The Reality of Hunting for Comics at Flea Markets

It's time we talk about what USALLY goes down at the flea market!
Don't get discouraged my friends! The big wins are just a haul away!
#ComicHaul #Fail #reality
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[@zackerylee2114]

What I’ve learned from collecting comics is you do not always have to buy , sometimes its okay just to look . This seems like an impulse buy

[@MintHunterComics]

Very wise indeed my friend

[@robertmalinowski6804]

I was at a flea market this weekend, and picked up a long box for $60. Nothing major of value in there, but fun to pick up. The vast majority of times you wont find a "mega key" or some big "cash in" like everyone hopes. Those times are rare. However, you get a nice variety of filler comics that you pay say .20-.50 a piece for, sometimes bagged and boarded. They're still comics, and it adds to one's collection. That's cool you found those James. It shows the typical flea market find.

[@davidatiles8546]

Love this vid bc it show me that even the comic pros such as yourself can make bad purchases. I appreciate the honesty bc it keeps me motivated and hunting , thanks again for the vid 👍

[@MintHunterComics]

Oh I promise you I strike out plenty of times! Haha

[@pbales8951]

Too bad they were in such poor condition. That Fantastic Four 211 (first appearance of Terrax) would have been about $100 in a 9.0 to 9.2.

[@patriotcomics]

Looks like you got a sweet deal! Nice score on the Iron man! Great video!

[@AndrewSunada]

I love seeing this process. Thank you so much for this type of content. I find this super valuable.

[@nephew77627]

Thanks for showing the misses its important to show people even the best don't hit home runs all the time .

[@tikertiker2]

Hey thanks for keeping it real, it’s good to see the reality sometimes, and hearing that it’s 9/10 times that this occurs. Sometimes we all get blinded by just watching the unbelievable and rare finds all over YT that it provides a false sense of hope. At least it was only a minor loss for you. Thanks for the video

[@robertt9342]

I think we all get blinded by the chase for keys and high value comics that we lose perspective of why we are collecting. It’s probably why the prices have skyrocketed.

[@Whalewraith]

I really don't see it as a loss, a couple of keys and some great reads. Who knows which book will spike next? In the uk we rarely get these kind of options. Everything has to be imported & people who have comics generally percieve them to have value. Most of the lcs have closed over the years & a good portion of the rest dont even do back issues preferring the space for merchandise. 1st point of call is ebay and with the high postage charges I would expect all those $ books you have to cost around £4 ($5). They may not sell but the owner is unlikely to go lower.

[@markleneker9923]

Thanks and I think we need more videos like this (not just from you but across the board). It's like that IG photo meme of a picture of one side of a shiny red, delicious apple but on the other side its been eaten out and going brown...

[@TheComicBookReport]

Love the bag/board Timelapse ha Really enjoy your flea market finds. I just read that Wolverine/Sabertooth issue recently good stuff 👏

[@alanhom5714]

Thank you for your content! I appreciate your candor and your willingness to share your ups and downs. Yeah, comic hunting can be fun and....not so fun.

[@Emceemur]

I’m really a fan of this channel. New sub but gonna be frequently watching. I like what you’re doing here. I can relate to posting the L’s with the W’s too. I do that on my show. People need to know it’s not a score every time. Great vid!

[@sadboygreggy]

_Oof when I got my Iron Man 128 I paid $50 that sucks you didn’t find it in a high grade though._

[@Thebest-sg7or]

Your videos are always entertaining I normally skip videos but I watch all of yours

[@michaelswanson4641]

Great video! This is the reality of buying a bunch of books in the wild. People don't see that, they usually just see the epic hauls.

[@stevenshaw8536]

Thanks for your videos! So true, every time is not a home run. A lot of singles and doubles. Hopefully not too many strikeouts!!

[@MintHunterComics]

Fingers crossed!

[@benfox4263]

My local swap-meet always has a few spots with some comics and I have never seen anything worthwhile there. That said, it is fun to see a stack hiding out amongst the “stuff” surrounding it. The hunt itself is exciting at times, so perhaps that has a bit of $ value too. Awesome video as usual dude!

