mzhammer

Welcome to 1984... Just wanted to bring this to your attention - check out the article I just came across.... http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2013/apr/10/apple-bans-gay-sex-images-comic To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

and the reveal... Found my last order has finally shipped and what do you know, 2 x 9.8 & 1 x 9.6... Still not quite there, all 9.8's, but this feels pretty good. My eye is getting better, but still not quite perfect. Really excited about X-Men First Class #1 got the 9.8!!! Also, an Ultimate Fallout 6 Djurdjevic 9.8 ... & Hawkeye & Mockingbird 1 Djurdjvice variant... This one went 9.6, but it is an incredibly hard one to find in any grade. And my next order has been graded, probably 2 weeks until it ships! Unless things are getting faster...?!?!!? Do I dare suggest?!?! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

NOPE And I was so excited.... But, it appears the turnaround times for modern fast track - 10 days - is not really, 10 days. Scheduled for grading went into effect on day 9 (last Thursday) - and here we are on day 11. Still Scheduled for grading..... ! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

GRADING... I just had an "episode" with a buyer this last week on eBay & wanted to vent.... Slightly.... I typically deal with new, unread comics that are in the NM range. Obviously, grading is subjective. Everyone once in a while I might come across or have something of a lesser condition as I did this past week. I had graded the comic at VF/NM - Figuring 9.0..ish... I'm no pro, but getting better at grading... The comic was new, unread, laid flat, but had 3 small indents along spine side of cover. Was curious if anyone could "school" me on the finer points of these kinds of defects and what it may grade at. Sorry, don't have a photo, it is long gone.... but how damaging (grade wise) are those indents along the spine? To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

oh yeah... what can i say, shipped 'em out on 3/5, arrived in Florida on 3/8, verified 3/11... I haven't even begun to miss them yet! I'm never going back to a 6 month wait, jsut gonna send a few in every 3-4 weeks... I think 2013 will feel pretty good w/ this kind of routine! ...and a new additon below... To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Now offering UPS I just put together a small package for CGC and noticed they are offering UPS for shipping now. It didn't really strike me as anything special until I realized it's way cheaper! Sweet! I'm sending off 3 moderns Fast Track, will probably never be able to go back to 4-5 months wait time. Anyway, if you hadn't noticed the UPS shipping yet, thought I mention it for all the submission folks! Enjoy! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Or... Where the Collection Lives... My wife surprised me the other day by suggesting I buy a second bookshelf for my comic collection. After getting back from Ikea and setting it up, she was quite pleased with how it looks. I don't have my own man cave yet, but hopefully someday. In the meantime, I thought I would snap a photo and share. where does your collection live? To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

New Additions... Thought I'd share a quick shot of my recent return from CGC. Very excited about this set, it's the first complete set of these in the census! Love Ant-Man & The Wasp Cover! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Y: The Last Man 1 Hit a LCS and went digging through the back bins and what did I find? Y: The Last Man 1 for 3.95. Today was a good day. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Or... How many people are out there bidding on stuff and then not buying it... I had a few eBay auctions for the end of the year and sold a bunch of stuff, but it never ceases to amaze me that every time I auciton off stuff, there's always one person who wins an item and then never pays. I have put together a couple of responses to this problem. First, I send an invoice over and over again, email, but it's always the same thing. There is no response what-so-ever when a person plans to not pay for their winning bid. Second, The bidder goes on my block list. At this point it only has to happen once and you'll never get to bid on my stuff again. I do try to inform the bidder they will be blocked from future bids. And then, finally, I've debated on this over and over again. With an eBay purchase, a buyers name, address and phone # all appear in an invoice. I've been tempted to call the bidder and say, "Hey, what's up? I'm still waiting for either a payment or a reply to your purchase." - How freaked out would you be if someone called you directly from an eBay purchase? I have the urge to do this, partly for the "comedy" of it, second, to point out to a non-payer, "hey, ! I know where you live and your phone #!" - I guess, I'm just really curious if anyone has ever done this before? If so, would love to hear how it went down? On another note, my latest order finally went "Graded" - What is the wait time now until their shipped? Anyone know? To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

