akanni23

I will ask this question if it is so much about the read how are we letting so many good books die? There are a ton of fantastic stories that are not getting the acclaim they deserve...Why? Because we are unable to flip them. For example one of the best books I have read this year is Ragemoor it is just fantastic and you can buy it for pennies on the dollar. Where is the love of reading on this book? What about a good funny book like Double Jumpers where is the love on that book? How about Ramiel the Wrath of God no one is tearing down doors for this book. But, it is a fantastic read, just fantastic... I have it... I have Anders Nilsen, I have Chester I have all kinds of books I do not talk about. Perhaps people should try to understand why we collect and why we sometimes flip books. I need Walking Dead, Chew, JLA, Revival, I need these book to flip so I can buy books like: northlanders, Conan, A Fine and Private Place, Rachel Rising and Scam just to name a few. I wish you could see my order history what I buy each month... it is just like music. It is not what you blast around friends or at party it is what you listen to when you are alone and no one knows or cares.

Which walking dead are you talking about? 1. The early walking dead, 2. The TV series Walking dead, 3. The Walking Dead before Rick lost his hand? This series has had a lot of different twists and it is not the same book it was during early issues. Now, if you want to catch up on the story just go online and read the issues, anyone can do that ... at anytime. There are a lot of Novels about zombies out there... I enjoyed WWZ, if I want a novel I can buy a novel or audio books. I buy comics for the art work first...Walking Dead is just a single Title in my collection... nothing more it is not my favorite or even in my top 50 books... I have issues the show came out and they started getting hot so... I have interest but it is by no means one of my top books it is a good book.

I think the variants are a very big deal because the only place you can buy a lot of them are on Ebay for 5 or 6 hundred bucks. So, who do you think are getting firs dibs at these new variants? If Image was going to put out so many variants they should have all been placed at the same time so everyone could plan to get one. You buy 200 regular issues to get 1 variant at cover price ant that is $700 and your variant sells on Ebay for 188.00 your regular editions sell for 2.00 each and you have made a total of 588.00 when you paid out 700. On the other had these other variants pop out of nowhere and sell for 400.00 each and 3 or 4 people on Ebay are selling them, that is non sense. Image always do this every convention they have more and more variants and it dilutes the real issues. Now, if those secret variants had not come out the 200 book retail incentive would have been selling for 500 to 600.00 but the new variants have hurt the old ones. There is nothing to do but try and flip this book because to be honest the story sucked. There are so many thought provoking books out there right now that are being overlook over a book like this... this entire event is for flipping. See if you sell comics you probably sold 200 issues of WD100 very easy, you then get a variant and you sell it for 188.00 you are smiling and happy. The convention people and insiders get the other variants and sell them for 400 or 500 they are happy but the collector gets nothing. But, if all the variants are put out at the same time the collector has a much better chance of getting the books he or she wants. It looks like Image is reverting to the Image of old... For anyone who does not remember, Image was huuuuge back in the day and then they faded due to gimmicks like this, and it looks like it may be happening again. That is why I am a big fan of Brian K. Vaughan, I have never know any of his books to have a variant ... one and done... on Y, the last man, Saga, or any of his titles, he even measures his conventions. I know sometimes these tactics seem rigid but in the end they do protect value to the real collector. In my opinion The Walking Dead Weekly was also a variant gimmick.

No, I dont "got it". Replacing rusty staples is restoration because you are repairing the book. But, if you sprayed the book while it was in mint condition it would allow the book to avoid scrapes, dents and scratches so it could hold more of its value. There are sprays that will not make you book gloss but will put a fine layer of protection on your cover so if repeals more dirt and scratches. I do not understand why it is wrong to protect the value of a book. Oh, wait a minute I do know... if high volumes of books were protected that would mean more mint grade and too many mint grades is not good right?

I dis agree with you, CGC allows signing of a book that is adding a composition but it also adds value. A spray is a protactant and not really a part of the book but it also adds value. In order to be labeled restoration you have to restore it to something. IMO a spray is not restoring the book. So, CGC is ok with an artist signing the book but it is not ok to protect your book, because signing brings more value to the book.

I was reading on the GCG site and they say you can not spray your books with protectants. How is this fair. If I buy a new book and spray, the spray will help it avoid smudges on the spine and help to advoid scratches. What is wrong with this? It is just like polishing your car, not only does it make it look better but it also protects. I thought restrotation could only take place after a book is damaged. How is protection restoration?

