wardevil0

You just made 8 guys go bid on X-Factor 6.

No! You can't use dirty tactics like scientific method, experimentation, or the free market to determine actual answers! Stick to baseless speculation and defend it with zealotry! mandatory sarcasm disclaimer In all seriousness, good luck with the X-Force 2 slabbing. I'd love to know when if the NM98 pricing has bled over to later Deadpool. I won't part with my NM98 because I have the title run of New Mutants, but I care a lot less about my X-Force 2. It's also always interesting to see if the collecting world at large is interested in newsstand versions. Spawn 9 is well-known for its newsstand version's relative rarity, but not many others.

Close; as of 10/25/2013 milehigh.com listed X-Force 2 newsstand NM at $12.80 The price is a mile high

Don't overlook the fact that because X-Force 2 has been languishing in discount bins for so long there are fewer high-grade copies out there. Most of the ones you find for sale now are damaged from poor storage and rummaging hands. I did see an X-Force 2 pulled out of a $5 bin recently, but I don't know if the buyer worked out a discount/deal of some kind. I still don't think it's a good book to buy, even for Deadpool fans. This Deadpool was just not the same character when written by Fabian Nicieza vs current incarnations.

NTT 39 is also the retirement of Wally West as Kid Flash. The storyline at the time involved his speed powers causing intense pain due to being exposed to the lightning as a child. This all got changed during Crisis on Infinite Earths, but it is still effectively the end of Wally West as Kid Flash. It also has a white cover, which can be harder to find in high grade. Definitely not a candidate to put your kids through college, but I think it's fair to say "overlooked and potentially undervalued."

Prior to her "getting better" with the New 52, I had considered a couple of Barbara Gordon Batgirl stories to be potentially hot... not sure what I think now. The Suicide Squad 49 with the Killing Joke cover call-back would probably be more in-demand if more people had seen it, despite the awkwardly-held revolver. Suicide Squad #49 Sowcase '94 #12

Marked Scheduled for Grading sometime between Oct 17-21 Marked Graded Oct 22

I felt guilty for even showing up. So this past weekend, I arranged to have a comic-buying weekend tour. I flew into Nashville to be met by my best friend and longtime comic cohort. We hit up several stores in Nashville, Kentucky, and even Indiana before making an appearance at Wizard World on Sunday. Why only one day? We had reviewed the website and saw how few comic creators would be there, and none of the panels looked all that interesting. Our only true objective was the CGC table. He would be submitting his first batch of books, an invoice with his Collector's Society membership coupon and a batch of 15 Moderns. I also had two invoices to drop off. We both prefer to physically hand over the books to CGC rather than ship to Florida; this way we save on shipping costs and don't have to worry about the USPS damaging the raw books. The CGC crew looked thoroughly bored. I did not see them with more than one person at the table after my friend and I had dropped of our orders with all paperwork already filled out. Once again the CGC staff were thrilled to see that we had filled out the online forms fully and even handed the books over in the same order as they were listed on the form. If you want to make a good impression with the folks behind the table, do whatever you can to make their jobs easier. The only other major convention I've been to was this year's Baltimore Comic Con. The price of admission for one day to Wizard World was the same as the whole weekend in Baltimore. The facility seemed to be a bit larger and nicer, and the aisles were pleasingly wide and uncluttered. Unfortunately, there seemed to be a tiny fraction of the number of attendees. I got the hard-sell desperation vibe from so many people in Artist's Alley that I gave up on looking for prints. Even Neal Adams and Mike Grell had no lines! I might've brought something for Mike Grell to sign for Sig Series if I had ever suspected I would be able to walk right up to him. Artists of his caliber were swarmed late into Sunday afternoon in Baltimore. In all, we only really made purchases at one booth, where we found high grade Walking Dead in the 20s-30s for $6-8 each. Hopefully, Friday and Saturday were huge days for everybody, and it was a raging success. Sunday was clearly not going well, and I can't shake the feeling that a lot of small businesses took a hit paying Wizard's exhorbitant prices for table space. You've got to sell a lot of Doctor Who buttons to cover a $1000 for a booth. No pictures with this post, just think pensive thoughts. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

But what about the time value of money? Is it really worth the effort if you're only making $5-10? Honestly, I recognize that I'm being curmudgeonly because I'm frustrated by the long turnaround times I face for books I actually want slabbed, while I see pre-sale auctions for 9.8 books that came out last Wednesday. In most cases, anyone has a good chance of picking up their own 9.8-worthy copy if they'd just go to the comic shop. I get that there's a premium attached to slabbed books, but come on, we've just seen that much of it is illusory after you factor the costs of slabbing. It's not a good thing to get $40 for a $10 comic if you had to spend $30 to get it. Just sell it raw and be done with it. Oh yeah, the intent was to try for a 10.0 and sell it for a zillion billion.

