Hudson

I have ZERO experience selling with @mycomicshop, however, I have purchased numerous books from them. In fact I received one from them just last week. They have a great selection, wonderful service, and once again I received a book that IMO was undergraded. To add to everything else, I also saw what they did in the charity thread once @skypinkblu contacted them and let them know of the needs of a fellow collector's family. I have ZERO experience selling with MCS as I am not currently a seller, however, I am happy to know they are there, should I ever require their services on that side.

First, let me thank you for this amazing tale. It never ceases to amaze me how many board members are from the UK. As we approach Mother’s Day, here, it warms my heart to think how generous your mother was to purchase you that SS 1. I am sure you treasure it not only for Stan’s signature, but also as a reminder of your mother’s kindness and love. As for Americans not visiting Newcastle, I have to tell you that although I am no where near as important as the great Stan Lee, I do recall flying across the pond and then driving up to Newcastle. It was probably around 2002 and I went there to finally meet my favorite actress; Louise Jameson. She was appearing at a Dr Who convention and charity auction. I managed to “win” a -script at the auction, that Ms Jameson was kind enough to sign for me (along with several other signatures from other actors/actresses there at the time). This was the first time I had the privilege of meeting Ms Jameson and the trip to Newcastle was well worth the expense. Cheers to you, to Newcastle and to all our board member friends from the UK.

All 5 of these grades were the exact same ones that I gave them. I like the way you think, Tom789.

So thankful I did not make the "naughty" or at least the "procrastinator" list this round (as I did on the two previous rounds!

Sir, Thank you for your post and "yes", you are 100% correct that this entire thread is intended to be humorous. Full disclosure... 1) I have nothing personally against Chuck, Mile High, or anyone affiliated with MH. 2) A number of the books in my personal collection were purchased from MH (albeit these were added several years ago, when IMO the prices were a little closer to FMV). 3) I personally have not had any "bad experiences" with MH. I have never personally had any problem with their grading, shipping, or anything else. 4) From his emails, it appears Chuck is an extremely hard worker; often traveling long distances to purchase collections and backfill his seemingly never ending supply of comics. 5) I am not a comic seller or flipper. I have never even sold a single book here on the boards (although I have given more books away to other board members than I can remember); I say this to let you know that I am not all that familiar with how comic shops or selling works. I am simply a collector. I do not know what "most" comic shops policy is with regards to "free comic book day". I have no real interest in these books, however, I have been to local comic shops and I have never been to any that required a purchase to recieve a free comic book (or even several free comics). I say this with the concession that these stores are not having to ship the books to the customers who come in and pick up books (as a mail order company would have to do); thus I can understand a mail order store would not be able to just mail out an endless supply of free comics without any compensation. I would hope no one would expect that. I do not know how many comics are included in a "complete set" (again, I do not have any interest in these books), however, in past years, the LCS here has allowed each customer to come in and pick out 5 comics and leave; no charge. I have seen entire families come in and each person picked out a number of books and left; no charge. I guess in theroy, a family with 4 children could come in with mom and dad and pick up 30 different comics free of charge. If they brought grandma, grandpa, or weird uncle with them, that number would be even higher. Again, I have no clue how many books make up a "complete set" (I would welcome this info if anyone knows how many books are in this set) or how many family members one would have to drag in to receive a complete set for free. I also am NOT encouraging anyone to do this. I do not believe this is the purpose or in the "spirit" of FCBD. I think the question here (which perhaps should be the topic of a different thread) is, "What is the spirit and intent of FCBD?" I do not understand the comic shop business, however, it is my understanding (and I could be wrong) that comic publishers make books for FCBD in order to give potential new customers a "peek" at what a title or character has to offer; to entice the customer to purchase books in the future. As such, I am assuming (and this is an assumption) that the publishers supply these books to the LCS at a lower price than that of normal comics. I do not know what that price is (perhaps someone in the business could shed some light on this), however, it seems logical that it would be at a lower price than normal comics, in hopes that the LCS will order and give away a lot of these and subsequently customers will read and enjoy the FCB enough to buy the title or character moving forward. If then the publisher is supplying these at a lower cost (possibly even at a loss; I don't know), then is it in the "spirit" of FCBD to charge for these? Perhaps it would be better to ask if it is in keeping with the "spirit" of the day, for a LCS to make a profit on these books? I am not saying here that anyone is making a profit, as I do not know the cost of these books (this is simply a hypothetical question). In the end, however, I am a strong believer in the free market system. Comic books are not a necessity and as such, I believe sellers should be allowed to charge what they want for the books. It is up to the customer to decide if that price is "reasonable" and if they wish to part with their hard earned cash in exchange for the books in question. Again, this thread is intended to promote humor and nothing more. I respect everyone's absolute right to buy/sell comics at any price that both buyer and seller agee is acceptable. Thank you again to @ttfitz for taking the time and effort to post and for offering thoughts on this topic. Your post was polite, well thought out, and respectful. I am very thankful whenever board members can discuss things in this manner.

