Tony S

IMHO it falls into a gray area. It's not right that the LCS sold them knowing they were stolen. But it's not right either that they are expected to guard and keep safe said property for months. The OP's story was that the comic book store called the police multiple times asking about the status and received no reply. If the police want the stolen goods looked up for safe keeping for months, they should have taken said goods and put them in the police evidence lock up.

As I said, I cannot say I know 100% for certain. But there are different size inner holders. They may need the flaps on some inner holders to make ASM 300 fit just right - and not on others. Also with vintage comic books many varied considerably in actual size. Which is why measuring a comic book is not a reliable way to tell if it has been trimmed. So there well be a need for those flaps because the same book can vary by 1/4 inch or more in size.

CGC encapsulated books consists of two separate holders.... The exterior holder is the thick, rigid plastic holder. It's purpose is to keep the book from being damaged by handling. It also just looks nice The inner holder is softer plastic - basically a sealed, heavy plastic bag. It's made of archival plastic that is also used to package food and sometimes medicines. A polyethylene most likely like PETG. It used to be Barex but that is no longer being made. I cannot say that I know 100% for certain the purpose of what looks like flaps in the inner holder. I know that inner holders are manufactured in various sizes and I have always assumed the flaps are often used to keep the comic securely in place in the inner holder. So it won't slide around any - which if it did slide around might cause damage to the book. I've unslabbed hundreds, maybe over a thousand of CGC comic books and I've never seen one that had any damage from these "flaps"

As long as the weight is being supported by the box and not by the slabs, all should be fine for stacking 2-3 high. That means the box should be taller than the slabs Boxes designed specifically to hold CGC books should be a bit taller than the slabs.

Something not mentioned by the OP is just how much time expired between the call from the comic book store saying they had the books and then the comic book store selling them. Days? Weeks? Months? Years? It took time to get reciepts. It took time to get a new Detective. How MUCH time? The only time frame given here was "it took some time" for a new detective to be assigned. If the comic book store sold the books a few weeks later, it sounds as though they were trying to unload the books and not be out the money they had paid for them. If it was six months later after the comic store made repeated unanswered attempts at contacting the police about the status of the alleged theft and investigation, that has a a different feel to it. If the police wanted the books for evidence, why didn't they take them? And if the police only said "get together receipts and take them to the comic book store to pick up your books" - and the comic book store was informed of that - then why did it matter if a detective was currently assigned? Couldn't the OP just go to the comic book store with said receipts? I'm saddened when anyone's books get stolen and even more saddened when the thieves get away with it. If only a few weeks passed before the books were sold, that sounds bad. But if it was months then are business owners somehow required by law to be unpaid depositories of stolen goods while things drag out?

There is long, long thread here on the boards about scanners for encapsulated books. Basically you want a charge coupled device (CCD) based scanner, not a Contact Image Sensor (CIS) scanner. CIS scanners have no depth of field - the sensor can only "see" what is laying flat on the glass. CCD scanners can "see" about 3/8" past the glass. Since comic books are about 1/8- 1/4" inch away from the glass once encapsulated, you need that depth of field of the image is all fuzzy. A fuzzy image from being past the depth of field cannot be fixed via photo editing software. Virtually all new scanners that are large enough (legal size paper or greater) and cost less than a grand are CIS scanners. Because CIS is cheaper and smaller. What this means is older scanners on eBay and Craigslist are your friends. What I have is an HP Scanjet 8300. The HP 8000 series scanners are popular because they sold really, really well to businesses and government agencies. The last forever and for the most part you can nearly always find a few on eBay. Because they are government/business oriented, HP keeps the drivers up to date on their website. They work just fine with Windows 10 and the current Apple OS. There are other choices. But I have always found that the HP's are easiest to find and work with virtually any version of Windows and Apple OS

The short answer is no. It is more involved to CPR (Crack, Press & Resubmit) than it is to just submit a raw book. At the CGC submission portal, you are going to be selecting that you want to send the books to CCS for pressing. I would suggest paying the $5 extra for evaluation. CCS will look at the book and see if they believe it would improve from pressing (there is no guarantee of improvement. Just their professional opinion. If pressing is deemed beneficial, they will schedule it. Once pressed (several months unless you pay for faster service) they will then send the book over to CGC for grading and encapsulation. I do suggest you send already graded books in still encapsulated. The slab provides some protection during shipping and CCS does their evaluation with the book still slabbed. If they decide a book is not a good pressing candidate and you decide not to send it in for regrading, then they can ship you the book back still CGC graded.

