F For Fake

Well, it took nearly 3 months, but it was worth it! My haul from Spencer's holiday sale arrived today. Nothing brain-melting, but a few things I'm happy to have. 11 new pieces overall, Here are the highlights: I know not everyone loves JRJR, but I dig his stuff, and really enjoyed his new Cap run. Especially the stuff inked by Jansen, has such great energy. Reminds me of Kirby and Simonson. JRJR/Jansen Cap v Jet Black page. JRJR/Jansen Cap Jet Black shower scene Reis/Lanning Aquaman. Loved this run as well. Reis reminds me a bit of Alan Davis. Plan to pick up some more from this run. Booster Gold: Beetles fight! Demon Knights 1/2 splash Check the rest in my CAF gallery, linked in my sig. Thanks!

Well, it took nearly 3 months, but it was worth it! My haul from Spencer's holiday sale arrived today. Nothing brain-melting, but a few things I'm happy to have. 11 new pieces overall, Here are the highlights: JRJR/Jansen Cap v Jet Black page. JRJR/Jansen Cap Jet Black shower scene Reis/Lanning Aquaman Booster Gold: Beetles fight! Demon Knights 1/2 splash Check the rest in my CAF gallery, linked in my sig. Thanks!

Ok, block this nutball asap: 2012captainjack Won a Hot Toys Black Widow figure from me last week. Didn't pay, so after 4 days, the automatic Unpaid Item Assistant opened. After a couple of days of no payment or response, he messages me and says that his "PO took my phone" (what does that mean? Parole Officer?) so he hadn't been able to pay, and was it ok to pay now. I replied that it was fine, and if he went ahead and sent the Paypal payment, the unpaid case would automatically close, and I would ship the item, no big deal. So, no payment comes, and then the night before the case is set to close, he messages and asks if he can "still send Paypal payment". Again, I say sure, but to do it soon because eBay was about to close the case. So, of course, no payment arrives, and eBay closes the case and refunds my FVF. I add him to my blocked bidder list and go about my life. Later that same day, he sends a message saying that he hadn't been able to send payment because his mother had been admitted to the hospital. (If you check feedback he's left for others, this comes up often.) He said he'd sent me a money order. (Even though we hadn't discussed it previously, and I never offered that as an option). So, I reply that eBay has already closed the case, so he shouldn't be sending a money order. I ask him where he sent the payment. He replies that he sent it to me (doesn't say when or where). So, I tell him again that the case was closed, and that although I didn't really think he'd sent a payment, if he DID send it,I would return it to him. His reply to this was "Sent the money order to you...rip-off artist. You shall be penalized". Anyway, I don't know how he thinks he'll penalize me, since the case is resolved and closed I don't believe he can leave neg feedback for me. So as far as I know, I'm done with the guy, but I wanted to give you all a heads up. Again, review his feedback and you can see something isn't right. Thanks!

Some recent ebay purchases. Much closer to finishing up my set! Now if someone would just cough up one of the 2 9.8 graded copies of #2, I could be done!

+1 everything said above, and as a general rule, HT uses fabric for clothing, with accessories being hard plastic. Hair is generally sculpted, but there are a few rooted-hair exceptions like Black Widow. Not many, though.

That's a beauty!

Since everyone else was at Indy, I went to Lexington Toy & Comic Con, picked up some fun books. Hulks will be in the PGM thread momentarily, here's a group shot in the meantime. Low grade, beat but complete, just how I like 'em. A couple of DD readers A bunch of 10 and 12 cent readers, most of these were $2-$5, seemed fair Cool Swampy double cover A mess of 25-50 cent books And though I hadn't planned on having the schlep a giant box back to my car, couldn't pass up the price on the sold-out first run Ivy statue from Sideshow. Fun show. Very well organized and smoothly run considering how much it's grown.

The weird part is not everyone received the email notice. Right, I am on their mailing lists, never got anything. I also check FB pretty regularly and didn't see anything there either. I set up an eBay search follow, and got an email this morning. Two have been listed, asking prices are $999 and $1299. I'm thinking I'm not going to be getting one of these.

Well !

Balent Catwoman PF goes up tomorrow. Here's the comparison pic: Also, the Exclusive of the Cooke CW PF has been available again for a while, if anyone missed her the first time around. SST Excl Catwoman PF

Cheers. There was a time when nearly every HT piece seemed to skyrocket in price after a while. I think over the last couple of years they have increased their production numbers, so it is taking longer for pieces to sell out, and therefore longer for them to appreciate in value. But for most of the "blue chip" lines (Batman and Marvel in particular) once a piece is finally sold out, you will see the price start to bump up over time. Even something like the Captain America Star Spangled Man figure, which sat around on SST's site so long that it seemed like they couldn't give it away, is finally sold out and starting to show signs of life on the secondary market. Asking price is starting closer to its original retail costs ($200-ish) as opposed to the $125-$140 you could pick it up for just a couple of months ago. I wouldn't invest in HT like it's the stock market or anything, but as a long time HT collector (starting with the original Aliens Colonial Marines) I can say that I don't believe I've ever lost money on a HT piece, and if prices don't move, I've got something gorgeous sitting on my shelf until they do. As for Hulkbuster, the price is already so high that I'm really not sure how much higher it could go on the secondary market. There has to be a ceiling for what people will pay for a plastic toy (albeit an intricate and gorgeous plastic toy), and HB will be testing those limits. Could be that it's so prohibitively expensive that production numbers are lower, leading to sell out, leading to increased value. Or it could go the other way, meaning that cost is so high that sales are low, and it then sits on the SST website, waiting for Black Friday and Spooktacular discounts. I'm going to keep an eye on it. If they give a warning about low stock numbers, I may go ahead and pull the trigger.

