Drbearsec

52 minutes ago, mschmidt said:

Nonsense. The whole point of the SS label is that CGC guarantees it's an authentic signature by the person mentioned on the label.

But if some of the anecdotes are true that have been shared in this thread even THAT isn't full proof.  Process breakdowns seem To happen.  

On 5/14/2017 at 9:43 PM, Dark Prime 0 said:

i agree and don't agree, odd i know

the problem is and this is an example.  i watch a friend and a dealer make a deal on a book and my friend says they need to use an ATM or whatever, later the dealer then comes up to me and demands i pay for the book.  the deal was between the owner of the book and jim, not between jim and cgc so really it isn't cgc's responsiblity to make sure a deal is completed (this is assuming a cgc rep was there when the deal was made AKA that he was aware money was owed)

if anything jim should take this as a learning exp.  1 to find out how SS works instead of all the 2nd hand info he's getting, and 2 collect the money up front.  to me he's basicly throwing a hissy fit over most likely $20 or whatever

i'm not saying cgc is in the clear bc as kav stated they could have handeled it slightly differently, but again starlin is upset bc he didn't get paid and didn't like the answer cgc gave him which is his right

Yeah... and you are right.  If this was a court, then CGC would be not guilty.

but from a PR/Service POV they messed up and no worries cost themselves a lot of future money,  in this case they should have done the equivalent of settle out of court,  are they required no...is it good business sense...yes.

19 minutes ago, kav said:

Keep in mind pawn stars experts grading say a babe ruth baseball have more information to go on such as type of ink or balls that were correct for the era, stitch wear etc. 

That's a fair point of course.  In the end the market dictates the value of witnessed vs authenticated etc.  some will be risk adverse and not collect anything but witnessed sigs...other are less risk adverse and will go for authenticated or even raw.  None of these is right or wrong.

On 5/14/2017 at 5:49 PM, Chuck Gower said:

It's not even about the slabbing for him, it's the way CGC handled THIS situation. Here's his full explanation he just posted:

"Okay, there’s been some confusion about what happened between myself and the Certified Guartany Company (CGC) at a convention Saturday, partially because of my own hastily composed post on Facebook. So let’s straighten out what happened, at least from my point of view.
  To start off with, I don’t usually charge for signatures at conventions. I’ve always figured the reader buying the book and helping keep me alive merited my autographing it at events like cons. I do charge dealers for signing multiple copies and large numbers of books for resale. I also sometimes have a charity can at my table for donation to certain worthy causes.
  Until yesterday CGC was something other cartoonist complained about. I had very little awareness of them, let alone how they actually operate. Other artists have always urged me to charge CGC for signatures and I finally agreed that I would do so.
  So I was at this convention yesterday and this fan came up with a CGC witness and asked if I would sign his books. We worked out and agreed upon a price. But before I could sign the comics the witness was called away. At that point I did autograph his two comics, with no witness present. The fan then asked if I would hold his books while he bought a third. I did so.
 He then returned and I signed that book (no witness) and the fan went off to find the witness. Both returned and I gave the fan his books. Someone at the table next to me asked me a question as I was doing so and I answered. When I turned back both the fan and the witness were gone, without paying me the agreed upon fee.
  Okay, the fan may have just forgotten to pay. Stuff like that happens. But when I was able to get away from my table a little while later and go over to the CGC table, to ask about finding this fan, a gentleman at the CGC table told me flatly that giving out any information about their clients was against policy. Seeing as how I wasn’t requesting medical records or a social security number I thought this strange. So I returned to my own table to consider the situation.
  Here’s this company that’s charging some very high prices to fans for a very questionable service and making a very healthy profit off what I am giving away for free. I would think such an arrangement would earn me the minimum cooperation in finding this fan. Apparently it didn’t.
  So I returned to the CGC table and told a lady on duty there that I wouldn’t be signing any more books for CGC and asked they send no more witnesses to my table. I would not be cooperating with their enterprise.
  Later this same lady came by my table to try to convince me I was being unreasonable. I wasn’t convinced by her case and said I would no longer cooperate or deal with CGC. At no time did she offer to help find this fan.
  Now some of you fans out there may still want to deal with CGC. That’s your choice, no matter how I think you’re just throwing your money away. But I won’t be signing any books for them. I will do so for other authenticators, at an agreed upon price, but not CGC. I will also continue to sign books for free at cons, occasionally hitting you up for some charity.
  This is a choice for me to make and I have done so. But I really think you ought to go off and buy your own plastic sleeves to entomb your comics in and stop being suckers for this crazy scam."

Amazing that all of this could have been avoided by the lady at CGC giving him $100 or so to cover what he got stiffed.  Awful awful decision making by those on the scene.  

TEC 27

TMNT 1

Hulk 181

ASM 129

Giant size xmen 1

2 minutes ago, mschmidt said:

There is zero upside to CGC suddenly verifying signatures after the fact; all it does is dilute the Signature Series brand and create uncertainty as to whether a book has a valid signature or not. With the SS program it's completely black & white - if it's in a yellow label slab, you're guaranteed it's an authentic signature.

The "verification" service the other company offers is a glorified COA where nothing is guaranteed - I wouldn't trust it any more than I trust a signature on a raw book.

Which is of course your opinion and one you are entitled too,  however others would disagree with you and in the market place feel more comfortable buying it rather than raw.

i also think the concept beats the green label.  I don't like the fact that the same label that can say that something is missing from a book is the one used for a non witnessed signature.

the market doesn't treat non witnessed sigs the same as witnessed, whether they be green label, raw or the competition.  In the end, market dictates value.

