bagofleas

Give and take and victory! One of my resolutions for the new year was to work on consolidating and streamlining my CGC collection. By selling off issues that are not really key issues or part of any of my sets that I strive to complete, I figure I can make my collection more focused and as a side result, raise my total registry points and points per comic average as well. For the last four weeks, I have removed from my registry a number of issues and even entire set categories and begun selling the issues off. I have reduced my number of pages of sets down from three to two. And the sells of my issues so far have allowed me to purchase comics that are part of sets I am wishing to complete. I have been acquiring a number of graded issues this month. I have won Indiana Jones issues, Dazzler issues, a Daredevil #181, a couple of New Mutants issues, and even a Groo #18, all paid for with sales from the issues I removed. I have also won a total of 28 copies of Caspers Ghostland! While I have a lot of nostalgia associated with Marvel and DC comics, I also have a great love of Silver and Bronze Age Harveys. These were my first foray of any kind into comics. I was a little kid who did not know any better. I just liked the characters of Richie Rich, Wendy, Casper and the others. I had some actual comics, but most of what I had were digest issues. Now that I am big into CGC comics, I have slowly been acquiring Harveys of characters I remember whenever I can get them for decent prices. Caspers Ghostland is the main Casper set I have focused on. These Silver/Bronze Age Harveys have really good registry point (RP) values, so by consolidating my collection and getting higher RP comics, I am slowly increasing my average RP per comic ratio, which now sits at 123 per comic! Acquiring 28 more copies from this set has boosted both this set for me and my overall registry points. I am now finally over the 100,000 RP Mark!!!! I have been collecting CGC comics for over six years now and have just now passed this mark. At one point I was ranked 145 on the overall registry ranking, but it has become harder and harder to keep up with many of you other collectors who, like me, have not stopped buying and submitting. I currently sit at 168 on the overall ranking, and it has been a struggle to stay in that area! But the biggest reason for me being able to keep up happened when I started to acquire older Harvey issues. I now have 60 of the 99 issues from the Ghostland set! I never thought I would get this close, this fast to a whole set of them! I may still be 39 issues away, but that is amazing considering that I have only been collecting them for two years now. Especially since I will not purchase one that is less than 9.6 OW/W. The only one that does not meet this requirement is my #10 which has OW pages, and the only reason for me getting it was because I got it so cheap! Anyway, go check out this neat little Harvey set of mine. I am slowly working on putting scanned pages from actual raw copies of the issues into the second picture spots. I only have a few done right now, but I will be picking up more low grade reader copies to continue adding these pics. For the moment, my XMen set still has slightly more total registry points, but it will not be long before my Ghostland set surpasses it for the single largest RP set in my collection. What is most interesting about my reaching 100,000 RP is that I ultimately had to sell off issues to purchase ones that would put me over the top. Funny, huh? To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

My oh my! Ok, I have payed close attention to prices on graded comics. Lately, like in the last two months, I have seen a definite uptake in the prices 80s issues are selling for. I am not completely sure why this is. In some cases, I can only say its because of the Copper Age 1st appearances issues, which have skyrocketed in selling price lately. I saw a Captain America #354 from 1989 in 9.8 sell for $161!! I can only assume that this was because the issue was the 1st appearance of US Agent. But $161? Sheesh! Other Cap issues with 1st appearances also sold for silly prices. #253 9.8 - $105 #282 SS 9.8 - $154 #323 SS 9.8 - $116 Secret Wars #8 9.8 - $160!!!! Longshot #1 9.8 - $155!!!! MGN #4 9.8 - $536!!!!! These are all Copper Age 1st appearance issues, but it still seems ridiculous to me. I got my 9.8 copy of Secret Wars 8 for $70. Two copies of MGN #4 for $200 and $250. I got my MGN Avengers Death Trap issue for $26 just last year, but another 9.8 copy just sold for $110. I have got a total of $95 in my MGN ASM parallel Lives with a sig from Saviuk (see pic below), but a universal 9.8 copy just sold for $164! I do not know if I have just been lucky, or just managed to catch the market right before it went nutty! Has anyone else been noticing big time upward prices on Copper Age issues lately? To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

What a rush!! I have written in past journals about the risk and rewards that can come from cracking graded comics for signature purposes. If they fall in grade you have to find another copy in the higher grade to either try again or simply live with it as is. As referred to in a recent journal by Kaholo1256, we as CGC collectors have been conditioned to strive for 9.8s or better. There is nothing wrong with that. It is just the way it is. This means however, that if a cracked issue falls in grade, we bemoan its failure to hold up during intermediate handling while acquiring the signatures we want from the creators we love. But the absolute joy and thrill of having an issue retain the 9.8 while improving its status on the CGC registry and comic collecting world in general is something every collector should experience. It is a thrill like no other and once you do it the first time, you will become just as addicted to getting sigs as you were to simply acquiring or submitting CGC comics in the first place. I have caught this bug. I have caught it pretty bad! I have cracked and resubmitted over 150 comics myself in the last year! I have had a few failures recently. I have had some raw issues that rose to grades I did not expect, as well. And when it comes to the Baltimore Comic Con last year, I have acquired a boatload of OAKS by having over 80 comics signed and graded or re-graded! While almost all of my invoices are back in my hands, I still have two that are in process. Until now that is. My last journal was a teaser about one of these two invoices. This journal features the final results of that invoice, since I now have the issues back in my hands! And these are some FABULOUS Bronze Age beauties! So without further ado, here they are... Spectacular Spider-Man #1 CGC SS 9.6 WP signed by Sal Buscema - I purchased this copy over six years ago in raw form online through Mile High comics, sight unseen. I held onto it with no real plans for it until I found out about Sal attending Baltimore! He never does shows! It is excruciatingly difficult if not impossible to get his sig on a CGC comic, so I could not pass up on a chance to get him on this Bronze Key. I thought it would get a 9.2 or 9.4 before a pressing. I did not know how much a pressing would help it. I am surprised and ecstatic for the 9.6! ROM #1 CGC SS 9.8 WP signed by Sal Buscema and Joe Rubinstein - I bought this years ago already graded in 9.8 for $140. I felt that a chance for two sigs on it was worth the risk of cracking it, so I did. It is not on the label, but Joe Rubinstein inked the cover, which was penciled by Frank Miller. I wish Rubinstein had not signed right along the darkest part of Roms ankles, but its ok. Having 2 sigs on this is fantastic to me! Star Wars #16 CGC SS 9.8 WP signed by Walt Simonson - this issue is significant in that it is the first work by Walt for this series. I asked him about it and he said it was true. It is now the earliest Star Wars issue I have signed. I will be looking to get most of the first