lou_fine

Sad to say, but unfortunately very true as we were all led down that garden path of innocence for the first 5 years until they were outed on these very boards here and we all saw what was really happening behind the scenes with respect to some of their "insider" friends, dealers, and others in the know, as already alluded to by this long time boardie here: Now, that first huge scandal on the boards here was definitely a real game changer to both the hobby and to the marketplace, and not necessarily for the good. Especially over time as they seemingly doubled down and even tripled down by subtly adjusting their undisclosed grading standards to punish grade those who didn't care to partake in their rather questionable, but clearly huge money making game for all parties involved who were willing to play it.

Although this clearly works in theory or in a fantasy world, you DO realize that unfortunately we are stuck living in the REAL world here. Perfect case in point being the shall we say SEEMINGLY (well, at least from a strict visual POV since we don't have the actual books in hand) rather "generous" grading of the Promise Collection of pedigree books which makes you wonder who the so-called anonymous "secret" submittors really were?

Are you actually suggesting that the CCG ownership group should fast track their management succession plan and turf out poor overworked Matt before they've managed to squeeze, press, and maximize all of the potential out of him and even before he's had a chance to implement his big money making CGC 9.9 pre-screen resubmit plan? Needless to say, all of the submittors who currently play the CPR game probably can't wait for Jason Ewert to be installed as the new President and Head Grader of CGC and raise the level of grading to an even higher standard with their new "Edge of Perfection" grading model along with their even bigger money making CGC 10.0 pre-screen resubmit scheme. Without a doubt, they'll all be running down to their nearest Loonie Store as fast as their little feet can take them in hopes of finding the sharpest pair of scissors there is. No worries on my end though, as I am already ahead of this game since I have my hedge trimmer sitting in the garage all charged up and raring to go.

After their recent so-called "invisible comic book" scheme, do we really need to see another blank webpage.

Yes, I saw this one last night, but not sure who this was referring to since there seems to be multiple cases here. I was thinking that these two might just be the ones behind the original reholder scam and CGC finally got around to filing legal charges and actually naming them as a result? But who really knows at this point.

Totally agree with your point here as I still remember receiving emails after emails from them announcing anouncing another signing when the ink was barely dry on the last announcement, and at a time when their TAT's were running at a full year or thereabouts. Not sure if I'm off their mailing list or not, but don't believe I've seen the same torrent of signing announcements, if any at all, for the last little while and wonder if it has anything to do with all of these scandals which they've clearly finally clued into awhile ago?

Not quite sure where you got this half BILLION dollar figure from, but I believe that Matt is running only the much smaller CGC portion of the CCG collectibles umbrella corporation that was brought out by Blackstone and a number of smaller investors.

Clearly a typo on my part as it went for still a whopping $8,400 or as I had said, slightly more than 3X condition guide for a Moderate Restored copy with Brittle Pages. Now, if it had gone for $18K, than that indeed would have been a real shocker since that would have been closer to 7X condition guide value.

This is it EXACTLY and also the primary reason why I would go for the Denver, along with the fact that there are only 153 books out there.

Didn't you just contradicted yourself with your post here?

Well, I would definitely have to say this certainly looks like a very strong jaw dropping price ot $18K or more than 3X condition guide value for what is not only a Moderate Restored book, but also one flagged with the normally much dreaded and value killing Brittle Pages PQ designation: https://comics.ha.com/itm/golden-age-1938-1955-/superhero/captain-america-comics-3-timely-1941-cgc-apparent-fr-gd-15-moderate-c-3-brittle-pages/a/122405-19063.s?type=bidnotice-tracked-endofauction Then again, I guess it shows the strength for an affordable entry level copy of Cap 3 which is clearly the second most valuable GA Cap book.

Yep, definitely a very strong price as it looks like the crazed marketplace has really gone crazy gaga for these skull covers. Makes me really regret passing up on the Church copy of this partial skull cover book here back in the day, figuring that nobdy would ever want a Street & Smith Publications book: No idea what it would go for in today's marketplace, but clearly more than the mere pittance I could have gotten it for back in the day, especially considering that there's only 11 graded copies as compared to the 23 graded copies for the Shadow Comics V3 #12 that was still able to fetched a whopping $18K.