Having seen pictures of the books, I don't believe the labels will have a big impact on the assigned grades. Some impact of course, but not a lot. Given these were books from your childhood - that you picked off the spinner racks and then labeled, I believe - as sorb3t mentions - that you should consider grading them as is. They have a great story and history

Many thanks to Ben (Odin Secrets) for the great gifts. Very generous and I LOVE them all!

I think some people are misunderstanding. CCS is the in-house pressing and restoration service of CGC. When Ovrclck says he got a signature and sent it to CCS, that suggests that book was pressed. Nice book. Hey Ovrclck, you a computer enthusiast too? Into overclocking?

You are 100% correct that Overstreet has Hulk 181 in 9.2 at a higher value than Cerebus 1 in 9.2. And Overstreet appears to be accurately reporting the market with those valuations. You present no facts whatsoever that in 9.4 or better that Hulk 181 is/would be more valuable than equivalent graded Cerebus 1. The facts support otherwise. There is are only two copies of Cerebus 1 in 9.4. One half of the total population of 9.4's have been sold in the past couple of years. Two years ago one of the two Cerebus 1's in 9.4 sold for double what Hulk 181 does in 9.4 If both copies sold would that somehow be more authoritative? There are ONLY two copies. You cannot have more data. Scarcity in collectibles does matter. What value scarcity has is speculation until sales occur. So you speculate a 9.8 Cerebus 1 would sell for $1000-$3000 more than the one 9.4 that sold. And I speculate it would sell for 3-4X the 9.4 price. WE will probably never KNOW who is right. But who knows, maybe a 9.8 Cerebus 1 will show up someday.

I think you don't know what a Straw man argument is. The topic of this post is questioning if Cerebus 1 is more valuable than Hulk 181. The OP thought that idea wrong... perhaps ridiculous "Really Overstreet?". I presented actual sales that said Cerebus is more valuable than Hulk 181 -in 9.4. And speculated from that data point that the same would hold true in the better than NM grades. If a Cerebus 1 was ever graded 9.8, it too would also sell for much more than Hulk 181 in 9.8. A straw man argument is where one argues against a view the other person DOES NOT HAVE. That is not what I did.

The print run for Cerebus 1 was 2,000 copies. The average circulation for Incredible Hulk in 1974 was I believe 250,000-275,000 copies. So the ratio starts out about 130 to 1. This all reminds me very much of the conjecture on these boards a few years ago - when Star Wars 1 was selling for over 2K in 9.8 - about how Star Wars 1 would someday pass up the value of Gold Key's Star Trek 1. That discussion ended abruptly when it was pointed out a 9.8 - the ONLY 9.8 - just sold for $40K. There are no Cerebus 1's graded higher than 9.4. IF a 9.8 ever appears and is auctioned off, the results will be just as mind boggling to the "this character is so much more popular" crowd as it was to all the Star Wars aficionados that could not with a straight face insist a 9.8 Star Wars was going to crack $40K ever. So walked away from the thread. There are 104 CGC graded Hulk 181's in 9.8 - and more on the way. In 9.4 and better, Cerebus 1 is going to sell for more than Hulk 181. In 9.8, it will beat what is left of Hulk's pant's off. Because while popularity matters in collectibles, so does scarcity. High end collectors that want to own the very best that don't even care about Cerebus would be in the bidding.

