justafan

how did the folks who cut out these wraps from the uncut sheets do it carefully enough to not mess up the cuts? Is it possible some of those also ended up with a trimmed cover restored labels due to improper cutting of the wraps or the edges looking like a fresher cut than the interior pages?

checkmate...or will they target DC Comics someday in the future?

This 100%. As to why they don't always put in notes: (because there's a sig on the cover now -just kidding!) Seriously speaking: in the past I heard it all depends on if the graders had bothered to make note of anything during the grading process. Perhaps it occurs more when there's dispute among 2 of the 3 graders about the grade. Sadly in your case it may have just been more of a slam dunk 9.6 for all 3 graders involved this time around. If you can see it is a soft 9.8, chances are the graders saw it too and gave it the grade it was more closely aligned to. This is the risk with any resub and why I rarely resub 9.8's. I'd like there to always be grader notes as well but I see 2 possible consequences with them doing that: 1. Longer TATs as each grader would have to spend time documenting at least 1 pertinent flaw and then compile them at the end before sending them to QA which would likely cause a delay in their streamlined grading process. 2. The quality of notes that do exist are vague, limited and often obvious. The only ones of real merit are for those that describe interior damage. However, if you force someone to write something for graders notes be prepared for 1 line non-descriptive notes such as: 9.8 - cause it graded like a 9.8 -sure ain't a 9.9 - nearly flawless - great copy - cause it was a 9.8 kind of day 9.6 - better than 9.4 but doesn't look as good as the other 200 copies of the same issue I've been grading all day long - just below a 9.8 - didn't want to disagree with the head grader (or the new cute grader) on my (her) first day - too many defects to be allowed in 9.8 9.0 - sorry I've seen 9.8's with 7 non-color break spine stress lines up to 1/8" on white covers or up to 2-3 light spine stress lines up to 1/8" on both the front and back covers where one shows hint of color break on the spine on darker covers. I wouldn't resub any of those as they could be a 9.6 on a different day. I've seen 9.6's with only large bindery tears in excess of 1/8" or ones with 3-4 light Non-color break spine stress up to 1/8" as well as others with only 1 spine stress line with color break up to 1/8". My advice is if it is borderline 9.8, don't resub and if you do, expect it may come back lower. Same if it is borderline 9.6 as it could come back a 9.4.

Should we judge the kid based on the sins/views of his parents? Should we judge the quick reaction of a celebrity who was just trying to do a good thing for a kid rather than to pre-emptively do a background check of the mother and the situation to determine if it would ultimately make him look bad? True charity is blind and thankless and no good deed goes unpunished. When you decide to give you accept the risk along with the reward, especially if you publicize it. Rarely is anything just black and white once you dig deeper. Just read the article and watched the video. The kid was being bullied because of the way he looks. It doesn't appear that the parent's political views were the reason the kid was being bullied and should have no bearing on how one should feel or change their response to anyone being bullied like that. Even if that was the reason he was being bullied, wouldn't this be a great opportunity for someone like Chris Evans and others to bring everyone together help educate and provide a better example for this kid and maybe his parents? Turn an awkward situation into something better hopefully? The irony is now both the mom and kid are now being bullied online for her personal views. What do I know, I'll go back to try doing whatever it is they pay me for around here now.

Money and fame are a great motivator...even more so when work becomes scarce for actors. For the studios too. There's so much great content from historic epic fights Marvel and any other licensor (is that a word?) would have to really hate money not to cooperate to bring these to comic fan's mighty dollars: Wolverine vs Spider-man Wolverine vs Captain America Wolverine vs Hulk Wolverine vs Punisher Wolverine vs <insert other badass Disney owned character here> Either-way, I hope it works out and though it would be nice to get the FF into the movies, I'm more interested in getting Silver Surfer and their villians: Galactus and Dr. Doom. I always felt it was the complexity of the villians that drive the story and bring out the depth in the super heroes. Nevertheless, it's an exciting time to be a fan!

a few thoughts on this: 1. thanks SLCC for messing with with SDCC and ruining it for all other comicons 2. If you're planning on doing something that could be misconstrued as wrong/illegal that you wouldn't want anyone else knowing don't disuss it over any recordable or interceptable media like email, text, phones, posts, letters, etc. 3. If and when there are no more comic vendors at SDCC the irony of the show will be complete.

for 20% off. This will likely be the final markdown. I'll leave it up for a couple of days before moving stuff to ebay where things tend to move quicker at a higher markup but so be it. Was testing the waters here before listing some higher end stuff but I may have to just settle for ebay. Thanks for looking.

just finished. I was surprised there was even an ep13 but happy to have 1 more. I understand why it is there but the execution leaves a bit to be desired. it also seems a bit disjointed and rushed as if they shot it not sure if they were going to include it. one scene that seemed off was when micro was nervous about finally having dinner with his family at their home when they all just finished spending a couple of days confined to a safe house apt with the fbi and micro having a quickie with his wife. Figured when he didn't kill Russo that was the birth of a new villian.

