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iTaggit Announces Premium Subscription Service! - iTaggizine, August 2008

ikonono — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 17:54:00 GMT

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Read the Latest Collecting News on iTaggit!

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My Inner Child's Favourite Comics: Part Two by alandaviddoane

Topps Gets Exclusive Rights to Produce Babe Ruth Trading Cards! by ikonono

Lady Head Vases by suzannetique

iTaggit Announces New Premium Subscription Service!

iTaggit has recently released the new Premium feature! You still get all of the perks of a free account, with the added benefit of Premium! So what is Premium?

Ad free browsing -
     With Premium, you will see no ads on all iTaggit pages! Also, when your page is being viewed, ads will not appear, letting people focus on your item!

Upload 50 items at a time -
     No more waiting to upload your entire inventory! With Premium, you can upload 50 items at one sitting! This will cut down the time spent uploading photos AND increase the number of items you can enter into iTaggit, while leaving you more time to concentrate on the content of your items.

Embed html code -
     With this feature, you can embed html into your items and profile. This includes videos of you or your items, YouTube videos, trailers from your favorite movies, and best of all, PayPal widgets! These widgets will allow you to buy or sell an item directly from iTaggit! This feature is key for any merchant wanting to add to their sales without paying transaction fees.

Ability to store an unlimited number of items and collections -
     Premium allows you to put any number of items into iTaggit! Do you have a huge baseball card collection? Make a collection for each individual player, or one giant collection for all of them. There are no limits!

Collectible Plates or Not?

Suzannetique — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 16:07:00 GMT

In October of 2006, Granville Ohio went into major sell mode. The Chamber of Commerce sponsored their annual Antiques Show, the Presbyterian Church held a rummage sale, Kendal of Granville , the retirement community had a garage sale, and numerous residents had porch sales.

From all accounts, thousands of items changed hands.

It seems that the only items that didn’t find buyers were the cartons of collector plates in their original boxes complete with certificates. At the Kendal sale, out of the two dozen or so on offer, the only ones that sold were a Mickey Mouse Bicentennial plate, and a Longaberger Dresden plate, each of which brought about $3, highly disappointing to the original owners. These were supposed to be investment quality collectibles, produced by manufacturers like Bradford Exchange, Schmid, Bing & Grondahl, and Franklin Mint.

Last April, when I was researching a story about Mother’s Day collectibles, I noticed that with Avon Mother’s Day plates in particular, the 2008 issues were selling for around $40, but older ones went unsold, or sold for pennies. So, while people still seem to be buying them for their mommies, it seems pretty clear that they are not proving to be successful collectibles from an investment point of view.

As it turns out, like so many objects that were manufactured in mass quantities for the collectibles market, hopeful investors who bought these plates for any reason other than sheer love of the object are disappointed.

But don’t take my word for it. Harry Rinker has written on this exact topic, and his wisdom can be found at www.harryrinker.com/col-947.html . On the other hand, lovers of collectible plates also have a website www.worldcollectorsnet.com/plates/plateboard.html . These two seem to be in complete disagreement on the subject. On their site, collector plates are actively bought and sold. Once again, the mantra for successful collecting-buy what you love.

1920's Halloween Ephemera

Suzannetique — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 14:03:00 GMT

While lots of Halloween items were made of tin and later plastic, the bulk of the older pieces are pressed-cardboard, paper composition, or papier-mache. Papier-mache candy containers were handed out to children at parties, where the point was the candy they held. Unlike the decorations for other holidays that were lovingly stored and brought out year after year, early Halloween décor and trinkets were made to be used and discarded. Pressed cardboard lanterns were lighted for parties, and burned up by their candles. Cut paper decorations were covered with tape or torn during cleanup. Kids ate the candy and tossed the containers.

Candy Containers

Possibly the most sought after vintage Halloween collectibles are the candy holders made in Germany for the American market from 1919 until about 1935. The brainchild of American discount retailers like Frank W. Woolworth and Sebastian S. Kresge, these papier-mache creations came in a variety of styles and shapes such as jack-o’-lanterns, witches, scary fruit and vegetables, cats, owls, skeletons, and devils.

Some had bobbing heads, some had open heads, and some had parts with removable bases. Because they were made by hand by artisans in very small factories or even private homes, the overall quality of the containers is remarkably high and each piece has its subtle variations. Collectors love these papier-mache curiosities and pay anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand for hard to find examples.

Tricks, not Treats

Savvy collectors have been buying vintage Halloween since the early 1980’s, but the real collecting craze started in 1995. However, as with many aspects of collecting, popularity and high prices lead to fakes and forgeries. The marketplace is full of artificially aged reproductions which tend to be smaller and not as carefully made as the originals.

iTaggit Announces New Premium Subscription Service

okishorty — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 17:48:00 GMT

iTaggit Introduces Premium Service to Assist Artists and Merchants with Online Sales

iTaggit announced today the release of their Premium Service to help Artists and Merchants sell their items more easily online. This new Premium Service includes all of the features of a free account plus;

· Ad free browsing on all pages on iTaggit.

· When others view premium user pages they see no advertisements so they can focus on the item.

· The ability to upload up to 50 items at once.

· The ability to embed HTML code, such as a PayPal checkout widget on your item and profile pages.

· The ability to store an unlimited number of items and collections.

· Increased SEO and publicity for each of their items

Premium users can embed checkout widgits such as PayPal on any item or their profile pages. This allows users to sell items on iTaggit without transaction fees from iTaggit. Users also have the ability to link back to their own website to allow them to use their own method of checkout. iTaggit will provide premium users that already have a website increased online publicity in a community of users that are passionate about art, antiques, and collectibles. In addition, iTaggit pages are indexed highly in each of the major search engines, allowing public items listed on iTaggit to achieve a high page rank.

“Artists and collectible dealers need a new environment to sell their things. They need a community that is supported by users who are passionate about the specific types of items they are selling,” said Casey Gannon, Marketing Manager of iTaggit Inc. “Artists and dealers also need a new way to get their items to show up higher when people are searching for similar items in search engines.”

The Premium Service is offered at $9.99 a month or $89.99 a year.

My Inner Child's Favourite Comics: Part Two

alandaviddoane — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 12:03:00 GMT

Continuing my week-long look at my inner child's favourite Marvel Comics...

