SW3D's Journal

A journal by SW3D

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Entries in this journal

Pressing: Both Sides of a Much Heated Issue...

The very topic of Pressing is a much heated debate with a clear division for those who see it as a non-restorative technique and those who do and are seeking pro-disclosure. This journal entry is not intended as a rebuttal or definitive response to the "Pressing Debate", but intended to give unbiased insights on why the issue remains relevant to many collectors and to offer collectors a broader scope of understanding, education, knowledge, and awareness of our hobby. The following text is quot
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"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me!"

There's a saying, You can't see the forest for the trees. No... sometimes you can't... not until you take a step back that is... and wait... and close your eyes and clear your mind... then open them... and just look without thinking... then suddenly there it is! Viola! The answer! Sadly, I am a fool for not realizing this sooner... for the answer was in front of me all along... hidden in plain sight... but my eyes were blind to it all... caught up in the hoopla... caught up in the novelty of i
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Pressing Ain't Nothin' But Restoration Misspelled!

Pressing: An anathema to the industry? What is it and why is it such a controversial issue? Before you start bombarding me with hate mail, allow me to spew forth my venomous opinions and distaste for pressing, for I harken pressing to a growing taint and malignancy in the comic book collecting community which needs to be pacified! Perhaps I'm going to the extremes and I don't want my tirade to be misconstrued as a "witch hunt", but I do think there should be greater transparency and disclosu
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Uncanny X-Men 142: Days of Future Past Part II: Innocence Lost...

Perhaps one of the best storylines ever written by Chris Claremont for Uncanny X-Men. Vintage newsstand purchased comics are not easy to obtain in high grade, and rarely do they receive Mint or Gem Mint designations. Unlike their comic speciality shop brethen, newsstand distributed comics are notoriously abused by the handlers at newsstands who are oblivious to the snot nosed kids (that is me) who treat comics like a precious ring (think LOTR). I remember back in the day, before I had the p
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My Favorite Captain America Cover: Captain America Volume 1, Number 287: "Future Shock"

Back in the early 80's, John Byrne was my favorite artist. Anything that had his stamp on it... I bought it. During his Marvel days, he made his true impact in Uncanny X-Men, the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, and Alpha Flight. In 1980, John Byrne illustrated Captain America beginning with issue 247, but left by issue 255, after having penciled a measly 9 issues on said title. I was bummed. But flashforward three issue to 258, and Mike Zeck comes on the scene... and suddenly, I forgot about Joh
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The Irony of Spawn #9...

The 1st Appearance of Angela, Medieval Spawn, and Cogliostro. This issue is unique in many ways. Not only does it mark the initial appearances of the above mentioned characters (who play key roles in the Spawn mythology), that it is also a Newsstand Variant, but it would eventually become the center of a heated legal battle between two modern icons of the comic book industry: Neil Gaiman and Todd McFarlane. Back in 1992, Todd McFarlane's Spawn made its debut under publisher Image Comics. Fo
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Mogo Doesn't Socialize...

The 1st Appearance of the Green Lantern known as Mogo! This little beauty was delivered to my greedy little hands yesterday afternoon. It is a newsstand bought copy of Green Lantern, Volume 2, Issue number 188. I bought it for a measly 75 cents back in 1985 and read it once or twice, maybe three times. It was graded 9.4 (Near Mint); not bad for a 28 year old comic! Lamentably, I can't remember what the main story is about... I have just a vague recollection based on the cover: John Stewart
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The Power and the Fury!

My Favorite Iron Man Cover: Iron Man 96 I don't know what it is about this particular cover, but it captured my imagination as a child. Back in the mid-70's, my oldest brother, Carlos, introduced me to the world of comics. He was mostly into Marvel, and he bought a ton of them: The Avengers, Fantastic Four, 2nd Generation X-Men, Captain America, Incredible Hulk, Daredevil, and Iron Man. One day I saw this issue, Iron Man 96, on top of a pile of comics. I remember being captivated by the ima
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My First Radio Interview...

