The Black Hand ®

I agree. Best thread ever.

This

Where am I? How did I get here?

I just got back from seeing Suicide Squad and I have to say it was GREAT. I don't know what the hell the critics were on when they saw it, maybe Marvel Kool Aid or something, but the reviews I read had nothing to do with the film I saw. Yesterday I saw Sully and damn if Clint Eastwood ain't the man. Him and Hanks made a super film. Go see it.

I saw it yesterday and enjoyed it a lot. I love Karl Urban's McCoy and his interactions with Spock and Kirk. I loved Jaylah, played by Sofia Boutella and the relationship with her and Scotty. Naturally I found portions of the film to be bittersweet due to Anton Yelchin's tragic death. The first film is still my favorite but this comes in second. Go see it if you haven't.

I support you 100%...why PUNISH YOU...you are not the crook, you just want what you paid for...the CAF is upside down....hello Mr Bill Shot, I mean Mr. Big shot....have you ever heard of e-bay...probably not...that is why you are afraid to come on the boards...please ask e-bay if ban the BUYERs after they get ripped off and also get kicked off the system..and as far as third party posting....that is shows who we are dealing with..somebody who is aware of the boards..yet afraid to face tough questions.. Mitch, pump the brakes. Literally everything you wrote is incorrect, misguided and misinformed. Bill is the guy who has single handedly transformed the OA collecting hobby in th least 12 years with very little benefit to himself. He is free to run his site as he sees fit. He's not afraid of anything. He's busy running his site and his business and doesn't need to entertain every attempted character assassination on every message board to prove to you he's a big strong brave man. On the flip side we've got collectors attaching themselves like a remora to the underbelly of CAF never contributing one thin dime or one small moment of earnest appreciation to the site or Bill, and reaping the benefits of buying and selling and profiting for well over a decade. Then, when a too good to be true deal blows in in their face and they think that Bill is not moving fast enough, they are quick to imply that Bill owes them something beyond everything they've already taken for free and without heaitation. Just once try and figure out what's going on before launching into the usual silliness. From your statement - Bill/CAF owes nothing. The flip side of that coin is that they owe nothing in return. He provides a free service that you can if you want move into a paid account. He doesn't force users to do that and it appears he doesn't expect users to be paying members. If he did then he should change the site into a pay site. Actually, you misunderstand. Bill has already provided everything. For free. To everyone. The result of that is people can and do transact at their own risk. When their greed or desire outpaces their common sense and they run into an issue they are not in a position to make demands of Bill and the site off of which they have sought to profit without fee or cost. I've run into scammers on caf before. I make note of it to Bill and he handles it. Like he handled it here. He had blocked the sellers account 12 hours before Ankur demanded he do so implying CAF owed him something, and without realizing it had already been done. Then he began his campaign here. Bill,has already provided the site, for free, to everyone. The least we can return is respect towards him when a problem arises beyond implications that more is owed and demanded. If Bill doesn't place cookies and then sell the data collected from them then I would agree with your statement. However, if the cookies track users and where they venture to on the internet and that data is sold then we have a different ball game going on. The free service is used for a benefit. I have no idea if that is the case. If it isn't then he is missing a LARGE revenue stream. If you think that's a large enough revenue stream to overcome the constant need for bandwidth, upgraded servers and other expenses then you just might be overestimating the size and scope of that revenue stream on a site like CAF. I didn't say it was a charity site. I said the site isn't a cash cow for Bill. That's especially true when you factor in and average the 12 plus years of operation, and all the expenses appurtenant. Then add in the free users, some of which buying and selling 5 figure pieces on a regular basis yet contributing nothing to the site other than strain on bandwidth and storage space and you'll see that there is as much giving from Bill than taking by him, if not more. None of which is relevant to what is being discussed here of course. People getting something for free, then blaming the person who gave it to them for free for not ceding immediately to their demands, when the blame lies with the seller who screwed them. So this site was set up out of the goodness of the owner's heart? There is no benefit to him? I think Ankur is getting unjustly set upon and Bill is getting a massive reach around. Do you guys also think the banks had nothing to do with the collapse in 07? This of course is just my opinion. No one is responsible for anything anymore. . Massive stretch comparing a website that doesn't make a penny off of transactions and specifically states that people transact at their own risk as a term of service agreed to before the account can activated to banks that actually perpetuated, aggravated, and participated in the collapse of 2007. Why don't you ask cgc how many years it took for them to turn a profit ? They actually sell a product and service that's been the leader in the field for years and I guarantee you it took them the better part of a decade. Maybe you should get to know Ankur and get to know Bill before choosing a position on this, you may be grateful that you did. More information is always better than less. I am sure Ankur would be thankful for the support if he wasn't content that the spotlight hamdniw moved on to another thread instead of this one. I have eyes. I just saw the jackals circling Ankur and figured it out myself.

