DougC

I wonder if the same is going to apply to glue? why not, really.  I have 20+ golden age books with the "small amount of dried glue on cover" notation... maybe I should just reholder them and put them on ebay, after all it is the customers fault they didn't check the graders notes, per CGC... right

On 5/23/2022 at 3:04 PM, Ryan1983 said:

Update time:

So today I received this email from CGC:

 

Then, I got this from the sellers after telling them I was verifying this with CGC:

Whoa...

So...anybody wanna buy an awful CGC error slab? hahahaha

Looks like the journey continues...

So I am not going to advise you to ever sell this without full disclosure, but (and this is likely not going to be popular) I would also advise that you do not reholder it and let CGC off the hook. Right now they really want that book back so they can fix their mistake at your cost to prevent future entanglements due to their incompetence. They are not offering you anything and pretending that they are doing you a favor with a "complementary reholder service" while very purposefully talking around the actual problem with the book without taking any real responsibility.

In short a special edition in 9.6 is probably in the range of KB reprint so maybe only worth a little more than shipping and grading fees for a modern which is quite short of what a first print 9.6 goes for. CGC isn't going to buy this book back from you but I would ask for a system credit of your choosing and get it in writing before returning the book to them, if they will not do that then I would keep the book in my collection and drag out it every so often to be petty.

On 5/14/2022 at 9:48 PM, Grendel72 said:

Dont struggle, just learn to accept and live with it.

Do not ever take this advice.

You are paying for a guaranteed quality service that failed on multiple levels and the fix isn't compensation to you, but to just mail the book back so they can correct it. You have every right to be angry since you will now be without your book for how ever long they prioritize fixing the label.  But, hey it's alright, at least they are not forcing you to pay shipping... right.

That Millie and Tessie #1..   Those were great prices!

Any chance you have a Showgirls in low grade your about to drop in the thread...

On 5/5/2022 at 2:15 PM, F For Fake said:

True, he's still a tall guy, but I'm not sure he moves so quickly anymore. Next time I see him, I'll test my theory by yelling insults about Defiant and Broadway...from a considerable distance. 

If you bring Steranko with you as back up, you will be fine.. he has a mean person_without_enough_empathy slap.

Here are some contrasting thoughts as I am a comic fan but the partner isn't (and never watched wandavision).

As already stated by everyone this is a very Sam Rami movie and I absolutely enjoyed it, I am concerned a larger audience wont though. He has a style and this felt very much like an evil dead 2/Darkman movie from both a visual and tone aspect. Unfortunately the movie itself suffered slightly from pacing which ramps up, then comes to a stop during the fan service Illuminati scene, and again before the fight with the last Strange.

I think the entire Illuminati scene was a test run to see what sticks and what will be accepted on the live action side of things in the future and just how "interchangeable" they can be with characters (which was broached with Cpt. America) when more of the Avengers era actors become to expensive for full movies.

My partner on the other hand whom has seen all the movies but not the TV shows... had no idea why Wanda was the bad guy and didn't really care about what was going on due to it. It was a fun ride but it wasn't for someone who didn't already know what was going on.

On 5/2/2022 at 5:17 PM, Troy Division said:

I'm apprehensive of buying autographed items outright which is why I posed the question here.

Overall autographs from the table top industry are generally sold unauthenticated due to the volume and general value. For any "high dollar" items I have seen PSA used when their is contention, but it is pretty rare. Now that GenCon is back to in person there are always a couple at the show and in the charity auction.

A couple years ago they would have been around $250, so an average AD&D manual I would assume be in the $350-400 range now. I don't believe the ones posted for 3k on ebay will ever sell for close to that amount. The example auction above (letter to ward) is more intimate and historically valuable and it only sold for $600.

With that said, let me recommend an alternative!

Find a copy of a one or two of your favorite books from any edition and pick the one with a white interior and artists that are still available (this will take awhile). Think of it like a project and when you have those nailed down get a personal commission done. Game art is so much cheaper than comic art you have the ability to splurge if you want, or keep it simple.

Here is an example of one of mine, A full Pencil from Tommy Castillo and a quick sketch from David "Esbri" Molinas.

On 5/2/2022 at 5:04 PM, D2 said:

Oh my god. I am sorry. I would have been totally pissed with this. It looks like a child drew it, inked it, and coloured it. 
 

I have found almost all sketch covers to be a waste of money, but yours definitely made sure of that. 
 

You should create a gofundme to have people throw you 2 bucks, 5 bucks, or whatever to all tally up and compensate you for this. 

This was almost a decade ago now, so it isn't such a huge loss anymore and luckily commission prices were a lot more reasonable back then. I was very angry given the cost but the colorist did go out of his way to try and make things right, he is a real champ and I have commissioned him many times and would recommend him today.

All in all this was just a flakey artist that took a commission and had didn't value the transaction, keep in mind blank covers were still relatively new. A lot of artists got away with what they couldn't today. I have a large number of sketch of covers and am happy with 90% of them, every artist has an off day, starts drawing before they are warmed up, or just doesn't have "it" that day. The good ones will take the extra time to get things right and the bad ones just dump what they have at the foot of the customer if its passable. Obviously most of the bad ones either change or slowly start to loose business when enough word gets out (social media really put a stop to a lot of this).

