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Alawson453

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Journal Entries posted by Alawson453

  1. Alawson453
    Got to have my picture taken with my childhood crush
    Now that Phoenixcon is over and done for this year,
    I just want to share what a great time I had with everyone.
    First a shot out to Surfer99 who for one reason or another
    I just kept missing the chance to finally meet up with.
    However my friend next time I'll just plan to meet up with you
    at Marjle's to make it easier on both of us , instead of trying
    to find each other in a sea of humanity
    Next, I want to give a special Thank you to Hank Pym, even
    Though he was unable to assist with signatures at the last minute
    he walked the entire floor with me trying to see if any other facilitator
    could help me out. In my opinion he went over and above what i
    expected.
    I didn't find any great comic deals which is really the main reason
    i attend any show or convention, but I did manage to pick up the
    following:
    Avengers #63 VF. Avengers. #65 VF+ (really a tough condition
    sensitive issue due to the Red cover)
    Fantastic Four Annual #4 VF, Sub - mariner #14 VF Human Torch
    issue and a few other odds and ends.
    I guess the actual highlight of the show for me was getting to meet
    Julie Newmar, take a photo with her and have her sign my
    Cat - woman pop vinyl figure. What a blast and such an awesome
    woman, definitely the highlight of the show for me
    And one last note for Surfer99, The District was an awesome
    restaurant definitely worthy of taking the Wife for "Date Night".
    And yes it was a great movie
    That's all for now, hope you enjoy the pic.

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  2. Alawson453
    A few goodies (Marvel Premiere 47) first Scott Lang in the Ant-man
    CostumeFirst Scott Lang in the Ant-man Costume. I got these back about a month agoand was very pleased with the grades they received. Also just got back 3 copies of issue 48 with decent grades.Enjoy!To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.
  3. Alawson453
    I'm just saying..............
    I think it would be great if CGC would add a feature that actually gives each individual that has books submitted to give an actual estimated ship date.
     
     
     
    I have had books that were submitted back in July and watched the turn times change different times, from 20 days, to 35 days to 45 days and now 55 days on modern tier and my books have been marked graded for over a week when the turn time was 45 days. Does that mean that I now have to wait an additional 10 days to get my books? It is very confusing and at times frustrating.
     
     
     
    I don't have a problem with the waiting, but I shouldn't have to wait if my books were already in the system when a specific turn time was quoted.
     
     
     
    I am holding all other submissions until they can get the turn times down to a reasonable level.
     
     
     
     
     
    Thanks for letting me rant..
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  4. Alawson453
    Both Wein and Wrightson had a hand in signing these
    Just got these back from grading after having them signed way back in May. Original Swamp Thing issues #2, 3 & 9 all signed by both Len Wein and Berni Wrightson. They are by no means high grade copies, but I wanted them signed since I already had copies that I had Berni sign about 20 years ago that are higher grade but not slabbed.
     
     
     
    Enjoy

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  5. Alawson453
    That's right, found my modern age grail
    I'm firm believer that if you wait for something long enough it
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    will happen. I have been searching for a decently priced copy
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    of Harley ' s first appearance to no avail until today. Where else
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    but of all places my local swapmeet.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Yes boys and girls yours truly stumbled upon what may be one of
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    the nicest copies of Batman Adventures 12 in existence! The issue
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    I found is bundled in a massive pre-pack with the aforementioned
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    book prominently showing on top in all its mint untouched glory!
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Surely the comic god's have smiled upon me today
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    My only dilemma is do I bust it out and submit it, or should I put it up
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    for auction as is with the rest of the pre-pack untouched?
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    I'm seriously leaning towards the latter.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    What would you do?

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  6. Alawson453
    Picked these up this weekend (Serpent Crown Storyline).
    Thought I would share this great pick-up with the family
     
    I haven't been to the local swap meet in about a month, but this
     
    weekend luck was with me for sure.
     
     
     
    I manage to pick up a couple groups of books from (2) different vendors.
     
     
     
    The first batch I was really excited about. I was able to pick up a softcover trade paperback of Astro City that had been signed by Kurt Busiek (score)
     
     
     
    The next exciting item was a copy of the Hardcover edition of Superman: Birthright that is signed and remarked by non other
     
    than Mark Waid himself. (bigger score)
     
     
     
    So this next group of books is something that I must say is partially the reason I go to the swap meet religiously as I do.
     
