Ira K

After several years searching, finally completed a little Spidey trifecta I really admire:
 

Regular Modern Submission
I shipped USPS Priority to CGC 4/23/2019
”Recieved”, scheduled for grading 5/11/2019 by CGC
Billed, Grading/ Quality control 5/28/2019
Graded, Shipped Safe 6/5/2019
–The fastest turnaround time I’ve ever experienced for a regular submission  

 
 

I have a friend who is relatively new to our hobby with dangerously deep pockets and I am continually beating him over the head with the old adage: "buy the comic, not the label." He was very excited last week to land a OW/W CGC 9.8 X-Men #101 at an online auction - then he saw my perfectly centered, white-paged 9.4 CGC copy of the same issue I bought last year for literally 20% of what he paid and he left my place considerably less enthused...

For the same reason that handbag A is priced at half a million quid, and handbag B is a tenner. Both look nice and can carry your car keys around. But one is made because there are some very very very rich people in the world, and the other is made because the majority aren't. Rich that is. Ditto cars. Shoes. Etc. Anything that can be made will be made with this pricing scenario in mind. £2 coffee. £200 coffee. Etc. 
In respect of comics - graded comics - and I've said this a few times recently - and like sentences with lots of dashes in them - the five figure 9.8 could actually be the 8K 9.6 but for one grading decision on a given day. The next day, it might have been 9.6. Or 9.9. The whole thing is one big pile of nonsense. But a fun one, if you're rich. 
Which I'm not. Hence the Charlton thread. 

I have to agree this is a pretty set.
But I am a little disappointed, I was expecting this to be a 47 page thread in appreciation of @PunisherPunisherPunisher!

Thanks @Ira K, started this set in 2008, definitely thought it would be easier to accomplish. 

I got this book off Ebay. I got a nice grade and a good price.
 
Joe

8.5
 

This is so awesome!! Beautiful set 

This is so awesome!! Beautiful set 

I made a little scan Collage from my Punisher (1986) Limited Series collection. Circle of Blood, this is the storyline that turned me into a Punisher fan. 💀

My last submission. They don't always end up this good, but I can pick out 9.8s pretty consistently. It took well over a year, and lots of bad submissions to get to this point.
I still miss a lot of dumb stuff, like stains, on some of the mid-grade books. 

Got these books from the awesome @MrBedrock
Completes my pre hero run, which requires a group shot.
 

Holy cow!!! NICE!!
You must have had a roll burning a hole in your pocket ...

Very happy with this one

I've been in the club for a while, actually... but just barely:

No. I don't mean this in a condescending way at all, but I'll state it flatly - the best thing to do is carefully hone your skills until you can cull 9.8 candidates from a stack of new books. 
Take three books, pick the best by looking through magnification, holding the book at different angles under different lighting. Use cotton gloves. After picking the best, take notes on any flaws. Grab another stack of three, repeat. Do it again. Now take the three best books (one from each stack) and compare those. Rinse and repeat. 
Sit on your submission until you reach the magic number of 25. Send in for pre-screen. See what the CGC has to say. Take more notes. Over time, you will be an expert and won't have to waste your money pressing fresh-out-the-box moderns. 
Back in the day, I use to press everything as "insurance" but I was quite disappointed in the results because I:
A. Failed to properly screen them on my own. 
B. Failed to pay the pre-screen fees for the pressing service. 
Pressing isn't always magic, and it certainly isn't always cost-effective. 
It's also very useful to learn how to differentiate between pressable and non-pressable defects. Some books can really benefit from a dry-clean and press. This has been proven time and time again. But plenty of people blindly send off moderns for pressing, thinking somehow that it guarantees a 9.8 when it certainly does not. 
In fact, there were times when I was afraid to press a 9.8 candidate because of potential damage. If the book lays naturally and has a pristine spine, I figure it plays in the book's favor. Flat spines without the natural "fluff" may have the opposite effect. Conversely, there is the argument that pressed books are the new norm and have changed the expectations for a 9.8 grade. 
Regardless, learning how to grade is a must in this hobby. It will save you LOTS of money. 

My first "date stamp" but it says Nov 14 on the "F" of Fantastic
Which I don't think has anything to do with the release date, and the cover is detached...
At $50 for a slab, Idk, seemed basically the cost of grading etc... idk
Other silver age readers at $25 a piece a tad on the high side ...
But I did it.... it's done now
 
 

Just got in the club too!
 

Wish I took a little early better care of my swamp thing back in the day
 

Anyone who cares about their post count on this or any other internet message board should seriously reconsider their priorities in life.

Got another batch of books in from my Wondercon sub to CGC