I will never buy a slabbed book. I want to feel the pages and smell the history as it's read. Also I do not use a number when talking grade in person. The best is grading from good to mint condition in my opinion.

Pretty good overview here.

I appreciate this, when I was 18 years old in 1994 Dallas Texas, I had a comic stand in a little village shop called Vikon Village. Selling comics paid my rent but selling toys, bust and running tournaments made me profits. We ended up getting out own bricks and mortar and having loads of inventory and held on to skateboard decks, old games and collectibles. We sold the shop in 2004 and to this day i still make 80 grand a year on inventory we had and still come across. Toys and old games made us a life. Comics were whatever. We had the occasional high ticket comic books but the movie industry ruined those. We had hundreds of unopened G1 and G2 transformers that in 6 months at their peak in 2011 made us more than the previous 17 years of comic sells. We sold 1 pallet of unopened GI Joe Storm shadow figures we purchased from a Children's Palace auction (when they went bankrupt) for more than we had made in 25 years for that single 120 figure sell of mint storm shadow figures. My secret to success was realising early that people would buy big in their 30s for what they couldnt afford when they were 10. I bought loads of transformers, voltron, robotech, heman and mask toys at cost in the 80s and 90s knowing they would be gold in 2010-2020. In 1995 I bought every skateboard deck when fastforward and gadzooks were going out of business and we bought 1000s of N64 and ps1 games and consoles knowing they would be gold in 2010-2020. Lockdown was a godsend even thought it was a global failure for everyone else. Today I invest heavily in all my childrens toys and likes knowing when they hit their 30s and 40s, their toys will be worth a mint to people chasing dreams. Funko is not that item by the way, funko are marketed as collectibles, they arent. Pokemon are. It is paying attention to what moves a generation. Also do not leave your space looking like boring shite. Have playable systems, pool tables, sell drinks and have a small sandwich bar. Keep people in the shop and entertain your buyers. Do spins and draws, monthly giveaways. Sell mystery bags to move your overflow. Be interactive

Hintz Spurs

I'd love to have a shop near me that would trade Magic cards for comics.

God I love you man! I started collecting in 1968, have over 10K comics and have never, nor will ever slab any of my comics. God bless ya man! 💯

I agree with you 100%. Maybe it’s our age that makes us care about our integrity more.

Wish I saw the video games when I was there. Great video

McLaughlin Neck

Johnpaul Lodge

i have nothing but hate for ebay since I was a new user and because I had my address wrong they banned me for life, so I can not stand them. thanks for having a comic shop!

I personally think 40% is low. 50% is the usual around in Ontario, and the really good shops that everyone goes to gives 60% if the condition is good. This goes for comics, cards, and games. But I guess every area is a little different.

Many shops I visit, sell a variety of things beyond comics. Just posted a video about traditional comic shops sales, floppies, and trades declining based on data from ComicsPro. Have you seen a decline? in the last few years?

Hey Emmet, Ed here, we met in Baltimore. It was so nice meeting you. Thanks for taking the time to talk to me and my brother. It was so nice to chatting about comics and the comic business. This video was a really good video. I never thought of video games as another revenue stream. I have a lot of old games and systems. So this was good information to know about. Thanks for all the information you share.

Another awesome video! Absolutely enjoy your honesty and willingness to share your knowledge. I wish I lived closer to your shop!

Definitely planning to work video games into my inventory at some point in the future. I used to sell games online about 15 years ago. I had a bad/scary experience that put me off selling online for a long time. So, I'm definitely in favor of keeping those sales in-person wherever possible. 🤣 Really looking forward to seeing your gaming section when it's all done!

Wait I thought brother was retiring in September? Did I make that up? Glad to see the vid 😅

My instincts have served me well, never trusted those dudes

I love how he talks about that “fair market” value in grading is BS, but the price he sets in his store that he thinks is fair market value is ok and legit. There are always flippers and speculators trying to make money, and he is one of them. He buys books from people at a lower rate, sells them at a higher rate at his “fair market value”. How do I know he is on the up and up, his very fine condition could actually be crap. Dealers try to over charge me at cons and shows all the time. Welcome to capitalism. The market value is based on recent comps from auctions and online sales. He speculates a lot based on his biases.

