Rockblazer

Matt, Maybe not an option but if you have a lot of the information could you do Vol.1 with what you have. Gather more info and do Vol. 2?.

Surfer, Fantastic copy! I had to put on shades to save my eyes from the gloss. It's a great feeling to buy a raw copy at a lower price and send it in and get a gem back. Also congratulations on breaking the 30,000 point barrier! Keep posting and I'll keep reading.

THIS TIME I'VE ACTUALLY RECEIVED IT! Back towards the end of last year I wrote about Heritage Auctions finding a comic I won that they lost after the auction. The auction was January of 2014. However after they emailed me about it no one ever returned a call or email to me after contacting them many times. A couple of weeks ago I was contacted again that they found the comic. This time it was different. They responded to all emails and sent it to me quickly. So from January of 2014 here it is, A Boris Karloff 47 9.6 and also a pic of my latest addition a Silver Surfer 5 9.4. Better late than never. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Interesting. Thanks.

Plus a new pickup. I just returned from watching Avengers Age of Ultron. I personally liked it more than the Avengers. More action packed. Even my wife said it was excellent and she was glad she went. I went to a 10:30 am showing and at least 50 % of the seats were full. It's was on four out of the 16 screens. They had 3d running at the same time. I know it's gotten mixed reviews but if you love action movies you will not be disappointed. Also my latest pickup arrived. It's a Tales of Suspense 86. CGC 9.4 White pages. It is pictured below. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

ANYONE REMEMBER KORG 70,000 BC? A few of my recent pickups. I got the Tales to Astonish 70 as I need it but it could become a hot book if we see Sub-Mariner on screen someday. Such as Thor 126 or Ironman 1 etc. Korg was a short lived series which I watched at the time. It was a lot better than "Bigfoot and Wild Boy" which was another short lived 70's Saturday show. Many live action shows then. I always felt shows like H.R. Puffenstuff were created while someone was puffing some stuff. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Speaking of Stan Lee and women. He's getting close to be married to the same woman for 70 years! (2017). That usually gets attention on the national level even if your not famous. Plus he's been in the comic field since he was 17.

A YEAR OF WAITING BUT... In response to Surfer99's journal request I decided to write two in one night. Not long ago I wrote about finding a HULK 181 in a second hand store. However the find of my life escaped me. This is that story. Way back in April 1978 I quit Mcdonalds ( a good move) and started working at a Pest Control company. Hey, I increased my pay to 3 dollars an hour then. I worked on a two man termite crew. A few weeks after I started we went to do a job on a nice home in a nice neighborhood. One thing we did was drill holes in the concrete block and concrete slabs to inject the chemical. I went down in the basement to drill the block behind the front porch that could not be reached from outside. I went down the steps and saw stacks and stacks of comics neatly stored shelves in the basement. I saw one comic on top was a Spiderman 1. Looked to be about an 8.0. I looked though the others and every Marvel comic from the early 60's to the late 60's was there. Key after key. I asked the lady of the house if she owned them. She said her son owned the books. I asked if I could talk to him about buying them. She said he was in medical school but would be home in June for the summer. She said they have sat there for years and would like to see them gone. She said I could call and talk to him in June. I waited the long two months and called back. She said he was away visiting a friend but was not interested in selling them. I said I would pay good money for them but she said no he does not want to sell. NOT THE END OF THE STORY. A year later a noticed in the work orders for the day that we were going back to her house to do a carpenter ant job. Another guy had the work order but I traded him another easier job to stop back out. I stopped out and she remembered me from last year. I went down in the basement while working looked on the shelving with the comics and they were all gone! I asked her what happened to all the comics. She said her son had sold them last summer while home. Now in those days he had an estimated $30,000 dollars in comics. Nowadays far far more. I said I wished you had sold them to me. She said beaming to me " Do you know how much money he got for those old comics? I said I can imagine it was a lot. She said it sure was, " Do you believe he got 50 DOLLARS for those old comics!" I then told her he had tens of thousands of dollars in comics and someone got a bargain. I was willing to pay far more than 50 for sure. She went from smilimg to having a sick look on her face. She said she never thought for a second they were worth more than 10 dollars. I had saved almost two thousand back then and would have offered it for sure. It had every first issue and complete runs for years. I'll never forget that one ever. Below is a pic of two of my recently graded books I did'nt add recently. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

