ExNihilo

On 11/29/2023 at 7:14 AM, Cnight said:

What is the time frame for requesting reimbursement from my credit card company due to any fraudulent activities by Mike?

Each credit card issuer has different terms, but the most I've seen was 6 months.  Chase and BofA show 60 days.  AmEx is 120.

On 11/28/2023 at 8:38 AM, 1Cool said:

Good points but selling here on the boards is probably your best bet since most buyers on E-Bay will not really care if the books at 9.0 / 9.2 or 9.4 / 9.6 when it comes to the prices they will pay.  There is so much drek in that set of WoS that most dealers wouldn't touch a set for probably more than $150 even if they were absolute perfect.  A high grade comic buyer on the boards could get closer to the full $300 - $400 value if they are 9.4 / 9.6 with mylites (if they need all 126 issues) but most e-bay buyers just are not that choosy and you have to account for the dealer typically wants to at least double the price they paid.  It usually comes down to how much work you want to put into it before you blow out the common sets (especially if you are selling the keys separately).

Yup, when selling it's a matter of time vs money.  You either sell the books piecemeal to maximize return while simultaneously expending YEARS of energy to unload the entire collection, or you sell the books heavily discounted and just wipe your hands clean of everything quickly.  Also, realize that any eBay sale is going to take 10% off the top, plus apparently shipping (and I have no idea how much it would cost to ship 130+ issues).  Recent eBay sales for WoSM run were $500 and $700 for NM+, though they appear to use the same image so not sure if one was canceled.  Both included free shipping.  The net return was probably $400 on that one sale, which would probably be a reasonable expectation for anyone looking to buy in person for their own personal collection.  A shop/retailer is obviously going to want less than that.

The other consideration is demand.  The number of people interested in buying sets is smaller than those interested in individual issues.  If I want a full run of WoSM, I might want most, but not all books, and as a result, I'll be less willing to pay a premium for any duplicate books.  All this is to say the $42k estimate is waaaay too high and I would pare back expectations.

On 11/22/2023 at 9:30 AM, Number 6 said:

But I would think this time it's going to be different.

Because now the information of all these individual customers has been brought together, now all these individuals are going to be aware of each other and how much money/property is involved in total

You would have thought that would have been the case in July, yet people still sent him books in August.  I get it, no one's perusing the internet for every reference of a business, but it's clear there are still people out there who are still blind to what's happening.

On 11/25/2023 at 7:05 AM, shadroch said:

He had insurance when it was operating.

Or so he claims.

On 11/25/2023 at 7:17 AM, mattn792 said:

There’s no doubt in my mind he is actively watching this thread.

I dunno, from the prior thread, he seems the type to be very eager to defend himself and play the victim card.  I can't imagine him just restraining himself and not saying anything.  Far easier for him to just delete his account in July and turn a blind eye to everything.  For him, it's better to be ignorant than informed.

On 11/27/2023 at 3:44 AM, Kevin Boyd said:

Great review, for complicated reasons the facility is only available to us on the Thanksgiving weekend so we are working to grow the Expo then as best as possible and we saw a pretty spectacular jump in attendance between 2022 and 2023. But yes, this specific weekend makes it a little harder for talent and vendors but I’ve already got some great creators lined up for 2024. I really liked the layout for the creator guests this year as well, with great natural light and lots of room in front of the tables. 

That's a great point about the natural lighting.  It's so subtle that it didn't even occur to me, but you're absolutely right.  The high ceilings between each level, and the windows that stretched all the way from the first floor to the roof brought in a lot of light which added to the sense of spaciousness.

I heard that in 2022, the Expo only utilized floors 1 and 2.  I'm not sure if that's related to budget constraints as I'm sure the event agreement was based on space used and not like the Expo was given the whole building for the weekend.  I'm also aware that a car show was going on at the same time in 2022, but that the car show was cancelled for 2023.  But whatever the case, by all accounts, everyone seemed to agree that 3 floors was better than 2, so hopefully that's the standard moving forward.

My one suggestion (and I don't know if this is something you have a say in), is that at the end of the night, the UP escalators should be reversed so that all escalators go DOWN.  When I exited the Hamill panel, all guests were forced to use the stairs, elevators, or the standard DOWN escalators in operation, all while a pair of escalators uselessly went up when no guests were going in that direction.  As it is, escalators serve as a bottle neck since you go from wide open floor to a narrow set of moving stairs, so distributing foot traffic would make exiting easier.  I'm guessing as a matter of safety, one escalator should be going UP, but that still means 3 of the 4 can be set to bring guests back down to the ground floor.

