What to do with old Comic Books? (1 Viewer)

[Moe Maishlish]

Hey all... some advice needed...

I'm on vacation, and what better time than to make sense of the disaster area that is my apartment. During the course of rooting through the debris, I've come across several boxes of old comic books that I bought in my younger years, but have no interest in keeping.

These are books which have no value to me, and would commonly be found in the discount bins of several comic book stores. I'm talking about early to mid-90's titles from Image Comics (The Pact, etc), Defiant Comics (who cares), old Marvel books, etc.

Now, I don't want to be bothered with trying to sell them. Most likely no one will be willing to buy them on e-bay, and it's quite simply not worth the hassle to put them up for sale at all. I'd sooner chuck them into the recycling bins outside then waste a month selling them for $10. Just not worth the money.

What I was thinking was perhaps to donate the books to some kind of literacy program. Maybe a library, a school, something to encourage kids to pick up books and start reading. The only problem is that some of these comic books depict violent acts, scantily clad comic book heroine's, etc... material which I'm not quite sure that the Toronto Public School board (or library) would accept.

So does anyone know of any good use for these books? Is there a program set up that would accept them? I'd rather find a good use for them other than the recycling heap.

Thanks!

Moe.

 

[Steve Berger]

You might want to do a quick search for comic conventions in your area . I have a friend who makes a living travelling a convention circuit here and in Florida. You might be able to run them down to a local Hotel and sell them quick (or give them away if that's your thought). I don't collect but you hate to see history pitched out and that's the way some people look at comics.

 

[Richard Travale]

Have a garage sale. Sell them for a nickel each or 5 or 10 bucks for all of them. If you don't want to have a garage sale see if there is one in your neighbourhood. I'm sure they will sell them for a percentage of the sale.

 

[Moe Maishlish]

The thing is that I highly doubt these things will sell, and I really don't want to keep them around that long waiting to sell them. I have the comic books I want to keep (trust me, I've got THOUSANDS of them... I still collect, just not the same insane degree that I used to), and these are the books that I just have no use for.

A garage sale would be a great idea if these books were in good condition and were at all recognizeable or popular. As they are, they're really not all that great.

I think tomorrow I'm going to call the Toronto Public Library system and find out if there's a way I can donate them. Maybe even a children's shelter or something of that sort.

Moe.

 

[Mark Shannon]

If (sadly) the school or library system won't take them, I'd use them to design a room. Just paste them all over the walls, and cover it with schlack (or whatever you use for that thing). Sure, it'll be busy, but it's definitely a conversation piece.

 

[Keith Mickunas]

Take them to a comic book store and sell them off. They may only give you 10% of the value, but it's something, and it shouldn't be much trouble.

 

[RickLe]

Moe, I'm not sure how Canada works on taxes but I have a friend who also has tens of thousands of comics. He takes his at face value (which is more than one would get selling them to a comic store, online, or a garage sell) and does a tax write off between $3-$5K. This accomplishes two goals, one of ridding himself of extra material, and two, lightening the tax burden.

 

[Jason L.]

RickLe,

Where did your friend donate these comics to?

My father did this years ago with baseball cards where he gave them to the boy scouts or something as a donation. The cards were ones that nobody wants [commons], but they still had a value according the price guide. A nice write off.

The problem is that no one really wants comics. I am in the same boat. I have a couple boxes of Spider Man and X-Men comics. Selling them would be a major hassle, and the prices that they command on Ebay is pathetic. Plus, shipping them would be a pain in the ass.

And so they just sit there taking up space. I don't read them, but I refuse to throw them out.

 

[Bill Williams]

One thing you can do, if your comics are still in great condition, is preserve them in new sleeve holders, then get them appraised against the current pricing on the books. Wizard has a good monthly guide with each issue on current and past titles, so you might be able to determine how much they're worth. And the more well-preserved the titles, the better they are. I just came across about a week ago my set of the 4-issue Wolverine series that Claremont and Miller had done back in the 1980's, and that still commands a pretty nice sum per issue. And they're still in really, really excellent shape, I'd say about a 9/10.

Another thing you can do is auction them off on eBay, particularly the more valuable and important titles, and see what turns up.

 

[RickLe]

Jason, I believe it was the Salvation Army. He took a drive one day to a few different agencies and made some phone calls until he found someone willing to issue a tax receipt. Of course he consulted an accountant first to see what his max would be and donated accordingly.

 

[LarryDavenport]

Take them to Goodwill or some other charity and get a receipt for their "value." If it's significant you can take it as a deduction on your taxes.

Personally I would look for a nephew or niece or friend's kid and give them to them. You'll be their coolest uncle ever! (When I die I'm leaving my 2000+ CD and 500+ DVD collection to one of my friend's kids).

 

[StephenK]

Moe,

If you're sure they have no significant value, pls don't sell them at a grage sale. Instead, find a pediatric unit at a local hospital and donate them there. I'm sure they'll be happy to take them for the kids.

Rgds
Steve

 

[Richard Travale]

I think he is concerned about the content of these comics. It sounds like a lot of them would not be appropriate to donate to a children's ward.

 

[Moe Maishlish]

I really need to stress that these are:

1) Not the most popular of titles, with the exception of a couple of Marvel (Spider Man, X-Men) & DC (Flash, Justice League, Superman, etc.) books here and there. The majority of the books are from Image or now defunct companies like Defiant or Valiant (Turok, X-O Manowar, etc.) comics.
2) Not in the best of condition, as they were not kept in sleeves of any kind, and have literally been gathering dust for the past 3 years. Preserving these books in any way would be a waste of time and money on preservation materials.
3) Violent, with depictions of serveral wanton acts of violence. Yeah, I'm fully aware that these are comic books... but I think there's a significant difference between Batman punching a villain, and a group of superhuman infiltry men blasing guys with oversized shoulder cannons.
4) Lude & Crude, with female characters very sparsily dressed. I'm talking g-string & bikini tops here, a-la Rob Liefeld & crew. Every woman is busting out of her top...

I have no qualms about donating these to anyone who would read them & distribute them responsibly. I just don't want to blindly hand them over to some kid without so much as a though to the consequences.

NOTE: I'm not a believer that TV, media, comic books, etc. warp the minds of young ones (I grew up watching cartoons & reading comic books, and I turned out pretty normal)... but I am a believer in adult & parental involvement, hence my concerns.

Thanks!

Moe.