     
     
    I picked up a lot of early bronze Marvel books all in super-duper high grade condition!
     
     
     
    I managed to get 2 copies of Captain America #200 one will grade an easy 9.8 the other maybe a 9.6.
     
     
     
    a couple of early Champions 3 & 4 multiple copies of each.
     
    some hulks from issue 189 to 195 all of these books should grade between 9.4 to 9.8.
     
     
     
    The icing on the cake came in the form of The Avengers
     
     
     
    143 one copy
     
    147 (3 copies) 9.4 to 9.6
     
    149 (10 copies) 9.4 to 9.8 that's right at least 4 of the copies are candidates for 9.8.
     
    I intend to get George Perez sigs on as many copies as I can before selling most and keeping a couple for myself.
     
     
     
    Well, that ends the tale of my adventures for the weekend hope everyone else had a great time.
     
     
     
    Thanks for reading

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  7. Alawson453
    No it's not Space Ghost Coast to Coast.
    Hello everyone, I just had to submit a post as a tribute to one of my childhood favorite cartoon characters.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    As a wee young lad I just could not wait for Space Ghost, Bleep, Jan & Jace to come on and see what type of evil creatures they would have to face.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Space Ghost is one of those figures that really helped to allow my imagination to run completely wild.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    I remember oh so well how cool it was when he would switch to inviso power or use his gauntlets.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    But the best part of the show was getting to see the Phantom Crusier in action. I mean even though WW had an invisible plane,
     
     
     
    it somehow was just much cooler when Space Ghost was at the wheel
     
     
     
    of the PC.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    I recently won a copy of the 1987 Comico version done by Steve Rude and Mark Evanier. The funny thing is I have 5 perfect mint
     
     
     
    copies that I have waiting to get submitted for SS but missed my opportunity for San Diego because I had to get my Jim Steranko books signed since he doesn't do as many shows
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Hope you enjoy the pic.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    And remember that epic cry,
     
     
     
    Spaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaace Ghosssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssst!

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  8. Alawson453
    Finally received my books
    Followup photo's to one of my previous journal entries.
    I have one copy of the Marvel Graphic Novel #4 The New Mutants
    First appearance listed on ebay for those that may be interested.
    I think it's fairly priced, considering I used feedback from other
    board members to arrive at the sale price.
    The pic I chose to use is of Squa Tront #3 ( 2nd printing ) Signed
    by Berni Wrightson. (Top Census)
    Enjoy

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  9. Alawson453
    The wait is over
    My 3 New Mutants Graphic Novels finally moved into the Shipped/Safe
    Status, and I am very happy with the outcome! I didn't score any 9.8's
    this time around, but I did manage to get (2) 9.6 copies both signed by
    Bob McLeod and (1) copy at 9.4 also signed by Bob McLeod.
    In addition to these beauties I also had a copy of Squa Tront #3 (2nd printing)
    Signed by Berni Wrightson which scored a 9.2 along with the Hulk & the thing
    in Marvel Graphic Novel #29 SS 9.2 also signed by Wrightson.
    I plan to keep one of the 9.6 New Mutants books until I score a 9.8 for
    myself. The other 2 should be up for sale in about a week on E-bay.
    I'll post pics soon as the books arrive.
    Thanks for reading.
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  10. Alawson453
    The rest of my C2E2 submissions finally arrived.
    I'll keep this past as short as possible. Finally received the rest of
    my C2E2 books that were submitted with the following results:
    Purgatory: The Vampires Myth #1 SS 9.8 signed Brain Pulido
    Venom Lethal Protector #1 SS 9.8 Mark Bagley
    Faust #4 SS 9.0 Tim Vigil
    Faust #5 SS 9.8 Tim Vigil
    Shi vs. Tomoe Crusade Special #1 SS Billy Tucci
    Hope you enjoy