Ok, maybe I took this rant too far, but I was upset and wanted to bring attention to my pain. I did not mean to offend anyoney, you guys did not grade the books and I do not mean to blame you. All joking aside my real questions will have to be answered by the people involved with the process. I apologize if I offended anyone or wasted your time. But, thanks for the comments and input I do feel better now. I hope you all have a good weekend. I will now end this rant with a thank you for all your comments.

Thanks for the comments, But, I haver really heard enough, yes he could have made mistakes... but those mistakes could have been went either way his went down. Let me make this clear a lower grade on one or two is completely acceptable but missing 4 out of 7 is not. Now, I am not going to send in hundreds of books to see if he can raise that percentage. The very book he said was a 9.6 came back a 9.8 so if you count that one he really missed 5 out of 7. But, I did not count that one because it worked in my favor. It would take quite a bit of difference for a book to fall from 9.8 to 9.4 we went through a lot of books to pick this one out and many got rejected. So, I would like to thank you for your comments, to prove a point I am tempted to pop them out their cases and resubmit them to see if they come back higher or lower. But, i am waiting on his take on all of this, but either way 43% is not accurate enough for me and as I have said many times already: I have read enough horror stories about the CGC. So, the best think I can say is go to work and be effective 43% of the time and see how long you last. We learned this the hard way in the 1990's with image comics, quality stands the test of time gimmicks do not. A truly rare book will stand the test of time no matter if CGC grades it or not. I am not going to put my faith in a company who disagrees with one of the very people they support on their website. (Now thats a big hint)

Thanks for the advice Resurrection, But, lets be honest. What are we reallying doing here? Am I supposed to buy hundreds of copies of a book to get a certain grade? Or is better for me to buy good books with good art that I like and worry about grading second? I think that is the difference with me and many on here, I have never bought a book for a grade. I buy books because I am looking for the next Watchmen or Sandman not looking for a grade. The time I take to look at books through a magnifying glass I could be out finding the next Strikeforce or Alien Legion. I believe letting experts do their jobs and paying them for that value. Now if I send in 7 books graded by and expert if 4 comes back below grading then something is wrong. Either my grader is off or CGC is off. This really has very little to do with me, I am not going to spend time detailing books. I know what I believe is a good book and what could be a near mint book a 9.4 is a near mint book but my grader said it should be a 9.8. In my opinion anything between a 9.2 and 9.8 should get about the same respect but that is not how this stuff works. If 9.2 thru 9.8 merited about the same price and value it would do away with this CGC manipulation strangle hold. A Watchmen #1 at 9.8 goes for over $300 but a 9.4 is not worth the price of grading.Yet the both are near mint, I agree that Watchmen #1 is worth over 300 but I believe a 9.2 should be worth about $200 not 14.95. I am just playing the game like everyone else, except I am cutting back on the learning curve. I want my children to have the best batch possible and that is 9.8. I have 8 of the 12 but I have a 9.4 #1 and 4. I see no need to send any more books to CGC when there is so many horror stories of mis grades. With consistancy there is only argument and when the truth finally comes out all those CGC graded books will be suspect and not worth the paper they are labeled with. For the sake of this industry CGC has to get more consistant because this Wild Wild West environment will not last.

Thanks for the comments, I know that people may see things a little different but a solid est. of 9.8 downgraded to 9.4 not once but twice in the same set is not good. I paid an expert to help me because I am not a comic book grader. As far a learning, do you think I can learn from this guy when he is 43% accurate. Let me put it this way if grading is not a science then it would be a good idea to work to make it more like one. Because it sure is not art, you get hundreds of books in front of you and you should be consistant in your grading and pass that consistantcy on to the people who work under you. If you go to your job and you perform at 43% what would happen. Try going to work and being on time 43% of the time or getting your work done at a 43% rate. How many Watchmen #1 are out there graded at 9.8 or better by CGC? Well, my books came from my collection and they had never been in the system before. Maybe my with a 9.8 on my book it would have been too much for the good old CGC. I send in a Watchmen #1,4,8,3,11,12 est. at 9.8 and a #10 at 9.6. The 1,4,8,3 come back lower than expected and the 10, comes back higher. I am also tired of the shipping excuse, people send things way more fragile than comics and they make it just fine. I believe and expert in the industry knows how to ship a box.

