newshane

On 5/8/2024 at 11:40 AM, captainzombie said:

 

• Spawn #156 - 1st full Zera; this is one hell of a cover to get in a 9.8

Just have to stress that there are no 9.8s. 

At least not at the moment. 

139 is a brutal book as well. 

On 5/7/2024 at 6:02 PM, grendelbo said:

I'm pretty sure 9.9s and 10s can't have page quality below White.

I can't explain those old slabs.

Tens must have white pages. 

9.9s can have ow. 

On 5/7/2024 at 3:24 PM, zach1900 said:

Teenage mutant Ninja turtles number one first run. 8.0 off-white, is that considered good or average for a modern book?

That's all relative. There is no "good or average" for a modern book. Depends on the issue. 

I'd say you have a solid copy of that book at that grade. 

Off-white designation has no bearing on the numerical grade. 

On 5/6/2024 at 3:28 PM, namisgr said:

My experience indicates it's neither every post office nor every city.  

Very true. 

Like I said, I've had awesome experiences with rural post offices. 

But the city stinks. 

I've also had generally excellent luck, and they are still my top choice for shipping anything. 

On 5/6/2024 at 11:29 AM, Darwination said:

Want to talk dysfunctional cities, I have to imagine Memphis would be somewhere near the top of the list...

Pretty much any large city in the United States is now a toilet bowl. 

As a Tennessean, I advise people to avoid Memphis altogether if possible. 

If you are heading west on 1-40, it's best to fuel up before Jackson and pray you can make it past Little Rock before having to stop again. 

You know all those "best of" lists that rank each state according to crime, education, property value, physical fitness, etc? Well, Tennessee would shoot up 15 or 20 places on each list if we could give Memphis to Arkansas or Mississippi.  

On 5/3/2024 at 12:01 PM, trademarkcomics said:

They tell you not to tape over the barcodes, but ever since we started taping over just the very bottom of the barcode(so they can still scan if the laser printed barcode gets rubbed off), we haven't had anything go off tracking or get "lost". We used to use USPS insurance, and high value items invariably got delayed. Once we started using ShipCover insurance, packages seem to go right through. 

Yes. This is a "best practice" and it's what I've always done. 

On 5/3/2024 at 11:21 AM, CGC Mike said:

I believe so.  However, I have a box at my residence.  If we go away and they hold my  mail, I can't pick it up when I get back.  There have been a few other times when I needed to pick up my mail and was denied by the postal rep.

This is extraordinarily bizarre. 

On 5/2/2024 at 1:10 PM, TheBigJ said:

Have you ever visited your local PO, or any PO for that matter? Check one out and you won't be surprised by poor service. Not a fan, but what are your options?

Damned if you do and damned if you don't.

Unfortunately. 

I firmly believe they are trained to move as slowly as possible. 

I've seen lines of over 20 people, and every clerk in the office is (barely) moving without a care in the world. Everyone in line could be huffing and puffing or threatening violence. It only makes them move even slower. 

I guess I wouldn't be cut out for the job. If I saw a line like that, I would pick up the pace to move them out of there. 

The clerks just look up with a blank stare with no concern whatsoever. 

***This is at EVERY post office (Edit - in the city or large towns). 

I miss living in a rural area. Your best customer service care can be found in the tiny offices manned by a single clerk. In small towns, you can actually form a relationship with the clerks and carriers, which makes it a wonderful experience. 

Big towns or cities? Forget about it. 

UPDATE - I've changed the terms of sale to include additional payment options for buyers seeking flexibility. 

Now accepting money orders, cashier checks, personal checks, Venmo, and Zelle! 

I really prefer to avoid PayPal because they've held thousands of my dollars in hostage, and I'm not a big fan of waiting a month to get my money. 

If PayPal is the only way you can get it done and you're very serious about this book, I guess we can talk about it, but no promises, and I wouldn't get my hopes up. I've just been really sour on PayPal lately. 

You might also want to consider my payment plan or proposing one of your own. 

HONORABLE MENTIONS

The following are books that have a reputation for being tough. Fortunately, I didn't have an issue with these issues.

But...I've seen various sources (Overstreet and certain dealers, for example) advertise them as tough, and they gained a bit of fame for it. 

Spawn 131

Spawn 180 

REVISIONS? ADDITIONS? 

There are a few other issues that are actually tougher than the one's on my personal list. 

If I were making a list for the toughest in general, I might remove #8 (207), #9 (201), and definitely #10 (26) from my list. The rest would remain the same. What would I replace them with? 

8. Spawn 152

9. Spawn 121

10. Spawn 158 

MOST DIFFICULT BOOKS OF THE REGULAR RUN (VARIANTS NOT TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATION)

1. - SPAWN 156 

2. - SPAWN 64 

3.- SPAWN 212 

4. - SPAWN 191 

5. - SPAWN 203 

6.- SPAWN 182 

7. - SPAWN 144

8. - SPAWN 207 

9. - SPAWN 201 

10. - SPAWN 26 

Still no copies in 9.8.........

or 9.6. 

