bagofleas

Keep viewing folks! After quite a while without making any additions, I have finally started things moving again on my New Mutants set! I cracked open a bunch of my issues and had them signed and graded on site at the Megacon earlier this month and have been adding them as they became available to do so. While most of them have now been added I still have five possible additions in the works as well as looking at a few other possibilities. Almost all of the issues I had signed are now OAKs!! But interestingly enough, the number of views of my set by all of you fellow collectors out there has now reached 750!! This does not begin to compare with TNerbs set since he currently has about 400 more views than my set, but that is because he has posted far more journals and other posts about his progress while I post very little. The fact that his set passed mine for the number one spot about a year ago has helped him as well. TNerb and I have been helping each other with our sets for over three years now! I LOVE TNerbs set and his and mine are both neat to look at and go through. He has been more consistent over time in his additions while I have been in hibernation for the most part until now. I will now start back up on my set with adding extensive descriptions and summaries and page scans on each issue. Until now Ive only completely done up through number 15, so keep checking back and see where I am, and if you havent checked it out in a long while, give it another look and see what Ive added issue wise. Does the number of views matter? Maybe so and maybe not, but it does give you, the collector, a feel for how much appreciation other collectors have for your accomplishments. We have a wonderful group of people in this registry who talk, encourage, help and appreciate each others interests. Thank You, Everyone!!!!! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Useless but Interesing!? It just struck me today, and its probably useless knowledge, but I find it very interesting how the cover logo for the first 35 issues of Web of Spiderman was slightly different every month. The SPIDERMAN part of the logo never changed but where the spider in the logo was placed seemed to change pretty much on every issue. It hangs from the top on every issue except for number 4 where it hangs sideways across the entire SPIDERMAN part of the logo. However the spider doesnt even appear on issue 14 (see pic below). And on issues 11, 13 and 30, the WEB OF part of the logo is farther to the right than on all the other issues. It might be a pointless point, but pointing out these points is pointedly intriguing. Dont you think? To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

What a great pair of guys! This is a MASSIVE shout out and thanks to TNerb and Ronnylama! You two have been the absolute best with helping me reach this point! I am just as overjoyed at TNerbs ASM 129 as he is for my NM 47. While his is a huge key, mine is simply a single issue of the series that started my lifelong passion for comics. But as most fans and collectors can attest, it is those personally memorable and sentimental issues that mean more to us than even the big, sought after keys. It helps when those two things match up though, doesnt it? I also want to say that I am profoundly moved by both of you guys generosity, encouragement and exaltation! I nearly start tearing up sometimes when I think about it. If I ever get the chance to meet up with either of you, I would love to do so. This last part is genuinely from my heart... I close my eyes in thoughtful reflection and with glistening at the edges of them, I bow deeply when I send out to both of you..... THANK YOU SO MUCH. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Drum Rollllll, Please! ALL HAIL RonnyLama!! The verdicts are in, the grades are finished, and I could not be a whole lot more happy than I am. YES TNerb, the New Mutants 47 came back in 9.8!!! (See pic below) I cannot begin to adequately thank RonnyLama enough for his generosity in helping me achieve this goal! This one issue alone was worth the trip for me! Now for the rest. Everything got white pages! Wolverine 1 came back SS 9.4 (9.6 was my guess) Wolverine 2 came back SS 9.6 (9.8 was my guess) Transformers 80 came back as 9.8! Amazing Spider-Man 300 came back 9.6! Marvel Authentix Daredevil 1 came back SS 9.8! Longshot 6 came back SS 9.8! Daredevil 283 came back SS 9.6. G. I. Joe ARAH 59 came back SS 9.8! Doctor Strange 1 (1974) came back 9.2 OW/W (only non-WP in the bunch!) Now for the surprise! I cracked open 20 copies of my New Mutants issues and had them signed and regraded! ALL 20 came back SS 9.8!!! Out of those 20 issues, 15 of them are the first SS 9.8 copies to be added to the census!! The numbers I did this with are 2 3 5 6 7 8 9 10 (Bob McLeod) and 13 21 31 41 45 46 47 52 (Chris Claremont) and 75 76 77 (Bob McLeod) and Annual 5 which was signed by Mark Bagley!! Oh yeah, almost forgot. The 27 year journey of my Daredevil 168 has finally reached its end! If you havent read my journal entry Journey of a key, go back and check out the history of this particular copy of this comic book. Those of you who have read it will be happy to know the result. 9.6 WHITE PAGES!!!!!! Im sure my Dad is smiling down from above right now. CGC decided NOT to do On-Site grading of magazines so I actually have another 12 items being proccessed by them. Mostly Starlogs and ST TNG Magazines signed by Star Trek stars! When I get them back, I will post a journal of their results. There is also one other thing I have in the works from this convention but I will wait until it comes through before making any comments on it. This was my first convention of this magnitude and I could not have had a better experience! I got to meet and speak with CGC personnel, fellow collectors, writers, artists, stars and more! Not to mention all the fantastic additions to my CGC collection! I will have to seriously consider attending again next year! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

