CGC at Wizard World 2012

Wizard World is almost here. Last year I went the full three days and each of those days I brought books for CGC to grade. I was worse than a junkie needing a fix. This year I do not have the abundance of extra funds or the time. The same weekend that Wizard World will be swooping into Philadelphia at the Convention Center I will be playing pool. I joined the team in February and after joining I found out that the championship was the same weekend as the convention. As much as I am into comic books once I found out we made it to the championship (both my 9-ball and 8-ball teams) I couldn?t let them down.

This isn't stopping me from going or bringing anything. I plan on getting closer to completing my appointed sets and although it would be cheaper to send them to Florida for grading I want the signatures as well. CGC will not guarantee the grade on the books that are already a 9.8 and I figure the less time they have the books, the better the chances my books will remain a 9.8. In my New Mutants set I have a few books belonging to the Signature Series, the majority of these are by Rob Liefeld and Bill Sienkiewicz (that was the first time I can officially say I spelled Bill?s last name without looking).

Bill Sienkiewicz will be there, Rob Liefeld will not. I have issues #23 and #29 all ready to go. The paperwork is filled out and I am the most confident in those two issues to retain the 9.8 grade. There are a few books I have that are graded a 9.8 and I question the validity of them since I think they would be re-graded a 9.6. Plus, these numbers are readily available if I need to repurchase to keep my 9.8 collection alive and well. The other two books that I am bringing to Wizard World for the Signature Series is another 9.8, this one being issue #74 and a raw copy of issue #86, a book I don?t have graded at all. This one is from my own collection. These two I plan on having Bob Wiacek (I had to cheat and double check the spelling on this one) sign.

This will increase my Signature Series collection a bit. With the three I mentioned hopefully retaining a 9.8 what about the others, what do I think they will attain? When I play pool I noticed my first impressions are usually the right ones. A couple years ago when I had my copy of Daredevil #158 graded I was sure the book would grade no lower than a 9.0. After all I spent thirty minutes trying to find out (Overstreet?s grading guide next to me) what grade the book was. I was very confident that the comic would be the grade I graded it at. The Daredevil #168 that I wanted graded was a copy I glanced over for nearly two full minutes. In that time I decided it would be a 9.4. How did I fare? Issue #158 was an 8.0 (boy was I off, was it even my book?) and issue #168 was a 9.2.

With this little lesson learned, did I spend three and a half hours grading the remaining seven? Nope, I spent five minutes, less than a minute a book. I decided to go with my gut, plus I was at work and it was pointed out that I don?t get paid to grade comic books?. although I can dream. The first one I?ll tell you about is New Mutants #86. I looked it over for less than a minute and I honestly believe this comic will be a 9.6 Signature Series barring no mistakes by Bob Wiacek applying his signature to the book.

This leaves six more; four of which are from The New Mutants. I?ll begin with issues #79 and #93, both of these I bought when they came out. I currently have neither of these numbers in a graded condition. I am unsure if they achieve a 9.8 which set of mine will I put them in? Either way, I don?t think I have to worry about that since I think these two will get a 9.6. The next two are issues #100 (2nd print) and Annual #4. The 2nd Print only has one spot to go since I only have the one Liefeld New Mutants set to put it in. This I am grading a 9.6, but what about the Annual? What will that grade? Currently there are none graded. Will this be the basis of all other New Mutants Annual #4 to be graded? I seriously hope not because my cursory glance gives this a 9.4. I feel there might be a slight spine roll to the book but that is how I remember purchasing it?.(side note this is being edited after my interview with CGC, I will have a journal in mind dedicated to what they told me about this book).

There is a chance that they could be graded higher than what I am think. I like to lowball what I think they will be allowing me a glimmer of joy and hope that I might get a higher grade. They could also drop. They might have been read when I was eating Lucky Charms and a marshmallow happened to just jump off my spoon onto the page. I am sure a rainbow of colors would lower the grade on any book. I would love that to be on the label?. ?Marshmallow stain?

That is eight, and if the last two aren?t from the New Mutants series, then what are they from? As a teen I purchased the majority of all my books from ComiCards and when I started to buy back issues there were a couple series on the wall that craved to be purchased. One was Longshot (this was first) and the other was Neil Gaiman?s Sandman. There were others like the Daredevil Miller years (Only #158 and #168 were on the wall the rest were in the long boxes).

I purchased the best copy of Sandman #1 I ever saw (at the time it was the only copy of Sandman #1 I ever saw) for $20.00. Price tag complete with Mylar bag. I knew I had to have it. I remember it being a lot nicer, a lot cleaner than the copy I have now. BUT, (notice the capital letters) it is signed by Neil Gaiman. I know this will not get a signature series, or even a universal label, but should get the qualified label, my first qualified label. I am ok with that because I was the one who met Neil Gaiman to get this signed. I don?t make that much of a big deal about meeting famous people whether they are in the Comic Book realm or Star Wars, sports stars or other personalities, people are people but it did give me a good story, and I love good stories.

So what do I think that my Sandman issue #1 will grade after my forty five second stare?.I think I will be lucky if it gets a 7.0. The spine is just so riddled with stress and the corners are not sharp as much as they are chipped. This is only the first of all my Sandman books I am going to have graded. I don?t know why they have such a high standard in my memory but I have the whole series bagged in Mylite and boarded. Is it worth getting the #1 graded, yes because it is not an investment in money as much as it is memory. The other is the black cover issue #50. This I believe will be much higher. I did have trouble debating between a 9.4 and a 9.6 since black covers are so difficult to get a high grade. And I still struggle with what I should tell you that it is?so I am going with the gut, grading low and saying a 9.4. How do you get finger prints off a black cover anyway?

There they are my predictions for my Ten to send. Now my main problem will be, if my pool tournament extends to Sunday, and they are not ready by Friday afternoon, how do I get them? Should I send my Father? That would be interesting; he would have no idea what to do or where to go? My best friend who is going to take pictures for me for my articles? That would be the better bet. I do hope that I can get them right away.

This was written a full week away and made its final edit the day before the show; and the whole time I was thinking I cannot wait to be th