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Randall Ries

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Everything posted by Randall Ries

  1. That's the plan. Although everything is 4 sale. The highlight with this one is the Peggy Fleming Supergirl. Not the Olivia Newton-John Supergirl.
  2. Would the use of a replicator be like tearing the outer cover off a copy of a "Famous 1st Edition"?
  3. "Enterprise. What we got back...didn't LIVE long. Fortunately."
  4. Tourists are easy pickings. Here in VT, the big farms have sold out. Many, long ago. They simply couldn't afford to stay in business. There used to be cows everywhere. Something Vermont is famous for. I remember pulling off the road and they would stick their heads in my vehicle to give kisses. Now, they are mostly gone. But tourists flock here by the thousands every summer. They don't see cows unless they go to a UVM extension program or drive way out into the sticks which they don't tend to do. So, they buy cow related junk. Shirts. Buttons. Pennants. Stuffed plush toys. Mugs. Cozies. We HAD the real thing. Not so much now. But tourists will pay through the nose for the illusion. Cow fakery. They will buy a mediocre cd by a mediocre VT folk singer and look at their cute cow plush while drinking apple cider from their cow mug while driving their BMW's as slowly as they can. I would probably do the same thing in France. Buy a 6 inch Eiffel Tower. Buy some carp cheese and drink some sub par wine and walk around saying "Wee-wee!!!!" and laughing self deprecatingly. Practicing my French: "The PEN of my UNCLE is on the DESK of my AUNT." Wee-wee!
  5. Possibly. A leap from $115 to about $1,000 in this grade in 12 years is remarkable, IMO. It has held steady at an average of about $800-ish since before COVID. Only since inflation has dug our claws into us in the last 6 months or so has the book been pushing over $1,000. Sellers on EBay are asking over $2k and almost $4k in some cases. I could have bought 9 of these things in 2010 for what one is selling for today. I have to laugh when I remember I took carp from the little woman for spending the $115 back then. I realize that people can ask whatever they want and may not get it. Recent history has shown us something else remarkable. We have seen some really foolish people spending foolish money on books that really aren't worth a damn in a sane world. Books that are far more heavily populated than this one is. It helps though to remember that the beginning of the Bronze age was essentially 51 years ago. A whole bunch of collectors weren't even alive then. To them, it is the same way I look at the Golden Age. Same should be said about HOS 92. And IH 181. Are they too trapped in a bubble? The average collector seller seems to have thrown the OPG right out with the bath water and are setting their own prices and determining value for themselves without the guidelines or yesterday. Like population, 1st appearances, noteworthy events like a death or birth of a sustainable character. I would LIKE to say EBay ISN'T setting the bar for values but it kinda is. Same with these auctions seeing record sales. What's missing seems to be common sense on both the buyer and sellers part. I would LOVE to see raw copies of key bronze age books start to emerge from collections that haven't seen the light of day for years. Bought and then tucked into a box and done. And you know what? I bet 10,000 copies of 8.0-9.4 raw copies of Bat 251 (for example) hitting EBay wouldn't change the selling price one single bit.
  6. Oh sure. Tourists are suckers. Better know your stuff before you go. What is that thing in - where - Singapore? Something to do with bars. Drinks are hugely expensive. They don't give you the bill until you have had a whole bunch and are sauced. Then, it's like $50 per beer. Some Americans get their "Murica on and refuse to pay and walk out. BIG MISTAKE. I can't remember the details. But they get the last part of their lower intestine pretty well humped when they try that. You pay or you lose body parts. Ignorance and tourism? BAD BEDFELLOWS.
  7. Speaking of doing real good? I wish I had bought 20 of them back then.
  8. Looks real to me. There are so many a real or fake? What's the diff? LOL!
  9. Maybe Switzerland is nice. Or Frawnce. You start getting into Western Europe and it gets dicier the closer to the Atlantic you get. And now the political theater in the Ukraine? They are going to pay big time. So are we. $7 per gallon for gas? On top of inflation? Remember when gas was worthless a year or two ago. Clawback time. Europe is as corrupt as you can get. Romania is a sheet hole. Used to be a crown jewel. It's the European version of Uganda now.
  10. I think it does. You are assuming your books won't get lost, stolen or damaged at CGC while the stories are coming in from other submitters are about exactly those things. None of those things would happen if they were sitting on your bookshelves. God. I read these reports and stories and believe them. I see the photographs. It isn't bad enough these things are being reported. The fact that CGC or any of the mods here EVER comment on them is almost worse. Never say "Yeah. We suck. We really DO need to do better and WILL do better" and actually do better. They never deny them, either. Just sit there in utter silence. Their only purpose seems to be walking the yard and giving me suspensions to show how politically correct and moral they are. I never get the sense they are actually doing what they should be doing: Gathering data and reporting to their overlords: "Hey. We have a serious problem with just about EVERYTHING." When's the last time any mod actually got involved with forum members and acknowledged the CF that IS CGC? Since 2018 I have been reading these reports. From what I can gather, things have only become worse. You have more faith and courage than I do. I had considered sending a few books in the past. It'd be a neat thing to have some raw books graded and retired. I like the concept. But I won't wait for a year on pins and needles. A YEAR? That's a ridiculous amount of time for so simple a process. It isn't rocket science. AFAIC, CGC is a joke and a terrible joke to play on customers. Talk about being gaslit. Slide you books in a toploader instead. Enjoy them. They'll sell that way too if that's your aim. Here's an industry secret: <drumroll> Raw books get sold for good money every single day of the year.
