That one con weekend where a collector tried to fence stolen comics in the dealer room

I was tabling at a mid-sized show in Columbus a few years back, and this guy walks up with a beat-up short box full of silver age keys. He was asking way below market (like $50 for a run of early X-Men) and had zero story about where he got them. I tipped off the show organizer, and it turned out half the books were reported stolen from a shop three states over. Has anyone else dealt with suspicious sellers trying to move hot books at a con?

2 comments

2 Comments

robin_wright1d ago

Pretty sure ASM 50-100 is mostly bronze age, not silver.

evan_stone1d ago

Read somewhere that a bunch of cons have started sharing photos of known fencers on a private Facebook group for dealers. Smart move honestly. I saw a guy at a small show in Cincinnati trying to sell a full run of ASM 50-100 for $20 each cash only and no bags or boards, just raw floppies stacked loose. Organizer checked his story about a dying uncle and found out the local comic shop had those exact books stolen a week earlier. Got his table pulled so fast.