H0RR0RSH0W

Wow so sad to hear. I interacted with him on here many(memorable) times. Had to sign in to pay my respects.

Unless something has drastically changed recently CGC does not factor page color into the grade they assign. The page quality may have an effect on the grade but since these are newer books that should not ding it much.
Page color will be denoted on the CGC label & the market will determine what a potential buyer will give you $ wise. It factors into "eye appeal".
Not being rude but for grades above 9.0 theres no 9.5 . It goes in .2 increments. (9.0/9.2/9.4/9.6/9.8/9.9/10.0) below that it in .5 increments(8.5/8.0 etc.)

While not venturing a guess as to what the grade might be today I would say that after close inspection of the slab I do not see alot of damage to the book itself. I do see age wear & a ton of it.  IMO it does not appear to have been pressed aside from being squeezed by the holder itself.
Correct me if I'm wrong but there's no quantifiable damage to the outside of the book . No CBC's, no soft corners, no ticks along the spine, no dents or creases. Its a beautiful book & even has a square wrap. It could have qualified for a 9.4 or a 9.6 once upon a time however the one thing we all see is discoloration galore.

While not venturing a guess as to what the grade might be today I would say that after close inspection of the slab I do not see alot of damage to the book itself. I do see age wear & a ton of it.  IMO it does not appear to have been pressed aside from being squeezed by the holder itself.
Correct me if I'm wrong but there's no quantifiable damage to the outside of the book . No CBC's, no soft corners, no ticks along the spine, no dents or creases. Its a beautiful book & even has a square wrap. It could have qualified for a 9.4 or a 9.6 once upon a time however the one thing we all see is discoloration galore.

Unless something has drastically changed recently CGC does not factor page color into the grade they assign. The page quality may have an effect on the grade but since these are newer books that should not ding it much.
Page color will be denoted on the CGC label & the market will determine what a potential buyer will give you $ wise. It factors into "eye appeal".
Not being rude but for grades above 9.0 theres no 9.5 . It goes in .2 increments. (9.0/9.2/9.4/9.6/9.8/9.9/10.0) below that it in .5 increments(8.5/8.0 etc.)

The buyer was a complete "you know what" to even ask for a refund a year later. And then to ask for even more money back? Good lord. This guy should be banned from buying on the boards. 

One more reminder why the mods require a return policy.

My eBay is : https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2334524.m570.l1313&_nkw=collectible+comics+cgc+amazingspiderman+%2350&_sacat=0&LH_TitleDesc=0&_osacat=0&_odkw=collectible+comics+cgc
If  there's anything else I can help you do to make the world a better place send me a message at : https://www.cgccomics.com/boards/forum/92-moderation-review-request/
 

Ok I'll bite. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles # 1 &2 could be worth a ton of money depending on what printing and the condition. If they're 3rd print $60 would be about
right however. No idea about theothers.  If you want more information you are going to have to put up some scans &/or detailed pictures of the front & back inside covers of
these books. There are plenty of people here that know far more than I & could tell you at a glance but you will have to put in some work. It will be worth your while.

I would second this and suggest putting the detailed photos/scans in the PGM section. Kill 2 birds with one stone so to speak. After of course reading forum guidelines.

Ok I'll bite. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles # 1 &2 could be worth a ton of money depending on what printing and the condition. If they're 3rd print $60 would be about
right however. No idea about theothers.  If you want more information you are going to have to put up some scans &/or detailed pictures of the front & back inside covers of
these books. There are plenty of people here that know far more than I & could tell you at a glance but you will have to put in some work. It will be worth your while.

Yes that too. No more super size images. Plus I am seeing far to many "image not available". Used to be alot of stock images but even that has gotten worse. 

If you are familiar with their old web page you might agree that it had a very dated appearance. Nothing really wrong with that.  It was slow and cumbersome; like browsing in the age of Netscape navigator. When you had tons and tons of data that was just the way it was presented in those days. If you took some time you could generally find reams of great books new and old. No reason not to admit I have given them a good amount of business on some of my biggest purchases. 
I feel like the new design of their website is terrible. Makes it even harder to find books. I find it impossible. Even after sifting and sifting. At least the old  design had a list of titles that if you knew it was their and just could not guess what they had the title listed under you could refer to that. It was fairly quick and always worth a peak at very least. The new design is terrible. If you cannot guess the title descriptor it gives you pages of suggestions unrelated to your search. Further there is no way to jump pages effectively. The web address resets if you type anything in the browser bar.
Am I the only one finding the redesign impossible to use? 

If you are familiar with their old web page you might agree that it had a very dated appearance. Nothing really wrong with that.  It was slow and cumbersome; like browsing in the age of Netscape navigator. When you had tons and tons of data that was just the way it was presented in those days. If you took some time you could generally find reams of great books new and old. No reason not to admit I have given them a good amount of business on some of my biggest purchases. 
I feel like the new design of their website is terrible. Makes it even harder to find books. I find it impossible. Even after sifting and sifting. At least the old  design had a list of titles that if you knew it was their and just could not guess what they had the title listed under you could refer to that. It was fairly quick and always worth a peak at very least. The new design is terrible. If you cannot guess the title descriptor it gives you pages of suggestions unrelated to your search. Further there is no way to jump pages effectively. The web address resets if you type anything in the browser bar.
Am I the only one finding the redesign impossible to use? 