I am interested in opening a arcade with a back issue gift shop Thank you for you Inspiration

Anderson Plains

I just found your channel. I have been collecting for decades, and I rarely buy any new books. They are too expensive, and the quality is often subpar. I go for back issues of bronze, silver, and gold. I have never graded a book at cgc, and always thought it was nonsense. You are a welcome voice in the world of comics. Sadly, I don't live anywhere near your store, but I am with you in spirit. Take care all. #biblegrace88

Ain't no one under 30 buying new comics.and if they are it's Pokemon bs

Them comics are trash. We want to complete our ASM run.not that trash

Those dividers are a waste of money imo... With the price of buying them and cardboard short/long boxes, I'd just buy BCW plastic bins that come with dividers. Thanks for this. I looked at the UV capsules not long ago, too pricey for me haha.

I can imagine going thru a collection you get in can be fun, until you are slogging through the 3rd longbox of image books that you need to price.

bcw are way over priced in every type.

Nice pickups! I wish I could have gotten down there this year. It fell on a family birthday unfortunately. Everyone I know who went had a great time. I need a leap year!

This kind of video is really useful! I enjoy discovering gadgets for collectors and hearing true opinions about it, like yours :) And I loved your t-shirt, sir 🦇🖤

I'm just a small fries collector. So I don't travel with my books. O e thing I like is how C C gives my long box's stability. I can put weight on them and the boxes don't bow if you know what I mean. If you find faults with this product please enlighten me. I can't so far.

I'm a big fan of Comic Capsule. I own 67 of them. Gave 3 to friends of mine. Also fan of yours so looking forward to your review. NEVER LET SOMEONE ELSE TELL YOU WHAT YOUR COMICS ARE WORTH.

I thought LED lighting is lower UV rays compared with non LED and way better than Direct Sun light.

The Sidekicks are pretty spendy, seeing this video and seeing how well they hold up to moving around is now 0/2 for them. I do have a few of the BCW Showcase. They are a little ugly with all that black showing and almost look cheap. The Comic Capsule is a little better, but not by much. We just can’t win in this field of showcasing comics.

Geez old man what did you do to piss off bcw???

Nifty Little gadgets

Cool artwork!

I can understand maybe slabbing books that you have extra copies of or really valuable books like Golden Age stuff. However, I hate that grading has made certain books unobtainable (like Incredible Hulk #181) where even a beat up copy is thousands of dollars. When you're trying to complete a run, no book should be out of reach.

It was great to meet you at Baltimore Comic Con and chat a little bit. Enjoy your perspectives. All the best.

I hate grading as well …. Comics are meant to be read

I really really dislike that comic books , created in America, is not doing better. One of the greatest art mediums ever created needs to be celebrated all across the west and it’s not

Damn hope you do a review of the con. Looks like a lot of fun

Great video

Great video! Can’t wait to learn more about the industry.

Year after year, the 1983 TV show "Manimal" gets snubbed and disrespected by being left out of Comic-Con. What's wrong with everyone?

Another question: Encasing a book inside of a good waterproof plastic holder to protect it is a pretty good idea, IMHO. Is there currently a way for a private individual to do this to his own books? The best I've ever seen is acid-free backing boards and mylar. Unfortunately, the mylar isn't waterproof and in high humidity situations, the books can still get hurt. Suggestions?

Has there been any problems with counterfeit books?

Avengers Twilight was great! I’m going to hunt down that Bloodshot comic

I'm a comic creator. I'm loving your videos.

"You have to make readers...not speculators", thus statement spoke to my Fandom soul. Thank you Sir. 🙏🏽

Comics are meant to be read I think the only hobby that worth grading are the spirts and non sports card, other than the cards all are mot worth grading