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  11. Alawson453
    I'm starting to like the Signature Series Process
    Hi everyone, below is a list of (10) books I had signed at C2E2. I just checked grades and they are in shipped safe status at CGC.
    Although I'm not really big on collecting modern age comics I was very excited at the chance to get signatures on all of the books that I submitted.
    Special Thanks to Doug Peters who facilitated the signatures for all of these books and I really will be sending a monster pile of books to him to get signatures for me in San Diego coming up shortly.
    Also Doug was able to secure a full body sketch comic for SS on
    a blank done in black and white that I will post a pic of as soon as it is received.
    I do have another invoice that was submitted at the exact same time as this one but for some reason or another it seems to be lagging behind about a week That's fine by me they actually finished this invoice early well under the stated (36 days).
    I will post pics as soon as the books arrive.
    X-Factor 5 6/86 Marvel Comics Signature 9.6 WHITE SIGNED BY BOB LAYTON ON 4/25/14 Bob Layton story
    Jackson Guice & Joe Rubinstein art
    Ron Frenz & Joe Rubinstein cover 1st app. of Apocalypse in cameo on last
    page. 1st app. of Stinger & Timeshadow.
    Tower, Frenzy, Artie & Rusty appearance.
    Superman 75 1/93 D.C. Comics Signature 9.6 WHITE SIGNED BY DAN JURGENS ON 4/25/14 Dan Jurgens story
    Dan Jurgens & Brett Breeding cover & art
    The ""Death"" of Superman.
     
    Superman: The Wedding Album 1 12/96 D.C. Comics Collector's Edition Signature 9.8 WHITE SIGNED BY DAN JURGENS ON 4/25/14 Jurgens, Michelinie & Stern story
    Byrne, Austin, Kane, Perez, Swan, Frenz,
    Rubinstein, Guice, Giordano & McLeod art Clark Kent marries Lois Lane.
    Embossed cover.
     
    Tomoe 0 3/96 Crusade Comics Commemorative Edition Signature 9.0 WHITE SIGNED BY BILLY TUCCI, AMANDA CONNER & JIMMY PALMIOTTI ON 4/25/14 William Tucci & Dan Mishkin story
    Amanda Conner & Jimmy Palmiotti art
    Amanda Conner & Jimmy Palmiotti cover ""Virgin"" cover.
     
    Cyblade/Shi: The Battle for Independents 1 1995 Crusade-Image Comics Variant Cover Signature 9.6 WHITE SIGNED BY BILLY TUCCI ON 4/25/14 Brian Haberlin & David Wohl story
    Marc Silvestri art
    William Tucci cover 1st appearance of Sara Pezzini
    (Witchblade).
     
    Superman 74 12/92 D.C. Comics Signature 9.8 WHITE SIGNED BY DAN JURGENS ON 4/25/14 Dan Jurgens story
    Dan Jurgens & Brett Breeding cover & art
    Justice League America
    & Doomsday appearance.
     
    Justice League 1 5/87 D.C. Comics Signature 9.8 WHITE SIGNED BY KEVIN MAGUIRE ON 4/25/14 Keith Giffen & J. M. DeMatteis story
    Kevin Maguire & Terry Austin cover & art
    1st app. of Maxwell Lord (Black King).
     
    Rai 0 11/92 Valiant Signature 9.2 WHITE SIGNED BY BOB LAYTON ON 4/25/14 Bob Layton story
    David Lapham & Tom Ryder art
    1st full appearance of Bloodshot.
    Origin & 1st appearance of new Rai.
    Harbinger & Solar appearance.
    Unity 1 10/92 Valiant Platinum Edition Signature 9.8 WHITE SIGNED BY BOB LAYTON ON 4/25/14 Jim Shooter story
    Barry Windsor-Smith & Bob Layton art
    Barry Windsor-Smith cover
     
    Unity 1 10/92 Valiant Gold Edition Signature 9.8 WHITE SIGNED BY BOB LAYTON ON 4/25/14 Jim Shooter story
    Barry Windsor-Smith & Bob Layton art
    Barry Windsor-Smith cover Solar, X-O Manowar, Harbinger, Magnus,
    Shadowman, Eternal Warrior, Archer,
    Armstrong & Mothergod appearance.
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  12. Alawson453
    3 Beautiful But Deadly Ladies.
    Some of you may remember my original normal entry from
    way back in October of last year. While digging through
    boxes of books from my own inventory I happened to
    find 3 Issues of Lady Death.
    While I'm not a collector of that title I do love great artwork
    when I see it. Fast forward to 2014 and ECCC. The great
    Ronnylama offered to get Brain Pulido to sign them and submit
    them on my behalf to CGC (Thanks Ronny).
    Well my 3 ladies are finally back with the following results.
    Lady Death Limited Series #1 ss 9.0
    Lady Death II: Between Heaven & Hell #1 SS 9.2
    Lady Death: The Crucible #1 SS 9.8
    Overall not bad for books I pulled from misc. boxes sitting around
    in the garage.
    Enjoy

