mattn792

Per the interweb: "Meest-America has become a dominant force in package delivery with services to Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, Moldova, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia. Our specialized transportation and logistics services to those countries lead the way as one of the most recognized brands in North America." Google the Markley address and Meest is the top result. Some clown in the Eastern bloc is probably using them as an intermediary to get his pilfered eBay goods.

Back in August of 2013 I was the underbidder on the NM 98 10.0. Both publicly and privately people told me not to be too upset, that copies would be coming out of the woodwork and that I should be glad I missed it, because there would most definitely be more 10.0s. Now, 3 years later there is still only one lone 10.0 in the census and the book has exploded because of the movie (and upcoming sequel). So, how mad should I be today that I missed this 3 years ago? Depends, were you planning to eventually sell and cash in on the hype?

So you could take a roughly £125 haircut on the sale price to save £28 on eBay fees? What a deal!

I hate it when I waist $20 and don't receive bile...

You're going to get a thousand different opinions on which book, so I'll just add my $0.02 in this manner -- throw your book budget out. If this is likely to be your one and only Stan op, spend whatever you need to in order to get the book you truly want him to sign. Quick story -- WW Chicago, kid comes up to the booth looking for a $5 blank cover so he can have a Barry Kitson commission done. We suggest a $10 Avenging Spider-Man blank, and he says "no, too much". We stare at each other perplexed. Moral of the story -- You're already paying for the experience, don't cheap out on the product.

Grew up with Maximum Carnage and its nonstop battles... Bagley to me, next to McFarlane, is the definitive Venom artist. I stumbled onto it by happenstance when I picked up Web 101 as part of the LCS's free comics for good report cards promo. Wound up collecting the rest of the series off the rack, there's definitely something to be said for that monthly anticipation.

3 words -- Wrath. Of. Khan. 2 words relevant to this topic -- Maximum. Carnage.

Comics Galore, formerly of LaGrange, then Western Springs, IL (conveniently located right across the train tracks from the Starbucks I worked at in high school). Dutifully proprietorized by owner Ray. One day in...2006 or so(?)...it was just gone, and I had no idea what happened until last year's WW Chicago. I got on the topic while talking to the owner of One Stop Comics in Oak Park, and it turns out Ray's wife had fallen ill, and he needed a better set-up for insurance and such. So he sold his entire stock to One Stop and closed up. Damn shame. Many good memories, and I'll never forget the back issues that had randomly complex prices like $1.35.

for-evah! I was hoping to get "Welcome to my nightmare" on this as well, but who am I to argue with Alice Cooper? To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

I'm cautiously optimistic for this one, I have to keep a healthy skepticism since the end of "Into Darkness" ruined the entire movie for me. Going forward, let's skip the homages and magic Khan blood please!

I think we both know the answer to that: Wolverine 3 - The Boards Have Spoken!

Odd, as Hugh Jackman as Logan/Wolverine was great in 'Days of Future Past' and 'The Wolverine', in addition to his early appearances in 'X-Men' and 'X2'. I'd like to assume James Mangold and Jackman are both wanting this to end on a high note versus a fizzle. I guess it depends on your outlook for the film. IMHO, Hugh Jackman's portrayal has never been the problem with bad Wolverine and Wolverine related movies. He and many others have just had the misfortune of being stuck in some horribly written projects. I mean, think about his "escape" from Alkali Lake in Origins: "Hey, don't shoot me in the head! Now where's the food court? $10.95 for a turkey club and a Coke!?! Ahh, F it, I'm hungry. Do you guys validate by the way? No! Eh, its cool, can you point me towards the closest exit though?" Luckily Apocalypse rectified that.

to my understanding they have abandoned the Old Man Logan story for a Weapon X story that features the creation of a female wolverine X23 ( and handing the Wolverine mantle to this new character ). Megan Fox as the Wolverina. Oh boy!

As badly as Marvel and Hollyweird have screwed up the Wolverine character lately, I find myself hoping that Wolverine 3 is five minutes long and just rips off the Poochie death scene from the Simpsons. Imagine: Camera pans from back to front as Hugh Jackman surveys a desolate landscape. Zoom in on Jackman's face as he looks at the camera, opens his mouth to speak, and freeze frame. Voice over by Denzel Washington - "I have to go now, my planet needs me." Jackman awkwardly flies off screen. Screen splash written in crayon - "Wolverine died on the way to his home planet." Roll credits.

Ugh. That's bad. Well, then there's always my personal "winner" from the man: Is it rude if I spit Dr Pepper all over my monitor after reading this? Its like a random tree branch is grabbing a cheap feel at the Torch's expense...

A 20 spot says this guy immediately rushed to the local parlor to have that inked on permanently.