issues signed by Chaykin and Palmer at Supercon in July. Jonah Hex #2 CGC SS 9.8 WP signed by Jose Luis Garcia Lopez - This was a big risk for me. I purchased this copy on Comiclink years ago for $150. It is currently one of only five 9.8 copies! So for me to risk it with a cracking, signing and regrading was a risky proposition. But in this case, the reward was worth it, because it is now the only SS 9.8 in the world! OAK CITY! Jonah Hex #1 - Since I knew I would taking my #2 copy to Baltimore for Garcia Lopez to sign, I decided to keep an eye open to finally acquire a 9.8 copy of #1. I had seen a few sell over the years for $400 or more and just never went after them. Three weeks before the show, I bought this copy for $330. Not bad at all. With 30 copies in 9.8 and none higher, this was the single biggest risk of the show for me. Not all of the 9.8s have White Pages either. As you can see by the pic below, I am absolutely ecstatic about the results!!! Apparently I am the only collector so far with the guts to crack his 9.8 of JH #1 for a sig. Or maybe I am just nuts? It is now also the only SS 9.8! This means that I have JH #1, #2 and #92, each the only SS 9.8s!!! I am thrilled with the results of this invoice. I was actually trembling with excitement as I pulled them out of the box one by one. I now have just one invoice left at CGC, and it has three Bronze Age beauties on it that I bought raw from Mile High years ago as well. As soon as I get those in hand I will post a journal on them. I will post pics of the other four issues on this invoice in the replies. But check the biggest beauty of the show for me right below!! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Do you know? I just purchased a copy of The Hulk! Magazine #13 on ebay yesterday in NM condition(see pic below). It should get at least a 9.4 from my estimation of the pic, hopefully higher. I purchased this issue for a number of reasons: One - I have never owned one before now. Two - It is a really neat Hilk cover. Three - I love 70s magazine size comics. Four - ? While the first three are all good enough for me to want a copy to submit to CGC, it is the fourth one that is the biggest reason for my purchase of this particular issue. Can you guess what the real significance of this issue is? Most people do not know. CGC does not even include it on the label to my knowledge. I will point it out to them and write it in on the submission form as a comment for them to put in the notes on the label when I submit it. Ronnylama and Tnerb are exempt from guesses due to the fact that I have already discussed it with them, so they already know the answer. Huh? Clues, you say? You want clues? Already? Sheesh! ... Ok. I will tell you that it is not the first purple pants on Hulk, as suggested jokingly by Tnerb. He is a funny guy! It is also not the first gratuitous butt shot of Hulk on a cover, as suggested by me. I am a funny guy, too. While these are said in an obviously joking manner, I will give you one big hint. Another reason I purchased this issue is because I can get it signed at both Megacon and Supercon this year. Ok, that is all you are getting from me! Any guesses, everyone? To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Warning, this is a teaser journal. I have just two invoices left now at CGC from last years cons and send offs! One has five issues and one has three. Some are raw purchases from Mile High. Some are crackings and re-gradings. The invoice with five issues on it went Shipped/Safe on Friday! Normally I get my shipments from CGC the very next day after shipment. It is nice to live so close to them! But being shipped on Friday means I have to wait until Monday to actually get them in my hands. Since I have to wait to get them, I will wait to reveal the final grades until I do. I know, BOOOOOO, right? Well, suffice it to say that I am ecstatic about the results! Meanwhile, on a completely non CGC related note, I just got through putting together a 1500 piece Springbok puzzle tonight. This is one of the hardest puzzles I have ever done. I love Springboks for their highly unusual piece shapes and thickness of the pieces. You can actually pick up and hold a finished Springbok without it falling to pieces on you. This one is huge now that it is finished! Take a gander at the pic below and you will see why it took me a full week of working on it on and off to finally finish it. Anyway, I will post a journal of the issues on Monday. Stay tuned!! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Only specific ones, actually. Normally, I would not collect any of the Marvel/Star Comics issues in graded form. But I AM wanting to put together a set of all of the Marvel issues from November of 1986 with the 25th Anniversary Border Covers! I requested the set to be created for these a while back and it is currently still waiting in line to be done by Gemma and Nicole. I think this is a neat idea, since they all have the same border, were released at the same time, and put a nice variety of issues together all in one set. The problem is that some of these are from the Star Comics line from Marvel, and those dont get submitted very often. Heathcliff, Ewoks and even Muppet Babies are some of the issues to be acquired for this set, to exist right along with XMen, Thor, Avengers, XFactor, Daredevil and many others. These Star issues will undoubtably be the tougher ones to get for this set. So I am very pleased to have just acquired one of them! I never thought I would be so happy to own a 9.8 Star Comic! It is Masters Of The Universe #4! This series is actually the only Star series I have ever considered collecting in the past. While I won't get any of the others from this series, this is one step closer for me to complete this soon to be created set. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

The sun is shining... never mind, its just Sunspot! I have purchased raw comics off of Ebay on occasion. I have learned that most sellers will either embellish the condition of the issues or simply dont know what they are talking about. Some know EXACTLY what they are doing and just dont care. I have even seen sellers who "guarantee" their grades for 14 days or so, knowing full well that CGC doesnt grade that fast. You have to be very discerning and very careful and selective about buying raw in any case, but especially when doing so on Ebay. Without actually holding the comics in your hands and examining them closely, you cant be sure of the condition. This is even more so now with some dealers beginning to ask CGC style prices for high grade raw issues. Anyway, among the raw purchases I have made, not any have really panned out to be what they were represented as. ... until now. I have wanted to put together a set of all 8 issues of the Fallen Angels mini series. Being a big fan of the New Mutants, this series is one I have desired in CGC graded condition for some time, since it features Sunspot, Boom Boom and Warlock. But they just are rarely if ever submitted for grading. This means I had to find them in top notch raw form and submit them myself. After searching the web for what seemed like months, I finally happened upon a seller on Ebay with all 8 copies in what was described as NM/M condition. I looked at all of the other items they had and most were listed with grades that seemed to adhere to Overstreet standards. Everything from fair up to NM. This was the only auction they had with NM/M as the condition, which as we CGC Collectors know, equates to 9.8. I decided to risk it and fork over the $25 for the lot. I figured if just two or three were worthy of grading, it would be worth it. So I bought them and waited for them to show up. A few days later, they arrived and I proceeded to very closely look them over with my CGC level eyeballs. I was astonished! They all had a real shot at 9.8! I wasnt completely sure about #3, but otherwise I was absolutely pleased! Since Val Mayerik was appearing at SDCC, I sent #4 through DWC for Val to sign. I then took #1,2,3,and 7 with me to Supercon to just submit for Universal labels. The only reason I didnt take 5,6 and 8 with me was because I had already determined that I would be going to Baltimore and Joe Staton and Mike Mignola could sign them. Now I wish I had waited on the four universal submissions because Tom Palmer will be at this years Supercon and can sign them all. I may consider cracking them for this purpose, but we will see. Anyway, they have all returned from their varying locations and the final results are in! #3 got 9.6, which didnt completely surprise me. #4 got SS 9.6, signed by Val, which was a little disappointing, but I can live with it. But the rest all achieved 9.8, including the ones signed by Staton and Mignola!!!!! Absolutely awesome! This raw Ebay purchase turned out to be pretty much all it was made out to be! I am more than pleased with the purchase and final results. This is hands down the best blind raw purchase for grading that I have made! Doing this also made me the #1 rank in the set as well, which is always nice. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

