There is a cultural phenomenon taking over the comic book collecting hobby right now.  Where someone can acquire a comic book – raw or graded – for a fraction of the fair market value (FMV).  There are 100s of collectors participating in such a game every day on social media.  It’s called BINGO! 

As you know, finding comic books nowadays, at a decent price, can be daunting.  It seems every day there is a new high sale for any given comic book making it impossible for many collectors to get that book.  Here is where gambling comes into play.  I have seen a couple of forms of this in both "Raffling for Comics" and "Bingo for Comics" games.  I will talk more about the latter rather than the former.  Let me share my experience with a recent Bingo game that I played in and, to my surprise, I won.  Let’s talk Bingo!

THE RULES

Now, before I go any further, let’s talk about the rules in case you never heard of this game or played.  According to WikiHow, Bingo is a fun game of chance that anyone can play.  The game is played on a scorecard that's made up of 25 squares — if you get 5 squares in a row, you win!  In addition, I’ve seen variations to the 5 squares in a row win i.e. “Y” shape win or an upside-down “T” win, so keep that in mind. 

HOW TO PLAY:

  1. Bingo scorecards have 25 randomly numbered squares on them, with the word "BINGO" written across the top.  Your goal is to cover 5 of those squares in a vertical, horizontal, or diagonal row.
  2. In this case, each participating player will receive a digital scorecard from the host.  Players can use more than 1 scorecard, as long as they can keep track of all the letters and numbers on the different cards.
    1. Playing with multiple scorecards increases your chances of winning, but it's trickier since you have more squares to keep track of.
    2. When you're playing with multiple scorecards, it's possible to win on more than one scorecard in the same game.
  3. Mark off the square in the center of your scorecard.  In Bingo, the square in the center of everyone's scorecard is considered a free space.  Everyone starts with 1 mark over that space.
  4. The host will call out the letters and numbers out in the game LIVE on YouTube.  
  5. Cross out your scorecard if you have that letter and number.  After the host reads out the letter-number combination, check your scorecard to see if you have the letter and number they called out.  If you do, mark that square.
  6. Continue playing until someone gets 5 marks in a row on their scorecard.  The caller will continue to call out different letter-number combinations.  Players should keep marking off each square on their scorecard whenever a corresponding letter-number combination is called.
  7. BINGO!

THE WIN

So back to the Bingo game.  This particular game was played on YouTube on a Sunday night.  This is the only YouTuber that I see hosting the Bingo game and for those of you that want to know they are played on Sunday nights on YouTube.  I was doing what most people do on a weekend – I was surfing the web – and I came across the Jblitz Comics channel (Bingo for Comics moving soon to Key Unit Comics YouTube channel). 

There were several people on the panel and each member was showcasing a graded or raw key comic book.  Each person was stating “10 cards for $45” or “5 cards for $25” with the concept that the monetary value of the “Bingo game” equates to the FMV of the comic book plus shipping.  An amazing concept for a collector to pick up a comic book for only a fraction of the price IMO. 

THE GAME

I watched several Bingo games play out before I decided to play.  There was a panel member who showed off a comic book I was interested in – it was the 1st appearance of Robin King lot. 10 Bingo cards for $20 each and the winner will get Dark Knights Death Metal: Legends of the Dark Knights #1 CGC 9.8 and the 1:25 variant by Kaare Andrews.  I was all in.  The player has the option of receiving the bingo card by email or by Instagram DM. 

During the game, the caller was naming out 3 numbers at a time and after a certain point, only one number was being called out.  This is where the jitters kick in. You can see that you are so close just waiting for that one number to be called.  After sweating a few rounds, I typed in BINGO in the YouTube online chat.  I was ecstatic!  I'd won my first ever Bingo game.  I exchanged messages via DM with the seller to include my shipping address and the rest is history.     

TIME TO PLAY

So, there you have it.  Another way to acquire comics books and add them to your collection. Take it for what it's worth.  If you are not the gambling type, then you probably will not find playing Bingo of interest but if you have scratched off some lottery tickets in your lifetime then you are game to play.  Either way, I wish you luck in your collecting endeavor by whatever means you are using.  It's what we do, we collect!  If anything, at least check out Jblitz Comics (Key Unit Comics) YouTube channel and get a sense of how the game is played.  At the end of the day, you might be pleasantly surprised.  You can thank me later.  Until next time you comic book junkies...

Please share your thoughts about playing Bingo for comics.  Have you won a comic book from playing Bingo?  Would you want to play?  Maybe you are more of a comic book raffle player?  Let me know.  

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