Well maybe not Every Book but I thought it might get your attention. Cue in this Ebay Seller's twisted version of "Every sperm is sacred" (Monty Python's, The Meaning of Life.) This Blog could just have easily been entitled "Thou Shall Not Write on Books..." but seemed it too subtle and might have been easily misinterpreted. So I thought Maybe John Cleese would do a better job since Moses wasn't available for comment and God was last seen committing arson on a shrubbery. So there went my idea of having this written in stone. In absence of a solid granite block for which I could use to hit you over the head with I used strong words of admonishment instead.
We've all at least been in an antique shop, to an auction, visited a flea market, or even shopped online for collectibles at one time or another in our life. We've found that perfect something to fill our collections only to have gotten it home and realized that on the item is an ugly penciled notation or a sticker that doesn't belong and cannot be removed (at least not without damaging your treasure) These are the price markings dealers who are too lazy or cheap to properly label their product.
To the casual collector it may merely be annoying but to me, the collector & reseller its infuriating. Writing and stickers applied directly to these items does not increase the value of it one iota!! It can in fact can decrease the value depending on the extent of damage done. For paper items where the dealer merely wrote in pencil on back "discretly" in the corner of the document,postcard or other item it is possible to erase the offending marks but not without disturbing the finish or leaving the indents of the pencil still on the item. Sometimes the paper is too fragile or brittle to attempt removal so the buyer is stuck with an ugly price on their item forever. For the ones that use stickers, grease pencil, or god forbid the hole punch on the front covers of paperbacks they will meet Phil, The Prince of Insufficient Light in their next life.
Which brings me to my next topic. Paperback books. I can't think of an easier way to bring down the value of a paperback book than to deface it in some way. Most the value of a paperback is directly tied into the attractiveness of the covers!! Any disturbances to the over all eye appeal count against its market value. "Oh but those stickers I use are easily removable..." That is simply the cry of an uneducated dealer (or one too lazy or cheap to change their ways) Those so called easily removable stickers at the very least leave a sticker outline on the book forever, but also can cause permanent residue and worse, paper loss. For example an otherwise perfect copy has now been downgraded at least one whole grade and sometimes two depending on extent of the damage. The Difference in Value between a Perfect Book and a middle/average book is at least half and sometimes more!! "Yea but that book is only worth $10 in Near Fine(an almost perfect copy in paperback grading) so its not a big deal." Yes actually it is. Say we have a collection of 10 books that are all catalogue at about $10 in Near Fine. The collection may appear to be valued at $100. These defacements I mentioned may reduce the value of that collection $50 or even $25 dollars depending on the damage. The amount someone may be willing to pay to buy such a collection is further reduced to about $5-$10. Your $100 collection has been wittled down to $10 by virtue of scribbling. Are we starting to see why this is so important, here?
On to Hardcovers Books. Those pencil markings in the front are completely unacceptable. Depending on the age and rarity of the book there is large class of collectors that will not purchase books that have been penciled in. I have seen plenty of negatives on Ebay given to sellers by buyers for failure to mention this little detail. Unlike a small or rare bookshop plate on the endpaper which can add value to the book(depending on the notoriety of the shop) pencil actually detracts from the value. A near fine book is now merely a Very Good plus or very good. Depending on the penalty any given dealer assigns to said defacement. Its not chic, Its not collectible and it doesn't look good. All the dealer has to do it Get a slip of paper and write down the pertinents and put it in the front of the book. I personally know someone who owns a book shop with an extensive collection of rare volumes that does not write in the books. This dealer is as rare as some of the books on their shelves. Sadly Most seem to think that their initials and price markings will add something to the book. Wrong! Shops of disctinction are few and far between. For the ones that aren't their owner's egos exceed the value of the their entire inventories ten-fold.
