last two years. I am happy with my collection and what I have accomplished in that time.

The second part I have decided to do was send in fifty books for grading and encapsulation. This has been a hindrance for me because I do not have the cash to accomplish this in one lump sum. Of course this is where my Father comes in. I owe him a little bit more for the computer I have since he put it on his charge card and they put out the money for me to get the insurance on my comic books. If all goes according to my budget I should have that paid off and then I can send in fifty more books to get graded. Twenty are for me. I hope this amount will be mixed between my New Mutants that I purchased off the shelf and copies of my Sandman series.

The other thirty is the tricky part. I have decided to send these in for a minimum grade of 9.6. Sure I might not be able to get a premium price but I can most likely recoup what I spent. For instance I have a copy of WildCats Gold #1 that will probably get a 9.6. Should I send it in with a pre-screen of 9.8 and be denied the grade I was hoping for. A 9.6 would sell for a minimal price and I am OK with that because then it will be in someone’s collection that will cherish it. My collection is growing, although I do not believe it will be at the three hundred I was hoping for by the end of the year it has come a long way from the 166 I had about this time last year.

Thanks for Reading

Under Locke and Key

As much as CGC changed the way I collect comic books I wouldn't be collecting the way I am if they weren't good. A few months ago on FCBD I picked up a whole bunch of comics, both free and not. One of the books that I decided to try was Locke & Key. As with past FCBD’s the comic books were mostly reprints. This was true for Locke & Key but since I haven’t read it before I was enthralled. I was also skeptical…was it really that good. I read it again. It was a quick and easy read. When I read the original in its trade form I noticed the reprint was also edited (formatted to fit your screen). I read the comic book one more time when I realized I had to get this story.

I found book two in a Barnes and Noble and purchased the book deciding I would wait till I purchased book one. With Wizard World Philadelphia approaching the very next month I decided to wait to read it so I can purchase the trades at the show for a discounted price. Unfortunately the first and third trades were at full price (still a bargain at $24.99) when I bought them and I couldn't wait…. I already read book two. It was after I purchased the other trades that I decided I wanted to get this series in a CGC 9.8 “white pages” or better. I checked out eBay and found a Gem Mint ten. I bartered and bought the copy.

When I got the book in I was thrilled to have my second Gem Mint Book. I was going to check out the registry and add it right away when I saw the person who was in first. His set was amazing. I felt once again how I felt when I first saw Bagofleas in the lead of the New Mutants set, which was pretty much I’ll never be able to get a better set then this guy. I was ready to quit before I even started and didn’t even bother with adding the book. I have been checking out eBay and other sources and decided that it was worth collecting.

I started the New Mutants set not because I wanted to be first, but because I wanted them all. They were (and are) my favorite. So after some thought I decided to collect the Locke & Key books after all but I would on get them if they were a 9.8 SS or better. Something I started to do with the New Mutants. I hope to get no lower than a 9.9 but will settle for the 9.8’s. I knew if I was going to get a set of this series then it would be because I like the series not that I have to be the best. I added my set only recently and then saw the person that had the first place was gone.

I don’t know why he is gone but I wish him well. Many other people who are collecting Locke & Key have purchased books from him. The ones that I have noticed have even mentioned this thanking him. It will be a long time before my collection of this title goes anywhere since I will have to be patient. I have learned patience. I only need a handful more of the New Mutants so I feel comfortable in moving on. There are others I thought I would have enjoyed collecting and I might have before Locke & Key but now I feel like selling them off because if they are not something I want to collect, why should I?

Someone wrote how there are collectors who need to complete the whole series. ….. This is how I am for eighty percent of my CGC collection, okay maybe ninety. There are many DC comic books out there, yes DC that I want to get and have no desire o get anymore. I just want them because of the memories they bring. They are also a bit of money to just get and not have a set. I feel odd buying a book just for the one copy and then using it for points. I have to remind myself I am not using it for points. I am getting it because I like it, which of course is why I am starting with the series Locke & Key.

Thanks for reading

Waiting Out the Storm

I was supposed to work a double today. The night was so dreadfully slow that after nine and half hours they asked if I wanted to go home. I figure since I am just working a double again tomorrow I would. I made it home during a slow portion of the hurricane slightly envious that the people at work will still be able to watch the show. I have windows but living in the basement does not give me a room with a view.

