I live in Abu Dhabi and have been to this shop many times. Yes, prices are inflated. But bear in mind: this is one of two comic shops in the country and the only one that sells vintage books. The country on the whole is poorly educated on comics. I know this because I collect and sell (on a small scale) here as well. Most buyers have little to no knowledge of condition, keys, FMV, etc. His shop is more of a comic museum; and I believe he has the largest collection in the whole of the Middle East. So, yes overvalued - but he is a genuinely lovely man who gifts items regularly including a Funko to my daughter a few years back. He even invited me to open a new shipment with him because he knew I was a true comic collector. Just wanted to add some perspective :)
Wow. I love that. The world needs a lot more balanced, objective conversations. Thank you so much. If haggling is still a part of the culture there, he probably doesn't really expect anyone to pay what he's asking. Way to go, man. That was really beautiful.
“Luke, the BS is strong with this one !!!” On a positive note, getting more comic book collecting exposure to the world is a good thing for the hobby !!
Pokemon expert here the first pokemon card they showed was worth around $30 Canadian and the second card was worth around $10-$15 literally less than case cost lol
I know its easy to laugh at this guys prices from our point of view but you have to realize that this guys shop is located in Dubai. That being said, due to their remote location on the other side of the world certain luxury items that we take for granted are going to cost considerably more. If you've ever lived overseas you know what I'm talking about.
Great video. On comics signed by actors I tend to agree that they aren’t as desirable as artists EXCEPT in certain cases. A Princess Leia comic signed by Carrie Fisher is one of those exceptions. The reason is that Carrie created Princess Leia by her performance. She is that character. The comic was subordinate to her performance. The same cannot be said for actors playing Spider-Man or Batman. Another exception is when an actor elevates a character in pop culture significantly such as Robert Downy Jr. I really enjoy my Draxx 1 signed by Bautista
Hmm, check out CGC Star Trek # 1 signed by actors ! Nimoy's signature is worth 5K min. If signed by four actors together : Shatner, Nichols, Takei, Koenig ( (not with Nomoy/ Spock) it adds thousands to the copy as well. High grade signatures are into thousands! you think Arnold Shwartzenegers sign. is not valuable? Lou Ferigno also signed a few Hulk 180 those are extremely desirable and valuable items. The Spiderman ot Batman get a new actor for every movie so maybe that explains low premiums?
As an European comic collecting enthusiast, i've noticed that prices differ from country to country because of the difficulty in getting specific comics. Also, the prices you see on apps or sites that have databases collectors use as reference don´t reflect the prices accurately even if it is an average. Great video by the way. Swagg doesn´t let down :)
I agree. But the issue is when ur reaching a high level of rarity or value the items become internationally relevant and people with wealth will price an item on the international market and not the country it’s in.
Oh, yeah. That's totally a fake vault. LOL Look how thin the doors are and easily swing open. Near the end when they are about to leave the "vault" you can see the vault doors on little hinges too. Still looks cool though.
Great video Swagg! This is a smart guy who is selling this stuff way above the FMV to investors (probably way too rich ignorant people) who buy his slick stories...
Re: the Kirby signed Avengers 1, keep in mind that Jack Kirby passed away in 1994 so none of those 600 Signature Series CGC books were signed by him. But I am curious how many verified CBCS yellow labels there might be.
Probably only a dozen were signed by him he didn't really sign alot of stuff trust me I've been looking for his signature on a silver age book for a while now and so far I've only found 1 random hulk book and it sold for $2000 over what a normal slabbed copy would be (it was blue but said Jack Kirby on first page?
