Joosh

Just an update, I finally did something with some of these

I posted this in the other thread. 
I got the name of the town he lives in, called the police. They knew who he was right away, and said they had already been in contact with him and he's fine.
So, Robert, I hope everything is truly OK, check in when you can, please.

I was just at Barnes & Noble, grabbing a copy of Mad #8, then right behind me came and elderly couple. The man was there to get his copy of Mad, his wife was reading the news to him from her phone to help figure out when the last issue will be there. He seemed genuinely saddened. 😔

No, it isn't. $50 to $500,000 isn't unethical either. The seller should take the time to educate themselves. Educating other people is not my job. Don't offer something for $50 if you don't know what it's worth. It would literally take about an hour of your time to figure out that what you're offering for $50 is worth much more than that. If you are too lazy to be arsed out of an hour of your time to do some research... that is your problem. I don't understand the mentality of excusing other people's lack of personal responsibility in our culture lately. Everyone seems to think that they are owed something. That is not the case in my world.

6.0
i was thinking up to 7.0 except for spot of color loss on front cover below “461”
im not very familiar with GA grading so I may be way off, let’s see what others think.

I was just at Barnes & Noble, grabbing a copy of Mad #8, then right behind me came and elderly couple. The man was there to get his copy of Mad, his wife was reading the news to him from her phone to help figure out when the last issue will be there. He seemed genuinely saddened. 😔

I was just at Barnes & Noble, grabbing a copy of Mad #8, then right behind me came and elderly couple. The man was there to get his copy of Mad, his wife was reading the news to him from her phone to help figure out when the last issue will be there. He seemed genuinely saddened. 😔

Fresh off the mail truck, here it is! @Joeypost did a great job making it look it’s best. The back cover soiling came out amazingly well, finger bends are completely gone.
its a strict but fair grade from CGC. I bought it thinking 5.5 as is, so I’m pleased with my first silver age Batman book.

The grade is finally in! It took a lot longer than I thought it would, but it’s in the mail.  I always look at the posted grades before I get books so I peeked:
 

I was just at Barnes & Noble, grabbing a copy of Mad #8, then right behind me came and elderly couple. The man was there to get his copy of Mad, his wife was reading the news to him from her phone to help figure out when the last issue will be there. He seemed genuinely saddened. 😔

The grade is finally in! It took a lot longer than I thought it would, but it’s in the mail.  I always look at the posted grades before I get books so I peeked:
 

have a great weekend neighbors!

No, not a distinct quota system, per se...just an unstated...or, stated early on...that the market might not take them seriously if they had "too many" 9.9s and 10s.
As a result, because of cognitive bias, there exists now a situation whereby the highest population of graded books...by far...is the 9.8 grade, while the 9.9 grade has a mere 1.1% of the total of 9.8s, lower in population than every grade except 2.5 and lower, and the lowest population of all grades is 10, a staggering 0.1% of all books graded. That doesn't make any statistical sense.
9.8s, on the other hand, account for more than 1/3rd of ALL BOOKS graded, at 34%, over 1,000,000 (500k was the last number I remember)..there are 90 9.8s for every 9.9. There are a staggering 382 9.8s for every 10. 
However, when you look at 9.8s to 9.6s...there's only a little over 2 9.8s for every 9.6. 
But, at least in theory, the difference between a 9.8 and 9.9 or 10 is so minimal, almost no one, even those with long years experience grading books, would be able to consistently grade these books precisely the same, over an extended period of time (say, a month or so between grading events.)
That, and the well known mantra that you DO NOT crack 9.9s and 10s, because you are almost certain to get 9.8s back, no matter what happens, and you have a scenario where nothing but a persistent...if subconscious...holding back of awarding 9.9s and 10s explains this statistical difference.
It's one of the things that has been most frustrating to buyers of the absolute highest quality of books: their is no reward for the effort they put in, no payoff. If their "9.8" looks just like a typical 9.8, with a couple of 1/16" NCB spine tics, a very slight 1/32" crunch in one of the corners, a tiny 1/32" color scuff at the top or bottom of the spine...then what's the point? There are 9.8s that look demonstrably worse than others...and not just a handful, we're talking thousands...and there are 9.8s that have just whispers of defects at the very top and bottom of the spine...still get 9.8s. And to the market, those 9.8s are exactly the same thing.

I feel nothing. 
he can set whatever price he wants, if people still line up for it, more power to him. I would charge for my sig if I could too.

This one is at CGC now. I’m stoked to have a book worthy of this thread.

CGC probably regrets doing it but they did it regardless. It’s as real as any other CGC graded book aside from not being able to reholder it... you may be on to something. I got one as a outside-affiliatelinksnotallowed
 
 

Well no 9.8 for me. I really thought it was a good candidate. Still, for a comic I've had since it came out I can't really complain.
 

I think it's just because there are so many copies of the first printing that it's not hard to obtain, so why buy a 2nd print? That said I actually really like the look of the silver and will probably pick up a 2nd printing copy soon.
My 361 is on its way back from CGC now. I've had it since I was a kid and I'm too scared to look at the grade in advance. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a 9.8 when I open the box. 

Hey I have that one too! Your the one with the 9.8! I have the 9.6.... lowly 9.6  last I checked were only 2 graded, I have another raw, but it is probably 9.6 as well....
Any way Congrats  

@ADAMANTIUM 
Thanks! Mine was just graded early 2019, being the 2nd universal 9.8 on census. I bought this one off the Barnes & Noble newsstand myself. 

I’m an avid collector of newsstand editions. I think there is no clear cutoff for newsstand availability as there are as many exceptions as there are rules. But, very high grade newsies seem to be generally difficult very soon after direct market takes off in early 80’s. Also, coming up to 1999+ the newsstand editions become difficult to find in any condition, let alone high grade. 
Marvel stopped newsstand gradually, ending with books published Dec 2013.
DC lasted much longer, ending with books published Oct 2017.
 
Whether these catch on beyond a collecting niche or not, I like them.
 
 

My mom helped me buy a complete run (at the time) of Spawn, on eBay. 1-72. eBay was a much smaller place back in 98. I actually just rediscovered that I still own these exact copies whilst cleaning the garage. Serendipity!
so yeah she was, and still is supportive. Even now she will let me know when she comes across comics for sale, asking if I want her to make an offer for me.

My mom helped me buy a complete run (at the time) of Spawn, on eBay. 1-72. eBay was a much smaller place back in 98. I actually just rediscovered that I still own these exact copies whilst cleaning the garage. Serendipity!
so yeah she was, and still is supportive. Even now she will let me know when she comes across comics for sale, asking if I want her to make an offer for me.

It’s all iron oxide but the conditions in which it forms are variable and therefore the properties of the oxide differ. 
Steel that shows very dark and smooth has a form of oxide that can be very stable and actually protects the substrate. It can happen naturally or be applied purposefully, called a patina.
the rust shown above looks like the type caused by humidity and will get worse in a high humidity environment. There are treatments that can be applied to remove the crust and neutralize the oxidation but I’m not keen on messing with staples on a comic book. A comic resto business will know your options.