alexgross.com

my condolences mike. it's a terrible thing. all the best wishes to you and your family during this time. 

On 6/20/2023 at 4:03 PM, Microchip said:

The ease has arrived.

A few books I've been following in the last few clink auctions have softened consistently.   

Silver Surfer vol 1 has come right off the boil.   #1 is $45,600 on GPA in CGC 9.6 universal.

 

This has been to date in the last 36 months, a blue chip book.

 

with two days to go, the same book is already at 26k on heritage. so the lesson is sell your books there, i guess. 

also, the only sale on gpa of this book in grade in 2020 was for 13k, which was a record high. so if we're assuming 2021 was an outlier due to pandemic, this book is still doing quite well, as are most keys. 

https://reason.com/2023/06/16/the-flash-makes-the-case-against-the-multiverse/

interesting review in reason magazine. i don't fully agree with him, but it's worth reading. he's not a fan of multiverse stories in general. a quote from the piece:

"Like No Way Home, The Flash is more of a self-regarding nostalgia trip than an actual movie, the cinematic equivalent of flipping through an old yearbook and murmuring, Hey, remember when…? But No Way Home, as cynical as it was, also offered some actual value along with its winks and nods and nostalgic remembrances, setting up a warm send-off for more than two decades of Spider-Men, all of whom brought something memorable to the character."

On 6/15/2023 at 12:52 PM, D2 said:

I am interested to hear feedback on this one from boardies.

This movie looks like a guilty pleasure movie to me, pulling on my Michael Keaton heartstrings. I would have a hard time finding faults in this movie simply because of my nostalgic blinders.

saw it yesterday with my 8 year old. first of all, the way to enjoy superhero movies that you otherwise might not is to go with your kid. it's always way more fun because i know he is enjoying it. 

but to your point about the NOSTALGIA factor, i'd say that is the core appeal of this film, or was intended to be. it very much reminded me of spiderman no way home, except not nearly as well done. perhaps this storyline in comics precedes that film, but it doesnt matter. feels like once again DCU is playing catch-up to the MCU. yes, seeing keaton again as batman was super cool. some of the other CGI or AI created other appearances nearer to the end of the film are fun but also very forgettable. i think without the nostalgia factor this film would have been pretty mediocre. with the addition of keaton, i'd say it was good but very far from great. ezra miller is charismatic but also borderline annoying to watch. especially when he overacts as a teenager. 

when this comes on hbo max, i will have no need to rewatch it. whereas when spiderman no way home came onto disney plus, we couldn't wait to rewatch it again. so, in comparing nostalgia trips, i'd say that one wins hands down. 

and i don't personally agree with @jsilverjanet that this is as good as GOTG3. not by a long shot. GOTG3 had better writing and acting, and far better visual effects. 

lets see some pics from this years show!

On 6/9/2023 at 2:28 AM, Bosco685 said:

they've shown the preview for this at both GOTG3 and spiderverse, and it could not look more formulaic and lame. i predict dismal numbers when released. 

On 6/9/2023 at 4:06 AM, Microchip said:

The biggest bargain at the last Clink Auction..

 

And the only other copy I've seen in 20+ years with the full M visible in Marvel.   The only the copy with proper wrap is the Curator copy.

 

 

several boardies here last year were predicting prices would return to 2020 pricing once the pandemic bubble burst. i was skeptical that they would fall that much, but this book is at least one example of that being accurate. this is right where pricing was in 2020 for this grade according to gpa. basically double what it was worth in 2018, but far, far from the highs achieved in the crazy times of 2021 and early 2022. 

On 6/7/2023 at 6:58 PM, awakeintheashes said:

 

Really cool to see the animation changes throughout and oftentimes to fit the mood of the scene. The scene between Gwen and Captain Stacy towards the end really stands out. Really ambitious but done so in a way that wasn’t, “hey look at us. We are being ambitious.” It just worked. 

i thought exactly the same thing in this scene! a gorgeous mix of watercolor effects, dripping paint, evolving color palette, style of characters, and all in service of the emotions in the scene. 

how they were able to integrate different styles of animation throughout the film so well was truly amazing to see. the first film has already been oft imitated stylistically by other animated films like 'puss in boots 2' and 'mario bros movie' and i expect this one to be even more influential visually. 

i have set up at a few shows and bought at many. credit card acceptance is certainly a must. stripe and square both have easy systems and i know square can send you a chip reader. probably stripe does as well. 