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  13. Alawson453
    Please give input on this post.
    I noticed in recent months a number of Marvel Graphic Novel #4 ' s
    being listed for astronomical prices. I myself sold a 9.6 graded copy
    for $150 which I think it's a pretty fair price. Now I see a 9.6 copy listed
    for $1200, not that it matters but I really like our hobby to grow at a
    modest rate and avoid to much speculation. After all the aforementioned
    cores are not even SS copies
    I will have Ss Copies back from the graders in about 3 weeks, hopefully
    with some in the 9.6 & 9.8 range. I will auction some of the copies on
    E-bay and keep one for myself.
    The question I pose to the board is what do you consider a fair price
    for the following grades:
    9.8 Universal. 9.8 SS
    9.6 Universal. 9.6 SS
    9.4 Universal. 9.4 SS
    9.2 Universal. 9.2 SS
    I wouldn't bother to list anything lower than a 9.2, but if there is
    a concensus I will use the average for my starting bids. I have a
    couple Collectors I promised that I would make these books
    available and want them to have the best opportunity to purchase
    them .
    Thanks in advance

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  14. Alawson453
    This one has it all folks!
    Hello everyone and Happy New Year. It's been awhile since I have posted anything, been keeping pretty busy with work and the holidays. But I happened to snag this little beauty from an ebay auction last week and I am so excited I actually couldn't wait until it arrived, so I am bragging about it now.
    First I am very old school and love my old time artists especially Jack Kirby. I happen to own about 90% of all his 4th world work with multiples on many issues. What I don't have is a very high grade CGC set of any of them. Enter the Black Racer and issue #3 of the New Gods.
    The colors on this book are amazing and it really is one of those books that I myself have found to be very hard to obtain in high grade over the years.
    There is one issue graded higher at 9.9 but I will be very happy with this copy.
    Enjoy,
    A~

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  15. Alawson453
    It's not easy being #1
    I decided to write this journal after hearing and seeing a lot of input in regards to the start up of the newest Comic Book Grading Company under the leadership of the great Steve Borock.
    First let me say congratulations to Steve I have had the opportunity to speak with him directly in the past while he was at the helm of CGC regading the grading of my copy of Red Ryder
    Victory Patrol. He was very professional and at the end of our conversation, I thought man i'm glad that my book was in such great and caring hands
    And now the rest of my post will be devoted to CGC and the great job that they have done and hopefully will continue to do with or without additional competition within their market.
    I have seen lots of negative remarks about CGC over the past couple weeks, increasingly more so than in the past in regards to
    how some individuals complain about being ripped off.
    I myself am guilty of ranting in one of my own post in the past, but I really do understand the importance of having my books properly graded even if it does take sometimes what seems like an
    eternity to me.
    The books do get graded and the industry overwhelmingly approves of those grades as I am able to recognize prices for books that sometimes are ming blowing when I decide to sell them.
    For those who would do nothing but complain where it is just for the sake of doing so, please we are all adults and make an informed decision based on the turnaround times when we submit our books. You can always hold onto them and try to sell them
    without being graded (Good Luck)
    I speak from experience when I say that their are books that I have tried to sell on E-bay and couldn't get $40 for but once I had it slabbed I was able to put $500 buck in my pocket.
    Whatever the turnaround time, the return on investment was still better than the Dow Jones on that one.
    Competition will hopefully be great for our hobby. It may releive some of the pressure and work load in the short term
    for CGC.
    But in the end the thing that I care about most is that
    my comics are graded by an inpartial 3rd party that is accepted and respected within the industry and exhibits the highest level of integrity.
    To me CGC still fits that description and has earned it's place as the premiere grading company in the hobby, who will still have the largest piece of the piechart for quite sometime, but there is enough for others to have a piece as well
    (As long as they grade my books properly)
    Can you imagine having both companies showing up at conventions
    trying to get your business.
    Ok, enough I'm off to Phoenixcon
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  16. Alawson453
    But a couple signed Circus Boy Four Color Issues!
    Hello everyone, I finally got these back from the graders after waiting for
    what seemed like an eternity! I have for your viewing pleasure not one but
    two copies of Four Color #759 which feature a very young Micky Dolenz
    as Circus Boy.
    Most of Micky's fans know that he later joined a very popular singing group
    that went by the name "The Monkee's"
    Although not super high grade copies that really didn't matter much to me
    since I already had several cores of this particular issue in my collection.
    I really just felt compelled to obtain signatures for them.
    The opportunity came up about 3 months ago when I saw in the signature
    threads that the surviving members of the group were going to do a special
    signing, so not one to waste an opportunity I took advantage of it and
    even though I only needed one copy signed for myself I had a 2nd one
    signed as well.
    Now as I stated earlier these are not high grade, they are actually the lowest
    2 graded on the census. But as of this date they are the only 2 copies with
    a Signature Series designation and that's good enough for me (i was 1st).
    I would like to give a special shot out to Ronnylama for the special assistance he was able to lend and to Facilitator Chris Caira who did such a phenomenal job making sureall of the detail and legwork were executed perfectly.
    Thank Guys
    Hope you enjoy the trip down memory lane!

