Westy Steve

One thing you need to be aware of:  A buddy of mine told me one of my books only needed a quick press, so I asked for one at the CGC booth at a show.  I was told there was a minimum (high) number of books needed for submittal to be granted that option.

Full disclosure:  I've only had my books pressed by CCS and I've been extremely satisfied with the results.  That being said, I'd be curious to know what the turn around times are elsewhere.

Hope you're selling Snacks and Drinks (bottled water and soda)  if you can figure out refrigeration.  Seems like that would be easy money if you bought it in bulk.

On ‎8‎/‎14‎/‎2017 at 10:35 AM, ADAMANTIUM said:

That's hard I'd say maybe 8.0

the corner's are nice some spine ticks, book from 1975? so maybe 7.5? 

I'll stick with 7.5 as my guess  

Is this question practice for the contest? or are you seeing if this old label would re-grade higher?

Forgot to reveal the grade!  Actually it's an old label 9.0.  I might have zoomed in too hard on those spine ticks, but this does confirm that I won't liberate the book from it's slab. 

I've seen 6.5's like that.  But the weird part is that I've also seen a lot of 8.0's like that.  What's bothersome is right now on ebay there is a 7.0 that is advertised as being "recently received from CGC" that looks better than your copy.  The really troubling part is mine is also being graded right now too, and looks comparable to yours but with differences. I think CGC has a lot of problems grading this the book because it's a black cover so it really shows spine wear quickly...I think sometimes they mostly grade the spine and other times they are looking harder at the rest of the book.  So it's a carp shoot. 

1 hour ago, thirdgreenham said:

 

@WEBHEAD is up

@OdinsSecrets is on deck

Prize Picking Order

01    toro chose prize #1
02    comicquant chose prize #2
03    marmat chose prize #35
04    NinjaSealed - on hold...may pick as soon as he comes back
05    Chillax23 chose prize #22
06    TheGeneral chose prize #3
07    LordRahl on hold...may pick as soon as he comes back
08    guldanaaron1 chose prize #10
09    eeb03 chose prize #6
10    jaeldubyoo chose prize #17
11    mccollect chose prize #19
12    JJJCOMICS (snowman28) chose prize #18
13    Mr.TawkyTawny chose prize #45
14    Azkaban chose prize #25
15    Point Five chose prize #47
16    ElrodAllWrong chose prize #67
17    Red_Hood chose prize #48
18    spidermanbeyond chose prize #7
19    1950's war comics chose prize #46
20    comicwiz chose prize #15
21    Warlord chose prize #60
22    bighairjer chose prize #56
23    AJD on hold...may pick as soon as he comes back
24    silverseeker chose prize #11
25    W16227 chose prize #30
26    tomo graciously passes on his turn
27    kav chose prize #68
28    oakman29 chose prize #4
29    canickus chose prize #69
30    jcjames chose prize #38
31    fastballspecial on hold...may pick as soon as he comes back
32    Ryan. chose prize #10
33    MustEatBrains chose prize #50
34    Thanos88 on hold...may pick as soon as he comes back
35    grebal chose prize #16
36    Red84 chose prize #5
37    trmoore54  chose prize #20 
38    comicdonna chose prize #44
39    old_dano chose prize #23
40    KPR Comics graciously passes on his turn
41    entalmighty1 chose prize #8
42    BlowUpTheMoon chose prize #39
43    Cruzin' Thru Comics chose prize #55
44    Wipple chose prize #71
45    1Cool chose prize #21
46    battlerob chose prize #57
47    SpideyFein on hold...may pick as soon as he comes back
48    DeadOne graciously passes on his turn
49    Comicsam on hold...may pick as soon as he comes back
50    Michelangelo chose prize #33
51    01TheDude chose prize #58
52    Kreton chose prize #64
53    gradejunky on hold...may pick as soon as he comes back
54    aszumilo on hold...may pick as soon as he comes back
55    BorderlineHoarder on hold...may pick as soon as he comes back
56    Westy Steve on hold...may pick as soon as he comes back
57    SteppinRazor graciously passes on his turn
58    HighStakesComics on hold...may pick as soon as he comes back
59    namisgr on hold...may pick as soon as he comes back
60    Harry Lime chose prize #37
61    427Impaler chose prize #28
62    WEBHEAD
63    OdinsSecrets
64    Sandflea
65    mr_highgrade
66    wamh0416
67    Rdjevning
68    pjray55
69    letsgrumble

