DougC

On 4/30/2024 at 9:11 PM, Okguy said:

Does CGC grade "Facsimile Cover Reprint" books?  

Any examples of this? 

I believe you are asking if CGC will "grade" a coverless comic with a reprinted/facsimile front and back cover.

If so the answer is yes, it has to be attached at the staples but will receive a "NG" (no grade) designation when encapsulated.

On 4/30/2024 at 2:58 PM, seanfingh said:

This is absolutely awesome. Especially if you asked for "Psycho Valkyrie," because he nailed it.

I knew exactly what I was going to get, art wise when I asked for a remarq.

Last year when I spoke with Terry he was hesitant to do any smaller (non-sketched) remarqs due to being 71 (now 72!) and his "fine detail not being what it used to be". Don Perlin is in the same situation and has all but stopped any sketch/remarq years ago and he just hit 94.

This particular book isn't worth anything (except to me) so what I get on it is more of a beauty mark to make me happy than it would be of value to anyone else.

Though I would love to find Bruce Patterson, Jean Izzo (Simek), and Petra Scotese (Goldberg) to round the book out. Though even with some intensive searching I don't know if they are alive let alone interested in doing any type of signing as they seemed to have stopped working on comics in the 80's.

CGC offering the "ART" or "SNG" designation for verified signatures/sketches instead of forcing them to be graded would solve most of the secondary market issues as well as helping turn around times.

More to the question the type of signature "should" trump the value of non-key books, but in practice the grade often heavily determines perceived value overall. I purchase a lot of signature series books and usually offer much less for non 9.6/9.8 signed moderns regardless of the signature. If you know that you have a rare signer lined up and use junk books it ends up reflecting in the selling price.

Recent 9.8s signed by both sold for only $136 (smudged sig), $124, and Best Offer (don't have the ability see 130point atm). So I would assume an asking price of around $500-$600 taking best offer over $350 and slowly lowering your expectations until sold (if your needing to sell). That is being conservative and realistic; obviously you could just list it on ebay for 2k and see what people will offer.

On 4/29/2024 at 12:21 PM, I like pie said:

I reached out to CGC and it's a half inch too big for encapsulation.

your not encapsulating it just using an opened magazine slab without an inner well, CGC wouldn't have any part in it.

IIRC a 12x9 should fit snugly into a CGC magazine case without an inner well, this would also allow you to create a custom label.

Right at just under another four weeks and I received a notification that my last book has moved to GEI as of this afternoon.

you can check sales with GPA, but just sharing what the actual book is will go along way to getting better responses as not all 10s are going to sell the same.

Got my Defenders #65 back from the Austin signing; now to hope Keith Pollard makes another appearance this year (missed him in February due to Austin) .

Facilitator fee's are now an industry standard as CGC outsourced their Signature Verification to "authorized facilitators" years ago. You will be charged; I would advise to find a facilitator you trust and build a relationship with them to handle your books. Some facilitators charge a premium, some have a standard fee it just depends on their business practices and something how much they can get away with.

Your maxed declared value is all they will reimburse so if you maxed out modern it would be $400 ea.

You should also ask to be reimbursed the full invoice which includes original payment, handling fee, and shipping. It is very likely CGC will try and get you to accept system credit instead of a refund, I would advice against this unless they offer a lot more as it is just free money to CGC.

In a bit more of a snarky response you are actually lucky to get reimbursement as the standard SOP has been to blame the customer, deny any fault, and only then reluctantly offer some type of compensation.

I am sorry for your loss; here is a sticker:

Something a bit different...

These are Sealed Space Ship miniatures made by Eisenwerk Miniatures from 1977-79 for their proprietary SpaceTek battle system (comparable with Starfleet Battles). Pretty much nothing about the miniatures or company exist on the internet except a couple references and one reddit picture similar to mine asking what they were.

All-in-all they are probably worthless due to being obscure, from the late 70's, and no fan base.... But they are pretty neat hunks of pure lead.

Anyone who had books out for the Terry Austin/Claremont signing due by March 1st, I just got an alert that my book (Austin only remarq) just moved to GEI (4/14).

Because you cannot honestly expect CGC to be held accountable for their own mistakes. That sounds like some kind of expectation of quality control and responsibility when we all know it is the customer that is in the wrong for "finding" these errors in the first place.

Seriously though it is morally bankrupt business economics; CGC puts out so many of these that it is not cost effective to fix them all. So they limit a customers ability to return damaged product and save the money while ignoring any social outcry until it becomes a PR problem. Then they can roll back the return policy and pretend they are doing it in the best interest of the customer and be the hero.

If it helps I have a sticker I hand out for cases just like this:

Maybe.... this is just a personal dig by the CGC graders directed at you for being poor and they believe it is a really pressing mater?

Tell me how is your relationship with your press...

On 4/9/2024 at 12:58 PM, Crusafitch said:

Can you tell us who pressed the books?

I am all for taking a shot at CGC for their terrible high heat quick press but this seems to be a case of over hydration where the book "reverted" after pressing. Even I doubt this would be done by them (your book is more likely to be burnt). I had a copy of defenders #65 in this condition where the book wrinkled after being slabbed, another press fixed the issue and it retained the 9.8 (thanks Rich).