From reply to personal journal entry I placed the following as a reply to the journal entry "The distinction between non-restorative pressing and pressing as restorative technique" by screenwriter3d but decided to put it out as a personal journal entry as well: I personally feel that pressing of a comic can occur in a number of ways, some intentional and some as a side effect of normal collecting. Putting a comic in a tight box for long periods of time can cause a pressing effect. Granted, not necessarily as profound as professional pressing might achieve but similar nonetheless. I have cracked slabs and spoken with CGC personnel and I tend to agree with TNerb that the process that CGC uses with their machines that heat-seal the comics into the stiff, tight plastic sheets that contain them within the outer hard plastic casings can cause a pressing effect on par with, if not even more effectual than the "tight box" scenario. I can see why die hard purists may frown on professional pressing to some degree or another, but when the final result of doing such an act can also be achieved due to other normal conservation techniques, I simply fail to see the reason for considering it as a detrimental procedure that would reduce the value or purity of the book. If you ADD something to it, or REPLACE something on it, or use any kind of chemical on it, then I completely understand. But regardless of any precise definition of the word "restoration", I personally can't justify applying such a term to pressing. As far as I'm led to believe, pressing does not remove color breakage due to bends or creasing. It just smoothes out the warps or bends themselves. So there is still only so much that can be achieved through pressing. While grades can be increased by doing this, there are many things that can't be fixed by simply pressing the item. Really, what it all comes down to is that CGC, by default, has approved of pressing as a non-restorative process by integrating CCS into their grading and not applying any difference to the labeling procedures. You don't have to agree with it, but it is what it is and you will either continue to buy slabbed comics or not because of it. But THAT is a personal decision. I have no problem with the current situation CGC has on pressings (whether I choose to take advantage of it or not), but I would ALSO have no problem if they chose to change their labeling or label disclosures for pressed comics. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Crazy!! Well day two is over at the Megacon and what a day! It was three times more crowded today than it was yesterday! I got Patrick Stewarts signature this morning and will get Jonathan Frakes tomorrow since he only showed up today just in time for the Star Trek Special event this evening. He will be doing signings tomorrow. It was fantastic seeing all nine original cast members of ST TNG and DeLancie all together in one place at the same time!!! I am waiting until tomorrow to inquire about all my comics at CGC. I did not want to pick any up that were finished tonight and have to keep them in my car while I attended the Special event. I am waiting with great anticipation at all of my results! I did a lot of shopping around and comic box searching today. I picked up a beautiful copy of Thunderbolts 9 to have framed along with my original art of the first page splash from the same issue that I had signed by Mark Bagley yesterday. I also got to take a bunch of pictures that I was not able to do yesterday due to my signature spree! Below is me with an R2 D2 unit that was built to life size proportions and perfectly functioning with all the movements and sounds of the real thing. I know. Dorky but neat! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Holy Cow! Well Im in Orlando and through the first day of the Megacon. At first I did not think I was going to get all my signings done but once everything got in motion I was a signature machine! Claremont and McLeod and Bagley and Palmiotti and Portacio. Then the Star Trek TNG cast members. Spiner and Dorn and Burton and McFadden and Wheaton and Crosby and Sirtis . WHEW!! The only sigs I dont have yet are Stewart and Frakes who wont be there until tomorrow. But CGC set a record for themselves. They had set a limit on how many On-Site submissions they would accept based on the average amount submitted for most of the three day conventions they attend. They broke that amount in the first two hours of the Megacon!! They had to shut down On-Site grading quick. Luckily I was on my A-game and early to the show. Mike at the CGC booth helped me throughout the process and was incredulous at how fast I got my 31 comics signed and witnessed and submitted for On-Site grading. It only took TWO HOURS!!! The magazines took one more hour but CGC was not doing On-Site grading for magazines anyway so timing did not matter on them. 3 hours total for 43 signatures from 14 different people is pretty awesome! At least Mike sure thought so. He was blown away! I managed to get it all done before CGC shut down the On-Site grading. I was so happy! I will get everything back graded and all by the end of Sunday! Hopefully my New Mutants 47 comes back 9.8 (Thanks again to RonnyLama). I hope the same for my Daredevil 168 and my ASM 300! Check out Mark Bagley in the pic below. He signed a couple of comics and an original art piece for me! AWESOME!!! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Something other than "verified". My 10 issues that I submitted at the beginning of November have finally moved from verified status to "submitted for grading" status. It only took 111 days from them receiving the comics to being in this new status. The current turnaround time is listed as 100 days total but there are still two more stages to go. Guess they must be running a little behind. I know turnaround times are estimates but sheesh! I cant wait to see what their grades are. Luckily the issues I will be submitting at the Megacon can be done on-site so it will only be a max of two days! As soon as I have grades on these ten issues I will post a journal entry. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