A few in 9.4. One of them belonged to me. 

Jet black inks, relatively low print run, the world's crappiest coverstock, and the fact that it was released at a time when everyone had forgotten Spawn...all this contributes to a truly brutal modern. 

Cheers to the person who finds a 9.8! 

THE toughest main-series Spawn by far. 

I'm putting the book up one more time just to see what happens! I love it, but the money could go towards some pretty useful things I've been putting off, or maybe make a super groovy trade of some sort! 

If this sells, I will put up a special book to take its place! 

And nope! Not telling! 

On 5/2/2024 at 12:08 PM, marvelmaniac said:

....not stored in a unfinished basement/garage/attic....

The greatest comic collection of all time (Mile High) was stored in an unfinished basement. 

Let me be honest here. 

Not even Jesus could save that book. 

Don't bother with restoration or grading. 

Leave it in a Mylar and let it finish consuming itself. 

I've fantasized about putting a few rounds of 9mm through it before subbing it to the CGC. 

I'd love to read those grader notes! 

I may surprise everyone with the results in a few months. 

MOST DIFFICULT BOOKS OF THE REGULAR RUN (VARIANTS NOT TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATION)

1.

2. - SPAWN 64 

3.- SPAWN 212 

4. - SPAWN 191 

5. - SPAWN 203 

6.- SPAWN 182 

7. - SPAWN 144

8. - SPAWN 207 

9. - SPAWN 201 

10. - SPAWN 26 

Another gap in the collection of 9.8s. This one still frustrates me! I'm pretty sure this was a census ghost 10 years ago, but I must have blocked it out of my memory due to trauma!  

There are a few on eBay right now. You may balk at the asking prices but TRUST ME when I tell you...this is a very tough modern. 

This issue came in a polybag and included an insert. That's what made it so tough. The cleanest copy I ever found was a 9.6 that I subbed. I was really bummed when it came back "not perfect." 

Go find this book in your LCS. It will likely be shot to . 

The boards aren't allowing me to upload the image right now. I'll try in another post. 

MOST DIFFICULT BOOKS OF THE REGULAR RUN (VARIANTS NOT TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATION)

1.

2.

3.- SPAWN 212 

4. - SPAWN 191 

5. - SPAWN 203 

6.- SPAWN 182 

7. - SPAWN 144

8. - SPAWN 207 

9. - SPAWN 201 

10. - SPAWN 26 

How tough was this book? Well, I never found one! One of the three issues preventing me from a 100% complete 9.8 run. 

I'm shocked but there are now several on the census. Twas a ghost in my day. There is one 9.8 copy on eBay right now. Still a brutally difficult book IMO. At least that's the impression I will always have! 

MOST DIFFICULT BOOKS OF THE REGULAR RUN (VARIANTS NOT TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATION)

1.

2.

3.

4. - SPAWN 191 

5. - SPAWN 203 

6.- SPAWN 182 

7. - SPAWN 144

8. - SPAWN 207 

9. - SPAWN 201 

10. - SPAWN 26 

This one took forever. Same old song. 

There happen to be a handful on eBay right now, but NONE of them at 9.8

Remember, when gauging difficulty, I'm looking at everything through the lens of "anything below 9.8 is absolutely unacceptable as anything other than a placeholder." Also remember that I'm speaking about my personal experience as a collector. Your mileage may vary, and these lists are for entertainment purposes only! Also, feel free to leave a comment or a list of your own! 

On 4/30/2024 at 1:22 PM, ft88 said:

Planet Comics 1 Collectors Edition $10

On 4/30/2024 at 1:23 PM, ft88 said:

Planet Comic Covers $10

MOST DIFFICULT BOOKS OF THE REGULAR RUN (VARIANTS NOT TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATION)

1.

2.

3.

4.

5. - SPAWN 203 

6.- SPAWN 182 

7. - SPAWN 144

8. - SPAWN 207 

9. - SPAWN 201 

10. - SPAWN 26 

I've been randomly checking eBay to see if any of the issues on my list are available. The only graded copy of this issue is a CGC 9.4 and the raws are priced as high as 120 bucks. 

Ultraman. 

He gets the  beat out of him every episode. 

I saw an episode where he got fully dismembered by a giant wolf. Limbs were flying everywhere. 

And he's got that annoying alarm on his chest that goes off every time he's getting stuffed. 

It's really something else. 

MOST DIFFICULT BOOKS OF THE REGULAR RUN (VARIANTS NOT TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATION)

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.- SPAWN 182 

7. - SPAWN 144

8. - SPAWN 207 

9. - SPAWN 201 

10. - SPAWN 26 

The series would get a shot in the arm with 185, but the era right before was the first "true bottom" for the character. All this in spite of quality cover art. This was one of the last books I could find. \

I checked eBay out of curiosity and there was only one graded copy for sale - in CGC 8.0.