I don't think you're allowed to purchase tickets in both returning registration and open registration using the same member ID. One of the reminder messages that flashed during the returning registration waiting room as tickets began selling out said that if your member ID is chosen to buy tickets in returning registration it will not be allowed to be used to buy tickets later in open registration. When only Sunday tickets were left I bailed from the waiting room as I'd rather have another shot at preview night and the other 3 days than go at all for just Sunday. Going to try again next week for open registration. I might even be willing to roll the dice and join a group if anyone wants to try to team up on registration.

I noticed a similar discrepancy when paying foreign sellers on ebay. At checkout I'm given 3 options with 1 being paypal and the third being my CC directly. When I selected the option for paypal (even though my CC is the default payment method in paypal) it gave me a price that was different than the ebay conversion estimate from the original listing page (higher). I recalled that some CC's don't charge exchange fees and have more favorable exchange rates and so I decided to try seeing what my CC options would show. Sure enough, once I selected the direct CC option, the price changed slightly (decreased) but matched more closely within 1 cent to what ebay's estimate was. The difference on a $25 item from Canadian $ was about $1-2 but you can see where it could easily have been larger on a more expensive item. From that point on I always made sure to choose the CC option if it is available from the ebay purchase checkout page instead of paypal for foreign transactions. I'm wondering if that difference is their foreign transaction fee or their advantageous exchange rate. In either case, it seems they were making more off each transaction than their standard 3% fee.

for 15% off listed prices. See 1st post on page 1 for list and price. Not sure how much lower I can go before this heads off to ebay if no interest but I'll leave it up here for a few more days.

for 10% off all listed prices. See 1st post on page 1.

USPS hands down. Never received a bad package from UPS or FedEx and even what minor dings and scuffs those packages had never came close to the all out effort USPS employees, sorting systems, and vehicles did to many a USPS package small or big.

Ive been burned too many times with comiclink to not request a back cover scan or even a close-up or new front cover scan. I never buy a graded comic without seeing the back cover. comic link doesn't volunteer back cover scans but they will send it to you if you ask. the catch is that they will only do so once the auction for the item is already underway and you have to call. All my email requests were ignored. I called for the back cover scan on some books from the last featured auction a week before the auction started and was told to call back when it started or a few days into the session since they wouldn't be able get it before then. no explanation as to why but a week and a day later I called back and they took my request along with my email and also asked me to send them an email with the specific books. I sent the email to buysell@comiclink.com. 2 days later I received a reply from Colin@comiclink.com and had my scans. 6 confirmed my desire to buy and upped the bid, 2 confirmed my desire to underbid and the other 2 were so bad that I passed on bidding. The only way to get comiclink to include scans with their auctions is if you bombard them with enough requests for back cover scans or bid low if they fail to provide them.

There might be too many shows or maybe I'm just going to too many shows back to back too often. As a buyer I got stock fatigue seeing the same dealer stock digging through the same long boxes show after show, dealer after dealer from the east coast to the west and back. I spent less on comics this year than in any of the previous 3 years and my bank account is the best reflection of this. however it isn't for lack of finding great books being offered at shows. it's for the simple fact that I'm down to the more rare items needed for my collection and my tastes for common items has me focused on the highest attainable grade with the best presentation possible and I'm just not finding those at many shows. Not really dealers fault as I probably don't represent the majority of collectors and the stuff I'm looking for likely sells long before they make it to shows or before the doors even open. The veteran big dealers seem to consistently do well enough to keep going. I met 1st time dealers at sdcc that did ok or at least broke even after slow starts. I saw some of the big guys bring in fresh stock that I managed to find something to buy but that was all at the same show in baltimore where I did most of my buying. What worries me is the high booth prices for all these shows. I realize for many dealers the opportunity to raid other dealers stock and make it a mini vacation make the overall cost worth the trip but worry that it limits what stock they bring and what smaller dealers can afford. if you're already down $1k-3k that's a large hole to make up for small dealers (worse at sdcc). and how do you keep that up at back to back shows? big dealers can make that up with a few big sales. smaller ones have to grind it out depending on their stock. from my experiences this year talking with different dealers: 1. whales with bags of cash still do appear. there was a guy at baltimore with $50k+ in rolls of $5's and $1's that paid full price for whatever they bought and another at heroes or dc that had a bag o' cash for buyin. 2. There's no shortage of dollar box divers. comics4u at Baltimore had a great setup and it was busy all weekend. 3. the population of speculators and investors has grown as has the age and gender range. Lots of preteens digging for the next hot book and many of them female. 4. con prices = ebay prices. negotiations seem to start from there or slightly above which has turned me off from some dealers but they find it necessary since everyone now expects a 20% discount from whatever you're asking. 5. I see more buyers for those pop dolls than comics sometimes. are those the next beanie babies? Maybe there are too many shows or maybe we just go to too many to appreciate what is there. I'm cutting back next year to Heroes, awesome con, and baltimore with c2e2 or wizard chicago being my new test market for buying. SDCC didn't pan out very well last year

oops. relocating it. I started readin the con show bubble burst thread and somehow ended up posting here instead.

