Randall Dowling

After watching it twice, I found the film to be rather anemic. Just not any real moments for you to connect with characters and without that, tough to care what happens to them. Unfortunately, I don't think the Matrix world was really designed well for more than one movie. It's been a pretty tough downhill slide since that first film.

This is probably a better question for the Grading/Restoration forum.

FWIW, I've observed several board members starting threads here to pump prices up on certain books that they then turn out to have troves of. I'm not saying that the first appearance of the Black Cat isn't a key. But to think that it has a sustainable price at $5k is pretty crazy to me given the other books that one could find for the same price that are actually scarce and keys. This book is incredibly common. The idea that it's worth an incredible amount in 9.8 (and only 9.8 as it's an unadulterated price drop as you go down in grade) because "there are only 416 copies in 9.8" is the best indication of irrational speculation I can think of. If I had one, I'd be selling that puppy as fast as possible and spending it on something that is actually scarce. Ask yourself this- would you rather have a 9.8 of ASM 194 or a mid-grade copy of ASM 14? And ASM 14 isn't scarce but there are half as many certified copies as ASM 194 and only one is a 9.8. The time to buy this book was 20 years ago. There have always been people pumping up books for their own financial gain at the expense of collectors and their enthusiasm. Don't be either one of those guys.

All, I asked @CGC Mike to pin a few threads so they would always be at the top of the magazine section. They seemed like the most sensible choices without going crazy and pinning 12 threads. This way the Beginner's Guide to Magazines (which has become a nice collection of information- thanks, @Gregd), the selling/trading thread and the this week in your collection will always be at the top. Mike was kind enough to get it sorted.

If that's a tear, I wouldn't grade it 8.0. Unfortunately, I'm thinking 7.5 is the grade. Still an awesome copy of a very tough book in high grade. FWIW, there are currently only 26 copies of that book graded (despite being the number one issue of the title) and although 14 of them are 9.0 or better, best of luck finding one of those. I think they're mostly locked up in collections and not coming out to play anytime soon. There are other high grade raw copies out there but again, most people that own the book, know how tough it is.

I like this magazine.

I'm just hoping that the grades you get offset the pain of waiting.

Now. All the way until you receive the books sometime in June or July 2022.

Give me just about any certified book for 10 minutes and I can make it look the same way. It's just physics.

Broadly speaking, if you have a defect that appears on many copies of that exact issue, it happened during production. There are exceptions to this (warehouse copies that were all subjected to the same conditions, etc.) but it's a fairly safe assumption.

Ultimate Spider-man 5 has found some serious movement in the last couple weeks.

Wow. Learned something new. Thanks, Steve!

We should change the title of this thread as well since it's clear now that the original report has been rescinded.

I like your choices on the matting and frame. Looks great, wombat!

Pretty sure it's Enrich. @Stevemmg or someone else could say for sure.

I feel like the OP should edit and correct the title of this thread since it's obviously incorrect.

That's a gorgeous copy! I've never owned that book either.

One of my favorite covers of the run!

Indicia It's a distinct marking identifying the publication ("Mad"). Notice the circle "R" next to it. That's for a registered trademark. In erratum: see @Stevemmg's post below.

Is it wrong that to me, the best part of this reported sale is that the book was "ungraded"? I've always felt that at some point, books like this should be treated like fine art where you just call in an expert to certify legitimacy and condition when it's being sold. Seems like that might cut down a little on the various hijinks people do to get a bigger number, whether the book is any better or not.

It's an incredibly tough book in high grade. Census only shows 50 copies or so, total. I've always thought that Ernie Gerber made great choices for the books on the cover of the photo-journals.

I had a friend that owned a liquor store. His mom was a pretty heavy drinker and one day he asked me "You know what my mom calls New Year's Eve?" I asked him what and he said "Amateur Night".

Great clarification on what you have. Can definitely get you guide prices for some of that. Others may be a bit less, but in any case, I won't abandon you. We're in this together.

Sounds like you have some nice high grade material you need to clear out. No problem, it'll take a bit of work on my part but I'll help you out.

Yes. But not anymore.