ExNihilo

On 8/5/2023 at 11:55 AM, Duncan said:

Are foil cover books good for autographs events and pressing?

I've had foil books signed and pressed.  You want to make sure they're using a proper Sharpie (probably the metallic variety), and that the ink doesn't get smudged.  Also, I'd only trust a proper presser as I think there are certain nuances involved with pressing foil covers.  (But I really don't know much about it).

On 7/31/2023 at 6:05 PM, BlowUpTheMoon said:

It's reaching a point where there's a novelty in these sort of errors.  I actually wouldn't mind keeping that book as is in the "New Book" label if for no other reason than it's a good laugh.

On 7/31/2023 at 7:26 PM, DougC said:

If you click on the "total graded by CGC" link it will take you to a direct census link (below) there are even Sig Series... lol.

At least they are keeping track of QC errors on the registry

 

Been using DCBS for four or five(ish) years and have never had any issues with monthly shipments.

Yes.

Dunno if anyone has submitted any vintage books lately, but check here:

On 7/27/2023 at 3:57 PM, Gaard said:

He said there was some kind of Director of Excellence or something like that.

Director of Excellence sounds like the business equivalent of a participation trophy.  "Aww, here you go buddy, here's a Director title even though you don't do anything meaningful."

Is it 2017 again?  I remember when re-salers were hyping up this character.

On 7/26/2023 at 4:00 PM, Gaard said:

This is the guy...

https://www.cgccomics.com/news/article/10227/michael-saucerman/

 

Then, a few months ago, we got this...

I wonder what the Director role pays.  Sure sounds like I could easily balance his existing workload on top of my own and probably be able to provide a marked improvement to CGC while simultaneously doubling my take home.  Because you know what they say, improving upon nothing is still improving.

On 7/26/2023 at 1:54 AM, Gaard said:

I swear I heard he was gone. Maybe he's just real slow at updating his page? 

 

 

I remember a year ago Mike mentioned that there was a new Quality control guy that was supposed to come in and work on improving the system.  Was that this guy?  He's gone already?  Why would you leave such a cush position?  He clearly did absolutely nothing other than collect checks.

On 7/24/2023 at 9:22 PM, Deadlift Collectibles said:

I'm motivated to sell as I have a few upcoming bills with the shop. I would do:

New Mutants #98 CGC 9.4 for $400 shipped.

On 7/22/2023 at 10:29 PM, kinankids said:

From 1989-1991 my husband (now deceased) worked in a comic store and collected...everything went immediately into bags with boards and has been boxed since then. I have just recently pulled everything out and put a sheet together in excel but nothing is graded. To my untrained eye, it all looks near mint but I base a lot of that on knowing how he collected them and never even opened the covers. 

Using comicspriceguide.com the total value is approximately $6000 (I assumed they were all 9.4's, although there are a few that are very old but not in good condition). Is it worth trying to sell them on ebay in lots based on character? There are almost 400 of them so it doesn't seem realistic to list them one by one and there are quite a few that are only worth $2-$5. 

Honestly I'm just overwhelmed with trying to figure it all out and will take any advice offered. I'm downsizing and can't justify storing them anymore. 

Oh and there is also this original of the Punisher that Erik Larsen drew when he came into the store one day (the store was obviously called Comic Stop). Any advice on this?

 

There are three methods of selling off a collection:

1) sell individually (this results in the greatest return but is also the most time consuming, potentially taking years to unload everything)

2) sell the entire collection to a single buyer/store (this results in the lowest return but is the quickest method of washing your hands of books/responsibility)

3) some combination of the two where you identify the keys and sell those individually while selling the rest as one lot (best of both worlds)

Personally, if there are runs (a continuous or near continuous run of issues for a particular title) I would lump those together and attempt to sell them as one.  You never know what buyers are looking to fill holes in their collection and might be tempted to buy a bunch of books from one person instead of scouring stores to buy a book here and there.

On 7/21/2023 at 12:15 PM, StewartCA said:

These are great comments and i apologize that i repeated something asked probably a million and one times. I read through some pages and didn’t find the information - not giving an excuse.

i also take no offense to your comments. I get it.

i did pick up comics I love - not read them but chose to preserve them In plastic and boards. But, Maybe i should update to mylar bags?

thanks everyone

Again, it's not you, it's me.  This is the newbie section of the board and your question is perfectly valid.  I apologize as it's just something I happen to see repeatedly in places like Reddit.  So yeah, keep your questions coming.

I agree, I think mylar is an excellent means of protecting your books.  It's the material used by the Library of Congress to protect historical documents so I'm of the opinion that if it's good enough for them, then it should be good enough for our comics.  People will say that they want to slab to protect their book and I think that's a bit misguided.  Mylar, fullback, microchamber paper, and a top loader will provide sufficient protection at a fraction of the cost.  Obviously if you've got like an Action Comics 1, then you're gonna want to go the whole nine yards with a slab and likely several other layers of protection, but again, it's a matter of cost relative to value.

