Randall Ries

I bought a Bat #232 signed facsimile edition and wanted to add a #251 signed facsimile edition as well. Can't afford any higher grade signed examples of those issues, so why not? There are a few different #251 facsimile editions and one has "Look Out, Edmonton" instead of "Look Out, Gotham". While I guess I would prefer the Gotham edition, the Edmonton editions are sort of inexpensive.

Maybe he is happy with who he is.

I bought a Bat #232 signed facsimile edition and want to add a #251 signed facsimile edition as well. Can't afford any higher grade signed examples of those issues so why not? My question is there are a few different #251 facsimile editions and one has "Look Out, Edmonton" instead of "Look Out, Gotham". While I guess I would prefer the Gotham edition, the Edmonton editions are sort of inexpensive. What is "Edmonton"? Canadian edition?

First of all, it's "Doo" not "Do".

8.0

Simple! By claiming it's a rare CGC flaw! https://www.ebay.com/itm/154747999545?hash=item2407b31539:g:rhwAAOSwhFxht~IQ

Yeah, man. I had an 8.0 and traded it before all this insanity began.

Good point. I still wonder why some other savvy collector didn't tell him to get it out of the sun. It reminds me other the guy selling the Batman #5 with his canary yellow cover sitting out in the sun at a flea market weekend after weekend finally ending up with a white cover. Tried telling him every weekend. Get it out of the sun. But noooooo. I was a KID and HE was a 70 year old FARMER! Whatever, dude. End of the summer I congratulated him on ruining his book. He liked that. Oh yessir he did. LOL!

Tell you what: This Bat 9 is the one Bat book to get. Bat 1 and Tec 29 are way out of my and most people's wheelhouse, but Bat 9 is a sleeper book. Try finding one 8.0 or above anywhere. This one has that awesome date stamp 3 DAYS AFTER PEARL HARBOR. I'd bid on this if I wasn't so busted.

Yep. Thought we were talking about music.

To me, this looks like chipping. The ink getting prematurely brittle and flaking off.

I can split the difference and say that as a person who has owned over 200 live Zep recordings, they are way overrated. However, their finished studio projects smoke. I don't deny their impact on pop culture. My friends were all goofy over that band but when I was playing Mahavishnu Orchestra or Gong, suddenly they were deaf. John McLaughlin or Steve Hillage could smoke Jimmy Page off the planet. I used to ask my Deadhead friends why the Grateful Dead passed on playing with Hendrix as a guest. I think it's the same reason they hid under a table at Altamont and refused to go on. My friends cited "Hendrix had to catch a plane, ma-a-a-an!" Riiiight. That's why the GD showed up late for that show. Make sure Hendrix got on the plane. LOL! Same thing with Dickey Betts. I'd kinda grin when we would listen to the one or two times Betts and Garcia played together. Then I'd say something to the effect "Betts is better than Garcia. That much is clear. He's eating his lunch!" The response was always "Yeah, well, ma-a-a-a-an. That's just your opinion! They have different styles!" So, you know. I would just say "Oh, yes. Of COURSE." Then just keep smiling. Oh well. We were friends and cranked on each other at every given opportunity.

It's factory miscut. See how the back cover is trying to come around on the bottom left?

Yes. They will. It wouldn't surprise me that once they are all gone all their kids will get together and tour. Maybe not Stella McCartney.

I just grabbed this in 4k. Plan to watch it. One guy I know was bent out of shape because there wasn't much more to the Rooftop Concert than he had previously seen. Well, no. Just with remastered sound and in 4k and Peter Jackson did the doc.

And The Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin as well. The Beatles at least came up with some pretty neat studio techniques. But for the most part, I have no idea what they are even singing about. Butter pie? The butter won't melt so put it in the pie. You got it!

NO I don't believe she is getting them to act abnormally, either. She's like a lighthouse or something like that. Most teen idols are. There is a terrible amount of schlocky merchandising items out there. A lot of people are like magpies. If it's shiny it's theirs. I prefer the real collectibles marketplace. Get stuff that's actually worth something plus has a cool history. Most of the latter day stuff will never be worth much. If anything.