If you are familiar with their old web page you might agree that it had a very dated appearance. Nothing really wrong with that.  It was slow and cumbersome; like browsing in the age of Netscape navigator. When you had tons and tons of data that was just the way it was presented in those days. If you took some time you could generally find reams of great books new and old. No reason not to admit I have given them a good amount of business on some of my biggest purchases. 
I feel like the new design of their website is terrible. Makes it even harder to find books. I find it impossible. Even after sifting and sifting. At least the old  design had a list of titles that if you knew it was their and just could not guess what they had the title listed under you could refer to that. It was fairly quick and always worth a peak at very least. The new design is terrible. If you cannot guess the title descriptor it gives you pages of suggestions unrelated to your search. Further there is no way to jump pages effectively. The web address resets if you type anything in the browser bar.
Am I the only one finding the redesign impossible to use? 

If you are familiar with their old web page you might agree that it had a very dated appearance. Nothing really wrong with that.  It was slow and cumbersome; like browsing in the age of Netscape navigator. When you had tons and tons of data that was just the way it was presented in those days. If you took some time you could generally find reams of great books new and old. No reason not to admit I have given them a good amount of business on some of my biggest purchases. 
I feel like the new design of their website is terrible. Makes it even harder to find books. I find it impossible. Even after sifting and sifting. At least the old  design had a list of titles that if you knew it was their and just could not guess what they had the title listed under you could refer to that. It was fairly quick and always worth a peak at very least. The new design is terrible. If you cannot guess the title descriptor it gives you pages of suggestions unrelated to your search. Further there is no way to jump pages effectively. The web address resets if you type anything in the browser bar.
Am I the only one finding the redesign impossible to use? 

Yes that too. No more super size images. Plus I am seeing far to many "image not available". Used to be alot of stock images but even that has gotten worse. 

If you are familiar with their old web page you might agree that it had a very dated appearance. Nothing really wrong with that.  It was slow and cumbersome; like browsing in the age of Netscape navigator. When you had tons and tons of data that was just the way it was presented in those days. If you took some time you could generally find reams of great books new and old. No reason not to admit I have given them a good amount of business on some of my biggest purchases. 
I feel like the new design of their website is terrible. Makes it even harder to find books. I find it impossible. Even after sifting and sifting. At least the old  design had a list of titles that if you knew it was their and just could not guess what they had the title listed under you could refer to that. It was fairly quick and always worth a peak at very least. The new design is terrible. If you cannot guess the title descriptor it gives you pages of suggestions unrelated to your search. Further there is no way to jump pages effectively. The web address resets if you type anything in the browser bar.
Am I the only one finding the redesign impossible to use? 

Hama wrote an intro to this series where he basically said this series was part of the "official" origin of Snake Eyes.  I would consider this as his permission regarding the story, but I'm interested to hear what other Joe fans and readers think too.  Thanks!

Interesting question.
Although I personally consider only works by Larry Hama to be canon to the copper age ARAH  line it is really hard to say that this particular series from the DD line is not canon . The reason I say that it is, is because it does a very good job of "coloring inside the lines" as far as the Snake Eyes back story goes. DD does that to varying shades with the rest of the titles in their re-birthing of GI Joe but Snake Eyes :Declassified shines true in that regard. I have not read the trade paper back so I cannot speak to the continuity of that particular tale but if it follows suit I am sure it fits in just as well. 
Curios to hear if Hama himself has commented on the matter?

Yes I know this topic has pretty much spun off into infinity and beyond at this point but not something anyone else has alluded to is that not every one wants to take their comic collecting to this level.
If I mention that I am a member of a "Collectors society" or members only comic board I get treated like a snob and often it is a turn off to the average joe collector that I meet. It can be a real conversation killer.

To answer this question the short answer would be around 2006. The long answer would be buried in the annals of the CGC message board. 

Peculiar I might add that the highest priced books from years ago are of seemingly no value now in comparison to issue #21.

I am talking multiple decimal point differences regardless of grade. 

It suggests to me that the buyers market has created the value more out Larry Hama's creative abilities than the material content.

 I mean if you have "read" the story  , while it is good it is not the most intriguing story involving Snake eyes and storm shadow by far. So why the $$$$ in comparison o the other books?

The only other book in the ARAH series that might currently compare is issue #155.  The creative back story being that in both cases Hama was being pressed for time by Marvel.

That all makes little sense to me because at times Larry recently has caught some hate for his willingness to try new things. It would seem to me that the creators willingness to try new
ideas put him on the map in the first place and kept him there for 4 decades.
So all the while this book although as I said in my OP that there are no typical external force affecting the books selling price it slowly continues to take a up tick regularly. 

I personally cannot see this book ever coming back down in to the breathable atmosphere. Although I am still quite curious as to where this segment of the collecting community may take it

Interesting to have watched over the last few years issue #21 go from hot , hotter,  hottest issue of all time.  I have not seen anyone in this thread make a prediction as to whether it will continue on its stellar trajectory or flatten out at some point.  With none of the  typical external
forces driving up demand for the book it would seem that although there is and always will be a general interest in GI Joe, overall the fans most fond of the series would be the ones to determine its future desirability. Is there anyone here that might care to speculate on what sort of
dollar amounts the next 1 , 5 or 10 years might see the book reach? Is it possible a 9.8 might ever be a 5 figure book in a copper age collectors life time? While I myself might see some "loft" in the books selling price I cannot say I see any real artificial inflation of the books price
lately.

My last slab was Sgt. Fury #13 CGC 8.5 in June 2017.
Last one before that was ASM#300 9.6 in January 2017.
Although I read alot now. Read all 544 issues of the Uncanny X-men in 2017. Trimming that down to around 50-100 books a year which will include Hulk, GI Joe and more X-men with the occasional' ooh ohh have to read this one off'.
Not losing interest but rather setting my sights a little higher in terms of slabs. Not nickle and dime-ing my collection anymore but continuing to take larger steps as a collector , finally able to look at big books seriously. 
I would rather pick up one $5000 dollar book once every ten years than pick up 1 $500 book every year for 10 at this point.