meshuggah

Coupon submission -Received - 10 March -Verified - 11 March

Very good guess considering Ronan is in GotG

Not a clue. Nice to see lorelei resurrected from obscurity.

Awesome sketch. I am currently in a few opps and can't wait to see how they go. I love the Adi cover. His cover art is always really good. I hear you on the modern grades. I don't mind 9.6 so much, but below that is hard for me to keep. The only ones under 9.6 I still have are 2 signed books that I'm going to press eventually. I'm ok with it if it's copper or before.

A bitter farewell I'll apologize in advance for the crappy picture below. But onto the journal. I picked up the following book from Ebay for next to nothing. I know it's not an important book or some big key or anything. But I feel The Confession that wrapped up Civil War was an amazing, emotional piece about the conflict inside Tony Stark's mind. In this book Iron Man comes to the helicarrier, as he's the current director of SHIELD, and goes into a small room. While in this room he talks out loud, going over how he saw the war coming and how the choosing of sides would be painful. He laments about the compromises and distrust among the heroes over time trying to do the right thing in many situations. But he knew that one of them would slip up and lead the government to start the superhero registration act. Iron Man states that in some wars winning isn't always winning. Now that this war is over he won't be able to tell anyone that after everything that has transpired, it wasn't worth it. In this final scene it pulls back to show that Iron Man has been talking to the recently assassinated Captain America's body. I've always felt that this issue held a lot of emotional weight and was great at getting it out. It gives you an inside look at the motivations and compromises made by Iron Man through the whole Civil War arc. And as an unrelated follow on RIP Harold Ramis To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

I do plan on doing this for 3 of my SS books. Hopefully they improve. But many boardies will tell you of grade drops. So just be prepared for a possible letdown. Good luck.

Wish I could draw This won't be a long journal. I just felt I had to share these sketches. The owner of my favorite LCS in Va Beach, Comic Kings, sketched these himself. He attended some cons and had them signed by their likenesses. I think these are amazing. I've asked him if he'd do a sketch opp for the boards. But he has declined for now. Hopefully it will happen. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

With old SA books like that, especially a first appearance, I'd send it in to CGC as long as it was a complete book. With the walking dead, I jumped in late like you. I missed the first seasons initial airing before playing catch up. With the books I just went out and started getting the trades. I started collecting the books at issue 100 and try to get some back issues here and there. But they are expensive right now. Hopefully whenever the show ends the books will drop a bit.

I'm definitely excited for watch dogs. Since I'm not picking up a ps4 until later this year I'll have to get the ps3 version.

I'm taking a wild guess here and saying you're single or have no kids. Actually married with 2 kids. Are they out of the crib yet? Our house has 4 controllers minimum per console, and 8+ for the Wii (we have double PS3/Xbox/Wii consoles for the basement). This is because sometimes they have parties where 8 kids play Mario kart concurrently and they get prizes to the top finishers. Do the math on the sheer amount of peripherals and controllers here, and then tell me it's "no clutter". Yes, they're 12 and 6. Find something nifty to store them in. Is it really that hard?

Then we agree, and I too am waiting a year or two before jumping in to the PS4, as there are not enough great games (as in none as of today ) to warrant buying a console when I would still be playing the PS3 exclusively. It would make no sense economically to sit a PS4 on the home theater just to collect dust. Completely agree with this.

I'm taking a wild guess here and saying you're single or have no kids. Actually married with 2 kids. They really are small boxes and yet we all have tons of boxes full of books. I have 3 systems hooked up to my tv at this time and a cable box and it looks fine.

No, there will never be backwards compatibility with PS3 or PS2 games, and what you're referring to is the online server-based gaming Gaikai system that Sony bought. This is a cloud-based system where access is granted on a monthly subscription basis to stream a *very limited* number of "the most popular" classic titles. That's not backwards compatibility, and is very similar to retro browser-based games that run off a central server. After reading what I wrote, I think I may have worded that incorrectly. But you're right. It's not backwards compatibility but only a solution for the backwards compatibility problem. No it isn't, it's just Sony's way to make money by double-dipping into the wallets of nostalgic gamers. It's no different than their PS2 Classics (what % of PS2 games are available?) line on PSN, other than it being cloud-based. First off, Sony has stated that there will only be a limited number of games available, with only a few at launch, so lots of PS3 and PS2 games will never be available (like all the superhero ones and other licenses) and the PSN/indie/IOS-level stuff will far outnumber the retail disc games. Secondly, you will have to pay a monthly subscription for this, and Sony will double-dip and certainly not allow disc-game owners to play for free. Now, this might be worth it for some people (Sony retail games will probably be there - GoW, Infamous, LBP, etc.), depending on the launch library of *other* game publishers, but it's certainly not a solution to the current BC woes, and only Sony would try to spin it like that. I've never understood the need for backwards compatability. I have a "fat" PS3 and never played my PS2 games on it. I would think if you are worried about playing your discs then just put them in your PS3. really? Why would I want to have my PS, PS2, clunky PS3 and PS4 all laying around when I could just have 1 system? I hate clutter! These are video games. Not used kleenex. Sometimes I want to play old ones again... or really loved a game I'd like to just pick it up and go at it for a bit. Im surprised something like this escapes some people. It doesn't escape me. I don't know why you can't set up something to make it not look like clutter. I'm sure most people here have a way of accessing/displaying their comics and not calling it clutter. Whats so hard about doing that with a few boxes. They don't take up that much space.

