MatterEaterLad

I think we're on the cusp of seeing submissions slow down to pre-insanity levels, which should help TAT. No hard evidence. Just watching some popular books on eBay go from having 10 copies for sale to 40+. When those people can't sell their books they're going to be less enthusiastic about sending in more.

In the fine art world major dealers and auction houses regularly buy their own pieces to inflate values. They run to the press with stories of huge sales and then sell again a few years later. Total manipulation. Illegal? Sometimes. Unethical? Only if you have ethics, I guess. It's why I stopped collecting fine art despite being on the board of an art museum. This has been happening in other collectible arenas for years, but it's just now reached seven figure levels. A bunch of people are going to be stuck with some games that are worth a fraction of what they paid.

@Domo Arigato Saying "everyone does it," says more about you than I think you realize.

This has been happening in the fine art world forever. A group works together to pump prices on pieces they've hoarded, then they sell at artificially inflated values. I always had the feeling this was happening occasionally with comics and certain auction houses, but figured there's a broader general interest in comics, plus nostalgia, enough to keep the market fairly honest. I'm feeling pretty disenchanted these days as well. Which is weird because the value of my collection has doubled in the past year. I'm guessing that's why a lot of collectors and dealers put on blinders and just don't want to know.

We know that WATA forbid employees from having their own games graded because it's a conflict of interest. And then two of WATA's directors had a large collection graded, obtained a pedigree status, and sold it for record breaking numbers. WATA hyped it in the media without disclosing any of that. VGA has actually been around much longer. It was WATA's data leak that made their lack of a pop report so damning. The numbers conflicted with their constant promotion of ultra rate games, that just happened to be owned and sold by WATA directors. Seth Abramson and other data reporters have been digging into this long before the creator of that video. Worth looking at other sources.

There was clear proof of internal shill bidding at Heritage. Halperin lied about it and then had to dance when other depositions revealed the truth. Because of that I'm always leery of Heritage and their record-breaking sales in the games/comics/coin categories. I guess you're more trusting than I am.

Halperin's original coin grading company was shut down by the FTC and he paid more than a million to defrauded collectors. I'd say that's proof.

It's interesting how people bash PGX for staff and owners overgrading and selling their own books but turn a blind eye to WATA doing the exact same thing. Don't get me wrong, PGX still sucks. Just making a point. And if WATA were really ambassadors for their self-profiting bubble, I mean hobby, they wouldn't hide the population report. I'm sure it'll show up eventually, after the directors of the company have sold their own games.

It's pretty bad for WATA to state that no employee is allowed to have their own games graded for sale and then two of WATA's directors did just that -- with a massive video game haul that they acquired and WATA turned into a pedigreed collection that sold for record prices. Actually, it's not just pretty bad, it's a conflict of interest that wades deep into fraud territory. (I've said this forever about Halperin's financial interest in CGC, back in the day). For eight years I've been on the board of directors of a museum that has an annual art auction. Each year I have to sign an affidavit stating any and all financial interests related to the museum and if there's a conflict, I'm removed from the board. Clearly, WATA has no such ethical considerations. Halperin being an advisor is one thing. These other guys being directors is another, much larger, involvement in the company.

You should watch the rest.

Not just the books. I'm guessing the story has been embellished as well. I asked someone at Heritage how these books were stored, because these books are older than the Church collection and arguably in better condition. The guy treated me like I just asked if his mom would like a box of cancer. It's a legitimate question. I got no answer, just a regurgitation of the press release. Someone in another forum claimed to have figured out who the brothers were. He said their story checks out, but that several hundred of the comics were purchased by a dealer in the early 90s, so the original owner part of the story is a bit of a distortion. It makes a better (and more lucrative) story for these books to have been "discovered" instead of purchased years ago and in the hands of a dealer for 25 years.

I've had a few people buy a book and then I immediately get a registry request to let them transfer the book into one of their sets. I politely say that I'm happy to accept a transfer when I receive payment. I never received payment.

Never had a problem. But I've often showed the app to the owner so they can check it out.

https://www.collectorz.com/comic/clz-comics It was a pain to input all those books, but it's so nice now to be able to be in a LCS, see a book and then check my phone to see if I have it, why my grade is, the approx value, etc. Doesn't work well at big cons with terrible wifi.

I have 2800 comics in my CLZ app. Mostly Silver Age, with all the major Marvel SA keys. It's a great way to see a Dow Jones like index of comics. Prices are definitely cooling off and the blue chippers are bouncing around a bit. I think the year will end with everything being up 30% for me, but a lot of that is from about 25 key books.

But it's got WHITE pages. Should easily be a 0.6

I wish the would. I think it would relieve a lot of the anxiety around these issues. A little customer interaction can go a long way. People can bash the other place all they want, but Borock is on the boards. There's also a company presser posting before and afters on the boards and discussing the process.

I have no doubt this is what's happening. I also suspect high value books get lumped into the same QC as the rest. That being stated, the last 30+ books I've received have all been perfect. Now I just jinxed myself.

Interesting vid. I have a few verified slabs. They were all books purchased from the Gene Colan and Dave Cockrum estates, so I have no reason to doubt their authenticity. I worry more about fake Kirby and Ditko sigs because they're less common and more desirable. And I'm sure there are plenty of fake Stan Lee sigs by Keya Morgan or his daughter or whichever grifter was around Stan at the time.

Growing up in Seattle, this was my favorite store. Not the same these days, far more collectibles, far fewer comics, but great memories. Including one of my best friend buying TMNT #1 off the rack and accidentally leaving it on the monorail.

Matt Fraction and Kelly Sue Deconnick had a development deal for Sex Criminals. Not sure if the project is still alive or not.

I actually think it'll get slightly better in about a year. All these graded book will trickle into the marketplace, supply will outpace demand, and then prices will retreat, causing more selling (or the hope of selling). People will slow their roll and stop sending in as many books when the slabs they hoped to sell start to collect dust for lack of buyers.

Blackstone will make everything better.