this space for rent

what was in the other 4 random boxes you bought for $150? I thought his strategy was going to be him picking box #1 which would be sprinkled with some goodies and offer you a borderline decent price that he knew you'd accept then hand you box #2 with more drek but still a bit of goodies at a less favorable price but still tantalizing you into a 3rd and 4th box. However, his actual method seemed better: let you go though boxes, let you pick out the box you were interested in and make you a decent offer on the box that you'd accept and then after he had you hooked on 2 solid boxes, go in for the kill with a bulk purchase for a set price. If he's willing to do $37.50 per box at a random amount he's probably just trying to get more than $20-25/long box at this point. Which means he probably already made $40 and $30 profit (or acceptable margin) on the initial 2 boxes and tested your interest at a $50/box price point but found it at $37.50 per box. If you want to proceed and think the rest are worth it I wonder if he'd take $30-37.50/box for the rest. If the other 4 boxes you bought were nearly all drek then you can see where his strategy was. Not bad. Great way to get rid of drek along with your good stuff.

I called ebay support and inquired about the proper procedure for this. They advised since the seller was already in agreement to process a full refund that he would simply need to complete that through paypal and then proceed to have him open a case with ebay to file a claim against the GSP shipping charges due to damage. I thought I heard that GSP does change the packaging to pocket the difference. However, in this case I sent him photos of the envelope it was delivered in and he confirmed that was how he normally ships to local (domestic) customers. I can see where filing the claim as a buyer might be the proper way to go but I never saw that as an option without opening a case and the ebay rep actually discouraged me opening a case if the seller was already willing to refund me the money.

This is also why it is only on streaming. The only way CBS could get away with as edgy or gritty of a show while not losing out to other streaming services is to take it off broadcast which is subject to numerous language and content restrictions that would have limited the language and situations they've portrayed. My other thoughts on this show are: Klingons: while I really don't like their representation here, it seems that they are trying to portray a fringe and radicalized faction within the klingon empire as well as a possible evolutionary deviation or mutation from the race we've come to know that may possibly be explained later. There's also a thinly veiled political portrayal of the radicalism of religion off-shoot that they represent following tradition from other Star Trek series where the different races were analogous to various real-world antagonistic or allied regimes. It's possible that the result of this conflict and its outcome will fit into where the Klingon race and relations with ST TOS begins. If Roddenberry were alive I don't think he would have had a problem with the special effects some have mentioned other than the continuity of the display and use of technology. The main reason they didn't show the mangled bodies back then was due to limited budget and special effects as well as sensitivity to broadcast standards/PG ratings. However, he was known to be very contradictory in his own efforts on ST TNG when it came to preserving his vision. Of course, after his death the TNG producers attribute the success of TNG's turnaround to him no longer being around to dictate and confound the writers and producers. Lastly, I agree that Orville has done a much better job capturing the imagination and presenting the type of story and plot that many of us are used to and long for from TOS and TNG. The adventure of exploration, discovery of "strange new worlds and civilations", and encounters that are mind-blowing. They involve a certain Twilight zone and outer limits style or a controversial juxtaposition of current political hot topics like the conflict on a rare female infant in an all-male race as a metaphor for views on homosexuality and gender identity in our current times. Or the bio-ship adrift in space for thousands of years with primitive inhabitants that have long since forgotten and are oblivious to the fact that they are in fact on a space ship rather than a planet. I can see that ST DIS has shifted gears quickly from it's cinematic conflict driven first 2 episodes to a more familiar if not formulaic exploration and discovery-based plots. And I really like that they are doing their research and tying in to events and characters that are ST cannon. Now that the season is over I will wait to see if it appears on another streaming channel I already pay for or I may just have to bite the bullet and pay for 1 month of streaming access to binge it and then cancel.

That might be what they said when they made ST TNG a direct to syndicate show sold to another network rather than a regular slot on one of the big 3. It had never been done before. The interesting thing here is they are also judging and testing their streaming apps success based on this show as their main anchor for content. Perhaps they're betting on the grittiness of this show (ala Netflix formula) and it's loyal fans to buoy their streaming base. If ST DIS fails, so might their stream.

