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richard8158

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Journal Entries posted by richard8158

  2. richard8158
    Just arrived yesterday!  Picked this one up off of eBay. It replaces the 7.0 I had.
     
    http://comics.www.collectors-society.com/registry/comics/PeopleSetDetail.aspx?PeopleSetID=80699

  5. richard8158
    253 out of 289!
    Nine months ago I wrote a journal after adding my 200th comic to my GI Combat set. I now have 253 graded and am closing in on 90% completion. I have 2 left to send in for grades and that will exhaust what I have at the house. Out of the 36 still missing from the set, I have 24 of them but they are mostly reader grade. I try to have a reader copy for each book in the set, however, some aren't worth the expense of purchasing just to read.
    The copper portion of the set is all 9.6 and 9.8 except for a single 9.4. The bronzes are 9.0 or better except for 6 in need of upgrades (3 are in for grading now). The silvers are coming along nicely with many new additions and upgrades this year. The golds are in the worst shape with many missing still. There are plenty of the Quality issues to be had but most are in horrible shape. I'll keep hunting, after all, that's the best part!
    http://comics.www.collectors-society.com/registry/comics/SetTypeDetail.aspx?SetTypeID=400

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  8. richard8158
    What did it prove?
    Okay, just what we all needed, another comparison of grading companies. I had four previously graded books that I wanted to convert to CGC. Plus I wanted to find out for myself how they all compare.
    The first book was GI Combat #29 PGX 7.5 WP
    The second was GI Combat #35 PGX 8.0 OWW
    The third was GI Combat #118 CBCS 9.0 WP
    The fourth was GI Combat #119 CBCS 8.5 OWW
    Three were sent in one group and the #35 with another group.
    I skewed the test by having all four comics pressed before grading. I thought that the other companies could use the help since we all have seen other tests.
    The results from the group with the three came back with nice grades. The 7.5 PGX held the same grade after a press and page quality remained the same. The 8.5 CBCS 119 came back with a 9.0 and also kept it's white pages. The 9.0 CBCS returned with a nice 9.2 although page quality went from OWW to just OW.
    The #35 did not fare as well. The PGX 8.0 went to a 6.0 CGC with OWW pages. I must say that many in the last group seemed to receive some very harsh grades. I might be getting old and my eyes aren't the best, but that comic is way better than any 6.0. I'm not convinced that it rated the 8.0 either but 6.0? No way. It is a very clean nice book. I was going to convert all of my other companies to CGC but not as sure as I was. I always felt that CGC graded very strictly, even undergrading (which I appreciate - to a point), but to drop four grades? I'm not sure what to think....
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  10. richard8158

    But, is it a 9.2

    By richard8158,

    I already have the perfect book, just not the perfect grade
    I was thumbing through my GIC slabs early this morning, only looking at the ones graded below 9.6. I studied a couple in particular, one a 9.2 and the other a 9.4. I remember when I sent them in, thinking they were flawless. I still do. Are we turning our backs on a great number of beautiful comics in our quest for 9.8s? Has grading gotten more strict over the years? I have a few "old label" CGCs that I don't think would hold up to today's standards. Just my opinion. Collect what you like and don't worry about the grade.
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  11. richard8158

    CGC scans

    By richard8158,


    Glad for this upgrade!
    I’m glad that CGC now scans all the books that they grade. I have always tried to include pictures of my books as I add them, but my scanner is just a bit short, so you never get the entire cover. I hope others use this feature too. I enjoy looking at other members sets, but so many don’t have photos and I really want to see the great artwork on the books they have collected. I downloaded my first few pics last week!
  12. richard8158
    high grades
    I created a set for my extra GI Combats. Most are high grades. I hope someone will want to trade for some I do not have or another DC war series. I really just don't want to use eBay. I prefer trading over selling, but will consider it. Maybe someone has extra All American Men of War, Star Spangled War Stories or Our Army At War? I also have a few Our Fighting Forces to trade as well.
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  13. richard8158
    We drove to Dover this morning to attend the comic con, about an hour each way. I live in Milton Delaware where we don't even have a LCS. Lots of costumes, food but not a lot of comics. Most were priced at $1 - $3, with very few silvers or golds. Lots of artists though and plenty of novelties. Harry potter wand booth, toys everywhere, costume contest and all kinds of neat crafts. The stay puft marshmallow man (turns out to be a woman) looks a bit deflated and smaller than I remember. It was a fun time!








