Holy crap, you do seem to have been sucked into the early-90’s frenzy. Reading lists like that makes me rethink wanting to go and get my old comics from my Mom’s house. Oh man, will I be afraid for what I’ll find in there (like you, nothing of real value, mostly 2099 crap and anything that had more than one cover (although I only ever bought one)). I do have a lot of fond memories from that time though. There were some actual gems in there.
Of course, I’m sure I’d think differently now…
10,000 comics, eh? Have you got the one where the guy fights the other guy and there’s lots of cool explosions and stuff?
That one was cool.
I recently started sorting through my own comics collection (a piddly 5,000 comics, NOT including my TPBs) in an effort to whittle it down and force myself to do without some titles. I have a few other suggestions.
Also, if any titles feature back up stories by certain creators – Alan Moore’s OMEGA MEN and GREEN LANTERN backup stories, Frank Miller’s backups for ORION, etc. Mark these and state so in your eBay listings. There are completists who’ll buy anything by Moore, Bendis, Ellis, Ennis, Ross, etc.
Also consider selling individual issues of a specific, well-known storylines. Claremont/Byrne “Dark Phoenix” stories, Miller and Mazzuchelli’s “Born Again,” the first Wolverine mini-series. You might find it harder to interest collectors to buy these as whole lots since they are widely available as trades, but some collectors may have missing issues here and there or are looking up upgrade ones they have.
Note any comics that feature early debuts or breakthroughs by ‘superstar’ writers and artists. DC’s RED TORNADO 4-part mini-series might not pique anyone’s interest until you mention it’s Kurt Busiek’s writing debut.
Some otherwise gimmicky company-wide crossovers might pull more attention if you can bundle them together: Marvel’s INFERNO, MAXIMUM SECURITY, ACTS of VENGEANCE and 'NUFF SAID come to mind, and DC’s “fifth week” projects.
If you have comic book titles that only lasted a few years, consider offering the whole run as a set. Marvel’s The 'Nam, the Marvel Knights titles, DC’s various imprints, independents like Willingham’s Elementals, etc.
This really takes time to do, but I was reading some old comic book letters pages, scanning them for names of letter writers to see if I could find any from future comic book contributers when they were still young. My search has yielded letters from the likes of Jim Shooter, Peter David, Mark Waid, Jim Owlsey (Christopher Priest), Alan Grant, Dan Jurgens, Bill Willingham, etc – back when they were young fans. Someone might be interested in ponying up a few extra bucks to read a teenage Warren Ellis’ critique of an issue of WARRIOR in an otherwise meh issue if you post a notice stating such on eBay. (It’s like shooting crabs in a barrell, but it gives you something else to do with your comics you may not have done before.)
Also, do your part to be charitable. I am planning to take a longbox of old comics I’ve decided I no longer need (Archie, Transformers, Superboy, 90s Spider-Man) and splitting it with my kindergarten classroom library and the Children’s Hospital down the road, especially since Saturday is the third annual FREE COMICS DAY. Be sure you pull any overly violent or ‘adult’ comics from the stack.
Lastly, I notice more and more I only try new comics based on the creators involved – particularly writers, and I have organized by comics to reflect that. So I have my 80s John Byrne longbox, my Alan Moore longbox, my Neil Gaiman and Bendis longbox, my Frank Miller comics, my Garth Ennis stack and my Milestone Comics collection (got 60% and counting!) Consider selling lots in this way, too. You might get a few nibbles.
Chairman Pow, to my credit, those are just the comics I want to unload. I have no real connection to them anymore, and many are just mediocre or bad. My ENTIRE comic book collection (including TPBs) is catalogued at http://www.geocities.com/bigbadvoodoolou/comicmasterlist.html , and I like to think of it as a pretty high-quality collection.
And the early '90s weren’t all bad. We did get Hellboy, Madman, Sin City, Starman ('94), Preacher, and Sandman Mystery Theatre during that era, plus the rise of Vertigo. And WildC.A.T.s started, even though it wouldn’t get really good until Alan Moore’s run a few years later, and then even better with Joe Casey after that.
Keep in mind Overstreet or any price guide is only a guideline. If you can’t find someone to pay the price you want for a comic…the guides mean diddlesquat.
It’s fun to say I have a comic worth $$$. Unless you try to sell at that price and can’t get it.
The only place I have ever seen the guides used and adhered to are the comic book stores.
Your best bet and least trouble is to sell it as a lot.
You could sell them to me! I will even pay to ship them! 
In lieu of that listen to everyone else. If you decide to sell them on eBay, put my email address in my profile on your notify list.
Thanks.
The Overstreet and Wizard price guides list Near Mint retail values. That means that the price you’ll see there is the price you would expect to pay for a Near Mint copy from a comic shop or dealer.
