Mr. Zipper

On 3/20/2024 at 9:35 PM, shadroch said:

How is JSA's reputation in the autograph industry? I know they are one of the larger but do they have a good rep?

The reputation is comparable to PSA. It’s like all hobby politics… People have their favorites. But JSA is undeniably in the top three with PSA and Beckett.

On 3/20/2024 at 10:04 PM, cousin itt said:

I wonder if they'll be authenticating dynamic forces books (like the Jack Kirby ones).

If you are asking if the Dynamic Forces Jack Kirbys will pass JSA authentication, the answer is “no.”

On 3/20/2024 at 8:13 PM, ADAMANTIUM said:

And more on topic, I think I understand having not known to begin with, but basically these are sports authenticator that cgc bought up? So it is a new set of cards, video games, comics and etc of signatures to to learn to authenticate.

My oh my. Everything seems to be above my pay grade lately.

  Reveal hidden contents

Thanks @onlyweaknesskryptonite

 I truly needed this whether subconsciously or idk. I just might need a minute

 

JSA and PSA both started with a primary focus in sports 20 years ago. Since then they have generalized and authenticate a wide range of fields now. The same with Beckett (BAS) who certifies for CBCS.

On 3/20/2024 at 2:57 PM, drotto said:

 Do you remember those Steve Ditko signatures a few years back that were verified by a grading company and clearly fake?

 

Also, you may not write signed by Stan Lee on your book, but if the current fraud issues tell us anything, there are plenty of people who would.

If we are thinking of the same situation, it was PGX that "authenticated" a bunch of fake Ditkos, Lees, Kirbys, etc.

And you are correct, there are plenty of people who would fake a signature on any comic if it meant boosting the potential value thousands of dollars. 

I believe this will be a two way street that fills a gap for each company: JSA will authenticate unwitnessed signatures for CGC submissions, and CGC will be able to encapsulate autograph submissions to JSA. Currently JSA is the only one of the big three autograph authenticators (JSA, PSA and Beckett) that does not offer slabbing. 

In full transparency, I am a consultant for JSA but have no inside knowledge into this matter. 

On 3/18/2024 at 1:39 PM, Cameljay said:

Hello, well title says it all. Does page quality/color affect the grade of a book. Ie. Can a book with cream color pages get a 9.8? Ty

I was under the impression that page color does not affect grade until you get to tan and 9.8 can be cream. However, given the chart posted above and doubled checked in the CGC Grading Guide, apparently 9.8 cannot be cream.

I wonder if this has changed. I would have sworn I have seen 9.8 with cream pages. 

It's a mistake to think that grading is a derived from a mathematical formula or there are flaws that absolutely limit grade, e.g., if it has a piece out over x size, it can't grade higher than y.

Grading is a science AND an art, and overall eye appeal weighs heavily.

Granted, the X-Men 1 CGC 4.5 is not a strong 4.5, but I also think it's not unrealistic. Overall eye appeal is decent, no significant creasing and it's fairly bright. And I do think major keys are sometimes graded on a slight curve. 

On 3/12/2024 at 5:10 PM, JK2022 said:

How about the difference between a 9.6 and a 9.8? I defy anyone to tell the difference, I know modern books are rarely "Grails" (which shouldn't matter anyway and how do you even have the balls to grade a paper comic book a 10!) but come-on! from 9.0 to 10 they are all over the place....

tell me I'm wrong.

You're wrong.   I've been about 90% accurate on 9.6 vs 9.8 in my submissions. In the simplest terms, a 9.8 "looks" perfect at arms' length (even though it will have a subtle flaw on close exam). At arm's length, you can see a tiny flaw on a 9.6 such as a spine tick, a tiny touch to a corner, etc. 

There does appear to be some light scuffing in bottom right, but I can't tell for sure if it's on comic or the plastic holder. Was this comic dry cleaned? Scuffing can be very light, almost imperceptible, lines in the ink that don't break color. Sometimes dry cleaning that is a little too heavy handed can do it. 

On 3/13/2024 at 11:17 AM, Ride the Tiger said:

I hear people talking about CGC boosting the value of their comic. I've always looked at it the other way around. A book in a CGC case holds the true value of the book and a raw book is worth less because it didn't get "checked out". 

I think this is a fair point. And the proof of the pudding is that dealers who are known to have really tight, CGC quality grading, often get close to slabbed prices for their raw books.

On 3/12/2024 at 1:44 PM, Ride the Tiger said:

It certainly was easier back in the day when your only grades were Good Fine and Near Mint. You had a 33% chance of being right.

Yet Mile High Chuck was wrong 66% of the time. 

On 1/1/2024 at 7:39 PM, KCOComics said:

2)  Buyers should do their diligence. Before CGC was big,   many dealers and fly by night sellers would call lots of books NM.  Buyers had to review the book and determine if they agreed with the grade. CGC did alot to take the debate out of it,  but CGC isn't unflappable. We've all seen overgraded and undergraded books. So if you are spending 5 figures on a comic,  you have a responsibility to make sure its exactly what you think it is. And if your buying the grade without executing that diligence, sometimes you'll be fine. But sometimes you won't. 