A 27 YEAR TRIP When my father and I had just gotten into comic collecting back in 1986 we quickly started putting together sets of series that interested us. The first long running series that we focused on was Daredevil. So in the fall of 86 we went to the home of a coworker of my father who had decided to sell some of his comic collection. When we started digging through his boxes we found a boatload of Daredevils. They were in pristine condition since he had selected the best he could find and bagged them up and had not touched them since. My only regret now is that we did not pick up more issues at the time. The pick of the litter that day was his copy of Daredevil 168. We paid the whopping grand total of five dollars for it..... FIVE DOLLARS!!! My father sadly passed away in the Spring of 2000 and I subsequently sold off almost all of the collection since I did not have a home yet and my mom needed the room. It was over ten thousand issues! This was when CGC was just trying to get off the ground and was years away from being the established and respected organization that it is today. If I had known then what I do now about the future of CGC I would never have sold them. I DID manage to keep my whole Daredevil set and a select few doubles from the collection. And now after 27 years I am about to finally have some of these graded. I am attending the Orlando Megacon next month and I have seven raw issues that I plan on getting pressed and graded on site. Five are from my original collection. Daredevil 168 (see pic below) - paid $5 Amazing Spider-Man 300 - paid $1.50 Transformers 80 - paid 25 cents Wolverine 1 - paid $1 Wolverine 2 - paid $1 I will be so happy to finally see these graded after all these years but the DD 168 will be the most nostalgic for me. I will never part with it regardless of its grade. So from $5 acquisition in 1986 to CGC grading in 2013. What a journey. What a hobby. What a load of fun! Funny how 27 years can still seem like just a week ago. I love you Dad! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

My second one in less than a week! OK. A few days ago I finally bought my first original art and was warned about how addicting it was to collect them. Well I would now have to agree with those who warned me. I can see why original art is so intriguing to comic aficionados. I know that I wont be able to continue buying original art at the pace that I have been acquiring graded comics. While I have been averaging over 175 graded comics a year (YIPES!) I will probably only be able to manage five or so original art pieces per year. Nevertheless I have managed to acquire my second piece in less than a week. I just couldnt pass up on this one since it is from my all time favorite comic series which everyone by now knows is The New Mutants. This particular piece of original art is from Issue 13 Page 2. It holds the first meeting and direct conversation between Magma (Amara Aquilla) and Professor X! Being such a big New Mutants fan and just recently bitten by the O-ART Bug had me clawing after this one! I love it even though it doesnt have any real action going on in it. It is also signed by Tom Mandrake. OFF AND RUNNING!!!!!!! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Always wanted one! I have always had a desire to start getting my hands on original comic art, but I have been so focused on CGC graded comics that I havent really pursued them. Well that ends now! Most of these originals are very expensive. It depends on what series it comes from or what characters it features or what particular issue its from or what artist did the art or any number of other factors. I decided that since I was going to be at the Orlando Megacon I would try to find something that would be signable if not already signed so I did a thorough search and finally came up with one that fit the bill. I didnt want to spend a lot of money but I was partial to something in a full splash page category. These often tend to be the more expensive items of this sort. It didnt have to feature an iconic character but I wanted it to be interesting. I finally happened upon the original first page of Thunderbolts issue 9 drawn by Mark Bagley! I have always liked Mark for not only his art but for the fact that he shares my last name. I love the image because it has so much going for it. A cityscape background. Rain. Destruction. A huge beast with lots of detail and its massiveness very apparent by its comparative size to everything else in the image including the frightened police officer in the bottom right corner. The laser blasts searing into the beasts chest as it roars its anger and pain. No it doesnt have batman or spiderman or hulk or captain america or any other iconic comic character but thats ok. The art is spectacular and I just couldnt beat the price! This particular piece has NOT been previously signed by Mark so I will take it with me to get signed and then have it framed and hung on my wall at home. This is my first original art purchase and I couldnt be more pleased! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