How so? $28 to slab. $39 sale price...I'm not seeing the heat. because modern slabs sell for $15-20 Why bother getting them graded if you're losing money on them then??? i know right? I will never understand the logic of taking a comic right off the shelf, sending it in for slabbing (with the additional $10 for Fast Track) just to try to flip it immediately. You don't even know if the heat will last long enough to be able to cover the investment. Cover price + shipping to Florida or convention admission price for dropoff + slabbing fees + Fast Track + return shipping + eBay and Paypal fees = not much profit. I'm guessing most people are sending in 50 books with a pre-screen of 9.8? In that case you totally waste shipping costs.

This invoice has been marked "graded" as of today, 10/2! This invoice has been marked "shipped/safe," and I got the email notice of shipment on 10/7. That's 77 calendar days after I mailed them, 74 calendar days after the invoice date, 21 calendar days after verified, 17 calendar days after sheduled for grading. I don't count business days, because it's too hard to know when they may be closed for second-tier holidays or conventions. I don't know what to do with myself, another status update! Five Modern Signature Series dropped off at Baltimore Comic-Con on Sept 7 Marked Received on Sept 11 Marked Verified on Oct 9

This invoice has been marked "graded" as of today, 10/2! This invoice has been marked "shipped/safe," and I got the email notice of shipment on 10/7. That's 77 calendar days after I mailed them, 74 calendar days after the invoice date, 21 calendar days after verified, 17 calendar days after sheduled for grading. I don't count business days, because it's too hard to know when they may be closed for second-tier holidays or conventions.

Turnaround time for Modern non-Fast Track: ~50 business days Last July I sent in two invoices for slabbing, one with my four Collector's Society coupon books and one with fifteen Moderns. My four Collector's Society have already been revealed in my first journal: http://comics.www.collectors-society.com/JournalDetail.aspx?JournalEntryID=14286 Now I see my Moderns are on the way. I checked the tracking number, and they have already left Florida to be delivered tomorrow by UPS. I'm more nervous than usual about this order, because it contains some that I suspect did not grade especially well. Among others, I submitted several small-press books from Antarctic Press. There are four issues of Gold Digger and two issues of Mangazine, all of which I believe to be the first of their kinds graded. Unfortunately, not all of them were pristine copies, but with print runs around 1500 copies how can you be picky? I hope they are all at least 8.0s. There is also an Eclipse Extra 16 featuring Alan Moore's Miracleman, and a Whitman copy of Doctor Solar, Man of the Atom 31. The rest are fairly mundane Marvel and DC books. I have not checked the grades online to maximize the anticipation. I'd hate to be disappointed by a grade before I even had the book back in hand. I will record the unboxing event on my cellphone and post it to my Dropbox account, keep watching this space for updates! Until then, enjoy this photo-collage of some of my all-time favorite issues and covers, completely unrelated to this journal entry! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

This invoice has been marked "graded" as of today, 10/2!