On 4/9/2024 at 5:46 PM, Ben Stinchcombe said:

Thank you very much for the advice that everyone submitted. I've taken it on board and therefore will wait until April or later before I consider grading it. 

Even though I know its authentic, I understand there's no way to prove that since there was no witness in 1991 when it was probably signed. But if that does change, I will hopefully be able to have it graded as its 1 of 100 signed.

 

Lastly, @DougC thank you for the feedback, but I'm not very involved so honestly have no clue what that means. If there's a way to explain it but dumbed down, that'd be appreciated also, but if not, no worries.

Again. Thanks to everyone who gave advice on what to do. I really appreciate it.

 

Depending on how much the JSA authentication, grading fee's, and shipping it is very possible that you can buy one that has already been graded for a cheaper price.

"IF" you do send this book in (after the announcement) it will only reflect that it was signed not any notation about 1 of 100. There have been thousands of this book signed over the last 30 years so the CoA stating your book is 21 or 100 (signed at that store only) will not add value.

In addition to the above it is very possible that it would be cheaper to purchase one in a similar or better condition that is already slabbed with a yellow label.

On 4/8/2024 at 1:08 PM, Ryan. said:

 

I am so mad at myself for not grabbing one of the Tottleben remarks (especially one of the swamp things) when they were all over ebay.

In other news, a total solar eclipse... but a second print.

This as always is terrible news; I own a number of sketch covers from Scott. Both brothers have had nothing but a terrible time medically for the last 20 years, Garrett is currently fighting his own battle and this will be a very tough time.

On 4/4/2024 at 8:33 PM, nrellyson said:

There's one major reason I am certain that verified signatures won't fall under the signature series label and will therefore have a different color is this statement on the about page for the Signature Series:

"With CGC Signature Series, collectors can have their comic books, magazines, posters and prints signed by artists and creators in the presence of a CGC representative. The authenticity of the signature is then 100% certain, making the collectible eligible for the iconic CGC Signature Series yellow label."

JSA sigbature authentication does not and cannot offer the same guarantee about the signatures they authenticate. There's no way to be 100% certain of the authenticity unless it was witnessed so all they can say is in their best expert opinion, the signature is likely authentic. Without the 100% certainty and based on CGC's own marketing for the program, verified signatures will not be eligible for the "iconic CGC Signature Series yellow label".

Honestly, with a marketing clam and statement like that, giving a verified signature the yellow label would likely open them up to lawsuits. Collectors have been paying a premium for signature series books partially because the yellow label means 100% certainty of authenticity. While I know the odds are low, a verified signature could always potentially be fake unless you personally witnessed it and is never gonna be as valuable as a witnessed signature for that very reason. If CGC were to add verified signature to the signature series, the yellow color of the label itself would no longer mean 100% authentic. Even if its differentiated somewhere, collectors would no longer see that iconic yellow label and be 100% certain about a signature without having to read the label. Makes the yellow labelee books less attractive on the secondary market and would likely reduce demand and hurt sales. Folks wouldn't be happy with that

Just a couple notes... JSA currently offers both third party authentication and in person witnessed signature authentication.

Secondly CGC signature series is a niche inside a niche that many people still do not understand and learn the hard way after getting a book signed. The 100% claim is industry puffery as there has been instances in the past of bad actors and shenanigans; CGC currently allows artists to take books home to finish so there is always a chance of another Kirby/Dynamic Forces.

More so on the topic at hand; I have backed off the position they will be yellow labels with JSA notations... slightly.

What I do think will happen is that a new color label will be announced for 2024 then in 2026 they will announce merging the labels into a single yellow label going forward to "help with customer confusion", offer a 30 day discount to get your old labels changed over, and never look back.

On 4/4/2024 at 12:39 PM, masonbaseball99 said:

The correct description is Transformers #1 from 1984, that was signed by Peter Cullen. I have no idea how they confused it with Amazing Spiderman #361 🤦🏻

 

does anyone know how I can get a hold of CGC for this correction?

If you are not familiar with CGC submissions or where to find the Mechanical error selection it will be under:

Submit (on the home page)

1. >>Submission Forms (drop down menu)
2. >>Online Form (like submitting a comic for grading)
3. >>Start New Order
4. >>Comic
5. >>Regular Submission Grading (even if you have SS books)
6. >>Mechanical Error/Return

Then complete the form with the Certification Number of the comic being returned. As noted above a prepaid packaging label will be printed but you have to provide all packaging materials and labor. CGC will ONLY correct their mistakes if this is done within the first 10 business days (IIRC) after which you will be charged! They will not compensate you for their mistake nor for the book being out of your possession; I would highly recommend maxing out any "estimated insurance" on the form.

May the odds be in your favor; good luck.

On 4/4/2024 at 1:43 AM, postersandstuff said:

how are they gonna verify my Jon Benn/Riki Hashimoto (Bruce Lee villains fyi) or other obscure sigs ?

(Benn was bought directly from him & Hashimoto matches sig of someone that met him in Japan)

The same way JSA always has...

If they (or PSA) cannot confirm a signature due to it being obscure; they will err on the side of caution and return it as "unable to verify signature". Which is what they currently do.