n2wdw

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take really nice books Rick!

When we got home, the first evening, I had a martini and then a bottle of wine (shared with the wife). The wife said, "You're drinking too much!" I told her I was drinking less than on the ship. She didn't have a come back because it was true!

I just got off a cruise so I'm very jealous!

What a great find! I'm on the east coast so we go to Disney World in Florida and we are big fans. We own their time share (called the Disney Vacation Club) and used to go 2-3 times a year when the kids were younger. My oldest, who is 23, has been over 20 times. Now with the kids grown up we go every 2-3 years. But still we love it. In fact that's the origin of my name, in to Walt Disney World -- n2wdw.

Matt Baker's Midget Comics A few weeks ago I was surfing eBay and found a restored Midget Comics #1 (cover by Matt Baker). The grade was 7.5 and the restoration was the type acceptable to me, and most of all, the price was discounted to reflect the fact that it was restored. That's not always the case. If you don't believe me, do a search on eBay of "CGC restored" and you will be amazed by the high prices on many restored books. Anyway, the seller on eBay was Lone Star. So I immediately went to the Lone Star site, because their prices are always lower on their site. Yes, you often have to pay a consignment fee and shipping, but usually it's cheaper than buying on eBay (in fact, I can't remember a time when this wasn't the case). Here's the book: So now I actually have 2 copies of this somewhat rare comic. I found my first copy last year. In fact, just weeks before I bought the restored CGC copy, I sent my raw copy to CGC so soon I'll have 2 slabbed copies. Here's my first copy:

I didn't know that, but it makes sense. Mopsy was also in newspaper strips, and they are reasonably priced on eBay. Here's one from my collection.

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Mopsy Sometimes I feel like I'm the only person in the world who collects Mopsy. Okay, she's not blonde. But then, I think most polls have Veronica over Betty ,,,, Anyway, I'm slowly building my graded Mopsy collection. Copies in any grade are not frequently offered. Here's my collection so far:

On that #5, you've got good taste!

I went to NYCC last year. I went to SDCC this year. They are fun. As I like to say, a day at any con is better than a day at work. But this con sounds like so much more fun. Thanks for your report!

I'll take Sissi 76, 78, 79, 12

GI Jane I can't remember if I posted about this already -- but about a month ago a bunch of GI Janes were offered on eBay. There were a couple of higher grade copies (VG+ / FN-) that I didn't win, but otherwise I won the issues I was bidding on. They weren't cheap, but considering the prices I've seen over the last 18 months at cons, I think I got them for market (or maybe a little better than market). Here are the ones I got:

Thanks Piper. Yes, it was a great vacation. Only wish it was longer!

Cruising Provence and the Italian Riveria - Part 3 I have 2 new favorite drinks that came out of this vacation. First is a Campari spritz. You can also make it with Aperol (for a sweeter taste) as well as the local Select. A simple recipe -- 3 parts prosecco, 2 Campari (or Aperol or Select), and 1 part soda water, with an olive on a stick to mix it. In Venice they sell it for 3.5 euros, a huge bargain. They sell it all over Italy. This is a picture from Lucca. Here's the version of the Campari spritz on the boat. They were disappointing compared to Venice. Not enough prosecco, and I had to ask for the olive stirrer. And ideally the stirrer should be a long stick with one olive at the end. The ship also had a dry martini called the Vesper, from the first Daniel Craig Bond movie. The recipe on the ship had equal parts vodka and gin, but of course fans of the movie will know that it's 3 measures gin, 1 vodka, half measure of Lillet, shaken over ice. The Vesper was very easy to drink. I probably had too many. I want to make it at home, but the Lillet is hard to find. Here's the bartender (Dennis) from the ship, with my last Vesper before disembarkation the next morning. The ship was all-inclusive, but they had a list of premium drinks you could buy. They had a Sam Adams Utopia for $350! What the heck? I'm not a beer drinker but $350 for a beer? I'll show just one food picture. In Antibes France, one of our cruise mates got this spaghetti carbonara at a small restaurant in the square. What set it apart from others is the raw egg on top. I was wishing I'd ordered it! I still collected while on vacation. I was pleasantly surprised to win these two Star Spangled Mlle. Marie comics on eBay. I wonder if the character is cooling off? More likely, I probably just got lucky to be one of the few collectors who happened to be looking at the time.