This is all true, but it overlooks a key contingent of the market: investors. 

Professional grading brought in specu-investors who will never know (or care) how to grade, detect restoration, etc. Going back to pre-CGC era likely means losing that segment of the market. It doesn't matter much to me if they all went away, but there would be hobby-wide consequences. I'm a firm believer in rising water floats all boats. 

On 3/11/2024 at 11:21 AM, Robot Man said:

All this just sounds like way too much work. And unprofitable. A reason why I’ve pretty much given up selling on eBay. I tell people, I’m an expert at buying and selling junk but I am no accountant. Nor do I want to be or pay someone to do it even further lowering any profit I might make. Strictly a hobby that used to be a lot more fun…

This. It's a ridiculous administrative headache for most collectors. As a collector who has bought comics and other collectibles for 40+ years and rarely sold, I don't have paperwork for 95% of what I've bought. I assume most collectors are the same. For big purchases in the past 20 years, I kept a spreadsheet. That's it.  

When it comes time to sell, I have no idea how I will be able to establish cost basis that would meet with the approval of the IRS. With any luck this 1099-K nonsense will be killed or kicked down the road indefinitely.

That, or a find a dealer/collector who will pay cash when the times comes. 

On 3/11/2024 at 9:11 AM, GaryHanson said:

And also Flake didn't know about the DOJ link. https://justice.oregon.gov/consumercomplaints/ I pointed him to it.  A lot of good information gets buried in this board and is hard to find.  The in-fighting only makes it more difficult for everyone just hearing about this situation.  It is a lot to unpack.

Right. The Flake / Cantina shill armchair detectives are doing far more to derail and obfuscate than anyone else. Just stop already. They are not Mike. 

I don't get the people who see CGC as the primary bad actor in this drama as opposed to the actual scam artist criminals who hacked the system. 

YES... CGC should have been more diligent. YES... the system was flawed. YES, CGC needs to fix processes. YES, CGC should make victims whole. 

But blaming and lashing out at them more than the actual criminals is just   It's like blaming a poorly trained bank guard for a heist rather then the perpetrators.

On 3/9/2024 at 7:56 PM, sd2416 said:

He was using those tushy tshirt presses?  For $150 those have to be the Amazon ones,right?  Not the Seal/Biefangs

Right. Seal Press would be way more. TUSY press is fine, but assumed pros would use a commercial heavy duty equipment like Seal. 

Fascinating.

On 3/8/2024 at 4:37 PM, Stefan_W said:

Quick question since I have not been following this thread - this discussion triggered a memory of a video that Comic Tom did a while back, but I am not sure if I am mis-remembering. Is my memory right that he endorsed Hero Restoration and did some videos that promoted great results from using HR?

Comic Tom also tagged HR in many of his Instagram posts, which still exist. So much so that it makes me wonder if there was some sort of endorsement deal. 

On 3/8/2024 at 1:31 PM, GaryHanson said:

Hey - so I have a contact (no not Flake / Cantina) that says he's spoken to someone at the NJ office, but he had to sign a non-compete (the former employee).  Since HR is in effect defunct, maybe this no longer applies. And again, this is all second hand, so don't quote me. Let me see what I can do digging up that name or contact info.   Also, for the record, I originally sent my ASM 129 for a CP to the NJ office in October '22, but it was re-routed to Orgeon after it arrived there with no explaination. (Per the tracking updates I recieved). Maybe they had a mail forward order in with the Post Office at that time?   

The guy who was running the NJ office was all over the Instagram, which is now deleted. I distinctly recall something on the HR site that indicated C&P books went to NJ and other work went to Mike in Oregon. 

Then, there was a some sort of dustup on some FB groups about books coming back to a client that appeared as if they were never cleaned and pressed. The guy from the NJ office disputed this and online drama ensued. I believe it was not too long after that the NJ office closed without explanation. I believe this was in 2022.

In retrospect, I suspect that was a canary in the coal mine. 

On 3/8/2024 at 2:07 PM, BlowUpTheMoon said:

Non-compete is very different from non-disclosure. 

I would assume it was a Non Disclosure Agreement (NDA), which would be invalid for criminal or tortious activity. They only are enforceable for trade secrets, client lists... stuff like that. 

The 2020 bankruptcy is puzzling. At that time, pressing submissions were taking many months due to massive demand, prices went up and he opened a new office in NJ to handle C&P. If I recall, the Oregon office was focusing on restoration work. In short, money should have been pouring over the transom in mid-2020. 

Has anyone contacted former employees? I can't recall the name of the guy who ran the NJ pressing office, but he was active on social media. Is it possible there are books somewhere in NJ? 

On 3/7/2024 at 8:11 AM, KCOComics said:

I honestly think it was less nefarious than that. I think he had every intention of doing the work asked of him. 

I think he was disorganized, a poor business person and gave himself no margin for error. So when errors came,  he collapsed.

And the collapse was complete and total. Personal and professional. 

I believe this is likely the case. Folks have to bear in mind that the vast majority of HR business was run-of-the-mill clean and press. Many (including myself) used his C&P service with no problems. This is how he built a good reputation.

For the complex restoration he was obviously in way over his head. That was the ticking time bomb.