No, there will never be backwards compatibility with PS3 or PS2 games, and what you're referring to is the online server-based gaming Gaikai system that Sony bought. This is a cloud-based system where access is granted on a monthly subscription basis to stream a *very limited* number of "the most popular" classic titles. That's not backwards compatibility, and is very similar to retro browser-based games that run off a central server. After reading what I wrote, I think I may have worded that incorrectly. But you're right. It's not backwards compatibility but only a solution for the backwards compatibility problem. No it isn't, it's just Sony's way to make money by double-dipping into the wallets of nostalgic gamers. It's no different than their PS2 Classics (what % of PS2 games are available?) line on PSN, other than it being cloud-based. First off, Sony has stated that there will only be a limited number of games available, with only a few at launch, so lots of PS3 and PS2 games will never be available (like all the superhero ones and other licenses) and the PSN/indie/IOS-level stuff will far outnumber the retail disc games. Secondly, you will have to pay a monthly subscription for this, and Sony will double-dip and certainly not allow disc-game owners to play for free. Now, this might be worth it for some people (Sony retail games will probably be there - GoW, Infamous, LBP, etc.), depending on the launch library of *other* game publishers, but it's certainly not a solution to the current BC woes, and only Sony would try to spin it like that. I've never understood the need for backwards compatability. I have a "fat" PS3 and never played my PS2 games on it. I would think if you are worried about playing your discs then just put them in your PS3.

I think Sony may have shot themselves in the foot with their "strategy" for the PS4. By selling-out the initial shipments, then not really re-stocking for the pre- and post- Christmas buying sprees, they cost themselves a LOT of money. People laugh saying how easy it was to find the XB-ONE, but guess what that really meant. That there were units that could sell, and actually make money for Microsoft. A lot of the retailers around here where I've looked, have had them in stock, but most of them have said they've had them in stock because Microsoft had them in the pipeline, all-ready to ship out as demand warranted. I've seen store shelves be full in the morning, empty by that night, then full again the next morning. That's called turning over your freight, and actually making money. Sony on the other hand, has been mostly cobwebs on store shelves as most of the stores haven't been able to get any into stock. Now who do you think did better pre- and post- Christmas sales? The company who had product to put on the shelves, or the company whose shelf space needs to be dusted every few days. And obviously, the PS 4 wasn't as big as people were hoping for. When scalpers couldn't get hundreds over retail on e-bay before Christmas, it just showed that it wasn't as "must have" as the PS3 was before that Christmas release. As time goes on and unless Sony gets their product out there and in force, they're going to fall behind just because if parents are going to buy their kids a game system, if there is only one to choose from, that's the one they'll buy. Why any game company would schedule a system launch, right before the holidays, then intentionally not have more than enough units to ship to retail before Christmas is an epic fail on their part. I don't think that's the case at all. My thought is that there was just more of a supply for people to not have to overpay. I mean, the One isn't getting hundreds over retail on eBay either, like the 360 did. The One nearly doubled it's sales in the span of about 6 weeks compared to the 360. And the PS4 sold 2.5 million more consoles than the PS3 in 2 less weeks. Yes, the PS4 was sold out most of the holiday season and I believe that that is where Microsoft captilized on sales. And with both consoles releasing almost around the same time, parents had no trouble getting the One over the PS4, as they were both new and probably couldn't see that much of a difference between them other than the price tag. Sony said that they'd have enough for customers during the holiday season, but apparently they were wrong. Seemed like the demand was more than they had anticipated. The One obviously had enough, but to put it in terms of numbers, the One sold 3 million units in 5.5 weeks, and the PS4 sold 4.2 million in 6 weeks. So it does seem like Sony put out a lot of units, probably just as much as MS, but the demand was just too high. But as time goes on, demand will finally slow down, which gives both companies time to manufacture their systems, just in time for the next holiday season. And I don't think Sony will fall behind at all. If we are talking about long term, the PS3 managed to match up to the 360 sales at 80 million even after releasing a full year later, which to me only calls for PS4 to do even better or just as well. But if we're talking about sales in the coming months, with 4.2 million already sold in the first 6 weeks, the PS4 has yet to release in it's territory, Japan. The PS4 has so far managed to stay ahead and it hasn't been released in Japan yet. Neither has the the XB1 but we all know how sales will be in Sony's home market. I'm just glad both are selling so well. It will drive both company's to keep trying to outdo each other to get sales.