PANELS

LotR Hobbit Reunion with Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Elijah Wood, and Sean Astin.  It being SF, they were asked to come on like a 90s sitcom and were given themed wardrobe (hence why Sean is in the gold jacket)

The many voices of Alan Tudyk

Hamill basically conducted a fire side chat, even bringing one of his dogs out.  Hamill got on late because he was busy signing autographs, and then went a half hour over the scheduled time, but it's not like anyone's gonna be upset getting more Hamill.  The Expo closed at 9 that day, he finished at 10.

Waited 1h45m to talk to Ashley, and a few people ahead of me was this couple who were expecting.  They had an envelope from the doctor and asked Ashley to be the one to reveal the gender.  They had already decided that they were naming their kids after Star Wars characters so a boy would be Caleb (or Kanan) and a girl would be Ashla.  Needless to say, Ashley was more than happy to be the master of ceremonies and the crowd cheered when it was announced they would be expecting a baby Caleb.

Katee Sackhoff, Carl Weathers, and Emily Swallow from The Mandalorian.

The Rebels panel ended when Stormtroopers entered to take the panelists (Taylor Grey, Vanessa Marshall, and Ashley Eckstein) away for questioning.

William Shatner

Ewan McGregor

Billy Boyd

CLOSING

A great Expo and hopefully something they continue to build and develop.  The size of everything feels just right.  It's not so large that it's difficult to see and do everything, but it's also not a small local one day convention with only a handful of D-list celebs you might see.  I didn't get the opinions of any of the retailers so I don't know how the comic vendors did in terms of profitability, and whether or not they would return next year.  I think if you're looking for books, you're better off with the comic focused local cons like the Berkeley Comic Show.  But if you're looking to meet creators and celebrities, I got the sense that this was a good show for that.  (Again, I don't have a point of reference having never gone to any big shows like SDCC), but David Mack, Joyce Chin, and Art Adams sounded like they enjoyed the extra real estate of the creator tables as opposed to being right on top of each other.  They noted that the aisles were far less manic and that in general it was a better experience meeting fans in a more relaxed setting.  The biggest downside for the Expo sounds like its positioning on the calendar as it falls on Thanksgiving weekend which makes it difficult to attract talent since people want to stay at home with family.  I do think moving the date would create more interest from talent and attendees alike.

FOLLOW UP (ART)

Last day of the expo was by far the chillest.  Whereas Fri/Sat had long lines to enter before Expo hours, Sun had no line.  If you wanted to meet a creator or get a celebrity autograph, Sunday was the day to do it because you could arrive when the Expo opened and not have to wait long for your favorite celeb.  The downside was some celebs and creators came in late.  (It's Sunday, I'm sure they want a slow relaxing morning).  But by and large, at least you were assured a good spot in line.

I went back to the exhibitor floor where I found a few more comic sellers.  Overall, it was like 4 big ones, and then 2 or 3 smaller ones.  I hardly bought any comics, but like I said, my budget was really for original art and got the following pieces from Marc Silvestri, Art Adams, and Joyce Chin.

I also bought a signed print of Marc Silvestri's Ghost Rider because it's a great rendition of ole flamehead.  Last were prints from David Mack, with the Destiny print signed by Neil Gaiman.  If I'm not mistaken, he doesn't sign all that often (though, he did have a recent CGC in-house signing).  Beyond the fact that David's watercolors are gorgeous, I just love the quotes for each of the respective characters.

SHOW REPORT

I want to preface by saying SF Fan Expo has been my first "big" comic convention.  I use quotes because it's nowhere near as big as SDCC or NYCC (I imagine).  Pre-pandemic I went to Sac Comic Con which was a smaller day or two show with a very small number of creators and minor celebs.  Other than that, I've been to the Berkeley show a few times, but that's FAR different since it's 100% focused on comic vendors and virtually nothing else.  I'm gonna apologize because I know with traditional show reports people post pics of the vendor aisles and comic walls.  But the truth is, I haven't spent much time on the exhibitor floor.  I passed through and saw maybe 4 dealers, but they happened to be big quality players known domestically and/or locally.  Harley is set up there as are Bronze Age Batcave, Cape & Cowl, and another dealer who had a LARGE selection of backissues (I didn't see the name).  The truth is, I'm reducing my focus on runs and "small" keys and have my eyes set on saving for something big (AF15).  It's going to take a while, especially with my lack of restraint in buying other stuff (which I'll get to below).