[@EsotericFerret]

You might not make your money back but you did snag that key Iron Man comic for your personal collection, and that my friend, is worth the money right there.

[@schwinnbike18]

Wolverine vs. Sabretooth - score!

[@EmpirePreciousMetals]

At least you’re honest and let people know about the pitfalls of buying and selling of books. Many content creators don’t really share the downfalls and only share their successes. Good job, bud.

[@Asshatpodcast]

Been watching and enjoying your videos for almost a year now sir. I rarely buy comics with the intent to sell them later on. So I know very little about value,slabbing and other stuff like that. Thanks to your videos I have learned a decent amount on those subjects. Pretty much every comic I buy is either for me to read. Or it is cause I know someone is looking for a copy.

[@MPScrimshaw]

I luckily got out of the "blinded by 25 cent comics" mode pretty quickly. Now if they're in dollar bins or whatever there's a good chance I'll pick them up for fun, but flea markets, etc? No way. Not without checking first.

[@robertjacques6812]

Looks like some good Wolverines that have gained some momentum. The first 50 or so issues of that series has some really good art and stories.

[@nowherebound2908]

Thanks for sharing! This makes me feel better, I go to a local antique shop every week or two looking for something ever since I found a Scooby Doo 1 there in January ... So far nothing like that! Vigilance, though, right?! Cheers!

[@philcamacho127]

Appreciate seeing more like these hunt in wild vids. A reality check for us who think every yard/estate sale will have major keys but to not give up 😃👍

[@MintHunterComics]

I'm glad you enjoyed it!

[@LimitedInfinity9]

Kinda cool to see Scary Tales #1 in that bunch. If there's any more of that series in there, I'd set them aside because Steve Ditko did the art and covers for some of them and might be worth looking up!

[@MintHunterComics]

Oh really, I didn't know that! Maybe I'll set that one aside

[@LimitedInfinity9]

@@MintHunterComics Well he didn't do any art for issue 1 unfortunately, but it's still a cool book! (I really enjoy older horror books.)

[@instakillbill2263]

Love this!

[@gregwait3553]

Yeah most of the time comic collecting we are overpaying to help keep our comic shop going and keep the funny books rolling out a new volume every 3- years now. But the “keys” make it so special! Getting those precious keys!

[@cemorenomoreno3163]

I agree 100% with you, most of the time I lose money. But when you find something hot or valuable you make up for the negative, so it's always a wash-type of deal :)

[@comicjourney]

I'm sure you can make back some if you bundle lots for $5 - 10 It might take forever but eventually someone will pick them up for run filler or collection starter bundle. This happens to me all the time

[@chriscampanozzi6516]

Another great video. I always enjoy your content.

[@MintHunterComics]

Thanks Chris!

[@GodLovesComics]

I will gladly trade you a shiny new short box, for that box of comics! Yeah .20-.25 cent covers doesn't automatically mean a treasure trove. But instead of keys I'm looking at art. I love Joe Kubert's art in Enemy Ace. John Byrne's FF (and it actually IS a key, 1st Terrax), Herb Trimpe's Hulk, some Gil Kane, and a Kirby Avengers (although condition too wretched).Plus I always think Conan sells pretty well, just not King Conan (even though nice art in those too).

[@jordansuchy3107]

Cool dog. Man’s best friend.

[@acballer1831]

Great info 😮

[@charliedogg7683]

Hi James, nice mirror, and the yellow cushions go well with the blue wall. Always great to see Peaches of course. Oh, the comics? You should be able to sell that full box for well over $15 and thus make a profit, modest though it might be. But you're right, keep hunting - that's half the fun.

[@MintHunterComics]

I wouldn't feel comfortable leaving someone stuck with all this fluff! Books are pretty beat

[@Whalewraith]

😆 I have nearly all those books, Conan & Fantastic Fours are a good read.

