Timed

On 4/15/2024 at 11:57 AM, Timmay said:

That is a color breaking crease.

Do you have scans of this before you sent it in?

No I don't, sadly. I used to scan every book but it got really time consuming so started to only scan the higher valued ones. But I did just message Mike to look into it further. I do know it was not there when I sent it in, and I use a 3rd party presser who hand delivers. So it definitely sucks!

https://www.cgccomics.com/certlookup/4411253001/

Context; the book was submitted with a 9.8 expectancy. There were no spine ticks or creases. The white line on the back on the red text was not there at submission, so am assuming it's the slab. But will double check once it's in hand...

What would you do if you submitted this book and got that grade? 

On 12/24/2023 at 12:32 AM, migmtl76 said:

CGC released a video just not the one we were hoping for... still nice of them

 

So this is what the radio silence has been for; the PR guys have been hard at work on this!

On 12/23/2023 at 8:11 AM, agamoto said:

 

• ***

 

 

 

I've highlighted pictures that likely show our man, zaneglor/briva3.

Has anyone looked into ASM 300 9.8 newsstands? I've noticed a bit more of those listed online this past year, and we do know that zaneglor/briva bought a 9.6 newsstand 300 from Grailz months ago.

On 12/23/2023 at 9:36 AM, VintageComics said:

I'm not a lawyer obviously, but if it was me I would be hanging onto the book for now. 

I would agree; no telling what briva3 will do with the book once he gets it back. And CGC may want it to examine. At the same time, eBay requires items be sent back for refunds. Tough situation.

On 12/23/2023 at 6:41 AM, Mdesimone said:

Asm 129

1097250011

 

I am going to be honest, this does not look like a 9.0. There are a multitude of ticks that I believe would bring it to 7 or 8. AND, it's been reholdered I believe...

This one may need to be looked at more.   

On 12/23/2023 at 1:35 AM, JC25427N said:

...I don't think it would have been possible to do this exact exploit before the the slab iteration post July 2016. 

Unless he did have inside help 

On 12/23/2023 at 1:42 AM, PassDaMike said:

I can’t believe I read all of this. 
@comics yes please.

Also hopefully it was not skipped, posted earlier by someone else, that the supposed scammer returned funds today:

 

 

Just to be clear, the scammer did not return funds, at least not yet. He "accepted" the return (maybe forced by eBay?), so now the buyer needs to send the book back to briva3. 

Lawyers, are these fraudulent slabs considered evidence - is it safe to return the books back to briva3? 

On 12/23/2023 at 12:32 AM, Silver Surfer said:

Imagine if this goes back 7-8 years, what a mess.

As mentioned before, zaneglor has stated they have 30 plus years in comics. Would not be surprised. 

On 12/22/2023 at 1:37 PM, comicwiz said:

Two different s/n's:

Green 7.0: 4115260001
Blue 7.5:  4115170002

They are both available through lookup, meaning someone had to input them into CGC's database on the very same day. This simply is not possible unless the same person who has access to populating the database also has access to the tooling to make the switch. Remember, the same book went from a green label to blue label.

He could have luckily mined a Blue 7.5 s/n, but the same day as the green label got graded?

At this point, we need to eliminate every possible scenario that this isn't an insider. I can't think of one.

On 12/22/2023 at 1:39 PM, sledgehammer said:

I should have been clearer. They were different submissions, not the same one.

No reason the same submitter would have sub #s so far apart, I believe?

Actually, I will say that there are only 9 submissions apart between both numbers. I know that some people submit same-issue books in separate submissions as to not get any grading bias. If the original submitter sent in 2 181's in separate subs but in the same box, it would make sense.

But this is only valid if the fraudster bought both the green and blue from the same guy.

On 12/22/2023 at 1:36 PM, sledgehammer said:

Different submissions, so that would be weird.

Agreed, edited my post to add that right as you answered.

On 12/22/2023 at 12:53 PM, comicwiz said:

Now look at the graded date on the blue 7.5:

It could be that the culprit bought two 181 that so happen to have been graded on the same day - one qualified one blue - and did the switcheroo by taking the qualified 181 into the blue 181 slab.

Unlikely because they were two separate submissions, but possible.

Something I can't figure out.

If CGC is not opening the inner wells for the swap books during reholders, HOW are the graders' notes matching precisely on these fraud ones? And if they are indeed opening the inner wells to verify... HOW would they not see the missing pages or MVS.

Inside man adjusting notes? 

So if I understand correctly, the same book was "graded" twice, in two separate submissions, on the exact same date?

On 12/22/2023 at 9:03 AM, Sigur Ros said:

People need to stop linking to his vids.

I thought against it, but wanted to give credit to him in this particular instance as I did not see the 266 direct to newsstand swap posted anywhere else.

On 12/22/2023 at 7:58 AM, sledgehammer said:

Can you explain what this was about? I can't find another reference to it.

In the new Auto Comics video here, he finds that the 266 newsstand 9.8 sold by briva3, was also sold before by someone else as a 9.8 direct. 

Need to catch up on the last few pages, but saw that it's been confirmed that direct edition books have been swapped into newsstands.

This isn't about sneakily acting like a newsstand is actually a MJ, or hiding a qualified book into a blue slab... it's now straight up taking direct edition 9.8 certs and reholdering newsstands into them. 

I want to believe there is no way a CGC employee is complicit, but... 

On 12/21/2023 at 6:55 PM, JC25427N said:

Yeah that checks out, a listing from Feb 2016 and his account was made in Feb 2016. What I'm more interested in is whether the listings prior to 2016 are the same dude, because that means there was another account he was selling under at the time.

Since the culprit has already stated he has over 30 years experience with comics, it's not hard to believe that he was selling under a different eBay before. And if he was indeed using a different eBay that got banned, it's not unlikely that he'd be willing to use multiple CGC accounts to skirt suspicion for all the reholders... 

On 12/21/2023 at 6:07 PM, agamoto said:

I take that back, the seller has ads going back to 2011

 

here is the first one

 

https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/batman-608-cgc-6-hush-2nd-print-142919266

He did tell the 9.9 Newsstand guy that he has over 30 years experience, along with his CGC connections.

On 12/21/2023 at 4:37 PM, Mikey C said:

He removed the green label 8.5 completely, put it into a blue label 8.5's existing case and sent that in for a reholder. He's not replacing anything. That blue label 8.5 is now missing page 10. Then he still has the original, complete 8.5 raw to send in to get graded fresh.

You are right, I ended up confusing myself on this one. Oops.

On 12/21/2023 at 4:15 PM, Christophe9999 said:

Beyond a shadow of a doubt these are the same books. I upped the contrast on the green label to better see.

 

 

...

On 12/21/2023 at 4:02 PM, drotto said:

Really glad my H181 was bought from a local shop raw, and checked for the stamp. I later had it stabbed.  I can say at least mine is 100% accurate.

Sorry drotto, while I would love to believe you, the only way to prove that it has the MVS now seems to be cracking it open. Since CGC slabs have lost their credibility.