70    X_Phile
71    Zalgardos
72    Treemot
73    manicnerd

74    porcupine48
75    MediumLover

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Prize #8: Magazine lot (eight magazines) Marvel Preview 3, 8, 11, & 15; Master of Terror 1 & 2; Marvel Super Action 2; Legion of Monsters 1 (Marvel Previews are GD or better, rest are real nice, at least FN.) -US ship only, non-US can claim USD $60 payment by (feeless) paypal transfer. - donated by grebal chosen by entalmighty1

Prize #11: Sketch Art Cover of Venom by Frank A. Kadar (Value $300- This is what I am donating for the new commission). - donated by Ron C.  I will pay for the cost of the sketch cover and shipping to CONUS.  If you wish the cover graded by CGC, that cost is yours.  Steve Hiatt is great with coordinating Frank's amazing covers. Images are now posted. I can delete previous images if I am taking up too much space. I just love watching the progress of a sketch art cover though. chosen by silverseeker

Prize #12: Lot of 6 Bronze Semi-Keys (Doctor Strange #1, Avengers #144, Eternals #1, Firestorm #1, Hulk Annual #6, and Power Man/Iron Fist #66). The Doctor Strange #1 is missing the stamp, the rest are mid-to-low-grade. Free US Shipping. - donated by TheGeneral

Prize #13: Miracleman #2 CGC 9.4 Sig Series -signed by Garry Leach - donated by Ryan. US and Canada only

Prize #14: Marvel Team-Up #58 CGC 9.6 -donated by porcupine48 Shipped on me to Canada,five bux to the states,i'll cover half anywhere else. 

Prize #16: ASM 36  9/11 Tribute (would benefit from a press). A great book for a sketch and/or signature.  I pay shipping to US or Canada address. I'll split the cost for elsewhere.  - donated by KryptoMayor chosen by grebal

Prize #20: A Vault of Horror #31 that looks pretty nice, except for that missing top right corner. Free shipping to the U.S. and Canada, and I'll split shipping anywhere else. - donated by silverseeker chosen by trmoore54

Prize #21: Universe X Spidey - Rare Recalled Bob Harris Slander Issue, around a VFN...as well as Superman Adventures #5 (1st app. Livewire) around a VFN/NM - donated by Marwood & I chosen by 1Cool 

Prize #23: Amazing Spider-Man #75 CGC 7.0 -donated by eeb03  chosen by old_dano

Prize #24: World's Finest #142 shipped.  - donated by Borderline Hoarder Comic Connect graded it an 8.0  

Prize #26: Batman #404 de-slabbed CGC 9.0 - donated by adampasz It's an original-owner copy I had graded. It has been liberated from the outer case, but the inner case is intact. It has not been pressed.

Prize #27: I'll donate this comic art box I made.  No comics inside, just the box Sealed with clear plastic tape.  Insides measure 9  x  13 3/4  x   2 3/4 high.  Will hold slabs. - donated by Senormac

Prize #28: A mystery box consisting of 20 books, cover price will range from 10 cent to 1 dollar shipping on me to anywhere in the solar system excluding Uranus.  - donated by topofthetotem chosen by 427Impaler

Prize #29: Raw NM Minor Key Issue Lot - donated by guldanaaron1

Uncanny X-Men #282 NM (x2),  X-Men #25 (1993) NM,  Legends #3 (1987) NM, Cable #1 (1993) NM, Cable #3 (1993) NM, X-Force #11 (1987) NM, New Mutants #87 NM (2nd Print)

