F For Fake

Agreed, old label goodness, I'd leave it as is.

Thanks for posting that, I was going to, but never got around to it. While it's not a style I personally dig, and I understand it may be jarring to the average collector of mainstream superhero art, he definitely has a lot of fans, so I'm sure this appealed to somebody. It's all about context.

Yup, this is the best way to do it. The boards introduced me to the idea many years ago, and I've never looked back!

Agreed. The rest are very unfortunate, and I object to SS in general, but that one looks spot on to me.

Well, I'm a bit of a hoarder on this stuff, but if I decide to let some shake loose, I'll let you know!

Blankets is a terrific book, it just sorta depends on what you're into. It's a beautifully illustrated (in a deceptively "simple", clean style), melancholic coming-of-age romance story, definitely pulls at the heartstrings. If that sounds like the sort of thing you might like, give it a shot!

For my personal collection, I don't collect slabs. Slabs are just for stuff I plan on selling. A raw book around NM usually suits me fine. So, yeah, I'll just keep digging, and one day find the few issues I need at a price I want to pay. In the meantime, I still buy every $1 AH book i run across (which means I'm well stocked on Valor! :cough:)

Ha, I just noticed that one, good eye. Why on earth would the Torch need a jacket. Is there a danger he might get chilly?

Wow, yeah, if you're chasing 9.8's, your wallet probably hates you! Ha For my personal collection, I'm satisfied with raw NM books that present well, I'm not really worried about the nosebleed grades. But even raw, there are still some eye-popping prices on a few titles. I got lucky and managed to re-complete my WW and Catwoman runs for about a dollar each, but the variants are gonna be a pain. I got my original Supergirl/LoSH variant for cover price in my holds back when it came out. Coughing up a few hundred for it now is gonna sting...which is why I haven't done it yet!

Personally hoping for a crash, so I can finish my set (again.) I had a more or less complete collection of all of his stuff, and this was back when you could find most of it in dollar bins. Sold it all when I sold my entire collection about 15 years ago or so. Got back into it a few years ago, and rebuilding hasn't been cheap!

So cool! My LCS had one of these back then, and indeed, they had statues inside. I'd love to have one of these, have no idea what I'd do with it though!

Thanks guys, appreciate the input! I was leaning towards returning the piece, and have done so. It looks like prices are holding steady on eBay right now, so I may hold off and see if one comes up as a true auction. I love the piece, but honestly it was the only X-Men statue in my collection, and didn't really fit my Bat-dominated theme, so if I can't replace her, it won't be the end of the world. I'll keep my eyes open though!

What, no love for the AH covers??? Adams covers are copper classics, hands down, but I agree, Lightle's run was stellar. However, I only pick up the Mignola and AH covers when I see them cheap, and I buy all of them that I can find.

Having eBay's GSP hub located here in Kentucky (they're in Erlanger, which is fairly close to Cinci; I'm in Louisville) is terrific because I am selling much more via international, but since I only have to ship it a few counties over, the shipping cost to me is very, very small.

Very sorry to hear this, take care, sir.

DH will presumably continue to hang on to the Mignola-verse, and they also seem to do a lot of business with manga, and merchandising (game of thrones, video game tchotckes, etc.) I think they have enough properties to stay afloat. They've been doing this for a long time now, they know what's up.

Impulse buy at the LCS last night when I was picking up my holds. It's just a mid-grade reader, but the price was right.

A response wouldn't just be nice, it would be the absolute least they could do. Like, the most basic level of customer service. Ignoring it all together is just nuts.

Speaking of QC, my Jean Grey Phoenix showed up a week ago with a broken flame. Contacted SS to see if it was possible to exchange the base. Was told that they couldn't swap bases on these, and in fact, they had no other statues available to exchange. So, I could return it for a full refund, or I could keep it and get a $52 (strange number) credit which I can apply to any purchase, use with reward points, etc. I've been waffling on what to do. In addition to the flame being broken, the peg also doesn't sit perfectly in the stand, so she kinda leans to the left (her right.) It's not drastic, but it's there. And the same with the broken piece. I've already fixed it, and it's not perfect, but you literally can't see if when the statue is in place because it's directly behind her. But even if I can't see it, I KNOW that it's broken, and that kinda drives my OCD mad. So I am going back and forth on it. I have until the 16th to decide. I'd love to have this statue in perfect shape, but prices have already blown up on eBay, well past what I paid. But if I keep it, with the break I don't expect it'll ever be worth what I paid for it, if that. But, all that being said, it's still really pretty, so, I dunno. I have a couple of days left to mull it over. As to the question of SS's QC in general, I'd say that as far as I'm concerned, it's about the same. I've only had a handful of pieces show up mangled, so I've been fairly lucky over the years. In fact, until Phoenix showed up, I don't think I've had a messed up premium format piece since the Spider-Woman PF, so it's been a couple of years of good times...until last week.

Considering that the story came from a tabloid, and doesn't seem to have gotten so much as a whisper in the major media, I'd expect it'll be business as usual.

Agreed 100%, the answer all depends on why you're buying. Never a better time to buy mid-grade silver to keep and read, seems like tons of it is getting dumped right now. As for investments, I'm not sold on the idea that the keys can maintain these prices, but I never thought bronze keys like IH181 and ASM129 would get to where they are today either, so what do I know?

When I was a kid, I never really hoarded, because that extra 75 cents or $1 could be spent on another book that I'd get to read and own. The only time I can remember buying a second copy as an investment was the McFarlane Spider-Man issue featuring Ghost Rider. Can't even remember the number now, but I remember spending the extra $1.75 "because it may be worth something." Of course, it wasn't, but I guess it made sense at that time in my life. As an adult, I've made a few spec picks, but never more than 5-10 copies, and even then, nothing really comes to mind as having been that successful. However, as an adult collector, I love hoarding books from the dollar bins. For instance, I buy every copy of Ghost Rider 15 (with the glow in the dark cover) I can find for a buck or less, and as of right now have 30 or more, I'd say. It's not a spec pick, because the book is essentially worthless. But I hoard 'em because I love 'em. I've also got stacks of X-Men 1, Spider-man 1, and most of the 90's gimmick books, because they remind me of all of that gimmicky craziness of my youth. No one needs more copies of Jim Lee's X-Men 1, but when I can get them for 50 cents or less, I buy 'em. Makes no sense, but I just keep doing it, because I like it!

"Not many of these around" Now that is some prime, Grade A wildly_fanciful_statement. Definitely think the sales pitch helped on this one. And the claim that it's 9.8 in the bag, for one it's unlikely, and for two, it's impossible to tell. Someone got hosed.

Hmm, squishy, veiny boobs. I like it!

Mid-Ohio Con