D2

On 10/13/2023 at 3:37 PM, Beastfeast said:

Can’t recommend Berserk enough. The end of the Golden Age arc is one of the biggest gut punches I’ve ever read in comics. 
 

just solid character development, fantastic design, and horrifying action. 

I’ve heard mixed bag on Berserk. 
A coworker of mine recommended it as it was his go to book, but said its flaw was that it was caught in a story loop. 
He was just frustrated that it kept repeating itself and hadn’t wrapped up any of its plot threads. 
Now with the creator gone, I don’t know if I’d want to hop on board.

On 10/13/2023 at 11:24 PM, Juno Beach said:

 

That’s what happens when a company has no spine. 
 

It’s hard to imagine how Marvel will be in 30 years, when all the boomers are gone, and the silver age generation is just a memory. 

On 10/12/2023 at 4:47 PM, ygogolak said:

Profit is bottom line. Look at platforms like Whutnut and how vile it has become for multiple hobbies.

I’m curious what you mean. How has this platform run havoc on hobbies?

On 10/12/2023 at 1:34 PM, ygogolak said:

That's exactly why there has been a rise in other platforms.

 

Which is great! But *I think* in order to have longevity and stability, there needs to be record keeping of these transactions in order to keep faithful investments. 

Unfortunately, even though I believe that signature is authentic, the aftermarket value for non-CGC verified signature books is low. 

Essentially, the price value remains the same as any raw book in that condition. The only perk to the buyer is they get a (true) signature of Stan Lee on their copy. But it doesn’t add anything in terms of value. 
 

Same grade book, CGC’d with Stan’s sig? I’d add another $500 minimum, as stated above. I’d add more, depending on the demand of the book. 

On 10/12/2023 at 6:19 AM, Turnando said:

So sad.  That looks like a Power Point slide that I created for a presentation I didn't want to give.  Where is the art, Marvel? Hopefully that is just a test screen to make sure it's plugged in.

I don't read a lot of manga but where I do (Akira, Naausica, Ghost in the Machine...) I was drawn in by some appealing art.  The writing translates poorly, imo, but I do like the art.

 

Ghost in the Machine? The 1993 cult cyber hit movie starring Karen Allen?

Oh I LOVE that film!

On 10/11/2023 at 4:48 PM, World Devourer said:

Do you believe this is now the norm or the exception?

Split. 
I don’t think anyone can ignore the sheer volume eBay sells comic books. I don’t like eBay for many reasons, so I am not happy they are so dominant on comic sales. 
I think the rise of Instagram and Marketplace have become strong challengers, and hopefully overthrow eBay, but it would be nice if these transactions were recorded too. 

On 10/10/2023 at 12:01 AM, ADAMANTIUM said:

Ah someone liked a post, so I'm revisiting the thread to see if I was justified or just hangry,  which leads me to a better word than your question of how to "validate the process ie oracle?"

I would have used the word justify. In short.

Validate seems to propose that these are unwilling parties, needing to prove something, which unfortunately also implies swindling. That is an underlying issue that takes at the heart of this thread to where, who can say any of the hobby is "in validity" with prices paid, lengths gone too and etc

Justify makes it sound as though they weren't encouraging the hobby but were consenting, and therefore making new terms of a high price, which personally I think would be a GOOD THING the privates sales weren't tracked....

I think both parties were eager and willing, but didn't want it on record. In short they knew 3rd parties couldn't justify it, but they were desperate wanting highest possible value... complying willing parties!

I see what you’re saying. 

I see the use of valid, quite literally as it is stated by definition:

(of an argument or point) having a sound basis in logic or fact; reasonable or cogent.

A sound basis in logic. Now if people are buying things outside of sound logic, like for instance, nostalgia, or even the lack of metrics, well that isn’t really what we are talking about then, because if you take it to its furthest point…

A buyer, is looking for a comic book, but no sales of this book have occurred in years. Years and years, we can say. So, as fate would have it, one comes up, and the seller, also acknowledges the rarity (or even, convenience) of any lack of sales records, and lists this item at an incredible price. It’s purchased. 
Now a benchmark is set. And more books come out, due to the crazy price tag. Or maybe they don’t. But we have two scenarios, either a) a baseline metric, or b) an outlier.

The point is, if we are talking about an anomaly, I wouldn’t use that as a baseline.

People can list their books for whatever they want, and people can buy books for whatever price they want. People can sell privately, but from statistical perspectives, they don’t add anything, if it can’t be tracked, or there isn’t a consistent history.

I just read this book last night.

Awesome read. Reminded me of The Thing. 

High recommend. Probably one of the best modern horror books out there. 

Looking back there are a few details I want to revisit, but this book is a solid 8/10

On 10/9/2023 at 1:15 PM, ADAMANTIUM said:

awesome, I bet it is an interesting read!