Prize #31: Captain America #25 variant, shipped anywhere in the US on me. - donated by FutureFlash

Prize #32: Marvel Comics Super Special #4 (The Beatles Story) - donated by jaeldubyoo

Prize #33: What If? #1 (1977) CGC 9.4 - donated by collector_bill chosen by Michelangelo

Prize #34: mid-grade Marvel Spotlight #29 very rare $.30 variant featuring Moon Knight. Presents nicer but bottom staple is detached from cover. Shipping to US, Canada and most other places is included.  - donated by HighStakesComics

Prize #36: All three Mighty Marvel 1975 & Bicentennial 1976 Calendars plus a Super DC 1976 Calendar - donated by Mr.TawkyTawny

Prize #37: X Men 60 - first Sauron! pretty good shape - has some cover dents - very pressable if you are in to that.....

Also - winner will receive one of my Chuck Fiala sketch covers. Can pick naughty ( Zatana, WW, Harley, Harley with power girl) --or nice.... WW, spider woman, spider gwen, or batman/joker morph) - donated by W16227  chosen by Harry Lime

Prize #39: Harvey Pop Classics #1 CGC 8.5 Off-White to White Pages- File Copy - donated by thehumantorch chosen by BlowUpTheMoon

Prize #40: Wonder Woman #48 Spanish Edition Variant Cover - donated by marmot

Prize #41: New Mutants #1 CGC 9.4 and Spider-Man #1 silver edition CGC 9.4 - donated by Cruzin' Thru Comics Free shipping to US and Canada. Anywhere else I'll put $20 towards costs

Prize #42: Superman archives 1-4. I believe all are 1st print. Read once and put on the shelf. - donated by Wipple

Prize #43: Tick Epilogue.  I don't have a scan handy so the MCS stock photo will need to suffice. - donated by Ryan. Shipping on me to US and Canada. I can ship outside of those territories at cost. 

Prize #44: Battle Front #42 4.5/5.0 but presents much better, with vibrant cover colors. - donated by Point Five US shipping on my dime, or elsewhere at cost. chosen by comicdonna

Prize #49: X-Factor #19 CGC 9.0 - donated by IncredibleHauck

Prize #51: a commissioned art piece (on 11x14 bristol board) - donated by SteppinRazor

Prize #52: The Manhattan Projects Deluxe Editions #s 1 & 2 - donated by Sandflea  These HCs have never been opened or read since I purchased them on their publication date.  Book 1 does have some rips in the plastic, but the book hasn't seen smoke, heat, dust, insects, or the light of day.  Shipping is on me, anywhere.

Prize #53: Two books: Daredevil, The Man Without Fear by Paul Grilley and Sin City, The Hard Goodbye by Frank Miller - donated by DavidTheDavid

Prize #54: Walking Dead #1 and #19 both Italian Editions - donated by battlerob Free shipping to us. $10 towards anywhere else. 

Prize #55: Batman: The Man Who Laughs CGC 9.8 - donated by aszumilo chosen by Cruzin' Thru Comics

Prize #57: Uncanny Inhumans #0 Variant Edition CGC 9.8 Sig Series signed and sketched by Mike Perkins & signed by Justin Ponsor - donated by entalmighty1 chosen by battlerob

Prize #58: An absolutely gorgeous bone-white FF Annual #2 restored/trimmed top and bottom edges CGC purple label 8.5.  Cracked from slab and residing in a Mylite 2.  I'll throw in with this prize FF 71 4.0 or so reader...overall nice eye appeal but has some staining/water issues. - donated by trmoore54 chosen by 01TheDude

Prize #59: Paperback edition COMICS - A Global History 1968 to Present by Dan Mazur and Alexander Danner.  VF/NM+ range...lightly read.  I'll throw in a couple of random comics with this prize as well. - donated by trmoore54

Prize #61: Copper/Bronze/Modern Lot
Shipping will be Free as well. Around $75 value or so - donated by fastballspecial

Prize #62: The Sixth Gun sealed Hardcover Volume 1, shipped in the usa - donated by mccollect