Cruising Provence and the Italian Riveria - Part 2 I managed to add a few comics to the collection while on vacation (the ship had decent internet). One was from @Ricksneatstuff, Captain Flight 5. What a crazy cover! As often the case with GA comics, there are no stories in the comic that relate to the cover. I also won this pulp on eBay. It fits the "girl tied to a wheel" GGA bondage category.

Cruising Provence and the Italian Riveria - Part 1 I haven't been posting in a while because I've been traveling for work. I had to go to Sofia Bulgaria and then Heidelberg Germany. Then my wife met me in Venice. We stayed a few days there, and then went on a cruise of Provence and the Italian Riveria. Yeah, I have to say, lately life doesn't suck. I won't bore you with lots of pictures of our vacation. I'll just show a few. First, in Heidelberg, we went to a restaurant called Schnitzelbank that specializes in (duh) schnitzel. The portions are huge. Here's my order, schnitzel with mushroom gravy. Here's an itinerary of our cruise, going from Rome to Marseille. I'm a big bourbon fan, and the bars in our ship had an entire menu of Manhattans! Not all with bourbon, one was even made with tequila. Some of our cruise mates sampled all of the selections. I just managed a few. Finally, here are me and my wife at dinner in Venice the night before we boarded our cruise.

I'll take these Lorna's if still available, thanks Classics Illustrated #32 HRN 166 Lorna Doone. New painted cover, Baker interior. Same splash as previous painted cover. VG $5 Classics Illustrated #32 HRN 165 Lorna Doone. Baker interior. GD- due to staining. $3 Classics Illustrated #32 HRN 150 Lorna Doone. VG+, Baker interior. $5

Taking Pictures of CGC Books I'm forever trying to take better pictures of my CGC books. My legal size HP scanner does an okay job but the pictures come out a bit too dark for my liking. I like the high resolution of my iPad Pro, but it's difficult to eliminate the flashes. Here are 2 examples. To avoid flashes, I have to angle the books. Another problem is reflections. I find both of these pictures disappointing. I think I've found a solution. It's a combination of 3 things. First, a photo box that you can get on Amazon. It costs about $75. Second, you need a tripod for your iPad or iPhone. Third, you need a Bluetooth trigger so you can stay out of the picture (and avoid reflections). Here are 2 examples of pictures I took yesterday. I think they look a lot better. Thanks for reading.

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Is that a black and white cover?

Patriot - Thanks for stopping by, and for your question. It's always nice to see that people other than @Robot Man reads this from time to time. As for Casper, I rigged up a CGC display that I screwed into a shelf. I can store about 10-15 slabs there, and I rotate the one in front for display. At the moment I've got the Casper there. In the background you can see my "Say Anything" Lloyd Dobler figure signed by John Cusack (at WW Philly last year). After many years of searching, I finally found an affordable Richie Rich #1 last year. I've also got an affordable Little Dot 1. This is the first appearance of Richie and Little Lotta, so for me it's a super major key. I store the 2 books on this shelf. The Little Dot is behind the 2 Murano wine glasses. At the moment, Richie #1 is behind Little Dot #1. Thanks for reading!

Using a Tripod to Get Better Pictures of the Comic Room Recently I bought a tripod for my iPad, to get better pictures of my comic room. The room is packed pretty tight so it's hard to get good angles when I'm holding the iPad. With the tripod, the angles are much better. Also with the Bluetooth trigger I can avoid reflections of me in the pictures. Here are a few examples.