valiantman

I'm curious if this hobby has obvious ways to prevent counterfeiting?  Lots of retro shirts are printed, and many washes and artificial wear could easily make them look 40 years old. Does anyone know if there's a "reference guide" on how to identify originals?

I guess one good thing that comes out of this particular collectible (as a memory) is that I never had any shirts with value in the first place. My entire wardrobe in the 1980s was just child's size versions of whatever my Dad wore. I don't think anyone's paying thousands of dollars for this yet, are they?

On 9/19/2023 at 2:28 PM, Dr. Balls said:

I will not understand the collectibility of tshirts or shoes for that matter, but to each their own.

Each generation's "this is neat but I'm going to throw it away when I'm done with it" becomes the next generation's collectibles.

On 9/19/2023 at 11:38 AM, MAR1979 said:

On 9/13/2023 at 9:19 AM, valiantman said:

I'm not sure if this is an unpopular opinion or just one that most people have never thought about...

The average grade for surviving raw (and graded) comic books from 1933 to 1999 is nearly always the year divided by 10 (or lower).

Surviving comics from 1938 always average 3.8 or lower. Surviving comics from 1965 always average 6.5 or lower.  Surviving comics from 1979 are always 7.9 or lower. Surviving comics from 1992 always average 9.2 or lower.

It doesn't seem like that would be true because calculated CGC averages are often higher, but CGC grading is only done with copies "worth sending to CGC"... not every surviving copy.

Generally speaking, if you want an above average book in your collection, just get one that's higher grade than the year.  (Higher than 3.8 for 1938, higher than 6.5 for 1965, higher than 9.2 for 1992, etc.)

Except on outliers a 9.4 on a 1992 book is pointless for ROI. perhaps even 9.6 as well. But yeah the math is fine for X axis but Y needs to be pointed to desirability Beyond me though on how to arrive at that number

You'll need to want the book for your collection first. 

Nothing in what I posted is about ROI.

On 9/17/2023 at 7:22 PM, Microchip said:

This isn't what I watched, IMDB has this as 55mins, what I saw was 8mins long.  

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13622790/

The episode detail in the IMDB is correct. Episode 1 ("Part One: Master and Apprentice") was 56 minutes (including all the credits).

About 1-in-16 different books (17,800+) graded by CGC have no art notes and no content notes on the label. (66,000+ slabs)

On 9/14/2023 at 2:45 PM, MAR1979 said:

@valiantman

Is it possible for me on your site to generate a list of the top All-Time 9.8's?  If not Please post the data for the top 50 - thanks

 

What is considered a "top all-time 9.8"?  If it's based on sale prices, my site doesn't have any dollar amounts, just CGC census data.

On 9/7/2023 at 2:35 PM, NewEnglandGothic said:

Here's a great example of a technically well-made comic book movie that evaporates from your memory right after the credits stop rolling.  

My name's Teefs

... is a fun way to break awkward silences, unless you happen to be lying on the floor.

On 9/14/2023 at 2:23 AM, BA773 said:

The greatest question is in which situation this character has been constipated?

Springsteen concerts

On 9/14/2023 at 3:57 AM, Ken Aldred said:

NM- used like that simply telegraphs…

‘Well it’s obviously not mint, but I can’t grade, so who knows anything else about it other than that. Yes, I’m useless.’

Look, I’ve participated in some of the grading contests here, ended up next-to-lowest in the rankings in one memorable example, and clearly my slab or bag grading ability is atrocious.

But, at least I can admit to the shortcoming.

But you aren't trying to trick people into overpaying.

On 9/13/2023 at 9:42 AM, Dr. Balls said:

On 9/11/2023 at 3:09 PM, valiantman said:

A.I. wasn't even needed. We did it to ourselves.

This is what I think as well. If the human race needs to develop a computer to do the thinking for us and do it faster, doesn't that say a lot about how we've lost the handle on managing ourselves as a species?

It really gets into some philosophical (and possibly even religious) thinking, when you start asking these kinds of questions. There are eight billion people on the planet, how many know how to find food continuously without stores or restaurants? How many would have clean water for months if it didn't come through their pipes?  We can drive thousands of miles from home without any knowledge of how the engine works except "put gas in when the line points towards E". We don't actually understand how the internet works, except how to turn the router off and back on. In each case, there are only a few humans who control the things I've listed for the billions of others who hope those few humans will always be there doing those things.  AI seems to freak people out because they think the number of humans in charge would drop to almost zero. Compared to eight billion people alive right now, the number of humans who know how things actually work in our lifetimes has always been almost zero. But, by all means, let's freak out about computers that still put six fingers on the hands of a drawing in a computer-generated graphic novel about... some fiction something.