A lot on my plate....questions questions questions As it stands right now I have ten issues currently at CGC getting the once over. They have had them for 90 days so far and still havent moved them out of verified status even though they are showing current turnaround time as 100 days. Not sure if the status is accurate or not. On top of that, I am working hard on getting everything together for my trip to the Orlando Megacon next month. CGC will be doing on site grading at this thing and I cant wait to get my stuff signed and or graded! Ive got a hardback book and raw and graded comic books and magazines and even a piece of original comic art by Mark Bagley that I want to get signed. I called and spoke to someone at CGC to get some info only to find that I will preferably need someone with me to help with the coordination of getting things signed and witnessed by CGC for my purposes. I have a friend who will be going with me to help. I will be probably be standing in line after line for the entire first day and more just to get everything accomplished! But in the meantime I am in the process of organizing and preparing everything for the trip. This includes getting comics and mags that I want signed prepared and a group of over 50 Daredevil issues that I want to get prescreened! I have never been to a convention of this magnitude before so if anyone has comments or suggestions for me I would be very grateful. This would include travel or preparations of items or dealing with CGC or dealing with the people you want to sign your stuff. For example if you want an artist to do a sketch on an issue how do you approach the topic in regards to the artist and CGC? And what about multiple signings for a single item? And what about signing pens if you want something signed in black or silver or even some other color? Do the artists and writers have different color pens on hand or do you have to provide them? If so what pens are the best ones to get your hands on? And what about the preparation of issues that I want to get signed? Whether its a comic or magazine or whatever. Can you get certificates of authenticity for signings that are not comic or magazine related? Im really trying to get everything planned out for this thing and could definitely use some advice from some of you fellow collectors out there who have been through this process one or more times. Any help will be greatly appreciated! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

THEY GOTTEM!!! Well my ten issues have reached CGC and been RECEIVED and VERIFIED! Next is the "Scheduled for grading" status. I can hardly wait to see when they reach this stage. Does that make me nuts? What am I saying? Ive always been nuts! I have a number of bigger value and key issues to eventually get graded but I sent these ten in just to test the process and see how it all works. I have MY idea of what these will be graded at but that doesnt mean CGC will see it the same way. I am VERY thorough and brutally honest with myself and am willing to be conservative in my estimations when it comes to grading. The What If will probably get the lowest grade. Here is what I predict from my strict and conservative viewpoint. What If 47 9.4 Longshot 1 9.6 Daredevil 273 9.9 Yes I said it. 9.9!! All the others should get 9.8 or in the worst case scenario 9.6. It remains to be seen how close I am but I am looking forward to finding out no matter how it turns out! Below is a piece from Marvel Fanfare #27 featuring Danielle Moonstar from the New Mutants. And no its not a MIRAGE! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Popping my submitting cherry! I have been an associate member of CGC for over three years now but never have taken advantage of being able to submit my own comics for grading... ...until now that is. I have sent ten comics off to be graded. I am holding back on a number of comics for signing and grading when I go to Megacon in March. This includes my New Mutants 47 that Ronnylama sent me. So I will have to be patient on those. The issues I sent off today are... VIGILANTE 19 VIGILANTE 28 PUNISHER V2 number 1 SPAWN 1 DAREDEVIL 273 DAREDEVIL 380 ANITA BLAKE VAMPIRE HUNTER GUILTY PLEASURES 1 sketch LONGSHOT 1 WHAT IF? 47 DAREDEVIL AND THE PUNISHER CHILDS PLAY nn I chose these issues for a number of reasons. The Vigilante copies are two of the issues I received from Ronnylama and I just want to get them done because CGC Vigilante issues are practically nonexistent. The Longshot Punisher Spawn and Anita Blake number ones are because they ARE number ones. Daredevil 380 and What If 47 are both last issues of their respective series. The Childs Play one shot is simply to have one graded that will come in one of the thicker cases. But one of the main reasons I am doing this is to test how my personal abilities at gauging grades lines up with CGC standards. Its also to just have gone through the experience of submitting issues this way and the whole process involved in doing so. We will see how I fair in the grades but I am pretty sure they all have more than a reasonable shot at achieving 9.8. I wont be surprised to see the What If come back as 9.6. It is the one issue I am not 100 percent sure about. The Daredevil 273 has a real shot at 9.9 in my opinion! That is the reason I am sending it in. I will do updated journals on my personal experience with submitting. MUCHO thanks again to Ronnylama for his generosity. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