... and stunned!!! When I decided to start collecting CGC 9.8 copies of Dazzler four or so years ago, Hitman1099 was the top rank of the set. Heck, he was the top rank in a boatload of sets!! Two years later, I finally managed to pass Hitman1099 for the top spot in the Dazzler set. I can only surmise that this caused him to go ahead and try to sell off his issues to move on to other collecting interests, because it was not long after when he put all of his 9.8 Dazzlers up for sale on Ebay, including the only 9.8 copy of #42!!! I could not believe it and did not hesitate to snap it right up along with a bunch of the other copies that I did not have yet! This one purchase spree launched me farther into first place and I have not looked back since. As I write this journal, my 9.8 copy of Dazzler #42 is STILL the only 9.8 copy! The fact that it is the last issue with a low print run and a jet black background on the cover is probably to blame for this. Up until this past week, I was down to the last nine issues to complete my set. This past week I was astounded to find out that HA had not one, but THREE of the issues I needed going off this past Sunday!! And ironically, the one issue I was sure would be the last one I would ever get in 9.8 was one of them! If #42 is hard because of its partially jet black cover, then #21 would be nearly impossible!! It has a photo cover of a model named June MacDonald. She is dressed up as Dazzler and standing in pitch blackness with her hands held up and two bright lights shining out from behind her hands (see below). This cover has a completely jet black background all the way around the cover edges! Talk about difficult! I figured I would be the luckiest guy alive to ever see a copy in 9.8 for sale or auction anywhere. I fell out of my chair when I saw it! Then, after pulling myself back up into the chair, I realized that there were two other copies I also needed going off on the same day! After pulling myself back into my chair a second time, I vowed to get them at all cost. Well, maybe not ALL cost, but I would try my best. They did cost more than I planned on, but I could not be happier!! I am now down to needing only six issues to complete my set!! On top of all this, I have begun to get my copies signed! My #1 is signed by Tom DeFalco and Louise Simonson! My #2-6 are all signed by Tom DeFalco and 19 signed by Bob Wiacek and 34 and 36 signed by Geof Isherwood! I will taking some copies with me to Megacon for Bill Sienkiewicz and some to Supercon for Danny Fingeroth and Tom DeFalco to sign later this year. This should help cement my first place ranking even if someone were to come along and also manage to collect them all. In fact, HarrisonJohn is currently in the number two spot and apparently has designs to ultimately collect them all in 9.8 as well. I wish him all the best in his endeavor. I know from personal experience that this is a hard goal to accomplish. I have been at it for over four years and have not finished yet! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Acquiring the Taskmaster! Earlier this year, while Tnerb and I were at the Baltimore Comic Con, we had just finished off getting everything signed that we had brought to the show. In the closing hours, we traveled up and down the aisles looking for elusive goodies to line our collections with, whether that be actual comics or TPBs or figures or whatever struck our fancy. As we were perusing through one particular dealer there, I was looking over TPBs on his shelves when Tnerb called me around to the other side. In his hands was a copy of Avengers #196. Ronnylama had one of these with his bunch of comics that I got signed for him at Supercon just a month or so earlier and I decided that at some point I would try to acquire a copy for my Copper Age 1st Appearances set. As I came into view of what Tnerb was looking at, my interest perked up. He asked me what I thought about it condition-wise, so I gave it the old bagofleas eyeballing and told him that I felt it was a 9.6 for sure, but wasnt totally sure if a pressing would up it enough to a 9.8 or not. He agreed with me but ultimately decided not to purchase it. I decided to take a chance and give it a shot, so I paid the $20 that the dealer was asking for it. Since George Perez and Joe Rubinstein were present at the show, I figured I would try to get their sigs on it. Problem is, Perez was only signing items if you had purchased tickets earlier at the show. I had not done so because he was not one of the creators I had originally planned on getting any signings from, so I wasnt able to get him on it. But Rubinstein was under no such limitations. So with a cheerful heart, I acquired his sig in the presence of a CGC witness and submitted it for pressing and grading. Astonishingly, it achieved the vaunted 9.8 grade with WP and the gorgeous Yellow Label that looks really good with it (see below). This is the first time for an older comic I bought at a show to turn right around and get a 9.8! This issue really puzzles me. I can see the fact that it is the 1st appearance of the Taskmaster, but I dont understand the degree to which collectors seem to ascend this particular issue to. It does not rate very high on the registry-point-front at only 50 points in 9.8 (55 in SS 9.8), but it always sells for high prices! An unsigned 9.8 WP Universal Label copy just sold on HA last week for $283! I have exactly $55 total invested in this copy, so thats a pretty fantastic deal!! Ironically, this makes for an RP/AP of x1, since the money I have in it equals its registry point value. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

What the heck? I find all of the hard ones before the most plentiful one? I bought Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.EL.D. #2 off of WorldWide Comics a couple of years ago, mainly because of the Sienkiewicz cover. Also because it is the lowest print run of the mini series. Since #3 was also available on WW at the time, I went ahead and bought it as well. I figured I could just keep an eye out for the rest. They shouldn't cost too much since it's not a fanatically sought after series by any stretch of the imagination. But that also means that not many get submitted for grading either. Since my WW purchase two years ago, I haven't seen a single CGC 9.8 copy of any of the other four issues... until this weekend. #4, #5 and #6 ALL showed up on HA for last weeks auction! I, of course, went after them like the moth to the flame! And thankfully, got all three of them for a very low price! Awesome! One of the neat things about this series is that the writer, the penciler and the inker stayed the same throughout the series. But five of the covers were all done by different artists. Bill Sienkiewicz, Joe Jusko, Kevin Nowlan and Tom Palmer all lent their talents to these covers, as well as the iconic Jim Steranko, who did two of the covers. The unusual thing about this set of mine is that when it comes to CGC comics, #1 is usually the most plentiful graded copy. But for some reason, I simply haven't been able to find a 9.8 copy of #1 yet. So now I have the whole set EXCEPT for #1, which is highly unusual for this set. Very odd. Anyway, I was very happy with the pickup, and if someone out there has a 9.8 of number one they wouldn't mind parting with, let me know. By acquiring these last three issues, I have now jumped into the #1 rank on the set! I will probably take #2 to Megacon for Sienkiewicz to sign in March and #6 to Supercon for Palmer to sign in July. I mean heck, why not, right? Below is the cover of #5. It kind of reminds me of the movie "Skyline" where the aliens were sucking up people into their ships. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