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  17. Alawson453
    Early issue of Comics Feature Magazine
    Thought I would share this with the group both before and after I submit if
    to CGC. I have here issue #2 of Comics Feature Magazine from May of 1980.
    These old mags were great in that they provided lots of info on upcoming projects
    Wooton the comics industry at the time. There were always great interviews
    with the most prominent creators of the period, not to mention great cover illustrations! This issue features a fantastic cover of Iron Man and Ant-man illustrated by none other than the great Bob Layton! Personally Bob is my favorite
    artist for Iron Man and also does a great job on Ant-man.
    Hope you enjoy

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  18. Alawson453
    The treasures that await at your local swapmeet.
    Hey everyone I know I have hyped up how much fun it is and the great treasures you can find if you are persistent and hunt for comics at your local swap meet on a regular basis. Well today the worm was about the size of 300 misc comics, chaos comics Christmas ornaments, and an 8 ft. theater vinyl wall banner of the kingpin from the movie with Michael Clarke Duncan as the big man himself in mint condition.
    I also picked up a set of Evil Ernie Series 2 Chromium Cards for fun without
    checking the box before I left because the price was so great, once I made it home and had time to go through the set I found that at least 21 of the cards had been signed by Puludio (score!).
    The books I picked up were mostly modern about 90%.
    Here's a list of some of the stuff.:
    Darkness #1-5 with Platinum and bronze cover versions (multiple copies)
    Death Dealer #1 (2 copies)
    7 copies of Evil Ernie signed by Puludio
    5 copies of Fathom #1
    16 Danger Girl #1 ' (9 of them the tour variant) all of them signed
    with 4 signatures!
    Purgatory The Vampires Myth #1 Red foil cover
    Tomb of Dracula #58-64 all nm
    Sandman #3, 34 & 2 copies of Gallery of Dreams #1
    Neil Gaiman Stardust #1 & 3
    Dam #4
    Origin (Wolverine #1-3)
    Multiple early copies of Shi, Tomoe signed by Tuuci and others.
    Sailor Moon 1& 2
    Curse of the Spawn #1 with both the regular and bow edition.
    Curse of spawn 2-12 with 18 copies of issue #9, 7 copies of issue 10
    and 3 copies of issue 11 (9-11 all have Angela covers).
    Spawn regular series #9 (1st Angela) 3 copies, I already had 25 copies but couldn't pass on the price
    Spawn #21 (5 copies) this is one of my all time favorite Spawn covers.
    Spawn #24, 62 Angela Appearance (3 copies), #70 (4 copies) #74 (2 copies )
    #81, #100 McFarlane cover 2 copies, #100 Minoa cover and 2 of the other variants
    of issue 100 which is the death of Angela.
    Spawn the dark ages 1-3
    Spawn the undead #1-3
    Angela #1
    Angela comic 5 copies, I believe the issue is the one that came with the toy
    I will load a pic later. ( I FOUND OUT THESE ARE THE ANGELA SPECIAL
    COPIES ALL OF THEM HAVE THE PIRATE COVERS)
    X-files 1-5
    A great Magic the Gathering Hurloon Minotaur Statue by Randy Bowen.
    It took me 4 hours to fill up 2 sorry boxes.
    And I think I forgot to mention the run of Tips McFarlane Spideys from 306-322
    All in Super high grade! !!!!
    This was definitely my idea of a perfect day, and to complete my weekend
    I get to sew Captain America the Winter Soldier tomorrow with my Grandson
    Everyone have a great weekend!

