SeniorSurfer

Yeah, an entire childhood reading Stan's prose stays with you. When I throw out a Nick Fury/Ben Grimm malaprop on purpose, the family really gets annoyed and there's a lot of eyeball rolling.

I've been following that thread and pulling for its positive resolution, which seems to be on track. I think sellers and buyers here are more responsible, honest and professional than many found outside these pages ("adult" is the word I would use), so thinking about adding one these proposals may seem like gilding the lily. Still I suppose that more information would help both parties and cut down unnecessary interruptions for a sale. A buyer might choose not to take a chance on a book not in the possession of the seller, or they may just not want to wait for that extra step, while any information a seller can provide - normal or unusual - may help sell the book to the right person or at least cut out some added explanatory emails should things go wrong, thusly: 1) Suppose the book's owner provided only a picture of the front of the slab, the CGC seller makes a deal, and the buyer receiving the book notes glasses and a goatee drawn on Albert Dorne in the back. Setting aside whether Al looks better with a goatee, maybe the buyer doesn't like extra writing on their books. Email generated. 2) Suppose the buyer negotiates with the CGC seller and $50.00 is knocked off the final price. Buyer rejoices getting a book featuring their favorite artist, Melvin Schnorr, at a reduced price, CGC seller is happy for the sale, owner gets paid and ships. Buyer receives the book and sees the owner's return address is from none other than... Melvin Schnorr, who (it is well-known) is destitute and selling off his collection to make ends meet. Buyer has a bonus hand-written envelope from Melvin that he can now sell on eBay, but is wracked with guilt that he took advantage of a someone that he admired and is needy. Email generated. 2) Suppose the buyer buys, the CGC seller sells, and the book's owner ships. Buyer receives the book, but on receiving it finds that a slab corner is cracked because it was wrapped in a few sheets of the NY Post inside a manila envelope and now the buyer is ticked. Maybe because there are missing pages to a Post article they wanted to read, maybe because they're more of a NY Times enthusiast, or maybe... there is that slab issue. Email generated. More information is a good thing when selling/buying on the internet and it would only take an extra sentence to note a book's origin point or whether it's on consignment.

It was an old TV show from the 60s called "The Beverly Hillbillies" wherein a country family discovered oil on their property and "moved to Beverly...Hills, that is" as the song went. The humor derived from the innocence and good nature of the family clashing with the modern world moneygrubbers that wanted to pry them from their fortune. Pictured is Jethro who, in addition to his innocence and good nature, was quite the dullard so he had trouble with "cypherin" (math/cyphers) and "gozintas" (division, as in 3 "goes into" 12 4 times).

I never even got the chance to sniff the first print of TMNT 1 back then but was curious and ordered the second issue. I thought it was an interesting idea, given how they incorporated all the latest "hot" book series into the title, and I wasn't averse to going off the mainstream every now and then (more Underground books than new publishers though). When I got #2 and read through it, I also thought it was really a "#2" alright and didn't pick up another issue, following the tried-and-true "buy what you like" mantra. I don't regret it, since for every TMNT there were copycats (like "Radioactive Black Belt Hamsters") so who was going to guess right and shell out dough for all the different titles that were hoping to hit it big? (As an aside, they parlayed their idea into a big money-making franchise and hey... more power to them, but I still wouldn't read or buy one of those stool samples for love nor money. Like they need me anyway.).

Thank you for the report. Between this and some live IG sales feeds I felt I was there. Maybe next year I'll make the trip from FL.

Thing is... by CGC taking in these volumes of drek - and of course they're not to blame since they're in the business of making money - they are taking away personnel and time from the legitimate grading of "things that really deserve to be graded" (Monty Python take note). Sure there are some submitters that just want anything in a slab for their collections, but judging by the amount for sale on The Bay/IG/FB that number is dwarfed by the hordes more that are just submitting crapola in the hopes of hitting it big. Or maybe they're just buying into the hype of variant covers, "key" issues in the 14th incarnation of a Spider Man title, 9th printings that are "scarce" or sketch covers of Wolverine by their nephew. Meanwhile, here we are waiting long months for submissions that normally would have taken (at most) half the time. As noted above, I hope things normalize at CGC when these individuals learn the hard lessons. Maybe. I don't know as much on coins as I might on comics, but I can't picture myself just reaching for the change I get from the grocery and indiscriminately sending in handfuls to be graded/slabbed in the hopes of making money. Actually I can't picture getting any change from the grocery lately, but that's another story.

With some luck, you'll get it back before another 20 years pass.

Mark Evanier notes in his 1/19/17 article (which in turn was a re-run of one from 2/14/02) that more than a strong resemblance to a young Jack Kirby can be seen in the floating head drawing of Mr. Fantastic on the cover of FF #7. As this was a cover that Kirby himself inked and as Mr. Evanier knows a thing or two about Jack Kirby, I can believe it. https://www.newsfromme.com/2017/01/19/fantastic-find-2/

I concur... her cladding is quite scanty.

per PM. Thanks!

