Everything I ever wanted to say to a customer while I was working in comics. We had several customers boast to us that they had the first issue of Superman, one proclaiming that it was "still in the plastic!" The utter absurdity of this--that they could have something so incredibly rare in their possession, let alone that something from that era would come wrapped in plastic--was completely lost on them. It makes the news every time one of these comics auctions, but what the news fails to report is that there are only about 100 known copies of Action Comics #1, and that no, you probably don't have one. No, they leave that to comic shops to explain to disappointed customers who thought they'd suddenly found a way to pay off their mortgage.
It's difficult to explain that without sounding like a jerk.
For the MLP collectors in the audience, I have a new round of auctions!
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Anyway, I also find it funny that the pony selling the comic (who may or may not have a name) isn't actually smart enough to know you'd almost certainly want to auction off a copy of Action Comics #1 rather than sell it... or that a store just happens to keep a million dollars around in case someone shows up with AC#1.
Exactly, LOL! The shop I worked at had a larger shop in Austin, which is one of the biggest in the U.S. When someone walked in with a copy of Amazing Fantasy #15, they didn't buy it. They agreed to sell it and then give a cut to the owner. Because who the heck has that much cash on hand? o_O
It's entirely possible your friend had one of those reprints. Those are hard-to-find, too, but I've bagged a couple copies of those. Or he could have just been a big fat liar. XD
So, she likes to play My Little Pony Dungeons & Dragons, a little cosplay and hanging around comic shops. I think she should be a web designer who gives Minty CSS tips :D
This reminds me of that show "Pawn Stars", have you seen it? Some of the people that show up in there are SO delusional. Those guys have absolutely no problem laughing the dumbasses out of the store, though. It's awesome. >:}
... Actually, now that I think about it, that issue may be from '90 or '91...
Then again, it's very relative. When you spend your days handling Golden Age books, $30 isn't much at all.
Though I was a dumb as a kid and sold a huge carton of my father's comics (mostly from '58 through '61) for about $300. I figured that, by that time, comics would stop going up in price because everyone knew they were valuable and stop throwing them out. So I decided to unload them figuring they'd never be worth more. This was 1992. I was very, very wrong. As a reference, Action Comics #1 was listed in Overstreet around $21,000. (I remember discussing that with the kid who bought the comics from me, it's the only reason I remember the price. He said $21,000 was unrealistic for a comic book and it was 'impossible' to stay that high, and would eventually drop by at least 60%. He was really, really wrong too.)
Boy, I talk a lot, don't I?
I work in a collectible store that also carries comics, and people constantly do this to me. On top of having to explain most of what was explained above (especially how we can't pay full retail for something), I have to explain that only the owner buys anything, and he only works 10-2 every day. It doesn't matter that those hours are written in the newspaper, heard on the radio, and written 20 times around the store. People miss it, and they get ticked.
lol
It seems so wierd that a comic book can be worth so much, especially since parents generally don't like thier kids reading them, but maybe thats just because the parents want to keep them in mint condition, travel to the future and sell them for a fortune!!