Stat Monsters

It's actually the legitimate thing to do for many sellers who formalize their businesses and have to charge as they pay the state sales tax. I think it's rather shady when dealers start to ask buyers to pay cash or other methods to circumvent paying sales tax. My pet peeve is really the businesses, not individual hobby sellers, who run websites and seem so petty to charge a surcharge if you use a credit card or insist on Pay Pal "personal" to circumvent merchant fees. I'd rather them just boost their pricing by 5% across the board to account for that 3% merchant fee they're so worried about absorbing. It seems so petty and amateur.

In general, I feel (my opinion) that within the Original Art hobby, most collectors appreciate artwork as well as sequential storytelling and overall aesthetics. Deadpool (aka Deadfool) is really low-brow as a character in the same vein over the top eye-rolling adolescent low-brow humor found with The Family Guy, Rick and Morty that lacks creativity. With that, I get a sense that most art collectors have little interest in the character. As someone mentioned, most of the artists who render Deadpool are not highly collected by name, short of a few who have done really nice covers (J Scott Campbell included of course) other than maybe Rob Liefeld and Ed McGuinness who created and launched his popularity respectively. This whole "Merc with a Mouth" persona works with teens and in the movies, but that's not the demographics of original art collectors.

I've bought from Spencer Beck over the years, many years. He's always been very professional. His communication precise and detail oriented At one time he was one of the top sources of art for me to buy from, primarily because his website was updated continually on a very regular and frequent basis. About 2 maybe even 3 years ago, it seems he stopped updating his website. I'd always had friendly emails with him and at one point maybe 2 years ago he mentioned updating his website to become more modern and user-friendly. Flash forward years later, I've not seen any updates, I've not seen any new website, and I believe 2019 was the first year he's not had his formerly annual discount sale. QUESTION: Is he winding down his business? Is there a reason why he doesn't update his old original website? Is there a reason why he's not been able to upgrade his website as he's been wanting to for the past few years? I really miss his updates and sales (the last sale in 2018 I passed on because basically, everything that I've wanted and seen from 2017 and before was there, but there was no new material that entire year). There's a few websites I miss seeing updates from as well, like Albert Moy, who used to have frequent updates through the year. Right now, I feel the top art dealer/reps who have frequent updates are Anthony Snyder, Romitaman, Felix Comic Art, Splash Page Art and Cadence.

I'm not sure if I'd exhibit again or not, it's contingent on the date, since I'm not an art dealer in the traditional sense, more of that old school style convention exhibitor of a collector selling stuff to turn around and buy other stuff. The show definitely needs a diverse range of art vendors and in turn, needs outreach to drive qualified leads (buyers) into the show that'll spend more money. It's a catch-22 in regards to buyers and sellers for this show. I think I have a sense on the right formula to make it a win-win for the show's (and it's exhibitors) and buyers who invest the time and attendance fee to come to a show like this that wants to spend money but just needs to find the right pieces at the right price.

I exhibited at the show, but so many nice people had (prior to the show) and have (during and after the show) been asking me what I brought for sale, I decided to post them online I'm now building a CAF GALLERY dedicated to Original Artwork "FOR SALE" here's the web-link: https://www.comicartfans.com/galleryroom.asp?gsub=158419 Right now I'm going alphabetical by artist from A to Z then will add updates whenever I get a chance. I hope, by the end of the week to have about 300 pieces up. Feel free to check it out now or periodically. Thanks!

FYI - There is a scam going on where a buyer purchases multiple items, then allows eBay's 90 day Buyer Protection to elapse without opening a case. Then after the 90th day, they file a claim via Pay Pal, typically through their credit card company for a charge-back dispute, claiming "Item was not as described" and requesting a full refund. This enables the buyer to circumvent eBay to screw the seller over by not allowing the seller any "buyer's protection" nor allowing eBay to decline their request for a refund. A buyer has 180 days (6 months, I believe) to pulls this scam They feel that by making a chargeback, it's automatically in their favor. However, it's both postal fraud and mail fraud, a crime whose magnitude depends on the amount being extorted. The buyer can dispute the chargeback and the disputed funds are held in limbo if via Pay Pal until the case clears. I'd highly advise detailing the incident in defense otherwise judgment is made to the buyer. The simple facts are the buyer is keeping all merchandise, not returning any merchandise and demanding a refund all while also intending to keep the items as well. This is happening right now to me. I'll post the buyer's name whose eBay user ID starts with "G and ends with S", but am giving them the opportunity to drop the chargeback knowing a police report will be filed with their local police since they've not returned the items and if they get their money back, is essentially theft.