I met a Badger there. As usual work has kept me very busy so I'm a little late on writing this journal. On March 28th I attended The Gem City Comicon. This show is not major but it is growing every year. This year was the 10th. One of my favorite dealers cancelled ( Motor City Comics). He was bringing some high grade Northland copies. He did tell me in advance that he could cancel this time. This was a downer but I did meet Collector's Society member Rude Badger. I found him not rude at all, actually a nice guy. He's quite the collector. Like many of us our raw collection drawfs their CGC collection. I know many of you get together with other members at the show but it was a first for me. My friend Chris ( A former co worker) was there also. Chris has a huge collection but only two CGC books. AF 15 and JIM 83. Not bad for your first two CGC comics. Chis is one of those guys who say they are only going to buy a few books and end up with a stack. The highlight of my purchases was a 4.0 raw Vampirella 1. 95 bucks not too bad. Below are a couple of recent pickups.First time taking photos with my new camera so the quality is'nt there yet. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

82 WORKING DAYS. Well my value submission made it back. They were a little behind their posted 75 days. Most of the comics 10 of 15 were high grade issues from Metropolis Comics. I purchased 8 of them as 9.6 and two were 9.4. The actual grades are as follows. Boris Karloff issues: 36- 9.2 42- 9.2 45- 9.2 46- 9.6 47- 8.0 49- 9.2 50- 9.6 53- 9.4 Twilight Zone: 44- 8.5 Ripley's Believe it or Not: 44- 9.2 The 8.0 and 8.5 were the 9.4's. A Twilight Zone 29 graded 9.0 from a local shop came back 9.2. A Fantastic Voyage nn from the bargin bin of Collectors Comics came back 9.2. ( They seem to like that number ). Many Ghosts of Dr. Graves 1 8.0 Ebay buy and a Ripley's True War Stories 1 6.0 Ebay buy. Not spectacular buy ok for the collection. It did however get me on the next page ( Web page that is )at number 399 on the registry. I won't stay there for long but that's ok too. It also pushed me over 200 CGC books though. So a couple of personal milestones. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Finding was the easy part. Buying not so much. I thought I would tell the whole story on my finding a Hulk 181 five years ago at a second hand shop. This was in response to Surfer99's blog a few days back. Back at my old job in 2010 I had a co worker tell me he stopped at a second hand store down the road from work. He knew I collected comics and said he saw 2 stacks of old comics on a shelf. I stopped down after work and asked the guy to see them. He put them on he counter and I started to go through them. I told him I was a collector and he asked me to be honest if I found ones that had any value. I finished the first stack and found a ten dollar book. I was at the bottom of the second stack next to the last book was a Hulk 181 in very good condition. 4.0. All his comics were 25 cents each. Being honest I told him this was about a two hundred dollar comic and I would pay him a good price for it. I told him I would give him $100 for the Hulk. He started yelling to the other workers in the store this was a two hundred dollar comic and he then took it out of my hands and stuck it on the special place on the wall behind the counter. He then walked away from me. I said almost yelling " Now that you know what it's worth you're not selling it to me". I also said "you asked me to be honest and I was". I said to him " I could have bought this for a quarter two minutes ago and you would'nt have known the difference". He was thinking when I did the Pawn Stars thing of putting 5 twentys down on the counter top and said " cash money right now". He then said ok I'll sell it to you. I was still comparing CGC and PGX at the time. I sent it to PGX. It graded 6.0. I sold it on Ebay as I was selling comics then. It sold for $336 dollars. I still have a raw copy 181 in the collection that's a 7.0 but it does have the stamp missing which is why I have never sent it in. I still have a picture of it from when I put it on Ebay. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