Maybe I should read all 70+ pages of this post so I don't repeat what others have said a zillion times??? Naaaa. The highest graded copy of Cerebus 1 is two copies at 9.4. The last time one of those 9.4's sold two years ago, it was for $9,000. Two years ago, Incredible Hulk 181 in 9.4 was a $4,000 book. CGC just announced they graded the 10,000th copy of Hulk 181. Cerebus has 207 graded copies. This is a good example of scarcity affecting price. Wolverine is a much more popular character. But his first appearance is a popular book, not a scarce one. Cerebus has a loyal following - and there isn't much available to them to purchase in any grade, never mind true NM. If a Cerebus #1 was ever graded 9.8 and auctioned off, it would sell for multiples of Hulk 181 in 9.8, just like 9.4's already do.

Two different services and technically two different companies. CCS and CGC. Both owned by CCG. But still two different companies. You pay CCS for the restoration removal. You pay CGC for grading and encapsulation. Two different bills. You pay for both. Welcome to the boards!

Yes. Staples could be replaced or cleaned. BUT if CGC detects the switch - and they almost certainly will - you will get a conserved grade. Not universal blue label. So a bad idea. At least as far as the value of the book is concerned. Under Overstreet Grading Guidelines, replacing or cleaning rusted staples is allowed. But none of the comic grading companies exactly follow the Overstreet Guidelines.

Technically, it's The X-Men until issue 142. Issue 142 added "Uncanny" Just sayin... With proper storage, rust on the staples will not get worse or migrate. By proper, I mean reasonable temperatures and humidity levels. If you feel hot and sweaty where your books are stored, the rust could get worse and migrate. If you comfortable, all should be good. While many collectors put rusted staples on their "IDK about that" list, ultimately a CGC graded 7.0 is a CGC graded 7.0. They are the grading professionals - and they took the staple rust into account when grading the book. If the price is fair and you want the book, go for it.

Yes, I've run into questions at the counter several times. I just tell them the postage was paid and printed via PayPal - as they can see on the label - and that PayPal has negotiated discounted rates on shipping. And it's not just these flat rate envelopes that are cheaper. Postage rates are less than USPS.com rates on nearly all packages. The difference in Express (next day rates) are sometimes pretty substantial. So far, the postal clerk scans it and says "OK". But most of the time it isn't an issue because most of the time I don't go into the post office to mail packages. I do the postage online via the link I listed and I had the packages with said postage attached to my mail carrier when he/she delivers my mail. Never leave the house. If it's not my regular carrier, I make a point of asking the carrier to be sure to scan the packages so tracking starts right away.

If you purchase your postage through Paypal, there is no difference in price between regular and legal flat rate envelopes. So no reason to look for a mailer that fits inside a regular flat rate or padded envelope. It is hard --- close to impossible - to find the shipping link on Paypal to just ship anything. So I saved a link on my desktop https://www.paypal.com/signin/?returnUri=https%3a//www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/webscr&state=%3fcmd%3d_ship-now

A replacement cover - like a reproduction - on a coverless book will get a NG. An original cover off another copy of AF 15 would get a married cover, qualified grade.

As you say, no bleed through. I think sending it to CCS for evaluation for both restoration removal and pressing is a good idea. That way you will actually know if it's practical to remove the CT. Just pay attention to your total costs.

Right now, we still are NOT being told that Marvel films and features will be exclusive to the new, upcoming Disney streaming service. I go watch Marvel's big screen releases at the theater when they come out. Should I miss one - or want to see it again - then I would rent the DVD when it comes out. So for me, the only thing that really matters is if Marvel will continue the deal with Neflix for series like Daredevil, Jessica Jones, etc... I currently stream my "cable TV" via Sony Playstation Vue. As for ESPN, I am not going to subscribe to a whole new streaming service just to watch Monday Night Football. If Disney wants to be my streaming service, they will have to win me away from Netflix and offer a service overall better than Netflix and their competitors.

Very, very common production defect on vintage books. No effect on grade on older books unless talking the 9.8 range.

If the book fits the criteria for the conserved label, that is what it will get if resubmitted.

I appreciate consistency over most other...approaches. ASM 361 was a horrible print run in terms of quality. Most issues have some tears along the bottom, at least the interior and usually one or two on the exterior. This was a production flaw, not from collectors. Since grading companies tend to overlook production flaws that are common with a book, then the ASM 361's should be 9.8 if otherwise 9.8 quality. Just my opinion, I understand how others might feel differently