For about five days I was not able to use my computer since I thought there was some hidden virus even after doing a virus scan. My best friend looked it over and gave me the clean bill of health, well my computer anyway. It seemed it might be Verizon’s fault with my USB connection the internet. I am updating my drivers and I hope that I won’t have another problem, but this gives me piece of mind because now I can try to update my CGC collection by taking pictures and uploading them to the registry.

I have many pieces of my collection that along with the purchase I was able to download the appropriate photo. Not so with books I had graded myself. Tonight might be a good night to pull some of my graded books out and do my best to photograph them without a flash or reflection and load them to the computer. Afterwards I just have to configure them to be under the required allotted amount of digital space. Who knows, maybe I can do this until it gets so bad….my electric goes out.

Thanks for Reading

Needing Gas

There is nothing like needing gas in your car and when you slip the key in to unlock the gas tank….yup, it’s broken. No the key, but the lock. Someone deliberately stuffed something in there and I wonder if someone just had nothing better to do, did they think the car was someone else’s or some vindictive co-worker. I tend to write about comics here because it is a love that I have, but when something like this happens I get a little frustrated. What compounds this frustration is the fact I just came off one double and I have two more to go.

This means that I have to get up a few hours after I get into bed, wake up, call the mechanic (if not walk over there), and try to get my car fixed all before two o’clock tomorrow. Did I mention anything about Hurricane Irene coming in? My customers mentioned her all day today and my thoughts were when it happens it happens. It’s not bravado on my part or some kind of macho egotistical “I am not afraid) idiocy, nope it is simply I have no faith in the people that report the weather. When it happens….it happens.

So let us assume that it does happen and Septa (The public transportation system in Philadelphia) does close down. Do I try to walk? DO I call a cab? I won’t call out. As I am writing this I am trying to research the storm….and it seems like a heavy rain. I can carry my comic books home in the heavy rain with no worrisome thoughts. I have my car already sitting at the mechanics. I just hope they can work on it right away. I don’t even care if they break the lock and fix it later. I just want to be able to fill my car with gas (Petrol if you are reading this overseas) and get to work, this way, yup you guessed….I can earn money for comic books.

Supporting your Hobby

I never meant to write every day, but it is cheaper to do so than to go out and buy a comic book. I have enough to read, or rather to read over but where do I start? Do I start with my oldest issue? Do I start from where I collected? It seems off that I am having more fun collecting the comic books from my teenage years then I am collecting current issues. I fear that with trades coming out so quickly and on almost every title that I am beginning to think maybe I should just collect those.

I enjoy collecting CGC graded comic books and am currently even upgrading my latest set to a signature series. It was reported new comic book sales declined last month a whopping 8 percent. Eight percent is a lot and I wonder if this is because of Borders closing or the rise of the graded comic book. After all I don’t see sales declining when last month someone purchased a Captain America #1 for over $300,000. I am sure that any single comic shop would love to be able to make that amount off of comic books in a month.

Recently a comic shop closed as well. What does that mean for the future of comic books? Will store fade away? Will online services take over? Will digital take advantage? As a hobbyist I do support my LCS often, once a week often, but I also support my book store. My shelves are far from barren. Unfortunately there is no happy medium. One will succeed, one will falter, I just hope however many years I have left (and I hope they are a lot) that I am not around to see it.

Tanks for Reading

Back on my Computer

For the past few days I have been stuck entering my blogs by my phone. Even though I was fortunate to be able to do so, I started to miss a lot of stuff i took for granted. For instance as I am writing this I am following an eBay item that will be ending in over thirty minutes. Of course this will be for a comic book graded by CGC. a comic book I technically don't even collect anymore since Daredevil went on his own. Either way I plan on bidding on it and if I am lucky will win.

The other item I have been having withdrawal symptoms form is being able to write on Comicbooked. com It has been far too long that i was able to post anything. I plan on getting some sleep first but one i wake up I will persevere through the amount of writing I have to get done. Writing for fun is great, writing with a cause in mind is a bit more difficult. I actually want to continue to write now...but my eyes are getting heave and even now I am hoping I can stay up to bid.

I also miss interacting with the registry members and notice a great many journals have been added over the past five days. I look forward to mentioning on the journals I can and of course adding my own. I think I currently have 169 and hope to grow to 200 by my two year anniversary date. Well I am off to go check out the auctions I missed in the hopes that I might find a book I need, a rare find, or a very cheap deal.

Thanks for reading