Randall Dowling

Wow... very, very, very cool.

Apparently, Nick Fury had a dark period.

Last things, first, I don't think it's wrong for you to have made this post. I don't think it's unprofessional or rude. It's an open message board and I've generally appreciated your posts. This reads like a letter from a frustrated customer and to that end, if CGC doesn't want feedback then they can ignore it as they like. Or they can do something about it. In regard to how the management is compensated. I sincerely think it is completely inconsequential in regard to how it should impact the quality of their work. I don't care if Matt gets paid $1 per year. Assuming he's the one in charge of operations (I have no idea if this is the case, hence why I'm hesitant to point the finger), he took a job and agreed to do it. He may have no idea how to do this. In which case, he's the wrong person for the job and ownership should address that. Or he may not care about how this is going. In which case, he's the wrong person for the job and ownership should address that. Right now, there may not be an obvious impact on their business, but I assure you, there are a lot of people not submitting books because of this. In business, this is considered a golden opportunity for another company to step up. Reputation is everything. The history of companies that were known for high quality products and/or services that didn't know how to grow (couldn't scale) and then failed is pretty long. There's an expression in business called the "unobtainable triangle". Imagine the 3 corners to be the 3 general aspects of business- quality, time, price (there are derivations of these but let's use these for our conversation). All three at the same are impossible to accomplish for any length of time but focusing on any two of them is a reasonable expectation. You can provide high quality for a cheap price, but it won't happen fast. Or you can deliver things quickly and cheap but their going to be low quality. CGC is currently struggling to deliver any of the three. The cost of certification is going up. TATs are horrific. And the quality of their work is incredibly low. This last is perhaps the most important. They are a certification company. It's a basic expectation that they provide a high level of consistency in grading and not damage the items they're certifying while in their care. The inconsistency of their grading is stunning right now. I know of books that were old label 9.0s and 8.5s that were cracked out and then resubmitted and received 7.0s and 7.5s upon resubmission. With no intervention. On the other end of the spectrum, we have books that would have gotten 6.0-7.0 just a few years ago coming back as 9.0. That's an unacceptable swing for a company who's primary role is to guarantee and certify an objective grade. While I don't doubt that they have seen an increase in business in the last couple years, they didn't just open their doors. They've been in business for 20 years. If they don't know how to do this after all that time, why should anyone have confidence they will in the future. As I said before, reputation in business is everything. And although not all the damage may be readily apparent right now, I assure you it's happening. Again, I have no idea what Matt's responsibility is and/or how they have things structured. I'm sure he's stressed. But if he's in an impossible situation (i.e. being given expectations that are not possible with the resources he has), then he should resign. Not because he failed, but because ownership has to get the message somehow. Or whoever is in charge of operations.

Isn't this crazy? I hate to point the finger at anyone in particular, but this is a management problem. Whoever is in charge of operations over there is clueless about how to scale up and maintain being on brand. It's really obvious and completely unsustainable. Damage is being done to the brand every month they don't seriously address this. A year is a lifetime in the business world. 2 years is an eternity. Entire universes are born and die in that time period.

I've often said that I think at least part of the cover for Planet 71 is misattributed to Maurice Whitman. I believe it's Anderson's hand on the female figure, FWIW.

This is an incredible price for this book. It's been on my list for a long time because of Anderson's excellent cover. Screenshot for posterity.

Recent pickup. A great classic Virgil Finlay cover!

New arrival. A pretty copy of an excellent cover. Apparently back in the early 60s, this was something that happened in the jungle from time to time. Nice Bill Ward full page illustration on the inside.

They look better and younger than mine! This is an awesome portfolio. For those unfamiliar, reportedly these covers are what inspired a young George Lucas to eventually create Star Wars. Increasingly these are getting locked down into collections. GLWTS!

I'm in the exact same place...

Todd's a great guy to deal with and honest as the day as long. There were some heady days on eBay in the 00's that he was selling some sort of warehouse stock and had many, many multiples of all sorts of books- all in very high grade. It was mostly mid-70s Marvels but I'm talking Strange Tales, Warlock, Savage Sword of Conan, Captain Marvel, Ms. Marvel, Dark Knight sets, Watchmen sets, etc. All books that go for decent money now. I still have my Savage Sword of Conan 2 that I purchased from him which is probably a 9.6-9.8. Back then, he did most of the grading and he's very strict. I think someone else is doing it now and it's less so but still a great dealer to buy from.

Exactly! Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Just imagine how much a 10 would be worth!!! Fortune favors the bold!

The first answer that come to mind to all these questions is- sell them. However, as I look back at the last 20+ years of buying and selling, I have to acknowledge that I would have been better off if I never sold anything at all.

Epic book.

I wanna play to. Applicable to all books, all eras, all flaws- humidify for 2 full days, then immediately press at 130 degrees for 9 minutes. Submit for certification within the hour and a 9.8 is guaranteed. For the win.

The volume and the quality of what was in that room is hard to wrap your head around.

I don't think that's a very good deal at the BIN. It's probably around retail for the whole run (depending on condition, of course). If I were buying a bulk lot, I'm usually looking for a reasonable discount from retail.

This was a major hinge point. Many consumers purchased PS3s because they were pretty good Blu-ray players. My understanding is that the other big factor was adult entertainment going with Blu-ray (doesn't one of the characters in Tropic Thunder talk about this?).

I still have all of laserdiscs including a bunch of Criterion titles and some music documentaries. I sold high end audio/video in the 90s and one of the stores I worked at rented LDs to incentivize purchasing players. But the writing was on the wall as the Grand Alliance was working establishing the high definition standard for broadcast and media. I haven't looked at mine in years but they very much remind me of one of the reasons I like vinyl- the large size of the sleeves and the images, other content printed on them.

I wouldn't say it was obsolete. It was still the best quality consumer video recording tech into the late 90s. But very little content was sold in the format after 1982 or so.

Sony offered Betamax to other manufacturers but required a license fee for use. JVC turned around and offered VHS for free use to all other vendors. Other manufacturers ended up deciding to go with VHS and the content providers responded accordingly.

Very cool! Thanks for sharing, Sara!

You're correct. Avengers 4 is March 1964 and Sgt Fury 13 is December 1964.

While I think I agree with you, wouldn't this then argue for Sgt. Fury 13 being the first SA Captain America?

That writing on the back is... unusual. It looks like young Recil was going through some things.