Prize #63: $25 via PayPal - donated by ElrodAllWrong

Prize #64: Free comic book pressing on 7 modern books - donated by spidermanbeyond (average pressing cost is $12 to $15).  Free pre-screening by email.  Winner to pay for shipping including return shipping.   Please allow 2-4 weeks.  Bonus 20% off CGC modern grading fee if winner chooses to have books shipped to and graded by CGC.  USA only except if winner decides to have CGC grade books and have CGC ship back to them.  Winner must coordinate with CGC for international shipping rates.  Estimated value: $84 to $133. chosen by Kreton

Prize #65: Free comic book pressing on 4 modern books - donated by spidermanbeyond (average pressing cost is $12 to $15).  Free pre-screening by email.  Winner to pay for shipping including return shipping.   Please allow 2-4 weeks.  Bonus 20% off CGC modern grading fee if winner chooses to have books shipped to and graded by CGC.  USA only except if winner decides to have CGC grade books and have CGC ship back to them.  Winner must coordinate with CGC for international shipping rates.  Estimated value: $50 to $80.

Prize #66: New 52 "Batman #1" first print in VF+ condition  - donated by old_dano

Prize #70: Wonder Woman #329 CGC 9.6 - donated by letsgrumble

Prize #71: Superman themed mystery box with probably a few trades comics and with this brand new Lego Super Heroes box. - donated by NinjaSealed chosen by Wipple

Prize #72: 3 sweet books! Marvel Team UP 95 9.0/9.2, Eternals #1, ASM #268 CGC 8.5 - donated by BlowUpTheMoon

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bonus Prize #1: $100 PayPal credit to someone (randomly chosen by the Green Eggs guys) who did not otherwise get a prize, but still stuck out all ten rounds.  - donated by Ron C. randomly awarded to Senormac

Bonus Prize #2: a gift to a randomly chosen player in the bottom 50 - donated by AJD

Booby Prize: a gift awarded to the person with the lowest score and still completed all 10 rounds - donated by thirdgreenham arranged for shipment Aug. 22/17

Can I have prize number 24?

33 minutes ago, ComicConnoisseur said:

Go on Ebay search nba,nfl,or mlb refractor cards which go for thousands.

for statues search Hot Toys

for action figures search chase figures

for sneakers search limited edition Jordans and Yeezys which go for thousands more than Walking Dead cgc 9.8

Comic books are actually late to the game when it comes to making limited editions with the variants.

Seems the modern variants are a new different kind of market than the variants of the 1990s?

OK, OK.  Uncle!  Uncle!  I guess I should never say never.  But there are a ton of examples of things made to be collectibles that failed.  I guess if you're creating a "contrived rarity" within an accepted collectible genre, you have a better chance of launching something that will actually take off.  

I agree that some of the baseball cards were expressly made to be collectibles if they were special limited production cards.  But Magic cards were not, because they were all meant to be played.  What I mean is that a Mox was no more expressly produced to be a collectible than a Demonic Tutor.  They were still all meant to be played, even if they call themselves collectible.

48 minutes ago, lou_fine said:

The question which I have is out of the very few variants that does have some value over the long run, what proportion of the variants being published today basically become worthless drek relative to their initial purchase price. 

Especially when it seems that almost every single comic book being printed nowadays has its own variant editions. 

Give me some examples of great collectibles that were expressly produced to be collectibles and still had significant value 10 years later.  Anyone?

Been a lot of talk about demographics elsewhere.  So how old are you?