Paper items such as postcards, billheads, menus, documents and correspondance should never be written on. This is history and writing on it in any way is graffiti. Dealers who do are no better than street vandals. I realize Not everything is of such high value, For instance a 1950's Curt Teich linen postcard with a print run in the millions is only worth about twenty five cents to a dollar but writing on it makes it worth even less. Sounds ridiculous on the face of it,right? You could argue that its a post card and they were supposed to be written on. That is actually partially correct. They were supposed to written on but by the original purchaser to be sent off to their designated recipient. The original message lends possible value along with the stamp and postmark. All those things have a relative value either subjective or objective depending on the needs of the collector. However, I have yet to see a price guide on the value of dealer markings for Postcards or other paper goods. As far as I know it simply doesn't exist! Where as you may not be able to see to connection on a practically worthless postcard, There is a world of difference on specialized, older & rare documents, correspondance, etc. The extra penciling automatically removes the item in the mind of the buyers as being an authentic estate "find". Items that have those sorts of labels are relegated as having been through the dealer mill and are not as desirable as items that appear to be from an "estate" collection. Putting the finicky collectors aside I personally think just simply from an aesthetical aspect that penciling, stickers,and inking on old paper goods is just irresponsible and it looks like crap. (The stronger word is implied) In most cases it doesn't represent the value of the item since the world of paper depends so greatly on current demand and prior sale precedent. Some paper relies heavily on topical demand meaning some topics are in higher demand than others. And on the other hand Some paper has no actual value until it is assigned one or someone tells them its worth something. But by defacing the item will be one way to guarantee that it won't be worth as much as it could have if had been left it its "as found" state. Putting a permanent recorded price on it an item of that nature is just ill advised, disrespectful and frankly, meaningless. I could go on but I really think if you haven't get the general idea by now that you never will.
In conclusion I urge all Dealers of such merchandise to forego the penciled notations and find a plastic moisture barrier to put your paper or book into, or use a slip of paper to notate the price and edition for your buyers, a hanging tag, a sleave, an anything but scrawling on the item.
Stop being lazy and cheap!! You are defacing your merchandise and devaluing it. If not for that then consider it a matter of respect. Writing on things shows a basic lack of respect for stuff and ruins someone's future enjoyment. Collectors hate those markings. We hate those markings. We as seller's don't write on our items. Please Don't write on yours.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
The Origin of the Orphan
Here is follows A digression from our series on General Collecting. Enjoy!
An explanation of Orphans and their Origins
Once in Comic Collecting any Comic Book that had a Major Defacement, Piece missing, was Remaindered with the Logo-off, Mice chews, Large tears, and/or other Serious Problems was considered trash even if it was completely Readable!
There was No grade in the Overstreet Guide(The Most Used Guide in the Comic Book Collecting World) for these Wounded 4 Color Warriors, other then Incomplete/Ungradable. In Coins you Have Type Coins, in Stamps they are Repaired and Called Examples, in Sports cards they are called Fillers but in comics they were treated as rubbish. That is Until about 9 Years ago but not when the Market expanded with eBay but when the Bottom Feeders of Comic Collecting burst into the light of day from their former haunts at Flea Markets, Comic Shop Quarter Bins and Rummage Sales. And with those Bottom Feeders came the Dealer in the Less then Average, the guy who'd sell anything.. or at least almost anything. The Guy most Likely to Resemble the Comic Dealer off the Simpsons.. the Bottom Feeder Feeder.
I fully admit to having been not just a bottom feeder feeder.. but one of the best at it! I sold a Comic with a Bullet Hole clear through the middle, I sold comics with Mouse chews so deep into them that a full 3-5% of the book had been digested in some attic. Because of the Extremity of the deformities I handled I needed a New Grade and at that time in 1999 the DrSkull Orphan was Born. These were comics no one loved and that had been treated, in various hideous ways, so Badly that they looked like survivors from a plane crash, comics that Yellowed paper was a pipe dream because the browning had set in hard.