The host of Hollywood Squares in the 1970's was Peter Marshall. After the celebrity answered a question, the contestant would be asked whether they agreed or disagreed. Typically they would say either "I agree, Peter" or "I disagree, Peter." So, I throw that out there even in real life to see how far out my disconnect from today's pop society is. I met a young lady (32 YO) named Desirée. I said "Ah! Like the Neil Diamond song!" I got: "Who's Neil Diamond?" Urk. I get not being a fan but wow. Then I look up and down Billboards Top 100 and I don't recognize way over half the people on there. Not that Billboard features much of anything that isn't fluff. What you mention about toys and merchandising at large is correct. EPE realized that old fans resent the junk and newer fans respond better to the historical approach. Which is great. Merchandising has its place, of course but they discovered they were patronizing the fan base by relying too heavily on trinkets and doo-dads. Today's fan base is a little more discerning than 14 year old 1956 teenagers. Thank God. Elvis Presley's impact on the direction of music and pop culture at large must not be underestimated. I think they still earn $60-$70 million per year. Not bad for a guy who died over 40 years ago. And that's after a $30 million slump in sales in year ending 2017 - pre COVID - which prompted them to re-think the strategy. I have long felt Graceland should be a museum and that merchandising TOO much is really tacky and cheap. But they have bills and people to pay, too. Too much merchandising is disrespectful and the fans sense it. I doubt it helps draw new fans in as well. When we think about all that he did in just a little over 20 years, it is astounding. I enjoyed the Grateful Dead a lot more than I do now because of the merchandising. They would slap a Stealie on a gas chamber if they thought they could make money from it. It's tacky and a swindle AFAIC. It's too much. I just saw a Grateful Dead "Bertha" bathrobe the other day, encouraging me to buy and wear it while I listen to my favorite "jam". Like Hell I will. Billie Eilish is just another one to come along to appeal to teenagers and their angst. Someone for them to hang all their worries and depression on. I mean, come on. Smile, Billie Eilish. You struck pay dirt for no really good reason. Now you can show your base that life doesn't need to be 24/7 Eeyore Syndrome.

I disagree, Peter. Already, the EPE empire is taking the bull by the balls and instead of pushing shlocky merchandise are revamping their approach. And well they should. No way they are letting that cash cow go without a fight. Same with The Beatles. Too much money to let go by. Billie Eyelash is a flash-in-the-pan.

Furthermore as an afterthought, I have no idea about the grading process of these prestige format books. What happens if the grader opens the book to count pages and that white line suddenly becomes well defined and you get it back as a 9.2 or 9.4 when you know damned well the cover didn't look like that when you sent it in? Now you feel they FUBAR'ed your book, are inconsolable and open a "dialogue" with CGC with before and after pictures and they tell you to pound sand down a rat hole and offer you a coupon for a free order of fries at McDonald's as restitution. My own opinion? In this current CGC climate, no way I would send in books to be graded. Secondly, if I WERE to, absolutely NO way I would send in books with either black covers or these prestige format books. Not with the way they open. But that's just me. Again, I have no real idea how they handle the page counting thing or checking the bindery on these things. I have seen a lot of graded examples where they got a 9.8 and were flawless but have also seen a lot that had higher grades but still had that solid white color loss line at the opener line. There's a thread here about that Action #1 reprint that got a 9.8 but has a noticeable, non color breaking bend in the cover that was there when the client sent it. 9.8 is nice, but try selling it as a 9.8.

You know, if I could time travel, I wouldn't go back in time to stop Hitler or John Wilkes Booth. I wouldn't go to see the Declaration of Independence signed or prevent The Archies from recording. No. I would go back in time and prevent all these kids from cutting out those little forms so they could get x-ray specs. Plus save them from being disappointed when they showed up and found they didn't work at all. Tough Noogies, kiddies. It's gonna take a LOT more than x-ray specs to see the goodies. Prepare for a LOT of disappointment as well.

I would go with 9.6. I have seen 9.6 graded copies where the opener crease is a straight white line from top to bottom. Perhaps it shouldn't have gotten 9.6. Perhaps they allow that given the format. Nice book.

Well, 222 isn't my favorite Bat cover by a long shot either. Also, I strongly disagree with the Beatles losing their edge. Or Elvis Presley. Those guys are still as popular as they ever were. They are pioneers. No, this cover will be highly sought after. It already IS.

It was. She has exquisite taste. She must have heard something in a conversation or knows you very, very well. My wife only knows I like Batman. With my luck, she would gift me my mortal enemy Batman book. Then I would have to sit there "OH! It's....errrrr....LOVELY! Certainly not a book I would buy for myself! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!" while dying inside. LOL! have bought

I'm very sorry about that. How unthinking of the seller. Makes me wonder how he stays in business. Out of curiosity: Was your wife correct in her choice of book? Is it a book you wanted? My wife would never think to buy me a book she thinks I would like. That's pretty cool of your wife.