[@basementbrotherscollectibles]

Sometimes patience is the key. I paid $4.00 for a Clan Destin #1. When I pulled it out of the bag, it was all crunched and had a few spine tics. I threw it up on eBay for $10.00 figuring it would not sell. It sold a few weeks ago bc of Ms. Marvel spec.

[@lanlubber8514]

So a $5 short box is worth more than the comics, then why did you waste ~$25 in bags and boards on them?

[@Cincinnatijames]

My thoughts exactly

[@RoBeart90]

Because he probably spent closer to $5 to bag & board.

[@Cincinnatijames]

@@RoBeart90 lolz, when was the last time you priced bags and boards, 1986?

[@lanlubber8514]

@@Cincinnatijames nope, I buy wholesale budday!

[@Cincinnatijames]

@@lanlubber8514 ?

[@ccculture9681]

Hey, you made them look really nice in the new bags and boards and box. That's worth something, not to me maybe but...

[@PurplePaddy]

$50 man what a deal here In Canada that Wolverine alone is $35 at least and the Ironman $100 at least I can’t find any around my area for less than $100 in horrible shape haha

[@andrewcai5042]

Daw Peach is a sweetheart.

[@arthurtripp6922]

HATE TO SAY IT MOST OF THE. 25 TO 5O CENT MARVEL BOOKS WERE FUN TO READ BUT NO KEY ISSUES. THE WERE CREATED TO PUSH DC OFF THE SHELF WITH ADDED SPIDERMAN,IRONMAN,AND ANY HOT MARVEL HEROS.

[@TheKingfisher745]

Dude, I saw first Terrax and Karla Sofen in there at least.

[@BLAZE_BL4Z3]

you could sell the bad books in a lot

[@paperwolves]

thanks for this video, your other videos get me hyped up and inspire me to go out and hunt but i rarely hit. good to know that's how it is for you too, just gotta keep plugging away at it. love your content just wish that wasn't a phillies hat on your head... -a met fan

[@eggplantcomics8336]

Not a home run but you can’t discount the other 100 books. Dollar bin or .50 cent bin. It slow and laborious but you can come out ahead. I’m sure someone would buy the short box of rejects for $50

[@dansxmencomics]

I think $50 for all that was a pretty good score. Probably will take some work to make money off em all but all in all not bad in my opinion.

[@bigjax731]

Good stuff

[@chrispycomics6023]

The FF 211 Terrax is a great book, he possibly may be in the film.

[@LeadPaint1]

Looks like a great deal for someone who READS comics. Box full of some great stories and art. Keys my ass. The faster all the "investors" get out of the hobby the better.

[@justincampbell2881]

Dude, how did you miss the 1st Terrax??? Gotta bone up on that FF, my man!

[@MintHunterComics]

It's like piss poo condition though. Like a 1.5

[@jamesmoss3424]

That cool you got iron man #128 and I like the Philadelphia Phillips. 😀👍

[@comicswatching4851]

Look back at your Fantastic Four 211!! That’s the first app of Terrax, Herald of Galactus and a long running character! $20 book all day! I have two in the pc

[@unflapable]

I wouldn't discount run filler. You can package those up in 5 - 10 issue lots at $2 per issue. Run collectors are always on the hunt.

[@grea8hall88]

Man! You look like the Barry Allan of comic bag and boarding Dude!

[@christopherwilliams2385]

Some of those other books are worth some $$$$. Marvel Team Up always sells at shows...$2-$3 each especially for the older ones and what about first Terrax. Easily a $10 book.

[@keithkovalic]

What platform are you pricing these to sell on? Ebay, Facebook, Instagram, etc? Thanks! (and yes I did ask this on a previous video.)

[@Vp-jt3vl]

These are some good books tbf, great reading material.

[@MintHunterComics]

They're ROUGH but yes I agree

[@jarredsmith9187]

Mint hunter comics,I wouldn't have brought all of those books cause the iron man is the only book worth keeping.Do what I do if you don't see any good books walk away cause I willn't but any books unless it is a key or rare variant period cause I don't want trash books in my collection but if you can get a dollar a book out of that box,you will make ur money back plus some.

