What to do with boxes of comics...
 

I have 8 longboxes of bagged/boarded comics I collected about 17-18 years ago or so. I've been out of the comic world since then and I just want to get rid of these.

I'm assembling an inventory list, but I was curious in general terms if there is even a market for this stuff anymore.
Lots of Dark Horse, Image, Spawn, Vertigo titles and weird one-off series.

Wondering if anyone has had luck unloading older titles or has the aftermarket tanked?

thanks...

Re: What to do with boxes of comics...
 

Maybe check here

Comic Care and Storage Thread

Re: What to do with boxes of comics...
 

Call them a grab bag and sell them to Trevor. :)

Re: What to do with boxes of comics...
 

If you're compiling an inventory list, there are online sites that keep those for you and also will give you an idea what they're worth. comicspriceguide.com is one, pretty sure there are others.

There might be some smaller run stuff that might be worth something, but in general, most of it is going to be worth significantly less than you paid for it. If you want to unload it in bulk, you probably can for pennies on the dollar, but if you're going to go thru it anyway, might as well see if you have anything that's worth anything.

Re: What to do with boxes of comics...
 

Sounds like you have the same collection a lot of people do of early 90s comics from the boom. This is the stuff stores see most often and fills their 25-50cent bins. Some stores won't even buy it from you, but if they do expect to get $5-$15 a long box. You're probably looking at about $50-$75 tops for it if you can unload it.

Re: What to do with boxes of comics...
 

Take all the non-adult stuff and give them away to trick-or-treaters for Halloween.

Everything else - Send to me!

Re: What to do with boxes of comics...
 

You may want to check eBay to see what some of that stuff might be selling for, but stuff from the middle 1990s isn't going to make you your money back. I've cherry picked my collection over the years when stuff has gotten hot (sold the original 300 for about $200 bucks when it was hot), but for the most part, you're gonna have a hard time giving that stuff away.

Seriously. About 10 years ago a buddy gave me eight long boxes of stuff from around that time knowing I was a collector. I kept about one box worth of books and sat on the rest. A few years ago I went to my comic book store and told them they could have the seven remaining boxes just to get rid of them and they said "no thanks."

Re: What to do with boxes of comics...
 

Yeah, most comics from the past twenty years are worth jack shit.

True, some like Walking Dead #1 will sell for king's ransom, but I'd wager that a good 99.9% of the material from this era is worthless.

Re: What to do with boxes of comics...
 

That's petty bad when free is even too costly for them.

Re: What to do with boxes of comics...
 

Sending the OP my address and paypal account info now....

Re: What to do with boxes of comics...
 

Do any of these titles still have any value? I bought all these when they came out.

Frank Miller: 300, Hard Boiled, Sin City, Give Me Liberty, Dark Knight Returns, Dark Knight Year One
Vertigo: Sandman, The Invisibles, and several more
J. O'Barr: The Crow

I'm guessing that my fancy highbrow comics are worth about as much as Mrs Danger's 1970s 25c-bin horror comics.

Re: What to do with boxes of comics...
 

They are running a business, and if you have a bunch of junk that nobody is ever going to buy taking up space, it's costing you money because the space could be used for something that will sell. Might as well dump all of those copies of Darkhold, Armorines, and Team Youngblood into the nearest recycling bin.

The simple fact is that the comic book industry has been flooding the market with crap for the past two decades. The early 90s saw print runs that were so high that there were dozens of copies of any given for book for every person who might want one. Franchises were, and still are, extended beyond feasibility. When Marvel is pumping out twenty X-Men comics a month, there's now way that the ensuing flood of back issues is ever going to be sought out by any significant number of collectors.

Re: What to do with boxes of comics...
 

I'm interested in collecting some of the Early Image stuff, actually. Maybe you could PM me and we could work out something.

Re: What to do with boxes of comics...
 

Not a lot, but I'd wager they're more desirable than most of the other stuff that was pumped into the market during the same time period.

I think the Crow comics, if they're the original Caliber issues (or Tundra reprints), have some value. It was a pretty obscure series when it came out in the late 80s that later became a cult phenomenon. Any Crow comics that aren't the original series done by O'Barr might as well be toilet paper, though.

The original issues of Dark Knight Returns could probably be worth something, I don't see those often.

Sandman, at least the early issues, should be worth a bit. It wasn't a hit right out of the gate, and sales skyrocketed as it went on, so later issues are basically quarter bin material.

You're not going to sell these and get enough money to buy a new house, but if you wanted to unload some of them you could probably make a hundred bucks or so. Maybe more if you can find the right buyer.

Re: What to do with boxes of comics...
 

Thanks. I'm just curious. I will get more future enjoyment out of them than $100.