NYCC issues are In hand! The ten issues that Tnerb did for me at the NYCC are now back in my hands. My last journal has the full listing of everything I currently have grades on from both Baltimore and NYCC. These ten did a number of things both FOR me and TO me. 1. Five of them were New Mutants issues that were signed and retained 9.8s, thereby adding 15 more points to my NM set. These were #19,20,24,36 and 74. 2. One was my New Mutants Annual #1 which, just as TNerbs copy did, fell to 9.6, which is highly unfortunate, since both of our copies were signed by all three major creators of the book. 3. One was my Dazzler #19 for Bob Wiacek to sign. I have just started to get these signed, so this is among the first from the set to be graced with creators scrawlings. 4. Three are from my Uncanny XMen issues. These three issues helped three different ways. They improved my score on my XMen set. One will be an improvement on the Marvel 25th Anniversary Border Cover set once its created. All three being signed bumped me back to the #1 ranking on my Mutant Massacre set!!! I have been slowly getting my Mutant Massacre issues signed one by one in order to both regain and eventually cement my first place ranking for the set. I have now achieved enough to put me back there! This is even with my Daredevil #238 only being a 9.6! Plus, it is about to be replaced with a SS 9.6 copy for 11 more points! The only issues for the set that I dont have signed yet are XMen #212 and #213. I will be getting 212 signed in July and I will look for a sig opportunity for the 213 at a later time. Below is a pic of my Uncanny X-Men #210. In July, I may take it with me to the Florida Supercon and have John Romita Jr. and Dan Green added to it! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Baltimore and NYCC submissions are back! Almost all of my comics from the Baltimore Comic Con are now back in my hands!! The ten issues Tnerb did for me at NYCC are graded now as well!! I am still waiting on 10 issues that were economy tier, but otherwise everything is done and graded! I had to send one box back to CGC for a ridiculous mistake to be corrected. So I don't have those or the NYCC issues in hand yet, but I DO have the grades. Most of these were crackings, but some were raw issues given to me by Ronnylama or Tnerb or part of my original collection. This is the first time that cracking and signing and regrading resulted in some grade drops for me. Some of my New Mutants did this. I have now repurchased 9.8 copies of each of the copies that did this except for two. There were also two Star Wars issues that dropped a grade as well. But I am thrilled with all of the rest!! Below is the extensive list of everything I have grades on now! Remember that every single one of these are SS copies now. The signers are listed for each issue as well. Amazing Spider-Man #300 - 9.6 WP Tom DeFalco & Bob McLeod Avengers #196 - 9.8 WP Joe Rubinstein Daredevil #238 - 9.6 WP Sal Buscema Dazzler #1 - 9.8 WP Tom DeFalco & Louise Simonson Dazzler #2 - 9.8 WP Tom DeFalco & Louise Simonson Dazzler #3 - 9.8 WP Tom DeFalco & Louise Simonson Dazzler #4 - 9.8 WP Tom DeFalco Dazzler #5 - 9.8 WP Tom DeFalco Dazzler #6 - 9.8 WP Tom DeFalco Dazzler #19 - 9.8 WP Bob Wiacek Fallen Angels #5 - 9.8 WP Joe Staton Fallen Angels #6 - 9.8 WP Joe Staton &Mike Mignola Fallen Angels #8 - 9.8 WP Joe Staton GIJoe ARAH #1 - 9.8 WP Bob McLeod & Herb Trimpe Marvel Fanfare #50 - 9.8 WP Joe Staton and Joe Rubinstein Marvel Fanfare #60 - 9.8 WP Walt Simonson Marvel Graphic Novel #3 - 9.4 WP Jim Starlin Marvel Graphic Novel #34 - 9.8 WP Tom DeFalco Marvel Team Up Annual #6 - 9.8 WP Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz New Mutants #11 - 9.8 WP Sal Buscema, Walt & Louise Simonson New Mutants #12 - 9.8 WP Sal Buscema & Louise Simonson New Mutants #14 - 9.6 WP Sal Buscema & Louise Simonson New Mutants #15 - 9.6 WP Sal Buscema & Louise Simonson New Mutants #16 - 9.6 WP Sal Buscema & Louise Simonson (2 copies) New Mutants #17 - 9.8 WP Sal Buscema New Mutants #19 - 9.8 WP Chris Claremont & Bill Sienkiewicz New Mutants #20 - 9.8 WP Chris Claremont & Bill Sienkiewicz New Mutants #24 - 9.8 WP Chris Claremont & Bill Sienkiewicz New Mutants #36 - 9.8 WP Chris Claremont & Bill Sienkiewicz New Mutants #58 - 9.2 WP Tom DeFalco & Louise Simonson New Mutants #62 - 9.8 WP Tom DeFalco & Louise Simonson New Mutants #74 - 9.8 WP Bob Wiacek New Mutants #81 - 9.8 WP Joe Rubinstein New Mutants #86 - 9.8 WP Tom DeFalco & Louise Simonson New Mutants #87 - 9.8 WP Tom DeFalco & Louise Simonson New Mutants #88 - 9.8 WP Tom DeFalco & Louise Simonson New Mutants #89 - 9.8 WP Tom DeFalco & Louise Simonson New Mutants #90 - 9.6 WP Tom DeFalco & Louise Simonson New Mutants #91 - 9.8 WP Tom DeFalco & Louise Simonson New Mutants #92 - 9.8 WP Tom DeFalco New Mutants #93 - 9.6 WP Tom DeFalco & Louise Simonson New Mutants #94 - 9.8 WP Tom DeFalco & Louise Simonson New Mutants #95 2nd print - 9.4 WP DeFalco, L. Simonson & Rubinstein New Mutants #95 2nd print - 9.6 WP DeFalco, L. Simonson & Rubinstein New Mutants #96 - 9.8 WP Tom DeFalco, Louise Simonson & Joe Rubinstein New Mutants #97 - 9.8 WP Tom DeFalco, Louise Simonson & Joe Rubinstein New Mutants #98 - 9.8 WP Tom DeFalco New Mutants #99 - 9.8 WP Tom DeFalco New Mutants #100 - 9.8 WP Tom DeFalco New Mutants #100 2nd print - 9.8 WP Tom DeFalco New Mutants #100 3rd print - 9.8 WP Tom DeFalco New Mutants Annual #1 - 9.6 WP McLeod, Claremont & Sienkiewicz New Mutants Summer Special - 9.4 WP Tom DeFalco ROM #2 - 9.8 WP Sal Buscema ROM #3 - 9.8 WP Sal Buscema ROM #17 - 9.8 WP WesternPenn Sal Buscema ROM #18 - 9.8 WP Sal Buscema Star Trek: Debt of Honor - 9.4 WP Adam Hughes & Karl Story Star Wars #50 - 9.8 WP Walt Simonson Star Wars #52 - 9.6 WP Walt Simonson Star Wars #53 - 9.8 WP Walt Simonson Star Wars #56 - 9.8 WP Walt Simonson Star Wars #57 - 9.6 WP Walt Simonson Star Wars #58 - 9.8 WP Walt Simonson Star Wars #60 - 9.8 WP Walt Simonson Star Wars #63 - 9.8 WP Walt Simonson Star Wars #66 - 9.8 WP Walt Simonson Star Wars #99 - 9.8 WP Ron Frenz Star Wars #102 - 9.8 WP GS Sal Buscema Star Wars #106 - 9.8 WP Joe Rubinstein Star Wars #107 - 9.8 WP Joe Rubinstein Thor #373 - 9.8 WP Sal Buscema & Walt Simonson Thor #374 - 9.8 WP Sal Buscema & Walt Simonson Uncanny X-Men #210 - 9.8 WP Chris Claremont & Bob Wiacek Uncanny X-Men #211 - 9.8 WP Chris Claremont & Bob Wiacek Uncanny X-Men #214 - 9.8 WP Chris Claremont & Bob Wiacek Web of Spiderman #18 - 9.4 WP Joe Rubinstein X-Factor #6 - 9.4 WP Ron Frenz, Bob McLeod, L. Simonson & Joe Rubinstein X-Factor #9 - 9.8 WP Joe Rubinstein & Louise Simonson X-Factor #10 - 9.8 WP Walt Simonson & Louise Simonson X-Factor #11 - 9.8 WP Walt Simonson & Louise Simonson Below are the issues I am still waiting on: Doctor Strange #1 - Frank Brunner Doctor Strange #2 - Frank Brunner Jonah Hex #1 (1977) - Jose Luis Garcia Lopez Jonah Hex #2 (1977) - Jose Luis Garcia Lopez Marvel Two-In-One #3 - Sal Buscema Master of Kung Fu #17 - Jim Starlin New Mutants #53 - Chris Claremont, Jim Shooter & Terry Austin New Mutants Special Edition - Claremont, Shooter, Terry Austin & Stan Lee ROM #1 - Sal Buscema & Joe Rubinstein Spawn #1 - Todd McFarlane (2 copies) Special Marvel Edition #15 - Jim Starlin Spectacular Spider-Man #1 - Sal Buscema Spiderman #1 poly-bagged edition - Todd McFarlane Star Wars #16 - Walt Simonson I hope everyone's Christmas was wonderful! Mine was really nice. Having all of these come back to me right now is like a big Christmas gift as well. Below is my Thor #373. Not only does it have Sal and Walt sigs on it, but it can be inputted in both my Mutant Massacre set and the upcoming Marvel 25th Anniversary Border Covers set! