CKinTO

Noob question - but if you want to do onsite grading, do you HAVE to drop off on Fri and pick-up Sun? Could you drop off on Sat and pick-up on Sun? (ie. do they need the full 2 days) And do they only guarantee books are done grading by a certain time on Sun (ie. do you need to be willing to wait until the end of the show on Sun)?

Dunno what it means that it's just me posting here from Issue 3 and Issue 4, hah! But picked up Issue 4 yesterday - continuing to move the plot along at a decent pace. This and Mister Miracle are at the top of my reading piles these days and I continue to enjoy it. Just checked comichron (sales from Diamond to retailers), and Issue 1 sold 26.5k copies, Issue 2 sold 10.7k and Issue 3 sold 8.2k. Assume that's sustainable for Aftershock (as Issue 3 was still their #1 book in August) - hopefully it keeps going! For comparison, Redneck #5 sold 13.4k copies in August.

I assume a bunch of people read issue 2? Loved it - the story progressed quite a bit, and the Gerads' art continues to be really interesting. My only criticism was a few times, the art was hard to make out given the "roughness" of the lines (I had to look a few times at panels to really understand what it was I was seeing), but overall, loving this book. Jim Lee did a Facebook Live interview with Mitch Gerads last week, and he mentioned that this is one of the rare titles that Issue 2 was ordered more than Issue 1, and Issue 3 has been ordered more than Issue 2. I picked up a reader copy of the Issue 1 2nd print as well (so I could re-read it before Issue 2), given I got my #1 1st print signed and slabbed by Tom King at Fan Expo over Labor Day weekend.

I agree, this looks way too similar to be coincidence, and without any credit given, that's pretty bad... Given how talented Mattina is, he didn't need to do this, and with Lee's work being public, can't imagine he wouldn't think he would get away with it! Especially in today's age of covers being posted everywhere!

https://www.bleedingcool.com/2017/09/13/separated-birth-lee-jeehyungs-mary-jane-watson-francesco-mattinas-mary-jane-watson/

Agreed - seems lazy on CGC's part, and will definitely make the census tougher to track. Especially since the color virgin and B&W virgins have decreasingly less print runs. I wonder if they even go as far to do the same with the blank sketch covers?

Same, I've seen a lot worse Stan Lee sigs...

I saw that article on Bleeding Cool today as well...

Agree that is strange... the description in the right-hand side could be left the same, but I would think it would be worth noting in the middle (where it says "25th Anniversary Edition") at least if it's the Virgin Cover or the B&W Virgin Cover

I've been reading X-Men Blue and Gold since they came out earlier this year (both are around issue 10 I think, as they come out twice-monthly), as well as the newer Astonishing X-Men limited series (just past issue 2). Here's a quick summary of them to help give you context: - X-Men Gold: the current "flagship" X-Men book. Coming out of the Inhumans vs X-Men crossover earlier this year. Kitty Pride new leader, with Colossus, Nightcrawler, Old Man Logan, and Rachel Grey. - X-Men Blue: Also coming out of the Inhumans v X-Men, this is the "original" X-Men Team (Cyclops, Jean Grey, Beast, Iceman, Angel) from the past, who were pulled into the current timeline by current Beast (during Inhumans vs X-Men) and now stuck in current timeline. The team's led by Jean Grey (and it's this time-displaced Jean Grey that the new Jean Grey book is of) - Astonishing X-Men: a new 12-issue (I believe) limited series, written by Charles Soule, which will be a single 12-issue story arc. Will not be a continuing regular series. - X-Men Prime: this was just a one-shot coming out of Inhumans vs X-Men which gives you the context as the jumping-on point for X-Men Gold and Blue I've personally enjoyed both the X-Men Gold and Blue series (a lot more than the previous Extraordinary X-Men book which was the flagship X-Men book for a few years), and the Astonishing X-Men storyline so far. The whole Variant Cover business is a whole other discussion, but no question there have been many of them throughout all the series (especially the #1s).

The faded grey colored grades are the old cases. The new cases have the grade in bold black. Easiest way to tell is where the page color designation is. The old cases (faded grey grades) have page color designation (ie. White Pages) in the middle of the slab label. The new cases have page color designation on the left just underneath the grade.

at 50% off!

I love this cover, and am getting a CGC SS Mattina copy. I read the book on Wednesday (released on Sep 6, though the NYCC variant is only released at the end of the month at NYCC), and based on the story, who's on the cover...

