www.ComicBookPage.com

Wood wrote:Here's what I don't get about Chuck...he was at NYCC and, according to his latest email, went on a buying spree while there. Now, having spent a good deal of time shopping at NYCC, I can say that prices weren't exactly bargain basement. It was, after all, expensive to have a booth there and it is the most expensive city in America. Now I realize Chuck buys in bulk and ergo gets much better pricing than the public, but STILL, I wonder how much of a discount to guide he's buying.

Given his insane pricing, I'm beginning to think he's willing to pay closer to guide for stuff than we realize. Dunno, but it's a real mystery to me.

I really doubt he pays anywhere close to guide for anything. I also don't think he is buying from people during the course of the show. I suspect he is making back-office deals with guys to take HUGE amounts of bulk comics off their hands before the doors even open to the public. I suspect on even the cherry books, they are mixed in with other stuff and he would pay at most 30-50% of "real" guide price (as differentiated from the prices he subsequently tries to sell them for.

Comics Buyer's Guide gets in bed with Heritage Auctions & Atomic Avenue.....

We're pleased to announce that, in the coming months, we will be using actual sales results, from both Heritage Auction Galleries and Atomic Avenue, as the basis for our monthly price guide.

This effectively puts them in association with ComicBase, since AtomicAvenue is closely affiliated with them, and most AA prices are based on what ComicBase values books at.

For more info: http://www.cbgxtra.com/default.aspx?tab ... stid=45560

BobBretall wrote:Comics Buyer's Guide gets in bed with Heritage Auctions & Atomic Avenue.....

We're pleased to announce that, in the coming months, we will be using actual sales results, from both Heritage Auction Galleries and Atomic Avenue, as the basis for our monthly price guide.

This effectively puts them in association with ComicBase, since AtomicAvenue is closely affiliated with them, and most AA prices are based on what ComicBase values books at.

For more info: http://www.cbgxtra.com/default.aspx?tab ... stid=45560

CBG and ComicBase have been sharing a database for years.

BobBretall wrote:Comics Buyer's Guide gets in bed with Heritage Auctions & Atomic Avenue.....

We're pleased to announce that, in the coming months, we will be using actual sales results, from both Heritage Auction Galleries and Atomic Avenue, as the basis for our monthly price guide.

This effectively puts them in association with ComicBase, since AtomicAvenue is closely affiliated with them, and most AA prices are based on what ComicBase values books at.

For more info: http://www.cbgxtra.com/default.aspx?tab ... stid=45560

This is interesting news but I'm still unsure whether this improves AA as a back issue buying hub. My problem with AA is that it defaults to VF/NM as the grade and most people don't both to adjust the grade when they load their collections. Accurate pricing or not, if it's graded incorrectly, the "Price Isn't Right, Bob"

Don't construe me as being in favor of Atomic Avenue.

I have yet to find any kind of a good deal there. I can often get stuff on eBay for a decent discount off of guide. AA generally has people defaulting to very close to "book" prices as recommended by ComicBase, in all the times I have gone there, I have not once found a book I was interested in even close to a price I was willing to pay.

The grade discrepancy makes it even worse.

Another thing is that they generally just have descriptions & generic pictures of the books, and not pictures of the actual book you are buying (again, this has been my observation for the books I have checked out).

Anyway, I'll stick to eBay.

BobBretall wrote:Don't construe me as being in favor of Atomic Avenue.

I have yet to find any kind of a good deal there. I can often get stuff on eBay for a decent discount off of guide. AA generally has people defaulting to very close to "book" prices as recommended by ComicBase, in all the times I have gone there, I have not once found a book I was interested in even close to a price I was willing to pay.

The grade discrepancy makes it even worse.

Another thing is that they generally just have descriptions & generic pictures of the books, and not pictures of the actual book you are buying (again, this has been my observation for the books I have checked out).

Anyway, I'll stick to eBay.

That's the major issue I have with AA as well, the stock photos instead of actual photos.

Just to put my 2 cents in:

For me, I'm living in The Netherlands, the only online shop that has some advantage is Mile High.
That's because they're the only online shop, that I know of, that doesn't charge for international shipping.
True, I have to order more that 100 bucks, but that's not really a problem.