  11. Oh dude. We went to Romania to do a spay and neuter clinic and saw gypsies up close and personal. They aren't the jolly accordion and mandolin playing gypsies traveling in a caravan we saw in "Pinocchio". No. THOSE effers hobble their own children to make them appear more sympathetic as they send them out to beg. You do not turn your back on them. The KIDS will stab you and take your money. If some kid tap dances in front of you while juggling oranges, look out. There's one right in back of you ready to harvest your liver. You mess with the adults, they will gang beat you. It isn't because they are "dirty" or because they are a particular ethnic group. They are snakes. The country is poverty stricken and a lot of the citizens really don't have a lot to lose. Your aunt is lucky she's still walking around, IMO.
  12. Aw that SUCKS. And that reminds me of last summer when I got burned. Bought a bunch of short sleeved shirts on FB. Neat shirts. I KNEW better and just didn't think it all the way through. I NEVER buy from vendors on FB. Not even Marketplace. But I bought $200 worth of shirts that day. I was lucky and PayPal made it right. I just don't know what got into me. Never again, though.
  13. What? I'M not being hostile. I thought I was helping out by bidding on the thing. Now I want it. I didn't even get a "thank you". Doesn't matter what I do now. She isn't going to be happy no matter what. She knows everything already so why should I back up and explain what I was talking about? Tiffany won't understand what I'm saying and won't care anyway. When people become petulant, I'm out. I said "Thank you. I'll take good care of it" and that's the end of my part in this. Who isn't "getting over themselves" now? I felt bad about the back story, know what it's like to get hosed as a kid by an adult and related. I talk the way I talk. I can't help it if people love their drama so much they have to try to read in bad intent from an observation. Believe me, I could be a lot worse. A LOT. A lot of you would pass out if you saw my FB page. I couldn't care less about what the majority of you think about me. Frankly? I'm not wild about most of you, either. But let the record show I stopped responding when I was asked to. I want that piece. I won it. If someone wants it after I receive it and I give her positive feedback for being a good seller, they can contact me and we can work something out. Tell you what: I collect raw Batman Adams covers. I want an 8.0 or better Bats 235. That's next on my list. Someone sends me that and I approve it? I'll send the sketch. I'm as honest as the day is long. I don't rob people or rip them off. I want it. Send it. I paid for it immediately because I'm a good EBayer and it belongs to me now. I will work something out with @Buzzetta and he can go forward with what he wants to do. I WOULD like to point out that the plan being outlined is pretty negative and petty. A lot of work just to troll a narcissist who - for all we know - has Aspergers. To what end? There seems to be enough negativity attached to the sketch already. Do you WANT a poltergeist to inhabit the drawing? Because that's where it's heading. LOL! Think it over. I got beeyatched out for being "condescending" and now a plan is being hatched to go to the Nth degree over a 15 year old sketch Sudyam won't even remember doing? What are you guys even thinking? If it was such a traumatizing experience to receive a half baked Punisher sketch after paying $20 which probably came from parents, it should have been destroyed as soon as it was torn from the sketch pad. It wasn't. It was kept for 14 years as some sort of weird talisman designed to keep the hate alive. And now, the plan is to use it as a weapon? And a lawyer is involved? That's nuts. You are all adults, aren't you? And you think I'M a whack-job? Come on.
  14. No. NOTHING is pure. I agree 100% with you. Put another way: Scammers target the elderly who are not technical geniuses. I tried teaching an elderly client how to use a track pad on her laptop and it was like Sisyphus rolling a rock uphill. They are easy targets. They don't stand a chance. If people make a living distributing child porn, then people who collect comics are nothing to them. You have to be a complete sociopath to do that. Void of any conscience. I really dot eyes and cross tees even when buying from dealers. ALWAYS look at the actual WEB address I am supposedly dealing with.
  15. Messaged you. We are everywhere. LOVE music more than comics. Giganto music collection. AND. I don't have to send the tunes to CGC for grading.
  16. They are soooooooo......sloowwwwwww..... I watched a JRAD show and Weir guested for SMAGS. They - in fact - are NOT slow. He kept doing his "slow down" signal and they STEAMROLLED him. At the end he went "WHEW!" Try to keep up, Bob.
  17. Nope. Spot on. My favorite part is when I am presented with a course of action, I veto it citing that doesn't work that way because of experience, my veto is vetoed, the plan is proceeded with, fails as expected, then I am asked "Well NOW what are we gonna do?" "WE"? Uh-uh. "WE" is now "YOU" and "YOU" are hosed. LOL!
  18. A minor thing. I bought this for my 9 year old niece who LOVES WW. She is learning to draw and pays attention to art styles and details other artists use. Get her something she will like and be able to take care of an preserve.
  19. This all night long. Everyone has their 1st time. Most won't admit they have been had before so everyone ELSE is the dupe. But never them. Certainly not them.
  20. I feel you. I'm wrong ALL the time. ESPECIALLY when I'm right. 6.0-6.5
  21. Isn't she great? https://www.facebook.com/ema.buggy/posts/3230354417248113