MatterEaterLad

I think you might get hammered for the stuck pages. Like, it could end up a 5.0 that presents like a 9.6.

9.2

Hulk 1 looks like it's bottomed out. Hopefully not a plateau before another drop.

What grade do you think this would get if I press out that ding in the upper left?

10 years ago we had an "American Thanksgiving" in Italy. It was normal holiday fare, but it came out as courses. Brussel sprouts course. Mashed potato course. Stuffing course. Turkey course. So if you wanna shake up your holiday meal...

The Shooter stories in Adventure Comics were the first comics that totally hooked me. My plan is to someday liquidate my entire collection (except Legion books) and then spend time in my retirement years re-collecting all of those in higher grades than my readers.

I've passed out comics on Halloween for the past 10 years. I wasn't sure what the reaction would be at first, but it's overwhelmingly positive. Kids go door-to-door-to-door and get essentially the same thing. Then they get a comic, and there's definitely a WOW reaction. I usually have 3 piles of comics, so I'm giving kids stuff that's age appropriate and not freaking out parents. The one thing I didn't think would make that much of a difference was having lots of comics for girls--Wonder Woman, Supergirl, Ms. Marvel, etc. But it makes a HUGE difference. They're STOKED to get Supergirl. Also it's cool to pass out WW to a little girl that's dressed up as WW. I usually buy a small collection or two over the year and there's always extra stuff that's great reading, great art, but not worth my time to sell or keep, so I have a box set aside just for Halloween. Also, my LCS has a bunch of leftover comics from Free Comic Book Day each year, and he gives me the excess to pass out to kids.

SA still on the ropes. Which is why I keep buying.

Are you sure? I read that Goldin now issues 1099s, just like eBay. I think there used to be a non-report at HA for anything under $20k, but I thought that changed?

I'd offer it here first. No auction fees and you can avoid reporting the sale on your taxes. If you no one bites on the price you want, then go to one of the auction houses.

We're seeing the effects of 40 years of the direct distribution model.

I'm guessing this is another one. Seller has (0) sales. https://www.ebay.com/itm/394974955814

My first thought was Medusa as well, but her hair isn't nearly long enough.

I just talked to a former employee. To his knowledge everything from NJ was sent to Oregon when they closed. Was about 10 short boxes. He thought that any book sent in for resto, if the process hadn't begun, those books have been returned. It's the mid-resto books that are in limbo. He also said Mike is separating from his girlfriend and his operation was in her house

I have zero faith in the police in Mike's area. Back in August, my son had a van stolen in Portland and the police literally said they couldn't do anything. He had an AirTag in the vehicle and could track where it was, but it didn't matter. He and a bunch of friends went and stole it back. Not recommended, but that's what they had to do.

It's awful. I keep thinking that me and @Dr. Balls should drive out there with a list of everyone's books and see what we can find. But I fear a lot of books may be disassembled, worked on but not completed. Or that some were at his East Coast location when it all started falling apart and maybe those employees have them now? Or worst of all, that might have sold some books, not that he would admit it. Driving out there seems a little crazy, but what happens if he has another heart attack and dies. Some relative who knows nothing about comics is left in charge and may have no idea what they're worth?

I always forget that I have these (in average condition). They were in a closet. All but Luke, which I put on my lunchbox.

I think we're getting in the weeds about HOW it's done, but not discussing how often it's being done. I'm guessing this is pretty common then. But no one talks about it. Old email from Mike:

Here's the response to my initial email to Hero regarding the removal of trimming.

This is something I've wondered about. There seems to be some variance in how trimming has been noted. When a book has leaf-casting on the edge of a cover, if the excess is trimmed to bring the book back to its original size, does that go on the label as trimmed? I've seen it go both ways. I'm fine with either, I just wish it was more consistent.

I started a new thread over here, where it belongs.

I mentioned this in the Hero Restoration thread in Comics General, but the convo is worth having over here. Mike at Hero was apparently able to use dry grafting (not just leaf-casting) to "remove" trimming from a book CGC had previously graded as trimmed. I spoke with him at length about this and he quoted me a price to remove the trimming from my purple FF1 9.4 -- he said it's not a guarantee, but that he had sent previously trimmed books to CGC and they were unable to detect what he'd done and the labels would come back without the trimmed notation. After Mike and his business imploded, I reached out to Kenny Sanderson to see if he could do the same and his answer was, "Yes, this is in my wheelhouse, if it's a good candidate." My question is, how long has this been happening? Is this like the early days of pressing when people (and auction houses) were having books pressed and not really talking about it?

Who knows? Maybe the owner of that Bat 1 is a boardie and could share some insight? As far as lost in translation, when Mike imploded, I reached out to Kenny Sanderson who said he could do it as well, if the conditions were right, depending on the book.

That's my point. That's what Mike was actually doing. He was able to dry graft a trimmed edge and CGC could not detect it. He'd done it multiple times.