To start, I purchased a 3-day pass and my #1 priority was meeting Ashley Eckstein and getting her autograph (though she would only appear Sat/Sun).  So Friday, I hoped to meet Marc Silvestri, Art Adams, check out the comic creators for sketch opportunities, get a lay of the land, and attend a panel or two.  Badges had to be picked up on location and then activated which meant getting in one line to pick up your badge, then getting in another to enter the convention building, all while activating your badge on your phone.  I knew there'd be lines, yet I still wound up arriving later than I hoped (3:50, door opened at 4).  All things considered, the lines moved pretty quickly and I was inside by 4:10.  Now, I've heard stories from SDCC of how creator lines can fill up and convention sketch lists filling up so I had sort of resigned myself to having missed out.  But when I went to the 2nd floor where comic creators are located, I was shocked to find the area devoid of many guests.  Marc Silvestri wasn't taking sketch opportunities, but he had a few pre-con head sketches available.  Art Adams had two people in line.  And the rest of the tables were still settling in.  That was basically the same story throughout the weekend (or at least Fri/Sat to date) every time I passed through to get to panels.

Speaking of navigating, floor 1 was full of exhibitors, comic dealers, and other pop culture shops.  Floor 2 was for comic creators, artist alley, and smaller panel rooms.  Floor 3 was live action/animated/video game celebrities, professional photos, and the main theater for the large panels.  The layout has honestly been fantastic and I love the clear separation across floors for the distinct interests.  Everything is spread out and it doesn't feel congested when walking from one area to the next.  Obviously the aisles of artist alley and the exhibitor floor are narrow, but they're not primary paths to get between key areas.  The comic creators seem to have a lot of space as do the celebrities.  Obviously, bigger celebs are in a larger room to accommodate lines, but otherwise, it all seems fairly tidy.  I heard that before the exhibitors and creators were on the same floor before and that felt cramped, but I guess last year they only used two of three floors, whereas this year, they're using all three floors of Moscone Center.

As for the panels, I must be scarred from my D23 Expo experiences and the difficulty in getting into the more popular panels.  That has not been the case for the biggest panels.  Generally, as long as you show up 20+ minutes early, you're guaranteed a seat.  Mark Hamill Friday night was the big thing and I wound up with a great seat in the middle.  Lord of the Rings reunion was tonight and similarly had no problems with seats.  In fact, the hardest one to get into was the Rebels panel which was held in a smaller room and filled to capacity that they resorted to standing room along the walls and back of the room.  Celeb autograph lines move slowly for the more popular celebs, but that's to be expected when they take the time to actually chat with each person.  I got in line for Ashley Eckstein this morning at 10 and couldn't have been more than 10th in line, but as soon as VIP guests arrived, they were given priority until at a certain point, they started mixing at a 2:1 ratio.  Even then, VIP ticketholders kept coming that it ultimately took me 1h45m to get my turn.  Still, she's a wonderful person to chat with and I just kinda expected a wait so it didn't both me.  Though, if I had to do a similar wait for 4 or 5 celebs, that would very nearly take up your whole day, especially if they go off to do a panel for an hour.

Panels are hit or miss.  The large panels have been entertaining, but the smaller ones only loosely pertained to the description.  The 60 years of X-Men and Avengers panel didn't dive into the history of the franchises and was just a big guest Q&A with Art Adams, Tom Grummett, and Kevin Maguire joking about how they have no idea why they were selected to discuss the subject when they spent almost no time on the respective main titles.  In fact, many of the small panels followed that formula of 15 minutes of moderated discussion followed by 30 minutes of guests approaching a microphone and carrying the direction of the conversation.  It's good because it's more interactive, but sometimes I just want to dive into the actual material described.

Overall though, it's been a fun weekend and I look forward to coming back next year assuming there are creators/celebs whom I'm interested in seeing.  I blew my weekend budget on day 1 getting original art and some prints, and (for better or for worse) will walk away with no comics.  I'll post my haul tomorrow when I collect it.

(In case anyone is wondering about logistics, parking is a breeze since there is a giant parking structure next door.  The only downside is 3 full days of parking cost me more than the actual 3-day badge.  Though, tomorrows Sunday so hopefully I can find free street parking nearby.  There are two mall food courts within two blocks of the convention center so you have a decent number of options for food.  I didn't even bother exploring what food they had on the expo floor.)

For anyone who's attended in the past, how difficult is it to get into the discussion panels?  I've never been to a major convention other than D23 Expo.  Do I need to camp out to get into some of these bigger ones?  Or are the rooms plenty large enough that I could reasonably wait 15 minutes and be okay?

On 10/20/2023 at 9:25 AM, Grant Turner said:

I know there was a thread on this a long time ago, but I can’t find it.

I wanted to share that a Rob Liefeld sketch I bought two years ago from Glen Brunswick (on their dealer YouTube show) is going to be a variant cover on an upcoming issue of Uncanny Avengers 

I'm very excited!!! 