I support you 100%...why PUNISH YOU...you are not the crook, you just want what you paid for...the CAF is upside down....hello Mr Bill Shot, I mean Mr. Big shot....have you ever heard of e-bay...probably not...that is why you are afraid to come on the boards...please ask e-bay if ban the BUYERs after they get ripped off and also get kicked off the system..and as far as third party posting....that is shows who we are dealing with..somebody who is aware of the boards..yet afraid to face tough questions.. Mitch, pump the brakes. Literally everything you wrote is incorrect, misguided and misinformed. Bill is the guy who has single handedly transformed the OA collecting hobby in th least 12 years with very little benefit to himself. He is free to run his site as he sees fit. He's not afraid of anything. He's busy running his site and his business and doesn't need to entertain every attempted character assassination on every message board to prove to you he's a big strong brave man. On the flip side we've got collectors attaching themselves like a remora to the underbelly of CAF never contributing one thin dime or one small moment of earnest appreciation to the site or Bill, and reaping the benefits of buying and selling and profiting for well over a decade. Then, when a too good to be true deal blows in in their face and they think that Bill is not moving fast enough, they are quick to imply that Bill owes them something beyond everything they've already taken for free and without heaitation. Just once try and figure out what's going on before launching into the usual silliness. From your statement - Bill/CAF owes nothing. The flip side of that coin is that they owe nothing in return. He provides a free service that you can if you want move into a paid account. He doesn't force users to do that and it appears he doesn't expect users to be paying members. If he did then he should change the site into a pay site. Actually, you misunderstand. Bill has already provided everything. For free. To everyone. The result of that is people can and do transact at their own risk. When their greed or desire outpaces their common sense and they run into an issue they are not in a position to make demands of Bill and the site off of which they have sought to profit without fee or cost. I've run into scammers on caf before. I make note of it to Bill and he handles it. Like he handled it here. He had blocked the sellers account 12 hours before Ankur demanded he do so implying CAF owed him something, and without realizing it had already been done. Then he began his campaign here. Bill,has already provided the site, for free, to everyone. The least we can return is respect towards him when a problem arises beyond implications that more is owed and demanded. If Bill doesn't place cookies and then sell the data collected from them then I would agree with your statement. However, if the cookies track users and where they venture to on the internet and that data is sold then we have a different ball game going on. The free service is used for a benefit. I have no idea if that is the case. If it isn't then he is missing a LARGE revenue stream. If you think that's a large enough revenue stream to overcome the constant need for bandwidth, upgraded servers and other expenses then you just might be overestimating the size and scope of that revenue stream on a site like CAF. I didn't say it was a charity site. I said the site isn't a cash cow for Bill. That's especially true when you factor in and average the 12 plus years of operation, and all the expenses appurtenant. Then add in the free users, some of which buying and selling 5 figure pieces on a regular basis yet contributing nothing to the site other than strain on bandwidth and storage space and you'll see that there is as much giving from Bill than taking by him, if not more. None of which is relevant to what is being discussed here of course. People getting something for free, then blaming the person who gave it to them for free for not ceding immediately to their demands, when the blame lies with the seller who screwed them. So this site was set up out of the goodness of the owner's heart? There is no benefit to him? I think Ankur is getting unjustly set upon and Bill is getting a massive reach around. Do you guys also think the banks had nothing to do with the collapse in 07? This of course is just my opinion. No one is responsible for anything anymore.

This series really grew on me. At first I was a bit disappointed... but the girl playing Supergirl is excellent. All the characters are starting to work together really well. Having J'onn J'onzz in the mix really helps. One of my favorite 50's characters.

Watching The Detectorists. Really good stuff.

I know this is sacrilegious but I've always been underwhelmed by Ditko covers. They always lacked an 'oomph' of some sort. He was a great storyteller though. Ditko was the true king.

With the chairman of a company being a reading fan, hopefully that provides the energy needed. Nick, I'm not sure a movie franchise would do this epic tale justice. This is a very detailed story with so much depth.....ten plus seasons from an HBO /showtime type channel is the way to go. It would be an injustice to the source material and the readers/fans to cram it into a few movies. I'm also pissed as a fart currently. Take that for what it's worth. The Black Hand has a stinky taint, btw.

Thank Goodness you're back! So happy to hear this news.

Just wanted to mention that today is Shield's Birthday...the guy who started this thread all those years ago.

I'm pulling for BZ to make it through and start posting again. Best thread ever!

Sometimes there should only be one. KickAss was huge in my opinion. A phenomenal film of it's genre. Fresh and new and exciting. I thought the second one ruined it a bit, so I have to block it from my memory. There's a good reason why they never made Casablanca 2.

Just in case you wanted a serious question about this scheme: 1) Is the intention to cash in the Ripple and use it to purchase comics for 'the collection'? 2) Will you take an administrative fee/slice first? If so, how much? 3) Will you publish the details of all purchases for the collection, including who the seller was? 4) Will the coin be traded on exchanges? (In the model I'm assuming, the value would be pretty much fixed by the current estimated value of the collection). If operated transparently and ethically, I see no problem with it (though not my thing). If the operator lacked integrity, it is easy to abuse. True...but when have you ever heard of collectors and dealers lacking integrity in our beloved hobby/business?

Although, I have a phobia about decaying paper and some of the comics I've owned with marginal or worse paper quality terrified me. Could this be the answer? What's going on inside that slab? A deadly stew of gasses killing those pages! What happens every time you return a book to it's sleeve? Knicks and tears and other awful things. Comic coin could be big.

What's the word?

Do they still make Thunderbird?

Sweet.

There's nothing sadder than a torn comic.

I really want to see a good Fantastic Four movie. I really do. This isn't winning me over. Yeah, why not just make another film with that scenario and leave the FF out of it? It doesn't make sense.

That's something I've asked myself before. Maybe during a ceremony of some sort. I'm a bit of a traditionalist, so I'd like to see it.

Someone else had some of these, but here's mine. I don't know if they're desirable or not, but I love the covers. And not a pulp, but I loved the cover.