Journey into Mystery (Boxes)

  Citizens of the world, I have a problem.  Who am I kidding, I have a litany of problems.  But as it pertains to today’s nonsense, this is it.  I like to gamble.  I also like to get something for my money.  I enjoy anticipation.

  I am not a Youtuber.  I feel most of the content is nonsense if it isn’t a music video, animals in the wild killing each other, and other than “Drinks and Comics”, most of the self made shows are shit.  I hear people going down rabbit holes, and I have watching chicken eat mice, but for the most part, I don’t watch a lot of YouTube, to the point, I prefer reading articles, and if it’s a video, I just turn it off.

  So in one of my comic groups, I met a dude called Stevie B.  He casually mentioned that he does a YouTube show (Stevie B Comics), and most of his content is him buying mystery boxes, opening them up on camera, and then he comes back, and tells you the prices of the books.  I went down that rabbit hole. 

  I like the fact that if it’s a shit box, he doesn’t PC it.  He’ll tell you if something is packed wonky.  He’ll tell you if it is a box of beat up books.  He tells you if it’s packed like shit.  He’ll say if it’s overpacked.  I once had a dude pack a comic, and it was so overpacked, you worried that you were going to damage the book getting it out.

  The next “logical” step was to buy a mystery box.  After binging his show, I chose one of his favorite sellers on eBay, “toysyndicate”.  Stevie vouches for the guy (they’ve spoke), and he’s selling off his books because he’s having a kid.

  I don’t know if he’s tugging at heart strings (I had kids early, poverty is scary), but it worked for me.  The two episodes Stevie did on him, he got a lot of books for his money, and each time he got books worth way more than what he paid.

  So I ordered one, paid my $45 between shipping and boxes, and waited.  He literally shipped it out within hours, and I patiently waited.

  Now, in my head, him shipping so fast tells me that he probably has them boxed already, so his regulars aren’t getting cherry picked boxes.  I know, he could mark the boxes up, but this is my brain, so this is my perception.

  So my box came in, and I half considered making a video, but instead, much like my tastes, decided to blog about it.

  Here’s what I got, and the alleged worth…

1.  Vengeance #1   first America Chavez, who is the first Latin American LGBTQ character    $25
2. Secret Avengers #23 2^nd Printing  First appearance Deathlok Miss America  $15-$25
3. Back to the Future #1 Blank Variant  Could not find this, I valued it at $10, because you can get a guy to sketch
4. Amazing X Men 001 Blank Variant  it goes for around $10, but nothing too amazing about it
5. Nova #8 (2007)  First appearance of Cosmo and Knowhere.  $6
6. Fantastic Four #244  Frankie Raye becomes Nova, first female Nova  $7  (UK version)
7. Daredevil #108  First appearance of Candace Nelson  $8
8. DC vs. Marvel #1  (1996) Similar characters from each company duke it out  $8
9. Uncanny X Force #26   $1
10. Uncanny X Force #27  $5  Death of Fantomex and Gateway
11. Powergirl #13  First appearance of Nicholas Cho  She’s Superman’s cousin   $3
12. Fallen Son: The Death of Captain America  $3
13. The West Coast Avengers  1^st Appearance Great Lakes Avengers, Mr Immortal, Flatman, Big Bertha, Dinah Soar, Doorman, Peggy Allen, Carlos, Davey the bankrobber, and a few buildings first appearances   all that for $1
14. The rest:   X Factor #9, Foolkiller #9, #10, The Heroic Age: Age of Heroes #3, Civil War #2, Daredevil #509 (2^nd Pring, Variant), Captain Marvel #5, Siege Spider Man #1, All Star Squadron #1, Inhuman 002  $1 each

Nothing really huge, but a few with potential.  I don’t see Big Bertha taking off, but a guy can dream.  “toysyndicate” sent a nice variety of books, 23 books in all, packed very nicely so minimal chance of damage, and as a whole, it was exciting and fun to hope you beat the odds and got a grail, but I still got enough that I would consider getting a box from him again.

  I posted a picture of the haul on Reddit, and the first two comments were negative, and then a few jumped in and looked to the positives, with first appearances and the such.

  I know that odds are I am not going to get a big book.  I look at it this way, I got more return than if I went to the boat and put the money into a machine.  I could have gotten one book for that money, that was an investment, but sometimes you just have to have a little fun, take a little risk, and help keep the comics flowing around the country.

  So if anyone needs $1 comic books, look over that list, and for shipping costs they could be on your doorstep within a week.

  Have fun out there gang, and I promise I will attempt to write about something interesting…eventually.  Until then, check out the K Files, take an edible and listen to The Not So Crazy Podcast of Blizzard and Eli, drink whiskey and listen to Misery Point Radio and rage, or get blackout drunk, and listen to Robert go on and on about Star Wars on Shootin’ the Sith.

  Most importantly, listen to J “Jackhammer” N Horsley, and Ol’ Kentucky on the flagship Podcast.  We have others too, but I can’t remember them, and I’m too lazy to look them up.  It’s on the website, you’re on the website, you know what to do.