The prices paid to individuals selling their books to a comic shop or other people tend to be quite a bit lower.
If you plan to sell on E-Bay, the best way to group them is by title. For example, you’ll usually get more money selling a run of the most recent 20 issues of Detective and Batman in separate auctions, rather than together.
If you were selling recent runs, I’d advise putting together storylines and selling them that way. Older comics, especially older DC’s tend to have one or two issue stories, so those can be sold just as well in longer runs. Marvel’s from the 60’s and 70’s tend to have an A story that is self contained, and a B story that runs through several issues. These sell well in longer runs.
Bottom line: You’ll likely get more money if you break the books up by title, but it will also be a lot more work.
I’ll do that…just getting started. Opened a box, the “H” box, found entire run of the Human Fly, Howard the Duck comic and magazine, Hulk comics and Magazines, Heroes for Hire etc…I don’t even remember the Human Fly (he was some kinda of Stuntman) had a comic…God knows what other things I’m gonna find.
I think I may end up enjoying this…gotta love the 70’s! Must resist the urge to read…
Whoa, I forgot all about the Human Fly! I used to love that title as a kid. How do the stories hold up these days?
Lock your doors! Close your windows! Gitcher guns! Haven’t you seen the movie Comic Book Villains? Your collection is probably worth millions, and greedy comic book collectors are already scoping you out! Be especially wary of anyone who’s unaccountable nice to you in the next few weeks!
And see the movie if you haven’t already. It’s a hoot.
Hmmm…holmes has 10,000 comic books and on the same day ABC News reports that there’s a guy in LA who has 10,000 dollars in pennies. What an odd coincidence.
holmes, have you considered donating part or all of the collection to a library or university and reaping the tax benefits? Organizing and selling a 10,000 comic collection will be a monumental task. Unless there are some particularly valuable issues that justify the effort, I think you’ll wind up spending gargantuan amounts of time for little monetary return. You’d probably do better financially spending that amount of time working a paper hat job.
Michigan State University maintains an enormous library of comics gathered primarily through private donations (I highly recommend any Dopers in the area visit - it’s amazing). Their web site also provides a list of other comic-related libraries that might accept the collection and provide the necessary paperwork.
Selkie, Shhh! Some of us are trying to feed our obsessive collecting tendencies, here!
Any update, holmes?
Thank goodness this thread got bumped so I finally found it.
holmes, add me to the list of people who would be willing to purchase a bunch from you. I’m not a collector at all, but I’d like to have a couple hundred for a rainy day. I don’t care if their valuable, I don’t care if they’re without a cover or in ratty shape, I just want a trip down memory lane for cheap. Please shoot me an email if you would be so kind and I can take some of the remnants of your collection off your hands.
Still chugging along, nearly done though. Just hit the X-men: Wolverine, X-factor, X-force, Excaliber, New Mutants, Cable, Xiles, various annuals, one offs etc…figure I should be done by the end of the week. I guess there’s over 500 X books alone, maybe a thou…but we’ll see.
Still have to sort thru the magazines, Epic, Eclipse, Hulk magazine, Howard the Duck Magazine, Vampis, 1984, etc. AND the Graphic Novels.
No final count yet…I did buy the software that Mr. Blue Sky listed and it’s gonna be a big help in the cataloging process. It really is sweet…It even has an export to html that’s going to be great.
I’ve been following eBay and noticed that very few people list what they have, and/or have LOTS of disclaimers, " i don’t know what’s in here…etc.", so I’m glad you guys gave me the advice to catalog… I’m hoping that a well organized list will turn the tide.
In looking at the big “pro” buyers, I don’t think I’m going to get the best deal, not that I’m looking to clean up… So I think I’m going to eBay the lot. Still deciding on whether or not to break them up or just ask for one price for the lot…I think I would rather have a reserve price that I’m willing to let them go for…figure it’ll average out.
If only I brought these to collect and not enjoy, I would be sitting on a gold mine! A gold mine, I say! Damn those plastic bags…
I know a complete listing would make me more likely to buy.
Also - consider breaking them up. If you put them up as a huge lump, then only the very rich people can bid on them (or comic store owners, or the like) - busting them up lets the more casual colelctor have a crack at them too. Not only is this nice, but it increases your potential bidding audience.
I agree with CandidGamera, I’d break them up if I were you. I guarantee there will be things in there that I’d love to have, and things I really don’t care about. If the whole lot’s going for…I don’t know, say $1,500, then there will be no chance I bid. But if the full run of Biff and the Comets is on it’s own, and going for $95, I’d bid on that.
It’ll take more to manage with several auctions and shipping different lots, etc…but I’ll bet you’d get more for your comics if you break up the collection.
Either way, good luck.