Marvel Premiere #47-48 by David Michelinie, John Byrne and Bob Layton

When these issues first appeared in early 1979, it seemed obvious to me that a regular Ant-Man series must soon follow. Not only was I completely off-base, but Scott Lang (the new Ant-Man introduced here) languished as third-rate window dressing for the Marvel Universe until very recently, when he was given a brief moment in the spotlight in some Brian Michael Bendis-written comics before being utterly obliterated in Bendis's first Avengers issue.

The Bob Layton-drawn cover of #47 jumped right off the stands and grabbed my attention. The image of Ant-Man atop an ant, standing on a newspaper, reaching up toward a handheld magnifying glass (with a gun barrel pointing at him as well, although this was an unnecessary threat on an excellently designed cover) was a real eye-catcher. No one has ever improved on Kirby's original, retro-five-minutes-after-it-was-created costume design for this character, not even Kirby himself. Decades later, a mere glimpse at that cover sends me back to that period of my life. Marvel Comics was the best, and this comic proved it again in spades.

What we have in these two issues is a clever, if fairly standard, origin story. As I say, it's obviously a set-up for an ongoing series, and it's too bad Scott Lang never again got this kind of quality spotlight in the succeeding decades -- because he was given an exciting and top-notch introduction here by some of Marvel's top talents at the very top of their game.

Writer David Michelinie is much better known as a longtime Iron Man scripter whose work with inker/co-plotter Bob Layton remains some of the best-loved tales of the Golden Avenger. Layton is along for the ride here as well, and these two issues are very bit as entertaining and demonstrate the same solid storytelling found in their best Iron Man issues.

Penciler John Byrne was really getting into his prime here as well, turning in work that is both action-packed and well designed. It's probably much too late now to find out whose idea it was to begin the tale in the middle of the action, but the splash page of #47 features Scott Lang (we don't know yet it isn't Henry Pym) in the middle of a pitched battle with armed (and armoured) guards while a doctor tries to protect a covered patient obviously in the middle of surgery.

It's obvious from the dialogue on this splash page that this probably isn't the Ant-Man we all know and love. His thought balloons reveal he is worried because if the doctor's patient lives -- "My daughter will die!"

Ant-Man battles the goons for a few pages before we kick into flashback mode and find out our protagonist is not Henry Pym, but an ex-con named Scott Lang. We see Lang released from prison after a brief expository interlude where the prison warden informs Lang (and us, of course) that he has been a model prisoner and an electronic genius. See, as recently as two decades ago, heroes who were reformed bad guys had to have always had a heart of gold. Former serial killers and hitmen generally were not thought of as good super-hero material.

We meet the light of Lang's life, his 9-year old daughter Cassie (who later became a superhero herself, in Tom DeFalco's A-Next), a "bundle of towheaded love," who Lang soon discovers is suffering from an inoperable medical condition. Michelinie creates a true human drama here; imagine spending years in prison, only to get out ready to start again (Lang scores a job working for Tony Stark) and almost immediately learn your daughter is dying. It's tragic, and as it might in the real world, it forces Lang to consider turning to his old ways to pay for the mounting medical bills.

Lang learns about a cutting-edge surgeon, Erica Sondheim, and resolves to meet her to ask if anything can be done for his daughter. As he arrives at the Sondheim Institute, he finds a bunch of thugs "helping" the doctor move her practice to a new location. A gigantic arm reaches from a sedan and throws Lang into a wall, then the car departs with the doctor. Lang notes the license plate number, and uses his "contacts in the Department of Motor Vehicles" (yeah, we all have those, right?) to trace the car's owner.

Lang's investigation brings him to the heavily barricaded Cross Technological Enterprises facility. He decides he'll need to hire a small army to get in to talk to Dr. Sondheim, so he breaks into one of the houses he had been casing earlier. Luckily, the home is the Creskill digs of Henry Pym, and Lang stumbles upon Pym's old Ant-Man getup. Realizing the costume will allow him to get into CTE all by himself, he takes it back to his apartment and summons an army of ants.

Lang quickly (perhaps too quickly, but hey, it was the '80s, folks) figures out how to work with the ants and use the costume's shrinking canisters, and flies off to CTE to find the good doctor.

It should be noted here that Michelinie never wavers from the idea that Lang is basically a good guy. The Ant-Man costume would have allowed him to steal the money he needed to pay his daughter's bills, and he could have had a very profitable criminal career, but his first and only focus is his daughter's health. Arriving at CTE, the new Ant-Man finds Dr. Sondheim operating on an unknown patient, and we end up at the point we came in on the splash page.

As Lang battles the CTE armored guards, the patient on Sondheim's operating table wakes up. He looks a bit like a gigantic, muscular Richard Nixon as he informs Lang he intends to destroy him -- "Rather utterly!" (Isn't that a split infinitive or a dangling participle or somesuch?)

There are some terrific artistic touches in this first part of the two-part tale. Layton was probably second only to Terry Austin in terms of meshing with Byrne's still Neal Adams-esque style in those days (although rumour at the time had it Byrne disliked Layton's inks), and the shots of Ant-Man's gleaming helmet or the Zip-A-Toned helmets on the CTE thugs gave the art a real shine that came through even on the crappy paper the books were printed on. Byrne has some fun with the angles, as any clever artist working with a shrinking hero always does, and the double-page spread that concludes this issue is quite dramatic, despite the somewhat goofy dialogue and the Nixon-esque look of the villain.

Part two of the origin of the new Ant-Man in issue #48 doesn't start as strong as part one, given a fairly unspectacular Dave Cockrum/Bob McLeod cover. The most prominent item on the cover is the ass of the ant Scott Lang is riding, although the big, goofy pink villain Darren Cross is also a large part of the design. Compared to the cover of the previous issue, to my mind a classic of the era, this one seems pretty generic.

The story itself picks up right where #47 left off, as big, pink, Nixon-esque Darren Cross rises from the operating table and confronts Ant-Man. From page one, the issue suffers from the loss of #47's letterer Tom Orzechowski, whose elegant work always lent Byrne's Uncanny X-Men a gravitas it might not have had with the more ordinary lettering style of Diana Albers, who handles the task here.

And while these two issues remain some of my all-time favourite Marvel comics, I have to say they'd be more well-regarded in my memory if more thought had been put into the look of the villain. While Darren Cross's origin (he became big, grotesque and pink after suffering a heart condition and receiving an experimental treatment) is serviceable, his appearance, especially the black Speedo, is just goofy. I think part of the reason I remain fonder of part one than part two of this story is that Cross hardly appears in the first half. Once he comes out from under the sheet of that operating table, the drama of the story is somewhat undermined.