And I love it! Does Harvey have a hangover today? I just figured he down 2 bottles of wine and went for it. Just reading all the posts from the last few days, commenting on some rants and what not, but it has truly brought a smile to my face today. If you think the mass postings were tough here, imagine my work inbox when i tell you that is NOTHING! I do IT support and have recieved almost 1200 emails today alone. Yeah, it's one for the record books here... It's been a rough one, but the "harvey situation" has definately made me feel better. so to everyone who contributes to the journals, a big THANK YOU! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Remember remember, the 27th of November... Well, it has officially been 2 years since I started this madness. I've learned quite a bit, made some gains, some loses, my interests have evolved, changed, reverted and I am feeling pretty good with all of it. One of the more interesting challenges with my collecting taste has been bouncing back and forth from CGC graded books and RAW comics. I originally started with raw comics, my very first purchase being a Green Lantern mini series, but after a few months of collecting I purchased my 1st CGC graded book, NYX 3 9.8, and as of today I have 103 CGC books in all. That's 11,975 points in the registry and puts me at 696th. Well, the Green Lantern's have since been sold, but I've held onto the NYX, added several more issues and am hoping to complete the series next year... We'll see how that goes... My main goal for 2012 was to reach 100 CGC books and break into the top 1000, both of which have been completed. My second goal was to try and complete at least one series in my raw collections, which I have just completed with the most recent Uncanny X-Men series. 20 issues and all variants! Looking forward, I thought it might be a good idea to setup a couple of goals for the following year... 1st, as mentioned, I would love to finish off the NYX, however, issue 6 in a 9.8 is a tough book to come by. 2nd, I would like to complete my uncanny x-force series. This is a raw collection, but I only need 3 issues, so it should not be a problem. 3rd, and lastly, is my big challenge, I hope to get myself a Giant Size X-Men 1 CGC, High Grade. The challenge is not purchasing thing to save for this issue. We'll see how it goes.... And with that, let's take a quick snap shot of my collection as it stands today... My CGC colleciton is focused on 2 sets, Marko Djurdjevic Covers & the Women of Marvel 1st Appearance set. I also have multiple DELL westerns from the 50's which is more of a longer range goal. Another group of these will be heading to CGC before the end of the year. And my Raw collection. Deadpool. From the beginning of my collecting, I kept grabbing Deadpool issues, from this series and that, one shots, mini series, etc... I've completed the 2008 series, many of the mini series, MAX, MAX 2, Corps, Prelude, Kills the Universe... but have yet to grab that 1st appearance book and barely made a dent in the 1997 series. Something for 2013? And lastly... All this collecting includes a ton of reading! This year I read my first crossover event - House of M - After reading AVX, which I totally loved, I thought House of M would help fill in a lot fo the holes in my knowledge. It was great! complimented AVX and helped me to better understand some of my new favorite characters! (Scarlet Witch) - There were also some great suggestions from fellow comic fans. I quite enjoyed Sweet Tooth, Y: The Last Man, Saga, The Walking Dead and Runaways. So that leaves me with my favorites of 2012. (These are things i read this year, not necessarily new this year) 1. Best Writer: Brian K Vaughan 2. Best Artist: Marko Djurdjevic 2. Best Series: YTLM 3. Best CGC Purchase: X-Men 101 & 129 4. Best RAW Purchase: Thief of Thieves 1 5. Best cover: New Avengers 17 Variant Enjoy the holidays! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

The excitement took me over the edge... Look what showed up in the mail today! I was totally stoked from the last ComicLink auction and had originally intented on trying to grab one or the other... Oh, how plans change... I went for both and got em! X-Men 101 & 129 - New additions for my 1st Appearance collection. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Episodes 7 - 8 - 9 For those of you who have not seen the news, George has finally passed along the torch (or should I say saber) to Kathleen Kennedy and Disney! Yep, that right, new Star Wars films! I'm geeking out and thought I should share... Just incase someone missed the news. Here's a link with an interview of George and Kathleen http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/what-a-new-star-wars-384515 To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