How exactly does this work?  Presuming you had the OA before they decided to make it a cover, where are they sourcing the image from?  Does Rob (and every artist) take high res scans of all their work prior to sending it out so they can use it as cover art?  Additionally, how do you know yours is the original art the image is coming from?  I mean, asides from the obvious that everything looks the same, but don't artists also do rough preliminary sketches?  For example, this unpublished cover looks very similar to the actual cover used, yet, it isn't.

Jim Lee Batman #616 Unpublished Cover / Contest Original Art | LotID #232001 | Heritage Auctions (ha.com)

I didn't see an event topic for this, so I guess I'll get it started.

FAN EXPO San Francisco (fanexpohq.com)

@Kevin Boyd

On 10/8/2023 at 9:10 AM, Stefan_W said:

When I invest in comics I am very aware that if I pass away tomorrow the boxes of raws sitting in my basement will fetch very little for my family - some local dealer will come along and offer my wife 50-100 bucks a box and she will likely take it because it is easy for her to get rid of them that way. I did make an instruction sheet of who to contact and where to send the slabs so they can be sold off, and I asked a trusted friend to help her out with this. I have also tried to invest in comics with good re-sale potential to help avoid negative surprises where the comics sent in for auction only bring in a small fraction of what I said they are worth. Maybe it is just because I am older now, but these conversations about the estate (in this case the comic part of it) are important. 

This is exactly what I've done.  Instructed my family that slabs are worth the most and should be kept.  Books double bagged in mylar and archive (or toploader) are next most valuable bunch and should also be kept.  My dad's books in a short box should be passed down for sentimental reasons.  The other 99% of my collection can just be sold to the local comic shop for pennies on the dollar.

To answer the question, I work the aforementioned 40+ hour week like Milton.  It covers my retirement, my mortgage, my vacation money, and god willing, the ability to buy some big books every now and then.

Sounds to me like the CGC Fan Experience is witnessed and that you likely submit your books immediately on the spot.  As CGC is not officially participating, it seems your books are submitted to a partner/facilitator and that those costs are excluded from the price of the package.  This gives people the opportunity to submit under their account or to choose to submit via a facilitator.

The standard Fan Experience Package is probably the same experience except the witness won't vouch for witnessing the signature unless you pay them the extra $20.  Basically if you don't care to submit books, go with the standard experience.  If you do want a yellow label, go with the CGC Fan Experience.

On 10/8/2023 at 7:48 AM, Bluemedgroup said:

I mean he literally said he was having surgery in a few weeks in his first sentence.  One would think that he didn't respond because he was having surgery?

I had a transaction with him a few months back and communication was slow/delayed then as well.  Given what I've seen, it seems to be more the norm than the exception.  That said, except for Gsims experience, it seems most buyers are getting their books, just wishing for more communication from the seller.

On 10/6/2023 at 8:28 PM, awakeintheashes said:

The one wildcard here is Sabine’s father, who took his wife’s last name of Wren due to her power and station in Mandalorian society. 

I don’t think there is much known about his past before marrying Ursa Wren, but he did hold Tarre Vizsla in high regard and took his children to admire the statue often. Granted, that doesn’t mean there’s relation.

I would think if Sabine's father were a Vizsla, he would have kept the family name.  For him to take Wren as his last name suggests it elevated his station in Mandalorian society.  I also imagine for him to take Wren would be seen as a betrayal by other Vizsla Clan members.  Given Bo Katan supported Death Watch, and Ursa Wren served as Bo's right hand, it seems there was no bad blood between Clan Wren and Clan Vizsla during the Clone Wars.  I'm unfamiliar with the timeline though, was Sabine born during the Clone Wars?  As in, would Ursa and her husband have been married prior to any falling out between the two Clans.

Back to the subject of Ahsoka though, I think I said it early on in the season, but the revelation that Sabine is attuned to the Force is one thing that bothers me.  We knew she had some force sensitivity from Rebels as she trained with Kanan, but the Jedi also seem to only train from a young age.  By the end of the Rebellion, Sabine would have been WAY too old to properly begin training.  Then again, when the Jedi of the universe have been purged, I guess you don't really have the luxury of being picky about who you train in the old ways.

On 10/6/2023 at 4:37 PM, G.A.tor said:

No. A Diamond 200 ct box probably had 50-60 raw and I had 45+ slabs. So did have over a 100, but not sure how 600 was arrived at 

Ooo.  I misread and interpreted it as two CGC boxes AND two Diamond 200 ct boxes.  Naturally I assumed each Diamond 200 ct box held 200 books, so right there I was up to 400.  And I thought the CGC boxes were like the plastic ones used for storage which I assumed could hold 100 raw books as needed.  