Hi folks. I know there's been a bunch of pros and cons with GSP and discussion about it. I just wanted to provide some info and guidance for anyone who uses GSP or thinking of using it for the first time based on a case I just encountered. Seller was using GSP for the first time. The comic arrived damaged in the mail due to it being shipped in a flimsy envelope with minimal cardboard protection not suitable for shipping internationally. After contacting the seller it became evident that he hadn't realized the item was destined for another country. The reason is that the shipping address he sent it to was another domestic city (GSP location) so he thought I was just another local buyer. He stated that had he known it was destined for the US overseas he would have packed it far more securely for shipping. Apparently he never saw the final destination. He also was unaware his listing was using GSP. I explained that ebay sets that as the default in your account settings and when creating or renewing listings you often have to go in and disable it from your preference or make sure you continuously check your new listings to ensure it is unchecked in the shipping options. In the end he was very agreeable and provided me with a full refund. GSP then refunded me the shipping I had paid. I haven't had to ship anything internationally using GSP so I don't know if you ever do get to see the final destination address. If it does show up somewhere it may just not be very obvious. I would caution others to always check for GSP being enabled as an option before publishing their listings and if you do want to use it, familiarize yourself with the GSP locations in your country so that you can recognize them as GSP rather than final destinations for your packages. Then if you do see one, try to look for the actual final destination or call ebay and see if they can locate it for you to help you determine the level of packing you'll require to get your comic safely to the buyer. As should be obvious, any comics shipped internationally should be wrapped in plastic/bubblwrap and packed in a box or in heavy thick cardboard slabs or some other manner that is well protected and charge shipping accordingly. I'd rather pay appropriate shipping than risk losing another comic.

I liked it. Tidbits that seemed to corroborate or source from the untold history of Marvel Comics and other similar books published about the comics industry were neat. The parts I liked best were the sound-bites from Kirby and photos of Ditko, Kirby, and Stan at their different ages providing faces to names that I can now reference when thinking of them. Really interesting were a lot of the 3rd party accounts of their relationship and behaviors. The interview with Stan when he was point blank asked about why Kirby left was revealing just in the moment of silence and facial demeanor change before he responded that he doesn't really know why. I also gained a better appreciation for why Kirby drew the way he did and as even Stan agreed that although Kirby was not the best at drawing anatomy, it was his ability to articulate complex expressions and emotions in the character's faces and in the dynamic scenery of the art in each panel that brought the reader into the action. I'll keep watching.

I'll probably just buy the Disney movies that get removed from Netflix which is probably what their goal is anyway. The only way I see paying for the Disney stream option is if they also picked up the chunk of generic Netflix/Amazon basic content too so I could justify dropping Netflix until the next Netflix Marvel show comes out. But if they price disney too high, it'll still be cheaper to buy the disney movies your kids watch regularly than pay for a monthly subscription. I'll just have to start managing my subscriptions throughout the year based on content. Drop a stream pickup a stream like fantasy football for streaming.

agreed. I did the 7 day opt out trial CBS stream offered and watched the first 4 episodes of STDiscovery. I like it but keeping the subscription for just that show is basically the same as paying a monthly subscription for just 1 show. I know many of us already do it but we're already sucked into those shows and some of those streaming services offer much more than just 1 show as a hook. For me its: Netflix $11/mo, (multiple shows): Marvel Netflix exclusives (Defenders, DD, Punisher, etc), Star Trek (TOS, TNG, DS9, Voyager), Breaking Bad, House of Cards, etc, and the occasional good movies release, and Disney Movies Hulu $12/mo (3 shows): Orville, Marvel Agents of Shield, and the voice (we don't have a DVR so this is the next best thing. Amazon $8.25/mo (1 or 2 shows): Vikings and Man in the High Castle but more recently NFL Thursday Night Football, but mostly just because it comes with the prime membership. Netflix has almost the same and more. SlingTV $44/mo (2 shows and NFL): AMC Walking Dead (my girl still makes me sit through this show), the Voice, NFL broadcasts on NBC, FOX, and ESPN. Sling now has a cloud DVR option for $5/month so that'll make watching those shows easier. Have to pay extra for ABC and CBS I think but may also not offer them. FOXSportsGo: for NFL broadcasts around the country. It's free. HBOGo: (1 show and movies) Game of thrones but now only because my cable provider gave me HBO free and at an overall cheaper price than if I had just cancelled my TV service and did Internet only. (paying me to keep cable?) So yeah it's starting to add up to now $76/mo. Now if I have to pay for Disney or any other streaming services, it'll basically equal the cost of a normal HD cable service plan with DVR. The only real difference between paying $150 for streaming services + internet and paying $150 for cable & internet is that you can actually cancel the different streaming services at no cost or penalty during different dead times during the year and then renew. Cable still balloons to $200+ once the promotions end so that's streamings only real edge right now. I'll probably wait until STDisc season 1 is finished and do the 7 day trial again and binge it.