Like everyone else has noted, it's basically just an attention grabber to have you buy the book, and it's difficult to come up to the standards of a Frazetta or Adams or Wrightson or etc. cover unless the whole interior is by them. Even without using Frank Robbins as the go-to guy who's work is (by definition) worse than any book's cover artist, I was going to feel disappointed and a little cheated. For example, I had nothing against Frank Springer, but he couldn't sharpen Steranko's pencil and it was a real cold shower shock when I cracked open SHIELD #7:

R.I.P. Mr. Adams and my condolences to his family. I was lucky enough to meet him on a few occasions and got the opportunity to tell him how much I enjoyed his work (something he might have heard a time or two). I would remember my heart racing as I stood in front of this composer (for he was more than an artist) who's single panels were original, energetic and always in motion while ever so detailed in their pencil work. When I was a kid, his was one of the first styles I could easily recognize and I would eagerly buy anything that had even a hint of his art. While I'll always have his work to enjoy and read over again, what I'm remembering now is only that he was always very friendly and generous with his time which, as I now reflect, is the most precious thing he gave me.

Uh oh...

It would have brought a higher price if they had sold the complete set with Ditko and Kirby.

Never seen that Vic Flint! He sounds like one of the character names the MST3K guys came up with for that "actor" when they riffed "Space Mutiny" (Buff DrinkLots...Roll FizzleBeef... Biff McLargeHuge...Thick McRunFast...Punch RockGroin...Splint ChestHair)

It being the internet, with literally a "world wide" selection of people and personalities, you're bound to get differing temperaments, differing tolerance levels, differing ways to argue, etc. And, it being the internet, there are many of these individuals who will react or over-react in some really cringe worthy manners. I try to keep an even keel but I do admit to the occasional guilty pleasure of watching some word sparring (which sometimes turns humorous or even instructive), and like a train wreck you can't look away. That said, I find these boards to be very mild compared with a few other sites: I look in on a local sports team blog and people can get hot under the collar easily. This in turn is nothing compared to FB where there are out-and-out "shouting" matches with insults and little in the way of learned facts, no moderators to intervene and, even more regrettably, less humor. I've been collecting for more than fifty years and I still find things to learn on this site, probably because of the older, more experienced crowd that has seen some water flow under the bridge in terms of the market, creators, trends, conventions, and anything else related to comics, but also life in general. There are many differing people here also, ranging from the ever-day schmoe (me) to professionals, not only in comics but in other occupations. I usually see nothing more than constructive criticism and helpful advice generally geared towards pointing someone in the right direction to maintain the rules and spirit of these boards. Maybe I lead a sheltered life? Anyway, I think there is more of "this" than the "other." Now what I have noticed is that this board will not suffer fools that continue to be fools or worse, fools that try to swindle other boardies. It's really something to see when an entire community pitches in to help the guy who's books were stolen or the guy who's trying to sell things that don't belong to him or other nefarious ways internet cheats try to dupe people out of money. It's very uplifting, not to mention reassuring, that you can come to this small site on the net and more often than not come away with such positive experiences and happy endings that are generally reserved for... I dunno... porn sites? Well, maybe not.

I was able to nab this one recently and thought I had done well, but I should have waited another month as there was an 8.0 W that went on auction. Still though, not a bad copy and it fits in the thread right after the 7.0 above. Now we need whichever one of you guys grabbed that 8.0 to post next and keep the symmetry.

I don't see it happening, at least not anytime soon unless some anomaly occurs like: A character being selected for a major motion picture or a warehouse with 3/4 of an available book going up in smoke (reminds me of Dangerfield after he encourages the audience to "bust up the joint" then tempers it by saying "all right... all right... wait 'till next week after the fire"). Otherwise it seems unlikely and younger buyers are making the classic mistake of buying manufactured "limited edition" collectibles (see Beanies, Precious Moments, Franklin Mint anything, etc.) as opposed to ones that became collectible due to their scarcity. A look at Reddit, eBay, IG, Facebook and any other individual selling platforms shows beacoup moderns for sale at any price with captions like "thinning out my collection" or "trying to concentrate on just..." or even "spring cleaning." A look at most dealers will show little interest in buying books that don't have a ".25 or less cover price" and certainly not trading even truckloads of modern "variants" or "keys" or "grails" for GA and SA. As we've heard ever since we started this collecting hobby: Buy what you like to read and don't think so much of future riches as you're likely to be disappointed.

Add to that buying fees or eBay taxes and the situation is really untenable. There's no getting around auction house fees (for those that have them) but I was scalded by that eBay tax they're collecting now from pretty much every state. It was talked about on another thread here, and I read it too, but came the moment to buy something and, as it had never affected me up to that moment, I forgot. There were a few books someone was selling, I bundled them, made a reasonable offer, and the seller was nice enough to accept. When I got the eBay invoice, pretty much everything I had negotiated off was wiped out by a 7% tax added (on a 5-figure deal). I was tempted to tell the seller and just cancel, but a deal's a deal and it wasn't his fault so I just paid up and learned a lesson.

It's like watching a SA version of comcav.

It was a slow month for interesting titles or covers on my birthday. MCS shows a smattering of Funny Animal, Archie, DC, Romance, Dells and some horror - none of which I collect or would have bought (if I had pockets in my diapers). What I did notice was an incredible amount of men's "adventure" magazines which had some lurid covers, none more so than this one that caught my eye. Get rid of most of the cover writing, change the title to a "Blue Beetle" or "Crimes By Women" and you've got a Pre-Code specimen that would have made for a chapter if Wertham would have written a follow-up book.