1st Appearance of Hope Summers And one more to share... Always happy when someone sells me a comic and it grades as high as it was advertised! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Arrived Today! Was totally stoked to find my CGC arrival today - They ship so fast after sitting in Florida for soooo long.... But, at least they have arrived! This one I picked up at my favorite comic shop in San Diego - http://www.socalcomics.com/ - if you're in the area, you'll probably quite enjoy this place! Lots of goodies to look at and plenty of boxes to go through. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

It's like Christmas out here! Another order graded! Well, this order was my CS coupon order,so it's only been 3 weeks since they were sent to CGC and with that, there is some good news and some not so good news. I purchased 2 older books from qscomics, Venus 1 & Tales To Astonish 44, both of which graded lower than advertised. I also sent the shop an email lettting them know of the results, as I think it's important that you inform sellers of their grading ability. I try to include that I'm not suggesting they do it on purpose or anything, but that I'll have to take my experience into consideration if I'm going to purchase from them again. Venus 1 graded a 2.5, was advertised 3.5 & the Tales To Astonish 44 graded 3.0, while being advertised as a 4.0. The one thing that really sticks out to me after this is my foundness for the seller who undergrades. Oh, I love you! There is nothing more exciting than a book coming in higher than anticipated. Which leads me to my good news. I was originally looking for 4 older books to send in with my coupon, but I limited it to the two and threw in my second copy of New Mutants Annual 2 and a Ms Marvel 45, the Djurdjevic variant cover. The Ms Marvel 45 came in a 9.8 and was another one of my "self imposed" gradings. I think I'm getting better at this! The New Mutants Annual was my second NM (9.4) online purchase... (You may remember my other copy came in at a disappointing 8.5) - well, this time I got a 9.6, so I am quite happy with that! Anyway, I'll end this was a special SHOUT OUT to the undergrader, you brings smiles to faces of your customers, please, keep it up! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Amazing! Since I'm fairly new to comic books I've been playing a lot of catch up. I first started in 2010 with the lastest Wolverine series, which led me to read X-23, Daken and the Uncanny X-Force. X-23 was great, so I went back and read NYX & the earlier mini-series. Loved them! Didn't really care for Daken, but the Uncanny X-force is great! However, along the way I felt like I was basically missing a ton of background information on the Marvel universe. I decided to read the original X-Men series, (just hit issue 251) and am preparing to read the House of M next. This will be my first cross-over (read in order) and I will eventually work my way to the Civi War. (Yeah, I've got a long way to go) In the meantime, I've picked up a few non-marvel series that I simply love. The Walking Dead is one of my favorite series, I completely devoured them in a few days and honestly feel sad when I got caught up... It's tough to wait for the next issue! Branching out I just started Y The Last Man a few days ago. Y is my new my favorite and I'll probably finish it by the weekend! I find myself laughing out loud on this one, it is too funny! I'm also happy to see New Line picked it up, but disappointed they are looking to make a feature, rather than a series - Personally, this would be awesome television! I've got a few other titles on my list now that I've made a few "comic friends" - (Manhattan Project & Runaways) but thought I'd reach out to the collector community here and ask what everyone is reading? To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

The word I have been hoping for... I currently have 5 different submissions into CGC and have been waiting, what feels like, forever. Today though, one order finally showed that lovely term we all love... Graded! It's just 3 modern comics, submitted on June 6th, and includes wonderful news! X-Men 205 Campbell Variant is a 9.8 White Pages New Avengers 17 Variant is a 9.8 White Pages - This is the X-Men 101 homage, one of my all time favorite covers... and one sad note: New Mutants Annual 2 is an 8.5 White Pages This I bought from a seller claiming it was 9.4 on ComicConnect Always tough to trust a seller you have not worked with, sometimes it pays, sometimes it does not.... I do have a second copy of this to send in... oh well, over all, I'm very happy as the 2 9.8's - The New Avengers 17 was one I purchased off the wall down in San Diego and "self graded" - So, that's pretty cool! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