I would like to order from MyComicsshop, Torpedo, or any of the other shops, but the shipping costs will exceed the various discounts I would get.

The reason for that is, I'm collecting no golden, silver or bronze age comics so the very steep discounts won't amount to very big.

But maybe I'm wrong.

comicfreak wrote: I would like to order from MyComicsshop, Torpedo, or any of the other shops, but the shipping costs will exceed the various discounts I would get.
The reason for that is, I'm collecting no golden, silver or bronze age comics so the very steep discounts won't amount to very big.
But maybe I'm wrong.

You make an excellent point here, and shipping costs are definitely something to be considered. I was not considering the international shipping scenario, and I generally order enough to get free shipping on any order myself.

If you are buying mostly stuff from the late 80s on forward and in higher grades (and probably not "key" issues), MileHigh should be a perfectly good place to get comics form.

Have you tried these sites?

http://westfieldcomics.com/

http://www.impulsecreations.net/

They both advertise new comics & back issues.

So despite my reservations I am finally giving Atomic Avenue a try. As many of you know I'm a huge Deadpool fan and I've been wanting to bind my own "Definitive" Deadpool for some time. Things like Deadpool #1 (of the Joe Kelly ongoing) and the Circle Chase are WAY overpriced IMHO even at places like Torpedo and MyComicShop. I have all the issues but prefer to bind other copies (I feel odd about binding my original copies, call me a nut); so I'm trying to track down a duplicate set of a bunch of stuff he appeared in.

On a whim I checked Atomic and the issues were all there for cover price or cheaper. I put together small orders with two sellers and, so far, so good. In fact, one of the vendors didn't have Deadpool #1 and apologized, and is sending me two other comics of my choice free of charge as a result.

I will keep you updated on the process.

So far, I'm through the ordering and payment processes with no issues. I put everything in my cart and Atomic segmented the orders by seller without my having to. I paid one aggregated payment through Paypal (very convenient) and got order confirmations from Atomic and each seller. This morning (less than 12 hours after ordering), I got shipping confirmation from one seller and am awaiting confirmation from the other.

We'll see!

I think Atomic Avenue would be perfectly fine for this kind of purchase (more recent issues that are not high-priced).

My issue has been with Silver age stuff, it does not seem to be available at decent prices (compared to what I can get on eBay) nor do I like the fact that I don;t generally see a picture of the actual book I am buying (essential when someone is describing their book as VG/F/VF (or whatever). I like to be able to judge myself from a picture.

Just received an order from Lone Star, and was pretty pleased overall. Can't argue with the packing, comics were in a bag taped to cardboard panels to prevent bending, then the whole shebang was in a box with wadded paper. Everything arrived safely even if it did take a while to get the comics out.

I got a bunch of Legion comics, mostly replacements of Legion v. 3 issues that had been stolen from me years ago along with some odds and ends (2 issues of Dreaming completing the run, 1 issue of Hourman completing the run, two issues of Shade with two left to complete the run). Also about 7 issues of Infinity Inc, leaving me 4 issues away from completing the run. All the issues I bought were NM or VF at an avg price of $1.34. I'm not a grading expert and could not really tell the difference between the issues, so I'm fine with taking the cheaper option. The one book I paid high on was Legion #37 which being the start of the Death of Superboy had a NM asking price of about $38, ouch! I elected the VG- copy for $5, a buck under guide and it was in great shape, only a bend across the lower right corner.

I priced milehigh as well, and for this go round Lone Star was much cheaper overall.

Now I've (re)completed my Legion Baxter run and have a trip into memory land awaiting me!

Lobo wrote:Have you tried these sites?

http://westfieldcomics.com/

http://www.impulsecreations.net/

They both advertise new comics & back issues.

I haven't used either but I've checked out Westfield in the past. Both seem to focus more on new issues than back issues. The discounts they have seem much lower than what other places like DCBS offer.

Found two more today...

This one looks like a retailer's page...

http://www.metropoliscomics.com/index.php

(Note the 'Horror Comic Discount Bonanza!' link in the left column )

... while this one looks more like an 'Atomic Avenue' dealing mostly in Golden & Silver Age comics.

http://www.comicconnect.com/?referral=053008

I've dealt with comicconnect, or at least tried to, in the past couple months. I don't know what it is about them, but something seems kind of shady.