On 6/4/2023 at 4:10 AM, Bosco685 said:

Not to worry. From your expert predictions, this is an 80's animation style that will release on PBS, the CW and ABC. All these forumite reviews are a fabrication to build excitement for the nostalgic VHS and Beta Max release.

lol! i put that guy on ignore years ago and my experience here is so much better.

saw the movie today with my son and we loved it. no audio problems. perhaps the most creative animation ever in the modern era. a bit overlong, but really a great ride. we cannot wait for the conclusion. i expect it to break records. 

On 6/2/2023 at 5:57 AM, GreatCaesarsGhost said:

 

they say amputees still feel tingling in a missing appendage years later, and that’s how I think it will be for me

going somewhere?

On 5/25/2023 at 11:28 PM, Primetime said:

I’ve owned several copies over the years, but here is my copy since 2012.

can't see the top half well but wow is that a gorgeous copy, and looks far better condition than the assigned grade. well done sir!

On 5/19/2023 at 10:40 PM, jjfversion1 said:

Have to disagree with all the High Evolutionary hate. I thought he was one of the better comic movie villains in a long time and the over the top acting was great.

His fake crying during that one heart wrenching scene was icing on the cake of a true dirt bag villain. I loved it.

i agree with you! i found him very compelling in general. more than Jonathan Majors who played Kang in the Loki series (and later in quantumania). I don't envy Marvel in trying to come up with the next great villain post-Thanos. 

On 5/15/2023 at 5:33 AM, Mark Warren said:

If there isn't a thread dedicated to the insanity of paying a 5X multiple of the 9.6 price for a 9.8, there really should be. I feel like someday the whole 9.8 fad will collapse and the hobby will collectively realize just how much money it has wasted chasing a subjective and mostly meaningless number ("It's a teeny tiny little microscopic bit better than a 9.6--except when it isn't! And who cares that the 9.6 has better centering!"), but so far I've been dead wrong. I get that for resellers, 9.8 is sometimes the only grade that makes sense financially. But for people who are paying through the nose for 9.8s for their personal collection...it just seems strange.

I started buying comics in the 1970's, off of spinner racks, and I almost never encountered comics that were essentially perfect, even fresh off the rack. 9.8 comics, at least from the copper age on back, just look unnatural to me. I think Overstreet had it right when he listed 9.2 as the defacto highest grade.

9.9 and 10.0 prices are even sillier than 9.8 ones! and i agree that it's ludicrous that a teeny tiny often indistinguishable difference should be worth 5x more. but i dont think it will ever change. too many people will want the status of 'best grade' for their books. 

On 5/14/2023 at 4:05 PM, drotto said:

 

 

Just trying to look at this realistically, because I really like this film, for me it was the best since Infinity War.

strongly agree. best marvel film since endgame for me, not counting 'no way home' since its not exactly marvel. my 8 year old also loved the movie. great writing, acting, visuals, etc. rockets backstory was really moving and well done. but ultimately it was the writing that made this special. and the chemistry this group of actors has had together for almost a decade too. 

also saw a preview for 'the marvels' movie and i predict that will be a godawful flop and incredibly unfunny to boot. 

On 5/7/2023 at 7:32 AM, jjonahjameson11 said:

 

3.  The HA buyers premium- it may surprise you to know that the 20% buyers premium isn’t always in play.  There are several ways that folks have negotiated this down to a reduced %

 

love to hear how we can reduce the BUYERS PREMIUM at heritage. many of us have negotiated better sellers rates for better books, but i never heard of anyone negotiating down the BP. do i have to spend 50k per month or something?

On 5/6/2023 at 5:12 AM, namisgr said:

  As for high interest rates, I'm not clear what the problem is with them.  People can finally earn income once again by methods other than stock investing or speculation.

