posted on August 19, 2002 09:33:22 AM new
hotcupoftea:
I've been an AW member for a long time, although I don't post much. I just wanted to thank you for sharing this experience. The auction aspect of your story is neat (finding something which unexpectedly brings in a large sum) but I am more interested in the aspects of your life you choose to share. Your perspective, plans for your future and the ability to see something other than dollar signs (i.e. your husband gleaming a little pleasure out of knowing his belongings are going to others who share his interests) are refreshing and inspiring.
posted on August 19, 2002 10:05:02 PM new
Ok, folks, I am in shock.
This evening I went down into the basement again. Perhaps I should take a photo or two and post here so that you can see why I don't go down there too often. The basement is fairly large, about 900-1200 square feet, and it is just crammed wall-to-wall, and with stuff spilled out onto the floor. The rest of my house looks great because the spillover has gone down to the basement for so many years.
Anyway, I thought, well I will open this box that says tax recoreds, a box that was underneath a box of Playboys over by the wine. Yes, you guessed it, the box was completely full of old comics.
I didn't look at anything else in the basement, I lifted up the box and took it upstairs and put it on the dining room table and started taking out comics. There are roughly 200 comics! The comics are from the same time period, late 1940s and early 1950s. There are a lot of Walt Disney comics of various types, more Classics Illustrated and some others that should have gone with the auctions that just ended, like Bob Hope, Scribbley and such. Not only that, there are dozens of comics I've never seen before, some are just one or a few, others there are a few more than that. I see: Police, Ken Shannon, Black Diamond Western, Daredevil, Longbow, Lassie, Lone Ranger, Zane Gray, Indian Chief, First Love, Cinderella Love, Rin-Tin-Tin, Rhubarb the Millionaire Cat, Strange Adventures, Picture Stories from World History, World's Finest Comics with superman on the cover, Star Spangled War Storeis, Thrilling Adventures in Stamps which appear to be comics where they take a stamp and make a story about it. And more.
My husband is in the sitting room watching television, his primary occupation during his waking hours, he comes out and looks at the comics, and says again, "Where are the Alley Oop comics?" Perhaps this means there is a third box of comics down in the basement.
Well this time I am going to purchase that Overstreet Guide and determine if I want to change my selling strategy, perhaps pull out the ones with a high price guide and sell individually, rather than grouping together.
And perhaps I should take time and hunt to see if there is a third box of comics down in the basement.
posted on August 19, 2002 11:42:03 PM new
hey hotcupoftea,
sounds like you have quite the treasure trove there. I used to own a comic shop but most of the comics i delt with were newer. overstreet is a decent book but prices can be outdated and with some price guides there is a bit of bias in pricing. why not just look them up on ebay, that is where you will be selling them anyways. That way you get a more acurate idea of what a book will bring and you dont have to go out and drop $24.95 on the price guide. The book would be useful for grading purposes but you should be able to get that info online. Hope this has been helpful and good luck.
posted on August 20, 2002 02:39:40 AM new
if you check with your local library, they may have a copy of the Overstreet book you can check out. If they do not have it they can get it from any library in your state for you.
Since your husband has mentioned the Alley Oop comics more than once, I will bet they are more in the basement.
Just remember, good things happen to good people. Kiss hubby for being such a good collector as a child.
posted on August 20, 2002 08:35:31 AM new
Most libraries have the most recent copy of Overstreet as reference only and will not let you check it out.
I would suggest spending the $24.95 on a new guide since it will be a small percentage of your profits and it will really be helpful in getting an idea of prices and how to grade the comics. Grading is the key, if you follow Overstreet you will do ok.
You have a small fortune in comics, especially if you find Alley Oop, do not leave anything to chance, go buy the price guide. You can get it at any bookstore or comic shop. Good luck
posted on August 20, 2002 10:42:38 AM new
Reading this post makes me CRY and I don't mean little rain drop tears, But Great big soft ball tears!
From 1950 to 1965 my sister and I had every comic ever printed!
My Uncle delivered for a major distributer and every week he would bring us 1 of every comic book.
At the end of every week my Mother would throw out from the week before knowing there would be more coming.
If we had them now we would be Millionare's.
But we may not have any place to live since the house would have been full of comics!
