Red Hook

But he does have an account on the user boards and has made posts in the past. Again, just for the record. Anyway, you can see why I never bothered to contact him to begin with.

BUMP. Just for the record, I did not receive a reply to my email to Jason Ewert last week. Did you hear anything from him, Murph?

Jason is of course under no obligation to give me the time of day. This isn't a witch hunt. It's an honest request for clarification.

I just emailed him this, through Ebay. Thanks anyway. Hi Jason, My name is Brad Hamann and I am the CGC board member who noted that the Daredevil 11 CGC 9.6 GreenRiver you had up for sale a few weeks ago, was definitely a resub of a CGC 9.4 that Shin Kao had auctioned off for charity a few months ago. Shin himself offered the opinion that the book might very well have been pressed. I know Shin, trust his eye, so I gave some validity to his theory. The issue of whether dealers resubmit books after having them professionally pressed in order to get a higher grade and thus garner a much higher profit margin, has been debated hotly on the boards for the last couple of weeks. I never contacted you personally after the book was withdrawn, because I assumed I was the last person you wanted to hear from at the time. I had apparently, and unintentionally deep-sixed your auction. Someone also suggested I contact you and try to work out a "special price" for the 9.4/9.6, but I felt that would be unethical. Anyway, it has been suggested that I indeed contact you for your take on all the developments. I have basically a couple of questions, that I would appreciate an answer to. 1. If you were offering a slabbed book for sale that you knew had been professionally pressed, and a potential buyer emailed you asking if the book had been pressed, would you supply that information, or would you consider it not the buyers business to ask. 2. More directly, have you ever offered a book for sale that you professionally pressed and then resubmitted to CGC in the hopes of receiving a higher grade. Please be assured, this is NOT personal. It is a hot button issue and your input is important. I would wish other dealers to be forthcoming also. We need to have an open discussion. I feel it is the consumers right to know as much about the item he is putting money down for, whether they think pro pressing is restoration or not. Thanks, Brad

I'm assuming he wouldn't bother answering me, because, due to inaccurate portrayals like yours, there seems to be some idea going around that this is somehow a personal issue and we "hate" him. This is not the case. Perhaps you should go back and carefully read the thread before you rename it. They do say, that God is in the "yada, yada, yada". By the way, I think it's safe to assume he has read some of these threads.....and last I heard, it's an open forum and he is welcome to correct any misconceptions if he thinks it's important enough.

Thank you Steve. I do appreciate your opinion. Not trying to beat on you at all. And I believe you "would" say yes! So we'll have to agree to disagree, that's all. Now, if a dealer like Jason Ewert would answer a query from a buyer as openly, than I wouldn't have as much of a problem with the whole thing. I, or someone else, will have to give him a try on it.

Steve, you're ducking my question..........

CGC claims, or implies that they can tell the difference between professional and amateur pressing. Someone correct me if I am wrong. It has been stated that a book that is flat as a pancake and has a "crushed flat" look to the spine, is at the very least a pressing suspect. Once, it's in the slab, it's harder to tell.

Hi Steve, Let's just say for the moment, that I am not a PRESSING LOVER! I would rather not buy a book that has been pressed from an 8.0 to a 9.2. Say (just theoretically) that you are the seller, and you did indeed send the book in for professional pressing. Say I send you a question-to-the-seller email asking you if the book has been pressed. Do you hesitate at all to answer truthfully, or do you just say FOAD?

So then what's the harm in dislosing it? It's really just a matter of personal choice, just like every other one of the millions of aspects of our hobby.

I wouldn't call it a secret anymore.......

