F For Fake

Great thread! Chuck has good taste in comix AND gals. Keep 'em comin'!

Nice corner! But beware, they're infectious, and have a habit of spreading out into surrounding areas!

I know we've discussed this over in the copper forum before, but the thing (for me) that separates Art Adams from those that followed (McFarlane, Liefeld) was that while his illustrations were exaggerated and "cartoony", there was a fundamental understanding of anatomy and composition underlying the illustrations. Liefeld was all flash, with no foundation beneath the "style".

@Jordysnordy sorry, I just saw this! It hasn't happened often, but it has happened more than I would like, and instances are seemingly increasing. Basically, the buyer contacts me with their sob story about why they can't pay...or sometimes it's not even a sob story. More and more, what I get is a straight up "Oh, I don't really want this." It's very frustrating how etiquette has taken a dive in recent years on eBay. At any rate, they make the request to cancel. At that point my options are 1. Go ahead and cancel, get my fees refunded and then have to relist the item or offer to the next highest bidders (at which point the item looks like "damaged goods", or fishy at best), or 2. Tell them I'm not canceling, and that they can either complete the transaction or take an unpaid item strike. This process is lengthy. First I have to wait several days (I think four?) before eBay will allow me to open an Unpaid Item claim. Once I've done that, the buyer then has, like, another 7 days or so to pay. At the end of that, if they still haven't paid at the end of that time, I can close the transaction, get my fees refunded, and they then get an Unpaid Item Strike. I believe after three strikes, their account can be suspended. So, like I said before, at one time I would have just gone through the entire unpaid item strike process, sitting around for nearly two weeks before I can move on. But anymore, it's just not worth the time. I cancel the transaction, get my fees refunded, relist the item, and BLOCK THE BUYER! It's frustrating, but it lets me get on with my life rather than stew over it for a couple of weeks. There is no way for sellers to leave negative feedback for buyers at all, unfortunately. Only buyers can leave negative feedback.

What great stories, memories and books! I only got to meet Dave once, at DragonCon, in the late 90's I think (maybe early aughts.) I just happened across his table in artist alley, and there wasn't anyone else around. I was amazed that he was just THERE, hanging out, eating a sandwich. This is DAVE FREAKING STEVENS! I saw him and noticed he was eating and told him I'd come back, but he insisted that it was fine and so I got to talk to him for a minute, bought some prints and posters which he signed. If I'd had any inkling that he'd be gone so soon, I'd have talked to him a lot longer, but in those situations I always feel like I'm wasting the artist's time, and I get a little tongue tied, so i try to just get in and out without embarrassing myself. But I'm so glad I got to meet him and he could not have been more gracious.

Also, I've said it before, but while Liefeld is obviously challenged in many areas (basic anatomy and any rational understanding of how the human body WORKS being the most apparent) there's no denying that when his stuff hit the stands, it was fresh and new, and even kind of exciting. It doesn't hold up at all, and believe me I'm not going to try to make any sort of strong argument in his favor, but I remember being captivated by his issue of What If, with Wolvie as part of SHIELD. That cover popped off the stands, and I liked it a bunch as a kid.

This cover is always such a great illustration of how Kirby could convey motion and action on a static page. He was the best at it. The forced perspective of Cap looming in the foreground, while the "ground" is tilted at an angle, really gets across the idea of forward momentum. You can almost FEEL Cap running towards you.

They collected a bunch of them in a couple of the Showcase Presents phonebook style trades, collecting 1-50 and the annual. They're black and white, but they're better than nothing!

I'm honored!

That's a good idea too. I hold onto every scrap of packing material I receive, unless they're totally trashed. Boxes, mailers, boards, bubble wrap. You can save a fortune if you're a supply miser!

I'll take the credit, regardless!