Or maybe I just have too many interests As mentioned in my last journal, my wife and I are now homeowners for the first time. We've been filling our evenings with painting and cleaning before we really get things moving. Additionally we're both employed full-time, and are taking a few classes to keep up our professional development, and are trying to maintain our physical fitness (I completed my first half-marathon this month), and I've been doing some extracurricular activities related to the Army (German Armed Forces Proficiency Badge in Silver achieved yesterday). Oh, and I have a little comic-collecting addiction going on. Fortunately, some goals are being met and obstacles are being overcome. But enough about all that, and on to the important things. There have been several discussions about reigning in our collections or deciding to sell off some pieces. For me, the problem has always been in limiting myself to only buying the things I truly want for myself. It's so easy to expand beyond the range of your collecting focus, usually enticed by a good price. But a few months or years later, you're holding on to a book for which you have no strong feelings and don't even remember why you bought (Marvel Two-in-One 54 in CGC 9.0, I'm looking at you). In my 25 years or so of actively collecting, I've found that there are a few themes that come and go, and a few that always come back around. I've picked up and dropped Amazing Spider-man and Uncanny X-Men three times so far, so I feel like those issues are something I should hold on to. Alternatively, I completely lost interest in the cosmic Marvels and have a pile of Warlock and the Infinity Watch I'd love to be rid of. Who can say what will strike a resonant chord within us? My favorite items all have a nostalgia value that makes me remember the way I originally felt when I first owned them, and it's hard to say what will evoke fond memories in the future. One thing I know several of us feel a bond with... original art from the Dani Moonstar backup story in New Mutants Annual 4, "If Wishes Were Horses:" To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

So much for my CGC budget... The days of throwing money away on rent are over; welcome to the days of throwing money away on a mortgage! Tomorrow my wife and I are expecting to sign the documents buying our first house. We've tried to keep the monthly payments as close as possible to our current rent payment, but of course there will be additional new expenses. For example, I haven't had to mow a lawn since I was in high school, now I have grass of my very own. But more importantly, now I will have sufficient floor and wall space to organize and display my comics, toys, original art, and art prints! Before that, though, I get to pack and move everything. More than 11,000 individual issues, plus TPBs, HCs, statues, etc. No fun is expected for several weeks, but due to some fortunate timing I was able to attend the National Book Festival on Saturday and hear Brad Meltzer speak, then sign my Justice League of America 0 and a copy of his newest book, Fifth Assassin. Between this and my four submissions in various stages of slabbing I should be able to get through this period of heavy lifting. I'm always apprehensive during moves; wish me luck in transporting without disaster. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Sent in 15 books on Modern Regular, shipped on 7/22, received on 7/25, verified on 9/16, scheduled for grading on 9/20. Books were only marked "received" for so long, but now two status updates within a week have my hopes up... only to be dashed I'm sure. If I have them back by 10/22 I'll be satisfied.

I finally buy some comics, day two at the con. With all my CGC business accomplished, I was able to look forward to rummaging around for great deals on the second day of the Baltimore Comic Con. I had my want list in hand, and was ready to go. In general, high grade keys and what's "hot right now" were the headliners at nearly every booth, but I had a great time plucking some flawless Alan Moore Swamp Things and a hodgepodge lot of Uncanny X-Men ranging from 153-207. Some of those were pretty beat-up, but some were actually very nice. Even focusing on the $1-$5 books I went through my cash pretty quickly, and got tired of the crowds. I headed over to Artist's Alley to see if how the lines were for creators. I had brought with me a copy of HERO Initiative's Justice League of America 100 Project that was given to me by a fellow collector at my workplace. It was bought with several signatures, including George Perez and Cully Hamner and I was curious how many more signatures I could add. I wound up getting several more; Joseph Michael Linsner, Art Baltazar, Joe Prado, and Chrissie Zullo among others. The big surprise of the day came when I stopped by Richard Case's table. Best known (to me at least) for his work with Grant Morrison on "Doom Patrol," I was surprised to find the pictured print when flipping through the artwork he had for sale. We talked a little about his choice for her costume, coming from fairly early in her timeline with only a few pieces of armor, and he indicated that this is the costume of the era he remembered best as a fan. In all, a great experience for which I'm glad I made the time. I may not become a regular fixture at cons this large, but I've already added Wizard World Nashville to my agenda. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