I hate that we've come to a point in collecting where people's first instincts are "should I slab XYZ?" for EVERYTHING.  This comment isn't geared towards just you OP, it's more the repeated question here and on other social media sites around the internet.  There are those vocally oppose slabbing.  You'll often hear them chirp "books are meant to be read!"  I like to think of them as "raw doggers".  Then you've got the opposite end of the spectrum who see any remotely valuable book and go "send that to CGC!"  That latter group of people is what leads newbies to re-enter the hobby and ask of themselves "what's CGC and should I get my books slabbed" and then often post a bunch of drek.  The truth is, there's a middle ground.  Slabbing serves a purpose in the following situations:

1) You have a personal/emotional connection to a book and just REALLY want it slabbed.  If that's what makes you happy, go for it.

2) You plan to keep the book a long time and want to easily identify value for yourself, or more realistically, your next of kin.

3) You want the provenance that comes with witnessed signature/sketches.

4) You want to ensure that a book is free from restoration.

There are other reasons (such as people maintaining registries), but beyond that, you need to consider the cost of slabbing.  Far too often I see people slabbing $10 books and it just makes no sense to me when the cost of slabbing such a book can be as high as $50/book.  If you have the money and want to just blow it on that stuff, no one's gonna stop you.  But logically, I'd rather apply that $50 into some sort of fund for future books/keys.

Also, while we're on the subject of slabbing, any books signed and not witnessed by CGC will be given a green label.  A lot of people don't like green labels and would much prefer yellow.

Lastly, no, I don't think you should get those books graded, but it's not my money, it's yours.

On 7/3/2023 at 4:59 PM, LordRahl said:

ASM 277 NM+ $20

On 7/6/2023 at 1:42 PM, LordRahl said:

ASM 302 VFNM $12

On 7/6/2023 at 1:56 PM, LordRahl said:

ASM 305 VF $8

On 7/6/2023 at 2:14 PM, LordRahl said:

ASM 308 VF $8

On 7/11/2023 at 2:36 PM, LordRahl said:

Batman 457 NM $10

On 7/11/2023 at 2:53 PM, LordRahl said:

Detective 578 VF+ $12

On 7/12/2023 at 3:43 PM, LordRahl said:

Rai 0 NM $5 OS has this at $50... I think they mean pesos though

On 7/14/2023 at 1:42 PM, LordRahl said:

ASM 333 NM- $12

Take @ 20%

On 7/20/2023 at 11:01 PM, StillOnly25Cents said:

but the cover says 300 all over it

The cover says $1.50 US.

On 7/17/2023 at 4:31 PM, PeterPark said:

Berkeley, CA?

Yup.

Every time I go to Manhattan, I go to Midtown Comics.  And every time, I leave disappointed.  Maybe some of that has to do with how shady they were with some exclusive variant sales.  Whatever the case, I haven't spent a dime with them in years.  They do have a warehouse sale every so often that I've considered checking out since I get the impression that's where the majority of their back issues are stored, but I've never taken the time to venture out there.

On 7/16/2023 at 11:56 PM, StillOnly25Cents said:

fixed

When you're right, you're right.  Let's add the encapsulation department and QC (as noted by others on the previous page)

On 7/16/2023 at 10:28 PM, RockMyAmadeus said:

 

@CGC Mike Seems to me the right course of action for CGC would be to reach out to the seller on eBay to try to remedy it, or buy the book so it's off the market, fix the label, and recoup some costs via auction or giveaway or something.  Whatever it takes to remove that embarrassment from the marketplace.

On 7/16/2023 at 3:55 PM, Steven Valdez said:

Someone trading as Hotshot Comics has been engaging in similar shenannigans, in regard to spending customers' money on expanding his business while failing to deliver promised goods/services.

That HotShot Comics thing has been brewing for years.  And while I'm surprised it's taken so long for anything to happen, I'm glad the crows have come home to roost.  But I digress as there are plenty of threads already relating to that.

This was my first ever submission so I knew nothing about proper grading.

On 7/15/2023 at 11:54 AM, topofthetotem said:

I wish I had the skills and equipment to help out so people get what they paid for and HR can get out of this hole but I don’t have any answers unfortunately.

The thing is, early on in the thread people were sympathetic to the health concerns going so far as to cover some of the costs of shipping.  I believe some boardies even inquired where Hero's was located and said if they were closer they'd help pack books for a day.  Instead of meeting those offers with appreciation, they were met with jokes and excuses.

Frankly, I'm still sympathetic for the ongoing medical conditions, but he burned A LOT of goodwill with his early responses to customers and boardies alike.