The plot and the artwork are otherwise strong, as Cross breaks the antennae off Lang's helmet, takes his shrinking gas cylinders and tosses his ass in the convenient CTE slammer. We learn through flashbacks that since contracting his unfortunate condition, Cross has had to undergo a series of heart transplants, lately using his army of thugs to round up winos and bums who he keeps imprisoned until he needs a new ticker. But Cross now decides he will forego the use of the heart of the next appointed bum and instead have the heart "of a strong and irritatingly clever superhero." Oh, my, what a turn of events!

In a stunning display of Deus Ex Machina, we learn Lang hid a pair of back-up antennae in his boots, fearing he might break the helmet's original pair because of his inexperience. Lang calls in the ants, who bring him his (well, Hank Pym's!) gas canisters. He escapes his cell, and confronts Cross once more. In the heat of their second battle, Cross suddenly crumples -- and we learn Dr. Sondheim had had enough of the evil industrialist's illicit transplants. She had put Cross's old heart back in his chest during the operation Lang interrupted at the beginning of the story, knowing full well that Cross would die as a result of her (heh) double-cross.

Sondheim is anguished at what she has done, but she knows she has saved lives by taking that of Darren Cross. Ant-Man tells her there's one more life waiting for her to save -- his daughter.

It's a fairly convenient wrap-up to the story, and as an adult it seems a little more contrived and abrupt than it did when I was 13 years old. But the two-part tale is an excellent setup for the new Ant-Man, giving him both a good reason for taking on Henry Pym's former identity and a well-drawn supporting cast including Dr. Sondheim and Cassie Lang.

In the epilogue in #48, Scott Lang learns Sondheim's surgery has been a success and his daughter will fully recover. Lang knows he will have to go back to prison once the ants tell Henry Pym what went down -- he's such a hero it never occurs him to just stomp the little buggers -- but then Pym himself appears, and we learn it's not his first appearance in the tale.

In the first part of the story, we saw a security laser blast that Lang had assumed was controlled by a timer. Here, Henry Pym tells him he was following him all along, from the moment Lang broke into his Creskill home, and it was he, Pym, that was zapped by the laser. Pym was stunned, but able to observe the events that followed, and tells Lang to keep the Ant-Man costume. After all, "The world can always use another hero."

In reading this story again (I've read it dozens of times since buying it new off the stands in 1979), I agree wholeheartedly with Henry Pym. It's too bad no regular series ever followed. Scott Lang (and his daughter) have appeared off and on in the decades that followed, but I can't help but think that his potential as a character was really thrown away even before he was incinerated in Avengers #500. Here was a real hero, who put his life in jeopardy to save his daughter, and who found forgiveness and redemption in his brief moment in the spotlight.

Daredevil #233 by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli

It's difficult for me to pick a single issue of Frank Miller's Daredevil as my favourite. Miller made his reputation in a spectacular run on the title (#158-191, with only a single fill-in issue by Steve Ditko very early on), first as artist (#158-167) and especially once he began scripting with #168, which also introduced the character of Elektra and set the tone and pace of the rest of Miller's initial run.

Even after Miller left with the extraordinary Daredevil #191 (in which Matt Murdock plays Russian Roulette with a paralyzed Bullseye), he was never far from the character. He did some graphic novels, including Elektra Lives Again (a solo hardcover) and some collaborations with Bill Sienkiewicz and John Romita Jr.

But despite my love of Miller's first stint on Daredevil, my all-time favourite superhero storyline has to be Daredevil: Born Again, which ran from #227-233, and was drawn by David Mazzucchelli (who also illustrated Miller's Batman: Year One).

Mazzucchelli had been pencilling the title for a while, but was not considered an extraordinary artist. Competent, but not that exciting. When Miller returned to write this outstanding run of issues, Mazzucchelli was seemingly transformed as a talent. Whether he was energized by Miller's scripting (far superior to the issues Mazzucchelli drew under other writers), or guidance from Miller or editor Ralph Macchio, Mazzucchelli turned in a transformative comics work that stands as one of the finest examples of American superhero comics ever.

Miller and Mazzucchelli's story told how a heroin-addicted Karen Page sold Matt Murdock's secret identity for a fix, and how the Kingpin subsequently dismantled the entire life of the Man Without Fear.

If you've never read this story, you are denying yourself the single finest story Marvel has ever published. Miller used adult themes in a way that surpassed his previous run, and Mazzucchelli's artwork complemented it perfectly. Even Miller himself illustrating this story would not have achieved the impact of the two of them working together.

By "adult themes," by the way, I don't mean sex and drugs, although both make significant appearances here. No, I mean such adult themes as trust, loss, betrayal and redemption. I am not kidding when I call this the most adult superhero story I've ever read. Yeah, stuff blows up, but this is a story grounded in the simplest parts of being human, and the heights and depths to which people can go, of their own design or not. And it all comes to a head in this final issue of the arc.

For a story that so wonderfully incorporates some of his finest creations, Jack Kirby gets a "Respectfully dedicated to" box on the explosive splash page. The Kingpin's trump card, a psychopathic super-soldier named Nuke, is dropping napalm on Hell's Kitchen, and Matt Murdock has finally reclaimed his identity as Daredevil, now struggling to save lives amid the carnage.

Nuke is a good answer to those who say Miller's Batman in Dark Knight Returns was some sort of Neo-Fascist. We see what Miller thinks of mindless dedication to the cause of American Justice, and it's not much. Nuke is a pathetic, hulking brute of a moron, literally painted with the flag and ready to lay down lives (except his own) at the behest of any properly-garbed authority figure. Batman in DKR may have wanted things his way, but at least he wanted to make a better world. Nuke just wants to kill things and uses patriotism as an excuse.

Frank Miller did not create Ben Urich, but he certainly developed the character into one of the most human supporting characters ever seen in superhero comics. Here, he has been put through his own personal hell (also at the hands of the Kingpin), and finally has found his redemption. Urich documents the battle in Hell's Kitchen at the risk of his own (and his photographer's) life. He knows this story is more important than his safety.

Suddenly, in one of their most riveting appearances, and quite unexpectedly, the Avengers show up. Captain America was on the cover, but when he and Thor and Iron Man arrive on the scene, each is given a single panel which defines their character better than dozens of issues of attempts by other writers on their solo titles.

