EastEnd1

Agreed... either of these is the way to go.

It's pretty simple for me... VF 8.0... regardless of age.

I'm in!

Interestingly, WW2's Tojo and the Japanese Nationalists were as atrocious, if not more, than Hitler and the Nazi's, and yet they are yes, largely ignored/forgotten today. The Japanese human medical experiments program made the Nazi's Dr Mengele look like a regular old pediatrician. And some of the Japanese atrocities in China ("The Rape of Nanking" is an astonishing read on this) would have shocked even Nazis.

Yes, there was that too... many have pages in the cream range. Still gorgeous though...

I've heard that quite a few of these Harvey warehouse finds were pretty water damaged... not sure about this one but know its the case with Tomb of Terror #15. Presumably would reduce the population of "collectbile grade" copies...

Based on what was shown, I'd be surprised if CCS went forward with the restoration removal.

If they know you have a strong collection, say because you've bought a lot from them over the years and they can obviously see it in their archives, they will be more than happy to negotiate fees with you, regardless of the immediate consignment. They don't want to lose a potentially strong relationship to the competition. And from my experience, their service is second to none.

Agreed... despite all the media surrounding today's crime rates, the murder rate in New York City is less than one third of what it was in the late 1980s/early 1990s. NYC has been, and remains, among the safest big cities in the country.

Glad you brought this up cause I originally had this book graded a 9.6, then thought I saw the defects you mention on closer inspection and lowered my grade to 9.0. Only thing I can think of is that those defects were just scan reflections in the paper and not actual bends.

Have to say, he's a bit of an angry fellow. And the weird thing is that he's angry about people debating him about scamming CGC. I know this is just wishful thinking, but this hobby needs to try something new... how about we just leave the books alone...

My understanding is that if a comic is improperly dry cleaned (say some color rub occurs or an abrasion is created), the book is simply downgraded in a universal label... it never gets a restored label. What makes this topic a little suspect to me is that there are many long time AND VOCAL CGC board members that have dry cleaned and submitted hundreds if not thousands of books, and as far as I know, not a single one has reported a solely dry cleaned book having received a restored label.

It's also possible the books were solvent cleaned before the poster acquired them. CGC has been pretty clear that their policy is that only dry cleaning is not considered restoration.

For me, I think we're seeing something akin to 2001 when CGC emerged. New investors (eg, coinees) came into the market, the true rarity of high grade material was nebulous, and back issue prices rose quickly and exponentially to unseen levels... sound familiar? The biggest difference between then and now is that the price increases in the early 2000s were across the board, whereas the recent bubble was largely limited to keys and semi-keys (and because of that limitation, you saw the hyper-identification of a lot more keys and semi-keys!). When the bubble burst in the mid-2000s after people started to realize that there was a lot more high grade than previously thought (exacerbated by the emerging pressing industry) and that with the burgeoning internet it was a lot easier to acquire it, you saw pretty much everything retreat. But how much an item retreated depended on quality and rarity. Run books retreated the most, and to a large extent have still not recovered. Uber-keys retreated less, stabilized, and continued their march upward. Semi-keys fell out somewhere in between. I think we're going to see something similar over the next few years, except that in the near term, the main driver of recovery will be rarity rather than quality. We're seeing that with Golden Age and PCH for instance. For everything else, there's simply too much availability (ie, "supply") these days to allow for a quick recovery... Heritage is running THREE auctions a week now (in addition to Showcase auctions and more frequent Signature auctions), ComicLink monthly auctions are running 200+ pages, etc. I've actually given up trying to stay on top of all the auctions, which I previously followed very closely. Having said that, the ship will right itself... I'm seeing that the quality has declined in recent auctions for instance as collectors choose to hold on to their quality rather than risk selling in a "down" market. And that will eventually have an effect on prices and demand. Personally, I'm back to doing some selective buying these days... strikes me as a good time for it. And I'm a "holder" and as such, have no fears at all of what my collection will be worth in five or ten years. I am very confident that it will be more than today. History says so.

Just to add a little "color" to your point which I agree with... The 1980-82 recession saw the emergence of the direct market and rapid proliferation of comic book shops across the country. The 1990-91 recession saw exploding comic book circulation figures. The 2001 recession saw the emergence of standardized comic book grading (ie CGC) and a surging of back issue pricing. The 2008-09 great recession saw no significant drop in back issue pricing (though graded comic pricing had retreated in the years prior as census figures grew) The 2020 "Covid" recession saw a previously unheard of skyrocketing in back issue prices. I'd also add that the comic book industry itself emerged during the ACTUAL DEPRESSION and ascended into its "golden age" during the most tragic war the world has ever seen. Like the superheros it birthed, our "little" hobby has shown itself to be quite resilient and will be fine for some time to come

My expectation is that if you originally paid more for quick Express turnaround and then have to re-submit a mechanical error through no fault of your own, you should be sped up in the mechanical error queue. Seems the fair thing to do, don't you think? Either that, or refund the excess Express fees originally paid....

I'm still in SFG from 2/9 and mine was originally an express submission so I've just called to complain. I've paid all those extra express fees for absolutely nothing.

I'm in too!

Not all WW2 propaganda is made the same... this issue of All-Star Comics from 1945, put out at the behest of the National Institute for the Handicapped, was intended to help with the re-integration of returning war-injured servicemen. The cover image of some of the era's most popular fictional heros saluting a true one is among the most moving from the Golden Age in my view...

I've got a ME that's originally an Express submission... was received by CGC 2/9, along with three other submissions I made that were Express, Fast Track Modern, and Standard, all of which have been graded and shipped back to me very timely... but the ME is still sitting in SFG...

Very true... believe me, other comic genres hold warm places in my heart too, especially PCH which may be my overall favorite. But unfortunately I fear, if the superhero goes, the hobby will have a very difficult time sustaining itself. Unlike the other genres which many of us love, the superhero was uniquely born in the comics. And outside of a few years after WW2, have always been the dominant player in comics. The "original source material" of superheros are comic books. We can't say that for the other genres... comics were simply another manner of offering an already widely dispersed category. Though there are exceptions like Archie or Mad, if the superhero goes (and I mean permanently goes like the singing western cowboy), I don't see those other properties being enough to prop up the hobby. It will take a long time... you still have to work through a few generations of collectors... but I think the hobby will inevitably deteriorate.

Sweet... and Dianetics too... nice lot. Thanks for the heads up... it's bookmarked!

I was actually watching the recent pulp auction at Heritage... prices seemed stronger. Are you seeing comic collectors migrating to pulps for the covers?

I have his book! No pulp collector should be without it!

Darn... I have a reprint!