Did you notice the staple? If not, would you have graded it even lower (below 5.0) if you knew about the staple? This contest is awesome, as I try to become a better grader. Interested is seeing what others see or what “defects” account for what deduction. Also interesting to see what other board members think the grade “should be” (if they were in charge). Really glad Mike continues to take the time to run these. I know it cannot be easy.

For those unaware May often brings us a special "holiday" known as "Free Comic Book Day". I am not an expert as to the definition of every word in the dictionary, however, I thought I knew what the word "free" was defined as. Apparently I was mistaken. Here is a section of the email I received from Mile High.... As regards purchasing sets of all FCBD issues, that will be a bit more problematic this year, as we only have 100 sets available. They can be ordered now for $125, but will also not be shipped until May 8th. If you are interested, we do highly recommend reserving your FCBD set ASAP, as we are truly doubtful that our supplies will last very long. 'Nuff said.

@themagicrobot I guess you have the boards stumped with your question. I thought with all the Spidey fans out there, someone might venture a guess.

It is my hope to become a better grader. I put the Jungle at 6.5. For those who correctly had it at 5.5, may I ask (now that the round is over), if you observed it had a detached staple? If you did, would you mind sharing with me how you were able to observe this? I didn't see it. Am I missing something?

IMO - Beautiful book. Leave it alone. Congrats on owning such a nice copy.

Tough round to grade (at least for me it was). For better or worse the grades have been submitted.

aaahhh. Thank you. I knew there had to be something off, because I had counted it before reading your post and then I saw your post and figured I had miscounted, so I counted several more times and couldn't get to 120. Thought maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me. I appreciate you clearing that up.

Being a "numbers guy", I really appreciate all the work this took. That being said, I keep counting the number of players who completed round 1 and I keep coming up with 121. Am I miscounting?

Nice pick up of one of the best early Action covers. IMO.

My apologies, Mike. I sent these last night, but looking this morning it appears they were lost in cyber space. Thank you for sending this out.

Mike, Thank you for taking the time and effort to run another contest. I would like to join the fun. Please count me as "in".

@Robot Man I seem to recall my daughter wearing that same Supergirl costume several years ago. She and I are planning to attend a small local comic show this Sunday. Thank you for sharing.

I am really enjoying each of these stories. I am amazed at how open and honest people have been. People have shared their struggles with things like Autism and Dyslexia. They have shared memories of parents (moms and dads) who loved them and sacrificed time and money to bring comics into their lives. They have opened their sacred memories and experiences; laying it out there for all to read. Typically when I am reading through a thread and I see a “wall of text” (as the young folks call it), I will often move onto another thread. I am reminded of another term the younger generation uses “TLDR” (which I am told is interpreted as Too Long, Didn’t Read). Now, however, when I come to this thread (which I will call the TMaT thread) I am excited when I see a long post; a wall of text if you will. Here, a long post is not someone complaining or going off on a tangent. Here a long post is someone sharing an important and precious memory (as our minds are only capable of remembering a limited amount and these memories must be precious to have endured the brutal ravages of time). Thank you again to all who have posted and even to those who have simply read and perhaps been kind enough to “like” a tale or two; encouraging those who have taken the time to share. To each of you, for what it is worth, you have made this guy’s day.

I agree. This sounds like a more preferred format as it will save those who only collect one area of books (say pre-1956) from looking through all the other listings. It should also help the auctions to end earlier.

North shore or south???

Sir, I was so happy and honored to see you post in this thread. You are a living legend of collecting. Just look at that awesome "sig line". I have seen you on here for years and have seen you offer for sale comics that I didn't even know existed as well as many other collectible items that only a true collector would own. I bet you have so many stories of great finds (things found in some old box at a flea marekt), that you could probably fill a book. Thank you for sharing the tale of how it all started.

