VintageComics

I remember a lot of those....

What is clear is that copies with improvable qualities create the impression of a stronger market demand than if interior copies were being auctioned off.
All it takes is a little time and research to see what's happening.
As I said, many of the market surges that I remember for this book happened when an improvable copy lead the way. The CGC 3.0 didn't do poorly because of the signature. It did poorly because it had a chunk missing from the front cover.
SupergirlDC19591 asked what is happening to Hulk #1. A little research shows what happened to that book as well.
The Nov/Dec CC auction had a slew of Hulk #1 books in the auction, and almost all of them were inferior copies with tanning, COW pages, chipping, etc. Also, CC decided to auction a weaker copy first rather than the strongest CGC 8.5 go first. So an inferior CGC 7.0 or 7.5 tan, Cream pages copy led the way making a dismal auction price and then the CGC 8.5 copy (which really should have been the 1st copy to end) auctioned off the following day, setting a record price.  By then it was too late. The fugly Hulk #1s hit GPA making the book look weak. Which it isn't. Anybody who has been selling Hulk #1's in mid and higher grades knows the book is moving.
Same thing happened to DD #1 a few years ago. 3 copies of CGC 9.6 auctioned off at the same time. The weakest copy (tanning with OW pages) was the 1st to go. It went weak, scared off bidders in the other two auctions (or simply saturated the market) and it killed the CGC 9.6 DD #1 market.
With DD #1 still strong in lower grades, the market will recover but nothing affects an auction more than just a little bit of fear.
Or in the case of AF #15, some mania.

Nobody was restricting the type of people.
So if someone started a convention and said only cosplay is allowed that wouldn't be OK?
I think your use of the words 'antagonizing' and 'destructive' are excessive.
Not everyone always needs to be included in everything. If I have a target market that doesn't include kids and I choose to market strictly to adults does that make me a puppy kicker?
Nope.
It's this sense of entitlement and windmill tilting outrage that was fueling all the cosplayers as well.
And I love cosplay. As I said, my wife used to dress up. But there are times when I'd prefer it weren't there. And that is not discriminatory. It's just practicality.

My 1st wife always hid stuff when she'd go shopping which was strange to me because I couldn't give a hoot.
I was with Louise for about 3 years when I bought my first big book. I flashed a Marvel Mystery #9 at her at the NYC Comic Con after working out a deal with GAtor.
She knew I'd bought it with the way I was holding it. She asked "How much?"
$25K, I replied.
She said as long as you pay the bills and it makes you happy we're all good.
The way she looked at it was that it could be worse. I could be spending money on illicit vices that have no real world value.

You obviously have not spent the same amount of money on her. 
Men, when will they learn?

You're assuming getting people through the door is the goal.
I said this on the FB page, but turngin a profit would be the last thing on my mind. I'd be more in interested in filling the room with vintage sellers and collectors.

How is it any different than a nightclub or a restaurant or any particular venue that has a dress code? That's not antagonistic is it?
It might be unusual to request no costumes but it's not 'wrong'.
 

Annoyance is a small part of it.
Yes, it can be annoying when you have 100's of people posing in front of your booth all weekend where you paid great expense to sell your wares to pay for the trip.
From listening to old school dealers who used to set up at shows like SD for decades before it was a popular media event, it's more of a business reason.
It used to be that anyone who wanted to head to the Superbowl of comic book shows could just book a flight, book a hotel, buy tickets and attend. Easy peasy, lots of customers in the door.
Now that the show has become a world famous event, most hotels are locked by SDCC until all their guests and exhibitors get rooms, and then there is a frenzy to book remaining rooms at insane rates (as much as $600-800 a night at the Marriott next door IIRC).
And tickets sell out in minutes world wide.
And so what happens is that the majority of people who are there for the vintage material that the con was originally built around can no longer get in because the majority of people don't collect. They're there as spectators or to buy non-Vintage stuff.
That might sound judgemental but it's true. There's a saying that some people have used in SD. If you want to avoid the crowd just head into the Silver and Gold pavilion because those aisles aren't as crowded most days.
And so dealers have actually given up and given up their booths in SD because once the expense and time of setting up across the country (I'd average it at about $6000 per 10 x 10 booth including airfare and hotels for two people) they can't even get their customers in the door to buy their product. It's all the talk on the SD floor every year.
New York has become similar. I've heard of some customers who are now defaulting to NYC instead of SD because it was easier to get in but NYCC has outgrown the Javits too.
So it's this 'pressure' that has caused promoters to put together either comic only or vintage only shows in an effort to make it a vintage experience for those who ONLY want just that.
And there are many, I'd venture to say 1000's, of people who are looking for just such a thing.