It's been awhile since I had the chance to sell a good batch of bad comics.. but I have sold more then my Share. To Professors and Programmers I've sold to anyone with the High Bid and the ability to pay.. Free enterprise, you've got to love it! Comics that would have found their way into Land fills or Burn barrells in the past were winging (or driving if sent media Mail) across the Country to new homes daily. As an off hand Guess I'd say between 1999 and 2003 I've sold approximately 1,000 Comic Books that were in too low a grade to actually assign a Grade as well! Great Days those, great days.
Now with the massive amount of people selling comics on ebay it's not so easy to be innovative.. every once in awhile though I see a coverless comic up, a whipped, limp, thrashed and defeated Dell or DC.. a Marvel with it's Logo long since excised.. and I think back to the Days when the Orphans ruled the Bottom feeders with fondness and Nostalgia and sometimes...not often but sometimes.. you can do a search on ebay for "Orphan Comic" and one comes up. It's sad, it's decrepit and it's for sale! Sometimes we're the sellers but sometimes we aren't, and that makes me even prouder. For Orphans have found a home in the lexicon of Comic Geeks and Four Color Nerds everywhere, No longer destined for the Garbage, Comics from the 40s, 50s and even 60s who may not Look like a Million Bucks can still be treated as Valued members of collections, After all who can Afford a Fantastic Four #1 in Near Mint? Not too many of us.. But one with an 8 inch tear in the cover, 6 pieces of tape, 2 spine tears and one staple missing? A Whole helluva lot more of us! Who wouldn't love a chance at that key book in comic history??
And the Best Part of the whole thing? You will NEVER see an Orphan getting Slabbed by CGC... and isn't reading the words and looking at the Art the REAL reason to buy Comics?
So Forego the Slabbed Investment Grade wall hangers that you can't even touch.. Buy a beaten bedraggled Orphan and rediscover the fun of Reading Comics! Save an Orphan, Buy a Comic :-)
Until Next time, Good Hunting Doc
Monday, February 18, 2008
An Intro to Collecting: Different Types of Collectors
Here is the First Installment of many more to come. Please forgive the labels as they are meant to help define the categories in a the vast sea collectors and collectibles.
Why Collect? A good question, a simple question, and yet one with many answers. For every collector their is a personal reason why they collect. Let's look at the different type of collectors and how they collect first.
The Completist is a collector who tries to get every example of an item, in Comics it may be a whole run or every appearance by a character, in Sports Cards a Full set or all issues by a company. In Figurines it may be everything in a series or by a Company.
The Local is a Collector who focuses on Items of Local Interest or about their Hometown if they've moved away. Most notably present in Collectibles like Post Cards, Ephemera or Souvenir Items they Tend to Collect Items Older then they are or about the same Age.. tactile Memories if you will.
The Topical Collector usually Picks a single Topic and Collects it, examples of this Range from the Predictable like Collecting Magazines with a specific Celebrity on the cover.. to the truly Odd Collecting Comic Books with Barber Shop themed Covers. Topical Collecting truly Started in the Field of Stamps but has moved out into all areas of Collecting.
The Family Genealogist Many times the Most ardent and Purposeful of any Collectors Chasing down the threads of their families Past can lead them into every facet of Collectibles, From Books to Billheads, Letter heads and other ephemera, to WW2 War Ration books to Police Blotters (for the more colorful families)
The "I like that" collector.. Not so much a collector as a Magpie .. a person who collects things on no other basis then it caught their eye.. I've been guilty of that one
The Purist Much like the Completist this collector wants all of something but it's usually very specific and very expensive.. Most times these collectors are in the Traditional Collectible Fields of Stamps and Coins,though Golden Age Comics and Pre 1960 Baseball Cards have their Purists as well.
The Investor: Once Limited to High Value Stamps and Coins this collector branched out into Golden Age Comics, "Key" Silver Age Comics (Like Fantastic Four #1) and Sports Cards, Buys Mainly established High Dollar Items with Proven Track Records.. Let's Face it the 1 Penny Black (First Stamp) Pine Tree Shilling (Early Colonial Coin) Action Comics #1 (First Superman) or Mickey Mantle's Rookie card are never going down in price.. only up.