[@RepliconRadio]

All that spiderman team ups will sell for 2 or 3 bucks. Amd god only knows what are the rest are. You got a free short box worth probably 200 plus dollars and a pc book this is a big win. If you get bored like that and domt want them. I will gladly take them. Thats a big win

[@MintHunterComics]

I would normally agree but I feel the video made them look better than they were. They were ripped, separated, torn, everything

[@PapasDino]

Well, you did get a run-filler! Keep hunting!

[@berkfamily54]

It’s Morphin time

[@parkersherrod7685]

Sorry it didn’t work out like you wished! I’d be happy to buy some of those Spider-Man books from you if want to sell them. I’m not very picky with grades.

[@MintHunterComics]

I wouldn't feel comfortable selling em. They're just too worn, im going to just give em to my LCS

[@mark-s]

Hope you do the live auctions again soon liked first two and great stuff for sale on KZbin

[@MintHunterComics]

I do em occasionally! Prob is on YT like 30 percent of people never paid and it was a nightmare

[@briancenti5423]

you never mentioned what grade the FF 211 was in. that dog of yours is Gorgeous.

[@MintHunterComics]

Unfortunately it's pretty beat

[@capntopknot]

Kubert's Enemy Ace

[@TheFrank19023]

Go Phillies!!!

[@hendrilabuschagne8661]

Dude! That Wolverine vs Sabertooth…would have crapped myself if I found that book!

[@MintHunterComics]

And newsstand!

[@derekgray5338]

@@MintHunterComics jealous of that find!

[@anewhopecollectibletoyscom164]

That box has 150 books in it. I would have no trouble selling that for $50 at a garage sale to someone that wants to sell em for $1 each. Try selling in different ways if you think that was a loss

[@sonic31century1]

You also need to factor in the costs of bagging and boarding those comics.

[@MintHunterComics]

Exactly

[@thomasfranks8238]

Where do you sell your comics? I would like to take a look at what you have.

[@philsathrill1285]

Why bag and board $1 books. That add another (approx) .25 cents per book? AND, not to mention the time it takes to do that . That’s got to be $25 worth of labor?

[@MintHunterComics]

The time and bagging spent on this def hurts it too, especially since a lot of this stuff was like 1.0 - 3.0. But I ALWAYS bag and board collections found, nomatter how ratty. The bulk is just going to be gifted to my LCS

[@hotzonecomics8941]

I had a big win last week, and a buddy of mine was like "how do you guys always get these awesome finds?" had to explain, this is after weeks of searching and getting nothing. I searched for 6 hours a day every Saturday, and drove a few hundred miles, for weeks, and got nothing. this was the first hit in over a month

[@commodorerook3797]

I don't find comics at all at any of the flea markets here in NC.....

[@tristanrujano]

I personally really like Conan the barbarian run. I’ve been garage saling every other Saturday and have yet to find anything good but have found comics 3 times of the 5 I’ve been

[@Hectekk]

Why bag and board those other comics? Thanks for video.

[@MintHunterComics]

I guess it's just muscle memory. If I do move em for bulk I want to at least give to someone in nicer shape than when I found em

[@corso_kid]

We all need bulk purchases

[@danielginsburg9558]

There's nothing wrong with PC'ing stuff and you're still realizing the value. I've never sold a book, ever, after being in the hobby for about two years now...it's kind of like asking me to cut my own hand off. I'm pretty sure my Transformers #1, 2, & 3 that my mom bought for me when I was around 10 years old will go to the grave with me.

[@MintHunterComics]

I quite agree!

[@chrisstone5607]

Even bronze age duds sell for $2 a pop. This was not a big money making box but I wouldn't call it a loser either, a lot of fun non keys in there!

