Mr. Zipper

In my experience, the majority of YouTube video are examples of what not to do. Way too many yahoos crushing and toasting books and taking shortcuts. They show the finished products and they are wavy as hell. You need to be able to discern the wheat from the chaff.

It seems common sense to me that you can't use a textured sheet (teflon cloth) against the surface of a book being pressed -- of course the woven texture of the cloth is going to be pressed into the paper. I'm curious where people are learning to press.

Exactly. In my professional authentication I have learned that authenticity is often inversely proportional to the length of the story. Burying in BS is a common tactic to lend false veracity. Mike could be selling books (intentionally or accidentally) and the story is 90% troll BS. Both of these things could be true at the same time.

I could be wrong, but I am skeptical. The story is so over the top and perfectly scripted to throw red meat at every previous speculation.

Gold star to @KCOComics CGC 4.5

I'm usually spot on on my estimations and I fully expected this would get a 6.5. It's really clean with great eye appeal and the reader's crease is light and blends in... but CGC did hammer it for the crease. Gold star to @fast eddie for the first correct guess. CGC 6.0. I can't complain.. I bought it 25 years ago for $100.

I'm in.

Received at CGC 12/26 and shipped today. Care to guess the grade?

The FF 48 has been graded by CGC. Anyone care to guess the grade?

There are also the people who have long-term perspective and know that Mike has been a part of this community for a long time, and ran his business for nearly a decade without any impropriety. Most people don’t turn into criminals at age 55. Those people were willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, thinking he made some bad decisions and had some health problems, but would turn things around. When I was in my 20s, I was probably more of a “hang em at dawn mob” guy too. When you’re in your 50s, hopefully you have a little more empathy, wisdom and emotional intelligence. i’m still hoping against hope that everyone gets their books back and this matter can be resolved sooner rather than later. I would be shocked if Mike was actually selling peoples books. If he was doing that, he wouldn’t be in the financial trouble that he’s in. He needs to be held accountable, and people need their possessions back. After that, I hope he can recover and live a long healthy life. That said, I’m sure there are some who read this and interpret it as being weak and soft and making excuses for him. Whatever.

Nah. That only happens in James Bond movies. Most criminals are greedy losers who aren't that smart, blow all the money and live week to week. There is no Caribbean escape plan. He's crapping his pants in a dumpy apartment in Queens.

There's a lot of speculation about legal process... civil vs. criminal... how the process will play out etc., etc. The reality is this: If CGC uses their corporate resources to come after the perpetrator civilly, he won't stand a chance. It will cost him tens of thousands (if not hundreds of thousands) in legal fees before it ever got to court. All this stuff about discovery, etc etc is just blather. Unless the defendant is wealthy, he won't have the resources to take it that far. He'll have to settle. If CGC uses their private investigator to gather the evidence and it is turned over to authorities for criminal prosecution, the results will likely be the same... some sort of plea / settlement. I take great comfort knowing that the turd that did this had a lousy Christmas and probably hasn't slept in weeks. Even if he doesn't spend a day in jail, his life has been turned upside down and the next few years will be a nightmare of uncertainty and financial ruin.

Yes, they are the same book. The two spine ticks are identical. Any difference is due to different lighting.

I believe your expectations are unrealistically high. The FBI doesn't drop everything and come charging in for consumer fraud cases. It would be many months for them to even look at it, and then many more months, if not years, investigating. IF... and that is a big IF... they opted to pursue it at all. I have knowledge of an auction house that perpetrated millions of dollars of fraud and a boatload of evidence was handed to the FBI on a silver platter. Two years later they decided NOT to pursue it. Frankly, I'd be shocked if they gave two turds about comic book cases being swapped out.

It was a copy and paste from a lawyer's redline and they didn't match the font color. Probably said "will" before.

Jordan is probably near or at the top. I am not a card collector, but I watch the market. They are even faking the high tech refractor cards, uniform swatch cards, etc etc. and the fakes are so good they are getting past PSA on occasion.

No one should use the card market as an exemplar of confidence, safety and lack of fraud. Sheesh... there are counterfeit Chinese PSA slabs on the market with counterfeit cards... trimmed and doctored cards are rampant... it goes on and on and makes this issue look like small potatoes in comparison.

When there is money involved, criminals will always be seeking to hack the system. CGC will always need to build a better mousetrap, which according to their statement, they have. No system will EVER be foolproof. But you can place countermeasures to make the barriers to entry to fraud as high as possible. I agree that the best solutions are often the simplest and likely "analog." Things like this would likely stop almost all potential swap-outs: Photos of slabbed books Matching serial number on inner well A dot of permanent adhesive in the corner posts

That’s Mike. His Instagram is https://www.instagram.com/hero_restoration?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA==

That’s not Mike.

Some may recall that Mike, for many years, was a well regarded member of the community, a respected restoration expert with a thriving business, and someone who had great passion for the hobby. And now his life has come apart at the seams. As someone who has chatted with him casually on and off for 15 years, the situation is unreal and shocking. I was hoping against hope that Mike would pull it together and all the outstanding issues would be resolved. I’m not excusing or defending any of his actions, and I have great empathy for the people who lost money and may lose their books. This is a tragedy. There is nothing to celebrate or joke about. The most recent developments only reduce the chances that the victims will be made whole.

Security probably means "bail" and that is pending, hence he is still in custody. He can't pay his bail. I truly hope he can bounce back from this for everyone's sake.

Oh my. From bad to worse. This does not weigh in favor of books being returned anytime soon.

It would take many months for the police to build a case to present to a judge. Then anything seized would likely be held for a long time until the legal matter is settled. There is no quick fix with the legal system. The best case scenario is the detectives assigned would pay HR a visit and give him the opportunity to resolve the matter before the case proceeded any further. This is why I was suggesting a third party administrator solution for the most efficient way to resolve. Mike can move on and hopefully regain his health and people get their books back. But I understand and appreciate the landmines in that scenario as well.

Understood. Obviously there would have to be an organized process like the owners signing a release to allow the third party to take possession... maybe spearheaded by a trusted dealer. If there is no record keeping system now linking books to owners, then the third party would have the same issue HR would face -- no way to know what books are whose. The best case scenario would be the books are still in the shipping boxes with the submission forms, but unlikely if payment was charged upon receipt. Sadly, I don't think there is a perfect solution. It's going to get messy either way. But maybe a third party administering the returns is the best hope for the least messy outcome possible.