Like they say: If Hindsite was Forsite we'd all be Better off by a Darned site!
posted on August 20, 2002 10:59:24 AM newhotcupoftea
RUN, don't walk, to the Comic Chat Board at eBay!!
Incredibly helpful folks on there that are honest and will guide you to the right info before you spend time & money learning the wrong info!
The folks I met were a pretty specified group ~ sci-fi folks. Many of them hang on that board daily. I'm sure they can point you in the right direction with your category of books without thinking you are a troll.
Tons of ready & willing eBayers, I cannot recommend it strongly enough!
posted on August 20, 2002 11:24:45 AM new
Thank you everyone for such splendid advice.
I did not know there is a comics chatboard on eBay. I will post over there later today. I have to get my husband to the clinic today for his blood tests and run other critical errands.
I purchased two comic guides on Amazon last night. Knowledge is everything when you sell. In hindsight I should have purchased guides before I sold the first run of comics, but I really did not know there were more in the basement. Going to the library is impractical for me since I live rurally and the small town near where I live has a small library with odd hours.
I can update you on one thing. I found a third box of comics this morning; this box was the bottom box in a stack of four, the top three boxes holding interesting books. And I found a box that contains an old stamp collection, which I will take to a stamp dealer at some point in time to get appraised. I do not want to sell stamps on eBay.
I now have spread out over the dining room table around 400 comics, including a few Alley Oop that were in the third box. The Alley Oop have issue numbers less than ten.
dadofstickboy, that is a sad story. Most of us can't retain the possessions from our childhood because we leave our parent's home, leave our things boxed up in the garage or in the bedroom and the first visit home we find the bedroom converted to a sewing room and the boxes in the garage taken to the Salvation Army.
posted on August 20, 2002 12:27:56 PM new
get an insurance quote o the stamps. it will give you a number to go by. Expect to sell them for about 25% of that number (maybe less). The problem with going to a dealer is that they are always interested in buying them, not telling you what they are worth. Note the several people who told of being offered $100 and then piecing out the collection for $1000 (or your case where a dealer offered $1000 for what you sold for $3500+.
posted on August 20, 2002 12:42:57 PM new
hotcupoftea, you are truly blessed! Having your husband with some of his 'lerts and being able to bring pleasure to him at this point cannot be measured.
If anyone deserved this small windfall, it would be you.
I'm so excited for you, I really am and can't wait to hear how the next round goes.
posted on August 21, 2002 03:44:35 PM new
Here is what is new.
I posted to eBay's comics board as suggested here in this topic. The eBayers there are telling me to list each comic individually to maximize final prices and get more collectors bidding. Also, on that board there is a link to all sorts of facts on how to buy and sell comics on eBay; stuff that most of us don't know, like how to grade a comic, how to package to mail, how to figure out what has value. The comic thing is a whole new world of obsessed collectors and they all seem to be real nice people.
For those eBay sellers who might start looking at comics now to sell, on the comics board they said that the comics from the Golden Age have collectors with deeper pockets, in that the collectors are older people in their 50s to 70s with money to spend, and these collectors want to buy the comics from their childhood.
Right now I feel overwhelmed with the number of things I have to sell. When selling my porcelain, I put up ten auctions a week, because of the time I need to spend caring for my husband. Now I have 300-400 comics to list individually, plus I still have boxes and boxes and boxes of books in the basement. I decided to change my selling strategy on the books. I am going to list books with ISBN numbers on half.com, shelf in my husband's unused office at home until they sell, and put up for auction the older out-of-print books that don't have ISBN numbers.
I am still left with Playboys for future summers.
Plus, I realized today I forgot something real important and that is my husband's record collection. He has 800 to 1000 78 records from 1880 and up, many recordings of artists that have been lost to time. These records are stored well, which is why I forgot about them. Years ago a cabinet maker converted space in my husband's office at home to hold records on sliding drawers. Out of sight, out of mind and I never thought of them until this morning. I guess that is something I can think about next summer to, whether to try to find a buyer locally or whether such old records can be sold on eBay and shipped safely. I won't take the records to a live auction; the buyers there would not comprehend their value.
posted on August 21, 2002 03:50:12 PM new
my dad is cleaning out his attic and garage and has box after box of old old comic books and records. plus over 3000 books. all of which i some how was volunteered into selling. oh well i guess it will keep me busy this winter.
