Mr. Zipper

Thanks!!!!!!

 

Also, unless you are planning on selling these, I agree it doesn't make sense to have them CGC'd at this time.

I don't slab books for myself, except for pedigrees. I like to slab pedigrees for display, plus the label keeps the provenance intact.

With the Big Apple, there is no COA or any other documentation. So, other than my memory and Metro's verbal statement that they are Big Apples, there is no chain of provenance... that's why I initially though slabbing would be a good idea.

My concern is that if I do want to get these slabbed down the road, how do I prove they are what I say they are? "Gee, 7 years ago I bought these from Metro and they told me they were Big Apples." Will that cut it?

I picked up a few Big Apple Pedigree TTAs and here they are. The page quality is OW, but I am blown away by the superior color and gloss on these books. The scan won't do it justice, but in hand, they look and feel like they just came off the rack. I am VERY pleased with the quality of this pedigree... The quality of these books is much nicer than the Boston, Mass., Green River & Winnipegs in my collection.

I think I want more!

BTW, because there is a slight right edge overhang, I will not be sending these for slabbing. I fear they would be prime candidates for slab damaged corners.

Gorgeous book, Red.

The colors really pop and it doesn't have the ugly overhang which seems to plague this issue...

Finally got power back so here are some more from the Mass run I recently acquired.

 

I've asked before, and never got a response, so I'll try again...

Why are Mass. Pedigrees denoted as "Mass. Copy" ? Why the "Copy"? No other pedigrees TTBOMK carry the "Copy" denotation?

Of course, The Vincent's Collectibles on the bag is the same Vincent Z who is now with Metropolis.

I used to buy from Vincent when he was doing the monthly shows at a Holiday Inn in Rockville Centre Long Island. He was a good dealer then (as well as now).

A few more Sgt. Furys. The purple on the 44 really pops. In my collection recently thanks to the good Captain...

I can't believe I don't have a Boston copy for my collection.

 

Keep em' coming.

I posted this in a western thread, but it was kinda buried. Got this from Metro last month. Gunsmoke #1 Boston Copy.

Currently vacationing in Sarasota...

The Stevens brothers used to grab multiples of the 25 centers apparently because they thought they could get more dough when they sold them. Here is another copy of the Superman Annual (not mine). Forget where I grabbed this scan.......

 

 

Apparently, mine was the reader copy, and this one was the file copy.

Just arrived yesterday. 2 Green Rivers... not high grade, but nice books..

A BIG thanks to Shin for the fair price and fast shipping!

I love the Superman Annual covers

No stamp on this one, btw...

Thor had a great run of covers in this period

I was going to check this out, but

June 5th & 6th Mighty Mini-Con Postponed

Mighty MiniCon

My copy of FF 2 had a strong musty smell when I first received it from the dealer, but the smell has dissipated somewhat now that it is being stored under better conditions. I suspect that it was stored in an old box in a damp cellar previously. Despite the smell, it has gorgeous bright inks and soft W/OW pages.... so go figure...

I was thinking of sealing it in an air tight box with a bunch of cedar blocks for about a month... perhaps the cedar will absorb the remaining musty smell and leave it cedar fresh. If I do my experiment, I will report back.

I think what you are referring to is what I call "spine crack." (As opposed to crack )

Spine crack is when there is a light crack down the length of the spine where the spine was scored (folded) at the printer. This typically happens on coated (glossy)paperstock. It's worst on thicker weight paper.

I don't know how CGC handles this, or if there is a maximum grade allowable - but it is a printing defect and not the result of handling. IMO, it's almost impossible to find certain issues without the crack.

Samco1 - I also bought books from them advertised as unrestored, that came in with heavy color touch. So heavy in fact, that either they're inept at detecting restoration or they're blatantly ignoring it and selling the books without disclosure hoping the buyer doesn't notice.

The color touch on my book was powdery... almost like someone took black crayon or pencil dust and lightly rubbed it into the color breaks. It actually looked good at arms length, but at an angle, the reflectivity is different. I rubbed my thumb over the spot, and sure enough, some black easily came off.

Rich Muchin - his website basically says that he doesn't disclose restoration on books in the grade where the restoration would not affect the grade....

Yup. I wish I had know this 10 years ago. Unfortunately, he, his mylars or his prices did not indicate there was any restoration on the books I bought. Both were 7.0 - 7.5 range. So obviously he thought color touches and tear seals weren't worth mentioning on books in these grades.

I have 2 warnings -

Rich Muchin - I bought 2 books from him on separate occasions at shows about 10 years ago. Sgt. Fury 1 and Hulk 6. Years later, my more knowledgable eyes have detected that both books are restored with color touches and tear seals. The Hulk 6 is a very sharp 7.0 - 7.5, so I sent it to Matt Wilson to see if he could remove the resto so I could get a blue label. Unfortunately, because it was amateur touches, he could not remove the color touches. Of course, no restoration was disclosed at the time of purchase.

Samco1 - I recently bought a few books from him on ebay. Out of 2 books, one book had color touches (a $25 TTA). He accepted a return with no problem, then found another comparable copy and sent me that as a replacement. I can't tell for certain, but I strongly suspect there is a small color touch on this comic as well. Too bad, because it's a gorgeous glossy VF+ otherwise. Not really worth sending to CGC to find out for sure.

I have a large collection of autographs.... believe it or not , I am well known in autograph circles and often called upon to authenticate certain autographs. I have been published in several autograph collecting magazines.

My Autograph Website