FlyingDonut

Please. She's from Wisconsin. Oconomiwoc, or something like that. Probably a PACKER fan too. I'm from Illinois. She called us "FIBs". I'll let her explain...

I was nutty into collecting from 1975-1990 or so. All of my books were boarded by 1980, definitely by college in 1982.

We all stacked our books back then in piles. I remember the first time we found out to keep them upright was from Overstreet 6, which I would imagine was the first one to get national distribution. I would imagine backing boards were fully out by 1977 or 1978. And again, just a personal anecdote - I tried to order a back issue Hulk 181 from Richard Alf in 1976 and was told he couldn't keep them in stock.

The first show I ever did was the Chicago Comicon in 1977 - we bagged and boarded all of our books specifically for that show, and were in the definite minority at the time.

You're welcome to Mark and Cris' email addresses, if you'd like.

You're making a BIG assumption - that people who bought those books KNOW about CGC. I have two friends who were giant comic collectors with me in high school and college but sort of drifted away from the hobby due to 1) jobs 2) kids 3) hideous product. Their collections both are very nice, high grade stuff (even then we were picky), with these books: Cris: Fantastic Four 1-250 (first 50 or so are your typical mid-grade Silver, rest is HG) Amazing Spider-Man 1-200 (same) Hulk 102-somewhere in the 1980s (the 181 is, if I remember correctly, gorgeous) bunch of Iron Mans, bunch of other stuff Mark: Cerebus 1-200 or so (he may still be buying it, I don't know), all very very high grade Captain America 100-240 or so Tales of Suspense 63-99 in VERY high grade (he was picky) and a bunch of other stuff. The point is that these two guys have collections, and until I talked to them about their books, had no idea that CGC existed. They don't read comics anymore, etc. etc. So yes, I'll be there are more collections out there. In fact, I'd be willing to bet that there is a motherload out there somewhere. And on the Hulk 181, just a personal anecdote - I tried to buy one via mail order from Richard Alf in 1976. He said he was completely sold out and couldn't keep them in stock. So even then people knew about it.

Damn! I want to see those Penalty Box comments! Damn damn damn! Happy New Year to everybody!

My posts have nothing to do with with this book plus I did not restore this book and this book really is not restored. How can you be sure that any work was done on this book as there is NO indication that ANY work was done. Just because CGC may think so does not meen that it is 100% accurate. First, my apologies for the assumption. If you didn't have the book cleaned and pressed, it was my error for assuming you did. But you're missing the entire point of CGC. Whether you think the book was or was not restored is irrelevant. CGC does. And they are the only "third-party" service that is accepted in the market. If they say it was cleaned and pressed, NO MATTER WHAT YOU THINK, the marketplace will agree with them.

You RESTORED a Rockford book?? No wonder you had all those trails about "cleaned comics is the way to go". I simply cannot believe you restored a Rockford book. That's just amazing. You just cost yourself five thousand dollars.

I've sold several early Golden Age books missing two or three "wraps" on eBay - a Flash Comics 2, a Superman 3, 5 and 13, a Batman 2. But the best of all was just the Green Lantern story from All American 17 (2nd Green Lantern story), autographed by Martin Nodell. Somebody had cut just that story out and sent it to Nodell. Bizarre. BTW, I have a coverless Fantastic Four 1. Would love to find a cover!

if you're interested, i can get a Fair Daring Mystery Comics 2 (Gerber 8, probably the rarest of all Timelys). COMPLETELY UNRESTORED, missing a piece from the cover. PM me if you're interested.

I've got a Fast Willie Jackson 2 and 3 in mid-grade, if you're interested.

A GIRL! A GIRL! I thought this was the Official He-Man Woman Hater's Club! (except for Joanna, we like Joanna cuz she busts on Meth and CI...) Welcome to the funhouse...you'll soon see who everybody is. ...

