Mr. Zipper

My favorite viral video of the last year was the two bodega owners bashing the hell out of a brazen crook with what looked like broomsticks. It's not as bad as where I am in upstate NY as the metro area, but I suspect if I even "brandished a weapon" in the direction of porch pirates, I'd get in a lot more trouble than they would. NY cracks down on "gun violence" by making life miserable for law abiding gun owners.

Hero Restoration -- the gift that keeps on taking.

Criminals are usually dumb, but even they are smart enough to know there are virtually no consequences for their crimes. Cashless bail, police who are "too busy for petty crimes," and laws that require homeowners to retreat instead of defending their property have led to this lawlessness. There was just a story on the local news this morning (in upstate New York) about a scumbag who breaks into homes at night and robs them while the homeowners are sleeping. He has been caught and arrested THREE times in the past month and he's still roaming the streets.

I believe this is the answer. It’s highly unlikely someone who knowingly bought a bunch of stolen books is going to send them to be graded and then list them in a prominent marketplace in such a short period of time. It’s hard to believe someone would be that stupid. Especially high profile books that have distinctive markings like the AF 15.

I mentioned this a while back. It's shocking they have not pulled those old episodes. They could still be directing potential unwitting victims to HR. Not to mention much of the content, i.e., Mike is a resto guru, has turned out to be totally fake news.

I'd say that is a fortunate update. Your book has been located and it's still in one piece. You may have to jump through a few hoops to get it back, but I believe it is likely you will get it back. This is another reason to file a police report. It's strong evidence in your favor if your book surfaces on the market like this one did.

This. The color breaking creases will limit the grade and 6.0 is right. But it does appear there are a number of non color breaking bends (top right front, top left back) that should have been mitigated with a press. It does not appear as if it was pressed at all. In many of the Facebook groups (and even sometimes here) there is a "every book should be pressed before slabbing" attitude. It's wrong and only benefits pressers.

Same. From knowing Mike for so long I gave him the benefit of the doubt way more than I should have. Seeing the horribly damaged books that had been with him for years erased any traces of sympathy left. This shows the reckless and deceitful behavior was going on way before the medical issues and personal problems. He was taking peoples' books and money knowing he could not competently complete the work.

Has anyone kept a tally of the value of known missing books? I assume it has to be well into 6-figures by now. Envision people taking their car to a mechanic. The mechanic suddenly closes shop, doesn't return calls and customers don't get their cars back. How long would it take for the police to arrest the guy?

Shocking. This explains all the delays and obfuscations. He was sitting on a pile of badly damaged artifacts that he had to know he could never make a good on. No wonder he came unhinged.

Chinese counterfeit stickers and slabs is an ongoing problem in coins and autographs. Becket (BAS) has been hit particularly hard with numerous Chinese bulk sellers hawking fake signed photos with counterfeit BAS stickers and card COAs. Of course it's illegal and trademark infringement, but try going after some ghost Chinese company. All you can really do is block them at the point of sale. One would think a large corporation would have the resources to immediately shut down such sellers on eBay and elsewhere. You need protect your brand. I know for a fact of at least two large authentication companies who can get eBay auctions and/or sellers immediately removed with a click of a button. Why BAS doesn't do the same is puzzling.

In general, almost all Kirby signatures from the 1990s are likely not him: DF comics, Captain America print, various hard cover books, the pin set, etc. Regrettably, the proxy signature also has appeared on signed art pages.

Of course contrast matters. Signature grading is based on boldness, placement/contrast, fading, smearing, skips/streakiness.

The Kirby will not pass authentication. I don't know what the policy when one sig passes and one fails. You're likely best leaving it as-is.

A superior looking 7.0

My key takeaway is that I almost can't overgrade, even when I "round up" one increment to what I think it likely is. Silver Surfer #10 - 7.5 +1 X-Men #87 - 9.2 +2 (Seriously... 9.6 with a freaking scuffed top spine corner?!?) Jungle Action #21 - 9.0 +2 (Not a 9.4 I would accept in my collection) Web of Spidey #51 - 7.0 +1 (I debated between 6.5 and 7.0.. the one time in entire contest I overgraded) Y: The Last Man #1 - 8.5 +1

I think it's a generous 2.5, so an upgrade is highly unlikely IMO. And the spine is likely weak and in peril. Unless you have a burning need to thumb through it, I'd leave it as-is.

Same. 7.0 on Cap due to what seemed like a massive crease. I was so proud of myself for not missing the hard-to-see crease... that didn't age well.

How do you determine 6th place? If there are a number of people tied in the 4th slot, do they battle it out? Or do you skip down to the 6th place score slot and let those people battle it out? Presumably there will be multiple people with the same 6th place score.

I actually did better on this round (5 pts), but I have to say the 9.6 Showcase (with the stain) from Round 1 got into my dome and discombobulated me. That said, it actually helped me with the Marvel Spotlight. I gave it a 9.2 (with the dust shadow), which is more generous than I would have been prior to Round 1. Previously I would have thought shadows and or moderate stains would be VF territory at best.

I use the high res images just to be sure I am not missing anything, and use the "normal" size image for the grade. IMO it's a mistake to spend too much time on the high res... it magnifies every little crease and corner rub into more than it appears in hand. Especially on dark colors.

This is correct. Foxing tops out at 9.6 and "stain" tops out at 9.8. I conflated staining and foxing in my original post.

Frankly, I would have graded it the same (9.0) whether it was foxing or some other sort of stain. I don't see this as a miss on your part, Mike. According to the CGC Grading Guide foxing is allowed up to 9.8, but I would have assumed that in higher grades that would mean a very small and light spot of foxing that is barely visible. I never would have thought that a large and moderately dark spot could go to 9.6.

Same. I thought Showcase was structurally a 9.6 and deducted 3 increments for the stain landing at 9.0. Sheesh. Why don't my submissions EVER get it this easy? And the 9.4 Superman with spine corners frayed at the top and bottom? C'mon...

It's probably 8.0 without the rust stain. It's tough to gauge how much that will knock it down, but likely 6.5/7.0