Mr. Zipper

The stain on the back cover is going to knock it down. Plus, it's evident from the back spine there are a lot of transverse creases that appear to break paper fiber. These may press flat, but the break will always be there. And there are fingerprints in the black that may or may not be able to be fully removed.

I'd be surprised if it went higher than 8.0.

Is the glue now fully pulled away? If it is no longer performing any function to hold the cover on, it may be possible it won't get PLOD. 

I'm in.

On 3/29/2024 at 1:26 PM, KCOComics said:

Comic book related topics I've admitted to being wrong on: 

1)  Hero Restoration has a great reputation, I would use them with confidence. 

2) Guys,  Dylan is just a kid. He'll grow out of this and prove to be a valuable member of our community. 

3) Circa 2011ish $1600 for a JIM83??? Its too common! Once the movie hype dies down the price will plummet!! 

4) Everyone settle down, I'm sure Mike is facing hard times and will be back on his feet and doing the right thing in no time! 

5) High School me...  Spawn 1 will be the next AF15! I'm going to buy 10 copies and start counting the money!! 

I'm guilty on #1 and #4. 

That said, I considered Mike a "internet friend" who I had known for 10+ years...  and what kind of person does not to give a friend the benefit of the doubt at the beginning?

Seeing conspiracies and scams lurking in every shadow isn't a good approach either, although it makes for better message board drama. They trick is finding the right balance... prudent skepticism vs the sky is always falling.  

On 3/28/2024 at 5:15 PM, shadroch said:

I had a hard time getting life insurance in my forties as I was very overweight, smoked, drank, with high blood pressure and had a bad family history. I heard an ad from a guy named Big Lou who claimed he could get insurance for people like us, and he did. I got a million-dollar policy and a second key-person policy for the business. 

He still advertises, but I dropped the insurance years ago. His rates were great when I used him.  If and when you pay off your mansion, 3X salary should be plenty if it is just your wife.

Haha. The Big Lou life insurance ads are the best!

”Smoke? Overweight? Got a touch of sugar diabetes? Call Big Lou… he’s on meds, too!”

On 3/27/2024 at 2:50 PM, Lazyboy said:

So it's totally legitimate and not at all suspicious to give out three different email addresses?

It's suspicious superficially until you understand that Flake is Randy and Cantina is his associate. So, one person has two email addresses and a second person has one. I probably should not admit I have four email addresses that sometimes I get mixed up and use interchangeably. 

But by all means, people should continue mindlessly posting dumb shill memes every time Flake posts... it's super entertaining and has been helpful in resolving the matter at hand. 

On 3/28/2024 at 3:02 PM, BrashL said:

You forgot option D: Bronze and Modern will be graded on a different scale going forward and this is just the start. If that's the case then yes, that's a sea change.

I think Option D is a giant leap and requires a lot of assumptions.

Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. 

Whether it was a "gift 9.9" for a high profile submitter, a PR stunt or an honest to goodness 9.9, does it have any affect on 99.99% of the collecting community? 

On 3/27/2024 at 9:45 AM, Neo "The One" said:

All off this Cloak and Dagger stuff started because of Mike and his behavior.  No one knew who to trust and if there were 'plants' on this board (as apparently there were on the older locked post).  What I'm starting to wonder is that everyone pointing at FLAKE has an ulterior motive.  What's the point of sewing mistrust here?  Doesn't do anything to move this forward.  

100%. At this point, intentionally or not, the shill drumbeat about flake/cantina is likely doing more harm than good -- that is, potentially disrupting certain efforts to organize victims. 

It has been explained numerous times that Flake and Cantina are two people who work together and jointly using the email account. They are not Mike and there is no evidence they are up to anything shady. Sheesh. Enough already... it's an unnecessary distraction.  