It is the original Calibre Crow. It got a rave review in Comics Journal, so I pre-ordered them.

I started Sandman around #3, and bought the back issues before the prices went insane. I actually bought a pack of #1-#10 for $20, and sold my duplicates for $150 a year later.

I'm surprised that The Dark Knight returns is unusual. They printed tons of them. My #1 is the 4th printing.

Re: What to do with boxes of comics...
 

Here are what Mile High Comics and Mycomicshop.com are selling these books for:

DKR
http://www.mycomicshop.com/search?TID=179311
http://www.milehighcomics.com/cgi-bi...8104&snumber=1

CROW
http://www.mycomicshop.com/search?TID=227721
http://www.milehighcomics.com/cgi-bi...3712&snumber=1

SANDMAN
http://www.mycomicshop.com/search?TID=109581
http://www.milehighcomics.com/cgi-bi...8888&snumber=1

300
http://www.mycomicshop.com/search?TID=113721
http://www.milehighcomics.com/cgi-bi...9960&snumber=1

WATCHMEN
http://www.mycomicshop.com/search?TID=181461
http://www.milehighcomics.com/cgi-bi...9960&snumber=1

Keep in mind that Mile High Comics' prices tend to be really high on almost everything, particularly something that's even remotely desirable. Also, the CGCed books at Mycomicshop are sold at a premium. (Which I never really got. I can sort of understand the need for a company like CGC in the eBay age, but I don't understand why people go apeshit and pay a huge premium for CGC graded books.)

The first printings on the first couple of DKR books go for a good amount, but that drops off quickly by the final issue. Looks like the print-runs shot up by then.

I can sort of remember hearing that the prices for Watchmen and 300 went up when their respective films came out, but it looks like those have cooled off some by now.

The actual worth of comics seems to be a really inexact science these days with eBay. A lot of stuff will sit unsold with BIN prices set at what look like modest amounts; I suspect that Mile High and Mycomicshop can sell for more than eBay because they have regular customers who use them as their primary source for back issues.

I would almost be curious enough to walk into one of the local comic book stores with my Sandman, Miracleman, and some of my other "valuable" comics and see what they would give me for them. I have no intent to sell them, but I'd be interested to see what they would offer me.

Re: What to do with boxes of comics...
 

Mile High has outrageous prices on everything, I never figured out how they stay in business. As others have said, probably less than 5% of your collection has any value at all if it is all issues since 1988. There are simply too many copies in perfect condition from that era, floating around in warehouses and in collectors' hands.

Complete runs can go for a little money on eBay, those seem to be popular for people looking to get an entire run in one fell swoop.

Re: What to do with boxes of comics...
 

I suspect the bottom dropped out of the market for Miracleman back issues last week. They're not worthless, mind you, but they're almost certainly not going to sell for anywhere near as much as they did a few weeks ago.

Re: What to do with boxes of comics...
 

It will be interesting to see what happens. Some books, like Walking Dead, have held their value despite being reprinted constantly. And while Miracleman hasn't been officially reprinted yet, .cbr/.cbz scans have been available for years, so it's not like dropping several hundred dollars was the only option for reading them.

I was able to procure a full run of Miracleman #1-24 for less than what Marvel will likely be charging. I bought #1-14,16-23 from someone on usenet for about $2-$3 a book, bought #15 from someone else on usenet for $12, then finally found a copy of #24 on eBay for about $6-$8. This was in the late '90s before the prices really started to go crazy. I guess I can't complain too much if the prices drop like a rock.

Re: What to do with boxes of comics...
 

It's quite a mystery have they have lasted this long with the far better prices that can be found elsewhere. Plus their online site is embarrassing by todays standards. Looks like they have not updated it since 1998.

Re: What to do with boxes of comics...
 

Thanks for looking those up for me.

I missed out on Watchmen. Issue #1 looked boring, so I didn't buy it. It wasn't as in-your-face as TDKR.

Re: What to do with boxes of comics...
 

I wasn't surprised they wouldn't buy them, but I was a little surprised they wouldn't even take them for free to cherry pick them. My buddy had given me entire runs of stuff like Quasar. I understand that there aren't too many people picking up Quasar, but he had all 60 issues. I ended up donating all seven boxes to a church for a big garage sale they were having. I was told that about six boxes worth of comics ended up in the dumpster.

Re: What to do with boxes of comics...
 

I loved that Quasar run. I know some offer up their older comics for free on Craigslist for situations like that one.

Re: What to do with boxes of comics...
 

ACK! My soul is aflame!!!!

http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/9458/t8bd.jpg

Re: What to do with boxes of comics...
 

Ridiculous that they did not have the common sense to just give them away.