No tissues just more issues! Well its been quite a while but I finally have a few more Booster Golds to put into my set! This is the single most nostalgic set of my collection for me. It takes me back to when I was thirteen years old and having the time of my life at Panama City Beach here in Florida. This was WAY BACK in 1986. Well WAY BACK for me anyway. My father and I had just gotten into comic collecting at that point when I came across some issues of this series in a convenience store near the beach. Putting a graded collection of these together will be more satisfying to me than any other set I could complete. Nostalgia can go a long way to making the most mundane item or thing mean the world to you. It has been quite some time since I have been able to add any more copies to this set but I finally have three more 9.8 issues! I now have 14 of the 25 issues in 9.8! I hope its not too much longer to get the last 11. My favorite one of the three I just got is shown below. Cool cover and a really dark one too! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Two journals in one night? WOW! I joined this elite group of CGC collectors back in December of 2008. At that time there were barely 1100 registered collectors out there. That was almost four years ago! We are now approaching the 3000 mark! The good thing about this is that it shows a constant growth in the industry as far as CGC collecting goes. But have you ever wondered how many CGC collectors there are out there who have never bothered with becoming registered members on the registry and actually inputting their comics on here? Im pretty sure there are some out there who could join the registry and IMMEDIATELY have top ranking sets if they made the effort. What holds someone back from taking that leap into our wonderful world of sharing and competition in this fantastic hobby? Is it the money to join? Its actually really cheap to become an associate member. Is it the time involved in typing everything in? That would probably only apply if you were talking about a HUGE collection. After all you dont HAVE to put pictures and descriptions in if you dont want to. There are some out there who buy CGC comics in order to try and turn a profit. Or who send in comics for grading for the sole purpose of doing the same. I will admit that there are some issues that I managed to get my hands on when I wasnt really all that interested in collecting them and wound up turning around and selling them. Sometimes for more than I payed in the first place! I recently sold two different 2nd printings that I was able to double and triple my money on in this manner! Cha ching! But I have found that getting higher on the overall registry point or RP rankings has become harder and harder to accomplish over the last year or so. At one point I was as high as number 142 in the total RP rankings! Now I have to struggle like crazy just to maintain myself under 180. Im sure part of this is because of the rest of you constantly continuing your collecting but I also believe it has to do with the constant addition of more and more registered collectors out there in general. In the last year or so I have transitioned into collecting higher RP Harvey comics for two reasons. First. Ive always liked certain characters in the Harvey Universe and have desired to put together collections of them. Second. I have found that I can get much bigger RP values for the amount of money I spend on them which helps me to stay within the top 200 registered collectors out there. This hobby of ours continues to grow and grow. It has now ingrained itself into the comic collecting hobby in such a way as to make a real difference in how people view the hobby. Where will it go in the many years to come? Who knows? There may be a time far down the road when a CGC graded comic is no more valuable than an ungraded copy of the same quality. Heaven forbid that this ever happens! But as long as people continue to become registered CGC collectors I just can't see this ever becoming a reality. So with that in mind. I want to say THANK YOU for all of you who have been registered for years and THANK YOU to every single new registered member that has joined up! As long as you continue to promote this hobby with your inclusion and enthusiasm we dont have to worry about the worst EVER coming to pass! Below is a picture of my copy of Caspers Ghostland number 3! Ive never put my picture of this issue up on a journal before so here you go! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

What if... you discuss it on the chat boards? I gotta tell you. I was surprised to see so many 9.8 copies of What If going off on auction at Comiclink.com last week! This is a series that I definitely want to get all of eventually. I dont know if I will ever be number one in the rankings on the set but that doesnt really matter to me as much as getting them all in 9.8! There have been a number of opportunities over the last three years for me to get some of these and I HAVE managed a few here and there. But this is the first time I have had the chance at so many all at once! I took a real stab at the number one issue that was also present in that auction. I put in a max bid of 236 but didnt get it. Oh well. I will get another chance somewhere down the line. There were a couple of others I was also outbid on that I just wasnt willing to pay that much for but I DID manage to get my hands on 8 of them! Some I got for less than 35 dollars each! Check out the copy of number 21 below! I got it for 32 dollars! This is just one example of the 8 issues that I managed to win! Go check out my set now. I have made some changes in the set description and individual issue descriptions in order to keep things interesting for everyone. Many of the issues have brief story summaries and ALL of them have pictures and other info on them! I will endeavor to continue to add things to each of the issues I have as well as the ones I hope to get soon. Just ask yourself one question. WHAT IF I DONT LOOK AT HIS ISSUES? To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