On ‎8‎/‎20‎/‎2017 at 6:32 AM, rjrjr said:

It is an interesting question and only time will tell.  I don't like the trend, but I understand why these publishers are doing it.  They learned they can milk more money from their hardcore fan base and this helps offset the loss in readership.  (One of Marvel's executives even said a few years back they'll keep raising prices, printing variants, and publishing events until the fans quit buying.  Based on current sales trends, that time may be coming.)  My personal opinion is this is short sided thinking on the part of the publishers; they are actually chasing away the types of collectors they really want, those who buy every issue of a title no matter what.  Marvel, for example, use to have these "Marvel zombies" as they use to be called but I'll wager there are very few of these people left in the hobby.  It doesn't surprise me we have seen a move towards "key only" collecting, very few people can afford to collect every issue of any title (including variants) anymore.  Instead, those who have been able to adjust their way of collecting or who do not remember a time when you could collect every issue of a title, seem to be okay with this trend because they just buy "keys".  IMHO, it is even worse, because very few of the variant issues are being read, but instead are just coveted for the cover.

What would be interesting to me would be to learn exactly how many comic readers are actual left who buy modern comics to read.  There are always discussions about modern cover art, but very few discussions about the content inside the comic, unless it is something that is negative like Captain America being a Nazi; I suspect most people participating in those discussions don't actually read the comics, but just want to express their displeasure at how comics have changed.

I'll use myself as an example, I buy as many variants of the Star Wars titles as I can afford, and that is usually every variant but the extreme ratio'd ones (1:100 or 1:200.)  So, I buy 3 or 4 different covers of the average Star Wars comic to get all the variants (for Darth Vader #1 that came out a few months back, there were 10+ variants), but I only read one copy.  If you consider this across the board, how many readers of these pamphlets are there really? 50% of the unit sales?  Maybe even less in some cases like the Darth Vader #1.

My personal opinion is there will always be someone who will spend the money and want these things (I'm one of them), but the number of these people will dwindle over time.  We are actually seeing this.  The publishers can get away with these ever increasingly difficult (i.e. expensive) variants as long as you have people willing to spend hundreds, if not thousands of dollars on a brand new comic.  But there will come a point where the finances of publishing the comics don't work anymore for the number of buyers left.  What do the publishers do then?

As for the value, there will always be someone who has the resources to pay.  I have no doubt about that after seeing people pay thousands of dollars for newly printed books.   The real question is, will you be one of those people who can afford to stick with the hobby long enough to care what the value of these things are worth?  Chances are most of us will drift away from the hobby, hanging onto the books we have, and if we return, we'll be disappointed with how few people are left wiling to buy these things we covet today.  I've seen that happen to many sports cards collectors.  They put pages of these cards away years ago, went of and had families, come back to the hobby to learn those 1 of 50 variants and such that use to fetch big money are not so valuable anymore.

You make some good points.  But consider this:  Look at coin collecting.  Essentially, it hasn't been possible to put together a meaningful coin collection from circulation since the late 1960's after silver coins stopped production in 1964.  10 years ago, I made a poll on a coin forum like this one to ask collectors how old they are.  (Hey, I think I'll do that here).  Anyway, I found out that even though I was 42 years old at the time, I was in the bottom 25% of collector age.  In other words, 75% of all of the collectors were older than me.  And yet, coin collecting continued to flourish, though it has turned south as of late.  But we've had comic book collecting in the 70's, 80's, and 90's with great strength.  And we have comic shows were kids parade past the comic book tables dressed up like pop culture figures, rubbing elbows with us.  Meanwhile, 5 year old kids dress up for Halloween like Ironman, they buy Batman Lego Sets, they play with Ninja Turtle action figures.  My point is that there was never such an upside down demographic as U.S. coins, and yet they flourished as the die hard fans who had grown children and nothing much to spend their money on fought each other to finish their collections.  This hobby isn't going anywhere for a long, long time and it's only going to get more expensive as the barn and attic finds turn to dust and we all compete with each other to finish our collections while trying to stiff-arm those ironman wearing, ninja turtle lovin' 5-year olds who grew up, got degrees, jobs, and spending money to try to outbid us.

Wow, I'm thankful the worst you can get is -1 points.  I completely blew it on that Human Torch.  I feel good that I had positive points in this round.

I can't figure out the trick.  I either have a reflection of my camera, a reflection of my light fixture/ceiling fan, or it looks like it was shot in a cave.  How do ya'll do it?