I just posted on the Original Comic Art forum, information about this show, more granular to what I'm, as an exhibitor am bringing. The show is tomorrow, Sunday 11/10 from 10am to 4pm. I'll have all of the portfolios marked and sorted as well as all pieces priced. Most pieces will be in the $100 range on average with many up to $300-500, but will offer some pieces as low as $5 and as high as $7,000, so there could be something for everyone and every budget. Here's what you can find if you see me there: BOOK #1 Sorted by Artist’s Last Name A to C ORIGINAL ARTWORK BY Mike ADLARD Mahmud ASRAR Chris BACHALO Eric “eBas” BASALDUA Ed BENES Joe BENITEZ Jordi BERNET Brett BOOTH Mark BROOKS John BYRNE Sean CHEN …AND OTHERS BOOK #2 Sorted by Artist’s Last Name C to D ORIGINAL ARTWORK BY Sean CHEN Joe CHIODO Mike CHOI Ian CHURCHILL Olivier COIPEL Gene COLAN Amanda CONNER Mike DeBALFO Dan DeCARLO Mike DEODATO Tom DERENICK Nick DERINGTON …AND OTHERS BOOK #3 Sorted by Artist’s Last Name D to H ORIGINAL ARTWORK BY Terry DODSON Brent ENGSTROM Alejandro “Ale” GARZA Michael GAYDOS Micah GUNNELL Lori “Cross” HANSON Jamie “Xaime” HERNANDEZ …AND OTHERS BOOK #4 Sorted by Artist’s Last Name H to M ORIGINAL ARTWORK BY Josh HOWARD Pat LEE Erik JONES Ron LIM J.G. JONES Aaron LOPRESTI Fred KIDA Jim MAHFOOD Aaron KUDER Mike MAYHEW Greg LAND Luke McDONNELL Salvador LARROCA Ed McGUINNESS Bob LAYTON …AND OTHERS BOOK #5 Sorted by Artist’s Last Name M to R ORIGINAL ARTWORK BY Jamie McKELVIE Paul PELLETIER Steve McNIVEN Mike PERKINS Adriana MELO Jay Scott PIKE Win MORTIMER Antonio PROHIAS David NAKAYAMA Tom RICHMOND Rudy NEBREES Al RIO Oliver NOME Shelby ROBERTSON Ryan OTTLEY Jimmy ROBINSON …AND OTHERS BOOK #6 Sorted by Artist’s Last Name R to T ORIGINAL ARTWORK Jimmie ROBINSON Nei RUFFINO Tim SEELEY Louis SMALL Jr. Jack SPARLING Anthony SPAY Tony TALLARICO …AND OTHERS BOOK #7 Sorted by Artist’s Last Name T to Z ORIGINAL ARTWORK Tony TALLARICO George TUSKA Jamie TYNDALL Chrissie ZULLO …AND OTHERS ART FOR SALE Sorted by Artist’s Last Name ORIGINAL ARTWORK ADLARD DODSON OKSNER BACHALO EPTING PICHELLI BERMEJO GARBOWSKA PELLETIER BISSETTE GARZA PEREZ, G. BOOTH GREEN, R. PEREZ, R. BRADSHAW INFANTINO PHILIPS BROWN, R. MADUREIRA RAMOS CANETE McGUINNESS ROMITA JR. CHOI MILLER, F. SCALERA DeBALFO NGUYEN SEELEY ART FOR SALE Sorted by Artist’s Last Name ORIGINAL ARTWORK SIENKIEWICZ, BILL SMITH, CAM SPRINGER, FRANK TIMM, BRUCE TURNER, MICHAEL WEEKS, LEE YU, LEINEL Over-Sized Large Artwork ORIGINAL ARTWORK Featuring works by: Neal ADAMS Mark BROOKS Joe CHIODO Gabrielle DELL’OTTO Jenny FRISON Ale GARZA James JEAN Kevin NOWLAN Jimmie ROBSINSON Bill SIENKIEWICZ George TUSKA …and More !!!