The CGC experience (live!), day one at the con The first batch of comics I sent off for slabbing was done via Wizard World Anaheim in 2011, so I had a pretty good idea what to expect. The details were different this time, as I sent four books to be pressed by CCS prior to grading and had five to try to get signed. The outcome, however, was nearly the same. In each case I had pre-filled my submission form using the PDF invoice, which saved vast amounts of time and frustration. I thought that at worst I might have to line out an item if a creator didn't show. My friend and I arrived at the Convention Center at about 10:05, expecting to have about a 20 minute wait in line. At 10:48 we finally crossed the threshold and headed straight to the CGC table. My CCS dropoff was almost instantaneous. A quick scan of my forms, a quick scan of my books, and we're moving on. Signature Series, however, was a different story. My forms were filled out, my books were all window-bagged for convenience, but the furor surrounding such big names as George Perez, Neal Adams, and Mark Bagley coupled with Sal Buscema's rare signing opportunity made the CGC table quite busy indeed. At one point I saw three people trying to hurriedly fill out forms for their Peter Parker: the Spectacular Spider-Man #1s at the same time. Mental note to check eBay for PPtSSM sig series in a few weeks. As stated, I only had five books I wanted signed and slabbed: Strangers in Paradise #1 and #3 from the Abstract Studios run for Terry Moore, Uncle Scrooge #219 and #285 for the great Don Rosa, and a Justice League America #1 to be hopefully triple-signed by Kevin Maguire, Keith Giffen, and J.M. DeMatteis. Because my creators were relatively low-wait, I got bumped a few times by mobs headed to one of the bigger creators with mountains of books. When I finally did get a witness, I sped through the process in part because I had a map of the convention floor with my creators' tables marked. Another guy was with us, who had no idea where his creator was located. My map and program got us there right away. Important lesson for signings: Failure to plan is planning to fail, or for those who prefer alliteration, proper prior planning prevents poor performance. The only real holdup was in Don Rosa's line, because he was happily providing sketches for any and all who came by. I enjoyed being there and watching him at work, but I know there were people at the CGC table waiting for my witness to get back there. I regret the inconvenience to all who were delayed, but I must admire Mr Rosa's appreciation of his fan base. I was finished with all my CGC work at 12:52 according to my text message log, almost exactly two hours. It was time for lunch and a break after three hours on my feet, counting the walk from the hotel. The first day at the con ended for me with the Fables panel from 3-5 pm. The Fables panel was enlightening and entertaining; I wholeheartedly recommend sitting in on this one if you have even a passing interest in the current Vertigo flagship. All essential tasks were complete, and we still had all day Sunday to mill around. I'll conclude with a photo of Don Rosa sketching. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Secret origin and part one of my Baltimore Comic-con reflections I guess I should start with a brief introduction. I've been a comics reader all my life, and assert that I learned to read by associating the actions in the panels and words in the balloons with what my parents read and explained to me as a small child. Most of what I had back then were old Whitman reprints of Disney and Warner Bros characters. Even then, I could recognize the difference between average comics and those by the anonymous "good duck artist," later found to be the great Carl Barks, of course. I progressed into Marvel's GI Joe due to the toy tie-in, I still have my ragged first GI Joe comic: the famous #21, "Silent Interlude." I progressed into the Marvel Universe at about the time of Secret Wars, and gravitated heavily toward the X-Books. Bear in mind, this only meant Uncanny X-Men and New Mutants at the time, but X-Factor and Excalibur were soon to follow. I kept this up for about ten years, but by 1995 had quit comics completely. In mid-2001, the revitalization of Marvel with JMS on Amazing Spider-man, Grant Morrison on New X-Men, and Joe Casey on Uncanny X-Men brought me back. Since then, I've transitioned fully to DC for new books. I just don't feel that Marvel is putting out comics that reach me. Ever since Civil War the Marvel characters have been strangers. My favorite part of collecting back issues is the pursuit. I love going through bins of dollar comics and pulling out gems, and pulling low to mid-grade copies of keys. I'd rather have a low-grade copy than no copy. After all, that Fair copy of Batman #155 with the first Silver Age Penguin appearance may be the only one I can actually find in affordable condition. Last weekend I bought a Conan the Barbarian #62 30-cent price variant for $1 that I would call a VF/VF-. Very satisfying. I also went to Baltimore Comic-con last weekend, more to say about that later. A friend of mine flew in for the con, and I brought my most recent arrivals from CGC for an unboxing. I had refrained from checking my grades online so I would learn the grade as soon as I actually saw the book. I had assessed the books to be in the 7.5-8.5 range based on some previous submissions, and was thrilled with what I got back. I admit that I hadn't checked this copy of Daredevil 131 and was surprised to see it tagged as a Mark Jewelers insert. I grew up near Ft Campbell, KY and didn't realize that all comics didn't have these inserts until just a few years ago. I'll wrap up this introductory journal with a photo of the results of that unboxing last week. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.