mentok1982

@Par2ch Does "facilitating" mean that you are getting signatures for folks that are too far from Florida to justify the trip? I have one book that I want to get signed by both Allen Bellman and Vitctor Carrabotta and I am still looking to find and buy a few more comics for them to sign. I live in Baltimore btw.

All about my trip to Baltimore Comic-Con where I got X-Men 12, 16, 28 and Savage She-Hulk #1 signed by Stan Lee. For some background you can read my journal about acquiring my copy of X-Men #12. http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=5889947#Post5889947 So when I bought my 4 Stan Lee signature tickets from Desert Wind comics on 8/15 for $55 each I noticed that they were no longer offering their $20 Fast Pass ticket which allows non-VIP ticket holders to get in the VIP line. I emailed them about it right away but they never responded to me until the day before the show which was 23 days after I emailed them about it. Thanks for the quick response Desert Wind! Anyway they said that they were asked not sell the fast pass online by the convention staff, but that I could still buy one for $20 when I picked up my signature tickets. I got to the show at around 8:20am (it opened at 10 for non VIPs and 9:30 for VIPs) and I waited in line to get it. I was about 200 people back in line. Once I was on the show floor I made a bee line to wear Desert Wind comics booth was SUPPOSED to be according the map that was on Baltimore Comic Con's website and the map in the brochure that everyone at the con received. What did I find when I got there? A booth for comiXology. Guess what? They did not have my tickets and they did not know exactly where Desert Wind's new booth was. They just pointed me in the direction of Stan Lee's signing area. I ran over there, found Desert Winds table (right next to their CGC submission table) and got my tickets and my past pass. I put my tickets and fast pass in my wallet and I walked towards the end of the VIP signature line. On my way to the end of the line, one guy asked me where my VIP badge was and I told him I had purchased the fast pass ticket which allows me to get in the VIP line. HE LET ME THROUGH WITHOUT EVEN ASKING TO SEE IT! So bascially, I could have saved $20 and just lied to one guy. What was really nice is that the end of the VIP signature line was next to some tables and chairs that were there for people who were eating food purchased from one of the convention food places. I claimed a chair and then asked the nice lady in front of me to hold my spot while I got some CGC forms. I got one form, went back to the line, sat down at the table and started filling out the form. This was the first CGC form that I've ever filled out and even though I have good reading comprehension, I made a mistake. I had plenty of time since the line was not moving yet (Stan started signing at 10:35ish) so I went to get two more forms since I realised that they require seperate forms for separate pricing tiers and I need to use two tiers. Then I managed to screw both of those forms up as well! On one I had selected the Economy tier that requires you to send in at least 15 comics and I made some other mistake on the other form. So I got up one more time, got two more forms, sat back down and filled them out correctly! Woooooo! Not long after I finished my forms the line started moving. It went really quickly and I had all four of my items signed by like 11:17am. Oh remember that fast pass? It is only good for one usage so it should have been taken from me either right before or right after I got my things signed. Did anyone ask me for it? Nope. So once again, if I was a more dishonest guy, I could have saved $20. In the end I asked a guy if I should give him my fast pass and he was all like 'Oh. Yeah.' Now allow me to digress a little about this fast pass stuff. The $20 is not a big deal for me and I think it is really worth the money because I would rather pay $20 than wait in line at a convention where there are other things I want to do. What pisses me off is that their lax fast pass security makes the fast pass pretty much useless. Now that my four comics were signed I got in the CGC line and started putting the comics back in their bags. While I was fumbling with my four comics and their boards I managed to get one of the pieces of tap on a bag stuck to the back of my X-Men #28! Instead of stopping to think about this, I started to pull the tape off very slowly and very gently. Most if it came off clean but near the end of the tape strip it did pull some paper off the back ad on the issue. I was absolutely livid with myself! I am surprised that I didn't Hulk out right there. I managed to get my other 3 issues into their bags without a problem. Now is the part of my day where things started getting pretty awesome. I noticed the guy behind me in line had some really awesome comics in his hands. Comics like X-Men #1, Amazing Spider-Man #1, Avengers #1 and Avengers #4. He looked like he was having trouble with his forms (sound familar?) so I tried to help him out. One of his problems was that he didn't know how much his comics were worth which is important because for comics worth over $3,000 each CGC charges 3% of the comics fair market value and that 3% can fall between $150 and $3,000 (don't quote me on that). To help him figure out the value of his comics I needed to get a close look at them. He handed me X-Men #1 and it looked fantastic. It must have been a 9 or better. His copy of Amazing Fantasty 15 was even better and it looked super bight! The Avenger's #1 was a VF at least and the Amazing Spider-Man #1 was in great physical condition, but the color was all washed out. For some reason he had put Avengers #4 in his bag earlier. I guess he decided not to grade that one. After I handed his comics back to him I started up an app on my phone that gives you comic book values (Zap-Kapow!) since I was not sure what the NM prices were for these issues. I knew they were high but not how high. There prices listed in the app are: X-Men #1 NM=$34,000 VF=$23,800 Avengers #1 NM=$25,000 VF=$17,500 Amazing Spider-Man #1 NM=$60,000 VF=$42,000 F=$18,000 Amazing Fantasy #1 NM=$65,000 VF=$45,500 I was blown away by those numbers. I couldn't believe I was just holding signed copies of all of those issues in my hands! So we both eventually got up the table and we both got taken care of. His transaction took longer than mine of course. My total was a little over $200 and they made me use UPS instead of the insured USPS rate that was listed on the form. The lady assured me that my package would be insured for the full market value of my comics. One of the reasons I wanted to use the USPS is because they are going broke and I think they could use my business. Oh well. So now I am just waiting to get me comics back and I am hoping that they will all get 9.8s. Hey a guy can dream can't he? You know what I wish? I wish I would have read those comics before I had them encased in plastic... 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Ignore this. Linking my CGC account with the forums. Ignore this. Linking my CGC account with the forums. Mop. Mop. Mop. Mop. Mop. Mop. Mop. Mop. Mop. Mop. Mop. Mop. Mop. Mop. Mop. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