Here's a list (by artist) of what I'll be bringing to the show for sale. I'm not an art dealer nor sell art as a business, I'm a collector looking to buy, sell and trade. So, many of the pieces are fresh to market and I don't have them online neither CAF nor any website. Most of the artwork is priced from $100 to $300 range, with some as low as $5 and some as high as $7,000, but I am bringing and pricing artwork that's affordable for the average collector. I'm marking my portfolios on the front covers so it's rather easy to go through and is fairly well organized. I also have a price on every piece of art, so none of the "Please Inquire" hassles, with a no-obligation, free to look style and you can see the prices conveniently without having to ask or fearing by showing interest, you'll be price gauged with a high quote to then begin painful negotiations. BOOK #1 Sorted by Artist’s Last Name A to C ORIGINAL ARTWORK BY Mike ADLARD Mahmud ASRAR Chris BACHALO Eric “eBas” BASALDUA Ed BENES Joe BENITEZ Jordi BERNET Brett BOOTH Mark BROOKS John BYRNE Sean CHEN …AND OTHERS BOOK #2 Sorted by Artist’s Last Name C to D ORIGINAL ARTWORK BY Sean CHEN Joe CHIODO Mike CHOI Ian CHURCHILL Olivier COIPEL Gene COLAN Amanda CONNER Mike DeBALFO Dan DeCARLO Mike DEODATO Tom DERENICK Nick DERINGTON …AND OTHERS BOOK #3 Sorted by Artist’s Last Name D to H ORIGINAL ARTWORK BY Terry DODSON Brent ENGSTROM Alejandro “Ale” GARZA Michael GAYDOS Micah GUNNELL Lori “Cross” HANSON Jamie “Xaime” HERNANDEZ …AND OTHERS BOOK #4 Sorted by Artist’s Last Name H to M ORIGINAL ARTWORK BY Josh HOWARD Pat LEE Erik JONES Ron LIM J.G. JONES Aaron LOPRESTI Fred KIDA Jim MAHFOOD Aaron KUDER Mike MAYHEW Greg LAND Luke McDONNELL Salvador LARROCA Ed McGUINNESS Bob LAYTON …AND OTHERS BOOK #5 Sorted by Artist’s Last Name M to R ORIGINAL ARTWORK BY Jamie McKELVIE Paul PELLETIER Steve McNIVEN Mike PERKINS Adriana MELO Jay Scott PIKE Win MORTIMER Antonio PROHIAS David NAKAYAMA Tom RICHMOND Rudy NEBREES Al RIO Oliver NOME Shelby ROBERTSON Ryan OTTLEY Jimmy ROBINSON …AND OTHERS BOOK #6 Sorted by Artist’s Last Name R to T ORIGINAL ARTWORK Jimmie ROBINSON Nei RUFFINO Tim SEELEY Louis SMALL Jr. Jack SPARLING Anthony SPAY Tony TALLARICO …AND OTHERS BOOK #7 Sorted by Artist’s Last Name T to Z ORIGINAL ARTWORK Tony TALLARICO George TUSKA Jamie TYNDALL Chrissie ZULLO …AND OTHERS ART FOR SALE Sorted by Artist’s Last Name ORIGINAL ARTWORK ADLARD DODSON OKSNER BACHALO EPTING PICHELLI BERMEJO GARBOWSKA PELLETIER BISSETTE GARZA PEREZ, G. BOOTH GREEN, R. PEREZ, R. BRADSHAW INFANTINO PHILIPS BROWN, R. MADUREIRA RAMOS CANETE McGUINNESS ROMITA JR. CHOI MILLER, F. SCALERA DeBALFO NGUYEN SEELEY ART FOR SALE Sorted by Artist’s Last Name ORIGINAL ARTWORK SIENKIEWICZ, BILL SMITH, CAM SPRINGER, FRANK TIMM, BRUCE TURNER, MICHAEL WEEKS, LEE YU, LEINEL Over-Sized Large Artwork ORIGINAL ARTWORK Featuring works by: Neal ADAMS Mark BROOKS Joe CHIODO Gabrielle DELL’OTTO Jenny FRISON Ale GARZA James JEAN Kevin NOWLAN Jimmie ROBSINSON Bill SIENKIEWICZ George TUSKA …and More !!!

I thought I read in one of the links provide by one of the board detectives (great research work BTW !!!) there were over 3,000 individual pieces in total

Personally, I'd speculate it would go on the higher side of $150,000 potentially. It depends if it's the entire storyboards to the whole music video as shown and how many pieces that is. It needs to be a complete set 'tho to command a high price-tag. It's less "artwork" than it is "memorabilia" and you see how much people pay for nostalgic memories. Although A-Ha is basically a "one hit wonder" (yeah, they've other charting songs (as well as a "greatest hits album", but poll the majority and most will say they did not have a sustainable mainstream career and won't be enshrined in the Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame anytime soon if ever), they're iconic to the 80's and although most fans of the 80's are now in their 50's or 60's getting near retirement and fans who may have any nostalgia over it will probably be dead in 30-40 years, so there may be less people who recognize or care about it, it has relevant interest now and many of those folks have disposable income.