More 9.4's. I got a much needed day off today and the mail lady bought another new additon to the collection. Swamp Thing 3. ( Swamp Thing 2 came yesterday ) Both are 9.4's. I'm trying to complete the set within the 9.4 to 9.8 range. I've always loved the original run. I remember being shocked when the series stopped at only 24 issues. I also called CGC today to check on my current submission. It was graded on 2/9/15 and has been like that since. The man on the phone said they are running behind on the hard case portion of the grading process. He estimated 3 to 4 more weeks before shipping them. These comics did push me over the 40,000 point level. I'll probably slow down on my purchases online because The Gem City Comicon is happening in Dayton the March 28th weekend. It's a great show for buying comics. No wrestling stars, playmates etc. at this one. Just dealers, artists and writers. If you live a few hours or so away it's well worth the drive. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Have not seen this many listed at one time in years. There are six Twilight Zone 84's on Ebay right now. People hold on to this book normally. Only one CGC though. One of the 15 I have in for submission currently is an 84. Just a heads up. Might not happen again for a while. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

It's not a 9.6 but I'll take 9.4 all day. Just arrived today fresh from New York City. Thor 144 9.4 Twin Cities Pedigree. I've always dug this cover from the King and have been looking for a 9.6 copy for a while but the price has'nt been right. I found this Twin Cities 9.4 on Metropolis and the price was right. They had it on Ebay and their website. It was $34.00 more on Ebay with free shipping. I paid $14 for shipping on their site so it was still $20 bucks cheaper. Also today my Value submission changed from verified to scheduled for grading. The invoice date is 11/25/14. It was verifed on 1/4/15. Looking forward to getting those books back. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Now the hard part- buying it again. Back on November 11th I wrote a journal about Heritage losing a comic I purchased back in January of 14. On December 1st I received an email from them saying they found it. They asked if I still wanted it. Since then I have left them three messages saying I am interested in buying it. The latest being earlier today. So far they have not returned my call or emailed me again on it. So the hard part may be getting them to return my call to purchase it. I'll try again this afternoon. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

THERE GOES THE NEIGHBORHOOD! I just added my latest edition to my set and checked my ranking and noticed that Tnerb and I are virtual neighbors. It's really nice here in the mid 400's. Kinda like Beverly Hills or Park Place. Probably won't be here long but I'll enjoy it while I can. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

HERITAGE LOST ONE OF MINE. Heritage Auctions lost a comic I purchased from them earlier this year. I waited a few weeks before contacting them about it. The lady I talked to said they had a record of the sale and it last was in the shipping department and they would find it. I asked them if this happened much and to my surprise she said it did but they almost always find them within a month. She offered me a choice of a refund, credit or I could wait some more. I said I would wait. Four weeks later I called and she said they were still looking for it. I decided to get a refund which came quickly. Which made me wonder if CGC ever lost one of your comics? They have been flawless and handling my submissions but it made me think. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

But the sanitation man did'nt. I just read Lee K's latest journal and thought I would check my submission status even though it's a holiday and I checked it a few hours ago with it being in scheduled for grading the past two days. Well lo and behold it was bumped to graded. I guess someone is working at CGC today. Everyone on our street set their trash out but it will sit until tomorrow as most city workers have today off. Looks like CGC is getting caught up as this is day 15 on my fast track submission. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Not going this year. I am not going to Wizard World Ohio this year. For the past 3 years the comic haul from a once great show has been pitiful. I used to bring home an average of 30 awesome comics from this show when it was Mid Ohio Con. Last year I got one raw comic and the Walking Dead hand out. Most of the dealers have fled to greener pastures and the ones I've talked to said they are'nt coming back. It's $40.00 just to go to the Friday night opening. That paid for the Swamp Thing 11 9.4 in the picture below. I can do better online and elsewhere with my money. So far I have the books below and have a Tales to Astonish 87 9.4 white pages coming. I've done well at the Gem City Con in recent years and also at an even smaller show, Buckeye Comicon. Gem City was mentioned in one market report in the guide this year. It's not huge but growing each year. I'm sticking to pure comic cons in the future. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