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Risky Business! Cracking CGC graded comics for signatures is a risky proposition. You are taking a big chance on the comic book in question. It might fall in grade, making it usually less valuable even with signatures. Of course, you are ultimately hoping it retains its original grade, thereby increasing its rarity and value. In a lot of cases, you may be creating an OAK with the upgrade to an SS copy. I have done this many, many times now. However, when the issue fails to retain the original grade, it makes it tough for hardcore collectors like myself. Now I have to find another higher graded copy to purchase to replace the one that lost a little of its former glory. This is both costly and frustrating. But when that comic book comes back in its fresn, new case with the Yellow Label at the top and the same grade displayed that it started with, it's the best feeling in the world!! I had 80 comic books signed at the Baltimore Comic Con! A few were raw copies that I wanted to get signed and try for high grades on, but most of them were cracked out of their CGC cases. Most retained their grades, but not all of them. Unfortunately, I had 9 New Mutants issues drop from 9.8 to 9.6! This is made even more unfortunate to me since I had all of them pressed before regrading and they still fell in grade! I have already re-purchased all but one of them in 9.8 condition. I will have to try again sometime for signings on these copies. The next time, I will refrain from pressing afterwards, just in case the pressings had something to do with the fall in grade. After all, if one comes back less than 9.8, I can always resubmit it with a pressing to try and get it back up. Anyway, as I've posted in journals before, there is great risk and reward for this aspect of our hobby. Below is an example of You Win Some, You Lose Some. Both of these were 9.8 WP copies that I cracked and had signed in Baltimore. Both were pressed and regraded. The New Mutants #15 now has both Louise Simonson and a rare Sal Buscema signature on it but fell in grade. The Star Wars #107 was a BIG risk but retained its 9.8 grade and is now graced with Joe Rubinstein's scrawling!!! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Graphic Novels From Heaven. Well, from Tnerb anyway. This is a hobby that is near and dear to my heart. It holds eternal memories of me and my father collecting together. With his passing in 2001, I unfortunately sold off the vast majority of our collection. I regret it to this day, but with five years of CGC collecting under my belt now, I am happy to say that the true joy of comic collecting is alive and well in me again, and I now have something that brings my father closer to my mind and emotions everyday. With that said, this hobby has also done some things that I never would have dreamed. For the first three years, I simply grabbed up every graded comic book I could that meant something to me. But then, through the course of posting a few journals and speaking with a few other registered members, I wound up in touch with Tnerb and Ronnylama. Ronnylama, I would later find out, is one of the most generous people I have ever known. He has sent me numerous comics to help me in my collecting endeavors, and everything he sends is top-notch stuff!! I now know he has done this for others on the registry over the years. WHAT A GUY!! Even now, I am still receiving issues that I have submitted due to his generosity. I am forever grateful to you, Ronnylama. Tnerb, however, is a different story. In effect, we met because he bought the first 9.8 copy of New Mutants #47 off of WorldWide Comics literally within a 20 minute window where I was not paying attention. He had sent me a couple of messages previously about how my New Mutants set was incredible and inspiring, but it was this purchase that actually got us really talking to each other. We both agreed to help each other with our favorite set and we both came through on the promise. He would point out issues that popped up on auctions to me and I would do likewise. I even led him to the 9.9 copy of #1 that he now owns. Little by little, he gained on me with his New Mutants set until he finally managed to pass me for the top rank! As I watched him gaining on me, I noticed he was getting more and more SS copies, giving him a decided edge on the registry points. At the start of 2013, I knew I would be attending Megacon in March. Beyond that, I had no idea how the rest of the year would pan out in my CGC collecting. When I came across the Orlando Megacon online just over a year ago, I decided to attend the show and start working on getting my New Mutants copies signed by creators. Since Chris Claremont and Bob McLeod were both attending, it made sense to start there. In fact, it was thanks to the generosity of Ronnylama that I now have an SS 9.8 copy of New Mutants #47! He sent it to me, and I had Claremont sign it at Megacon. Both he and Tnerb cheered me on as the issue achieved its ultimate glory, and I hope to someday have Tnerb join me with his copy as well. After Megacon, Tnerb and I continued our collecting and signature chasing. I managed to attend Supercon in July, where I was able to return some of Ronnylamas generosity by getting some of his comic books signed for him. I was sure that I was done with cons for the year at this point, but not so fast... Tnerb began to tell me about the Baltimore Comic Con, and after looking into it, I was astonished at the sheer number of creators attending the show! I literally had over 300 graded issues I could get sigs on!! But the best reason for me to go to Baltimore was to actually meet Tnerb for the first time! I was more excited about that than I ever would be at getting comics signed. I could not afford so many comics all at once, not to mention the difficulty of physically acquiring so many sigs in just two days. So I whittled 300 down to 80 issues and cracked and prepped them all. In the meantime, I ran down to the Tampa Bay Comic Con for one day and got some of my comics signed, including both mine and TNerbs copies of New Mutants #63! Then came Baltimore. I went to the show and met with Tnerb and a friend of his, and had an absolute blast!!! It had been at least 17 years since my father and I walked around shows together and bought comics and talked to the dealers and met with creators. Doing all of these same things with Tnerb brought it all back to me again. It was a very nostalgic experience. As a result of this show, I now have the big brother that I never had before in my life. Now I cannot imagine how I got along without Tnerb around to talk to and confide in and ask questions of. Ronnylama too! Anyway, one of the many things that Tnerb did for me in Baltimore was to give me four Graphic Novels. He knows I am putting together a set of Marvel Graphic Novels and he had three copies that he felt would give me a chance at some rare graded copies. These were MGN #2, #3 and #34. Since there were creators in attendance at the show who could sign on #3 and #34, I went ahead and got the sigs on them and submitted them for pressing and grading. I am currently waiting on submitting #2 until I can get it signed. The fourth Graphic Novel he gave me is a really cool copy of Star Trek Debt of Honor!! I