I like that the tagline bottom left illustrates what could be a considered a "melted head cover" haha, more importantly?

I've never seen a "superman's boots" illustrated quite so cowboyish, for a lack of a better term  I guess that is superman, read to find out!  

It’s interesting for sure. I would categorize it has high satire, not for the feint of heart. 

In truth, it’s probably a more realistic perspective of what would really happen with the Death of Superman.

Fans of Faust would love this. 

On 10/7/2023 at 4:04 PM, Ryan. said:

All of the sales on these boards, IG, Facebook and such fall into the bucket of private sales, which are much larger in volume than the sampling of sales tracked by GPA and Gocollect.

What are you pricing it based on? 

The Oracle… must be 

I guess my point is, people shun metrics when they aren’t convenient to their outcomes, but when prices go up or demands accelerates, then metrics are great. 

It’s like, you can’t pick and choose when metrics are convenient. 

Case in point, a seller won’t knowingly sell a book for a value prior to the item being in demand, would they?

On 10/7/2023 at 7:59 PM, ADAMANTIUM said:

The facepalm WASN'T necessary. 

1) have you ever bought from a lcs? Those arent tracked.

2) if you're going to describe lcs as based on metrics, they are still private sales and untracked. Therefore the private sales the boards were speaking of can be extrapolated the same way, whether you know the "factors" to make a informed decision is up to each of the unique people in a transaction.

3) you just described yourself as the guy at the con with the very last sale on ebay pulled up and thats what you want it for? Never mind the sale before that, or the lowest now listed, as once you mess with the last sale it's no longer a verifiable metric?

4) disregarding other "metrics" such as: availability, what it took for the seller to acquire if rare, trust between buyer and seller, venue, and TONS of others.

5) making "it look" as though you're saying gpa and ebay is gospel, even if you didnt limit to "specifically the last sale on either" then youve messed with the validity of your "metric" 

6) there is no reason a person cant do that on their own if they know their stuff. Making private transactions happen all the time!

7)Ever seen a lcs price something under fmv? They sell it often? Hard sale? Common book anywhere?

8) lcs prices high? They never get the book in? Eye candy? Need the money for over head?

Metrics aren't a gospel, they are a guidline. Does it help the metric for private sale? Maybe

But say that and that alone rather than a facepalm that isnt justified. If a seller is in the market and feels a trusted source is going to give them $10,000 over stated fmv? You think theyre going to NOT DO THAT because other collectors would be hurt in metrics? A lot of high dollar transactions dont want that kind of publicity, and or, its their own private book and nothing wrong with keeping it that way...

I didnt think this would be a long post, even shortened a LOT. Im not sure itll do any good

See what I did there?

I acknowledge the fact that this is a message board chat thread of a few guys arguing over semantics. 

So let’s set some ground rules.

Rule A: Sellers will always want to max out their profits.

Rule B: When trying to assess a sale price, Sellers will refer to past sales, whether it’s last sale (singular), sales (grouped figure), or highest sale (within a specific timeframe). ERGO, metric.

When Rule B is unavailable, Rule C is applied: Best guess pricing, typically grounded on, you guessed it, loosely based… metrics.

And if all else is inapplicable, Rule D: A price is determined without metrics, based on emotionally placed value.

Let’s begin:

1) RULE A: LCS will inflate their numbers based on… metrics. 

2) RULE B: Private sales are based on metrics OR RULE A: seller, who is trying to max out their numbers or RULE D: is asking an emotional value based on their own interests. 

3) RULE B, group sale figure

4) RULE D! 

5) RULE B, group sale figure

6) Pick a rule, know their stuff? Based on… metrics, or RULE D… sounds like a RULE D schmuck. 

7) RULE B, if it’s under fmv, then what are you basing the final sale on?  (a metric)

8) RULE A, nailed it. 
 

On 10/7/2023 at 4:04 PM, Ryan. said:

All of the sales on these boards, IG, Facebook and such fall into the bucket of private sales, which are much larger in volume than the sampling of sales tracked by GPA and Gocollect.

But there is no tracking. So how can you validate them?

Metrics are metrics for a reason.

It doesn’t matter if there are 10x more transactions, or 10x the fmv price. There has to be a standardized metric, otherwise why would anyone bother tracking anything at all?

What you’re describing is literally a paradox. 

Selling something without the guide of metrics. You base your sales on metrics and yet you invalidate them. 
 

On 9/20/2023 at 4:19 PM, workingdog said:

Just FYI ...

 

The initial Batman Day 608 Foil Edition being released this week, DC is telling retailers the book is returnable because Page 15 should actually be page 21. This according to this Reddit post:

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/comicbookcollecting/comments/16l1eab/batman_608_batman_day_foil_misprint/

 

According to bleedingcool.com, a Corrected version will be released on 10/17/23.

