01TheDude

I see it has "#2 X-Men" on the top left. How many are there? Was the Spider-Man pop-up #1? Any information about who made these if not Marvel? never mind-- here is that information: https://www.librarything.com/series/Marvel+True+Believers+Retro+Character+Collection+Pop-Ups

I have very few signatures from people I admire -- but some of them are enjoyable to have, like an 8x10 picture of Lee Roy Selmon (Tampa Bucs HOF 1995) with me at a University of South Florida (USF) pre-game road trip tailgate that I had him sign. I had him sign several items over the years while he was the Athletic Director at the USF. I used to free lance taking game pictures for another message forum so access to him was not unusual. My interaction wasn't just an autograph as I was fortunate enough to meet with him several times. Once on the bus ride from the hotel to our away game against Arkansas in 2003, we had an extensive conversation. GREAT MAN. When he died several years ago, I realized I had about 5 signatures from various events over the years. Some were pretty specific and on interesting media. I sold some of those as I downsized all collectibles and wanted to share that stuff with other USF Bulls fans who did not get the chance to meet the man perhaps. The one with us together though is a keepsake and proudly hangs on my wall. As for comics-- a Jack Kirby under the manifest signature (not on the cover) would be great to see/own. The only one I would want on the cover itself would be a Steranko-- because I admire his work and like the way he signs. Some of the other big names like Frazetta, Neal Adams, Wrightson, etc-- they are great but they are not books I actively pursue. And I think that is what should be important in the end. If you admire the artist enough to want to have that signature-- by all means, get one when you can how you like it. Back to Selmon: so here is the signature I sold. I would bet there aren't very many of these magazines out there in general but in this case, I think his signature on it makes it better. That is an appropriate item to have signed imo. Having a Stan Lee on some random comic that he had little to do with -- that never makes much sense to me.

I see a good spot to leave a mark in the area on her left leg out of context thread

Yes, but I haven't chased it since it is so obscured. I may go after it now that I have slain this particular dragon. I wish you much luck on the new quest and congrats on finding the test pilot little book. Have you considered going after the various toys etc and try to recreate the entire drawer? I bet RobotMan has most of that stuff.

looks like a case where they did not direct Stan where to sign. There are many examples where he scribble over titles like this. The location isn't the real problem, it's the gold marker at the end of it's death throes. yeah-- that doesn't help at all. But I wouldn't want him signing on top of the title like that. I would want a signature in a darker (with that ink) or open area on the page that doesn't take away from the artwork. I don't have any signatures on my comics other than that one kid who wrote Anthony all over one of them. We get it Anthony-- this is your comic book.

looks like a case where they did not direct Stan where to sign. There are many examples where he scribble over titles like this.

also-- have you figured out what the other book in the drawer is-- on the left, partially exposed

check out this copy --- http://www.ebay.com/itm/NM-UNOPENED-1937-PAT-NELSON-ACE-OF-TEST-PILOTS-BIG-LITTLE-BOOK-/180779312708

I sort of deduced that you have shared a story of how this book was signed and personalized. I would like to read that story. Can someone point me to where this was discussed previously? thanks!

wow -- awesome

congrats on your find -- care to share some pictures of the other ones you have like it in your collection? How were these distributed-- directly or as prizes in products? they are pretty cool-- I've seen a ring or two before but not the monster eraser toppers.

you can't block yourself from buying from a bad seller, so while this thread is about blocking sketchy buyers-- it has also served to talk about anything dealing with eBay interactions. It has been that way for as long as I can recall.

I put the link to a thread (at bottom of my post above) where the guy was just trying to ask what the "Bubbalicious Insert" notation on his tab was about-- which was followed by ten clownish answers about the book having it pages stuck together. Even with photographic evidence of what the insert looked like, the first reply was gum related-- I guess some folks simply have a problem talking about gum or something. Anyway-- CGC gives books like these the same treatment that Mark Jewelers get-- which is sort of why I cross pollinated my information on this far more serious thread as well.

same goes for the Bubbalicious Insert I just noticed in my Thor 336. I put the information about that in the Mark Jewelers thread in case you are interested. I never knew these existed as I had stopped collected a few years before they were used.

I found this interesting and thought I would throw it onto this thread as it might be of interest.... I have a "Bubblicious Insert" in my Thor 336. Here are some pictures. I tried searching elsewhere but this was the only place on the site that had this topic. My other copy of Thor 336 looks identical but has no evidence of any Bubblicious Insert being included at any time. Never even knew these existed until I was page counting this one. here is the thread I found about the subject which was sparse at best until I added some pictures myself. http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=8682495#Post8682495 even with the pictures-- people are still responding with dumb jokes about chewing gum.

they are pretty cool--- here's the larger photo in case you are having trouble reading them (I was):

well I finally decided to break out my stamps again and see the overall damage. It was extensive. Series A (31 cut out but I think I put some back with their original books already): Series B (41 total cut out): pretty sad that I ruined this many comics. On the other hand--- I did go ahead and document my Marvel stickers while I was at it 1975 series: 1975 & 1976 series together (plus a check list card for 1976): the stickers were fun stuff. I cannot imagine how a 12 year old me could hold back from using these.

eyes forward, no talking pretty simple rules real

whether they are a scammer or not, one thing is certain-- they sound annoying and a PITA. Block worthy just to avoid the interaction.