There is no 9.6+ that would be a 9.8, there is also no 9.6- that would be 9.4. I have never met anyone with a 100% accuracy rate for finding 9.8's (except I am 5 for 5 at the moment, but expect that to change.) so your un-named expert grader isnt flying here. Thanks for you comments, I know there is not 9.6+ but it is just used as an estimate of what to expect. A 9.6+ just means there is a 25% chance of it being a 9.8 but most likey it is a 9.6. That rating covers the grader and everyone knows what to expect. If it comes back a 9.8 great but if it comes back a 9.6 it was expected. It is people like you who have chased the young away from the comic book stores and give to the misconception that all comic book people are like the guy on The Simpsons. Well, I have a family a good job and I am respected at many things... but I am not a comic book grader. I am just stating the fact that there are so many problems with grading because of people like you think they know what the experts know. Better standards and a level playing field helps everyone. It details a clearer plan of what is mint, near mint ect. If the CGC continue to do things in the same way they are going to hurt the industry overall. They have to earn the people's trust and the only way to do that is by being consistant. An expert grader who graded my books missed badly on 4 books and he just "missed something" I do not think so. If it was one or maybe 2 I would say maybe but 4 out of 7 no way.

Thanks mschmidt, But, no thanks I am not here to conform to what you think a comic book person should be. I love the Watchmen and I read them for the first time at the age of 10. I have several copies of each issue and every girl, I ever dated including my wife was asked to read the Watchmen and tell me what they thought about it. I asked them to read it because it was that important to me... to have them read IMHO one of the greatest stories of all time. I am not asking for your blessings because no matter what you say... the book will remain a 9.4. The problem with all this now is everyone is an expert, well I do not want to be an expert. I just want better standards and rules so everything is not so open to "feelings" and "interpretation" I have bought comics not collected them for a long time and I feel standards would help us all. I do not want a repeat of the 90's, I want my children to enjoy comics the way I did... and that is why I wanted the Watchmen collection. So, they could witness the mecca of comic books. So, if you do not agree with me that is fine but I am not revealing any sources and anyone's name. I have heard enough horror stories on here about CGC and their methods and now I have my own. I do not want to be an expert, you can have that title. Why don't you reveal some of the name of the graders who are undergrading these book at teh CGC?

Jay lets be honest what is the point? If experts can not agree on the basic condition of a book what good will it do to get an opinion on it? So, what are we to do if we do not like the grade? Pay again and again until they get it right? No, I will not. I do not send book in "hope" of getting a grade. I have them graded by one of the best in the industry. If my grader says a book is a 9.8 and CGC says it is a 9.4 and both are experts there is a problem there. We do need a way to grade comic books and protect investments. But, I see CGC is not the way to go. After I got my books back it makes me want to go out and buy up all the Watchmen #1 at 9.4 and 9.6 because I know there are tons of them out there that got down graded just like mine did that should be 9.8's. Lord forbid there be too man 9.8's of a certain comic book.

I am sorry to rant. I planned to believe it or not get them in a large frame with plastic covering for my childeren. Because I love the Watchmen so much. I wanted them to have the much ado 9.8 collection. I have 8 of the 12 in 9.8 but without number 1, 4, and 8 I am in a bad place. Those 3 alone will run about $1000 on ebay. I really needed those, now I will have to give up on it but I guess the lesson is worth more than the money. I am going to tell my kids to buy comics for the reason I did for the story and the art and forget about all this certified . I gave it a chance and I see that the extent of this goes far beyond what I want to be a part of. I would not have ever started this quest if I had not really thought I had a 9.8 number one.

I thought about that but out of 7 ...4 missed grades but the other 3 made grade and one went from a 9.6+ to a 9.8. I will just put it like this the 3 that came back at 9.8 are not worth half of what the number 1 and number 4 are. I believe and this is just IMHO that undergrading is going on on the rare Watchmen books. But, since I can not prove anything and everyone wants to blame the grader or shipping I will just keep my books safe at home and maybe one day, the powers that be will decide to get serious about grading and establish a drop off and pick up point so there will be no excuses. As I have said before I have complete faith in my grader. But, I have heard enough horror stories about CGC. Out of 7 books 4 are way off? I do not buy that at all not with one coming back higher than expected. I believe rare issues are being graded harsher or something is wrong. There has to be away to prove that a book you send in is the book you receive back. It tells a lot about CGC that they have not found a solution for this yet. Or maybe they are not concerned about it.