I've been looking more carefully at these books in past months as I looked to upgrade some of my reader copies to high-grade slabs (9.6 and 9.8). As is the trend these days, only seeing movement in keys, not runs. #101 1st Phoenix has obviously gone up a lot since the movie announcement - in 9.8, this book is crazy (3x the price of a 9.6!)- hasn't been as much movement on #134 1st Dark Phoenix, but as someone mentioned earlier, you're starting to see some uptick. Some smaller keys like 117 (1st Shadowking), 129 (1st Kitty Pride / Emma Frost), 130 (1st Dazzler), 141 (1st Rachel Summers) may have some value if high-grade, but nothing particularly special there. Agree in the 200-300s, only real key is 266 1st Gambit. Mini keys in 221 1st Mr Sinister, 244 1st Jubilee, and 282 1st Bishop. With the smaller 248 1st Jim Lee art and 256 1st New Psylocke. None really moving that much.

Great report, and amazing commissions - agree that the X-23 one is unreal, and awesome that Dawn's making a print out of it! I had no idea who Lights was, but saw your excitement on the main FXC thread when Kevin announced she was coming. She's a looker alright, and pretty cool that she does the writing and art on that Skin & Earth comic!

I'm pretty sure that the new Yellow Labels with Green Stripe aren't only for 1 witnessed sig (+ another unwitnessed sig), although that would be included, but also for any other qualified defect that would result in a green label otherwise. I believe this was a newer label that came out recently, after this original question and answer. https://www.cgccomics.com/labels/ "Applied to a comic book that has been signed by someone of significance to the comic, and also exhibits a qualifying defect or unwitnessed signature. For example, if a comic book missing a page is signed by Stan Lee under direct observation of a CGC representative*, the book will be graded as if the page was not missing, and given the Qualified Signature Series label with a notation of the missing page on the label. Another example is if Stan Lee signed a high grade comic book under direct observation, but the cover also exhibited a signature not observed by a CGC representative. Stan Lee's witnessed signature (Signature Series) and the other signature (Qualifier in high grade) would result in a Qualified Signature Series label. "

per our PM re: combining with my Batman 24 SDCC Exclusive!

I think this was mentioned once a long time ago in this thread, but I picked these up in high-grade out of a $2 bin at a recent show. Not sure how many books Dell'Otto did all the art for (ie. not just the cover), but love these! A 2-book story arc between these 2 annuals.

Dre, definitely family safety comes first! Wishing the best for you and everyone in Florida!

Hey all - I picked up a high grade God Country 1 virgin variant (from the Image Blind Boxes), and it seems pristine except for a very small 1/16-1/8" tear on the bottom of the front cover. I'll call it a tear, although it technically hasn't "torn", it's as if the book was put down on someone's finger which made the cover bend around it (see 2nd and 3rd pics). I don't have good experience with grading these kinds of tiny "tears" - most of my experience is in high grade 9.6 - 9.8 territory, and I usually only deal with spin tics (CB and non-CB) and have a better handle for how these would affect grade. Hopefully these photos are good enough to provide some feedback. The front cover otherwise looks pretty flawless (corners are sharp without bindery tears, and there are no spine tics that I can see on front or back cover). So basically, trying to get a sense for how big of a ding this small "tear" will have on the grade. I was originally going to get this signed by Donny Cates for CGC SS, but probably only if I can salvage a 9.6 out of this... thoughts? Would pressing help at all with something like this? Thanks for your thoughts.

That is so brutal, it's sad to think that our hobby invites characters like that, although I guess when you're dealing with high-value collectibles... Not much you could do about it, and I echo everyone else saying that you did the right thing, that life's always more important than "things", no matter the value. I guess the other take-away from this, as others have said, is not to use CL for higher-valued items. As much pain as Ebay is, for higher-valued items, I guess safety is one of its benefits!

Wow, great story, and great customer service! No comment on you being a big softie...

Ditto, I think this is a different-strokes-for-different-folks kind of deal. Me personally, on any "reasonably high-end" key, I prefer my books unsigned and blue-label. That's just the way I am. But some books which are sentimental, lower-value key or are very iconic, I like getting them signed by the person that mattered the most on the book. And agree with @Timeless icons, for me signature placement (and color) make a big difference. The yellow label books I tend to get or be interested in fall into 2 camps. 1) Unique or cool cover, to get signed by the cover artist (ie. a Dell'Otto, Mattina, JSC, Natali Sanders, Granov variant cover, which is more for my personal collection); 2) A key book signed by a key creator, and again for me, only for books that aren't that high end (ie. Uncanny X-men 248, 1st Jim Lee art on X-Men, signed by Jim Lee; a Dawn or Cry For Dawn book signed J. Michael Linsner given he is essentially synonymous with Dawn). Whereas, for my ASM300 9.6, I have blue-label, and doubt I would ever crack it to get McFarlane's signature, even though that's an iconic book for him and his art. It's a bit "too high-end" of a key for me to want to get signed. Again just my preference. I'm also someone who, rather than try to be completist and get all writer / artists on a book, I prefer just 1 signature, and usually by the person that matters the most on the book. Now, obviously that's a judgment call, but for example, I'd want just Donny Cates on any of his books since he's really the primary draw and reason for those books having gained steam, similarly would want just Tom King on the more recent Vision or Mr. Miracle, as it's the writing that really brought those books attention). This is just the way I prefer it - as is often noted on these boards though, get what you like!

