drotto

On 1/12/2024 at 1:09 PM, Yorick said:

I was thinking also of the optics of the label, and how pressure in the wrong spots will create warping.  We want a nice clean looking label.

CGC needs something that's not a complete redesign.  Something effective and easy.

I like many of @drottos ideas, but I imagine the costs are prohibitive.

I forget whos idea it was in the ASM 252 thread, but there was an idea of numbering the inner holders.  That led me to think of a cheaper solution of simply changing the heat seal edge pattern every six months (the inner well has that sonic heat seal "waffle" pattern surrounding the book - which is ugly as it is now).  It would be much harder for a scammer to find two copies of the same book, graded within the same six month period, with the same heat seal pattern on the inner well, to swap the holders.

I do no think so.  Every piece of food has an expiration date stamped on the package, and chips still cost like $2.  So I do not see how printing something on the inner well would be that expensive.  Yes the initial machine purchase is going to be expensive, but it is a one time thing. Second,  they already have a hologram sticker on the hard case, or even think of all the interesting packaging we have on all types of products.  I am sure they can afford to do something like this.  

On 1/11/2024 at 2:26 PM, EastEnd1 said:

As Keep It Thoro said in that video, look for a shop that rhymes with nation.

If I have the right one, they also seem to advertise comic book improvement services.  Also have at least one photo online associated with store images with that shows the owner?

On 1/11/2024 at 12:34 PM, Bosco685 said:

Oh, I made it all the way to Episode 5. The finale.

Made it!!  What a rousing endorsement.  

On 1/11/2024 at 2:15 PM, EastEnd1 said:

Yes, I just figured out which store this is (my brain works more slowly these days) and this post was gone. Some others with the notorious white carpet are still there though.

I see two shops basically right at that metro station. A third is kinda close.

On 1/11/2024 at 1:45 PM, wiparker824 said:

 

they have a lot of social media accounts and they like reposting. The oldest one is from one of their IG accounts 6/6/18.

Love the handy trimming board also.

On 1/11/2024 at 9:09 AM, mrd160 said:

When I share that picture with a dealer I know, he said it doesn’t mean anything he could just be using it to remove stickers. My response was I believe the gun goes to 1000° what the F are you talking about

Or the guy is just trolling us at this point.  Knows you can use the heat gun to open slabs.  Knows the controversy.  Has been reading everything said here.  Knows they are under suspicion. So just said screw it, posts this picture to toy with everyone. 

Or is so confident that CGC will either not be able to prove it, or does not think they really mean to pursue it.

On 1/10/2024 at 6:57 PM, awakeintheashes said:

I have a feeling the trilogy is going to bridge to the sequel trilogy, which will possibly lay some believable and redeeming groundwork for a Rey movie(s). If those have been pushed back, then I think this is why.

There is a really good story to tell, which honestly should have been told the first time around in The Force Awakens. I think Favreau and Filoni can deliver a good story and box office returns, which is what Disney needs right now. 

I think Filoni, Kennedy, and Disney just need to leave Favreau alone to do his thing, with limited interference. When the Mandolarian went down hill in S3 is when the show no longer felt like Favreau product, and was ruined by corporate interference. Ashoka was supposed to be Filoni's big thing, and for me it was bland at best, and a complete bastardization of the Zahn trilogy at worse.

I was a big Filoni fan after the Clone Wars, but I think his talents have not translated to live action well.

Yes, I think part of this is as they are trying to write Rey, they have found the pieces they need are not all in place.  This is needed to fill the gaps. Then again the MCU has just proven that starting something as a streaming idea and then attempting to move it to a movie presents it's own issues.

On 1/10/2024 at 4:01 PM, mrd160 said:

Agreed, but There are no custom labels because no one cares  (I do….but I’m not normal)

My GA Batman books are the only ones that have continued to go up in value and did not get the COVID bump and crash. A few have gone up 3 to 4 times and do not seem to be slowing down.

On 1/10/2024 at 1:29 PM, Bosco685 said:

Now, will Boba Fett appear in this film?

Let's hope not.  I do not even know where they intend to take this film.  I am sure Favreau has some good ideas, but S3 had sort of reached an endpoint.  

Rey gets kick to the curb at least temporarily.  Does this have a reactionary feel to it?

Rey movie looks like it is being pushed back, and may have lost its expected release date in December 2025. A John Favreau directed and produced Mandolorian and Grogu movies has just been announced and pushed to the forefront, as the next Star Wars movie. 

Reaction to the bad press last week?

On 1/10/2024 at 12:08 AM, BrashL said:

I don’t understand this line of thinking. If we know that we have hundreds of slabs from this one person alone that have been opened, and we have videos showing how easy it is to tamper with them, doesn’t Occam’s razor dictate that’s exactly the case?  If not what is your theory?

The key here is the tampering only has to look like damage and not intentional tampering. So CGC will just reholder it as a damaged slab, and not inspect it further. So the case manipulation does not need to be perfect. 

Sure let's finish making the scammer the Al Capone of comic fraud.  The IRS will take him down for tax evasion.  Honestly, that might be the easiest route.

On 1/8/2024 at 2:04 PM, Artboy99 said:

In fairness, she said the "make men uncomfortable" statement 8 years ago and it wasn't about Star Wars. That said, the statement "We're in 2024. It's about time we have a woman shape a story in a galaxy far, far away"  that is recent and specifically about Star Wars and yeah I will skip it.