2 hours ago, shadroch said:

What is the purpose of the box? Is it to be put away and never opened until its time to finance your great grandchildrens college or is just for fun?

This will explain the box further:

The purpose is just how I choose to collect.  I'm enjoying this collecting method so much with coins that I'm extending it to my comics also.  Fun and beauty.

6 hours ago, Chillax23 said:

ASM 129

Conan 1

Tomb of Dracula 10

House of Secrets 92

Swamp Thing 1

X-Men 129 + 141 (I also feel like you should have a 142 to complete that epic story)

Green Lantern 76

Green Lantern 87

Superman 233

Hulk 180

Batman 232

Batman 227

Batman 251 Saw you had a Bats 251 - so Replace with Hero for Hire 1

Detective Comics 411

Marvel Premiere 1

Those would be my 16 - but I could be persuaded to also add: Hero for Hire 1, Marvel Premiere 15 and a few others (I am sure there are some Marvels I am forgetting).

 

Great list!  One of these is also one of the two mystery books that I already bought.   I know for sure I'll be getting a GL76 and Bats227 at some point. Funny thing is that just the prospect of owning them gets me fired up.  Really enjoying comics right now. 

23 minutes ago, namisgr said:

What are you buying them for?  To slab and sell them, or read and collect them?

For Bronze Age series that are excellent reads, it depends on one's taste.  Mine would include the Kree-Skrull war in Avengers 89-97, which includes some fantastic Neal Adams artwork, the later Roy Thomas/Barry Smith Conan issues 7-21, 23 and 24, when the two of them really had hit their stride, and the Wrightson issues of Swamp Thing (HOS 92 and Swampie 1-10).  Nearly all of the Conan and Swamp Thing issues and some of the Avengers can be gotten in near mint grade for under $200.

Just to hold them.  I guess I should disclose that I always keep a duplicate electronic or TPB/Reader copy of my slabs so I can read the story when I want to.  I like owning them in slab because they are like artwork to me and I think higher grade books framed by the slabs are attractive.  I enjoy just looking at them.

6 minutes ago, Brian48 said:

Wait, are you asking what 16 to buy?  Or what 16 books that either you have (of which we don't have any idea) or what would we select if this is was our collection?

I changed my thead title to make it more clear what I'm asking.

Yes, what 16 books would you buy?  Like if you could only have/own 30 books total, and you already owned 14 books you loved, what else would you buy ?

Seen a lot of discussion lately about how good books look in certain kinds of Mylar.  Do they look better than slabs?

Hey all,

I doubt very seriously if any of you have been reading my journal, since it seems like a ghost town over there in the new journals area. Not one subscriber there...not even my Mom!   New journals area is kind of cool because it has nice features.

Anyway I'm trying to build a nice collection of CGC slabbed Bronze books, but I'm limiting it to 30 books because that's how many can fit in my Safe-box.  Hence the "Box of 30".

I've got Giant Size X-men 1 through X-men 101 already ,so that takes up 9 slots, leaving me space for 21 books.  I also have a Batman 251 and my Neal Adams Superman at the Gates of Hell cover, which brings me down to 19.  I have two more nice books that I haven't revealed in my journal.  So that brings me down to 17 more books.

Also, I do recognize that Hulk 181 doesn't fit in my budget, but it's an obvious choice, so I'll eventually figure out a way to tackle that somehow.  (It's a pity my kids won't be able to go to college, but the heart wants, what the heart wants).   This brings me down to 16.

So I need to figure out 16 nice bronze books.  For now, they'll be mostly in the $200 to $300 range.  Later, I can upgrade them, so I'm not against buying a book in at least Fine condition, but I'm trying to stay at VF or better.

16 more books.  What would you fill it with? You can only have 16.

What would you buy?

Steve

Not totaled.  Cost of repair will be $6,700.

58 minutes ago, 01TheDude said:

Sounds like another cool idea for a contest. Pick the right time of year to run it and I bet you get plenty of interest. Perhaps some time in the winter or mid summer would work. But the way this one is run should not change imo.

