jsilverjanet

This is all a distraction so that we accept Newton Rings.

While I agree there are always going to be people inside and outside the business that will try to scam the system.  
Clearly there is a breakdown or lack of security follow ups on employees that sell books.  Now while they may have gotten permission to sell books it is obvious that what they are selling is not checked by the company.  I'm assuming that going forward that will not be the case because frankly these two employees are ruining CGC's business reputation on integrity.       
For me I've had issue with "Consultants" who come in and grade and also sell books.    

He's on the Boards. 

last night I was thinking about my first comic shop. Comic Kingdom on Lawrence Ave in Chicago.
 
I vaguely remember the set up, but what I do remember most was the smell of old books. Joe the owner was a nice guy, and later moved the shop to Irving Park near Central.
 
I'm many people from this area knew Joe or brought books from him. Unfortunately the shop is long gone but the memories still live on.
 
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Comic-Universe-The-Joe-Sarno-Fan-Page/103802766318694
 
What was your first comic shop and what do you remember the most?
 
 

here are a couple of pics (taken from the facebook page)
 

last night I was thinking about my first comic shop. Comic Kingdom on Lawrence Ave in Chicago.
 
I vaguely remember the set up, but what I do remember most was the smell of old books. Joe the owner was a nice guy, and later moved the shop to Irving Park near Central.
 
I'm many people from this area knew Joe or brought books from him. Unfortunately the shop is long gone but the memories still live on.
 
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Comic-Universe-The-Joe-Sarno-Fan-Page/103802766318694
 
What was your first comic shop and what do you remember the most?
 
 

I also block bidder who retract bids and never bid again (within that same day)
if you try and retract within less than 12 hours remaining (and asking me) I will not retract unless it's an item that I have set an opening bid I'm ok selling the item at
but that bidder will also get blocked
the absolute worst is when people cancel after the won the item - automatic block
part of these reasons is why I've move to buy it nows for the most part

it would be nice if ebay would give sellers the option to set the number of retractions a buyer has had to limit them bidding on their items - similar to how you can set limiting buyers who have x number of non paying auctions won

nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
 

actually this is a good point, it's not just the studios but all the theaters and the agreements they have with the distributors/studios
example when Disney releases a movie, they have a guarantee of x number of screens etc

Been a bit down in the weeks leading up to Christmas, and I loaded up Wolfenstein 1 : The New Order, and Wolfenstein 2 : The New Colossus, for some hardcore, therapeutic Nazi Smashing, which never gets old.  Just finished them both on “I am Death Incarnate” difficulty level, with the second game being much tougher, but, with a bit of strategising, quite doable.  I’m simply not good enough to take on the “Mein Leben” setting, where one death erases your save and you’re back to the beginning - always avoid these. 

The AI clearly nailed it. 
To be a Debbie Downer though on all the fun.  AI learns/steals from art created by humans, whether that's writing/visual/etc.  "Art" will soon be even less of a viable career choice than it already is and the artists whose work made the AI output possible will get nothing for it.  The AI "owners" will be the only ones profiting. 

It was Ray Romano. It was a cop but not undercover. It was his own brother, Robert.

I also block bidder who retract bids and never bid again (within that same day)
if you try and retract within less than 12 hours remaining (and asking me) I will not retract unless it's an item that I have set an opening bid I'm ok selling the item at
but that bidder will also get blocked
the absolute worst is when people cancel after the won the item - automatic block
part of these reasons is why I've move to buy it nows for the most part