The Grades are in. This years coupon submission posted today. The invoice date was 8/18/14. Two exceeded expectations and two slightly under expectations. My Strange Tales 110 which I thought would come in at 2.0 ended up at 3.5! I know you don't ususally use an exclamation for a 3.5 but it shocked me. The big winner was the Voyage to The Bottom of The Sea 16 which clobbered the 8.5 in my set coming in at a lofty 9.4 with white pages. The two Boston pedigrees were somewhat disappointing but still sharp copies. Unknown Worlds 57 graded 9.2 and issue 46 of the same title was 8.5. Both were off-white to white. Both Boston's are very bright so maybe I was blinded by the light. I could get the notes I guess. I'm not sure how some members can wait till delivery to see their grades ( you know who you are )but I have to look. Overall I am happy with the grades received. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Business days that is. Verification occurred on Friday September 5th for my Modern submission. I did count the day CGC received them. 7/25/14. My coupon submission is currently at 14 business days. It was verified on day two, but is still in verified status. Thirty days actually is less than some of the posts I've read in the past few months. Maybe CGC is starting to catch up? To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Pedigrees or keys? I received this years Collectors Society coupon and as always spent a few days mulling over which comics to send in. With me it always comes down to high grade, pedigrees or keys. I have a number of ungraded pedigrees. Mostly Bostons and Northlands and some others. Some key books mostly Silver and Bronze Marvels and some file copies mostly Gold Keys. After putting together about 50 four book combinations I came up with a small group to choose from. This goup had 7 Bostons, 4 Marvels and 2 file copies. Here's my thinking on the four chosen. Strange Tales 110 first Dr. Strange. A very hot book so an easy choice. Mines low grade 2.0. The next two are Bostons which will reduce my ungraded copies to five, plus should grade 9.4 to 9.6. The last one is a Voyage to The Bottom of the Sea 16 which should become the highest graded copy. When I last looked only 2 had been graded. Cheetah's got one and I have other. I had seriously considered having a vote by my fellow members to see what they would come up with. I might do this next time. I was wondering if anyone else struggles with their Final Four? To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

MOST CAN'T AFFORD ARMED GUARDS. Last week I attended the Gem City Comic Con in Dayton, Ohio. I always meet up with a follow collector who I used to work with. I've known him for 15 years but never knew where he lived. We were talking at the show and discovered his property actually is close to my mom's house. I was at my mom's house the next day and called him to see if I could stop by. Before I knew it he was walking over with about $14,000 dollars in key comics in his hands. Af 15, Jim 83 etc. I quickly suggested we look at them over at his house. When we arrived his collection was strung out over his front room and dining room. His front door was open and anyone could walk up on his porch and see it. He said he normally has them put up but was rebagging and boarding his comics. Everywhere I looked was a key book from Silver to Modern age. I then talked to him about being more secure with his collection. He did listen to me and got a security system installed by a security company this week. He also is going to get insurance on his collection and fireproof storage for key books. He said he had thought about insurance but that was about it. I also mentioned acid free backing boards and mylar as he was using poly bags and cardboard. I guess I'm writing this to see what other measures are out there. Most comic collectors I've met are on the bright side and should have some great ideas. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

A TALE OF 3 DEALERS AND SIX COMICS. I've been wanting to leave some feedback for quite some time on how well my dealer grades compared to their cgc grades. This is not a judgement on their grading skills but rather just a posting of how things turned out. I'm a repeat customer many times over of the three dealers on this latest submission. Here they are. The first comic on my invoice was Journey into Mystery 108. I purchased this in September at Wizard World Mid-Ohio from Greg Reese's Rare Comics. His grade was 7.5 vf-. He knocked off 10 bucks from a $80.00 sticker price. It came back 7.0 fn/vf from CGC. The next comic was a Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery 30 I purchased in early November from ZILLAf4 on Ebay. His grade was 9.0 vf/nm. It was graded by CGC at 9.2. The next four were all purchased from Metropolis Comics in December of 2012. They were all Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery. Issue 33 9.4 which CGC'ed at 9.2. Issue 43 9.6 which CGC'ed at 9.6. Issue 88 9.8 which CGC'ed at 9.6 Issue 89 9.6 which CGC'ed at 9.2. I entered all in my sets but two issues had never been graded before so they will show up soon. This happens often with Boris Karloff. Not a lot of collectors for this title. Not sure what CGC saw on issue 89 as I thought it would go 9.6 myself but I'm happy overall with the grades. Thank you. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.