The Speculator Never to be confused with the Investor, Speculators often buy not just single items but multiple Items betting the Price will go way up, sometimes they win .. sometimes they don't. In 1992 So Many Speculators Over bought/ordered Spawn #1 that unless it's Slabbed (CGC Graded more on that in a later Blog) it's not worth much more then cover Price.
The Accumulator the Mass Quantities version of Collecting.. where a person doesn't have a Collection they have numerous collections.. and almost collections, and maybe collections, they buy things because others collect them, because someone they know might be impressed they have them, because they catch their fancy or sometimes just because they Can. The Accumulator usually has no rhyme or reason.. only piles.. drifts and or mountains of stuff. As you can see
Collectors come in every shape and size.. just like collections, some have specialized collections that have been hunted down with care and deliberation.. others have vast amounts of seemingly acquired with no pattern. As to why you should consider collecting.. well do you have a passion? Something in your life that means a lot to you? Perhaps Computers? Collecting Computer Memorabilia is on the rise, not just hardware or software but advertising, Appearances in Pop Culture (Comic covers, books about, movies etc) If you can think of a thing I can point you at ways to collect it.. even emotions can cause collecting. Now don't think I'm making it sound like a disease, it's not. It's actually one of the finest hobbies out there, the thrill of the hunt, the pride of ownership, that special feeling of accomplishment when you get just the right Item to compliment your collection. There are thousands of reasons to collect, and many ways to collect. But the only one that matters is the one that's right for you.
Until Next time,
Good Hunting Doc
Why Collect? A good question, a simple question, and yet one with many answers. For every collector their is a personal reason why they collect. Let's look at the different type of collectors and how they collect first.
The Completist is a collector who tries to get every example of an item, in Comics it may be a whole run or every appearance by a character, in Sports Cards a Full set or all issues by a company. In Figurines it may be everything in a series or by a Company.
The Local is a Collector who focuses on Items of Local Interest or about their Hometown if they've moved away. Most notably present in Collectibles like Post Cards, Ephemera or Souvenir Items they Tend to Collect Items Older then they are or about the same Age.. tactile Memories if you will.
The Topical Collector usually Picks a single Topic and Collects it, examples of this Range from the Predictable like Collecting Magazines with a specific Celebrity on the cover.. to the truly Odd Collecting Comic Books with Barber Shop themed Covers. Topical Collecting truly Started in the Field of Stamps but has moved out into all areas of Collecting.
The Family Genealogist Many times the Most ardent and Purposeful of any Collectors Chasing down the threads of their families Past can lead them into every facet of Collectibles, From Books to Billheads, Letter heads and other ephemera, to WW2 War Ration books to Police Blotters (for the more colorful families)
The "I like that" collector.. Not so much a collector as a Magpie .. a person who collects things on no other basis then it caught their eye.. I've been guilty of that one
The Purist Much like the Completist this collector wants all of something but it's usually very specific and very expensive.. Most times these collectors are in the Traditional Collectible Fields of Stamps and Coins,though Golden Age Comics and Pre 1960 Baseball Cards have their Purists as well.
The Investor: Once Limited to High Value Stamps and Coins this collector branched out into Golden Age Comics, "Key" Silver Age Comics (Like Fantastic Four #1) and Sports Cards, Buys Mainly established High Dollar Items with Proven Track Records.. Let's Face it the 1 Penny Black (First Stamp) Pine Tree Shilling (Early Colonial Coin) Action Comics #1 (First Superman) or Mickey Mantle's Rookie card are never going down in price.. only up.
The Speculator Never to be confused with the Investor, Speculators often buy not just single items but multiple Items betting the Price will go way up, sometimes they win .. sometimes they don't. In 1992 So Many Speculators Over bought/ordered Spawn #1 that unless it's Slabbed (CGC Graded more on that in a later Blog) it's not worth much more then cover Price.