I cannot tell everyone how much I am enjoying reading through each of these stories. Thank you to each and every person who has taken the time to share a story here. This (to me) is what collecting is all about. Each time I read one of these tales, I want to post about it, however, I do not want to monopolize the thread, so I have refrained myself (with great effort). I would like to take a moment now, however, to briefly address some of the writers... @Ken Aldred - Sir, you are welcome here anytime. Thank you for being one of the first to post. @CAHokie - This is a great story with a great ending. $5 was certainly worth the price of admission (so to speak). Congrats on a great buy (even if the other child thought he was getting the best of you, at the time). @skypinkblu - Sharon, thank you for the kind words and story of how comics started you off in your love of reading. @frozentundraguy - A coke and a couple comics - What else could a young person ask for? Sounds like you and I have the same taste. @Azkaban - I remember those brown wrappers well. I remember watching for the mail and hoping to see that brown wrapper, hoping too that the mailman didn't fold the book in half (as all too often was the case). @themagicrobot - Thank you for your story and for a glimpse into the UK. I had to ask a UK friend of mine today about the "whack a rat" and a few of your other references. It was fun to learn of the things there across the pond. @THE_BEYONDER - Sorry you lost the candy, but glad you saved the comics. I see your priorities are in order. @s-man - Thank you for the story. I appreciate you sharing about how you "passed" on that classic first issue of TMNT. I think stories of the books we "passed" on that now make us want to kick ourselves could be a whole thread by itself. I think we all have those "missed opportunities" in our past that make us sick to think about. Thank you for reminding me that I am not the ONLY one that this has happened to. @Axelrod - WOW! This story and the obit you included was so powerful and moving. I am at a loss for words. @Artboy99 - What a great first book; a battle of two giants. Thank you for the story and thank you for sharing the photo. Congrats on keeping the book all these years. @walclark - Thank you for the story. I am guessing there were a lot of military families who "put their children's comics into that imaginary storage". One of the downsides of being in the military is all the moving and the weight limits imposed. @Stefan_W - What can I say? Yes, you are more than welcome to share videos here. As for the video you shared, it was amazing. I have a story (perhaps one day I will start another thread and tell that story or perhaps one day I will share it here), about the ONE book that I would never part with. It is not the "holy grail" or most valuable book I own (by those who follow Overstreet or GPA or whatever). It is, however, the most valuable book I own when it comes to the things that count; when it comes to memories of loved ones. Your mother made a sacrifice for you that day and I am so thankful and moved that you did not take that for granted. Well done. Well done. Thank you for sharing. @shadroch - It is sad that your uncle couldn't spare a nickle. For some, money is king. All we can do is feel sorry for those who live their lives chasing the $$$$ and hope that one day they will see that money is a cheap commodity (easy to make and easy to lose). Relationships are far more important, and think what a great memory you would have of your uncle had he provided you that 5 cent piece. @bc - You made the right choice. Honesty is always the best policy. Cheating a family who just lost a member is no way to live one's life. Besides, sounds like you are getting the better end of the deal through friendship and pasta. Question - Do you happen to still have the spreadsheet of other books that were in the collection? I would be interested in seeing what other books this man saved. @minutekev@50 - Not to start a war, however, growing up, I always liked Thor better than Ironman anyway. Now I even like the Thor movies better than the Ironman ones. @Jesse-Lee - Having books that your dad and grandfather read and enjoyed is worth so much. These memories are where the true value in books should be found. @ttfitz - No problem telling stories over again here. At least not as far as I am concerned. I had not heard/read that story before and I enjoyed it. Thank you. Besides, you were also kind enough to throw in a photo of a great book. I am so thankful that you (and some others here) have included photos of "well loved" comics. This is the place for people who read and enjoy comics; for those who are proud to show off books that may have what CGC and others refer to as "defects", but what I would like to call "marks of love". Thank you all for all the stories, photos, and sharing of memories. Thank you, thank you, thank you! I hope others will continue to share their stories, photos, and yes even videos and obits here. Whatever memories you are willing to share, in hopes of bringing the joy of collecting to all who read.