Need more info! Is that a "good cry" or a "bad cry"? haha

As my first con ever, had a great time! Could only get "permission" from the wife to go one day (@Iceman399 ) who politely reminded me throughout the day that she was at home looking after our crazy 1.5yr old , so went on the Sat as I got the Jim Lee experience. Overall had a great time, and while it was busy on the Sat, it was still manageable and only in high-traffic laneways was it "elbow to elbow" for short periods of time. Never did I feel overly claustrophobic or that it was ever "dangerous". A couple highlights: - The Jim Lee CGC experience was great. While it wasn't cheap (C$189 for 3 autographed items!), I thought it was very well-organized. I spoke with Kevin Boyd briefly in line, and he mentioned the changes they made this time around vs Dallas FanExpo, and I thought logistically everything was very smooth (ie. as soon as you get your books signed, you head to the CGC line). - I also liked that the Jim Lee team was offering some additional add-ons (buy a print for $40, get it signed, and also get an additional item signed. I thought this was reasonable, and allowed me to get a Hush trade signed and personalized then and there, rather than try to wait in line for the public signings, which I was originally going to do). - I was also quite happy with the "selfie" that was included in the CGC package (I heard that the non-CGC C$129 package, in order to speed things up, people weren't allowed to go up behind the booth for the photo with Jim). While I think the main reason for that was speed / efficiency, I thought being able to go up right next to Jim was a nice added benefit of the extra $60 for the CGC package) - I thought the logistics for guaranteed seating to Jim Lee's panel also went well. Basically, if you had bought one of the packages, you got to line up outside the room to get first access to seats. If you didn't, you lined up in a separate room. They only let the separate room start filing in after package holders were in. I thought that was fair and worked well. Jim's panel was great and hilarious (and Tom King made a surprise visit!) - Got a couple books signed / witnessed for CGC SS with Tom King and Artgerm. I was a bit concerned at first about logistics, but they went very well. For those who may be interested in how it went, some details below: - First went to the signing area to make sure TK and Artgerm were signing then - Went to the CGC booth and asked for a witness. I was worried that it would be really busy and there might be a waiting list or something, but I was fortunate that there were witnesses waiting around and I got one immediately (Chase, who was great!) - Went to the signing area and the FanExpo staff did a great job of creating lines and directing us to the right place to wait for each creator. I thought this worked quite well to keep congestion in that area of artist alley as reasonable as possible. I had to wait about 20mins for Tom King, and Chase was happy to do so with me. We chatted a bit, as well as talking with other TK fans in line, and the time passed quickly. Definitely a highlight of mine meeting Tom King - he's a great guy, made time with each of us in line for a quick convo (meaningful, but reasonably brief given mindful that people are waiting in line). Believe dscott was handling / facilitating, and went very smoothly. For reference, it was first 3 items free and $5 for any additional item. CGC'd items were US$10/C$15 (a bit of a tough FX rate, but I get no one wants to deal with dollar coins!). I got my Mr. Miracle #1 and Vision #1 Sook Variant signed for CGC SS, and then my Vision trades personalized and signed. - Artgerm booth was easily accessible and didn't have to wait very long. A very reasonable $5 for a CGC book (got my ASM 25 Artgerm Copic variant signed for CGC SS) - People at the CGC booth were very helpful and friendly. I dealt with Melissa, who was great! She coordinated putting all my SS together (with the Jim Lee books) on one invoice, so I paid one invoice fee and combined shipping - Spent the afternoon browsing comic dealers (and then about an hour looking through the rest of the South building). Caught up with Andy at Forest City, Jim at Guardian, and Eric at ER Comics and chatted a bit. I've bought some books from them before, but unfortunately, wasn't able to this time as I'm currently only looking for some pretty specific ones that they didn't have. They're great guys and are quite reasonable and fair in terms of pricing, and I definitely hope to continue buying books from them in the future! I was able to pick-up one book on my list (Uncanny X-Men 134 CGC 9.6, 1st App of Dark Phoenix) for a reasonable price (low-end of 3-mo GPA) from another dealer. During my convos with many dealers, in generally while the sticker prices were all well-above GPA, once they realized I was an informed customer who had bought lots of books before and knew current market prices, they were willing to negotiate to a reasonable price to get a sale done. I guess the general dealer philosophy is start high (for anticipated negotiation wiggle room), plus you never know if someone with deep-pockets will come in without a lot of price info and start with a high "anchor" point. Overall, an amazing experience, and definitely plan to make it next year! I echo Adam's kudos to Kevin Boyd and his team for an amazing comic experience!