Matt Murdock and Captain America have an extraordinary exchange a little while later on a rooftop, which ends not with the thoughts of Daredevil but Captain America, offended by Nuke's flag tattoo, and bewildered by DD's seeming indifference to it (he can't see it of course, but Cap doesn't know that):

It doesn't mean anything to them, thinks the soldier. To them, it's just a piece of cloth. Sometimes I feel so weak.

With this one sequence, the story belongs as much to Captain America as it does to Daredevil.

Captain America gets to the bottom of Nuke's origin as the brutal madman escapes military custody. A battle ensues in which Nuke is mortally wounded, and in his dying moments Miller manages to give even this horrific creation a modicum of redemption. The Kingpin has been thwarted, utterly. The final shot of the villain of this piece is reminiscent of the final panel we saw of Bullseye when he was crippled at the end of #181, and we are left with the impression that the Kingpin's efforts to destroy Matt Murdock have crippled the Kingpin's empire as much as that fall many months ago crippled Bullseye.

The final page is a wonderful, full-page spread of the newly-reborn Matt Murdock and Karen Page walking along the street of their (also being reborn) Hell's Kitchen neighbourhood. Miller's final words are both simple and profound, and the reader is given a supreme sense of closure: this story had a definite beginning, middle and end, as the best stories do, and it retains a depth and power unmatched by any other superhero story in the 60-plus years of American comic books.

Daredevil: Born Again is as good as superhero comics get, and probably as good as they will ever get.

Next: The conclusion of my week-long look at my inner child's favourite Marvel Comics...

Topps Gets Exclusive Rights to Produce Babe Ruth Trading Cards!

ikonono — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 17:54:00 GMT

New York, Aug. 4, 2008 (Topps.com) – The Topps Company and CMG Worldwide (CMG), have signed an agreement giving Topps exclusive rights to produce the trading cards of Major League Baseball’s greatest legend, Babe Ruth. The exclusive Babe Ruth cards were unveiled last week in packs of 2008 Topps Allen & Ginter and will be found in the remainder of Topps’ 2008 and 2009 baseball products. The products will feature an array of insert cards, autographed cards and game-used memorabilia cards.

As Yankee Stadium, the House that Babe Built, nears the end of its final season, there is no better time to complete your collections or add some new Babe Ruth memorabilia. In addition, the value of your current Babe Ruth cards and memorabilia is sure to increase as this new line-up hits the shelves.

To read the full press release from Topps.com, click here.

Lady Head Vases

Suzannetique — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 15:31:00 GMT

By the 1960's, everyone's mother, aunt, or grannie had a lady head vase somewhere in the house! These beautiful women were originally used by florists for small bunches of flowers the way glass bud vases are used today, but unlike their contemporary counterparts that get shoved under the sink, or into the back of the closet, these little ladies usually became a permanent part of the decor.

Most of these semi-porcelain vases were mass produced in Japan, and sold to American jobbers who distributed them throughout the country. Japanese manufacturers included Ensco, Inarco, Rubens, Irice, Relpo and Lefton. In America, lady head vases were made by Betty Lou Nichold and Holt Howard. These were handmade and handpainted, and are generally of higher quality than those made in Japan.

Some vases were marked on the bottom with an inked backstamp under the glaze, but just as many were marked with paper labels that have long since vanished. For the curious, the best way to determine the manufacturer is with the help of a collector book, or, (believe it or not!) a Lady Head website! However, as with any beauty pagent, the winners are chosen by looks, not pedigree, and with a few exceptions, the highest prices go to the prettiest ladies.

Collectors want gorgeous ladies that are beautifully made up with elaborate coiffures. Many came adorned with jewels, including necklaces, earrings, and even the occasional ring, and ladies without their original gems bring lower prices. Damage also lowers the price, which conversely means that examples with lots of protruding parts such as hats, gloved hands, bows, curls, ruffles, etc. that are in perfect condition bring some of the highest prices.

During the heyday of the lady head craze, top celebrities were turned into the most popular vases, including Lucille Ball, Jackie Kennedy, and Marilyn Monroe. Disney characters were also popular. These included Snow White, Alice in Wonderland, Cinderella, and Mary Poppins.

Values can fall anywhere from $10 for a common vase with slight damage to as much as $2,000 for Marilyn. As with any collectible, values are highest for those pieces with cross-over appeal.

My Inner Child's Favourite Comics: Part One

alandaviddoane — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 12:32:00 GMT

There's a misconception in some quarters that anyone who demands quality in comics -- especially superhero comics -- must be some sort of elitist artcomix snob.

While I don't deny my firm conviction that historically the best and most vital comics have been personal works with a single creative vision -- often autobiographical in nature, such as the works of R. Crumb, or Art Spiegelman's Maus, but not always, as in the case of Louis Riel or Palomar -- I spent my formative years reading and absorbing superhero comics, and I have to admit that even now, after over four decades walking the Earth, there's a special kind of thrill I get from the very best superhero comics. Grant Morrison's run of New X-Men and its exploration of family, persecution, power, destiny and betrayal, Warren Ellis and John Cassaday's deconstructionist Planetary, or Darwyn Cooke's New Frontier with its unapologetic celebration of superhero traditions and iconography -- all of these have given me very near the same thrill as the best ndependent/alternative/grownup/artcomix do.

When I was 6 years old, my exploration of the comics artform began. I was far from a discriminating reader in my single-digit-years -- in fact, once I discovered comics, I was rapacious in my appetite for as many as I could possibly find, read, and cherish. I can remember back in the 1970s regularly walking a mile or so to the nearest convenience store near our house in Florida. I was around 10 years old, had a couple of parent-given bucks in my pocket, and after studying the spinner rack carefully for new releases, and perhaps spending any leftover change on a Slurpee®, I would go home with 6 or 8 titles ranging from Amazing Spider-Man (Ross Andru was an early artistic favourite, and although I see his work very differently now, I still can't help but see see something of the excitement in it that I did then) to Richie Rich (Ernie Colon was one of the first artists whose style I identified) to E-Man (man, did I love Nova Kaine) to Little Dot (the story where smokestack pollution control devices turned smog to dots that unexpectedly and ironically littered the landscape haunts me still); the point is, and I do have one, if it was comics, I read it.

My tastes evolved slowly, probably thanks in large part to parents who approved of my reading comics, likely because reading comics is reading, and because when I started reading them, they cost all of 20 cents (which also may have played a role in my diverse tastes, come to think of it). It wasn't until I stumbled over things like The Overstreet Price Guide, The Comics Journal and The Buyer's Guide in my early teens that I realized just how wide the artform truly was, and it wasn't long after that that I discovered, seemingly almost at once (and very likely through the Bud Plant Catalog, now that I think about it) the triumverate of Cerebus, Elfquest and The First Kingdom, each an alternative title with a very different creative vision from, say, Richie Rich. Soon enough works like the original Love and Rockets came along, and I was well on my way to seeing how comics could be -- should be -- a vehicle for individual artistic expression.

