ct0318

On ‎8‎/‎28‎/‎2019 at 4:05 PM, showcase4 said:

I’ve been off the Boards for about a Decade... so a little slack? ( as if! )

I searched and didn’t see this as a dedicated thread? Thought there should be one. This is my Week ( so far... it’s only Wednesday   ) as of 8/28/19. Would be interested to see Yours....

Man that is a nice Ultimate Fallout Djurdjevic. You had a nice week!  

Pretty excited I got this in the mail today with Gambit being one of my favorites. 

Gideon Falls ComicsPro Variant has been shooting up over the last couple of days. One closed yesterday for $125. There's one that was just listed and already has 42 bids at $91 with 6 days to go. Others are listed with BINs over $100.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Image-GIDEON-FALLS-1-ComicsPRO-Variant-NM-Jeff-Lemire-Andrea-Sorrentino-HOT/142766445043?hash=item213d8b11f3:g:vgEAAOSwvMFa2~lE

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Gideon-Falls-1-ComicsPro-Variant-Jeff-Lemire/202291553662?hash=item2f1984257e:g:zOEAAOSwvKha1oN0

So I jumped on e-bay to pre-order a copy of Dell'otto's ASM #800 and I honestly can't believe what they are going for and what people are willing to spend on it. It's a 1:25 ratio and one seller has them up for $119.99 with more than 10 copies available. Some have already sold and there are even active bids over $100. This kind of made me sad and it did so for a couple of reasons. The first being that I've started to accept the fact that the variant craze is hurting the collector that just wants to add a cool cover to his/her collection. I've been collecting variants for a while now and I've defended them since I can remember because it was affordable and fun for many (I understand not everyone). If you wanted to pre-order or buy a variant it wouldn't cost you 4 times the ratio. It used to feel like a choice right? If you wanted the variant cover because you liked it and you wanted to collect it then great, if you didn't then that was ok too. Now it doesn't feel like the collector has much of a choice because of such high prices. I'm lucky enough to have a great job and honestly I could throw down the cash and buy new (not rare or time tested) variants at these prices but it doesn't feel right or healthy both for the comic industry and one's personal finances (maybe a lot of people here are way way better off then I am but still). I know the topic of variants hurting the industry and whether it's sustainable or not has been discussed many times over in other threads but this is just crazy. The median hourly wage in the U.S. is about $22 and that's before taxes and other deductions. It would take someone a whole day of work at this wage to afford this ASM #800 variant. More for those whose wages are lower. The argument could be made that "hey no one is forced to buy it, if they can't afford it then they shouldn't buy it" but to me that's not how it should be or the mentality that as a community we should ever endorse. Comic collecting, even variants, shouldn't be increasingly out of reach for people. Before I go on, I AM NOT talking about comics or variants that appreciate over time and truly are rare. These I understand if you want it you have to be willing to pay for it and have the money.

All of this brings me to the second reason of why seeing the ASM #800 prices made me sad. If I were to buy it at these prices it kills my budget for other comics or variants. This is acceptable here and there but increasingly every month I'm seeing 3-4 variants for the same comic at unreasonable prices. Variety and choice is great for the consumer but there has to be a balance. I've heard and read that it's flippers and speculators that are fueling and keeping this store exclusive/multiple variant environment going but I find that hard to believe for something this size . Either the majority of comic collectors have well above six figure salaries with a reasonable mortgage and no debt or there are many who are buying every Dell'otto or Mattina variant and have huge credit card debt. Have any of you recently felt like f**k it I'm out and thought I have my retirement to fund or simply start saving more?

Anyways, I'm done with my rant. If any of you here have any thoughts I'd love to hear them

Finally added this to my collection 

Anyone have any covers they’re hoping to add their collection? 

4 hours ago, RidersRohan said:

Are the sketches for sale? They are beautiful. 

4 hours ago, Kwan Chang said:

Ok guys.  THANKS SO MUCH FOR YOUR PATIENCE.  All books went out.  All yellow and blue label 9.8 books are sent. 