@@lostcanyon777 yea but still I rarely even see notation of Jack Kirby written on a page for CGC or verified by CBCS maybe it's because I'm in Canada but I've literally only seen that one hulk copy signed by him in the 3+ years I've been hunting
I was there last year to check and possibly buy comic books. Long story short: i do not recommend the store to any comic book collectors, but with a lot of money The prices are x5-10 times higher than in the market which does not make any sense Fascilime UF4 costs around 900$ of i am not mistaking anything. Average comic books around 30$ When i wanted to negotiate, the prices were still too high For almost 100 books they asked 15000$ As a result, wasted too much time for search and negotiation, but learned my lesson People love money and do what they like on their playground, so Its has too much media advertising Imho, the guy was paid well to make a video about the store, so people talk about it Good PR strategy
This was very entertaining bro! That's one comic shop that I would most definitely avoid buying anything from, especially with those elevated prices. One comic that I have in my personal grail comics is a metal edition (200 total with the sequence number printed on the comic) of Transformers 1 (2019) that features Optimus Prime and Megatron. Peter Cullen and Frank Welker signed above the characters they have voiced for decades. Although they didn't create those characters, they brought them to life for so many fans over the years. 🙂
Brilliant vid Swag - cracking. I love your pragmatic and honest approach to this, the cynical wry look you give, the tired unimpressed stance at the BS. Absolutely right about bargains but you might find one here, it's the type of place where a UK comic gem would be found. Although given the relationship with appalling people, not a shop I'd be frequenting.
I'm not a comic book collector (followed a YT recommend though), but I wouldn't want a signed copy if I was into collecting comics. I would want the best condition I copy of one I really wanted and could afford. Signatures to me are defacements on comics. Also, great react video. You brought a lot of reality to the situation. Esp. for someone like me who is clueless about this stuff.
Thanks for doing this, I was looking for someone that knows comics to critique that video. I saw the NG and knew that it was no where near $6 mil. I’m not a collector, I just can’t see it going for no where near what that 7.0 went for.
The kind you of store that sells to the new rich. People who are worth a lot of money, got really lucky to get into crypto early on, but do not care to do the research on what they are buying. Not criticizing them (they got in early while I didn’t). This store will be a Starbucks in a few years.
He did push back a little at the claims. But when you are someone's guest it's natural to hold back. It was fine. Let the guy live in his delusional world.
At first I thought it was going to be a smug h8r vid. But I after watching the whole vid, I whole heartedly understand the disdain. Sorry to have doubted the swag.
I actually own something so rare, I don't know if anyone on earth has what I have. I have a completed Marvel Value Stamp book series A, a blank Series A book, and a completed MVS Series 2. And, yes, I cut up 200 books to do this. (off the rack, I was a kid...)
Great Line! We are showing our age! This is a Rouchefoucauld. The thinnest water-resistant watch in the world. Singularly unique! ............... and Gstaad!!!!
Does anyone know who he sells to? I have a great collection of 90s comics that I am willing to part with at the bargain based price of $75 a piece ! I’ll even sell my copies of X-men 1 for $150 each! Number 1 bro!
I would also think maybe when he says the dollar amounts, what currency was he basing it off; but then I see in some cases he makes the references. But his used car salemanship is in full effect for sure. Funny now that I am watching this; he constantly covers the NG grade with his thumb cause he didn't thing no one would see the previous shots...😂
Gotta let the owner brag a little bit. To him, thats what they are all worth. He is entitled to his 15 minutes of fame. I have a early 1950s Strange Worlds # 4 in 3.5 grade from the Dave Stevens personal collection. Worth as a comic alone, maybe $ 500. To me though, its Priceless!!!!!!!! Thats my 10 seconds of fame. And I would rather own my comic with the gorgeous woman on the cover, then Superman on the cover.
If the store is in Dubai then I'm guessing there are extremely rich people there due to it being a business hub especially for oil. Uninformed rich people wuoldn't blink when buying a $10,000 book when it's worth $6k.
Swaggle: So you walk into this guy's shop, he's already dressed like a villain and then you go to buy books from him. He's like: "I wouldn't sell this to you for a million dollars". Your response: You monster!
This is Sallah cosplay. The ark? The Idol? Nope. A deli counter with a vault of comics. Dude is a genius. Watched Raiders, went to SDCC and said "jackpot"
13:45 - Graded and signed by Jack will be harder, just because you're limited to just CBCS. Finding graded books of dead creators that passed before the grading industry really got started IS gonna be a tall order. Especially one with a legit signature.