Retirement Home Confidential Join our hero as he delves into the unseemly world of counterfeit Viagra, rising Medicare Part B expenses, and the great Golden Girls blackout of 2047... I'm only half joking when I say Marvel is one day going to steal one of my idiotic ideas. They certainly couldn't do any worse. Moving on. So here I go from not writing a journal for months to 2 within the span of a week. I guess consistency isn't my strong suit. A new batch returns, and another long overdue goal is knocked out. Although, when I think about it, overdue actually didn't turn out to be such a bad thing in this case. The Wolverine Limited Series is obviously important to any Wolverine collector, but it's also an important piece of comic history as it portended what was to come for our hero. Granted I could've put the entire series together in 9.8 back in 2001 if I had really set my mind to it, but I think it worked out much better between 2015 and 2016. Because... come 2015, a certain Mr. Miller rediscovered both his sharpie and his enjoyment of large sums of money. If you've seen what Frank Miller is charging per signature these days, then you know you REALLY have to want his signature. Which I did, on this entire set. Of 9.8s. Well, 9.8s excluding the TPB anyway. While it would've been nice to have the entire run signed by Miller, Claremont, and Rubinstein, an eclectic combo will do just fine! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Giant Size Topless Slumber Party No, I still don't give a mess about current Marvel releases, I just like making fun of them. Moving on. I haven't written a journal since January, so it's time to get back in the saddle. The past 5ish months have been a busy time in my own little corner of the collecting world. Initially I had planned to take a decent spending break after telling my C2E2 budget to go sit in the corner and stay quiet while I splurge on Silver Age X-Men. But as it turned out, if three straight days of working the Comics to Astonish booth and setting up Rich Henn with places to eat in Chicago couldn't stop my wallet from hemorrhaging money, then nothing could! OK, that's not quite accurate. Citibank and its titillating 6 month 1.99% APR promo had a little something to do with it too. As did a look ahead at what's to come -- key books keep getting more expensive, and odds are my wife and I will look to expand our family in the next year or two. So the end is approaching for my generous comic budget. The time to strike was now. I've always had a rough list hashed out in my head of the keys I ultimately want to add to my collection -- Avengers 1, JIM 83, AF 15 (yeah, that's probably a pipe dream), GS X-Men 1, X-Men 94, AND...Incredible Hulk 180-182. Complicating matters was that I'd also like to complete a run of X-Men 1-19 signed by Stan Lee, and the sooner the better since he could stop making appearances at any time. And JIM 85 for good measure, because Tom Hiddleston as Loki. Need I say more? So what stopped me from tackling some of these throughout all the years I've been collecting? My pesky Wolverine collection of course, which always found a way to take my money. But here we are in 2016, when my Wolverine set is damn near complete. NOW I could expand my horizons. And expand I did. From the list above I landed X-Men 3, 4, 12, an upgraded 1, JIM 85, and our feature presentation - a full Universal 9.6/white page set of Incredible Hulk 180-182!! Being the Wolverine fanatic that I am, how could I continue on any longer without these? There's significant details about what led me to put the specific group that I now own together in my actual registry set, but suffice to say I wish I had done it years ago. Maybe then I could've put together a 9.8 run!? But at the same time, was the money ever really there? In retrospect, it was once -- I should've bought the set in 2010 instead of remodeling the kitchen in my old condo. In fact, I shouldn't have invested a dime in that place considering the loss I took on it... Regrets aside, a milestone I'd been dreaming about for 15 years is finally complete. I've actually owned two previous copies of Incredible Hulk 181. The first was a low grade, raw 3.0ish copy that I landed for about $60. Can you imagine, $60!?! They sell for $600 now! The other was a PGX 8.0 that I picked up in a large eBay lot. If it didn't look like a 6.5, I might've actually kept it. So...when I unpacked this book in particular...freshly arrived from Australia...Wolverine looked about 10 times his actual size, like he was literally jumping off of the cover...yeah I'm a comic nerd, sue me To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

I was a big fan of Apocalypse, especially its added bonus of undoing the entire X-Men Origins: Wolverine movie. Now if I only could undo paying $10 to see that in theater, we'd really be in business!

You can find the exact same bags direct from the dealer and save a TON of money. You can either spend nearly a dollar a piece from the dealer on eBay or 14 cents a piece from the factory. Seems like a no-brainer to me! Try THIS LINK for more information. My man! Thanks for the tip!

I've been using these bags for a few years now and have been very pleased with them: http://www.ebay.com/itm/15-CGC-CRYSTAL-CLEAR-1-6-MIL-RESEALABLE-DISPLAY-BAGS-FREE-SHIP-LIKE-MYLAR-/251309388008?hash=item3a8334f0e8:g:DogAAMXQySpROB1q They also fit the new cases just fine. (Also, I'm not shilling for anyone. I'm not sure if this particular seller is the manufacturer or even the only guy selling these bags, but he is the one I've always bought from.)

So I'm clear: - YOU originally waffled on a deal with Rich and cost him time and a lost sale - YOU (much, much later) wanted to "make things right" - YOU were somehow granted a quadruple secret probationary day pass back into Rich's good graces - YOU (eventually) agreed to buy another book - YOU then took forever to pay for it, and only did so after much badgering, with the lame excuse that you didn't know you had to pay for a Signature Series event up front. - YOU are the victim because your money was refunded and your day pass was vehemently rescinded for yet again wasting Rich's time? OK. got it. Maybe I'm just inexperienced in trying to rescue my reputation (since, you know, I don't tarnish it to begin with), but I would think that were I hypothetically in a position where I'm trying to "make things right", if the person I wronged sent me a PayPal invoice at 9:00 PM for an agreed upon book, I'd pay it in full by 9:01 PM that same night. And probably include a very polite and gracious thank you note along with it. But that's just me, and every other reputable member of this community.

And...drop mic.

To be fair, he shouldn't have entertained him in the first place after the initial incident. Cool Money ™ Exactly my point So you didn't want him to do business with you, which is why you badgered him to do business with you? That's "exactly your point"?? No the point is he said it was okay to claim this book, only reason I did. Everything was fine until I paid the money. That's when things went downhill He should have never even offered to sell me any books, be it Miller of this other sig book if he wasn't serious about working out a deal. He got me, the same way I got him back in 2014 Guess that makes us even All the more reason to stick to your original standing policy of NOT paying for things. That doesn't make any sense I wanted to ask him before I just claimed one of his books. I wanted to make sure he was okay with it and he was. He got his money and returned it to me after claiming he had no clue who he was dealing with Henn gives shovel, OAK uses shovel... I'll give you some credit though, most people who've dug themselves in this deep would've probably changed board IDs by now.

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