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  19. Alawson453
    One of the hardest graphic novels to receive a 9.8 grade on.
    I'm so excited, today was like Christmas for me. Even though I already
    knew alk of the grades my books had received, I still couldn't wait to get them
    and rip open the box!
    It was with great restraint that I was able to hold off writing this journal until I had
    the actual books in hand so I could include the photos, but alas the time has come
    7 Books total submitted under the magazine tier with the following results.
    Marvel Graphic Novel #1 The Death of Captain Marvel graded 9.2
    Marvel Graphic Novel #4 The New Mutants 2 copies received 9.4
    grades and one copy received a 9.6 grade
    Monster World #2 received a 9.2 grade
    Famous Monsters of filmland 1969 Yearbook received a grade of 9.8
    and the book I am just ecstatic about is my Batman Son of the Demon
    which received a grade of 9.8 and is only the 2nd copy to do so!
    While I am overall very happy with all of my grades, all of them falling pretty close to
    where I had pre graded them, the Batman is definitely one of If n not the hardest
    of all the graphic novels to get a high b grade because of the dark and very glossy cover.
    Take a look at the pics attached and thanks for reading

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  20. Alawson453
    Or should I say to the moon
    So I'm sitting here watching an auction that's winding down on E-bay. For a copy of the aforementioned book. Bidding has been very fierce with the price currently $2,005.00 at the three minute mark. This is one of my favorite books not to mention I just received my copy back with a 9.0 and I have another copy that should also grade about the same maybe higher that I'm submitting.
    Anyway, the focus of this post is the potential for any copies found that may achieve
    super high grades. Since there is only one copy to date that had achieved the grade of 9.8, I think it reasonable to believe that a fair price for such a book would be between $8000 to $10000 without an SS destination.
    And now that the auction has ended with a final bid of $2374.00 I think that the sky truly is the limit!
    Thanks for reading
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  21. Alawson453
    Finally got my Avengers #28 and MSH#18 back!
    The wait is over and yes I peeked at my grades prior to receiving them
    First up is my Avengers #28 which features the very highly sought after first appearance of The Collector, who will have a large presence in upcoming Marvel Universe Movies.
    Graded copies of this book are almost impossible to find and I'm happy with the 8.5
    Grade that I received for this copy!
    Next up is another Marvel first Appearance of The Guardians of the Galaxy a book that seems to be on fire and gaining more momentum as we draw closer to the movie release date. This is not the same team that will appear in the movie, but I do believe the original team will be referenced at some point in time moving forward in one of the future movies if not this one. This copy received a 9.0 which is a nice grade for the square bound 1960's comics and especially with the dark blue cover.
    Check out photos below.
    I'm waiting for another shipment which has Marvel Graphic Novels, Famous Monsters of filmland and a surprise DC Graphic Novel. I received a couple 9.8's
    in that group one of which only had one other book Graded at 9.8. So stay tuned