In my mid-teens I really became addicted to such comics, although some creators -- Crumb, for example -- would take years more life experience and exposure to the work for me to truly begin to appreciate. And while I still bought superhero comics, my favourites were those that intersected with that same individual artistic expression. Frank Miller's Daredevil, Walt Simonson's Thor, and the Kitchen Sink magazine-sized reprints of Will Eisner's The Spirit (an incredible magazine for its time, really, packed with some of the best comics in history) -- here were creators given free reign (or nearly enough as to not make a difference) to do what they wanted with the characters they were creating stories about. And how much better, I noted, even these superhero comics were when the men and women creating them were allowed to follow their vision and see where it took the creators, the characters, and most importantly, me.

Not every comic I'll talk about in this series is a visionary work by a single, uncensored creator. In fact, none of them really are, although at least one (Daredevil #233) was clearly the work of creators following their muse and blazing new trails. But for the most part, as a child and as a teenager these individual issues are the ones I read again and again, dazzled by their drama, action and storytelling. There's a baseline quality to even the most banal of these comics that I find missing in a lot of today's entry-level superhero comics, and I'm convinced that that's the reason so few children are interested in what Marvel and DC have to offer in titles that should be instantly addictive to young minds, like Iron Man, The Flash, Wonder Woman or Superman.

The comics I'll be discussing are ones that I am sure I could have enjoyed even if I didn't encounter them until I was an adult, but they were simple and engaging enough that even at 9 years old, or into my early and mid-teens, I could appreciate what was being offered and be fascinated enough to want more. It seemed then like the writers and artists and editors knew how to walk a line that allowed readers both young and, well, older to get something positive out of the experience and look forward to the next issue.

I think it's because, as Alan Moore notes in The Extraordinary Works of Alan Moore from TwoMorrows, the best comics give the reader what they need, not what they want. It's possible to deliver action and adventure with a spark of creativity and ingenuity without pandering to the mobius-strip storytelling that the aging fanboy audience seems to demand. A lot of today's lackluster, unengaging corporate superhero titles are clearly designed to deliver what the average comics shop customer wants in the way of comfort, nostalgia, and/or snickering, naughty sexuality; think of Hank Pym's superpowered exploration of his wife's vagina during a recent issue of Avengers or a deviant, possessed Power Girl sticking her tongue down Superman's throat in an expensive hardcover team-up of the Justice League and the JSA in what can only be described as a corporate comics moment of meta-incestuousness. The mind reels at the lack of imagination on display in comics like these and others, which by their very nature exclude younger readers through their inbred (in more ways than one, clearly) nature.

It seems to me that the mandate that entry-level superhero comics meet the reading needs of a wide range of ages was probably enforced by editors, and it further seems that there are few editors working in corporate comics today who have the skills, or the power, to work with creators to make their comics the most creative and entertaining as possible. I would guess that the editors are either powerless in the face of industry "superstars" given the keys to the kingdom, or they do not have the desire, energy, time or even knowledge of how to achieve the necessary balance to create true entry-level superhero comics suitable for most readers and engaging enough to even, oh, I dunno, attract new readers year after year. Which strikes me as a better, saner response to audience attrition than multiple covers, stunt storylines, pandering to fanboys, and the near-constant rebooting of series with new #1s.

But when I was younger, it seemed most superhero comics were purposely aimed at readers of a wider age range, and it seemed like the most exciting and complex ones were published by Marvel Comics. This week I'll be looking at a few that made a huge impact on my developing mind -- for varying reasons, as you'll see -- and each of which retains today at least a portion of the power that they had over me even back then.

Avengers #161 by Jim Shooter, George Perez and Pablo Marcos

I read DC comics as a child and liked 'em well enough, although I didn't really get excited about them until Marv Wolfman and George Perez introduced Marvel-style super-soap operatics into the DC milieu. Perez, as you're about to see, was a big favourite of mine in my pre-teens, and I retain a nostalgic affection for his glory days even today, although he has chosen to illustrate enough poorly-written books in recent years (Solus, Crimson Plague) that I remain skeptical if he'll ever again reach the creative heights he did as recently as his his run on Avengers with writer Kurt Busiek.

Speaking of which, anyone who enjoyed Kurt Busiek and George Perez's lengthy run but found succeeding creative teams not quite as engaging should investigate the original Perez era on the title, especially my favourite, Avengers #161.

Looking at this comic as an 11-year old boy, I was entranced by the level of tension and drama in this issue; looking back decades years later, I can see it's one of the few comics that have held up for me through my transition to adulthood -- I think it's one of the most exciting and visceral Marvel comics ever.

As an 11-year old, the only superhero identity I ever knew for Henry Pym was Yellowjacket. Oh, I may have seen a flashback here or there that referred to his other identities, but to me, he was Yellowjacket, and Yellowjacket was one of my favourite characters. A two-part appearance by YJ and the Wasp over in Marvel Team-Up (drawn by John Byrne in his glory days) made for two comics that I read and re-read constantly. I was fascinated by the fact that the two of them were married (that was a rarity for superheroes then), and the fact that they could shrink down to insect size just seemed too cool.

When Scott Lang stole Pym's old Ant-Man costume in Marvel Premiere #47 (again drawn by Byrne, and discussed below) and assumed his former identity, Pym not only didn't mind but helped Lang in his quest to save his daughter. My young mind was enchanted by the awakening sense that these characters were living in a shared universe and that I was in on the behind-the-scenes intrigue.

In Avengers #161, the excitement started building right on the cover (drawn by Perez and inked by Marcos). Ant-Man rises up from insect-size and clocks Captain America and the Black Panther in a single effort, while ants swarm over the Vision, Scarlet Witch and Wonder Man. Surely puny Ant-Man could never do such harm to Earth's Mightiest Heroes? And why would he, anyway? The intriguing cover is a lesson to today's corporate comics mindset of generic group shots that do nothing to even get your attention on the stands, never mind engage your imagination as to what the heck might be the story behind that cover.

I don't think it's any coincidence, by the way, that I was so pleased with the Avengers lineup Kurt and George chose for their first couple of years of Avengers tales together in Avengers Volume 3. Virtually the same lineup is present in #161, and the strength of the interaction between these characters shines through despite the occasional ham-handedness of Jim Shooter's dialogue.