My general stance on underwhelming commissions is it's a subjective "in the eye of the beholder" judgment sometimes, but if you truly don't like your piece and it wasn't a free sketch, a cheap commission, but a high ticket item by a known name, odds are, there's going to be a fan out there to possibly sell it to. There's nothing wrong with selling a commission you paid for and are dissatisfied with. I'm pretty sure if an artist charged $300 for a commission and a customer refused to pay citing dissatisfaction, the artist would be upset, but if the customer paid for it and sold it, at least the artist got paid. It's not like the old days where fans in disguise would commission work for cheap then flip it for profit. Everytime you look at the piece maybe your blood boils or you feel negativity from the experience, why not just get rid of it, and not store it away. It's taking space and tying your money up with a constant reminder present in your life of a regret. Somebody else may enjoy it and you might make back your money, possibly even profit or maybe take a loss, but call it a day to salvage a bad situation. I'm sure the artist wouldn't be offended and even if they were (and that's all contingent on them actually finding out) it's easily explained through either the truth said respectfully or a "white lie" cover up maybe citing financial strife. Post it up for sale at what you paid then see if there's any action, then add the "or best offer" if there's no interest a few months down the road, and if there's still no action, then consign it to ComicLink or Heritage with no reserve and see what happens.

I feel that Craig's List and Facebook Marketplace are dream worlds where sellers look to find suckers with pricing 100x + valuation on junk. Even eBay is 1000% a better marketplace because there's more legit sellers with reasonable prices than the oddities and weirdo price gougers.

It's touted as a pure comic art convention. This is the 3rd show held by the organizer. https://www.lacomicart.com/ Mike Mignola is an attending guest for the show. The LA Show Dedicated To Comic Art Featuring thousands of pages of original comic art from the 40s to present – No comics, just art! Larger show floor space than our first show! Art dealers and collectors from around the country Buy, sell, trade comic art Convenient location: 10 minutes from the LAX airport Free parking Adjacent to the 405 Featured Events Larger show floor space! Special Guest Mike Mignola A featured art display (Grails): Some of the most sought after comic art pages will be on display Ticket Information $20 Tickets can be purchased at the door the day of the event FREE Children 15 and under and your significant other Location Hilton Garden Inn Los Angeles/Redondo Beach 2410 Marine Avenue Redondo Beach, California 90278 TEL: +1-310-727-9999 FREE PARKING

Aside from the no-brainer of anyone in Southern California who collects OA going to the LA Comic Art Convention on 11/10/19, I was just curious on if it's a traveler's destination event that brings collectors from distant geographies? It's the 3rd show and every time, it's had an amazing museum quality assortment of what many would consider "Grail" super-hero pieces that's awe inspiring to look at in-person. Here's a link to the website: https://www.lacomicart.com/ The organizer is super nice.

Poka - Thanks, it's exactly what I'd planned to do, but I was going to do it afterwards, if in his favor because it's an attempted mail fraud at this point, but once he receives his money back and keeps the merchandise, I'd think it's then actual mail fraud, so less of an accusation or an attempt, but more of a real fact based action. In reading your suggestion (BTW - Thanks!) I do think you have a strong recommendation in filing the report BEFORE to then use that as defensive evidence of what's going on based upon his pointed efforts to commit fraud by claiming an amount more than factual potential damages as well as making no efforts to communicate to return the merchandise to receive any level of a refund.