You're really tilting at a windmill here and exaggerating  your point about what is really a recent cultural phenomenon.
As George said, there were several professional cosplayersin the discussion who totally got the point and didn't protest it.
The majority of protest came from people who likely would not have enjoyed the event anyway unless they were having their pictures taken.

The problem with going just by serial numbers is that people who have invoices with those serial numbers can submit them at any time.If CGC  has graded north of 3 MIL books (which they have) then that means there are over 3 MIL serial numbers out there.
There are people submitting today that still have paper invoices with old serial numbers and so even though it has an old serial number the grading is recent, and visa versa, there are people who submitted during older periods who had newer serial numbers.
It's not necessarily the serial number that matters as much as the time period.

Gotcha. Not an outlier. Not even a 4.5 price. Understood.

Thanks for your punk rock opinion.
I will never understand CGC's policy of not allowing people to talk about other grading companies but I didn't want the thread pulled because it's a book worth talking about.
 

Buzz off, nerd.

Stop following me.

I'm at the point where I have gotten used to most of the functionality of the chat forum.
I still think it's not very easy to navigate.
I used to pop in from time to time and whip through and get caught up when I was busy. Now I actually avoid it altogether because I feel overwhelmed once I get on and don't want the headache.
I don't know if it will ever be as comfortable as the old set up. Even with lots of experience.
Ergonomics and ease if us / interfac beats bells and whistles everytime IMO. Unless you're young (as in teenager). Then you don't realize what you're missing when you lean towards bells and whistles.
I can say that because I own six teenagers. 

Why don't you pull back on the stick a little bit and let people  have a discussion?
I'll read what I feel like reading
We get it. You're God's gift to chat forum software.
Yes, I know that the thread title is in the URL. I still prefer having it in the discussion box.
How about you just let people discuss what they like and don't like.
 

Incredible Hulk #181 CGC 9.6 White
Asking $7000 SOLD!

If you haven't read it, it's a wonderful read.
Comic Conman A true crime tale of comic books, corruption, and a $9 million vanishing act
Well, there seems to be a new addition.
DA investigator sentenced to five years for comic book theft
You couldn't write fiction this good.
 

Incredible Hulk #181 CGC 9.6 White
Asking $7000 SOLD!

The latest visual theme is disturbing.
We need a proper theme made by someone who knows that's what.
If you want real traffic on the site.
Just sayin'

Well, several weeks in and I'm still finding this chat forum cumbersome and less user friendly than I thought it would be.
After using it for a few weeks my least favorite thing is how much scrolling is involved.
You want to find a simple emoticon to make a fun and light post? You click on the emoticon symbol and then have to scroll, scroll, scroll to find the right one rather than have the window open up and see most of them at once.
You want to read a PM in your inbox? You need to scroll through one small window and then you get to open your PM in another small window. More scrolling.
You want to type a reply / quote and the window that opens at the bottom of the page forces you to scroll to the bottom of the page to type what you want to type. It used to open in the center of the page.
The boxes on the right forces you to scroll through pages on each forum.
You want to read a thread? Keep scrolling. I get about 1-2 replies per page where I used to see more.
There is just way too much scrolling on this new design to make it likeable. It really takes away from the flow and the amount of effort it takes to navigate now IMO takes away from the fun of being here.
(thankfully I didn't have to scroll too much to find this one)

A scammer will take any legitimate product and find a way to spin it to their advantage. That's not the fault of the service. It's the fault of the scammer.
The same rules always apply. Buy from reputable people if you're risk averse and you'll never go wrong.
 

Gotcha. And I agree. I've damaged books in and out of bags and mylars, as we all probably have. I just think the protection gap is overstated, in practical reality. Books in boards and mylars in boxes are generally as static or moreso than slabbed books. Handling is high-risk; other than those times, it's off the table.

Well, several weeks in and I'm still finding this chat forum cumbersome and less user friendly than I thought it would be.
After using it for a few weeks my least favorite thing is how much scrolling is involved.
You want to find a simple emoticon to make a fun and light post? You click on the emoticon symbol and then have to scroll, scroll, scroll to find the right one rather than have the window open up and see most of them at once.
You want to read a PM in your inbox? You need to scroll through one small window and then you get to open your PM in another small window. More scrolling.
You want to type a reply / quote and the window that opens at the bottom of the page forces you to scroll to the bottom of the page to type what you want to type. It used to open in the center of the page.
The boxes on the right forces you to scroll through pages on each forum.
You want to read a thread? Keep scrolling. I get about 1-2 replies per page where I used to see more.
There is just way too much scrolling on this new design to make it likeable. It really takes away from the flow and the amount of effort it takes to navigate now IMO takes away from the fun of being here.
(thankfully I didn't have to scroll too much to find this one)

I remember when I first started grading with CGC I was usually off by about 3 whole points.