  14. richard8158
    This has been a really great year for adding to and upgrading my GI Combat set. Possibly as many as 30 upgrades this year alone. The one pictured is the latest one. A really nice 1961 Kubert cover. The downside is that I have many very nice graded duplicates now and I'm really not sure what to do with them. Sure, I could sell them, but would much rather trade for someone else's extras. And I pretty much don't care what they are! As kids growing up in the 50s and 60s we read everything, but war comics were big. We read Superman, Batman and Hawkman too along with many others. Spidey came later. Can I be the only collector with duplicate graded copies? Here are some of my extras:
    https://comics.www.collectors-society.com/registry/comics/PeopleSetDetail.aspx?PeopleSetID=92871
    Thanks for reading and looking!
    Rich

  15. richard8158
    My niche collection
    I started this collection many years ago and am not sure when it will end. I can't say exactly when it started either but I bought a group of US GI Joes and included in the lot was a number 111. But it was named Comandos Em Acao. I found that it was printed in Brazil in portuguese. The thought that GI Joe was anything other than American had never occurred to me. So it began. Don't we all just love the "hunt"? So for at least the last 10 years I have scoured the globe for international copies of GI Joe. Some of the sets are still incomplete (only a couple) and the search will continue. They are printed in all shapes and sizes. Issues are bigger than ours, smaller, digest sized, black and white. Many are just translated issues but a few countries elected to create their own stories and some even added new characters. Some are heavily edited. I have amassed around 1100 different issues from 28 countries (including the USA) in 21 languages. The majority of the collection may be viewed on these two websites:
    www.gijoecomicsinternational.com
    www.gijoecomicsusa.com
    I have been growing weary of the IDW GI Joe comics. Too many different covers, many of lesser quality in my opinion, just there to sell more comics. I miss the old days where a variant cover was a rare thing and sought out. Now we have several variants every month, every issue. Really, how many sketch covers do we actually need? Anyway, enough of my whining, please check out my collection.

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  16. richard8158

    G.I. Combat

    By richard8158,

    200 out of 289
    I feel like I crossed some sort of milestone yesterday, now having 200 issues in the set graded. My goal was to have from #100 and up at 9.0 or better. Although there are more than a dozen that need to be up graded and still some missing to achieve the goal, I feel like I'm closing in. Below #100 is a different story, where I think the grades will be mostly mid grades. The Quality comics are hard to find even in mid grade.
    http://comics.www.collectors-society.com/registry/comics/PeopleSetDetail.aspx?PeopleSetID=80699

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  17. richard8158
    Best Silver Age Set?
    I truly appreciate the award although I was totally blindsided by it. The set has so many holes and issues that need upgrading that I never even considered it a possibility. Not to mention that there are so many great sets on display. So often I look at other members books and am amazed at what they have put together. Maybe mine will be like theirs in another 5 years....
    http://comics.www.collectors-society.com/registry/comics/PeopleSetDetail.aspx?PeopleSetID=80699
    Thank you

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  20. richard8158

    Grandenetti Art

    By richard8158,

    Grey tone cover Our Army At War #60
    As a young boy reading war comics, I didn't really appreciate the Grandenetti covers, Kubert was my favorite. Over the years though his art has grown on me. This one came back yesterday.

  21. richard8158

    Has this happened to anyone else?

    By richard8158,


    Billing Issues
    I sent a group of 20 books in for grading in February, marked as received on the 14th. On the 21st I was charged $683 for a submission that appeared to be, at least in part, a duplicate of my submission. After 3 calls to customer service with no refund, I finally called my credit card company and disputed the charge. A temporary refund was issued. After almost a month a refund was issued by CGC and the credit card company removed its temporary refund. Almost immediately, CGC charged me the $683 again and the bogus submission still is shown among my submissions. Now six weeks later and another call to customer service and I am still on the hook for $683. I can’t understand why this is taking so long to sort out. Every customer service rep I have spoken with has understood the problem and forwarded reports etc. yet the problem is still there. It’s been several days since my last contact with CGC and still no change. Anyone have a suggestion?
  25. richard8158
    It's not CGC!
    I bought an 8.5 #119 today. The dark issues are always hard to find in good shape. It was certified by CBCS so it won't be on display with the others. I had never heard of CBCS before a couple of days ago. So I posted a question on the boards as to who they were and if anyone had any experience with them. I just didn't want to waste my money. To my shock, the post was removed IMMEDIATELY, without so much as a word. I thought the boards were there for free and open discussion about anything comics and related. So I did my research and found that I got this knee jerk reaction from them because of an ex-employee who started CBCS. Censorship worked against CGC since I probably wouldn't have bought the comic if they hadn't pulled my post.