While the dialogue is occasionally stiff, though, the plot is straightforward action, grounded in Avengers history and enhanced by the dynamic of this particular assemblage of heroes. The splash page focuses on Ant-Man as he looks in on the Avengers, surrounded by his only allies in this story, a swarm of obedient ants. Pym is confused to see unfamiliar strangers at Avengers mansion, and is strangely hostile and ready to attack.

As the Avengers get a look at Wonder Man's new costume (the first he's gotten since his original, Kirby-designed outfit was destroyed in #160), Ant-Man announces his presence and demands to know who these strangers are. Pym explains angrily that he is there for the first meeting of the Avengers, and while he recognizes Iron Man (but doubts the man in the unfamiliar armour is the Iron Man he knows), he doesn't know any of the other heroes and is infuriated by the imposter pretending to be Captain America.

By now, the reader is thoroughly confused. This team of Avengers had more or less been the book's lineup for a year or more, and it's becoming clear that something is quite wrong with Ant-Man.

Whatever his problem is, it has not affected his fighting skills one bit. I'd go so far as to say his hostility has given him an even greater edge than he might otherwise have, as he single-handedly overcomes (albeit briefly) Iron Man, Captain America, the Scarlet Witch and even Wonder Man (newly returned from the dead and unsure of both his abilities and his place on the team). The use of flying ants to swarm through Iron Man's eye-slits struck me back then as brilliant, and the ingenuity of the move retains its impact and wit even now. Any doubts about Ant-Man's ability to carry off the image on the cover are completely erased in this terrific sequence. Only the Vision is immune to the onslaught of Hank Pym and his ants, but the Synthezoid's powers are shown to be pretty useless in any kind of offensive move against the attacking Ant-Man. Only the Wasp, able to shrink down to Pym's level and attack him close-up amid a swarm of flying ants, is able to bring down her enraged husband.

I have to say something here about George Perez's depiction of these events. While he is generally regarded by superhero fans as one of the most exciting and energetic artists working today, Perez was pretty goddamned good even all those years ago. His earliest Avengers issues demonstrated enthusiasm and interesting layouts, but his faces were often weak and his backgrounds often non-existent. In #161, Perez obviously has gained confidence and skill and stretches his muscles in the way that endeared him to readers for decades to follow. He uses a variety of angles to add visual interest to the battle, and his powerful depictions of such powerhouses as Iron Man and Wonder Man add depth and drama to the fact that Ant-Man is able to render them helpless in such short order.

This entire issue is filled with visual power and tension rarely seen in superhero comics. The inks by Pablo Marcos (Perez's best inker back in those days) could only enhance the design and layout of Perez; in those days you often saw the quality of Perez's work degraded under the inks of craftsmen like Jack Abel or Vinnie Coletta. It's hard to imagine I would continue to hold this issue in such high esteem 23 years after the fact if it had been inked by one of those sorts of inkers. While Marcos might have exhibited a heavy hand in inking Perez, he did so in a way that complemented the work rather than obliterating its appeal.

As Pym is brought down by his (clearly distraught) wife, the team gathers its wits and tries to get to the bottom of the unexpected attack. Jan explains that her husband has had a history of mental problems (explained in flashbacks) which seemed to be resolved when Pym took on and kept the identity of Yellowjacket. The stability and passion of their marriage is explained in a single panel in which the heroes are apparently making love, nude. A panel that struck me as provocative at the age of 11 still strikes me as daring. Not only are the heroes clearly naked, but the close-up panel of the two of them intimately kissing expresses not only passion, but love.

Jan tells the team that her husband unexpectedly flew off during an in-flight conversation the day before, and that she returned to his lab to find it in ruins. She was coming to the Avengers for help when she interrupted Ant-Man's assault on the team.

Iron Man suggests using "the subliminal recall-inducer" on Pym to learn the reason for his attack. I don't know if this device had ever been seen before in continuity, but it certainly struck me as something Shooter probably bought on clearance at his local Deus Ex Machina Superstore.

The Beast is assigned to drive Jan home so she can find some items to spur her husband's memories. Captain America and Iron Man chide the Beast for his patented humour in the face of the day's events in a sequence that seems a bit harsh and even clumsy now. Plotting was always more Shooter's strength than dialogue.

As McCoy escorts Mrs. Pym to her Creskill home, we see through thought balloons that the Beast's humour disguises his sense of self-pity over his own plight. While Jan heads into her home, McCoy muses "Henry Pym is one lucky guy to have a lady like that! A lot luckier than a Beast could ever be." McCoy came to accept and even enjoy his furry blue condition in later issues, but in those days the Avengers was the only place his character was being developed at all.

Jan is attacked while rummaging through her husband's things. The picture we see of Reed Richards on the wall was a reminder in those days that this was a shared universe -- today it strikes me as a bit comical. Not only do I question why the Pyms would have such a photo, but why Richards has such a wide grin on his face.

As Jan is taken down by a mysterious attacker, back at the mansion the Avengers zap Ant-Man with their memory-inducer. The panel is bathed in yellows, reds and oranges, and Kirby Dotz suffuse the air. Whatever that machina, er, machine, is doing, it doesn't look like fun. It also does not succeed in answering the question of why Hank Pym would attack his teammates.

Captain America sends out a call for absent Avengers, but we're shown in brief vignettes why Thor, Quicksilver and Hawkeye (along with the Two-Gun Kid...don't ask) won't be coming to the rescue. By the end of the issue, Cap'll be wishing he'd had their help.

As the team gathers to discuss their inability to discover Pym's motive for attacking, the Beast stumbles in, obviously having been assaulted himself. Then, the answer. It probably comes as no surprise to anyone now (or then, I'd wager) that Ultron is to blame for the strange turn of events. The killer robot explodes into Avengers Mansion, and as the Scarlet Witch gets close to defeating him with her probability-altering powers, she is distracted by Ultron's attack on Captain America. Ultron defeats the rest of the team in short order, and shoots off skyward, Ant-Man having been sucked into his "fingertip capsule-prison." That Shooter sure had a way with naming stuff.

Jarvis returns to the mansion to find it plunged into darkness, and flips the light-switch. The final, memorable panel shows the team's butler as he takes in the carnage Ultron has left behind. Wonder Man, Iron Man, the Vision, Captain America, Black Panther, Scarlet Witch and the Beast -- among them the some of the most powerful Avengers ever--utterly defeated. Possibly dead. To be continued.