I've taken the analysis portion as far as I'd like from my end for the time being. I want to clarify some things to understand why I did what I did.
As an accredited appraiser, the moment I saw the potential for prices to have been manipulated, I needed to do my own independent research on the matter. I take very seriously the codes of ethics I'm bound to as part of a society of appraisers, and this excercise is crucial to me beyond the purpose of facilitating the ways prices were influenced by alleged tampering. It illuminates some of the very real activities that I've only up until this point believed were happening, and have theorized might be possible. Through the examples I've shown, I've left it to the community to form their own opiinions on what that looks like, even if all we have at the moment are allegations of "holder tampering."
Currently, what we have from CGC is a list of "approximately 350" comics. In addition to this, we have an "Updated: CCG and CGC Comics Statement on Holder Tampering Incident" posted on Jan 3, 2024 revealing an "impacted list." I am proceeding from the alleged "tampering" CGC has put forth, based on the list of "impacted" comics.
From the analysis, I have: 
117 records with no sales history - on my master list, I have these highlighted in yellow
That leaves an approximated differential of 233 records from the approximate 350 on the "impacted list"
8 strikethroughs at the present date, of which 5 are from the 117 records with no sales history.
3 of the strikethroughs represent a deduction of  $33,145 from the totals below
Green: $945,758.08 - this is the total for each single incident sale for certifications appearing on the "impacted list"
Red: $177,417 - this is the total for multiple or repeat sales of the same certificaiton, but focusing primarily on the accounts which have been alleged to be connected to this "holder tampering."
Total: $1,123,175.08 - this combines green and red totals.
If we deduct the 3 strikethroughs, the total is $1,090,030.08 from approximately 225 records after taking all deductions and strikethroughs into account.
These may look like numbers, but this is a real financial impact. The red to me is a disturbing reminder that without the communities vigilance, we may not have had any reason or purpose to scrutinize this matter. That we have an incident like this to reveal the ways markets are manipulated, real or unproven as allegations at the moment, is a reason for all to take pause to let this sink in.
It is encumbent on all of us to demand answers. If there is an explanation for some of the "holder tampering" that has been uncovered, or how/why books appear to have changed inside slabs with an unchanged certification, it's important it's shared with the community with the utmost transparency and truth.
There may be a perfectly good explanation for all this, we need to hear it from CGC. And this extends to explanations on a number of questions on how grade dates conjoining books on the "impacted list" occured in otherwise impossible circumstances when factoring in regular submission to be processed, and the confluence of standard delays seen with turnaround times, logistics and return delivery timeframes.
Thanks to @spidermanbeyond for starting this thread, and as well to too many names to list for their assistance thus far. I'm fading to the background and returning to the daily grind. One last thing, we need to all be grateful that we have sites like GPA - bad actors crowd every hobby I'm involved in, it's crtical that we understand the importance data repositories and the need to mine for past sales is to give us any chance of staying on top of this cat and mouse game.
I am hoping the next major announcement we hear from CGC is an intent to aggresively pursue this matter, and for those allegedly tied to it to be prosecuted.

AI is moving at a very rapid pace, technology moves faster than we can comprehend at times
I know i've seen examples of how it can help the average joe write sentences that make sense
might be worth it for some folks to look into
 

The integrity of the case has been lost
in a manner that is simple and easy for most people with little skill to take advantage of
I made this statement earlier in the thread
the result of CGC's lack of QC has made this problem greater than it normally would be
issues with incorrect labeling, poor quality in terms of the case (newton rings), poor shipping practices has increased the # of reholders they have to process thus creating a volume that is difficult for CGC's QC to take the necessary steps to prevent this problem from occurring
if the volume was lower, then more time could be spent inspecting reholders, but because they are getting so many slabs that need to be fixed, they skipped that step in order to keep up with a demand that they themselves created
 
 

@CAHokie you guess the number correctly
please let me know where to send your prize

Heat Gun and Xylene sounds like a couple of comic book characters
 

@CAHokie you guess the number correctly
please let me know where to send your prize

@CAHokie you guess the number correctly
please let me know where to send your prize

There was no other number it could be!

The integrity of the case has been lost
in a manner that is simple and easy for most people with little skill to take advantage of
I made this statement earlier in the thread
the result of CGC's lack of QC has made this problem greater than it normally would be
issues with incorrect labeling, poor quality in terms of the case (newton rings), poor shipping practices has increased the # of reholders they have to process thus creating a volume that is difficult for CGC's QC to take the necessary steps to prevent this problem from occurring
if the volume was lower, then more time could be spent inspecting reholders, but because they are getting so many slabs that need to be fixed, they skipped that step in order to keep up with a demand that they themselves created
 
 

@CAHokie you guess the number correctly
please let me know where to send your prize