Please excuse the long introduction… Recently I was PMing (or perhaps DMing; as I don’t know what terms people today are using) with another board member about the boards and what would make the boards a more enjoyable experience. I know for everyone this is different, so I am not pretentious enough to speak for everyone, however, I would like to speak for myself. In my PM/DM I talked about how I wish there was another “section” of the boards; for sake of argument, we will call it “Collector’s Corner”. In this section there would be no sales threads and no arguing (except perhaps a heated discussion over whose favorite superhero would win in an imaginary fight). What there would be are threads dedicated to the love of collecting. It would be a section where people could gather not to flip books or chase the $, but to share in the love of collecting and talk about their experiences; their memories. The other board member (who has been here a lot longer than me – as I only joined in 2014), said the boards used to be like that. They encouraged me to start one thread and assured me that people would take an interest. This belief, that if I started such a thread, that others would take interest, reminded me of the 1989 movie “Field of Dreams” when Ray hears a mysterious voice saying, “If you build it, he will come”. For those who have seen the movie, Ray does build it and in fact they do come. So, I decided to take a shot and see if anyone was interested in my first attempt to bring the love of collecting back to the boards. So for this first thread I am going to suggest people write in stories (long or short, as they deem appropriate) about their collecting experiences. These can be stories of days long ago or about that dream find you made last week; that treasure you had long looked for and at last had found; that pearl. The story can be of anything that brought you joy as a collector. Please share your stories and allow others to vicariously live through your experiences as well as living through their own. For me, I have chosen to speak of days gone by. I may later share other stories (as my head is filled with such things), however, for now I will reach back to the beginning and tell the tale of one young boy and his love of comics…. The tale begins decades ago in a somewhat small town in New England, where I grew up. Back then the new comics would arrive at the newsstand on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Those two days were special; I looked forwarded to them more than I looked forward to Saturday and having no school. That is to say, I looked forward to them when I was fortunate enough to have a little money in my pocket. You see, back in those days, children were not given everything they asked for (at least not in the frugal world of New England families – or at least not in the one in which I grew up). I was told at an early age that if I wanted something, I had to work for it. I fear this concept is not often cherished as it once was, those many years ago. So, I would do chores and work to try and earn the money I “needed”. I would go around collecting old newspapers, wrap them in string, and sell them to the “junk man”. If I remember correctly I think I would receive something like $1.00 or $1.25 for a hundred pounds of paper (the prices changed regularly). If I found things like a weight from a tire that had fallen off onto the street, I would pick it up. I would save those up and sell those to the junk man for something like 17 cents a pound; as they were made from lead. So I learned the value of a dollar early in life and I worked hard to acquire the things I desired; the bright colored comics that filled the newsstand. Perhaps it was because I worked so hard to earn them, that I cherished those books so much. Perhaps there is a lesson in all that somewhere, but this is not about lessons in life, but about the love of comics and of days gone by. Thus on those days, when I had some money in my pocket, I would pick up the old, heavy, black, rotary phone and call my best friend, who lived up the street from me, and ask him if he wanted to go to the newsstand. The answer was always the same; the answer was always, “yes”. He would then walk to my house and we in turn would walk to the newsstand. I feel compelled to stop here for a minute and say that the world was a different place back then. Two young children walking a half mile or maybe a mile to the local newsstand of a small New England town was considered relatively safe. My parents did not worry or concern themselves that anything bad would ever befall me. I am not sure the world is still as safe as it was back then; back when neighbors watched out for one another and many people never locked their homes. And so my friend and I would walk down to the newsstand, look through all the colorful treasures and pick out as many as we could afford (which often was not many at all). After that we would often walk a few doors down to the local CVS, where they had soda and candy. My family did not have soda in the house, so if I had enough change left in my pocket to buy a coke and maybe a box of candy then I was as close to heaven as I was going to get. After that we would begin the walk home, sometimes stopping in front of the Town Hall to play on what we referred to as “The Cannon”. In fact, the object was most likely an anti-aircraft gun off an old battleship. I don’t really know exactly what is was, but I know the town removed it many years later, probably determining that having a large weapon in front of the Town Hall was offensive to some. As children, however, it was the “coolest thing ever” and fun to climb all over (at least on days when the New England weather was not too cold). After playing on “The Cannon” and drinking our Cokes (that rare treat indeed), we would return to my house where we would sit and read the books we had purchased. My friend read faster than I did (as I liked to fully envelope myself in each story), and so often he would finish his comics and ask to read the ones I had acquired. So those days were filled with friendship and joy. They were filled with a shared love of comics. They were filled with two young children who talked to each other and dreamed of how they could make the world a better place; just like the superheroes in their comics had done. As I age, I find time slipping by faster. I find that time is the most precious commodity I have and I shutter to think of how much of it I have wasted on useless pursuits. Then I think of the time I spent with my friend; reading comics and dreaming. I think of those memories with great fondness and it makes me understand why decades later, I still have a passion for comics. Is it a passion for comics or a passion for those days when life was so much simpler? Is it a passion for a stack of paper pages or for the bond of friendship that still stands to this day? Yes, he and I are still friends and even though we no longer walk to the local newsstand together, occasionally we still talk comics and remember those days with joy. And so this tales ends, or perhaps it only pauses. I think this depends on you. I was told that if I started a thread about collecting that there would be interest. Let’s see if that is true. Please share your stories. I look forward to reading each and every one. I sincerely thank each of you for taking the time to read this.