And some eBay strangeness... I just purchased another key X-Men book last night. Issue 244 in a 9.8 with White Pages. Love those first appearances! I was pleasantly surprised to find that the point value on CS was much greater than I anticipated. Well, if you consider the cost to point ratio, i grabbed it for 77 bucks and the point value is 240. I am sort of collecting all over the board, from Golden to Modern age books and with many of the modern books I've purchased I am luck if i get 1 point to ever dollar i spend. Hey, it's about the books, not the points... but I have finally broken into the top 1000 in rankings! An exciting little goal finally reached... I have noticed a few times, like with this X-Men issue, I'll see it go for sale on eBay (Buy it Now) - I'll watch it and the sale ends quickly... I'll assume somebody saw the deal and grabbed it, but then a week or two later, it goes on sale again. In this case it was the same price and I didn't notice if it was the same seller or not, maybe they had a few copies, maybe the first sale fell thru, but it kind of interests me or strikes me as odd. Was wondering what other oddities eBay purchasers see? I'm a fairly good seller and buyer on eBay, pay quickly, ship packages well, but also came across a BIN I really want, however, it appears I have been blocked. I've had a few problems, early on I did not know how to ship a CGC and got slammed for my packaging. I've turned this around and lerned how to ship, but in this case, I can't even email the seller. Blocked from buying, blocked from offering, blocked from selling. Such a bummer - I want to give this guy (or girl) my money, but they just don't seem to want it. I've returned a couple of items as well, bent corners on a NM described comic, but more the most part I'm pretty top notch. Anyone else had this kind of trouble? To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Spoiler Alert!!! Kidding... I won't include any spoilers for those who have not seen this, but I did feel like ranting a bit.... I LOVED IT!!!! After reading many reviews, the hard core fans being over the top about it being the best film ever made, some worries about it possibly feeling too long, a bit too slow, yadda yadda yadda... I just came out of the theatre and was very impressed! I had just seen Amazing Spider-Man last week and was so disappointed with it I began to fear the Batman, but to my shagrin... it really was great! Suspense, surprise, even knowing some of the spoilers, I'm still totally thrilled! So, from a skeptic and worry wart, if you haven't seen it, you SHOULD! it's totally worth it! Might even be the best of the 3, though, I'll still need to let it sink in, simmer a bit, but it's up there! My only complaint. DC needs a better opening logo / graphic... To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

SS Just arrived in the mail today - my first SS Marko Djurdjevic! Was very excited since it's he is my favorite cover artist! and he knows how to go out with a Bang! I keep thinking DC will pick him up and we'll see some Batman and Wonder Women covers from him... You never know?!?! Anyway, just thought I'd share this... I've got 2 of the 6 covers making up his Wolverine Poster... Getting closer all the time! oh yeah, I finally broke the 1000 rank! Yay!!!!! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

The Dark Knight Rises ? Wondered who else has been following this story? Rush Limbaugh appears to believe that Bane was introduced in the final Batman installment because of his name, "Bane" sounds like "Bain" Capital... I just read Nolan is puzzled by the statements, "I'm not sure how to address something that bizarre, to be honest. I really don't have an answer for it. It's a very particular comment to make." That got me wondering... Do & prefer Marvel to DC, or Vice versa? That's a poll I'd like to see! Just out of curiousity.... Not trying to start a political riot, if I wanted that I would have led with Michele Bachmann this week. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Registry Awards 2012 well, the results are in & I was unable to attain a single ribbon last year, but, it is a new year & I nabbed three this time! Oh, it's the little things in life. I guess the next step is to see if I can hang onto them for next year. I hope that doesn't get to expensive?!?! How did everyone do? Did you get one? Did you just miss out? Does it make you want one even more? Enjoy the weekend! Here's a quick shot of my next 2nd freebie heading off to CGC.... To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Venus 1 After upgrading my account this year, I told myself I would send off something "cool" to be graded with my coupons. This is the 1st of 4 comics heading to Florida.... To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.