remember seeing this book when I was younger but never owned a copy or read it before. Very unusual for a big time Trekkie like me. I sat down the night he gave it to me and read it all the way through. Really neat story! I looked online to see if there was anyone at the show starting the next morning that could sign it. Lo and behold there were up to 3 people who I could get sigs from!! So during the course of getting everything else done at the show, I managed to get two of the sigs! I never did see the third person, even though I checked for them three times. Oh well. So now, after five months of waiting, these 3 Graphic Novels that Tnerb gave me are now back in my hands! The results? MGN #3 Dreadstar - SS 9.4 WP signed by Jim Starlin MGN #34 Cloak and Dagger - SS 9.8 WP signed by Tom DeFalco ST Debt of Honor - SS 9.4 WP signed by Adam Hughes and Karl Story I'm totally stoked about the Cloak and Dagger!! Are you kidding me? Awesome! The only SS 9.8 graded copy in the world!! OAK! The Dreadstar was less than the 9.6 I hoped for but still awesome! It may be some time before I get a higher graded copy, but even then, this one stays with me forever! But I am ASTONISHED at the ST!!!! I would not have thought it would grade that high! Pressing must have really done a number on it! I had it at 8.5 or maybe 9.0 before pressing. It is the only graded copy out there now and has two sigs as well!!! Look at the pic below to check this OAK out! Thank you so much, Tnerb! You are the best big brother a guy could ask for! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

You can learn from failure... I have had very little to no movement at all among my invoices over the last few weeks. In fact, I had two invoices sit in quality Control for two weeks until I called and got them in motion. But after all that time with almost nothing, today came along and... WHAM!!... status changes GALORE!!! In one day, I had the following changes... 7 invoices go from Verified to Scheduled For Grading 1 invoice go from Scheduled For Grading to Graded 1 invoice go from Graded to Grading/Quality Control 1 invoice go from Grading/Quality Control to Shipped/Safe Sheesh! Talk about movement across the board! Wow! Now as far as the Shipped/Safe invoice goes, there was only one comic book on the invoice. My X-Men #112! I bought this issue from a dealer at the Florida Supercon in July. I took it out of its bag and gave it a quick look-see. I did not really examine it too thoroughly, just enough to make out its overall condition on the cover and basic page quality. My initial reactions to it were so-so. There were a number of slight indentations on the front and back cover, but nothing with any real color break that I could make out. I felt that a pressing could smooth out the vast majority of these slight imperfections. I was in kind of a hurry and did not really give the issue the proper eyeballing I should have, especially in regards to the interior pages, but I felt that with a pressing it had a shot at 9.4 or maybe 9.6 with OW/W pages by my estimation. The biggest reason for my picking it up was because both of the cover artists were present at the show and I could get their sigs added to it. I just could not pass up on the opportunity. So I bought it, got the sigs and submitted it for pressing and grading. Well, the verdict is in, and I am both pleased in one sense and disappointed in another. The good news? It did not get OW/W Pages. It got WHITE PAGES!!!! So this aspect of the issue was better than I predicted! The bad news? 8.5 ... Yes, 8.5 Not at all what I thought following a pressing. The only reasoning I can give to the final grade is that it must have been because of condition on inner pages somehow, since that is the only aspect of the issue that I really did not examine very closely. It is also possible that the pressing did not improve it nearly as much as I thought it would. I will keep this in mind when personally grading future issues. When I take lots of time to thoroughly examine a comic, I seem to be right on the money most of the time, but when I hurry through the process, it does not work out so well. So obviously being slow and thorough is the way to go for me from now on. Officially, the comic is now X-Men #112 SS 8.5 WP with sigs from Bob Layton and George Perez. I will consider keeping it for the memories it holds from the Supercon, but I may just sell it to recoup at least some of the cost back. We will see... Meanwhile, I won a Harvey issue from Heritage Auctions yesterday! It is the first Hot Stuff Sizzlers issue for me and the AP/RP ratio I got on this baby was unbelievable!! Check it out below! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Should have called earlier. Two of my invoices at CGC entered Grading/Quality Control status two weeks ago. I was beginning to grow weary of waiting on them to move into Shipped/Safe status and considering calling CGC about them. Yesterday, Tnerb informed me that he had an invoice move from Graded to Quality Control to Shipped/Safe all in one day!! This convinced me to finally call. When I did, I found out that the reason for the delay was some sort of accounting issue. They immediately moved them along to Shipped/Safe status and the next day, they were in my hands. Again, I will say that you should never underestimate the power of simply calling CGC and asking when something seems a little off. These two invoices are for eleven raw issues that I submitted at Supercon in July for Universal labels. These issues were acquired by me through a variety of different sources. There was an equal variety of surprises to me on the results. So without further ado, here is how they came out... Daredevil #159 - 8.5 WP This issue is a copy from my original collection that me and my father put together, so the grade did not really matter. With that said however, I was completely taken aback by this grade! I had it at 9.6!!! I challenge anyone to look closely at it through the case and give it a grade under 9.4! Since this is one of the few issues I examined without looking through the pages, I have to assume that the inner pages must have been the reason for the reduced grade. I almost want to get the graders notes to see if this is the case. Hmmmm.... What If #1 - 9.4 WP This comic is one of many given to me by Ronnylama for getting a number of his issues signed at Supercon. I cannot thank him enough for it!! I felt it had a shot at 9.6 but 9.4 was more reasonable, and it turns out I was right. This is a gorgeous copy with only a couple of very minor defects that I could spot. Being that this is the #1 issue of a series I am eventually wanting to have a complete set of graded, I gave it its shot at CGC immortality!! Thanks again, Ronnylama!! Fallen Angels #1 - 9.8 WP This was a surprise of the positive sort! I acquired all eight issues of this mini series off of a seller on eBay because the pics looked so good. When I received them, I was astonished at how good they looked in person. In fact, this issue and #3 were the only ones that I graded at 9.6. Pressing could help bump it up into the 9.8 range but I was conservative in my view and felt 9.6 was more likely. I am so glad to be proven wrong in this particular instance!! Fallen Angels #2 and #7 - 9.8 WP Two more copies from the same batch purchased off eBay. These were no surprise at all. I felt they would receive 9.8 and was not disappointed!! I love the darker cover of #7 (see pic below). Both of these are OAKs!! The first 9.8s on the census! Fallen Angels #3 - 9.6 WP As with the #1, I graded this at 9.6, but hoped a pressing would improve it. Oh well. It came from the same eBay batch and looked just about as good as all of the others.It is currently only the second graded copy of the issue out there. There IS one 9.8 copy. My copy of #4 from this same batch was signed by Val Mayerick at SDCC and ALSO got 9.6 unfortunately. The last three issues are currently being graded after signings at