The repercussions of this storyline were felt for decades. This was the first time, I believe, that Perez was assigned to depict a storyline focusing on the robotic villan Ultron, and the power and fury on these pages resonates well with the fairly acclaimed Busiek/Perez Ultron storyline in Volume 3. The fact that Yellowjacket wasn't as stable as he might have seemed was a major plot point here, and that also nugget played a big role not only in the Vol 3 Ultron story but also in the Avengers Forever 12-issue series by Busiek and artist Carlos Pacheco. Additionally, you'll eventually learn that Ultron's machinations (heh heh) here resulted in the creation of Jocasta, later an Avenger herself and a supporting character in Iron Man's solo series.

As I implied earlier, many superhero comics from the '70s do not hold up well when looked back at through nearly three decades of improvements in production techniques and more sophisticated visual and written storytelling techniques. But Avengers #161 cemented my affection for the title, an affection that was reignited under the later stewardship of Kurt Busiek and George Perez. Avengers #161 not only serves as an obvious inspiration for Busiek and Perez's run, but it stands up just as well today as it did back then. If you've never read it, and especially if you enjoyed the Busiek/Perez Avengers, by all means seek it out. It remains my all-time favourite single superhero comic book.

In part two, we'll look at more key Marvel Comics issues that my inner child adores to this day.

Treasure Hunters Find Hidden Treasure at 31 Club

darylelam — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 03:55:00 GMT

The Power of Two – Partnering with 31 Club Nets Treasure Hunters an Easy 35%

English Artist, Graham Hedges, "Storm at Sea" is one of two Hedges Paintings located by a 31 Club Member.

Do you often find valuable antiques and art you'd like to trade but don't have the money to purchase? Are you familiar with the term "Picker"?

Members of the 31 Club understand how advantageous it is to partner up to purchase fine art and antiques and share the profits through our Associates Program. I have to pinch myself to be sure that what’s happening is real, so I’d like to share some of my excitement with you.

William, a true gentleman who had never been in this business before, was the first 31 Club Member to partner with us through the 31 Club Associates Program. We began corresponding on a regular basis with very little happening until one day, he called me about a Texas painting he saw at an upcoming sale. We agreed he should attend the sale. In the meantime, I took a look at the other items from sales leaflet over the Internet.

He arrived to the sale early and examined the painting, but it was priced extremely high and didn’t interest us anywhere near this price. However, there was another painting of interest I saw on the sales leaflet. It was by the artist, Walter Darby Bannard, so William took a look at that one.

I expected the painting to be over priced, like the last one, but it wasn’t. We were able to purchase this painting very reasonably, and this became the first Associate Program listing. When this painting that William located sells, he'll earn 35% of the net price, without ever having invested a dime of his own money.

I believe you have seen the beginning of the future for the Antique and Fine Art industry. I’m quite certain that once others catch wind of this, they’ll either join us or try to duplicate our program.

I hope I don't get these out of order, but the next purchase through the Associate Program that comes to mind was the Patrick Henry document Cecil found and put through the program, followed by another painting William located by Peter Schofield. All of a sudden, we found ourselves hustling to keep up with the calls. Vicki D. located a wonderful Rookwood lamp and a Muncie lamp we partnered on. Two nautical paintings by English Artist, Graham Hedges, presented by Marsha M. soon became part of the Associates Program.

Over the last couple of days, we’ve entered into agreements with members on 147 Civil War Confederate Letters written by a soldier to his wife, many of which were sent during battle, a 1940's Kentucky Derby glass, and have a pending deal in process for 21 vintage movie posters and several signed photographs of movie stars from the 30's.

If this sounds good to you and you've got an eye for high quality items, you can earn 35% on items you locate that fit our criteria, too. All you have do do is become a member of 31 Club.

Other Members are listing their items on the 31 Gallery & Marketplace, knowing the sales fees are the most reasonable of anywhere in the industry. That’s because we believe most of the other sales venues have simply decided to take too much of the pie. If you work hard, you should get to keep your honest rewards. That's how we work.

Anyone can join the 31 Club. We have newbies up through seasoned professionals as members. We even have members who own antique shops who are beginning to list some of their higher quality items on our Gallery and Marketplace. If you haven’t joined yet, why not?

Although we may be in the very early stages, The 31 Club is gearing up for great things. We are here to assist you however you ask, because nothing is as important to us as your success.

****************************************************************************************************************

Buyers -- Buy high quality items for fair prices at 31 Gallery and Marketplace.

Sellers -- Sell your high quality items for low fees at 31 Marketplace and Gallery.

Treasure Hunters -- You Find, We Buy & Sell, You Net 35%.
Partner up with 31 Club on high quality treasures you find.

Our Members are Newbies to Seasoned Dealers, making more money than they thought possible. Join Daryle Lambert's 31 Club, today.

Check out the new Paintings and new items in our Gallery and Marketplace here.

Looking for posters from the 1980s

GirlFan1980s — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 08:16:00 GMT

Hi,

Can anyone tel me where I can find/buy/trade basketball posters from the 1980s, such as the ICEMAN, the shortest guy toever slam dunk...spud someone, and the Sprts Jamz poster from the late 70's/early 80's featuring Larry Bird as a really young guy...Any help is appreciated.

iTaggit Customer Support - Live!

okishorty — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 21:13:00 GMT

iTaggit users have been very excited about the ability to chat live with an iTaggit customer support member. Live Assist operators give iTaggit users step-by -step technical support as users navigate the site. Live Assist is available Mon - Fri from 9am - 5pm central time. If a live assist operator is not available, users are able to leave a message and an operator will respond within 24 hours. Live Assist can be find in the top right corner of any page on iTaggit. Click on the Live Assist box below to try it out.

Auction Fees and More Fees

darylelam — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 16:10:00 GMT

Fees, Fees, and More Fees. When Did Our Belongings No Longer Belong to Us?

There was a time when a person could take his belongings to an auction house and pay a 5% fee on the final sales price for the service. That left 95% for the seller. That’s pretty good, but let’s flash forward a few years.

Auction houses today increased the sellers fees, particularly for less expensive items. I’d say the average fee is about 25% with fees up to 50% for less expensive items. But still, this wasn't enough dough. So, the auction houses began to charge the buyers a fee to buy. These fees run 20-25%. Now they get paid on each side of the sale, so this caused buyers to reduce their bids. This reduced bid affected the sellers final price.

