bc

Really nice presenting copies -bc

Trull day? I'm in -bc

All good man! The LTL freight truck had a pallet jack and a lift-gate so it was very easy to load and unload the pallet anywhere. -bc

Having recently rented cars, SUVs and UHaul trucks - they are significantly more expensive than other shipping options once all the fees, insurances, taxes, travel costs, etc, are factored into the equation. Last December, I shipped a pallet full of network switches via LTL half-way across the country and it cost around $450. -bc

That rocks! -bc

bout tree-fiddy. -bc

You can't handle the Moomba -bc

I had pretty much given up on new books by this point, but this title drew me in instantly. Sold the raw set years ago, but picked up the hardcover collection a while back. -bc

Welcome back man! -bc

Same with those QVS stickers or custom labels. The dollar value of books is based on many external factors - the quality of the auction or sales venue, the time of the year, the current hot collecting interests among a few. Should registry points be deducted now that many books have seen their prices reduced since the COVID mania? -bc

Not sure how much a CPR job costs, but if you add in shipping charges - is it worth it? Using GPA, a 5.0 sold recently for $567. A 6.0 also sold this month for $725. That's $158 more for a full point grade bump. How does that compare to the CPR job cost and the associated shipping risk? It's a nice presenting book either way. -bc

Your best bet is to post this over in the Golden Age thread. -bc

-bc

Signed books are a binary - the book is either signed or its not. Page quality is entirely subjective. -bc

Looks fantastic man! -bc

That's about what I paid for the original version -bc

Not to derail your journal - Is the issue really the certification process or maintaining a secure chain of custody? What has been revealed is that the existing authentication methods have failed resulting in fraudulent behavior. The existing certification methods mainly relied on physical criteria such as the book and the information on the label. Of course the information on the label is a subset of the digital record found in the Certification database that we can access using things like the Verification web tool. My point is that they are currently utilizing a very basic two factor authentication method akin to just a username and a password. Both of the authentication criteria (the book and the label) are housed in the outer well; whether it leaves a noticeable trace or not, at least one method has been presented that compromises the integrity of the outer well using commonly available materials. This permits multiple fraudulent activities that we've already witnessed & documented since the inception of the new case and the rollout of the Custom Label programs: Label swapping Custom Label abuse (specifically with Restored/Conserved books getting Universal labels) Inner Well/Book swapping (our current scandal) How do they increase the security in the chain of custody (which in turn increase the value of the certification and the brand name)? By adding another authentication factor that is not part of the outer well, label/Certification or book. Same thing that Financial services companies deployed: they added a chip to the cards. Same thing that most Banking apps deployed: they added authentication thru a text message Same thing that Gaming platforms deployed: they added authentication thru a token or phone app Same thing that the multi-billion annual Italian Parmesan cheese industry is using to avoid counterfeiting; they added authentication thru a microchip https://wired.me/technology/parmesan-cheese-microchip/ I'll quit rambling now before the board software loses my post. -bc

This one is a head scratcher for sure. Obviously different books with the same cert#. -bc

No. As @HowardHughes pointed out, the page quality is too variable in the grading process. -bc

Also lost the Joined Date in the avatar area. -bc

I didn't even mention the potential QC issues that could happen if someone submits multiple copies of the same book in near the same grades. -bc

IMHO - Don't think that putting a scanned image of the book on the label is going to do anything to stop fraud. The image is going to be as big as postage stamp, if that. There's no way to see any level of detail to verify that the actual slabbed book is the same. Here's a sample label: Where are you going to put the image at without a total redesign? Guess they could put it on the back of the label - but again, it's going to be too small to discern any unique characteristics of that specific book. -bc

You don't need AI for anything like this. -bc

Yes. It's a way to tie in several of the value-added service in the CGC eco-system. Makes the customer feel like they are getting more than they are paying for. -bc

All good man And to take it one step further, ALL submissions should be added to the submitter account as a Custom Registry set. The submitter can move them to any other Competitive of personal Custom Set anytime they want or they can leave them there. That would then add another point in the chain of custody cycle and add a value-added service to differentiate from the competitors. -bc