video uploaded!

Sorry for the poor quality - had to put the resolution on the camera at 320 to make the upload easier. Pretty grainy, but you get the point. I'll be adding more videos soon!

Comics are here!

My first dollar bin dive has arrived!

It was a nice surprise to come home yesterday to find my new comics waiting. I've had a blast reading through some of them.

A few tidbits:

• I'm a bit surprised at the grades on some of these. Mile High is usually spot on or extremely conservative in their grading, but at least one of these missed the cut. A VG copy of ASM Annual 21 would honestly be a Good in my opinion, with banding damage, warped edge, and some interior discoloration. It's completely readable and only cost a few bucks though - if I want a higher grade copy I'll get one later.
• Packaging for shipment is still top notch. All comics come at least bagged, and are all bagged together in a large, magazine type bag. This is then placed in a custom mailer that looks like its made from an old comic book box. Very sturdy and very reliable.
• Prices have gone up a bit. I found an invoice from 2006 from Mile High that showed lots of comics less than $1.00. Nothing I've seen online so far has been less than $1.00 at Mile High. This makes sense though - the price of everything has gone up over the last 4 years.

I'll post more later - including pics. I've got a video I made of the unboxing, but its too large for YouTube. Might have to make another to fit their 10 min maximum limit.

Shipping is taking awhile...

One downfall to online collecting is the wait. Shipping can take some time. If a seller has 48 hrs to ship after payment is made and ships via 3-10 day media mail, it can be almost two weeks before its delivered. Right now its been about a week since purchase and payment. Mile High has an awesome staff that send out updates and included tracking for my shipment. It's scheduled for delivery on the 10th. Nice weekend surprise.

Interesting this is the package has been in NC for 3 days already. Shipped via Fed Ex which then delivers the package to the USPS for delivery. I've watched as my comics have sat in Charlotte for 3 days and just got shipped to Greensboro. Such odd means of delivery. Oh well, it will be worth it soon enough.

On a side note, I also picked up a copy of Civil War #3 with the spidey armor variant cover. I've never had much success with best offers, but I put in a ridiculously low offer and got it! I know its gimmicky, but the cover was just too cool to pass up.

I'll update again with pics (and maybe a vid) Saturday.

Dollar bin dive #1 contents

To say that my purchases yesterday were rushed is an understatement. It reminded me so much of my visits to the comic book shows. Here's why:

1. I value quantity much more than quality when it comes to comics. I guess its the hoarder in me. I could've easily bought 1 comic at $30 and been done but for some reason I feel like I miss out when I do that. I might do it in the future because there's a group of comics I really want to collect (more on that later).

2. I shop around. Milehigh has several different grades on the same copy. Is it worth $0.50 more to go from Fine to NM? Is Good+ gonna make me happy when I see the copy in the mail? All that runs through my head when I look at comics. Especially comics that have disparaging values from VF and NM to Good+. I have an example of this in one of my purchases this month.

3. I think too much. Some comic collectors find niches and stick with them. They are exclusive in what they purchase. Archie comics - there are exclusive collectors. Original Batman series in Fine+ or better condition - there are collectors. Golden age good girl art - there are collectors. I've even heard of a guy who is looking to collect every comic book with scuba divers, or "frog men" on the covers. I'm not one of these people. It's what made my new comic pull list so long every month. So much good stuff out there - its hard to pick just one. I tried this before with just Daredevil and Amazing Spidey, but its tough. But, that's what makes dollar bin diving so much fun - you never know what you're gonna have at the end of the day.

With that - lets look at my haul. 11 comics - $29:

Daredevil #241 in Fine - $1.54

Daredevil #319 2nd print in Fine - $1.00

Amazing Spiderman Annual #21 in Very Good - $2.94

Strange Adventures #207 in Good - $6.23

Amazing Spiderman #544 VARAIANT in Good - $1.68

Amazing Spiderman #544 in Fine - $1.89

Batman #423 in Good - $2.45

Wolverine #26 in Very Good - $1.26

Batman #404 in Very Good - $5.88

Daredevil #320 in Fine - $2.31

X-O Manowar #15 PINK VARIANT in Near Mint - $1.96

So, 3 spideys, 3 daredevils, 2 Batman's, a wolverine, an X-O Manowar and a random issue of Strange Adventures? I'll explain:

My first purchase was Strange Adventures 207. Low grade DC silver age issue - 3rd full appearance of Deadman. Significance of it is its a classic cover by Neal Adams. The cover won an award for best cover art for 1967. It was too cool to pass up at such a low price point. A fine copy was around $20 and with milehighs extremely conservative grading I feel confidant that it will really look like a VG/F issue when I get it.

Other trends - I went on a Todd McFarlane binge. Batman 423 is a classic McFarlane cover and he did the penciling for the Wolverine issue as well as Daredevil 241. I'm not a huge fan of McFarlane's work at Image or of Spawn, but his early work at Marvel and DC is some of the best comic art I've ever seen.

