Feedback Thread: Back Issue Spotlight #2
Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2007 9:32 am
I especially enjoyed the discussion of the online vendors, and I wanted to add a couple comments.
I've used all three of the vendors you mentioned and I agree absolutely with your comments on all three. I used Mile High for years to try to fill in my collection, starting even before they were online when the yellow page ads appeared in Marvel. In buying a lot of 80s books I realized that my definition of NM wasn't the same as theirs. Many of those 80s books came with dented or dimpled covers, which doesn't make them NM in my opinion. So their grading standards are overstated *throughout,* not just in the lower grades. And the reason is simple: they are big. Too big. But you can usually find the book you are looking for, which is their justification for the higher prices, etc. It also seems sometimes that their sales prices end up higher than or the same as the usual prices. I've watched issues, waiting for sales, and seen that the prices didn't change. I also used them for my new comics, but any mistakes that were made were treated as if they were my fault, so I switched to DCBS when I found out about them.
When I stopped using MH for most of my purchases, I moved to NewKadia. I thought they had a good selection and I liked that the prices reduced the longer they had been sitting. After ordering quite a bit from them, their grading seemed pretty accurate, and they use a nice system that gives you a pretty good idea what the issue will look like when it arrives. They give number grades to various aspects of the comic, such as cover condition, page color, etc. And you can easily call up the chart to see what the number represents and what it would take to move the number up or down. The other nice thing is that the more you buy, the better the free shipping becomes, and downgrading the shipping method gets you a better discount. They did ship me one book wrong, and they told me to keep the one I had gotten and shipped me the correct one. That's the kind of customer service I like.
Lastly, I've known about LoneStar for a long time, but I hadn't ordered from them until recently when you two talked about getting your orders from them. THat was good enough for me, so I placed an order. I was surprised that the books came unbagged, and like John I get concerned when there's that much sticky stuff floating around near my books when I'm unwrapping them (I have the same concerns when opening my new comics from DCBS). However, their prices were good and their sales are even better.
The discussion of Hard Travelling Heroes was great! I just read this series myself, in the reprint series from 1983. I liked it, and I understand that at the time it was groundbreaking, but now it seems like a ham-fisted attempt at being relevant. Everything was so overstated. But I still enjoyed it and the art is certainly some of the best he's ever done.
I do wish they had used Black Canary more effectively, and later writers have certainly expanded this period in the comic beyond what is shown here (such as in Green Arrow's current series, collecting Hal's things; a big deal was made out of the truck...which at the time I didn't realize had actually been lost in a lake...oops).
Anyway, another great episode, guys.
-David
I've used all three of the vendors you mentioned and I agree absolutely with your comments on all three. I used Mile High for years to try to fill in my collection, starting even before they were online when the yellow page ads appeared in Marvel. In buying a lot of 80s books I realized that my definition of NM wasn't the same as theirs. Many of those 80s books came with dented or dimpled covers, which doesn't make them NM in my opinion. So their grading standards are overstated *throughout,* not just in the lower grades. And the reason is simple: they are big. Too big. But you can usually find the book you are looking for, which is their justification for the higher prices, etc. It also seems sometimes that their sales prices end up higher than or the same as the usual prices. I've watched issues, waiting for sales, and seen that the prices didn't change. I also used them for my new comics, but any mistakes that were made were treated as if they were my fault, so I switched to DCBS when I found out about them.
When I stopped using MH for most of my purchases, I moved to NewKadia. I thought they had a good selection and I liked that the prices reduced the longer they had been sitting. After ordering quite a bit from them, their grading seemed pretty accurate, and they use a nice system that gives you a pretty good idea what the issue will look like when it arrives. They give number grades to various aspects of the comic, such as cover condition, page color, etc. And you can easily call up the chart to see what the number represents and what it would take to move the number up or down. The other nice thing is that the more you buy, the better the free shipping becomes, and downgrading the shipping method gets you a better discount. They did ship me one book wrong, and they told me to keep the one I had gotten and shipped me the correct one. That's the kind of customer service I like.
Lastly, I've known about LoneStar for a long time, but I hadn't ordered from them until recently when you two talked about getting your orders from them. THat was good enough for me, so I placed an order. I was surprised that the books came unbagged, and like John I get concerned when there's that much sticky stuff floating around near my books when I'm unwrapping them (I have the same concerns when opening my new comics from DCBS). However, their prices were good and their sales are even better.
The discussion of Hard Travelling Heroes was great! I just read this series myself, in the reprint series from 1983. I liked it, and I understand that at the time it was groundbreaking, but now it seems like a ham-fisted attempt at being relevant. Everything was so overstated. But I still enjoyed it and the art is certainly some of the best he's ever done.
I do wish they had used Black Canary more effectively, and later writers have certainly expanded this period in the comic beyond what is shown here (such as in Green Arrow's current series, collecting Hal's things; a big deal was made out of the truck...which at the time I didn't realize had actually been lost in a lake...oops).
Anyway, another great episode, guys.
-David
