The $60 long box I bought on Facebook Marketplace was a total trap

I snagged a long box from a guy who claimed it was full of 90s era Image and Valiant comics. Got it home, opened it up, and it smelled like someone stored it in a damp basement for 10 years. About 60% of the issues had water damage and pages stuck together. I guess you can't trust anyone's idea of 'near mint' anymore. Has anyone else gotten burned buying collections from random people online?

2 comments

2 Comments

theawest5d ago

Jump right into that smell, it never lies. I got a "clean collection" once that turned out to be stored next to a chain smoker's ashtray for years. Every single comic had that stale tobacco stink baked into the paper, like the pages were trying to quit but couldn't. Ended up getting chain letters from my nostrils every time I flipped through them. Some of those 90s Valiant books just crumbled in my hands, the cover art peeling off like old wallpaper. Learned real quick that "gently read" is code for "fought a war against moisture and lost.

noahcampbell5d ago

Like the pages were trying to quit but couldn't" - that line killed me because it's so accurate. I swear some of those tobacco-stained books are probably worth more now as nicotine patches than as comics. But man, the crumbling thing hits hard. I had a copy of X-O Manowar #1 that literally turned into confetti in my bag on the way home from a flea market. The cover was still attached to the back issues like it was holding on for dear life. Somebody needs to start a support group for 90s Valiant collectors, we've all been burned by the same lies. "Gently read" more like "gently decomposed in a damp cardboard box while someone chain smoked through the entire Image Comics era.