What percentage are you? OK. First of all this journal is just for fun. Just to throw something out there for you to think about and respond to. Dont send a reply based on what you think others would say about you but on what you honestly feel about yourself. Do you know the TV show The Big Bang Theory? How about the Sheldon character? All right. Sheldon is the Absolute 100 percent UBER EXTREME example of what would be considered the eternally child like OCD perfectionist techno junkie science and comics geek. I dont think thats an official stereotype term but you get the idea. I was just curious how everyone else feels they compare to him percentage wise. Im not talking about the actor who portrays Sheldon but the Sheldon character as he is portrayed on the show. I will go first and say that I am probably about 55 percent on the Sheldon Scale. In some areas I am practically 95 percent and in other areas I am more like only 15 percent so I will put myself at just above the halfway point. I encourage everyone who reads this journal and knows the Sheldon character to reply and be bluntly honest. Remember that Sheldon is the 100 percent that you are comparing yourself to. Where do you rate percentage wise on the Sheldon Scale in your opinion? Why do you feel this way? Remember that this is just to get everyone involved in a topic and in no way is meant to pass judgment on anyone. I am truthfully just interested in how others view themselves on a scale like this. I will say up front that I am grateful for every comic book and CGC collector who is registered on this site. You make this hobby fun and exciting to all of us other Sheldonites out there. Thanks everyone! I will show part of the area on the Sheldon Scale where I am probably closer to the 100 percent category by presenting you with a picture of one of the Marvel Graphic Novels that I recently acquired. Check it out below! I am overjoyed at getting such a great copy of this even though most people might not even give it a second thought. Send in your replies and lets have fun reading everyones responses. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

pleeeeeease add it Gemma! There have been a number of occasions where I have realized that something was missing in the registry. It may have been a set that I felt was worth adding. Especially if I had just acquired a number of them. It may have been a mistake that needed to be rectified. It also may be a particular issue that I thought should be added to an existing set. There are moments when Im browsing through the registry and a giant light bulb goes on above my head. BLINK! EUREKA! Why hasnt anybody else realized this before? I immediately send a message to Gemma to announce my concern. I will tell you right now that Gemma reads your messages and always responds to your concerns. Nine times out of ten Gemma will do what you are asking as long as it is a reasonable request and wont cause a huge uproar from all the other registered collectors. For over three years I have had at least a dozen requests and Gemma has come through for me on all but one of them. THANK YOU GEMMA! YOU ROCK! Its a wonderful feeling to know that something exists on the registry because of something you noticed. One example of this is when I noticed that the Buffy The Vampire Slayer set category only had one slot for each numbered issue whether it was the art cover or the photo cover or whatever. I asked Gemma if it would be possible to put each variant in its own slot so that you could get registry points for each cover variant as well as be able to show off each of your copies with individual pictures. It wasnt even a week before Gemma had done exactly that! Hooray! I was so happy even though I actually dropped one rank once the change was made. The issue shown below is another example of something I just recently noticed. This is my Western Penn pedigreed 9.8 copy of Marvel Team Up 100! It is centered perfectly. It features Fantastic Four and the Xmen. It is also a key issue in two ways. It is number 100 and it features the origin and first appearance of Karma who later would become a founding member of The New Mutants. Being a GIGANTIC New Mutants fan this was a copy of this issue I just had to get. And I DID! What a great comic book to have! It is registered into my Marvel Team Up set but I just realized that it also qualifies for another set and isnt listed in it! The Marvel Copper Age 1st Appearances set has issues dated before this one like Amazing Spiderman 210 from November of 1980. This issue is from December of 1980 and has an arguably more important 1st appearance than Madame Web. Now that I have noticed this I will present it to Gemma for consideration. I hope Gemma comes through for me again. pleasepleaseplease! What are your experiences in discovering errors missing sets or additions that you felt needed to be resolved? Did you talk to Gemma? Did Gemma come through for you? How did YOU feel when something was initiated in the registry because of your suggestion? To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