Or when less becomes more Its been a while since I've done a journal. So for my first one of the new year I have some new acquisitions to share. First off I acquired these because back in the end of November I listed my Batman Adventures 12 9.4 and Detective Comics 1 9.8 for sale on Ebay. For those who don't know Batman Adventures 12 is the first comic book appearance of Harley Quinn. It's a book based on the Batman cartoon many of us grew up with, myself included, in the 90's. If you've been following this book at all lately, for whatever reason its prices have continued on a steep increase. Theres a thread here on it. http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=7097482&fpart=1 I purchased mine raw last spring for about $60 listed in NM conditon, which it obviously how it came back from CGC. But seeing the prices even lower mint grades such as mine were going for I couldn't pass it up. I also noticed that some of the New 52 issue #1's were going for decent money so I listed my Detective #1, which I purchased new off the rack and had graded a while ago. Well my BA 12 went for $223 and my Detective went for $102. Since then I've been debating on what to get. I wanted to get some first appearances of some decent characters in a decent grade. But I've also been following some of K-Mans exploits when it comes to sketch covers and I think I've developed that itch now. I'm really hoping to actually take part in a sketch opp and have something actually made for me vice purchasing something already done. In the end I started off by purchasing another raw copy of Uncanny X-men 221 in NM condition. This is the first appearance of Mr. Sinister, a character I've loved since first seeing him in the 90's cartoon. Eventually I'll send this to be pressed and graded and will probably share the outcome with you all. The next book I purchased was my first sketch cover. It's an Avengers 1 (2010) with the cover sketched and signed by Freddie WIlliams II. The sketch is an extremely impressive Thor cover that looks even better in person. The last 2 books I got were some good Copper age first appearances. First was Avengers Annual 10 in a 9.6. This is the first appearance of Rogue and Madelyn Pryor. The next book was Thor 337 in 9.6 which is the first Beta Ray Bill. I do wish I could've got these in a 9.8, but as has been discussed here numerous times, I think we focus on that magical number too much. It would've also prevented me from getting any other books due to the price those go for. In the end I'm happy with these and they look great on my wall. I can't wait to start jumping into these sketch ops and having some art done at my request. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

(thumbs u +1

meshuggah = meshuggah9423 I've listed 2 items for sale. Detective Comics #1 New 52 CGC 9.8 and Batman Adventures #12 CGC 9.4 http://www.ebay.com/itm/321264613379?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649 http://www.ebay.com/itm/321264618507?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

11/01 - Quality Control 11/05 - Shipped/Safe - A little disappointed in one of the grades but oh well maybe next time. I think 2 months in calendar days with 2 holidays during this time isn't too bad a turnaround considering SDCC and NYCC took place around then. Books are estimated to be in my hands tomorrow.

Got a replacement To start off if you need to play catch up on this see my other journal http://comics.www.collectors-society.com/JournalDetail.aspx?JournalEntryID=14273 Today I received my replacement book mentioned in my previous journal. I'm still a little disappointed in CGC losing my book as well as a couple other peoples books. But DWC was able to get them to pay for this replacement. The book is double signed(Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard) which mine wouldn't have been since Charlie wasn't at SDCC. I really felt that my book was a good candidate for a 9.9 or higher, but who am I kidding, in reality I'd probably get a 9.8. So in the end I got something really cool-with an extra sig-to put on my walls with the others. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

11/01 - Quality Control

From what I've gathered from different discussions on the boards the inner wells are still sealed very well. No they are not air or water tight but still resistant to outside influences. They just aren't sealed 100% away from this. If you check out the journal I linked to earlier, a member brings up the point of it not being air tight as it would need to be vacuum sealed. If we did this it would damage the book. Just think of the vacuum space saver bags they have for clothes. The inner well would shrink around the book completely smashing it. With regards to water I think if you spilled water on it and it made it to the inner well it'd be fine(my opinion). But to submerge it or be exposed to a flood would definitely ruin your book.

Definitely swing by the journals. All kinds of fun discussions going on over there.

The inner wells aren't water tight. So stay away from water. Here's a link to a journal by Newshane showing what happens. I'm sure there are a few threads here in general also detailing this. http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=6822877&fpart=10

I'm anxiously awaiting your results of the test from your ongoing journal. (thumbs u