Baltimore. Daredevil #170 - 9.6 WP This is also from me and my dads original collection. I graded it at 9.6 and figured I would see if a pressing would improve it. It achieved what I originally thought, so I am fine with the result. Any comics from my original collection are graded for sentimentality rather than strictly high grades. They mean far more to me as a reminder of my father than as simple material items. Daredevil #238 - 9.6 WP Another gift from Ronnylama!! I submitted this copy at Supercon before I knew I would be attending Baltimore, otherwise I would have waited and had Sal Buscema sign it. Oh well. I DID get my original copy of #238 signed by Sal at Baltimore even though I did not feel that it was quite as good as this copy was. We will see how it turns out, but this is still a fantastic copy! I will be adding Ann Nocenti, Arthur Adams and Klaus Janson to my personal copy at ECCC for a total of four sigs! Daredevil #305 - 9.8 WP This copy is ALSO from my original collection. The only reason I submitted it for grading was because I KNEW it was at least a 9.8 with a real shot at achieving 9.9, so I gave it a chance. There was no way it was getting less than the grade it got! Firestar #3 - 9.8 WP ANOTHER gift from Ronnylama!! What a guy! I absolutely love this cover!! He sent me this one because it is a Sienkiewicz cover, and he and I are both fans and collectors of Sienkiewicz covers. This one turned out to be the grade I expected. Now I may consider getting either Art Adams or Bill to sign it at one of next years cons. We will see... Machine Man #19 - 9.8 WP This was the best surprise of the whole bunch! I purchased this Near Mint copy from Mile High comics almost five years ago. This is the rare, low print run last issue of the series. I bought it because I never owned a copy of it before and always wanted one for some reason. Later on, after I got hot and heavy into CGC comics, I looked it over thoroughly and determined that it was probably a 9.4 or 9.6 at best. That is not bad for this particular issue. Now that pressing is offered by CGC through CCS, I decided to have it pressed and just see what happened. I did not at all expect a grade higher than 9.6! So this was a very surprising result to me!!! Awesome!! I will say that I should have waited for signature opportunities to come up for these before going ahead and submitting them, but even with that being the case, I am very happy overall with the results. This helps me even more with my personal grading abilities and helps me further a few of my sets towards completion. I now have only one invoice left from Supercon. That one is for the X-Men #112 that I bought at the show and had George Perez and Bob Layton sign! I felt that with a pressing, it had a shot at 9.4 or 9.6 OW/W pages. I did not examine the inner pages too thoroughly, so we will see how it turns out. It entered Quality Control today, so it should not be very long now... To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Status changes and awesome deliveries! They are starting to trickle in, one invoice at a time. All of my issues at CGC that were signed in Baltimore are still a little way off. They are all currently sitting in Received status at CGC. I also currently have two invoices from Supercon that are in Quality Control. The two issues I sent to the NY masters signing have just reached CCS. But most importantly, four of the Supercon invoices and one from Tampa Bay CC are now back in my hot little hands!!! And I could not be happier! They all came back either retaining their grades or achieving the grades I had applied to them. Here is what I have back: Watchmen #1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 10, 12 - ALL SS 9.8 WP signed by Dave Gibbons Web of Spiderman #2 - SS 9.8 WP signed by Greg LaRocque Web of Spiderman Annual #2 - SS 9.8 WP signed by Geof Isherwood Micronauts #37 - SS 9.8 WP signed by Greg LaRocque What If? #30 - SS 9.8 WP signed by Bob Layton What if? #35 - SS 9.8 WP signed by Greg LaRocque Star Trek: TNG #1 (1988 mini series) - SS 9.8 WP signed by Pablo Marcos Fury of Firestorm #1 - SS 9.8 WP signed by Pat Broderick Marvel Fanfare #10 - SS 9.8 WP signed by George Perez and Bob Layton Marvel Fanfare #11 - SS 9.8 WP signed by George Perez and Bob Layton Marvel Fanfare #12 - SS 9.8 WP signed by George Perez Marvel Fanfare #13 - SS 9.8 WP signed by George Perez Marvel Fanfare #26 - SS 9.8 WP signed by Pat Broderick X-Factor #4 - SS 9.8 WP signed by Bob Layton X-Factor #5 - SS 9.8 WP signed by Bob Layton Wonder Woman #5 - SS 9.8 WP signed by George Perez Rai #0 - SS 9.8 WP signed by Bob Layton Harbinger #1 - SS 9.8 WP signed by Bob Layton Whew!! The Watchmen #10 and X-Factors were given to me by Ronnylama in return for getting a bunch of his comics signed at Supercon. So having them get 9.8s was fantastic! Thank you so much Ronnylama!!!! The X-Factor #4 copy is now the single highest SS copy in the world!! A few others are OAKs as well. WW #5, Fanfare #26, ST:TNG #1, What If? #30 and WOS Annual #2 are all in this category!! Having these come back retaining and achieving what they have is very encouraging for me when considering the 80 issues I am waiting for from Baltimore. The 2 invoices that should be ready next are from Supercon and were all raw issues from either my original collection or sent to me from Ronnylama. I do not know for sure how they will all turn out. I have my grade guesses, but we will see. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

You asked for it, you got it! SW3D commented on my last journal that he hoped. I would post a journal with pics from my recent SS acquirements so...... HERE YOU GO SW3D!!!! Just give me a few minutes to get them all on the replies. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Leave them up longer please!!!!! I'm very glad to see that after years of Tnerb and myself and a few others posting journals, that both the influx of newer members and many of the established CGC collectors have finally caught on to the joys of posting. With the 30 in 30s going on right now and the constant daily postings however, there has arisen one little issue that I have with the process. I'm sure you all have noticed that the three most recently posted journals are always on display over on the left side of our home pages. This is cool because you immediately get to see when someone has posted a new journal and how many views and replies it has had so far. It also makes it very easy to click and go straight to the journal desired right away. But with so many journals being posted so quickly lately, you might post a journal just to have it bumped off the Recent Journals list within the hour sometimes. While you can certainly click on the View All Journals link at the bottom of the listing, most people overlook it and simply view and post replies to just the ones that are on the recent list. You know how it is in today's society. Go with what you see and don't spend too much time digging around online. Many feel that it is too much work, or just don't feel the need to do so. So I think it would be a good idea to expand the Recent Journals List. I sent a request yesterday for this list shown on the left side of our screens be increased to 5 or even up to 10, thereby allowing for more time for members to catch that last journal you posted before it is bumped down into "past journals" obsolescence. This way, all of our writings and thoughts will have more time to get the readers and responses they deserve. Tnerb convinced me to write this up as a journal both to speak about what I think and to get replies about what you think. So let's hear it! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

I know you just have to click the View All journals button to go back and read them all but you'd be surprised how many people don't do that or even worry about it. The increase on hompages would allow more users to see and reach more of the recent journals more quickly.