This really leaves me scatching my head.... and in no way am I pointing my finger at you redhook; rather, this whole argument about presssing and intent -- when did the problem with pressing ever become one of intent?? CGC can detect pressing -- this is not an issue for debate. Comment the PRESS on the label and leave it to the buyer to decide whether this is something they want to own. I just don't understand how this ever became an issue of intent. Specifically for the reasons that JC stated, this whole pressing issue should be reexamined by CGC. Personally, I believe they should comment that the book has been PRESSED. By doing this, we nip the problem at the bud. Then we might rid two things from developing; i) the possibility that dealers/collectors jumping on the pressing bandwagon, performing bad press jobs, will contribute to the problem of a bad press reverting; and ii) accurately guage how much of a problem a comment that states "PRESSED" on the label will have on a collectors purchasing patterns. After all, there should be plenty of collectors like FF that don't really about buying a PRESSED book, but for the folks like myself, perhaps we would like to be able to make a more informed choice. If by devine and greater wisdom, a collector decides to stack their books to Jupiter, and that collectors books get the PRESSED treatment on the CGC label, well then maybe that collector should look into storing their comics in a long box like everyone else. Who the heck stacks their books a la Church anyway?? I agree WIZ. Assuming that CGC can detect both amateur and pro pressing......a comment on the label would be the best solution, and let the buyer decide. That way, we don't get hung up trying to prove the unproveable.

But Sid, that's part of the dilemma......the two books won't be the same price. The 9.0 could be multiples of the 8.0, would you still want it?

BINGO!! That's when I start getting pissed off! That is wrong! Although, it's hard enough to prove motives and intent in a court of law.......

Excellent transaction with boardmember drice6900.......fellow Avengers collector. Nice packing, fast delivery. A pleasure!

Thanks, Rock!

Ian, I do believe the wheels have finally come to a stop.

The "idle speculation" you refer to is again based on the threat that was made during the initial upheaval. I direct you to the title of this thread. I thought it was outrageous when it was originally presented, and I still think it's outrageous.

But...but doesn't Logan want to see Ian complete his collection?

Foolkiller, I believe you, and I apologize if I came across as critical of your involvement. You obviously had the best of intentions. If I might add one more bit of advice for Ian, in retropsect, it would be, "Strike when the iron is hot.!"

Hi Foolkiller, Thanks for that additional insight. I believe your version 100%, and I think very highly of you and Dam60....although I'm not sure how much it changes my opinion of the two main protagonists. I do think that knowing what has been going on, bringing both Ian and Vincent into the same deal at the same time might not have been adviseable. Of course your friend has the right to make as much profit as he can on the deal. But it still bothers me. I think I would have left it be, after letting Ian in on the book. But that's only my opinion. Again, at the risk of beating it to death, Vincent's statement will follow him for quite a while, and continue to raise suspicions regarding his motiviations. I mean, he said it. And I really believe he meant it. I think he should be more concerned with the fallout from that, and make an effort to rehabilitate Metropolis' tarnished rep. Anyway, after all this, I think I'm gonna' go back and start working on a run of Little Audreys!

You know, on one level I'm really worn out by this, and can see the two sides to this thing. But in my gut, if it was within my power, I'd pluck that book right out of Vincent's hands and present it to Ian. The man is on a QUEST! It has caught the imagination of many of us here on the board. I can honestly understand Ian's aggressiveness and pushiness now that he is so close to completing this fabulous accomplishment. Within the context of the hobby, this is one of the great feats of all time. He knows damn well those last remaining books aren't going to just drop into his lap, giftwrapped by some benificent dealer. Metropolis sought revenge. Please don't pee on my leg and tell me it's raining. I know V is sorry about what he said. He's damn sorry his words were made public. Actions speak even louder than words. The wheels were definitely in motion. They rolled right over Ian this time. They say that your ethics are defined by your behavior when you think no one is watching. That original written threat (which was never meant to be made public) to Ian was a clear exposure of the lack of ethics at play here. The other thing is, can you imagine the great PR that Metropolis would have garnered, if they had truly risen above this and EVEN AT THIS STAGE, helped Ian out? Metropolis has taken much more of a hit in the PR department than they seem to realize. Good PR is not something you can necessarily put a price on. You have to take the opportunity when it presents itself to you. I was at the Big Apple Con in January and would not even APPROACH Metropolis' booth. Not that they need my money, but I do believe in karma. This latest incident wasn't just business. It was as personal as it gets. Don't run that crapola by us, please. Taking into account your recent history with each other, and the context of the deal that just went down, you must really thing us simpletons to believe it was just another profit/loss consideration to make the deal and undercut Ian. And it just keeps hitting home, that this business just seems infested with a very large proportion of super-creepy personalities in sales positions. B-Bob not included. Ian, keep posting. Keep complaining. Keep fighting. Just play your cards a little closer.

I'm really enjoying seeing these covers.