Not caring one way or another, but just providing background for everybody who went "huh" when the Skakel case came up: From ABCNEWS.com The judge deciding whether Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel will face life in prison rejected a request by defense attorneys' today for a new trial. Skakel, the 41-year-old nephew of Robert F. Kennedy's widow, Ethel, was convicted of murder on June 7. He faces a minimum of 10 years to life in prison and a maximum of 25 years to life for the bludgeoning death of his teenage neighbor, Martha Moxley, in 1975. Norwalk Superior Court Judge John Kavanewsky Jr. today rejected the defense team's assertion that the prosecution withheld key evidence during the trial. Skakel's lawyers argued prosecutors improperly withheld a police sketch that suggested someone else could have killed Moxley. The sketch, defense attorneys said in their motion, resembled former suspect in the case, Kenneth Littleton, the Skakels' live-in tutor. "One of the defenses pursued at trial involved a claim that Kenneth Littleton may have been the killer," the defense motion says. "Disclosure of the composite drawing would have been the linchpin for such a defense, and in all likelihood would have resulted in a verdict of not guilty." The defense motion also accused prosecutors of not disclosing reports by a state investigator detailing evidence against Littleton and Skakel's older brother, Thomas. Prosecutors insisted the sketch and other evidence was available to the defense and would not have altered the outcome of the trial. After rejecting the motion for a new trial, Kavanewsky continued today to review submissions from Skakel's family, who were asking for a lenient sentence. Skakel's lawyers filed more than 100 pages of documentation Tuesday, including a letter from Robert F. Kennedy Jr., claiming that Skakel was a sensitive child who had been abused by his alcoholic father. Brought into the courtroom in handcuffs, Skakel received whispered words of encouragement from family members today. He waved briefly at family members during today's hearing after his restraints were removed. Skakel has maintained his innocence, and his lawyers are appealing his conviction. Old Sentencing Rules May Help Skakel Whatever his sentence, Skakel's incarceration could be cut in half because Connecticut sentencing rules that were in effect at the time of Moxley's slaying allow time off for good behavior. Those same sentencing rules also make Skakel eligible for parole. Both these guidelines have since been abolished in Connecticut. Moxley's body was found in the early hours of Oct. 31, 1975, on her family's estate in an affluent neighborhood in Greenwich, Conn. Police said the 15-year-old was beaten to death with a golf club from the Skakel home, which was next door to the Moxley house. Prosecutors convinced jurors in June that Skakel, who was also 15 at the time of the murder, had been competing with his older brother, Thomas, for Moxley's affections and that Michael clubbed the girl to death when she rejected his sexual advances. Skakel's conviction surprised many courtroom observers because prosecutors did not have any physical evidence linking him to the killing and there were no eyewitnesses. Because of the time that had passed since the slaying and the lack of physical evidence, prosecutors had to rely largely on circumstantial evidence. Over the course of 27 years, some evidence was not preserved, potential witnesses died and the memories of living witnesses were open for challenge. Prosecutors: Skakel Convicted by His Mouth During the trial, prosecutors said Skakel had confessed to Moxley's slaying on numerous occasions over the years to several different people. Prosecutors had to rely on the memories of Skakel's former classmates at the Elan School in Maine, a residential substance-abuse treatment center for teens. Several testified that they remembered hearing a troubled Skakel confess to killing Moxley or say he thought he might have killed her. Sherman challenged the memories of these witnesses, questioning their motives and their reasons for waiting so long to come forward with information. Skakel's conviction was also an emotional victory for the Moxley family, especially Martha's mother, Dorthy, who had long lobbied police to keep investigating her daughter's case. Dorthy Moxley today asked Judge Kavanewsky to give Skakel a severe sentence. "I'll never see my daughter again," she said. "He should go to jail for a very long time."