All about my purchase of X-Men #12 which is the first appearance of the Juggernaut. I went to my first San Diego Comic Con this year and the one thing that I really really wanted to get was a nice copy of X-Men #12. Why? Well the Juggernaut is one of my favorite comics and I really like buying early X-Men comics. I had found really beautiful copies of X-Men #16 and #28 for around $40 each several months before. I was looking for a clean copy that would cost me between $300-$450. That pretty much meant I had to get a non-graded copy since most 6.5's and up that are graded sell for above that price range. My girlfriend and I scoured all the comic booths we could find and we took notes on all the issues that looked okay, good and outstanding. Even if they were over my budget. It was pretty easy since most comic retailers with the issue were in a special Gold and Silver Age zone on the floor. I think that taking notes when shopping at a convention or show is very important. It allows you to make the vendors fight for your dollar. "Is $35 the best you can do? I found a very similar copy at Mile High Comics for $32" This time I didn't really need to play hardball since I found only one issue that I really like. It was priced at $350 and my girlfriend and I thought it looked really nice. We looked it over, chatted with the owner a little, added it to our notes and then told him that we might be back. We finished scouring the show floor (saw about 4 more issues that I didn't like) and then after a short discussion we went back to the booth with the copy we liked. We asked the gentleman if $350 was the best price on it and he dropped it to $300 without any pressure. I was the happiest consumer on the floor when I walked away from that booth. I actually bounced up and down a few times and hugged my girlfriend. I have big plans for this issue as well. I live right outside of Baltimore, which happens to host the Baltimore Comic Con (BCC). Stan Lee happens to be the guest of honor at this year's BCC and I am going to get his signature on my copy of X-Men 12, 16, 28 and Savage She-Hulk #1. X-Men 12 will then be sent to CGC for Signature Series (SS) grading where I hope it will get a 7.0 or above. There are only 27 SS copies of X-Men 12 in the registry and only 10 of those are a 7.0 or above. The highest graded SS is a 9.2. I will send X-Men 16 and X-Men 28 in for SS grading if I can afford it. I am trying to find out how much that will cost me from Desert Wind Comics. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.