 

one problem with higher interest rates is that if i sell the home i bought in 2020 when rates were super low, the next mortgage i get will cost me massively more per month for the same price house. so i am disincentivized to sell, and prospective buyers are disincentivized to buy. that's a major reason why housing markets across the country are way down, especially on the west coast. i also have a HELOC whose payment has tripled since 2020. ultimately this also means i, and perhaps others, are way less apt to spend discretionary income. i used to buy a book per month in one or another auction, but those days are over for me now. 

this one ends on heritage soon. i think it's a poor example of a 5.5 book with all the chipping on it. and unless your name also happens to be sam peterson, it is less appealing with the writing so boldly on the cover. 

if i was not broke right now i would be asking for better pics. might not hurt to add some here. good luck with this-- amazing book! 

hate to interrupt the bickering, but yes, it's totally lame that they do not provide back cover scans. for the last year or two they have at least started adding rear scans of key books. but it does not seem that hard to do it for all books. 

i still prefer their site in every other way to comicconnect, for one thing, their scans are much more consistent in terms of quality. their site is much faster and easier to navigate. and if i have books i am considering, i do request back scans from them.  it's an annoying extra step, but not super hard. 

for me CL and HA have been the ones that almost always get my money. at least, back when i was still buying...

On 4/29/2023 at 3:24 PM, Roger66 said:

Faded covers are simply a big knock if not a $ drag on a final auction price and GPA does not and cannot have an asterisk next to the sales' data noting "ugly copy."  When you only focus on GPA recent sales of big keys like X1 without having a fuller picture by doing your due diligence in finding the actual sale - you are often doing yourself an injustice whether as a buyer or a seller because value is very often about eye-appeal  with comics not just the technical grade assigned. I, for example, loathe faded covers  on fairly common keys and would never bid on one for my PC.  My 2-cents.    

amen to the idea of researching actual sales results including the images. also, GPA has broken out faded books into their own category, at least some of the time, so as not to totally contaminate auction averages. sometimes they need to be notified that a sale was a faded copy. but i've been impressed with their doing this in a timely way. 

On 4/27/2023 at 8:08 AM, gadzukes said:

 

The "12c" circle on the JIM83 was interesting.  It's like the black ink didn't take to the paper very well, or it faded.

thats simply glare from the light. note the big bright spot on the mylar just left of it. 

incredible books! 

On 4/26/2023 at 7:54 AM, ThothAmon said:

Bobby Orr, Mike Walton and me!  
 

thats amazing! how do you play ice hockey in the summertime?

On 4/20/2023 at 9:48 AM, Makmorn said:

Yep, a 5 cent plastic seal is the difference between a 9.8 and a 10.0 with a game

And.. a 1 cent rusty staple is the difference between 9.8 and a 9.0 with a book

Not sure what the original cost has to do with either one

It's pretty tough to get high grades with games, I have purchased new games from a store, carefully taken it home and stored carefully, only to have it get a 9.6 A++

This one I bought at BestBuy, paid extra for a bag (they are not free at my local store) made sure it was handled with gloves and still not a 10 or even a 9.8. Stuff happens between the opening of the case, placing on the shelf, and cashiers that don't care. Had a cashier at Walmart drop my games on the floor, and yes it damaged a couple of them. Not sure how you think getting a 10 isn't a challenge.

Also, here is a structurally sound 9.8 Planet comics, it had a small amount of surface rust on the top staple (1 cent variety) and it received a 9.0, check the graders notes.

Condition is everything, book or game. Personally, I wouldn't pay extra for a modern game with a 10, that's not much of a challenge, a challenge still, but nothing compared to a SNES, or any cardboard box game with a 10. (which I have not seen very often) 10's usually only come from a case that is untouched, even then most will be of the 9.8 variety, and it's easier to get a modern case of games than a case of older games. Just like comic bundles, don't know if you have ever seen that, but sometimes they are in bundles, top few and bottom ones have grooves from the binding, but there are some sweet copies in the middle.

i take your point on the silliness of the planet comics not getting the grade it seems to deserve. still, grading comics on some basic level makes sense because some people want to collect an old comic that appears to be perfect in every way. the collectible item itself is being evaluated for condition. rusty staples are an issue because they can affect the book, soiling its pages with brown rust stains. it is usually the corners of a 9.9 comic that differentiate it from a 9.6 or 9.4 grade. 

with a graded video game, we seem to have established the fact that, with modern games, it is a little plastic box (with rounded corners in the case of switch games) that is being evaluated. not the label artwork (hidden under the plastic sleeve) nor the game cartridge itself. i get that with games, the item itself is the total package. and with a 20 year old game, i get the impulse to collect the highest grade possible. but with a modern game like the one i referenced, cgc and their competition titrating the distribution of a couple of 10s just seems a blatant ploy to milk the market. of course this is also done with modern comics too.