Meth - do you have the original auction listing somewhere? None of us can see it, and without being able to see it, this is just you and Supa yelling at each other.

now... three years ago, notsomuch the star wars 1 9.2 that didn't meet reserve at $3049 about three weeks ago? That was this one. I sold it for $1385

Sent in a bunch right at the beginning. Unfortunately they're all gone - I could have paid for my car if I waited two years: GS X-Men 1 9.4 White Incredible Hulk 181 9.4 White ASM 121 9.4 White ASM 129 9.4 White Green Lantern 90 9.4 White Star Wars 1 35 cent 9.2 OWW

MINE is bigger! No, MINE is bigger! No, MINE is bigger! No, MINE is bigger!

THere's a pretty good discussion about that line in the current CBG. A reader wrote in that GL should have told the guy to blow, because he saved the world a bunch of times and didn't discriminate on skin color when he was, in fact, saving the world.

I'm surprised Metropolis isn't suing crusty.

I'd be looking for raw Hulks from about 210-315 for the following reasons: 1) They are HARD to find in grade 2) NOBODY bought them (Peter David talks about how when he took over Hulk with there were NO letters to the editor) 3) Right now they are VERY cheap relative to other Marvels in the time period. You can probably pick up a full NM run for maybe $150-200 (if you can find them). Doubling or tripling your money is a lot easier when you're paying $2 each...

you should give Supa one of your NM Daredevil 81s!

Just to clear it up, here are my reasons in order of importance: Shipping damage, improper packaging and cost. I agree with you - but here, buy from who you know and you shouldn't have any problem. If you're buying from some slappy who has a 4 feedback, they won't know how to pack books. You could always buy from ME, or sully, or drbanner, or darth, or anyother number of people who know how to ship. Personally, if somebody says "zoned postage rates" for a single comic, I don't buy from them. Also, shipping a single book to Canada is CHEAP - approximately $2-3. A CGC book to Canada runs about $8 (US shipping $6.95 with delivery confirmation). 2) Insane Price Spikes and Drops (NM DD 131 - $40 at shows, and $500 online). Yes, but there's also the converse - if you're looking for solid mid-grade Silver Age Marvels, just as an example, you will pay 50-70% LESS on eBay than you will at a show. Trust me on this. Unfortunately I am well aware of this discounting. Also, you're only referring to the super-hot "book du jour" - when that pops, other books tend to drop. For example, I'm putting together a mid-grade run of Crime Suspenstories for myself. I just picked up a VG #1 for $125, which is a $400-500 show book, so I'm pretty happy. 3) Over-Grading compared to Seeing the Comic Personally. There's not much you can do here, again, buy from people you know and trust - I won't buy from anybody without a picture, and unless I know them or they've got bigass feedback, I won't buy a NM book AT ALL. That being said, every now and then you get lucky and a book comes UNDERGRADED. That NM 9.2 Star Wars 35 center that didn't meet reserve at $3,049? I sold it to the seller for $1380. I paid $220 because it was raw graded a VF. But overgrading is a problem - and for big books, I might almost agree with you that a show is the better way to go. 4) Price Resistance to "Comic Show Book Flippers". Not sure what you mean here. I'm a "comic show book flipper" - buy stuff at shows and sell it online. Is that what you mean? Again, just don't buy from people you don't know. 5) Scammers (vast majority can be avoided). Agreed. I think what eBay has done to the comic market is to dramatically drive DOWN the price of mid-grade books, while pumping UP the value of high grade books. I don't think the people on this board (and I'm sorry for the generalization) sell/buy enough NON-CGC books to see the price fluctuations that I see daily. Also, the day of pure "comic" shows are almost over. Its all "multimedia" now - read some of the horror stories about San Diego, for example. Don't get me wrong, I love shows. I just don't like paying three times more for something at a show than I would online.

The board's gotten too damn serious A little levity - how about some titles that just couldn't get published today... like this one: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=714613817 or this one: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=715812410 or of course, from my personal collection: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=716475881 just a bit of funning. Any others?

Rom....