With the rise in the number of journals being posted on a daily basis now, I has wondering if it would be possible to display more than just the last three most recently posted journals down the left panel? Sometimes, you post a journal, then less than an hour later, it's already off the recently posted list. If possible, it would serve us journal writers and readers better if the last five or even the last ten posted journals were listed on everyone's home pages. Any increase would be nice.

Stunting our humanity? The digitization of our world has been in progress now for well over 30 years, but in the last five or so, it has accelerated exponentially!! With the decline of department stores, video rental stores, bookstores and more, we are on a slippery slope to being completely devoid of almost ANY physical storefronts that aren't food oriented. When it comes to manufactured products, it is getting more and more common and efficient to just order the items we want online. With the onset of all of the mobile devices we now use, we are almost constantly connected online, being bombarded with emails and online advertisements of items for sale at this site or that site. The digitization of literature has been part of this trend as well. While I do like being able to simply download a novel to my iPad or whatever device I choose, I regret that it means the eventual demise of the physical bookstore. I love being able to walk into a bookstore and smell and feel the aged paper stacked on the shelves. While there will always be a market for physical books among collectors, I feel that the storefront bookstore is slowly becoming extinct. Now what does all of this mean for our beloved choice of medium, the comic book? Well, we all know that the onset of digital comic providers has been on the upswing lately. Between Marvel, DC and other providers like XComics, you can easily download digital versions of both old and new releases at the touch of a digital button. This is really neat, but what are we losing in this metamorphosis? Young people coming up in the world today are all about instant gratification and immediate acquisition and satisfaction. They want things to happen faster and faster and often can't even pull themselves away from a screen of some sort for even a moment to relate to the physical world. We have become enamored with the digital universe we have created to the point where the real world (meatspace, as it is being referred to now) is becoming less and less prevalent. For me personally, when I read a comic book or whatever, I am creating a temporary, physical world in my mind for the story to exist within. The visual nature of comics makes this easier, but by having the tactile, visual, smell-able comic in my hand while I experience it, the story seems to be more real to me physically. To digitize the comic takes all of that away for the most part. Sure you get to read the story, but to me something is lost when you can no longer feel and smell the book in your hands. Maybe I'm just an old fogey, old-school thinker in this, but it's how I feel. We seem to be trading physical tangibility for mental tangibility. Don't we ultimately lose out in the bargain? Don't we become lesser in some way with the trade off? Less human, somehow? With money and technological progress being the driving force behind this digitization of our world, I think this will ultimately doom the physical comic book, and eventually only the die hard collectors like us will be the ones scrounging around in a digital world for those cherished physical items that we love so much. Don't get me wrong here. I love the digital world as well. After all, without it, we wouldn't have our beloved online CGC registry to be able to share our collections and our thoughts on this hobby. But we need to be careful to have an acceptable balance between cyberspace and meatspace. As an example, my two godsons are very much into comics, but also into technology. I am trying my best to instill a sense of desire for the tangible comics into them, but I fear that along with the rest of the world, they will lose the nostalgia associated with the real things. To me, this is very unfortunate for future generations. Am I being too negative? Am I overblowing all of this? What do you all think? Your thoughts, anyone? To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Just Leave Her Be! Like Tnerb, I too am trying to putt finances up for the 3 cons I plan on attending next year. Saving up is getting hard, though with items constantly showing up that I want to try for on the different auctions out there. I have had to be more choosy and conservative, backing off and not even putting bids in on a lot of things that I would normally jump all over. There are few issues coming up over the next few weeks that I HAVE to try for no matter what! But it's felt like pulling teeth making myself not bid on item after item lately. One of the few things that I just couldn't live without just ended last night on eBay. I already planned on trying for it when Tnerb asked me if I was going to bid on it. I told I was and he graciously bowed out of the bidding for me. Thanks Big Brother!!! You are the best!! I already own one original art page from New Mutants #13, but now I finally own a second page from the same issue. These pages were penciled by Sal Buscema and inked by Tom Mandrake. This one is page #15, where Kitty tries to console Amara in the woods outside of the X mansion. This is the first instance of Kitty interacting with Magma, and it obviously doesn't go too well for her. Watch out when Amara gets feisty!! Snap, crackle, POP!!! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Unexpected!!!! I sent three issues off to Desert Wind Comics a while back for signatures. Since they were submitted to CGC under their membership, the invoice was not listed on my submissions page. I had to call CGC with the invoice number to find out the status. When I last called them, Molly told me it was in Graded status!! Yay! Not too long to wait then. So I didnt worry about checking back on them. I figured I would just let them come whenever they came. Well, today I had an afternoon doctors appointment, so I got off of work at 2:00 and wound up home at 3:00. I was texting Tnerb and getting something to eat when there was a knock at my door. I am waiting on a package of raw comics through FedEx, so I figured that was probably what it was, since I knew none of my invoices were in Shipped/Safe status yet. Lo and behold, I get the package and it's from CGC!!!!! Its those three issues back from DWC! ALL RIIIIGHT!! Two came back like I knew they would and one, which I sent in raw form, just missed the mark, but its still really neat! Here are the results: New Mutants #49 SS 9.8 signed by Val Mayerik Power Pack #27 SS 9.8 signed by Louise Simonson and Jon Bogdanove Fallen Angels #4 SS 9.6 signed by Val Mayerik I really wish the Fallen Angels issue had come back 9.8 but, oh well. It still looks pretty cool!! The Power pack is part of the Mutant Massacre storyline, which I am not only putting a whole set together of, I am also working on getting them all signed as well!! There are a few interesting tidbits of information about the New Mutants #49! They are as follows: 1) This is the first issue of the series to feature Bret Blevins art! 2) This is the ONLY issue of the series to feature Val Mayerik artwork, hence the signing by him!! 3) The publishing date was printed incorrectly inside the comic, so instead of saying March of 1987 like it should, it says March of 1986. This is why the label is also incorrect. Issue 48 was published in Februaury 1987 and issue 50 was in April 1987. This was really neat because I literally was not expecting anything until my other invoices started reaching shipped at CGC. I had completely forgot about these being in limbo. Well, they arent in limbo anymore! Below is a pic of the NM 49! I had it down for Val to sign it in silver but apparently he decided bronze would look better. I like it! It sorta matches the color of Warlock! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

My second New Mutants Original Art piece! While I plan on getting my copy of New Mutants #39 signed by Bill Sienkiewicz at Megacon and Art Adams at ECCC next year, I just managed to get my hands on an Original Art of one of the pages from that exact issue!! It's page #18 where Tom and Sharon are showing up at the mansion for help. Magneto has just gone for a dip in the pool and is in the middle of taking a shower when they arrive. Nothing like catching the Master of Magnetism in an embarrassing situation! What an image of him ready to apply his abilities to whoever is disturbing him with nothing but his birthday suit on! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.