Wow! Sellers went from getting 95% of the sales price to under 50%. I may be an old fossil, but when did our belongings no longer belong to us? When did we gain an equal partner in our own belongings?

Next came the eBay stores, a place where the seller took their things to a public place who listed them for the seller on eBay. Their fees were up to 40% of the sales price. eBay got up to their 15% and Paypal got up to their 5%. I’d say that leaves the seller 40% of the sales price for their own stuff. That makes you an unequal partner in your own belongings. Fortunately most of these operations died a quick death, as they should have.

But, now there’s a new plan emerging. The seller finds a company to appraise their items, then that company consigns them to the auction they think fits them best. And yes, there is a fee for this. It can be 5% or more. (This might seem fair if the customer was able to obtain a discount from the auction house. Like 10% off their regular seller fees.) Let’s do some math. 5% for the company who consigns your own belongings to auction, 20-25% to the auction house when they sell your belongings, another 2-5% in fees for insurance and advertising for your belongings, and then whoever buys your stuff gets charged 20-25%. Please tell me where else someone gets charged to buy something – other than a government sales tax?

By the time you’re done with the transaction it comes to 46-60% in fees paid to a company to sell your own stuff. You, the seller, would end up with about 48%.at best. I wonder how long the public will put up with this. You just started out wanting to sell you own belongings for a fair fee, didn’t you? I’ll let you decide what is fair.

Taking on the big boys like this doesn't make me the most popular man in town. But, I”m not expecting to win any popularity contests. Just trying to protect you, the seller and the buyer and offer something better than what's out there.

That's why I ask you to take a look at the 31 Club Gallery & Marketplace when you want to sell your high quality items. We offer much lower fees than anywhere else you'll find. And buyers, there is never a fee to buy from us. Buyer and seller will benefit most by becoming a member of the 31 Club. Look here for fee details.

If anyone has comments and opinions on the auction house fee situation, please make a comment here. I think this is a very important subject.

Buyers -- buy high quality items for fair prices at 31 Gallery and Marketplace.

Sellers -- sell your high quality items for low fees at 31 Marketplace and Gallery.

Treasure Hunters -- partner up with 31 Club on high quality treasures you find. You find, we buy, we sell, you net 35%.

Our Members are Newbies to Seasoned Dealers, making more money than they thought possible. Join Daryle Lambert's 31 Club, today.

My 220 page book, 31 Steps to Your Millions in Antiques & Collectibles is FREE with your membership. Join Today!

Check out the new Paintings and new items in our Gallery and Marketplace here.

eBay Head in Wrong Direction, Once Again

darylelam — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 19:54:00 GMT

Daryle Lambert's 31 Club Blog

Do you feel the ground shaking and hear the sound of distant thunder? That’s the sound of the coming stampede of Ebay sellers making a mass exodus to other sales venues.

Ebay has, once again, presented changes in their venue, many of which I predicted months ago, that will be sending a good portion of their sellers elsewhere to do business and leaving their stockholders in a long holding pattern, or perhaps experiencing new lows.

Starting last ast year, and much to my dismay, I started predicted eBay would lose a good portion of their market share to their competitors. It looks like this will continue to occur as the company implements their most recent changes. (Links to articles I've made eBay predictions are below.)

You see, eBay forgot who got them to where they are, and it wasn’t the buyers. They’ve spent entirely too much time trying to please the buyers, when it was the sellers who helped build the company. In my opinion, it may be too late to salvage their position in the marketplace now or in the future.

Since eBay has continued to raise the percentage they take on completed sales, I predicted eBay would discontinue listing fees altogether, and I stated it was in their best interest to do so. Today, they’ve dramatically cut listing fees but have not eliminated them. Most sellers don’t mind paying a little more if their items sell, but if they don’t sell, they take a direct loss which isn’t acceptable.

While from time to time, the company has special days offering sellers no listing fees, I still predict the time when eBay permanently offers no listing fees will be just around the next bend. However, by then, it will be too late to bring back those who’ve been grazing comfortably in another company’s pasture.

In their effort to make up for lost revenue and please their stockholders, other changes the company made will prove to be a big turn off to its sellers, as well. Like the increase in fees for their PayPal services and their insistence that this is the only way to pay for fees when doing business with them. Forcing customers to use only the programs they provide will prove to be a mistake in the future. It’s cheaper for their sellers to go elsewhere and use other merchant account providers with more reasonable fees. No, the public isn’t going to let eBay make up their loss in revenue in this way.

Any reduction in fees will prove to be beneficial for those of us who use eBay to sell our wares, but the other restrictions I believe will be rejected in the market place. It may prove that eBay has, for too long, underestimated the intelligence of the customers who helped build them.

Ebay’s efforts to swing in the direction of retail sales by emphasizing fixed price selling is about four years too late. Companies like Amazon are not likely to surrender their market share to eBay without a fight.

What eBay might do next in their effort to increase revenue will be to charge for their completed sales information. I made that prediction in an earlier article and I stand by it.Only time will tell.

To re-establish their growth pattern, eBay will have to reinvigorate their seller base, and that isn’t going to be easy. In fact, they might have to reduce profits for a while to build future sales volume. This might very well put eBay stock in a long holding pattern and even cause new stock price lows.

But, as I've stated in the past, what is bad for eBay can be good for us. So, when they have specials, take advantage of them, like listing several items on free listing days. Try not to get caught in the traps they set like reserve price auctions and the other gimmicks they state will bring you greater returns but actually cost you more. “Keep it simple” is a good rule to use here. In the meantime, if you haven't looked into other sales venues, now might be a good time to do some investigating.

Keep Skip McGrath and his newsletter close to you, because I think he has the pulse of what eBay is doing down to a tee. You'll find his many great resources available on our site. Don't forget our friend the “ The Auction Rebel – Gary Hendrickson” as he demonstrates his method of being successful on eBay.

Ebay made a change in my life, and for that I am very grateful, but they’ve been very slow to change with the markets. They might have thought they were invincible. But, none of us are. I still hope it isn’t too late for them. They’ve been a tremendous help to me and my family, and I thank them for that. God protects the humble, but if we try to do all things ourselves and even go down the wrong path, He allows for that too. I believe eBay has gone down the wrong path.

LINKS to my Previous eBay Article Predictions:

10/02/07 Will eBay Remain King of the Hill?
01/30/08 eBay Serves Scrambled Eggs
02/14/08 Is Ebay Running out of Juice?
03/25/08 eBay Fighting Hard in Wrong Direction

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