[@odinknowsbest]

I thought I saw a 181 somewhere in there

[@pcantu3]

I am guilty, I have thought you are so lucky with flea market sales. Figured you had some dubs, 9 out of 10 seems about right. Keep up the hunting!

[@MintHunterComics]

Oh I assure you I strike out plenty of times! Haha

[@Davidweedlove]

The cost was also the bags and boards so another 20 bucks

[@Stevo8800]

Someone may enjoy a small box of readers just saying. I did a similar purchase one time but off Facebook. I drove an hour to check out the books, most of the good keys where picked already. I went through it one time and said shit 90% of these comics won’t even sale for $1. The pandemic hit and Facebook auctions then books started moving, some books now worth $10-40. Ended up making my money back and more plus still have lots of comics to have fun with.

[@calebleland8390]

Time to have a garage sale and just throw a sign on there for a buck each. Who knows, you might get some folks looking for run fillers. Better luck next time, brother.

[@AlexSzostak13]

Personally, I wouldn't look at Key Collector Comics for Value. From what I've seen, they don't have any data to support the prices that they post. The Wolverine #10, in CovrPrice, an 8.0, in June 2022, sold for $26. An 8.5 for $42.

[@MintHunterComics]

Absolutely, they can be quite off

[@AlexSzostak13]

@@MintHunterComics Do you use an app to keep track of your Comics?

[@MrComics89]

I’m putting together my first video kind of like this of a lot from eBay

[@joshindia4962]

How many horror types books did you get in this lot

[@goonishlurker]

All in all I think it could have been worse. You could turn around and sell the rest of the box for $50 to another collector at a sale. You put the work into bagging and boarding them so half the work has been done.

[@MintHunterComics]

Absolutely - if this didn't have the iron man 128 for the PC the value of this bundle would just be around $30 and I'd be stuck!

[@Matthew.E.Kelly.]

I see Wolverine #10 _all the time_ in pretty terrible condition, it's like no one cared about that issue at all. Still looking out for a good Savage She-Hulk, myself 😔

[@MintHunterComics]

So underrated and always overlooked!

[@BTY11]

Cheating if you don't count the value of the Iron Man in the GAINED section. Even if you keep the book in your PC, there's still value. When you count up the value of your PC books, are you not going to add the value of the book? If you do...you have to add it in.

[@MintHunterComics]

I suppose you're right, that's a great way of looking at it!

[@Blmnvr]

Would you be willing to sell the box of comics? 🤔

[@jonaswirtanen115]

I'll buy that FF 211 off u James if u wanna make that total go up lol

[@sfla2010]

I hate when i find a key in beater condition did he have them in ziploc bags? Wtf who does that

[@neilmccallion3359]

What i have learned in the short time in comics this guys can afford to send a 100 comics to cgc but at the same time have a go fund me page because his hoise got flooded. End of the day if he can aford to send 100s of comics to get graded he should sort his own shit like every 1 esle does!!!!!!!

[@georgetucker9780]

Thought I saw 1st terrax from FF

[@MintHunterComics]

You actually did! it's just in rough rough rough rough shape

[@jacreynolds101]

I don't know man, seems like a decent bulk buy. Lot of $2 to $5 books. Plus that Fantastic Four Terrax book

[@MintHunterComics]

Normally I'd agree, but these are BEAT condition. I'm talking 1.0 - 3.0 stuff

[@jacreynolds101]

@@MintHunterComics yeah that's fair. Sometimes it happens lol

[@johnvincentmalilaytesta5072]

#ComicHaul #Fail #reality

[@noyanhilmi1361]

You didn’t count the Iron Man 128 so if you sell the rest for $40 (which I think you’re being conservative) then you still got that great book for only $10, which is a great win IMO.

[@MintHunterComics]

That's a great way of looking at it!

[@jackbenson1747]

There's still maybe about 100 books left over. Could you not sell them for 50 cents or a dollar per book? You would be at a profit then. Are you saying you lost money because those books won't really sell?

[@coydogf23]

Didn’t I see the first Terrax in there???