On 3/26/2024 at 2:17 AM, MattTheDuck said:

A guy I went to college with died in a small plane crash at about 30 - he left a wife and 3 small children and had NO life insurance.  Trust me, that was a topic of conversation amongst our college crowd after the memorial service.  He was on partner track at a large law firm here, and I can tell you his family didn't end up with the life they thought they were going to have.

I'm always astonished when I see gofundme campaigns when an employed middle class person passes. I always ask myself... WTF... didn't they have insurance? I suspect the answer is often  "no." Through employer plans it usually costs  less than a few Starbucks a month. Crazy not to do it. 

On 3/24/2024 at 10:36 PM, DougC said:

In addition to insurance, start thinning your collection NOW.

Do not leave a mess for your wife and kids (or extended relatives) to be overwhelmed with in addition to your passing, it can be frightening to think about. At 45 I took a hard look at what I "collected" and why, then started to make a plan in 5 year increments to reduce everything down to a single box (of what is most valuable to me) by 65 when I get stored in the old folks home or start living on cruise ships (market depending).

This.  I lost both my parents in 2022 and had to deal with the full contents of a large house and all of my mom's collectibles (Hummels, Crystal figurines, plates, antique cups and saucers, etc etc.) It was a tremendous amount of work and stressful. I aim not to do the same with my kids. Hopefully that is many years off, but it's not too early to start thinning the herd.

On 3/23/2024 at 12:35 AM, Matt1982 said:

Keep those photos safe because you won't be able to enjoy them anymore once the books are slabbed. That's the only downside of the old-time first page sig.

They should print an image of the signature on the back side of the label. It seems crazy to me that one would pay a premium for a signed book and never see the signature. Otherwise you have no idea of the quality of the signature (a nice example vs. shaky or smeared) and you're placing blind trust in the authenticating company on the authenticity of the signature with no ability to vet it yourself. Hard pass.  

On 3/24/2024 at 3:45 AM, postersandstuff said:

No , "frightening" is the fact that POTP has started authenticating too

Who is POTP?

I believe the 6.5 is accurate. The spine edge is very rough for a modern. Especially around the top staple.  There also appears to be a spattering of multiple stains and/or foxing on the bottom third of back cover

On 3/22/2024 at 1:50 PM, comicginger1789 said:

I also wonder if this new verification process would care to take into account any additional documentation. Like suppose someone has a book they had signed in the 80s by a very hard to get artist/writer/creator. Would they ever consider an old polaroid image of someone holding the book with said artist as proof to help them verify? Or would they simply follow their procedure regardless and make that determination based on whatever evidence/database they have access to to reference?

I don't speak for JSA, but I am very familiar with how pro autograph authentication works. Generally, exact photo proof (a clear photo showing the exact signature) is something that may be considered. Unclear photos, "stories," testimonials, or previous COAs are not considered.

That said, even exact photo proof won't save a signature that is suspiciously atypical. 

On 3/22/2024 at 11:46 AM, BrashL said:

Maybe I'm just cynical about everything CGC right now but this feels especially sleezy.

Why are we finding out about this from a YouTuber based on speculation? Yes the recent announcement did mention changes but no details on what they are or when they were implemented. Shouldn't buyers be given these details so they can properly evaluate what they're buying? 

The only reason I can think of doing it this way is:

• CGC has now admitted in a legal filing the 3rd generation cases are flawed and can be exploited (fairly easily given all that's happened)
• CGC just rolled out Pulp grading with the same case and is likely sitting on a mountain of inventory across all sizes so phasing out Gen 3 isn't an option without taking a hit
• Nonetheless they are likely aware of more instances of people opening cases then they have admitted to and have no choice but to change the existing stock in some way to prevent more embarrassing and costly lawsuits
• They don't want the market to have a marker to say whether a graded book is in the "good" case or "bad" case, so a stealth rollout effectively muddies the waters and doesn't devalue dealers existing inventory
• Once the population of Gen 3 cases is sufficiently slushed around, expect a Gen 4 case with numerous improvements BUT very little mention of enhanced security as they hope the narrative of Gen 3 cases being exploitable will have died down and they don't want to fire it up again.

