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Sensei Ryan

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Journal Entries posted by Sensei Ryan

  1. Sensei Ryan
    or...a kid in a candy store! I'm excited
    Well - this is my first journal and my first attempt at getting 9.8's back from CGC with my own submissions. After being frustrated with looking and finding little books on eBay to add to my sets I found 16 books from my personal collection that I thought would have an awesome chance at getting the 9.8 grade. Well, I submitted them and 4 weeks later they arrive and low and behold 15 of the 16 came back as 9.8's!!! The one 9.6, after intense scrutiny, did have a flaw that I missed, unfortunately - so I can see how it didn't meet the grade. I have neglected to mention that I didn't cheat and look online at the grades before they arrived - I felt like a kid at Christmas opening the box and looking at each slab one by one to see that nearly all were 9.8's!!!
    All I can say is, I can't wait until I can find more books from my collection to submit - I must have more 9.8's!!! Someday, maybe, I'll even get a 9.9...a guy can dream, can't he???
    PS - the best part is - one of the books was from 1985 - there were only 2 9.8's in the registry for it and I submitted it on a whim (thinking it'd come back a 9.6) and it even made the 9.8 grade (now there are 3)!
    It's a great day for me - thank you CGC!!!
    Sensei Ryan out!
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  2. Sensei Ryan
    or who has the dish on Spidey's 2nd ish???
    Okay...for my 2nd journal, I pose a question that I've wondered about for quite some time (this may be common comic knowledge but it has escaped me for whatever reason if it is).
    What issue is Spiderman's 2nd appearance? What about his 3rd appearance? His 4th?
    Here's the crux of the problem: On ASM 1 (the CGC registered copies, anyway) there is no indication of it being Spiderman's 2nd appearance. It only states that the origin of Spidey is retold. (Book was published in March of 1963)
    On ASM 2 (the main ish I'm particularly curious about), one would assume it's Spidey's 3rd appearance. However, once again no indication of if it's Spiderman's 3rd appearance. (Book was published in May of 1963)
    BUT...on the Fantastic Four Annual 1 (published in 1963) it states on the CGC label 'early Spider-Man appearance' which hints that it's either the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, or possibly 5th appearance.
    So I want to know ... when are Spidey's 2nd, 3rd, and 4th appearances?
    Is there a supreme Spidey fan out there that can solve this mystery for me??? I've attempted some brief internet searches and have come up with nothing...anyone who can answer this will receive my sincere thanks!!!
    Excelsior!

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  3. Sensei Ryan
    ...they're only a day away.
    (sung to the tune of 'Tomorrow' from the smash musical sensation Annie!)This is my first time around as a member with the Registry Awards and I'm surprised at the lack of buzz...is it typically like this?What say you, fellow registry members?Is anyone else (other than this guy) excited about tomorrow? Bring on the certificates, I say!!!Excelsior!(Check out the pic for the Stan Lee reference)To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.
  4. Sensei Ryan
    or
    How shocked I was to be one of the lucky recipients of a CGC Registry Set Award!!!Greetings fellow CGC collectors! I've been meaning to write this journal for quite some time (as it is clear that it's been a few months since the CGC 2013 Registry Set Awards have been announced). Basically, I wanted to express my heartfelt 'thank you' to the CGC selection committee for choosing my set from amongst the numerous others that I feel are truly amazing. After the announcement hit the website, I had to re-read it a few times because I truly couldn't believe I was one of the fortunate few to be selected for the prestigious award. At any rate, I am truly thankful for the decision! I owe a huge thank you to Gemma for putting up with my numerous requests for set additions over the past year as well as a thank you to Nicole for taking over the current (and future) same requests that are on the horizon :)Thank you, CGC, for letting me have fun as a collector in ways that before the summer of 2012 I never knew existed.Thanks to you readers, also, for taking the time out of your day to peruse my journal...I also appreciate this community for giving me a deeper knowledge of the ins and outs of the industry.In other words, I love this place. Period.In brightest day, in blackest nightNo evil shall escape my sightLet those who worship evil's mightBeware my power...Sensei Ryan's Green Lantern 2011 CGC Registry Set's Light!(okay...that last line was a bit cheesy...but still, you have to admit it was slightly clever)To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.
  5. Sensei Ryan
    or "an awesome convo with the original artist of the worldwide phenomenon that is The Walking Dead."
    Well...I went to the Derby City Comic Con today after being away from the con scene for a little over a year (only been to 3 in the past 2 years so I'm not much of a con-goer as it is) and while the show itself was extremely lackluster the experience of getting to have a casual chat with Tony Moore made for an amazing afternoon. To spin this tale, let me begin with my review of the con.
    Blah. Very few comic booths with actual legit comics (very few CGC comics to browse through). More indy artists and random booths than anything else that actually looked legit. A handful of cos-players (a few, of which, looked pretty cool...but only a few). To be fair, I tend to judge a con by the amount of reputable comic dealers available. This one had a few but that's about it. While there was a lack in solid comics it seemed like pop figures and dollar-bins were everywhere. The con is growing from what I hear so hopefully it will improve over the years in regard to the number of quality comic dealers. But before I sound too negative, let me get to the reason for writing this journal.
    Randomly, without checking to see who was actually present at the con, I run into Tony Moore's booth. Reminiscing to my first time meeting him I recalled waiting in line for 3 hours to get to see him for about 3 minutes and have an extremely short convo due to the crowd behind me. This time, there was no line. Needless to say, I was happily shocked to have the chance to speak with him for about 20 minutes and get a photo with really no interruptions. I found out that his favorite character to draw from the WD book was Jim (a very cool answer, IMO). I also found out some about the history of the art behind the first issue. Since I'm familiar with the area that the story begins in we spoke of how he got his inspiration for the settings (and I was told some cool stories about how he referenced images for his art for the 1st issue...particularly the gun-fight and hospital settings). We discussed some of the original art for the first six issues and I told him all about how much the WD fans on the boards covet his covers/pages. I also found out that we had some mutual connections since we graduated only 2 years apart (I knew some people he went to high school with, for example). All in all, it was an awesome conversation and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to meet him again (plus I got an awesome signed 11 X 17print of the cover to WD1). This experience redeemed my opinion of the con so I'm thankful for that. In case you couldn't infer this yet, I think TM rocks!
    Now I'm sure you're wondering what swag I picked up at the con? Since you asked, here goes:
    1 Spiderman Pop figure
    1 Rainbow Dash beanie baby for my daughter
    1 11 X 17 Signed print of the WD1 Cover Art
    Yeah...kind of disappointing, I know. I wanted to get some more comic-related stuff but since I dropped quite a bit on the last CLink auction I was hesitant to purchase anything. I almost pulled the trigger on a mid-grade Showcase 34 and an underpriced ASM 4 but sadly I decided to behave. All in all it was a great day. Plus I got to have lunch at The Old Spaghetti Factory which always makes me happy (all you Louisville peeps know how awesome that place is).
    Thanks for reading!

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