Timing

I should have went to Fan Expo, I told myself I’d go but somehow weaseled out at the last minute. I hope everyone that went enjoyed the show, Chris Owen went Friday, said the show was packed with people, said he had a good time, though his complaint was that he couldn’t find enough comics to buy. I talked to a couple of dealers that set up and they both said sales were slightly down from last year while their costs were slightly up, both said attendance was good. I was always of the mind that if attendance is good then sales should be good, though I admit it is next to impossible to gauge what will be selling, space is limited and choices have to be made as to what to bring. Nobody said it was going to be easy fellas.

While everyone was away at Fan Expo I was working hard trying to get my stuff out of the warehouse I’m in, the warehouse that has to be empty by October 31st. Late last week I got 10 skids out and across to a new warehouse (we’ll call it at storage area), if we add those 10 to the 15 skids I already have over there then we can claim some progress. I think my timing is right, another 20ish skids to go with 2 months left. It can be done.

Timing doesn’t just matter in moving warehouses, its crucial when you’re telling jokes and perhaps even more crucial when selling comics. I’ve had a few people bring in books to add to the “going to eBay auction” pile this past week, the theme to these recent inserts is of course, Doctor Doom. Our Cover of the Week comes from FOOM #4 with its dramatic Doctor Doom cover. What’s the call here? Should people be rushing their Doom related comics up onto market while the character is hot off the hype of the announcement that Robert Downey Jr. will be the actor playing the character in the upcoming movies? Lets not forget that some months from now we’ll get out first trailer with Downey as Doom, then we’ll get a release date for the movie, then the premiere of the movie, in other words there is still a lot of marketing moments that will bring the character to the forefront of pop culture. I’d say that this is a good time to move the more common and more modern appearances of the character, something like Iron Man #150 comes to mind, but I think books like Fantastic Four #5 and #6 are safe and perhaps have even more room for appreciation. Hey, at least its exciting to talk about some positive collecting value prospects for a character, we haven’t done that in a while.

I heard a good Yogi Berra story over the weekend, the one Reggie Jackson likes to tell, anyway I thought of Yogi when I found this ad, as in I might have used it a year or two back, if I did then apologies. When I saw the ad I wondered how it was that I had no clue as to who Matt Mason is. Look how cool this toy is! Was Matt Mason the intellectual property of Mattel or where they just licensed to make the toys? Are these toys worth anything today?

We get our Splash Page of the Week from Frank Miller, this page comes from Daredevil #184, you know they yellow cover where he’s holding the Magnum 44 handgun. This quick succession frame style was prevalent throughout the whole issue, I remember when it came out and thinking it cool and progressive, Miller was a game changer for sure.

Sunday nights icecollectibles weekly eBay auction finished strong with our very nice (look at that image) Batman #36 selling for $868 which was well above the last sale. One look at the book and you can understand the aggressive bidding, this thing looks like an 8.0!

Walter Durajlija
Walter Durajlija

Walter Durajlija is an Overstreet Advisor and Shuster Award winner. He owns Big B Comics in Hamilton Ontario.

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Gerald Eddy
Gerald Eddy
2 months ago

My favorite Doom sequences were the FF run where he took(stole) the Silver Surfers board and the FF Annual #2 ( my first comic I believe)! I was a big Major Matt Mason fan as a kid but only kept parts that I sold along with my comics earlier this year! They are collectable! My only Golden Age Batman I retained was a Christmas issue for my Christmas display ( I have to figure out a new way to display… maybe plate holders)!

Spider
Spider
2 months ago

Miller’s DD is one of the pillars of my collection, always willing to buy an upgrade of any issue – extremely re-readable. Don’t think I’ve ever gone a year in this hobby without picking up at least one issue for a read. This year I pulled out my Reborn arc for a clean/press/mylar and updated 3 of my issues..will re-read that in the next few months

Spider
Spider
2 months ago

Walt, the big news for figures – was the $1.3m sale of the first version on Boba Fett (with chokable missiles, I think). Holy smoke!

Spider
Spider
2 months ago

I was reading a very confusing article about how the latest fad is Choking and all the Gen-Ys are doing it now…Star Wars figures are really popular these days!

activejim
activejim
2 months ago

I went this year.
My first mistake was buying the top tier ticket package for Fan Expo at the end of the year last November to support it.
The comic selection was poor, most books were marked way up and I bought nothing.

I want to go back to the small shows without all the costume wearing social event drama.

Tell me its not too late.

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