SteppinRazor

PGM New Mutants 98

Hi all.  Question I have especially is on the inside - it looks like a bad ink printing job.  Is this considered a production issue, or would the book get dinged?  Cover first, though.  I didn't realize these were taken with it inside the mylar, sorry about that.  In the top right pic, that line is in the mylar, not on the comic.

Thanks

Weird looking staples.  I don't really get the production related issue thing, and what constitutes that.  Misaligned cover would seem to fall under that, too.  looks like there's a light spine tick 2/3rds of the way down, and the aforementioned crease, and the back is not bright white.   I would guess the same as sassemble.

4 minutes ago, Ron C. said:

If you look on the CGC Home page on the left side you can click "View all Events" to see what shows CGC will have a table set up at.  Comicpalooza is at the top of the list. You can drop off books for grading and not have to deal with packing or shipping to them. As far as return shipping from CGC, I prefer USPS Registered Mail.  They will be insured for more and not just left at your doorstep. If you have quite a few comics to grade on the same invoice, they will likely be returned in boxes holding up to 15-21 slabs each. I remember with the old online form, shipping costs were listed when you printed out your final invoices. I'm not sure where they are in the new format.

Thank you sir.  So you decide how they are shipped back?  I thought I read in the T&C they decide.

I don't have any advice for a comic store, but I have my own business making art and furniture.  I think the most important thing you can have is an SO who is bringing in steady income.  You need it.  And their efforts to take some burden off of you.  Or at least some external income.  Try to think about the amount of money you need just to pay your bills, and how that translates into what you need to move to hit it.  That was the biggest eye opener for me.  If you're paying $1,000/mo in rent, $300/mo in inusrance, $200/mo in security, $200/mo in lights, water, etc., $2000/mo on stock, your house payment, your house bills, food, office supplies, how many comics do you need to move every month just to hit your nut?  No profit, just the nut.  And you can't spend all your time selling comics.  You also have to do the accounting.  And the marketing.  What is your marketing going to be, and if it requires you to not be in the store, who will be, moving those books like you need to move.  Grossing $5K/mo is a lot of comics to sell. Every month.  One down month and you might never climb out of the hole.

Turning stuff over is key, every sale isn't money in your pocket, it's a tiny piece of paying back the money you already spent.  You buy an ASM 300 cheap, that's great.  But you're going to eat $200 at least in food before it comes back from CGC. $1,000 let's say in rent.  Now your $1700 return on it is $500 - whatever you spent on it.  Then it might take a month to sell.  Now you're in the hole.  In my business, I'm out all the expenses for making something, and I don't recoup that until that thing gets sold.  And I'm lone wolfing it, which means all of my effort goes to existing.  I know you don't like to pack boxes, but I'd kill for some unpalatable job if it comes regularly and provides some security, and is peripherally related to what I do (well, that or a chick with money).  Reality will quickly change your mind about boxes.  If your choices are pack boxes or look for a job, then you'll have to decide which you'd rather do.

You'll find a lot of quotes and sayings when you start a business or ask around about doing it.  They are true, but they are the pretty wrapping around a bundle of reality.  Every naysayer and every motivational-quoter is right.  But there's a whole lot of failure points and success points wrapped up in quip sentences. The best analogy I can give is running your own business is like those exercises atheletes do where they are running with a sled of weights attached.  Only if you stop running, you die.  Everything you have should exist with the sole purpose of you turning it into money.  Buy something, it burns your hands until you get rid of it.  You need every avenue of revenue.  You won't just be a B&M comic seller.  Not for long anyway.

Questions about shipping to/from CGC

Sorry if this isn't the right place, or I somehow missed it on the site, but how much does CGC charge for shipping graded books back?  How many do they ship at a time?  It says in their shipping guidelines to wrap no more than 5 together in the cardboard sandwich, but the only limit to how many at a time is the size of the box, right?

Also, is there a way to know what shows they'll be at to hand in a submission?  Comicpalooza is in a couple of days, but they don't mention it on their website.  Was thinking of submitting there.  It's one of the ads on the home page here at CGC so I assume so, but want to make sure.

Thanks

5 minutes ago, Lazyboy said:

No, the first depiction of her true form is not even close to being her first appearance.

It seems like a catch 22, doesn't it?  If fake Domino is Domino's first appearance, why would the true form of copycat be necessary to be her first appearance?  Seems like the logical position for the NM98 position is that it is the first appearance of both Domino and Copycat.  Which is fine.  Or maybe it's the reveal?

I don't like merry go rounds, so I think I'll get off now

1 hour ago, Jaydogrules said:

Whether you want to call it a ret-con or not (which it was, and it wasn't a "couple of issues" later, try a couple of YEARS later, and it wasn't a "story arc", either, it was a cheap narrative device that came out of nowhere, ie, a ret-con), it doesn't change the fact that NM 98 is and always will be the first appearance of the character, likeneness, identity, and name of Domino.  

All the attempted pump and dumping in the world is never going to change that.   

-J.

I believe identity is the rub here, isn't it?  What would be the first appearance of copycat?  I guess the answer to that is probably, who cares.

I've got one copy of each I bought when they came out, I don't really care which one it is.

On 5/4/2017 at 4:36 PM, Lazyboy said:

This is an important point. Comics may be delivered in monthly installments, but they are still parts of a continuing story (we're discussing regular continuity Marvel here).