March madness (run by @BlowUpTheMoon ) has a similar raw/pre clean-pressed approach -- with the variable being that you don't know for certain how well a book might improve from the cleaning and pressing. That contest is tough and you can be one and done in a heartbeat.

I completely agree on all counts.  I wasn't advocating changing this contest one iota.  I like the format and I think it's good to learn to self-grade the graded books from on-line scans anyway.  If I'm going to buy a copy of ASM129 for 9.0 money, I want to make sure it actually grades 9.0.  Yet we've seen some of these books have been consensus undergraded as well, which can be quite profitable to pick up on.

As for running my own contest.  I'm lazy by nature so....hmmm....   It is a cool idea.  Maybe this winter or something.  Seems like a lot of work and awfully thankless though...especially because of people like me.

Speaking through the lens of a serious case of butt hurt, one of the problems here is the human error introduced in graded books themselves.  IMHO, the consensus grade....(like the "mode" or the middle of the bell curve) is the actual grade that CGC generally does a good job of approximating.  But they can still be off by half a grade here and there and then there is the problem of trying to grade through plastic which compounds matters.

  It would be a really interesting contest to just post some raw books, and whoever gets closest to the group's consensus grade gets a bullseye, and the farther you are from the average, the less points you get.  I once set up a time-distance car rally without actually needing to know how long each leg of the rally took by just using the middle time (mode) as the perfect time, and adjusting accordingly.  It worked out OK.

35 minutes ago, Red84 said:

I gave the Black Panther a 7.0 because of what I thought was a large color breaking crease on the right side. 

 

 

Me too. I'm having a lot of fun with this, but I can't help but think I'd be near the top if I wasn't consistently wrong on distinguishing between creases and case scratches.  It's happened 3 times now.

2 hours ago, comicartfan said:

I hear what you're saying and any of us that have sold on eBay have felt the same frustration. 

What I am getting from this post is that you are taking this too personal. You appear to be having a difficult time processing the fact that this guy called into question your character. This is where I would challenge you to use some mindfulness here. Remind yourself that this person doesn't "know you" in any form. He doesn't know where you're coming from and what are your motivations. When you get annoyed and starting the mental spinning, going over the whole exchange again and again, tell yourself to stop. That you're not what he may assume. 

The next part is to look at it from a  different perspective. As a buyer, we want our item to be arriving quickly and well packaged. When you get a book for example that is super well packaged. It looks like there was a professional shipping expert that packed it up. Think of it like dating..."The first impression".  What this does is it shows to the buyer that you respect their item.  - Buying is emotional....Makes them being disappointed all the more painful, in their eyes. 

My recommendation is to take it constructively. Maybe you could have packed it a little better, shipped it a little quicker and maybe you can learn....instead of thinking of it as an attack. 

 

Agreed. That's good advice.  And yes, I definitely was bothered when my character was questioned.  I strive to be above board and take pride in that.

I'm happy to report that the buyer changed his feedback. I wonder if he saw this post. I know he buys a lot of comic books. Whatever the case I think that I learn my lesson here as well.

5 minutes ago, comicquant said:

I would be annoyed as well.  Definitely call eBay and speak with a rep about the feedback.  Do it sooner than later and be sure to have your argument well organized before doing so.  It may be difficult since it took four days without the buyer being notified but its worth a shot.  The only thing I change with all this is using paper towels.  It probably does the job but if the package got wet you'd lose padding and the book would not be stable at all.  Personally, when I open a book I've spent decent money for I want to see the book very well packed.  The link below is to the bubblewrap I use.  That in conjunction with some packing peanuts or wadded newspaper (to prevent it from shifting) and the book is extremely secure.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CHRUV4E/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

I have to admit I didn't think about the getting wet part.  The towels otherwise work great, but your reply has made me reconsider.  I did insure the book (with my free shipping option) and would have refunded him if that happened though.  The book was a "widget", and not a precious piece of history.