Valiant has done me well
Moderators: Daniel Jackson, greg
Valiant has done me well
I dont want to appear as too much of a fanboy, but I got into Valiants by a tip from a friend who had already bought 1000's of them and let me in on his little secret around 92 or so before Valiants had caught fire locally.
Actually, I was trying to break in to doing comic conventions. I figured the best way to buy more books was to sell them. And, what better way to make money, than to sit on your butt and hold your hand out? I had already done a few conventions at the time, and my average weekend was like $400 or so.
Anyway, my friend turned me onto it. He had a Comic Bulletin Board Dealer system on Computer before the internet ruled the world, and it appeared that Valiants were smoking hot on the West Coast. The East had yet to discover them. He gave me printouts showing me all these Valiants going for huge prices. I was convinced. I went out on road trips constantly visiting every comic book store I could find. Buying most issues at cover price. In a matter of months, I had 100s of Valiants. At 1 point I owned every Valiant that had ever been made at that point and had multiple copies of most others. Within 6 months, Valiants exploded on the East Coast. Now I was making some good money. Although I was a little guy, on my best day, I made $1000 in 1 day. To this day, that is STILL the most money I have ever made in 1 day in my life, and all I did was hold out my hand and collect the money. It was great!
But 2 things happened that changed my collecting and selling days. After nearly a year of cashing in on the Valiant Cash Cow, I started noticing everyone and their Sister selling Valiants. I knew the end was near, and I dumped virtually every Valiant I had. I started trading them away too. I traded $100 in Valiants for an Avengers #4 in VG as 1 example, within 2 months, all my pre-unitys were gone.
The 2nd event was I lost my job at the well paying local Shipyard due to a massive layoff. After that I did conventions to live off my sales, and I was cherry picked to high heaven. I manage to pay 2 months bills and living expenses strictly off comics. But it decimated my collection. I got out around 95 when the market seemed to be ice cold. My friend is a huge huge success. And I am green with envy, but I am amazed how he did it right. He did it all the right way.
About 3 years ago, I started getting back into it. And once again, Valiants are at the top of my want list. I would love to one day own every Valiant ever made again, but for me, that task seems challenging. But I think it is obtainable. I havent done a convention in like 9 or 10 years now . But Id like to, perhaps 2 to 3 years from now once I restrengthen my collection. It was too much fun, and it does help buy more comics and it does make your collection stronger if you play it right. But even if I never make another penny, Valiant was great reading, art, classics, and yes, they made me some money too. Valiant was a huge page in my so far off and on 27 year collecting history.
Actually, I was trying to break in to doing comic conventions. I figured the best way to buy more books was to sell them. And, what better way to make money, than to sit on your butt and hold your hand out? I had already done a few conventions at the time, and my average weekend was like $400 or so.
Anyway, my friend turned me onto it. He had a Comic Bulletin Board Dealer system on Computer before the internet ruled the world, and it appeared that Valiants were smoking hot on the West Coast. The East had yet to discover them. He gave me printouts showing me all these Valiants going for huge prices. I was convinced. I went out on road trips constantly visiting every comic book store I could find. Buying most issues at cover price. In a matter of months, I had 100s of Valiants. At 1 point I owned every Valiant that had ever been made at that point and had multiple copies of most others. Within 6 months, Valiants exploded on the East Coast. Now I was making some good money. Although I was a little guy, on my best day, I made $1000 in 1 day. To this day, that is STILL the most money I have ever made in 1 day in my life, and all I did was hold out my hand and collect the money. It was great!
But 2 things happened that changed my collecting and selling days. After nearly a year of cashing in on the Valiant Cash Cow, I started noticing everyone and their Sister selling Valiants. I knew the end was near, and I dumped virtually every Valiant I had. I started trading them away too. I traded $100 in Valiants for an Avengers #4 in VG as 1 example, within 2 months, all my pre-unitys were gone.
The 2nd event was I lost my job at the well paying local Shipyard due to a massive layoff. After that I did conventions to live off my sales, and I was cherry picked to high heaven. I manage to pay 2 months bills and living expenses strictly off comics. But it decimated my collection. I got out around 95 when the market seemed to be ice cold. My friend is a huge huge success. And I am green with envy, but I am amazed how he did it right. He did it all the right way.
About 3 years ago, I started getting back into it. And once again, Valiants are at the top of my want list. I would love to one day own every Valiant ever made again, but for me, that task seems challenging. But I think it is obtainable. I havent done a convention in like 9 or 10 years now . But Id like to, perhaps 2 to 3 years from now once I restrengthen my collection. It was too much fun, and it does help buy more comics and it does make your collection stronger if you play it right. But even if I never make another penny, Valiant was great reading, art, classics, and yes, they made me some money too. Valiant was a huge page in my so far off and on 27 year collecting history.
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whetteon
- "Don't qoute me on that" -whetteon
- Posts: 3717
- Joined: Wed Feb 04, 2004 12:07 pm
- Valiant fan since: 1993
- Favorite character: Solar
- Favorite title: Magnus
- Location: Pittsburg, KS
- Contact:
If your getting back into valiants, does that mean its just about ready to explode again? 
The Site for Tracking Collectible Comic Trends on Ebay
http://www.lyriacomicexchange.com/
http://www.lyriacomicexchange.com/