As I find books with stamps cut out, I've been setting them aside. I'm sure I have all of them with stamps as well... I might have to buy some already cut stamps out to go with the ones I cut out as a kid. I finally picked up a stamp book... at one point I had considered trying to match the ones I removed myself and include them back with the original book (not restoring them, just having them on the other side of the backing board). Maybe someday- of course-- some of those have been sold off as readers along the way too. Not sure if I would bother doing it for the series B-- maybe just the series A. Series B stamps were kind of dumb to me (thankfully) as it took so many just to make the image. That may have been why I finally stopped destroying my own books. I never owned the book to put them in. The only situation turns my stomach

man -- you are on a hot streak. I would love to track one of those deals down

The breaking news here is that apparently Stan Lee is no longer signing anything (he's 94? try 92 but hey, details amirite?) . SO the amount of Stan Lee signatures is very limited.

hard to say what is going on there-- how can anyone send a slabbed book first class for 5.99?

Here's an update on this. I approached the seller in a "non-attacking" way and it proved fruitful. My message first: "Dear alcamler, I received my comic in today's mail. I cringed when I pulled it out of our mailbox and felt how flimsy the package was. No cardboard backing/sandwich, no "DO NOT BEND" anywhere on the package, not even a regular comic backing board. I'm not sure how many comic books you've sold in the past, but this is NOT the way to ship them. I buy and sell comics (mostly online) for a living now. You'll save yourself some headaches with future buyers by placing the comic(s) between 2 pieces of slightly oversized cardboard and taping all 4 sides. Then place the sandwich in an envelope like the one you used to ship mine. I ship this way all the time via 1st Class Mail and the most it ever costs me is about $2.50-2.75. I know you only charged $2.00 to ship this comic, but most comic collectors will gladly pay an extra 50 to 75 cents to ensure their purchase arrives in the advertised condition. I'm still happy with the purchase as I got it for only 99 cents. I will leave positive feedback. -mikesmarvels1957" And his response: "Dear mikesmarvels1957, Thank you Mike for your suggestion. I have sold a lot of items but I haven't sold comic books so this is new for me. I thought just putting them into a plastic sleeve holder would be good enough, plus I really expected that people would order 4 or 5 at a time, which would protect them more, but I do understand your suggestion and I will have to adjust my shipping cost to reflect the extra weight. I was trying to keep the shipping cost down as much as possible. Does the "Do not bend" on the package really matter to the USPS? I have always felt that they don't really care about writing on the outside of packages. Thanks again for your suggestion and your purchase. (oh, and your positive feedback) - alcamler" So I'll give him another opportunity some day soon. (thumbs u Glad to see you had a reasonable seller, who responded in a reasonable manner. I had a similar situation, gave a similar feedback, and got a much different response. I bid (above the minimum $5 bid) on a book that I was the only bidder, so won for $5 with free shipping. Got a book much like yours, pretty much no protection. It was a good deal, and a VG book to start with, so it didn't get messed up much, so I sent this: Pretty polite, I thought - didn't complain about my book, just some advice for the future. This is the response: I should point out it was mailed First Class, and from the postage printed on the package I know it would have cost maybe 30 cents more to put cardboard around the book. I think many of us have been in this situation and I would point out a few differences between your message versus the previous poster. He added a part in there about being willing to pay additional shipping to ensure better packing. The other thing that I try to do is sort of investigate the seller prior to making a bid. I look at the types of things they have sold, even if they have a high feedback rating. Even this is not foolproof of course. Sometimes you assume a little bit of care based on previous sales of comics and glowing feedback. Kind of the reason I will point out that the shipping was lacking even if I was satisfied with a purchase and gave positive feedback -- to alert the next customer to communicate those needs prior to shipping. Now even that is not completely foolproof either. I have sent newbie comic sellers some information including pictures but they don't always follow the basic instructions. It seems second nature to most of us. I had someone reply to my shipping advice positively and they did everything except one crucial step (wrapping the books in plastic or some sort of protective material beyond the cardboard sandwich) -- and ended up taping the books edges. I was somewhat fortunate that one of the books was oversize (and it was a real dog of a book-- not the focus of what I was trying to acquire thankfully) -- that beat book took most of the tape damage. The sad part of it-- it wasn't costing them anything more to add more packing material-- they sent it in a flat rate envelope. That really annoys me-- you have a free range of weight in those -- why not go the extra mile and add as much cardboard as possible to keep it from being bent? I kind of laugh sometimes at packages I send in those flat rate envelopes. I apply a "please don't bend" and "fragile" pre-printed slips-- but usually I have so much cardboard surrounded the books that it would take quite an effort to bend anything. FYI--- in case you want some pre-printed stuff to cut and tape onto those envelopes. here they are to save and print yourself:

personally I would treat that like a red flag and block them to avoid any backlash from not responding. There are some seriously crazy people on eBay and you never know when they will decide to find some way to retaliate over some perceived wrong.