Thanks! Yes, there has been no official refund, but my Pay Pal balance has frozen assets I can't access due to the dispute. eBay has a customer service phone number that, if you speak with someone (and everytime, I believe their call center has been outsourced to the Philippines) and explain your situation, they'll generally side with a seller to take off an undeserved neutral or negative feedback or even if a buyer is able to scam the system, provide seller protection to make things financially right. However, if you just leave it to the automated world of eBay's C/S via messages, replying to messages and leaving notes, eBay will usually it seems, not read them and just side with the buyer. I had one person essentially tell me they thought they paid too much for the item (buyer's remorse) and told me they were going to return the item back for a refund and if I did not agree, they'd either damage it and send it back claiming it was damaged or send back an empty parcel and keep the item to get their refund, basically extorting with threats. I cited those messages the person wrote, and they did so using eBay's messenger system, which eBay can verify themselves, so left it to logic and chance, but eBay clearly did not read the person's messages nor mine and allowed that person to get their refund and the person indeed did send back the item (albeit not horribly damaged) for their proof of return for the refund. Had I simply called eBay, spoken with a real person, they would have reviewed that message and denied the buyer's claim instantly, but I was either ignorant or lazy to call and thought a written response was adequate, but it fell on deaf ears and blind eyes at eBay. So, I do encourage other sellers with issues, to speak with a live person to tell the full story and explain or defend accusations and the truth of the matter for favorable settlement. Although eBay usually protects the buyers because that's the illusion of the company being "for the people" the reality is, eBay makes their revenues only from the sellers who pay their listing fees, commissions and posts merchandise on eBay to make it an appealing marketplace site. Without sellers, eBay would have no revenue. Sure, they need buyers to come to buy to generate commissions, but unlike other auction houses that has 2-way (buyer's premium %'s and seller's consignment commission %'s) fees, eBay only collects from sellers, so they know they need to protect them as their golden gooses, especially the sellers who are not so casual listing infrequent and cheap merchandise, but are the power sellers who bring in predictable solid revenue. That's probably why it's so hard to get a C/S phone number, and they let the masses go through their online message system, but the preferred sellers get a VIP type treatment I think.

Update: Thanks to kind board members who assisted, I was able to get Pay Pal's C/S # of 1-888-221-1161 (and did use a code to expedite my call that I got by logging into my account) and an email of chargeback@paypal.com to send additional substantiation. The Pay Pal agent without committing to anything basically said it sounds like Buyer Mail Fraud and that it's an odd if not suspicious action for a buyer to wait almost exactly the time eBay's 90 day window expires (for which if he had gone through eBay with a dispute, the buyer knew he would lose) and using his Credit Card company as a chargeback to dispute the charge. Pay Pal is actually now on the Seller's defense side since it's their job to work with the Buyer's credit card company. Pay Pal does not have access to all of the information, so it's easy to email them substantiation such as communication messages, delivery confirmation receipts and transaction reports of what the items were/are. Pay Pal said at this point, the buyer makes their dispute, the seller replies, Pay Pal takes that to the credit card company and it can take 30+ days to get a response (not necessarily an action or decision) for which I assume either party can dispute if not in their favor as a last attempt before the case is closed and judgement is made. The seller and buyer need not communicate and in fact supposedly does not even see each others notes to Pay Pal regarding the filing. So, at this point they say it's a waiting game. They also say, YES, if Mail Fraud is suspected, then that could be brought up and pursued, probably via Pay Pal and their (buyer's) Credit Card company or involving the local police or USPS. If the buyer decides to be vengeful and send back the items purposefully damaged or an empty box, that further cements their fate as criminals conducting mail fraud, so it's recommended to take photos or videos of opening any returned merchandise. If the buyer ends up keeping the merchandise and getting their refund, it's said one can argue that if they try to sell it, it's considered stolen merchandise, and yet another claim can be made at that level. It's a whole lot of work and runaround for a small amount of money, but it's the principle of what's right and wrong, not just whatever is easy to make a problem go away and reward evil criminals who then may victimize someone else.

Yes! Thanks! I was going to file either a police report (do I do that with their local police or mine?) or via the USPS for attempted mail fraud. In theory it's a pretty clear case that there is some level of fraud occurring even if just on the fact that the buyer is claiming the full amount on a partially damaged order and also has not returned the merchandise yet is claiming for a full refund and keeping both items. I think their communication is where they committed legal suicide by incriminating themselves with their behavior as icing on that cake to substantiate a good defense or take away their credibility too.

Thanks! It's been five days so far since my replay to the complaint/issue, so I'm not sure if I'm support to wait for the Buyer to reply, for Pay Pal to make a judgement or be proactive and call Pay Pal now to circumvent waiting. I appreciate your advice and assistance. I feel the same way where speaking to a rep is way better than using emails or chats.

Thanks for sharing your experience. Do you happen to have the right Pay Pal phone number you used? I'm accustomed to eBay and other businesses who conduct their businesses primarily online to have horrible customer service systems where it's either like pulling teeth to get a phone number and sometimes it's an IVR that won't allow you to speak to anyone and gives you the runaround. I'd appreciate it if you could lead me to the right number for Pay Pal or where you found it. THANK YOU!!!