I remember the X-O issue back in the day and just thought it was cool that they made a variant with pink lettering on the cover. For less than 2 bucks to have a comic I drooled over as a kid because I saw it priced at $50 back then makes it worth it. Who knows - I'm gonna try to read it and see if I can get into it.

Look for my first YouTube vid when I get these in. Gonna video the unboxing and my first impressions!

1st Dollar Bin dive complete!

...and I didn't purchase what I thought I would.

Which is normal for dollar bin comic buying. You never know what you're gonna get. My haul this month is so random I can't even explain it.

For one, I was time crunched today. I could've waited, but I felt like I needed to get this done today. My mind kept wandering from comic to comic that I almost thought I wouldn't buy anything. Then, for some reason, I clicked 'confirm purchase' on a comic and knew I couldn't turn back.

I'll post later on the entire buy. 11 comics total at around $29 not including shipping.

Sifting through the bins...

So it looks like I've decided on my first purchase this upcoming month, and unfortunately its not a $1 comic...

I'm picking up a copy of Amazing Spider-Man 136 in good condition. Mile high has one on ebay for $13 and some change. That's over half my budget, but I remember buying Amazing-Spider Man 80 at one of my first shows for $10, so its on par. It's graded as Good, which by Mile High standards puts it at VG+ which is fine by me. It's also a key bronze age issue and its in a run of spidey's that I don't have any of yet. My earliest spidey issue is still 80, and the next is 203 - so this will be my first venture into the 100's of the early-mid 70's. Tough on the budget, but will make the rest of the decisions even more exciting knowing that I have a limit!

I'm really stoked about this issue - first Harry Osborn as the Green Goblin.

Still deciding on the other comics to fill holes in other runs. Really taking a hard look at the current Justice Society of America. I have the first 7 issues, then it jumps to issue 20 for me. I didn't even realize I had issue 20 until I was doing a little sorting today. Mile High has alot of these issues for $1.05 up to face value in Fine or better condition, meaning they're NM never read issues. Justice Society and Justice League are honestly the only two DC comics I've had a real interest in during the last five or so years. I've never been a huge fan of Superman - Batman is really cool though. I've tried reading Green Lantern but couldn't get into it. I did get into the whole Omac Project thing about five years ago and collected alot of comics I never cared about reading because they had Omac tie ins.

Team comics are really cool though. My three favorites have been New Avengers, the current JLA and current JSA runs. I have a HUGE gap in the New Avengers run. Pretty much from issue 10 up to the start of Civil War. Once the Initiative started I was on the way out of comics due to my son being born. Hard to believe they're up in the post-50 issues.

I might pick up an old Defenders issue to see how it reads. Hulk as a team member could be interesting.

More decisions to come!

Can you dollar bin dive on the internet?

YES YOU CAN!

I'm going to be utilizing one of the biggest online sales resources to do my diving - eBay.

Most comic book collectors just shuddered hearing me say that. Purists have alot of disdain for eBay comics because grading is typically subjective and the US Postal Service is not always very gentle on packaging. I'm not really worried about either aspect in my journey.

What I do have to be careful about is my budget. Here's a quick recap:

1. Buy backissues

2. Fill holes in runs/collections

3. around $20 in purchases

No.3 is where I have to be careful. I could easily pick up several comics from different sellers on ebay for $20, but with varying shipping and handling charges I could end up with a total purchase of $40 of more easily. So how am I to avoid spending more on shipping than the comics I buy? Here's a great tip for anyone else out there looking to buy bulk comics on eBay:

Buy all your comics from the same seller.

Most comic book dealers on ebay provide reasonable or combined shipping on multiple purchases. Even if their price on a certain issue is several dollars higher than another dealer, the combined shipping could be the deal breaker. Its important to recognize that. There could be tons of copies of a certain comic with a buy it now! price of .99, but at $5.00 s/h, you're better off paying $1.99 for that comic with $2.00 s/h. Now, this is just for filling holes in backissue runs. If you're a serious collector looking for top quality cgc-able copies, then paying for pricer s/h from a seller you feel is trustworthy is definitely the right thing to do. For me, though, I have to recommend that anyone just looking to fill holes in runs with no regard for strenuous grading go to one dealer and work from there.

I've bought comics off ebay many times and I've never been disappointed. From golden age on up to modern I've been satisfied every time. I've even sold several comics on ebay and always gotten positive feedback. So I'm happy with going this route. I've already chosen my eBay store - Mile High Comics.

Folks familiar with comic book history will recognize this store. Easily the largest backissue supplier of comics in the world. Their eBay store is gigantic, over 100,000 buy it now! auctions at the moment. I've bought from them several times and I couldn't be happier - comics packaged nicely for mail, grading that is strict, and always willing to help if there's a problem with your order. I've ordered several books only to find out they actually did not have the item I requested. I was promptly refunded my money, AND GIVEN A $20 VOUCHER TO USE in their eBay store to purchase more comics. I've easily bought $60 worth of comics from them just on vouchers. You can't beat that with a stick.

Later this week I plan on picking my comics. Got some things in mind - might get brave and spend over $10 whole dollars on one comic. :GASP! Stay tuned!