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  22. Alawson453
    I don't like signatures on my comics unless it is by the artist responsible for the actual cover art.
    Hi gang, this is a topic that I have struggled with for quite some time. I really do not like having signatures all over the covers of my comics especially if it is a really cool book/cover.
    The exception are photo covers where there is an actual person instead of a drawn image.
    Another example is having writers and others that contributed to the interior of a comic but had nothing to do with the actual cover.
    What's your view on this subject, I like to know if there are any others that share my opinion.
    I guess one of my pet peeves is seeing all of the covers that have Stan Lee scrawled all over them. I understand that he is responsible for the majority of the Marvel Universe but he didn't ink the covers so at best I would allow him to sign the interior page.
    Most of the comics I have purchased, I was drawn to because of the intensity of the art and the beauty of the colors. A black cover with high gloss, perfect spine and straight corners is a definite rarity and the last thing I want to do is ruin it.
    Give me a mint copy of Amazing Spider-man #28 free of signatures over an SS copy in the same grade any day
    Also not all artists will get a free pass to sign a cover even if they did work on it If I don't like their signature I can live without it.
    So in the end I won't have very many comics with multiple signatures in my registered sets unless it something I purchased off E-bay which I really do shy away from.
    I will leave you with a photo of Swamp Thing #4 that I recently picked up on E-bay free of signature, but I would have liked to had Berni Wrightson's sig on this one since he signs very nicely.

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  23. Alawson453
    Neal Adams Art with a Special Autograph!
    I happened to run across a couple of mags that I consider to be truly one of a kind.
    About 10 years ago i had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Bolo Young when he appeared
    at one of the Los Angeles Shrine shows. I didn't have a photo or magazine for him to sign, so I thought.
    Then I remembered I had brought along a group of magazines called Deadly hands of Kung Fu, you may have heard of them So I pulled 2 copies from a box, issue #3 and annual #1 issue #3 being a Neal Adams issue and proceed to take them over to Bolo to have them signed. I get up to the front of the line hand Bolo my books and he tells me "he's not in either of them" to which I replied I don't care, I'm a fan of his movies and wanted his auto on a martial arts magazine.
    Bolo being the great sport that he was signed both of my books which I have kept hidden away and now plan to have them stabbed even at the expense of getting the dreaded been label
    Bolo Yeung passed away a few years ago, but I still have a great memory and story to go along with my one of a kind signed books
    Thanks for reading

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  24. Alawson453
    The Collector and Guardians! Nuff Said
    With new marvel movies on the horizon and the introduction of some great character for the first time to the mass/general public and movie going audiences. I give you the first appearance of The Collector as presented in Avengers #28, and The Guardians of the Galaxy as presented in Marvel Superheroes #18.
    These 2 books are on there way to Sarasota as soon as I complete this journal, and I hope the grading gods bid them safe passage
    I have been picking up high grade copies (as high as could find) of the Guardians first appearance for the last 20 + years knowing that someday their importance to the Marvel Universe would be recognized. The Avengers issue is a copy that I redirected from the Book Rack deal (see previous post/journal) of which I had several copies but alas now have only the copy you see remaining.
    So the next time you seed these, they along with a few others will have sparkling new cases and be assigned to b one of my registry sets.
    Happy Hunting and Good Luck

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  25. Alawson453
    Skyrocketing Graphic Novel Prices.
    As some of you know I pay a great deal to market trends with regards to CGC graded books.
    Recently there were very high grade (CGC 9.8) issues of Marvel Graphic Novels selling on E-bay. I was a little curious as to where the prices might settle since I use the info to gauge whether to submit some of my own books for slabbing in order to
    take advantage if the prices are trending high.
    Below is a list of actual prices realized, some of which seemed to even shock the pants off of yours truly.
    #2 Elric The Dreaming City (3 bids) $109.00
    #3 Dreadstar (3 bids) $265.00
    #4 The New Mutants (12 bids) $536.88 (no surprise on this one).
    #15 Raven Banner (3 bids) $134.77 (definite surprise)
    #17 Revenge of the Living Monolith (2 bids) $158.05 Wow!
    #18 She Hulk (6 bids) $290.00 (big surprise)
    #23 Doctor Strange (4 bids) $179.77
    #29 Hulk & The Thing (3 bids) $102.50 (thought this would go higher.
    NN Avengers the Vault (3 bids) $109.49
    NN Wolverine Bloody Choices (57 bids) $332.77 by far biggest surprise due to the number of bids placed on this issue.
    Overall I think that this was a huge shot in the arm and motivation for anyone that collects Graphic Novels whether high or mid grade as prices will also rise for reader copies at some point or another.
    Thanks for reading,
    A~

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