I'll post his info once this settles, as I don't want to potentially sabotage my case in the slim event he's on these boards and feels he's being "outed" unnecessarily. I would hope he'd realize, after I pointed it out that he is indeed committing USPS Postal Fraud. I'll give him a chance to withdraw his claim and apologize for his illegal aggression. I'm going to outline in my next correspondence to Pay Pal and the Buyer a reminder that: Mail fraud is punishable by a fine and imprisonment of up to 20 years. For those following this thread, here's some potentially helpful information: https://faq.usps.com/s/article/Mail-Fraud If you believe you've been victimized by a scam involving the U.S. Mail, you can get help by contacting your nearest Postal Inspection Service office in one of three ways: Call 1-877-876-2455 (press option “4” to report suspected mail fraud). Visit postalinspectors.uspis.gov to report suspected fraud online. How to Contact the U.S. Postal Inspection Service If you believe you’ve been targeted by a scam involving the U.S. Mail, you can get help by contacting your nearest Postal Inspection Service office in one of three ways: Call 1-877-876-2455. Visit www.uspis.gov to report suspected fraud online. Mail your queries to this address: CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS SERVICE CENTER ATTN: MAIL FRAUD 433 HARRISON STREET RM 3255 CHICAGO IL 60699-3255 To learn more about mail fraud

Hi! I was wondering if anyone who sells on eBay has encountered this scenario, and I'll try not to be too verbose to cause confusion by pointing out the facts of this scenario * Buyer made offers on two (2) CGC graded books, which were accepted by the Seller and paid for then shipped in June * More than 2 weeks after receiving the books, the Buyer sends a message claiming damage showing an obscured photo (could be doctored) requesting some sort of restitution * Seller offers going through USPS Insurance claims, but requests more and better photos to process the claim. Buyer does not respond * Buyer eventually responds days later with a series of unprofessional messages ranging from threatening to profane, rude as well as unreasonable. Declines to send photos. * Seller professionally requests the photos once again to help the buyer process a claim (which at this point appears to be malicious criminal mail fraud on the buyer's initiative and actions) * Buyer sends more obscured photos, all of which shows nothing remarkable. Buyer sends a subsequent message essentially stating "What's going on? Well, I'm tired of this process, let's forget about it, I'm done." in a short and rude manner. * In September, over 3 months after the eBay transaction, the Buyer files a complaint claim with their credit card company through Pay Pal for their money back, as a chargeback claiming "item not as described" but claiming the full amount paid for the 2 items and shipping in total. * eBay's Customer Service says there's nothing they can do. Essentially, upon my inquiry they eluded to the Buyer as potentially pulling a sly maneuver. eBay won't process requests from buyers to return/refund items after 90 days, but at the same time won't protect the seller either. This maneuver enabled the Buyer to not risk having their claim denied by eBay. * Pay Pal allows customer issues up to 180 days from date of transaction to dispute, essentially extending eBay's window of 3 months to 6 months for an issue to be active. So, warning to eBay Sellers, the transaction is not bullet proof for at least 6 months for criminal buyers to impact the sale. * Pay Pal now handles the case and that is where the status is now. Pay Pal has been informed of the facts and furnished with the information including the pure fact that a claim for the full amount is being made on a claim that one of the items is slightly damaged, so it's like if you bought 10 picture frames from Amazon for $10 each, $100 total, 5 came broken, but you are claiming $100 instead of the true $50. Furthermore, the Buyer still has possession of the items and has not initiated or attempted to return the merchandise for their money back. So, I was wondering if anyone had ever encountered this scenario and if so, how was it handled and what was the outcome?

I'd keep the Iron Fist, it's vintage and rare to find in 9.8 condition vs scooping up a potentially flash-in-the-pan modern book, which 9.8's are a dime a dozen these days and a Stan Lee autograph on a comic he has nothing to do with has not only less appeal, but irrelevant appeal and sort of like getting Joe Montana to autograph a Hockey Puck.

I think if you have the autograph and get it slabbed with a green label instead of yellow and own the JSC COA and include that with the comic, it's probably good enough for most customers to buy. I've never heard of comic book artist autograph forgeries on comic books, mainly 'cuz right now the signature in all honesty to most, does not add any incremental value to a comic book unless it's by a handful of names like Stan Lee or Frank Miller, and artists like Campbell are such prolific signers it's not a scarce autograph, so I'd think the COA is good enough substantiation.

Devil's Advocate... if a CGC certified witness happened to be hanging out where Todd is signing, or better yet, if a CGC witness themselves, acquired the signature, wouldn't it be qualified for the Signature Series? Or is this one of those political issues where Todd has an exclusive with CGC not to ever certify his signature unless under his own controlled environment, so under no circumstance does certification occur without Todd's consent?