It's 2010 - Why am I blogging now?

It's weird. I've never been one to write a bunch of stuff on the internet. It takes too much time and at the same time I think about what I write too much - which means it takes even more time. I never thought I'd have a blog. I'm fine and happy with periodic updates on facebook.

I don't tell a whole lot of people that I collect comic books. For a little history, I started collecting comics during December 1993. I was 14 and in 8th grade. Most boys at my school were into hunting and fishing - and while I found that interesting I wanted a hobby that was more substantial. That Christmas I received money instead of gifts and used some of it to buy my first comic books. I know I had comics when I was younger, but they were long gone and forgotten, so in my mind the comic books I bought in December of 93 are my "first" comics because I still cherish them. I bought my first comics from Wal-Mart of all places - they came in 3 pack collector's kits. My first kit came with an uncanny x-men, an x-force, and darker image #1. I also bought a copy of Comics Buyers Guide so I'd have a price guide. The CBG was substantial because an ad for a comic book show in Fayetteville put me on the true path of collecting.

My father carried me to my first comic book show in Fayetteville. In fact, he carried me to every comic book show I ever went to. He even carried me to Heroescon in Charlotte during the summer of 94. My father really supported my comic book collecting. He never said it, but I think he knew there was something inherently right in the fact that his young adolescent son had a hobby where he was learning to invest and care for something. He'd pay my way into the shows and give me $20 to spend on whatever I wanted. The only stipulation was that once I was out of money it was time to come home.

I learned to stretch that $20 like a champ because at my very first comic book show I discovered the "Dollar bin." For those not up on comic book jargon the "dollar bin" is basically a box of comics and each comic is sold by the dealer for $1 each. There are several variants of this - I've seen $.25 boxes all the way up to $5.00 bins. The sweet spot was always the $1 bin for me though. I'd spend hours sifting through bins upon bins of comics. I distinctly remember the smells - comics in storage give off a unique musty odor as the pages age. Most comics in the cheap bins are not bagged and boarded so the smell permeated every show I attended. I'd stretch that $20, which was sometimes more if my mother gave me a few extra dollars before we left or I hoarded my lunch money for awhile, and buy as many comics as I could. Sadly, the stories in the comics of the early 90's were terrible (hello clone saga Spider-man!) so I really was attracted to the art more than anything else. Comic speculation was high during this time due to Superman's "death" and Batman's back being broke by Bane, so the comic industry was inflated with large print runs and gimmicky covers. This made "dollar bin diving" all the more interesting for me. My father never cared as to how many comic books I got - he once said that I could spend all money on just one comic book and we could come right back home. It was nice having that first taste of freedom to spend my money the way I wanted to.

Heroescon 94 was my last comic book show. I started high school that fall and discovered a new hobby - girls. Long story short, I never seriously picked up another comic book for 10 years.

Fast forward to 2010 - I'm married to a wonderful woman and I have a 2 year old son that's been running around in a vintage Spider-man t-shirt tonight. I started back collecting comics seriously when my wife and I met in 2004. By seriously, I mean a $70+ a month habit at my peak of collecting in 2007. After my son was born I stopped reading and following comics because of the sheer cost to stay abreast on the titles I read. A recent trip to the Raleigh State Fair Flea Market sparked my comic book interest again as I picked up two key Silver Age titles in very good+ condition for next to nothing. I decided to start collecting back issues again and after two comic book shop visits this week I decided to blog about my experiences in back issue collecting.

So why back issues? It's simple really. New comics cost anywhere from $2.99 to $3.99. Today I bought a copy of Amazing Spider-Man, a giant-size Dr. Strange comic, and a copy of Comics Buyers Guide for the grand total of $14. Three books for $14. Compare that to my trip to Comics Envy in Asheville, where I perused the $.50 bins and bought 12 comics for $6. I'm not talking trash comics published by Charlton or anything like that - I'm talking really good, fairly current stuff. Justice Society of America #21 and #22, a Spider-man issue from the early 90's in the Maximum Carnage storyline, and a copy of Strange #1 which was the first issue of a Dr. Strange mini-series that came out about four months ago. I also picked up some older Peter Parker Spectacular's, a couple of post Frank Miller Daredevil issues, and some Batman Year 3 issues. All good reads - for next to nothing.

So, every month I'm going to collect comics the way I did when I was 14. $20 give or take, and I will blog about my results. My goal is to buy all backissues and keep as many of them as I can under the cost of current comics. I plan on trying to fill holes in storylines and runs of some of my favorite comics - namely Amazing Spidey, Daredevil (particularly the Frank Miller run of the early 80's), the Maxx, and the Geoff Johns run on Justice Society of America. Plus other comics here and there that I might find interesting. That's the great thing about dollar bin diving - you can try a comic and you're only out $1.

Plan on doing my first "dollar bin" run on Thursday, April 1st. Between now and then I plan on blogging a bit more on my father and his influence on my comic collecting, as well as pulling out some comics from my long boxes and reminiscing.

Until next time - Cheers!