A whole bunch of em! I always keep an eye out for Marvel Graphic Novels to show up somewhere in 9.8 WP so I can try to get them for my set but they rarely show their pretty little heads. Then suddenly a whole bunch of them showed up on Ebay a few days ago. I HAD to try for them and in the end I got all but four that I bid on!! These are extremely rare to find graded. There are mostly only one or two of each of them even available in 9.8. Here was a chance to get a huge lot of them all at once. And all of them were in 9.8 WP condition! Even with being outbid on four of them I managed to acquire 14! AWESOME! I have entered them into my set but none of them have even been posted to the census yet so they will be added as soon as they are verified. Here are the copies I got: #6 Star Slammers #11 Void Indigo #13 Starstruck #14 Swords of the Swashbucklers #16 The Aladdin Effect #24 Daredevil #25 The Alien Legion #26 Dracula #28 Conan the Reaver (see below) #33 The Mighty Thor #36 Willow #nn Cloak and Dagger and Power Pack #nn Conan the Barbarian #nn The Black Widow It is always nice to be able to fill multiple spots in a set you are putting together. Especially when many of the individual issues are so rare to see graded at all let alone in the top grades. Man I love this hobby!!!!!! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Finally going to do it... I have been an associate member of the CGC for over three years now and have NEVER taken advantage of being able to send in my own comics for grading. I know.... ridiculous right? It is even more ridiculous when considering that I live in Tallahassee Florida. Sarasota is not very far from me so it is no big deal to drop off and pick up the comics I would send in. This saves me a considerable amount on shipping especially when I coordinate the trip with a trip I already have going on in the general area anyway. Well all that is about to change. I have a little over 70 comics I am preparing to send in for pre screening! These come from the few comics I saved aside from selling off ninety percent of my collection about ten years ago. I wish I had never done it now but thats water under the bridge. A little over half of the issues I am sending in are Daredevils and the rest are various issues. I WILL NOW TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO SEND A HUGE SHOUT OUT TO RONNYLAMA!!!! He looked through my collection and picked out nine issues from his collection to send to me for grading to help me out! He even sent me a graded issue I needed to complete one of my sets! WOW! He asked for nothing in return and I cant possibly be more grateful to him. I wish goodness and blessings on him for the rest of his life. YOU ROCK RONNYLAMA! Now here is a list of the issues I will be sending in for pre screening. Daredevil 175 188 205 217 223 228 233 234 235 236 238 240 241 242 243 245 247 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 265 266 271 273 282 295 300 304 305 306 380 Marvel Authentix number 1 sketch edition Man Without Fear 1 2 3 4 and 5 Daredevil and the Punisher Childs Play Graphic Novel Ghost Rider Wolverine Punisher Hearts of Darkness Graphic Novel Vigilante 2 3 6 19 28 47 Booster Gold 9 24 Longshot 1 Moon Knight v3 1 Star Wars 55 69 What if v1 47 Wolverine 1 2 Spider Woman 50 Spawn 1 2 3 4 5 Punisher 1 Anita Blake Guilty Pleasures 1 Sketch Cover NEW MUTANTS 47 this is one RonnyLama sent to me and I really hope comes back in 9.8 so that I will only need two more issues to complete my set!! Each of the issues listed above will be pre screened to 9.8 or better. I am positive that one of the daredevils in particular will achieve a 9.9! I am also sending in three issues to get graded no matter what grade they achieve. These are Daredevil 168 Amazing Spiderman 300 Transformers 80 And three issues from prior to 1980 Doctor Strange 1 Micronauts 1 Marvel Two In One 3 On top of all this I will also be sending in about 6 of my graded comics for reholdering. Once these are all completely done I still have over 50 issues of Daredevil left to send in at another time! But these are all I will do for now. I will probably get them turned in around the middle to end of October. Until then I will get the paperwork all ready. I hope my first venture into submitting my own comics goes well. I am a perfectionist at heart so we will see how many of these things reach 9.8!! THANK YOU RONNYLAMA! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Was it because of the holiday weekend? Have you ever tried to win an auction on a comic during a holiday and wind up getting it for really cheap? HOLY COW you might have thought to yourself. HOW DID I GET IT FOR THAT CHEAP? I have noticed that on certain days of the year and on holiday weekends that people generally are too busy with family and traveling and other things to be paying much attention to an online auction. In the past I have managed to get some extraordinary deals on stuff during these times. Some of these days include New Years Eve and Christmas Eve and Day among others. Has this ever happened to you? It certainly has for me! This Labor Day weekend was no exception. I just acquired an early issue of Little Dots Uncles and Aunts for an RP/AP ratio of X8!! This is only the second 9.6 ever graded and none have achieved 9.8. The other 9.6 sold for over $90 and had worse page quality. I got it for $40. Say what? Did he just say what I think? Oh yes! $40!!!! This thing values in Overstreet at $75 in raw 9.2 condition! It is #7 and puts me halfway to having the first ten issues of this set. Check it out below! I know not everyone are Harvey fans or collectors but this thing is coming up on 50 years old! I was blown away by the ending price! Then I realized it was Labor Day weekend and it hit me. That must have been why. It has happened so many times before to me that I know it has to be true. What are your experiences in regards to this? Ever noticed it yourself? To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

