EastEnd1

CGC needs to explain this one. If it wasn't a reholder situation, then the doomsday scenario we discussed early on of straight swaps has become more real... and with a pricey silver book to boot.

Exemplary work as always... thank you so much. This is just horrifying.

I recently got back an order of golden age books... many did have tighter seals all around the case but there were still a few that easily had some give at the centers of each edge.

I remember pretty clearly how hot the Ultimate line was when it first came out. There was a genuine freshness to it. I only ordered one of these Ultimate Spider-Man's from Westfield but I did come into a collection a few years later (actually my wife found it on an antiquing trip) that had multiples of Ultimate Spider-Man #1 and all the variants. That collector had been more astute than me! Unfortunately, the ultimate line didn't have staying power... at the end of the day, I think its separation from the general Marvel universe is what did it in. The same thing kind of happened when Jim Shooter launched his "New Universe" line in the 1980s... except that one fizzled out in record time. The New Universe books still serve best as kindling for lighting your fireplace. This one needed a press to get to 9.8... the little bend at the top right edge came out nicely though...

Ok, here's the big reveal from October 2000... the very first "Ultimate" comic!

I've already spoken about the Batman: Dark Victory series. All of the covers in the series are amazing. This one stands out though... truly demented...

Here's a nice JLA squarebound book. DC referred to their books like this one, printed with thick glossy cardstock covers and shiny paper, as their "prestige format". Maybe they still call it that?

I posted the regular version of this comic earlier... here is the Dynamic Forces variant, a definite improvement! Again, only one word is appropriate to describe it... Pamela

The next Westfield box I opened is from October 2000. For you modern experts, there was one major book that hit the stands that month which I'll reveal last. In the meantime, see if you can guess it.

Hi Folks! Finally have some time here to post another box. Last week I received another group of 20 books from CGC and am happy to report that all but one came back at 9.8. So of the 40 books I've received back so far (there's another group sitting there for grading as we speak), 37 have gotten 9.8s. Thanks again to Westfield for all that great packing!

There's no point to having certified grading, and the added cost of it, if you have to shop with the same diligence as a raw book. And this notion of just "buying from reputable dealers" is beyond disingenuous and pathetically self serving.

Thank you! Will keep an eye out for these...

Thank you so much! That's an interesting collecting niche of DCs that you have. It's been so eye-opening for me to see the broad range of collector interests in the modern age... makes me feel good about the future of the hobby! If you want to take the time to put together a list of DC highlights from that period, I'll be happy to post those books as I come across them. As a quick update, I have received back another group of books from CGC but have been tied up a bit with work. I should be back to posting more books some time next week. See you soon!

I'm not so sure that that's a tear at the back cover staple. The images are pretty blurry, but you can see that the area is soiled in the first picture and what appears to be a tear can very simply be soiling to some raised creasing. The second image obviously shows that the area has been cleaned (and likely pressed... even spot pressed) making the crease much less noticeable... but you can still see remnants of it if you look closely even in the blurry image.

That's a pretty incredible price for this classic cover last night... https://comics.ha.com/itm/golden-age-1938-1955-/superhero/blue-beetle-54-fox-features-syndicate-1948-cgc-apparent-vf-75-slight-c-1-off-white-to-white-pages/a/40254-81053.s?ic2=mytracked-lotspage-lotlinks-12202013&tab=MyTrackedLots-101116

From my armchair lawyering, a criminal case is brought by the State (ie, prosecutor), not the victim. There could be a criminal case still coming pending further evidence gathering and evaluation. Bringing a criminal case requires a higher threshold ("probable cause") and is harder to win (unanimous jury vs majority of jurors). My impression on the civil case is that it came quickly because they are seeking an injunction preventing the scammers from continuing to sell tampered slabbed books, thereby harming CGC's trademark... something they are apparently continuing to do.

I've been wrestling with whether or not I'd be making a public statement or not if I were the owner of Comic Book Station and had been duped. ComicLink did early on, though they've gone silent since. I can see both sides of it... keeping my mouth shut because of the potential for litigation vs wanting to publicly separate myself from the scammers before my business's brand is destroyed. Knowing the magnitude of these numbers though, if I had been duped, I'd be pursuing my own litigation against the scammers. Ultimately, their ongoing silence may tell us something.

Here's the reference in the court filing to Comic Book Station. They are not a litigant however.

Maybe... but that photo someone posted a ways back from the store's social media showing a display of books next to what appear to be a heat gun and a trimming table certainly have me wondering.

The store is named in the filing but I don't believe its one of the litigants.

Don't think creating the LLC after the fact will offer any liability protection for what he's already done... the acts in question were presumably done before and outside the LLC. But if he's continuing to sell CGC slabs, something CGC is seeking an injunction against, then I suppose subsequent sales through the LLC could limit his liability to the assets the LLC holds. This assumes though that the court wouldn't pierce the LLC if he loses the CGC litigation. And presumably if CGC wins, the court would seize and liquidate the LLC if that's where his assets are.

Agreed... and I am also very appreciative of CGC keeping this forum discussion as open as they have. I think it's been mutually beneficial to them and the collecting community, despite the difficult subject.

This pic is making me think of that photo someone posted a while back from one of Comic Book Station's social media accounts showing comic books displayed next to what appear to be a heat gun and a trimming table...

The filing is 27 pages in total (comes up when you try to access on PACER). Don't think he's covered all of it but maybe the most important parts.