According to the video, the difference is the seal on the side is larger. If this is true, then it squarely falls under the previous announcements, which mentioned "improvements." It's not a new case... just a tweak to how the existing case is sealed and doesn't merit a separate detailed announcement IMO. 

If you want to cut through the fluff, the content begins at 3:30 and goes to around 5:00.

On 3/22/2024 at 10:04 AM, Ryan. said:

Yes, yes, you guys are all too busy lifting weights and being handsome to have a video play passively in the background. I have helpfully provided a screengrab thusly:

You forgot counting stacks of hundreds. Thank you for understanding we need Cliff's Notes. 

On 3/22/2024 at 9:35 AM, Pontoon said:

I have zero patience for youtuber videos. I'm incapable of watching. They're like a wall of text to me, TLDR. I'll have to wait to read some posts on the subject.

Yep...I have no patience for the stretching for time. Life is too short. It's an annoying tactic to improve their metrics for pay. 

On 3/21/2024 at 8:35 PM, Prince Namor said:

And I'm saying if they can't tell if a Kirby signature is legit or not, then they don't truly know what they're doing. I can guarantee you there are much better signature fakers out there than Roz Kirby.

Not if they won't accept certain items in the first place.

Which they would never do with Stan's signature because the monetary gain from ACCEPTING them is greater than nearly anyone else's.

Which means the incentive for forger's to get involved (because it's Lee) or to HAVE PREVIOUSLY gotten involved (because it's Stan) increases it's chance of forgery x times more than anyone elses.

Which makes the Kirby UNacceptance a complete load of rubbish.

Ok. Got ya. 

I am confident they can reliably authenticate Kirby. Yes, there are a lot of Kirby forgers out there... tonfulle-84, the southern California forger and someone who I believe is a member of these boards to name a few.

Signature authentication, like professional grading and restoration detection from credible experts, is highly accurate and significantly decreases your likelihood of being scammed. But of course, they are professional opinions and no one is perfect. There is an element of risk. If a collector isn't comfortable with that, stick to CGC SS Witness only. 

On 3/21/2024 at 8:21 PM, wombat said:

You. 

Now who is playing semantics?

Let me restate my previous statement: "When they “authenticate” something, it passes if it’s DEEMED authentic and it fails if it is DEEMED not."

Happy now? Does my wording meet with your strict standards? Did I make it clear enough for you? 

On 3/21/2024 at 8:08 PM, wombat said:

Semantics maybe, but it doesn't mean it is actually authentic. It means in their opinion it is authentic. 

Of course. That’s common sense. Who said otherwise? 

On 3/21/2024 at 7:47 PM, Prince Namor said:

If they can't "authenticate" Jack Kirby sigs...and I AGREE that they can't...how does that not apply to every other signature applied without a chain of custody witness...?

There are a number of people who say Keya Morgan forged Stan Lee's name to memorabilia, I highly doubt they're going to even question that, as the pay off is far too high to pass up - even if the possibility of future forgery is even greater. 

I don’t understand what you’re saying. I think your definition of “authenticate” is different than mine. When they “authenticate” something, it passes if it’s authentic and it fails if it is not.

The fee for authentication is the same whether an item passes or fails. So there’s no monetary incentive to pass items that are not authentic.

Look at the upside... this will give the chat board fodder for a whole new genre of drama. 

"But, but, but... they failed my Stan Lee deathbed signature I got in-person!!!!"  

On 3/21/2024 at 8:56 AM, F For Fake said:

Because Roz signed them, I'm assuming.

Certainly Jack didn’t sign them. Whether it was Roz or another proxy is moot. Basically any Jack signature after 1990 is suspect. I’m sure there are a few exceptions. 

I recall in the distant past many people groaning about how CGC wouldn’t yellow label dynamic forces books, and other things that were allegedly signed under supervision. Well, the Kirby situation certainly shows the wisdom in that decision.