 

https://bleedingcool.com/comics/errors-for-batman-608-batman-day-foil-edition-fishflies-2/

 

Recalled edition, valued at ONE MILLION DOLLARZ on EBAYS the following weeks. 

A few years later, $200 fair market value. 

Private sales… how does that help anyone?

Is the understanding that people are selling to other people they like? Is that it?

Is it to lock in a value they believe is accurate, rather than having it listed on the open market?

If I was to sell it to someone in a private sale, the main benefit would be to avoid paying any fees from a platform.

Aside from that, private sale values aren’t meaningful.

I use house sales as an example. Many luxury and historic homes are sold, privately, for incredible amounts of money. And yet, history has also shown that those very same homes have been forced into sale, typically abruptly due to some unforeseen circumstances, and the values of the home turn out to be significantly less than what the private sale was for. 

It’s all worth grading 

Sad in a way that this is where it has gone. 

I echo a lot of the comments here. 

I love getting custom color signatures on books, and most of the time I’d buy a blue label 9.8 to lock in a returned 9.8 signature series. 

I’ve also been burned by the submission returns in the past year, nothing radical, but I definitely won’t submit a few blue labels I still have, and expected to submit for signatures anymore. 

I don’t know how others feel, but I don’t keep 9.6s and below, outside of, 2 books in my collection that I’ll keep for sentimental reasons.

So if I can’t risk getting 9.6s, I’ll stop trying. I also can’t afford to keep trying for 9.8s. I’m not that rich. It’s a hobby at the end of the day. 

On 9/27/2023 at 1:28 PM, Sigur Ros said:

I haven't seen hate.  Aside from D2, of course.

I've seen people on both sides state opinions on these labels, based on the OP.  The idea that there is actual monetary value to custom labels is just a bit funny. 

So we said so.

Getting upset by that opinion is where I'm seeing insecurity.

Again and again, there was no hate from my end. 

In fact, all I do is point out your poor, degrading, attitude.

And you don’t like being called out. You’re probably not used to someone calling you out on your 

But guess what, your attitude, sucks. And the fact that you don’t think it does, and you’re justified and right, is exactly why you repeat the same old habits over and over again. 

Because you think you are right. Pathetic

On 9/27/2023 at 11:48 AM, Dr. Balls said:

I came back to read the thread this morning and D2 went Vasquez on everyone in here.

On 9/26/2023 at 8:07 PM, Dave2739 said:

Well done. You don't want to see people divided? Look at all the unity you have created in this thread! 

Lol 15 people? 
Like minded individuals from the peanut gallery? The same, old, tired, crotchety folks that steadily complain about CGC, the very forum they spend countless hours on?

Good show, chap. You must be a hit at parties. 

On 9/26/2023 at 6:39 PM, Sigur Ros said:

Okay, let me make sure I got this.  According to you....

Not finding value in custom labels means I shouldn't be on the forum?   

Weren't you the guy whining about someone telling people what to collect... when he wasn't ?

 

FYI, I don't care what you understood.

Again, it’s the point that you don’t seem to grasp. 
You are so busy trying to be funny, trying to always make a point with negativity, that you can’t just, let it be.

Someone came on here to voice a valid concern, and all you had to offer was your weak sarcastic remarks. You remind me of my 12 year old that just discovered sarcasm, simple, direct, and unable to just let things go that don’t interest you.

If labels don’t interest you, why did you bother opening and reading the thread in the first place? It’s because you are just trying to be funny with your sarcastic remarks. Grow, up, Boomer  

On 9/26/2023 at 7:11 PM, Math Teacher said:

He, and I, use this forum because we are interested in CGC services. I can't speak for the original poster, but the labels are not important to me, and they never will be.

You know, if I didn't know any better, I would think that you are telling other people what to do.

On 9/26/2023 at 7:06 PM, Math Teacher said:

He, in no way, told anyone what they should and not should collect. If you want to infer that from his simple statement, that is on you.

Here comes another one. A vocal minority chiming in to clarify what he or she said. 

I am telling people to lay off and stop  on what people like. 

Stick to what you’re good at with your equations, leave the sociology to others. It’s not your strong suit. 

On 9/26/2023 at 3:19 PM, Get Marwood & I said:

Spot on. And boy do we have some members here 

Oh good thing you quoted Lazyboy, otherwise I wouldn’t have read what they wrote, considering they’ve been blocked for a long time. 

Some member, can’t acknowledge the company that brought people together.

I always find myself defending CGC on these boards from a vocal minority that feel compelled to trash the company and their decisions on virtually all threads.

It’s sad to see how a company goes out of its way to create and monitor a message board, specifically to help create a community, only to help develop a vocal minority constantly hack and trash them with their toxic attitudes.