Why did DD 1 have to start taking off just when I decided I wanted to own one again?

Went to a vintage video gaming expo today, had no expectations of buying comics. Surprisingly, a single vendor had about 4 long boxes. Nothing mind lowing, but not bad for a few bucks.

So glad someone bumped this, I was looking for this thread the other day. Good times. So, did this thing every actually "launch", or whatever it is that cyber playmoney does?

This. I treat Sideshow release dates the same way I treat CGC turnaround times. They're a suggestion, and little more.

(thumbs u

I declared raw value as $3000, so I got the minimum $150 charge. With shipping I think it came out to around $180.

And I promise this is the last thread I'll post this in today! Finally sent mine in last week, got it back today. Very happy, as it was kind of a coin toss whether it would end up 1.0 or 1.5

It's not perfect, but it's mine, and I love it. CGC somehow missed the imaging instruction on the invoice, so they're refunding that $5. Hence, the crappy pic here.

I love the Starlin/Lim run on SS. I pick them up whenever I can find them for a buck or so, and never have trouble flipping them (if I don't need them for my run). Terrific run of books, glad that the Infinity Gauntlet/Thanos hype has pushed them back into the spotlight.

That 1.8 is gorgeous! I just sent mine off to CGC yesterday. Holding out hope for a 1.5, but won't complain if it's a 1.0, considering what I paid for it. I guess we'll know sometime next week!

Cool! Dig the Sideshow Joe figures as well. I picked up a few during their Spooktacular and Black Friday sales. Storm Shadow came last week, still waiting on Major Bludd. Also picked up the Hot Toys Roadblock, as he was dirt cheap at the time. Wish they'd continued the line.

Too funny, I was jumping in this thread to mention The Great Escape myself! I started buying comics off the rack at a convenience store at the end of the street when I was a kid. In time my best friend told me about a store that JUST sold comics. Eventually his folks took us both there and my mind was blown. The posters on the walls, the smell of the newsprint, and the bins full of 25, 35 and 50 cent books! I was in heaven. After that I was able to talk my folks into taking me out there every other month or so. This was back when I could recycle aluminum cans and gather my meager allowance, head into the store with $5-$10, and walk out with armloads of stuff. I eventually ended up working there when I got out of high school, when I was about 19. A lot of fond memories of that brief year and a half as well. But when I go in there now, as a nearly 40-year old man, I still see the place through the eyes of 10-year-old me. I was visiting my Uncle in Franklin, TN and I could've sworn i went to this awesome shop called the Great Escape near Nashville. Had to be early 90's. They sold toys, records, anything pop culture. I'm sure you're right. They were a regional chain. I think the Nashville store was the original...if not, it was certainly the headquarters, at least when I was there. The Nashville store was almost more a record store than anything, but they did have a huge selection of comics and other stuff as well. I think they eventually spun off a second store in Nashville. TGE had other locations, though I can't remember all of them. I believe they took over Pac-Rats, which was...Bowling Green, maybe? The Louisville store is still going strong. I try to get in there every couple of weeks to look at back issues.

Too funny, I was jumping in this thread to mention The Great Escape myself! I started buying comics off the rack at a convenience store at the end of the street when I was a kid. In time my best friend told me about a store that JUST sold comics. Eventually his folks took us both there and my mind was blown. The posters on the walls, the smell of the newsprint, and the bins full of 25, 35 and 50 cent books! I was in heaven. After that I was able to talk my folks into taking me out there every other month or so. This was back when I could recycle aluminum cans and gather my meager allowance, head into the store with $5-$10, and walk out with armloads of stuff. I eventually ended up working there when I got out of high school, when I was about 19. A lot of fond memories of that brief year and a half as well. But when I go in there now, as a nearly 40-year old man, I still see the place through the eyes of 10-year-old me. Awesome! Love that place! Do you all remember the commercials they used to run on the local Louisville channels? Pretty sure it was Great Escape but whatever store it was the commercials showed off new stuff that they had got in and always had some guy dressed up in costume. Also, if memory serves me right there was another store in Frankfort which I think might have been another Great Escape. Truth be told though, I was a child of the 90's and I basically associated any comic store in the area with Great Escape since it's the only name I knew. Hmm, when I was there I know they used to run late-night ads that usually involved a flying saucer (like, very primitive CG animation) that would visit the store or something like that. I don't remember any costumes, though it's certainly possible. I DO remember that local chain Book and Music Exchange used to do lots of ads with people in weird wigs and costumes and such.

Too funny, I was jumping in this thread to mention The Great Escape myself! I started buying comics off the rack at a convenience store at the end of the street when I was a kid. In time my best friend told me about a store that JUST sold comics. Eventually his folks took us both there and my mind was blown. The posters on the walls, the smell of the newsprint, and the bins full of 25, 35 and 50 cent books! I was in heaven. After that I was able to talk my folks into taking me out there every other month or so. This was back when I could recycle aluminum cans and gather my meager allowance, head into the store with $5-$10, and walk out with armloads of stuff. I eventually ended up working there when I got out of high school, when I was about 19. A lot of fond memories of that brief year and a half as well. But when I go in there now, as a nearly 40-year old man, I still see the place through the eyes of 10-year-old me.