The Accumulator the Mass Quantities version of Collecting.. where a person doesn't have a Collection they have numerous collections.. and almost collections, and maybe collections, they buy things because others collect them, because someone they know might be impressed they have them, because they catch their fancy or sometimes just because they Can. The Accumulator usually has no rhyme or reason.. only piles.. drifts and or mountains of stuff. As you can see
Collectors come in every shape and size.. just like collections, some have specialized collections that have been hunted down with care and deliberation.. others have vast amounts of seemingly acquired with no pattern. As to why you should consider collecting.. well do you have a passion? Something in your life that means a lot to you? Perhaps Computers? Collecting Computer Memorabilia is on the rise, not just hardware or software but advertising, Appearances in Pop Culture (Comic covers, books about, movies etc) If you can think of a thing I can point you at ways to collect it.. even emotions can cause collecting. Now don't think I'm making it sound like a disease, it's not. It's actually one of the finest hobbies out there, the thrill of the hunt, the pride of ownership, that special feeling of accomplishment when you get just the right Item to compliment your collection. There are thousands of reasons to collect, and many ways to collect. But the only one that matters is the one that's right for you.
Until Next time,
Good Hunting Doc
Saturday, February 16, 2008
A Start
The Reason for this blog is so underwhelmingly simple that its much like the anticlimax in an otherwise good book. The Only difference being the Book has a better build up. This blog is absolutely devoid of hype or false build up. Ironically, by explaining the lack of introduction, this paragraph could be also characterized as hype. Funny how that works out.
What is an Isle of View? A Small Island of Pontificators located in the Middle of the Atlantic Ocean? No actually its a bad Pun, It was dreamed up by a departed friend and co-founder of the business for use in a popular Science Fiction Book and then Later applied to a small Auction Company. It simply means " I Love You". (10 seconds allowed for a brief groan)
Isle of View Auctions Sells a Variety of Collectibles on Ebay. The Name of Blog is Our Ebay Id, DrSkull9. When Google partnered with Ebay our Listing Fees went up dramatically. We finally got wise to the fact that all these Euphamistically Titled "Free" Tools weren't actually Free. We have to pay for the right through our Listing Fees. We are going to utilize this space for Advertising our Items. However, Instead of a sales pitch we decided to Talk about the Vast Market of Collectibles. Our premise is Everyone Collects Something but Not Everyone understands What they collect. We would would like to do is to educate people about this always trendy but greatly misunderstood Market.
There will be a series of Installments covering the many different aspects of collecting. Dave will be discussing his vast knowledge of collectibles with you. He's been in this business since he was 10 and has acquired an amazing wealth of information that he would now like to share with you. Subscribe to this feed, You Never know what Dave will say next!
What is an Isle of View? A Small Island of Pontificators located in the Middle of the Atlantic Ocean? No actually its a bad Pun, It was dreamed up by a departed friend and co-founder of the business for use in a popular Science Fiction Book and then Later applied to a small Auction Company. It simply means " I Love You". (10 seconds allowed for a brief groan)
Isle of View Auctions Sells a Variety of Collectibles on Ebay. The Name of Blog is Our Ebay Id, DrSkull9. When Google partnered with Ebay our Listing Fees went up dramatically. We finally got wise to the fact that all these Euphamistically Titled "Free" Tools weren't actually Free. We have to pay for the right through our Listing Fees. We are going to utilize this space for Advertising our Items. However, Instead of a sales pitch we decided to Talk about the Vast Market of Collectibles. Our premise is Everyone Collects Something but Not Everyone understands What they collect. We would would like to do is to educate people about this always trendy but greatly misunderstood Market.
There will be a series of Installments covering the many different aspects of collecting. Dave will be discussing his vast knowledge of collectibles with you. He's been in this business since he was 10 and has acquired an amazing wealth of information that he would now like to share with you. Subscribe to this feed, You Never know what Dave will say next!
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