Well, it's not conducted on a big time radio station but a very small internet radio venture spawned from a Social Media concept kicked around by the good people at the Roger Smith Hotel in New York City. As you may well have guessed, I work at the Roger Smith Hotel. That's me in the middle, sandwhiched between the interviewer, John Knowles (on my left), and Mr. James Knowles, President of the Roger Smith and Artist Extraordinaire. They're very aware of my comic book addiction, and support
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I'm Just Wild About Hellboy, and Hellboy's Wild About Me!

Cornering the Market Redux... I own 2 1/2 percent! It's been awhile since I posted a Journal... since February 2nd... and that's by design. I took a very long break from creative writing... much too long! I will admit... I'm a lazy . But discovering CS Journals and the wonderful collectors behind them, gave me back my writing juices and for a brief and shinning moment I became a mainstay... almost to a point of an addiction... but now I'm parlaying that wonderful, passionate, positive energy,
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Earl Norem: An American Master and a Forgotten War Hero!

Tales of the Zombie #7, CGC 9.4: This one came in yesterday. I bought it on auction through eBay. I got it at a fair price and I'm so happy to add it to my TOTZ collection. A gruesome cover, keeping in line with the TOTZ theme... I just love the look and feel of its retroness... like a horror movie poster from the 50's or 60's. The thick scarlet running down the dagger's blade and the collected pool of blood on the tree stump draws me in first... then the Zombie's freaky pupil-less orbs... and t
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9.99 Cover Price! Arguably the Most Expensive Cover Price Ever!

Robert Kirkman's latest... Invincible 100 Chromium Edition I've made this confession before, but I'll say it again... I'm a sucker for key issues... which include First Appearances, Death of Major and Minor Characters, Preview Issues, Return of, First Published work of Artist or Writer, First Issue, Last Issue, Historical Changes to the Character Mythology, and Anniversary issues included. So, at my last visit to my LCS, I see Robert Kirkman's Invincible on the new arrivals shelves. There a
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Matt Fraction: Helping Victims of Hurricane Sandy...

Matt Fraction will be donating his royalties for this issue to Hurricane Sandy relief. That means the more copies that sell, the more money gets donated. "It occurred to me that if this is too successful that this could be the most painful check that I ever write... but c'mon, make it hurt!" Today on my lunch break, I headed over to Midtown Comics Grand Central. I asked one of the very friendly and knowledgeable staff what was new and interesting... and he informed me that the new issue of Haw
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Pedigree Fever!

Is Golden State a Legitimate Pedigree Collection? If so... Why isn't Golden State a Recognized Pedigree by CGC?Last week, I won my first legitimate comic book auction! This was actually purely accidental since I threw out a maximum bid but never really thinking it would win... but sure enough it did. Although I've won a number of auctions from eBay... I've never won an item on auction from an auction site soley dedicated to comic book auctions like: CommicConnect, Pedigree Comics, Metropolis C
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Whatever Happened to Simon Garth?

The Walking Dead, Marvel Zombies, Rise of the Black Lanterns, Night of the Living Dead, World War Z... Zombies are everywhere! They're an undeniable cultural phenomenon... almost on the verge of being a pandemic ...and quite frankly it's making me sick! Enough already! But for all you animated-corpse fans, let's tip our hats to one of the earliest zombie's ever to grace a four-color page... Stan Lee's and Bill Everett's creation: Simon Garth. Simon Garth... the long departed cyanotic former
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Len Wein vs. Howard Phillips Lovecraft

AKA... Swamp Thing vs. M'Nagalah No... this isn't really a Celebrity Grudge Match... nor is this a fantasy comparison of each author's works to determine literary superiority... No!... this is simply a look back to when Len Wein's creation, the Swamp Thing, took on an HP Lovecraft inspired Great Old One. Many of you already know I am a big fan of Swamp Thing. I've recently posted a journal entry (see "Cornering the Market"), espousing my love for the classic first volume. But I'm also a huge
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Who has Green Hair, wears Yellow Skin Tights with Green Striped Underwear, Red Boots and Gloves, and tops it all

Who has Green Hair, wears Yellow Skin Tights with Green Striped Underwear, Red Boots and Gloves, and tops it all off with a Furry Red Cape? The Creeper... a trippy Steve Ditko creation from 1968, is arguably the most bizarre character to emerge from DC Comic's Silver Age, next to Brother Power the Geek! The Creeper first appeared in the pages of Showcase No. 73. With one of the oddest and most improbable origin stories of any comic book superhero, the Creeper is not your atypical DC costumed
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My first Stan Lee signature!