And what do we tell all the women who have already helped to shape Star Wars?

Radical idea!!  It is OK to have movies and IPs that are made for a specific groups or demographics.  Star Wars and the MCU were primarily  targeted at men and men loved them.  Some women loved them as a plus. Barbie was made for women, and they loved it, even some men liked it.  See how that works?  Make a good movie and it makes money.  Even those typically outside the target group, may still like it.

Stop trying to twist and change existing IP's from who they were developed to appeal too. It does not work in most cases.

On 1/5/2024 at 3:20 PM, THE_BEYONDER said:

Why submit the green label 181?

He needs the inner well if the books was bought raw.

On 1/5/2024 at 11:29 AM, topcat54 said:

So if you know where the SS books are would you let the person know about the list CGC put out or would you pm cgcmike? 

I would tell the person, but I would follow up to see if they did it, and if I got any funny vibe i would report it to CGC through one of the various channels they have provided. That is a tough call. 

Yes, this person is likely very knowledgeable about comics and CGC. They know exactly what books this would work with and which would have a good ROI. They have also displayed good knowledge of how CGC works, and even a disturbing level of knowledge about where the internal weaknesses are. They are 100% aware of this thread, and I would not be surprised to find they have posted in it. 

I am not sure this is an inside job (I do not think it is in the technical sense), but rather a dealer that has a good long standing relationship with CGC (my theory, I have no proof).  I have seen first hand how certain creators and dealers get preferential treatment at CGC.  You think when artists or dealers that do those signed variant cover slabs, they bring a CGC witness in to verify the signatures every time? I doubt it. Or when people have slabs available the day an issue releases, or very soon after, no average submitter would be able to do that, or do that in a cost effective manor. They have a good relationship and CGC just excepts their submissions based on that trusted relationship, and sometimes helps things along.  It is just the way of the world. 

On 1/5/2024 at 10:31 AM, ADAMANTIUM said:

To that point weren't there reholder submission numbers on that list that were confirmed omitted?

That is why I'm scratching my head to understand, why if every book on a submission form is only for one service, ie reholder?

Then why some are omitted, but some signature series isn't and etc....

in short, I don't think anyone has a clue, but the questions are piling up  

This could be explained by the scammer still has some of the books, and risks exposure if they try and clear them.

On 1/5/2024 at 10:23 AM, THE_BEYONDER said:

I’m assuming the SS books on the list were reholdered with custom labels, and that’s what put them on the list.

I also think the AF15 ss is the most likely to be legitimate on the list.  The only reason it is on the list was the reholder for the costum label. To me the question is was that done for the scammer's PC and enjoyment and/or to cover their tracks. Hey CGC I do not only reholder ASM 300's.

On 1/5/2024 at 9:53 AM, THE_BEYONDER said:

I think the scammer still owns it.

We are not going to see that AF15 unless law enforcement takes it.

Another reason just dawned on me why the custom labels?  It is because he needs to turn around those multiple submission 9.8.  It may raise a red flag, if they were reporting all books in a submission were damaged and need reholdering. With the costume label, the scammer can justify it by saying, so sorry, I forgot about the costum label, can I send the submission, I just got back in to get that label. Then the reholdering would not raise a red flags. 

On 1/5/2024 at 7:34 AM, sledgehammer said:

Sep-05

$13500

4036499008

4 different copies of ASM 300 in this one submission, all on the list, and this was the newstand reported sale of one of them.

I'm thinking scamboy had prime rib at the crime family Thanksgiving dinner at his house.

That run a 4 consecutive ASM 300 is what makes me think he has at least 4 real 9.8's, certainly enough to really keep this rolling.

Still astounds me that one person submitting that many high grades from two or three issues would not raise any red flags. Who has that kinda supply of ultra high grades.  I have heard of people hoarding copies of key books, but never of that consistent quality level. 

On 1/5/2024 at 8:26 AM, THE_BEYONDER said:

Isn’t it just a list of all the reholders that Briva3 submitted?

Possibly, but the sequential certificate numbers confuse things.  The only way you get sequential numbers is if all those books are from the same original grading submission, and originate from the same person. Since reholders keep their number, all the  numbers would be random in theory.  Unless, the scammer is submitting multiple copies of legitimate 9.8 comics at one time. Getting those back, swapping the books, and then personally sending in those swapped books for reholder. Then the sequential numbering would be retained. 

If this is the case, it means he has multiple legitimate 9.8 copies, and when you see runs of sequential 9.8's, this is him rolling those legit books for repeated submission. Current books within those sequential certificate numbers are therefor the most likely to be fraudulent. So yes, out of those 80 or so 9.8 ASM 300's, likely 75 are not real 9.8's. The 9.6's are likely just bad luck that on that run through, where his good 9.8 either received a lower score (we know things are subjective), or possible had minor damage in the process at some point. Again so much of this depended on hiding in the numbers, so the real reason those ASM books were targeted.

The Hulk 181's are a bit less obvious, because of the need for the qualified books, and the expense of obtaining Ultra high grade legitimate books.  Maybe seeing 4 x 9.8's at one time was seen as too obvious or was just too expensive. He does not own multiple 9.8 or even 9.6 Hulk 181's. But the price bump from green to blue is still there. Where the real price bump on something like ASM 300 really requires that 9.8.