Finding out that I could buy pre-cut cardboard CHANGED MY LIFE, lo those many years ago, and I wish I'd known even sooner. Cutting cardboard was the absolute pits, and I hated every second of it. It's definitely worth whatever pittance they're charging to have someone else cut 'em, for sure. Life's too short!

FWIW, as a seller, I HAVE had winners contact me IMMEDIATELY after an auction ended, with various sob stories, asking me to cancel the sale. There was a time when I'd make them go through the whole process of waiting for them to not pay, opening the eBay case, etc. Because I was petty like that. But these days i tend to just cancel it immediately and offer to the next highest bidders, just to get the sale complete and off the books. So, this sort of situation may seem suspicious, but isn't necessarily what it seems. if the other items all look legit, chances are this one was as well.

Also, USPS priority boxes are made out of some flimsy shizzle. It would take you three or four boxes to reach the thickness of a decent cardboard pad.

I use comic pads from gemini supply. You can get them at their site or on ebay.

As for Stan Lee, I would only buy a Stan figure if they also eventually made a Jack Kirby action figure, so I could pose Jack kicking the snot out of Funky Flashman.

So glad it turned out ok! I love MASK and Firefly was one I had and loved as a kid! I need to grab another one at some point, but MASK doesn't pop up around here as often as the other stuff.

He's relatively tough, for this line. I think a carded Superman figure is the toughest/most expensive figure in the line, last time I checked. He was scarce even when he was new. I remember when my local Target (or may have been Zayre) got these figures in, and they had one of those floor to ceiling peg displays. I searched through what had to have been hundred of figures (definitely dozens) and found ONE Superman. So i think he still commands a good price. I'd say Two Face would be next. But like i said, none of them are super pricey, so even the hard to find ones shouldn't set you back more than $50 or $60, i wouldn't think.

This is correct, however, it only applies to CGC grading fees, so you can't apply it to shipping, or to CCS pressing, etc. So keep that in mind.

That's because most boardies know to respect and/or fear @DR.X. He's a good dude, he runs the Xmas contest, he's the Lord of Gifs, and no one in their right mind would want to tangle with him. Respect!

Here's a page that illustrates some differences and similarities between the Kenner Super Powers Superman figs vs the Toy Biz figs. https://www.superpowerswiki.com/kenner-super-powers-vs-toy-biz-dc-super-heroes-the-big-differences/ Hmm, the only ERTL toys I recall were the die-cast miniatures.

Awesome pick up! I love the electronic games of the 80's, so cool and detailed. I've had my eyes open for one of these for a while myself, but have yet to run across one. I did find a complete Omega Virus a couple of years ago, but sold it to a friend. Still a ton of fun to play. What a great era for games!

Interesting that it was implied that the molds were stolen. I'd always heard that Toy Biz had bought some of the molds from the Super Powers line, but that could be wrong. The Superman figure is very clearly based off the SP mold, minus the action feature. The action features were missing from most of the figures (Robin has the "karate chop") but they still have gimmicks. The Toy Biz Superman can't punch, but he has a magnet in his chest that makes him fall over when you place the "kryptonite" ring close to his body. And by that I mean the magnet is so weak that you pretty much just have to knock him over. The Penguin figure seems pretty clearly taken from the SP mold as well, though again, no action feature retained. It's like they took the molds, dumbed them down, made them less detailed. Two Face is obviously an original sculpt. Flash, GL, Hawkman, if they are based on the SP mold, they've been SUPER stripped down of any detail. So I'm not sure. But, as cheap and knock off as they were, I dig 'em. It's a small line, it's colorful, and they're cheap, so it's possible to collect the whole run for very little money. Trying to do the same with Super Powers will run you well into the hundreds, if not thousands of bucks.

That's great! You're halfway there! Two Face is one of the less common figures for sure. Great start, now you gotta catch 'em all! I legit loved that Robin figure as a kid. The grappling hook, the karate chop, the cape, it was just a great little toy.

Man, it's all cool stuff, but Schultz's stuff is so damned beautiful.