SIGS SIGS SIGS! When the registry awards were coming up for this year I really tried to get myself back into the top position for my New Mutants set that I had lost to TNerb only a few months prior. Both TNerb and I only needed three more issues to complete the set at the time. I knew it would come down to finding some SS copies of issues I already had in order to make up the difference. But that means I am limited to what happens to show up. I tried a couple of times for signed copies of #87 and #98 but never did manage to win any of the few that popped up. I was a little limited on what I could spend at the time. It was so frustrating. The one shining point of light during this time (other than TNerbs continuing to try and help me) was winning an auction for ONE HECK OF AN OAK! Getting a signed-and-top-graded issue of a series I collect is wonderful in and of itself. Getting a multiply signed copy is even MORE UPLIFTING! I managed to win an auction for a TRIPLE SIGNED COPY of New Mutants #95 (see pic below)!!! SO COOL! There is only one other 9.8 SS copy of this issue out there and it is owned by TNerb. His is signed by Rob Liefeld. Mine is signed by Rob Liefeld (artist), Louise Simonson (writer) AND Tom DeFalco (editor of the issue)!! Unbelieveable! I may have lost the top ranking on this set for the registry awards this year but acquiring THIS Top-Of-The-Heap issue certainly helped to alleviate some of my frustration! Getting back on track with my endeavors now thanks to TNerb and RonnyLama is ALSO A HUGE HELP! Ultimate thanks to both of them. They are two of the best friends a CGC collector could ask for! U GUYS ROCK!!! LONG LIVE CANNONBALL!!! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Gotta get it back! OK here is the deal. I congratulate TNerb on getting the Best Copper Age award this year on his New Mutants set. He has managed to barely surpass my total registry points on this set for the first time. Mine are all 9.8 or better while his is the same with two exceptions. My Graphic Novel #4 is 9.8 while his is only 9.4. His #1 is a 9.9 While mine is a Gem Mint 10!! Here is where the difference lies. I have all but three issues to go to have them all. He has only two more to go. This is only a 25 point difference and by itself is not enough to turn the tide. The real difference is because he has at least 32 signature series copies while I have only 14 so far. I have to say I am kinda irked that he got the award I have been hoping for with this set for three years. I did not think CGC would grant the award for this set until there was an obviously dominating leader. Being that there was only a 41 point difference at the time of the awards for a larger set I was pretty shocked that they went ahead and awarded it to him. But with that said TNerb and I have worked with each other on both of our sets. I have led him to some of the ones he needed and he has done the same for me. I cant be mad at him. He is a collector and lover of this series just as I am. We both have fond memories involved with this set and have worked together to help each other. I THANK YOU FOR THAT TNerb!! I really do. At the same time I cant help but wonder what CGC was thinking when they gave this award for such a closely contested set. Anyway part of the issue with me is that I have been on a Harvey comics collecting kick lately and just havent seen any signed copies of these come up. That is until recently. In the last week two signed copies reared their lovely heads! A 9.8 WP SS copy of #89 signed by Rob Liefeld and a 9.8 WP SS copy of #85 signed by both Rob Liefeld and Todd McFarland (see pic below)!!! I now have a renewed interest in taking back my three year domination of this set. Getting signed copies of #87 and #98 are among the biggest things I can do to achieve this. I have made a couple of attempts at these on previous auctions and just havent quite managed to win any yet. Isnt competition fun? LETS DO IT!!! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

I feel like Oliver Twist with this set. Where the heck are they?? When I was growing up I was always a far bigger fan of Marvel comics over DC comics. There were only a few characters or series of DC comics that I ever had any real interest in. My top ranked CGC collection of the original Booster Gold series shows that he was one of them. But another one was the 1983 Vigilante series. I cant really explain why this is the case. I just really liked the Adrian Chase character and the story lines he was involved in. There were 50 issues and 2 annuals published. Thats 52 issues total. But when it comes to CGC graded copies its slim pickins. How many different issues have EVER been graded? 16. Thats all. And even worse how many of those issues have achieved 9.8 status? Just 12! That sucks! For example my #23 is the only 9.8 copy out there. This is a series that I would just love to eventually put a full 9.8 graded set together of. But since it is not a highly sought after series it seems like an impossible fairy tale. I have been extremely lucky in being able to acquire 5 of the issues in 9.8 including BOTH annuals. In fact when I recently got annual #2 (see pic below) it wasnt even listed in the set category. I had to get Gemma to add it which she quickly did. Thanks Gemma. I cant begin to explain how ecstatic I was to see this thing show up for auction. It didnt wind up costing me much at all and I was over the moon to get it. Without something to successfully spur on increased interest in this character I will probably never finish this set....... but it wont stop me from trying. PLEASE GIVE ME MORE!!!!!!!! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.