Moving closer to completing "Keys to the Kingdom" Set. As some of you already know, I'm trying to complete a set of keys tied into Adam Warlock. This issue, Thor 165, had been floating on eBay for at least a month or so and I had been watching it like a hawk hoping to get my filthy hands on it. I will admit, I did pay double the FMV for it... and I did my level-best to haggle with the seller to bring down the price, but he wouldn't budge... I guess he figured out I was desperate for it. Car
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Meet the Wonder Twins!

AKA... Reunited and It Feels So Good!   AKA... "I'm Julius. And this is my brother Vincent. We're twins."   AKA... "Two Out Of Three Ain't Bad."Meet the Wonder Twins... no, not the Vulcan-eared, brother and sister duo Zan and Jayna from the Super Friends, but more like "I wonder what the hell I was thinking buying the same exact comic book I already own?"Look at these two. Is it a case of double-vision? Can you tell them apart? They're both Marvel Premiere #1, featuring Warlock. They're both
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Remembering Eli Katz: Recent Book Releases to Re-Ignite Your Love for Gil Kane!

Adventures of Superman Gil Kane Gil Kane's The Amazing Spider-Man: Artist's EditionYesterday afternoon, as it seems to be my daily custom of late, while on my lunch break, I visited Midtown Comics Grand Central. I actually went there with the intentions to buy the trade paperback volume collecting Grant Morrison's seminal 80's run on Animal Man... which I did. Aside from that, I also checked-out the wall of new releases and noted, with a measure of indifference, Marvel's Superior Spiderman #1 t
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Cornering the Market!

AKA... I own 0.0057273768613974799541809851088202% of the total CGC graded population for Swamp Thing Volume 1, Number 1. Back in late 2005, I bought my first graded CGC comic. I regard it as one of my favorites in my collection. I probably will never give it up. It will remain with me until my dying days. Only God and the great Universe will ever separate me from it. It is Swamp Thing Volume 1, Number 1, graded 9.2. I still marvel at it, and in my opinion looks better than the 9.4's and 9.6's
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John Byrne's Holy Grail Posted On E-bay!

ACA Comix Number 1 is available on Ebay This goes out to any and all John Byrne fans, especially those who read and replied to my journal I posted about the very same comic: ACA Comix Number 1, John Byrne's 1st published comic book (not first published work, but first published comic book). Let me just say, I am in no way associated, representing, or connected with the seller who is posting their copy of ACA Comix Number 1. I have no idea who this person is. I am only alerting the colle
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A 2012 Holdover!

AKA... My Soul Gem: Redux It finally arrived!... Marvel Premiere #2. This is a holdover from 2012. I actually purchased it from the ComicConnect auction site back on December 20th. Although not a key, I couldn't resist the purchase based on its high grade and certification from a pedigree collection: Suscha News. This little gem takes its rightful place among my proud collection of keys I am currently building on Adam Warlock. To date, I now own: 1. Fantastic Four 66 (Origin of Him),
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Keys to the Kingdom!

AKA... My Soul Gem: Building a Mini-Set out of Adam Warlock When it comes to collecting, I'm not much of a completist. Thankfully I don't have an insatiable need to own every issue of a run unless I'm so immersed into the storyline (but sadly, that's very rare). When it comes to collecting third party graded comics, I also have no desire to build and complete sets... partly because it requires a lot of time, effort, and most of all... money... which I need to spread and allocate to other endea
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A Very Rare Find! ACA Comix No. 1 Redux

A photo of the back cover to this rare gem. I'm actually afraid to touch it, much less read it... but I did, albeit, very carefully, take an exam of its condition... cover (flat, no spine rolls, blunting on edges, minor foxing on back cover) and interior (all white pages, no missing pages, no missing pieces, no rusting on staples, no detectable oxidation odor) and generally no amateur repairs or restoration that I could detect. My conservative guess on its conditon is 8.0 (Very Fine), but my g
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