On 9/13/2023 at 9:39 AM, Dr. Balls said:

On 9/13/2023 at 9:37 AM, valiantman said:

NM- is similar to 13+ on movie ratings...   >13 and <NM

Everything above 13 qualifies for the movie, and everything below NM qualifies for the grade.

So, if it's PG13, it's probably good to watch, but PG is kinda lame?

If the seller uses NM- to indicate everything below NM qualifies for their grading, yes, they are less than 13 years old mentally and very lame.

On 9/13/2023 at 9:37 AM, The humble Watcher lurking said:

I wonder if there will be any AI grading of collectibles? I could see sports cards and coins because they have to just scan just 2 sides, but for comic books, it might be a challenge to open up the comic and look at every page, plus count pages.

 

It should be really simple, especially if thousands of copies of each card have been seen by the data driving the AI. You would be able to determine angles on corners, width, length, centering, quality of print, etc., and even include percentiles automatically.

This card is at the 50th percentile on centering and angle of corners, in the top 10% on the number of printing defects, however, the width is in the bottom 3% and the card has likely been trimmed.

On 9/13/2023 at 5:55 AM, Dr. Balls said:

On 9/11/2023 at 6:41 PM, JollyComics said:

I think those sellers are using NM- to attract the buyer.  It works but it's stupid move.

“It’s Near Mint MINUS, you know - just a few defects.”

NM- is similar to 13+ on movie ratings...   >13 and <NM

Everything above 13 qualifies for the movie, and everything below NM qualifies for the grade.

Disney has caused people to think their favorite characters from Marvel and Star Wars are raccoons and whales. I don't even recognize my childhood anymore. Get off my lawn. 

"In my day, the best people in comics and science fiction movies were still people, and weeeeeeeee liked it!"

On 9/12/2023 at 7:28 AM, the blob said:

Doesn't the current state of digital art allow someone with C- physical illustrating skills to create something that looks professional even without an AI boost? I guess AI may make it all quicker if used properly and may save a lot of time on more mundane stuff like backgrounds.

Calculators allow someone with C- math skills to correctly determine that 345 times 678 is 233,910, and the square root of 233,910 is 483.64243. What happened to all those hard-working professionals who had to do those kinds of calculations by hand? They lost their jobs. No one does math anymore. It's impossible to come up with anything new in math because calculators took 'er jerbs.

On 9/12/2023 at 3:29 PM, Lazyboy said:

Okay. I was pretty sure you were just railing against manufactured collectibles.

Abbbb...soooooo... lutely.

On 9/12/2023 at 1:55 PM, Lazyboy said:

So you were specifically talking about comics and are saying that issues like ASM 252 are not worth owning?

I'm saying that it's fantastic for the hobby when something that was once worthless becomes a collectible. Every single Golden Age comic was once worthless. Most Silver Age books were once worthless. Bronze Age 30 and 35 cent variants were once "no different" than their regular price counterparts. Second, third, fourth, fifth print Copper books were worthless. Baseball cards were put in bicycle spokes, Star Wars toys were passed down, Lego sets were always opened, video games were sold for almost nothing in garage sales, VHS tapes were clearance items. These examples are all collectible many years after they were deemed worthless. 

Meanwhile, there are $1,000 brand new comics. There are $500 brand new packs of baseball cards. The most valuable sportscards of all time include cards printed since 2000. It's possible to "manufacture" any new collectible at whatever value (or limited quantity) you want it to have, but these are manipulations of the original hobby.

Collectibles worth having were once worthless.

This is from 2017...

I think variant fatigue was already in full effect by 2005.

On 9/12/2023 at 12:36 AM, BA773 said:

On 9/11/2023 at 4:04 PM, valiantman said:

UNPOPULAR OPINION:  All collectibles worth owning have a period of time when they were considered worthless.

This is not possible considering any stuff which the original value is really expensive. Like you would say that there is an instant where have a Ferrari Collection in your garage  was worth nothing at a given moment? 

I can't picture a shelf with a dozen slabbed Ferraris.

UNPOPULAR OPINION:  All collectibles worth owning have a period of time when they were considered worthless.

The numbers will tell the story.  All our anecdotes about "perfect newsstands" and "destroyed direct editions" won't mean squat if the availability consistently tells a different story.  So far, it's pretty clear... except for books where the direct edition collectors raided the newsstands (ASM #252, #361, Thor #337-#339), there just aren't a ton of high grade newsstands to be had. If they exist, they're not making their way to CGC.  If they're not making their way to CGC, they may not exist. When there are 10 times more of A than B, is it crazy to think that B should sell for 2 times the price of A?  Some of you guys get your undies in a knot when things that are 20 times less common sell for a 20% premium.  Math doesn't care about feelings.