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Post by The Captain on Feb 29, 2020 8:30:08 GMT -5
I particularly like this quote in the first article from Donald J. Trump, POTUS: “So far we have lost nobody to coronavirus...". Well, unless you count the nearly 2,900 people worldwide who have died thus far and the 83,000 infected with it whose lives are still hanging in the balance, but I'm guessing "we" refers to the United States, not the human race, so those deaths don't actually count to him.
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Post by The Captain on Feb 28, 2020 21:46:11 GMT -5
Bat
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Post by The Captain on Feb 28, 2020 19:32:38 GMT -5
Martyr
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Post by The Captain on Feb 28, 2020 15:14:33 GMT -5
There's also the trade, of course, or the library It's funny you mention the library. I was at my LCS a couple of weeks ago, right after this Batman issue came out, and there is a young woman (early 20's or so) who works at the local library and is in charge of the comics section who shops there. She was picking up some things for herself along with some things for the library, and the Batman issue was one of the library items. The owner of the LCS was explaining to her that the book was hot right now and that if she put it out for the patrons, it would likely get stolen and sold on the secondary market, and she said "oh, I'll just take a hole punch and put a notch in the front and back covers to destroy the resale value, and then no one will take it", just completely matter of fact about it.
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Post by The Captain on Feb 28, 2020 11:55:24 GMT -5
I will second a lot of what @mrp said, although I would argue that the speculator market goes back much further than a decade. Back in early 90s, I worked in a comic book shop in the town where I attended college, and that was during the era of "The Death of Superman" and Jim Lee's "X-Men" with the multiple covers and the genesis of Image. We had people who had never stepped foot in the shop coming in and buying multiple copies of Superman #75 because they heard they were going to be "hot"; they may have been at the time, but today, they sell for about $4 on eBay.
Another recent book to do what happened with this Batman issue was Marvel Comics Presents #6, which is the first appearance of what is an alternate-reality/dimension daughter of Wolverine. The book was running around $80 a pop on eBay within the first week after release, and now, months later, it still goes for anywhere between $30 and $40 for a first printing. I have mine (I was a subscriber to the title, or else I would have missed it), but I also grabbed a second printing, and I am contemplating selling the first printing to put the profits toward my Werewolf by Night #32 fund.
Yeah, it sucks that you missed the initial printing, but unless you had planned on selling it yourself immediately, then the second printing will give you the story to read. One weird thing is that sometimes, the second printings, particularly ones with limited-availability alternate covers, have more long-term value than the first printing, so you might want to keep that in mind if and when the second printing comes out (and it will, because DC wants to make money but also not alienate the fans like you who missed the story, because the speculators aren't going to buy the next issue in any case, but you might drop the title if you feel you've missed something).
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Post by The Captain on Feb 28, 2020 8:41:40 GMT -5
Pittsburgh
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Post by The Captain on Feb 28, 2020 8:22:05 GMT -5
Birds
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Post by The Captain on Feb 28, 2020 8:19:48 GMT -5
Furious
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Post by The Captain on Feb 27, 2020 10:45:33 GMT -5
I've been buying some of the facsimiles, got a 2020 Marvel calendar with one order for free. Facsimiles are equal so far between Marvel and DC, but Marvel is sure picking some common seeming newer comics to reproduce (ones I have the originals for) so that DC could easily overtake them in my spending. I haven't bought a single True Believers release, I just don't like them for some reason. Otherwise a couple of TwoMorrows mags and a second print of one Shirtless Bear-Fighter is all that counts as new on release for me. I thought I would buy some of those True Believers reprints because they're ridiculously expensive as back-issues, but every time I look at one the glossy paper and glaring colours are too much of a turn-off for me. The True Believers reprints aren't great, but they do serve a purpose. I've bought some of them so I can read old stories when I can't begin to afford the original books (such as early ASM), and in the case of a book like New Mutants #98, I was able to sell the original for over $400 but still have the story in my collection if I ever am so inclined to read it again.
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Post by The Captain on Feb 25, 2020 12:20:14 GMT -5
Wrestling
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Post by The Captain on Feb 25, 2020 10:38:34 GMT -5
mrp
Honorable mention goes to Hoosier X.
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Post by The Captain on Feb 24, 2020 16:05:23 GMT -5
Sometimes it's just better to make up your own magic thingie like "unstable molecules" or "adamantium" than to use a real term you don't understand like "transistors." As someone currently reading the entire run of Iron Man from the beginning, I wholeheartedly agree with this. I'm not a science guy at all, and even I know that's not how "transistors" work, and the overuse of the term in the book has almost led me to drink as much as Tony Stark does later on in the run.
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Post by The Captain on Feb 22, 2020 5:38:15 GMT -5
Duragizer, I was saddened to read your story, and it breaks my heart to see what you and your mom are going through with your sister. Having lived my entire life with an alcoholic for a father, I know far too well what you are dealing with. This is a man who was diagnosed by a doctor with clinical depression but who stopped taking the medication he was prescribed because "he didn't like how it reacted with the alcohol". His sole pleasure in life now is making everyone around him miserable, because he, even at the age of 73, feels cheated by life (which is not a story for today), and he now lives both depressed and drunk almost 24/7, because giving in and giving up was the far easier path than trying to get sober. I don't know the cause of your sister's unhealthy relationship with alcohol, but know that I'll be praying for you and your mom to have the strength and wisdom to help your sister, and I will be praying for her to recognize the damage she is doing to herself and those around her, the danger she is putting herself into, and for her to see that she needs help with her problem. Hang in there, my friend.
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Post by The Captain on Feb 21, 2020 11:30:11 GMT -5
I keep hearing so many good things about The Good Place that I'm almost tempted to give it a try, even though the premise doesn't really appeal to me. If you're talking about just the initial premise of Season One not appealing to you, just sit down and actually watch it. You'll thank me by the time you reach the end of the season.
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Post by The Captain on Feb 21, 2020 9:00:37 GMT -5
Couple of quick Friday morning things:
1. Mom had an MRI this past Tuesday, but the results did not support the geriatrician's initial thoughts that Mom had a stroke, so we are back to Square Zero on this. Really frustrating because we have no clue what happened, which leaves us no current path forward to address it. On the plus side, got Mom and Dad through the Power of Attorney paperwork, both for Legal and Medical (I'll have the former, my sister the latter), so all they have to do is go to their lawyer and sign in front of him, and then I will be able to act as agent on their behalf. So many things have been piling up that I need to take care of, so I hope they go soon.
2. I have a job interview this afternoon at 4:00. It's a little local company, just 3.5 miles/9 minutes from my house, and they are looking for someone to run their supply chain team, which is what I did at my last job for 3+ years. They've been around for years and have been expanding their operations the past few years, and they are not publicly-owned, so they do what is best for the business and not to manipulate stock prices. Might be a slight downgrade in pay, but if all of the other items (benefits, PTO, proximity, stability, etc.) are in line, I would be ecstatic to work there.
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