Not sure, but has CC done another tweak or revamp to their website as it looks a bit different from the last time I looked at it? Anyways, from a Scoop article a couple of weeks ago, it looks like with the sad passing of our esteemed fellow boardie and noted long time collector, Jon Berk, it would appear that the family will be auctioning off the rest of his books and artwork on CC that did not hit the auction block back in 2017: https://www.comicconnect.com/browse/?filtertype=&search=jon+berk&save=submit&page=1&tzf=1 Looks like this includes his favorite book from his personal comic book collection, namely his Larson copy of Mystery Men 3.

Been away from the boards for a couple of months while traversing the safe and friendly waters of the Red Sea, as compared to the flak I am sure to get from the CGC acolytes with respect to my post here. Still looks like the same old, same old here on the boards though and don't really see the point to rehash old battles as the comic book mechanics and comic book doctors clearly won the war some 15 plus long years ago and who have now come out from their darkened dungeons to bask in the winning spoils of the bright sunlight. I just find it kind of ironic though that although one of the original tenets of CGC was to protect the hobby from the scourge of restoration, we now find ourselves with a grading system that rewards those who partake in hidden and undisclosed manipulation of books while punishing those who choose not to partake in it. Although it has often been stated that CGC has raised the level of grading to a new standard in the marketplace, I wonder if it can also be argued at the same time that CGC has also brought the hobby's collecting base down to a "controlled" version of what Borock used to call the dreaded days of the Wild Wild West. One clear example of this being this Okajima copy of Shadow Comics V4#1 here that appears to be in virtually the same condition wise at least from a strict visual POV without actually having it in hand, and yet can actually jump 6 grade increments from CGC 7.0 up to CGC 9.4. This would indicate to me not so much that there is anything majorly wrong with the book itself to warrant this significant grade difference, but more so that the grading system that we now have in place has been bent and twisted so much so just in order to target the additional revenue generating defects. I imagine it's clearly about the dollar signs here and the current grading system means so much more money for all parties involved who chooses to play the game. I guess it's really a case of to each their own, but being an old school type of collector, I personally wished CGC had made certification all about just grading the darn book the way it is, instead of making it all about maximizing its potential before having the book graded. Then again, it is what it is, so if you want to have your books ceritified without being pummeled when it comes to that number in the top left hand corner, you really need to know the rules and sadly play the game accordingly. So, while the boys at CGC are busy prepping for their next huge money making but labor intensive and very costly (for the submittors of course) CGC 9.9 pre-screening service, I've already got my steamroller on hold along with a huge gigantic size bottle of Mr. Clean to ensure that I'll have the flattest and cleanest books to ever cross a CGC grading light table.

Bat 1 notwithstanding, has the market heat cycled back to the early Batman 'Tec books as I thought a few of them did surprisingly strong: https://comics.ha.com/itm/golden-age-1938-1955-/superhero/detective-comics-31-dc-1939-cgc-apparent-vg-40-moderate-c-3-off-white-pages/a/7358-92026.s?ic16=ViewItem-BrowseTabs-Inventory-BuyNowFromOwner-ThisAuction-120115 With examples being $48K paid for the above Moderate Restored (C3) CGC 4.0 copy of 'Tec 31 and $33.6K for a detached split cover CGC 1.8 copy of 'Tec 38 below: https://comics.ha.com/itm/golden-age-1938-1955-/superhero/detective-comics-38-dc-1940-cgc-gd-18-off-white-to-white-pages/a/7358-92029.s?ic16=ViewItem-BrowseTabs-Auction-Archive-ThisAuction-120115 Definitely not as crazy as the $19.2K paid for the aforementioned 'Tec 47, but I thought the $45.6K paid for this Twilight copy of 'Tec 40 was a good result for the consignor, considering it's not that visually appealing for a CGC 6.5 graded copy: https://comics.ha.com/itm/golden-age-1938-1955-/superhero/detective-comics-40-twilight-pedigree-dc-1940-cgc-fn-65-cream-to-off-white-pages/a/7358-92030.s?ic16=ViewItem-BrowseTabs-Auction-Archive-ThisAuction-120115