There's a huge difference between a creative team revealing that not all was what it seemed to be during their run and somebody writing a story that changes/invalidates something from 20 years earlier. Unless one thinks that plot twists and surprises shouldn't be allowed in storytelling.

This seems reasonable.  It's not a ret-con if it's part of the story arc.  Having the next issue reveal a surprise about the previous issue counting as a ret-con seems like a can of worms.  Even if there are a couple of issues in between, if it's party of the contiguous story, that should be taken as a whole.

I'm a total novice so my 2 cents isn't even worth that, but to my untrained eye, I'd guess 5.

What area?  I'm on the east end.

12 hours ago, shadroch said:

Don't be messin with the Steppin' razor. He's dangerous.

 

 

Good tune.  Reality's more like kav's pic though

On 5/6/2017 at 0:28 PM, namisgr said:

No appearance of conflict of interest here.  

I didn't want to say it, being new here

1 hour ago, Chuck Gower said:

This is a thinking they've had for 20 years. DC as well.  

Theyve tried to replace Cap before, and Iron Man, and Green Lantern and Robin, and Superboy and the Hulk and Thor, and many other lesser names...

Been going on for decades.

The problem is, it hasn't really brought the new sales and excitement it hoped it would.

So they reboot, retread and recycle more.

Only in 2016-17, it's somehow became 'political' to do so.

They've tried, but not with finality, so people never got engaged.  They always had the door propped open.  Moving on from Bruce Wayne for example is simple - Batman Beyond.  Story's already there, just need to adjust technology to current.  There's an easy way to move on from each of those characters, but the commitment has to be there to stick it through. 

thanks!

How can I tell what printing an issue is?  OR a TPB (or does that not even matter)?  Thanks

Thanks.  I wore gloves for the picture, but at some point my brother or I transferred it to a better polybag and didn't know it mattered.  I gave it a light wipe with the gloves.  Other than white pages, spine ticks, staples, centering, and corners, I don't really know what else to look for.  I was too trepidatious to open it for inside pics, but thought the rest of it looked pretty good.

2 hours ago, Mercury Man said:

With the exception of Captain Marvel, those were all new characters that were created.    Not some cheap replacement behind the mask. 

I think his point should be well taken, as should yours.  Marvel has and has had diversity, to point to that as a cause definitely seems like Marvel is hearing the squeaky wheel.  However, it needs to lead somewhere, not just a cheap replacement as you say.  One thing is certain though, if they want to survive, they have to move forward.  Stagnate with the same characters and they will eventually die from lack of interest.  There should be a new Captain America.  Steve Rogers must be tired as $#&^%.  There should be a new Punisher (complete with a different name), it's not a stable career path.  And you're right, it can't just be shifting this guy from this costume to that costume and calling it good.  You actually need to do the work - the old guy should go out with a bang and the new guy should be created with the same level of energy as the old one was.

Just making sure.  Thought I was missing some rare variant or detail.  Guess that's the difference between me and the first guy - he's an optimist and I'm a cynic.

9 hours ago, Bomber-Bob said:

I love submitting an unpressed, high grade Silver Age book. Seeing the book in the slab, knowing it has not been pressed, with a high grade gives me satisfaction. I like to refer to it as the book has 'originality'. After all, this is the way it came off the shelf. A spine should not be flat, it should be plump. The cover should align with the pages, not be slightly ajar from the press. Not pressing a book does not seem odd to me. 

Are these criteria people use to determine if a book has been pressed?  Because some of my books look like that, and as Yorick jokes on the last page, my books have been packed pretty tight for what, 22 years or more, so they've been automatically pressed.  So much so, some of the fatter ones (double sized issues etc) have actually had the spine color break, due to the weight I guess.

PGM Wolverine #1

Hi all.  I've got a Wolverine #1 I'm going to send in, but I'd like to get some opinions now.  I haven't opened the book, so no interior pictures.  These are photos, not scans, I don't know if that matters.  They came out pretty good I think.  I had to take an angled shot of the back as there are two... 'waves' I guess I'd call 'em that weren't visible with the straight on shot.  They aren't folds or creases, just not quite flat as a board.

Thanks for looking and for your opinion!

Hey all.  Am I missing something here?  Two very different ebay prices:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/BATMAN-500-CGC-9-2-ANNIVERSARY-ED-SILVER-FOIL-VARIANT-1993-/320806125244?hash=item4ab188febc:m:mPXNYifZ1frfUg2qmYMYTeQ

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Batman-500-CGC-9-8-foil-variant-cover-comic-Knightfall-Azrael-NR-/282417216823?hash=item41c160bd37:g:TtkAAOSwmgJY3wjE

Typo?  Really good edibles? Or is there some difference?

4 hours ago, Lethal_Collector said:

I owned a CGC 10 with a printing defect where the corner atop the spine had frays of fiber poking out

 

Jerome

It seems like this might make sense if the fibers are from the actual cutting of the pages when printed.  I have a couple of never read, worthless randoms that have those because we bought the book, bagged it, and let be.  They are extraneous, not part of the rectangle of the page, if that makes sense.  Like extra fibers, not frays from the corner.

Title says it all, anyone else in H-Town?

Thanks!

I just have one, a random HUlk (268) in Dutch, signed by Sal Buscema.  I have no clue if it's any different value-wise over an American version.