I have 10 copies of ASM365 that I bought with the intent to sell once Across the Spiderverse came out.  But I'm lazy, so they just sit on my shelf.  The only other book I have multiples of for re-sale purposes is FF48.  I'm still waiting for Silver Surfer to make his eventual debut in the MCU.

Every other book I have multiple copies of is for personal reasons.  I have multiples of Jim Lee's X-Men 1 because I like Lee, I like that cover, and they were cheap.  I have multiple copies of Ghost Rider 15 because I just love that gimmick cover.  Same reason why I have the 30th anniversary X-Men hologram cover books for Fatal Attractions.  I have several copies of ASM v2 36 because it's hard to see the 9/11 tribute issue and not pick up a copy.  I have multiples of ASM 298/299/300 because I put in simultaneous bids on lots that were going at the same time and turns out my max bids won on both.  The prices were good so I'm not mad.

I have some  miscellaneous others that are simply because I didn't have a great organized list of books I needed and on a few occasions bought books I already had.

On 10/6/2023 at 2:46 PM, G.A.tor said:

had 2 cgc boxes and diamond 200 ct box of SS 1's at one point (most all I've sold since hurricane 2018)

You mean to tell me you once had probably some 600 copies of Silver Surfer 1?  The original one from 1968?  Good lord!

On 10/6/2023 at 1:14 PM, I like pie said:

Clan Wren is/was part if House Vizsla. That's where it stems from.

Mandalorian clan | Wookieepedia | Fandom

This was all I could find.  I'm unfamiliar with Mandalorian politics, but it seems that "Clans" are a family hierarchy, and "Houses" are a political one.  Clan Wren allied itself with Clan Vizsla as part of House Vizsla, but that doesn't necessarily mean there are any familial ties between the two.  I didn't dig too much, so there could be more lore that I'm missing.  Given the lengthy history of Clan Vizsla, anything's possible.

On 10/6/2023 at 6:27 AM, I like pie said:

I believe Sabine is also a descendant of Tarre Vizsla, the first(and only?) Mando/Jedi. However, I can't find anything concrete. Just a couple articles.

 

This is the first I've heard that theory.  She's part of House Wren.  Tarre Viszla is part of House Viszla.  His descendants being (current as of the shows timeline) Pre and Paz Viszla.

On 10/3/2023 at 7:29 PM, awakeintheashes said:

First reaction after watching - Landing stuck. 

Filoni, we’re not worthy. 

The last 5 minutes are filled with a lot of goodness, especially if you were a fan of any of the animated stuff. 

  Reveal hidden contents

I wonder if we will get anything else on the Baylan Skoll story after seeing the ending scenes. I had a feeling that is the power he was speaking of. 

I guess it could be animated. 

 

On 10/3/2023 at 9:19 PM, Tnexus said:

So just to recap...

  Hide contents

Had Ahsoka done nothing at all starting in episode 1, the only thing that would have changed in 8 episodes was Ezra swapped places with Asohka and Sabine.

I just do not get the Filoni love. He's all fanboy with no substance.

 

It's character development (for those who didn't watch any of the animated series) wrapped up with space battles, lasers, and explosions.  If you've learned anything from Clone Wars and Rebels, it's the importance of character development.  That, and patience.  Neither of those shows took off until later seasons.

No budgeting.  I have a stack of comics to read that I'm behind on.  I have fullbacks that have been inserted into mylar and I re-bag whenever I feel like doing it.  At present, I have 4 full boxes of mylar waiting to be used.  Some days I have time and then I just end up playing video games.  Or I'll go for a run, come back, shower, and plop into bed.  I could certainly use some organization and better time management, but I just don't have the discipline.  I've determined the best place to start is to get to bed earlier.  I go to bed late and just wind up lethargic the following day.  If I had a better nights sleep, maybe i'd feel more energized to be productive at home.

I'm befuddled by the whole chain of events here.  Like, if you're gonna scam someone, you're going to outright portray what you have as something it isn't.  Instead, they opted to go to such lengths as to say "i don't know what I have".  Any smart person immediately jumps to the conclusion that what the person is selling is fake.  Like, what was the game here?  What was the point of posting here, a place with hard core eagle eyed collectors, who were no doubt going to 100% confirm the authenticity (or lack thereof) of the book?  None of this makes sense.

So now that this is confirmed, how do we go about banning OP?

This seems clear cut.  Does @CGC Mike just ban the account or would we still have to go through the probation stuff?