So, are the two of you taking umbrage to what Barry stated and wondering what he was smoking whe he made this comment on Scoop: “All of the biggest books in the Platinum Session met our expectations – and, in many cases, exceeded them,” Heritage Vice President Barry Sandoval exclusively told Scoop. I assume both of you are thinking the Bat 1 sould have gone markedly higher than the $630K that it managed to fetched. I would tend to agree with you even though I think the CGC 8.0 Larson copy of Bat 1 that was laddered all the way up to $2M on Rally Road might be a misleading barometer to be gauging Bat 1 sales on.

No real surprise here as it’s really all about the supply sometimes, especially considering there’s almost a whopping 250 copies graded at this rather exalted (or maybe not so much) CGC 9.8 grade. Now, the CGC 9.8 graded copy of X-Men 94 seems to be holding up a bit better as it finished up at a relatively stronger $46,800. No doubt holding up better than the GSXM 1 since it has only a much lower 40 off copies in this exalted CGC 9.8 grade. 👍

Yep, even with the noted visual defects on the CGC 5.5 as pointed out by a few boardies here, that is still a rather shocking price imbalance between the two copies. Especially when we’ve been so conditioned here that it’s always about the CGC grade, until it’s not I guess.

I think it speaks much more to the quality or lack thereof with respect to their offfering for this particular Signature Auction in comparison to the much higher quality offerings which they had in their previous auctions during the past few years.

If you are banking on movies being the salvation of your specific comics, I certainly wouldn't hold my breath if I was a collector because haven't we all seen this scenario before and only good for the speculators and flippers who can timed the market perfectly. Especially since movie or TV related comic books tends to have only a short term temporary rocket-like spike which is then followed by the rocket ship falling back down to Earth. Haven't we already seen a FF movie with a Silver Surfer story line built in there about some 15 odd years ago?

Probably becasue all of the keys and early issues are still locked away in long held private collections and even the easy crazy crypto money that these newbies were throwing around still wasn't enticing enough to draw them out into the marketplace.

Don't you absolutely hate it when the cost to get a book graded and slabbed is infinite times more than it had cost you to buy it in the first place, and the reason why most of the longer time collectors still keeps them raw until it comes time to sell them. Then again, I guess it's not really such a bad thing since it's an indication you got yourself a steal of a deal compared to the current market prices, which you clearly did with all of your books by keeping them in such fantastic condition after all these long years.

So, are you saying the lucky winner who paid $264K for their copy of Marvel Spotlight 5 might just have to hold onto that book for a much longer time period than planned in order to avoid losing money on it?

Unlike today where prices on the Blackhawk comic books would have shot up like a rocket with all the related movie hype before fizzling after its release, ny bet is that the Blackhawk movie serial release back in 1952 didn't even move the needle at all on the Blackhawk comics back then.

Yes, looks like I had to open my search up to "All Auctions" in order to see the Promise books and not to their November Signature Auction which came up with "No Results Found." Looks like a total of only 5 Promise Collection books in this go round here including your 2 Bat books you listed plus these 3 here: https://comics.ha.com/itm/golden-age-1938-1955-/superhero/sun-girl-3-the-promise-collection-pedigree-timely-1948-cgc-vf-80-off-white-to-white-pages/a/7342-92069.s?ic4=ListView-ShortDescription-071515 https://comics.ha.com/itm/golden-age-1938-1955-/adventure/captain-easy-10-the-promise-collection-pedigree-standard-1947-cgc-vf-85-white-pages/a/7342-94059.s?ic4=ListView-ShortDescription-071515 https://comics.ha.com/itm/golden-age-1938-1955-/superhero/prize-comics-34-the-promise-collection-pedigree-prize-1943-cgc-vf-80-white-pages/a/7342-94148.s?ic4=ListView-ShortDescription-071515 Anybody here willing to place a bet that the Batman #37 will surpass the $87K that it somehow managed to fetch on its first go round back in '21?