Gather around my children and let me take you back to a more simple time of 2014! Comic blanks were hitting shelves in full force and the Grimm Fairy Tales (Zenescope) cheese cake art was at its peak. Over the course of a couple conventions with the help of CGC I put together an artist, inker, and colorist for what was supposed to be an awesome jam book of the zenescope version of Robyn Hood. Most of the prep work was completed before sending my book off (including payments to all three) everyone had already received my layout rough and description, they had all worked together prior and seemed pretty enthusiastic. It could not have gone worse....

Ideally the artist would complete the pencils hand the book off to CGC at convention X, the inker would pick the book up and complete the inks then return the book to CGC at convention Y, the colorist would pick the book up and complete the project. I would then pick the book up in St. Louis with a witness (among other books) and send it for grading. obviously he artist immediately flaked out for a couple months and it took the inker to get things moving along as they were at the same convention. When I picked the book up in StL the colorist apologized profusely and took a good ten minutes for actually handing over the book...

I paid for a 3/4 character with background and from examples and expectations provided I was expecting this:

The complete monstrosity of garbage that I received was this:

When I asked WTF happened, the colorist explained there wasn't much he could do with it and offered to refund his portion of the project (I instead had him color another piece) both the penciler (who is at tons of conventions) and inker ghosted me and would not return any messages. I did eventually "try" and speak to the penciler who claimed to have no memory of who I was, the project, or anything really and threatened to call security if I didn't leave his booth. Obviously I never commissioned him or participated in any sketch ops again, due to this.

It was really kind of the wild west of sketch art back then and there were some other far more notable events (many done on the forums) that had longer reaching consequences; some lasting years. I still have this book and one day i'll set it on fire, but not today.

Doing some maintenance on my X-Men V2 Variant sets and noticed the following was input incorrectly

X-Men #1-#275 (1991) Including Variants

Cert: 1961251037

This Registry set has the "True Believers: X-Men #1 Blue" entered twice, the second time with a (2016) annotation. This book was issued on 6/17 and was not (re)printed before original distribution.

I believe the book should have been added to the:  X-Men (1991) Jim Lee which also includes all variants and reprints when it was request in July of last year.                    

I have removed the duplicate entry from X-Men #1-275 (1991) set. I also added it to the X-Men (1991) Jim Lee set. Thank you

After not being able to hit any conventions last year due to work travel my collection didn't grow at all last year so my goals this year are pretty mundane.

• I would like to add 25 books to my X-Men V2 collection.
• I really need to sell off a short box of CGC golden age under copies that have been collecting dust.
• There are some various Defiant, Malibu, and Ultraverse variant books i've been looking to pick up.

I'm sure this year i'll also add to my sketch and comic art collection but do not have anything anything attainable on the radar yet.

CGC and pedigree's has always crossed me the wrong way.  Unfortunately, they have become the de-facto strong arm of what can carry a pedigree label or not, even going as far as to create "collections" to conflate the designation. Given that CGC has taken the hard stance that any book printed after 86 cannot hold the pedigree designation even though they were part of the recognized pedigree, has always rubbed me the wrong way in a misguided gate keeping kind of way.

Please add the below book to the following sets (also note this book has nothing to do with the X-Men Blue ongoing series it is a reprint of the 1991 V2 Series).

X-Men #1-#275 (1991) Including Variants

True Believers: X-Men Blue #1

CGC #1961251037

X-Men (1991) Jim Lee

True Believers: X-Men Blue #1

CGC #1961251037

22 hours ago, WaltG12 said:

Did you ever participate in one of Stan's while he was alive?

You have found me out...

I have only participated in the post life signings.

As they pretty easily have dna I'm sure the robber will be tracked down. Especially when he tries to offload the books.

I am more interested in how Chuck will spin this as a million dollar loss/going out of business unless you use this new codeword to buy something angle.

When moving sketch covers (generally jam books) from one artist to another the above post pretty much covers the process (chain of custody). I am sure if I was an unscrupulous person I could slide in a couple previously signed books, maybe they wouldn't notice or maybe they would and I would loose all CGC privileges.

My overall thoughts on the OP are the same as when people come up and tell me when someone is doing something wrong at work.

My first question is always "Are you telling me this because they are actually doing something out of standard or are you just trying to get someone in trouble"?

I would have guessed the linked ebay auction was graded under the "lobby card/Photo" submissions but it doesn't have the binder rings on the left side.  I am sure someone with more knowledge can help you but these Steranko sketches are pretty common.  On your other question, which ever employee you spoke with was at best incorrect and I have commissioned sketches many times and picked them up with a witness.

I promised myself I would not post in this topic again, but I am not a nice person.

One does not post in any internet forum in search of experts in a field of business one is a part of, you go to those specific individuals for that service.  One does however post on internet forums in order to quietly out something that should be private business and try and coyly see what side those people (on the forum) will take.  I hope you gathered the necessary information to conclude an answer.

The fact that you are asking an internet message board instead of your lawyer, gives me pause to your actual motives.

Either take the offer or talk to your lawyer, not people on the internet.

Newsprint is newsprint regardless of color (though quality and condition will be an issue) anything printed recently would have no issue with pressing.

Just for curiosity sake when you say "rare" do you mean an actual ashcan used for trademark purposes or the 90's gimmicks