2 minutes ago, kav said:

they can only be authenticated to a percent of certainty never 100 barring other evidence.  Like I am 90% sure this is authentic.

Which is why the different labels.  I mean I'm no expert but watching authenticators on some of the reality shows they can get reasonably close.  The lack of witness or a 100% authentic would thus lower market price accordingly.

4 minutes ago, kav said:

Unfortunately COAs are so rampant with fraud most collectors see as COA as 'this was absolutely forged'.

Maybe so...I'm just saying that signatures can be authenticated.  I mean maybe CGC needs a seperate option to validate signatures but not have the same label as the witnessed series.  The current policy only drives people with already signed books to their competitors.  

On 5/13/2017 at 9:00 PM, SteppinRazor said:

Sometimes, a business exists because it's filling a vacuum, sometimes it exists to meet demand, and sometimes it creates new revenue streams by putting a price on something that didn't have a price before.  Creators signing books and being photographed with fans used to be free too.  Refusing to participate in something because you find it ridiculous is great, but it seems like something different to announce your refusal as opposed to just not doing it.

Yeah.  I have several books signed by Chris Claremont and Jim Lee from 27 years ago.... multiple books and all signed for free.  Times did change

On 5/13/2017 at 8:44 PM, kav said:

Sig forgers around the world love this and wish more creators would follow suit!

Maybe... but then why can't a COA be enough to validate the signatures?  

On 5/14/2017 at 7:03 AM, SpideyFein said:

Well, I am open to trade and time payments.  PM me for details. It's $14,400 too

If it's your dream book, sometimes you find a way to make it happen. Sometimes not. 

 

Sadly I think it would take 5-6 years in financing for me to pay that off right now...Damn student loans!

4 hours ago, SpideyFein said:

No no no, THIS is beautiful. A true masterpiece. Seriously, these are all gems!!! Great stuff!!! I don't think many things beat newsstand fresh Spideys. 

It is also beautiful...but 129 is one of my grail books especially in that condition.  I wish I had the money for it.

1 hour ago, goldust40 said:

Amazing Spider-Man 129 CGC 9.8 Off-white to white pages. $9500.

 

Damn.... that's beautiful.

On 5/12/2017 at 10:55 PM, followtheleader said:

Even if higher, Invincible has never had a following like WD and it's in the mid-100s.  

If there is a movie, the price will be out of the roof.  Including a number of other issues.  Going to be tough for people to put a collection together.  

 I genuinely bought this all the way back to when the MOTU Preview came out.  And I never thought it would see the bigscreen.  Had the opportunity to buy more #1s when the interest was small.  Smacking myself for not buying them when I saw them. 

Patrick

It will go through the roof IF the character is well loved by the general public...If the movie sucks and the character unlikable then it won't.  

On 12/3/2015 at 8:23 AM, Point Five said:

The Escapist #1 -- Tie-in with Michael Chabon's Kavalier and Clay book -- retro GAish stories by a diverse group of talent. Neat stuff. (If you're not overly concerned with condition, I can stick this in an envelope and send first class.)

 

 

 

  I loved The adventures of Kavalier and Clay

On 5/8/2017 at 0:42 PM, Gotham Kid said:

How come this is still here !? This is a top 20 GA KEY !

I'd grab it if I didn't already own a copy.

Cause many of us who want it don't have a spare $14,500 sitting around 

1 hour ago, g-man said:

If you buy the two slabs...you get this book free.

Lol...yeah as I just re-read it I saw that.  Call me embarrassed.  Good deal...I just don't have the cash right now.

1 minute ago, g-man said:

ok how about this with an for the asking price....Catwoman #89 NM/NM+

 

What is the asking price?

5 minutes ago, BeachBum said:

Please note - this book will be released for sale at SDCC - If you order it you will have to wait until after SDCC for it to ship. CGC graded orders will be processed as soon as the book is released but will not be shipped until SDCC is over.

Weapons of Mutant Destruction #1 Artgerm Unknown Comic Books Virgin Con Exclusive

Limited to 1000 made

(10 available)

$40 raw NM+ or better (9.8 candidate)

$110 CGC 9.8 Fast Tracked

$150 CGC 9.8 SS Fast Tracked (Artgerm SDCC)

1 raw 

23 minutes ago, BeachBum said:

Sorry - comicartfan got the last copy.

I actually have three spares so I have you covered!

Thanks!

On 5/10/2017 at 10:57 AM, 1Cool said:

I think buying modern keys and expecting huge returns in 5 years will be tough.  But if you can buy 60 overstock CGC 9.8s of blue chip characters you may be able to see a good return if the low print run keeps the number of 9.8 copies very low.  Even if only a couple explode in popularily there should be people wanting to build a complete set that are willing to pay $50 in 5 years (especially if CGC grading cost go up again in the future).

Which characters?

19 minutes ago, Hey Kids, Comics! said:

This is a joke, right? The whole cover is the sketch. That's an original one-of-a-kind!

No it was a legitimate question.  The picture looked like a printed cover hence the question.

7 hours ago, ivdyer said:

Ms. Marvel 17 Kubert X-23 ResurrXion Variant CGC 9.8 $100  I'll take it....I have 3 (12, 10, and 2) The loves of my life and bane of my existence all rolled up into adorable faces.  

The comics or the kids?  ;-)

Any idea on how many of the venom variants are gonna be printed?

1 hour ago, Silver Surfer said:

Asking $320  + shipping, this is a fire sale and well worth the dollars. You would be hard pressed to get this done any cheaper:

 

Where is the sketch?