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!