2 lucky people who ordered even got 9.9's !

 

 

If you placed an order...............you should have gotten an email with your tracking info.

 

 

if not....you are listed here below as i didnt have your email handy.

 

5225 Las Colinas Blvd.                          9405 8096 9993 8863 9844 90

 

1360 Bayview                                          9405 8096 9993 9354 5743 43

 

419 May Apple Ct                                    9405 8096 9993 9354 5709 25

 

8931 Waterton PL                                  9405 8096 9993 8863 9457 67

 

3824 S Mill Stone Ct                               9405 8096 9993 7009 0049 55

 

Check out two sketch covers that were left over from the NYCC.

That's it folks !

I was going to ask the same thing!

Maybe I’m in the minority but personally I think this cover is awesome. I love X-23 though. 

4 hours ago, kevhtx said:

I wonder if they have them all or the majority of them. I haven't seen them anywhere else for sale really. If so, I wonder how many they have. They are trying to create their own demand/market price it seems.

It seems that they have multiples copies. The seller sent me this message with a picture of some of the copies they have. 

5 hours ago, IntoAnother said:

Heads up, the Rick and Morty #1 1:50 Roiland variant is under a shill attack by bidder "4***y" (3). That user has "won" numerous past auctions for this book and if I'm not mistaken the majority of them, if not all of them, have been relisted. 

I went ahead and reported every 1:50 auction they are bidding on. A few of these listings are repeat listings, some of which have auctioned off the same exact copy as many as five times. 

If you have a moment please report them. I suspect one or two of those sellers are involved in this book being shilled, especially seller pumgarl_0481 who appears to be dirty in all of this. 

Here's a recent one from pumgarl_0481 

If you look at the books sales history you'll quickly see the same copy being "sold" by pumgarl_0481 several times. 

RICK AND MORTY #1 FIRST PRINT - Legit 9.8 candidate! JUSTIN ROILAND 1:50 VARIANT https://www.ebay.com/i/122723560326

Here are the active ones currently being shilled by bidder "4***y"...

Rick and Morty #1 Justin Roiland Variant Cover Single Issue - Hyper Rare https://www.ebay.com/i/322791645824

Rick and Morty #1 Justin Roiland 1:50 Variant Cover - Very Rare!! - Holy Grail!! https://www.ebay.com/i/192322500915

Rick and Morty #1 1:50 variant (2015, Oni Press) https://www.ebay.com/i/272871140380

Rick and Morty #1 Roiland Variant - Oni Press 1:50 VARIANT https://www.ebay.com/i/263238957764

I'm having a hard time finding out exactly where the smoking gun is coming from. Hopefully any additional reports will get eBay to take a closer look at these bidders and sellers.

Thanks all. 

I completely agree with you I sent this seller a message a while back and I reported it. The second and third picture is their response which is pretty shaky. 

I’m wondering if anyone knows how rare this Carnage USA 1:100 by Humberto Ramos is. I don’t personally know anyone that has it. It’s one of my favorite Carnage covers. 

So this just arrived to my office

 At the end of the day it’s a damn beautiful cover. Definitely going to be one of my all time favorite Dell’otto covers. Have a great weekend everyone! 

36 minutes ago, SquareChaos said:

Devil's advocate  - many seem not to mind when these covers are reprinted at a later date, or maybe as a different country variant. Is it about the unique printing, or about the image, or about the image being used too close together from a calendar perspective?

1 minute ago, ct0318 said:

-I don't mind covers being reprinted at a later date because typically there is a clear announcement on the cover that it is not the original version and the intended use of the comic that has the reprinted cover is for accessibility to other readers. Best example is Walking Dead #1 The original cover goes for a couple of thousand and at a way later date Image published the Image Firsts #1 with the banner plastered along the side and the $1 sticker, the thing is ugly lol. As far as the different country variants pretty much the same thing. Best example is ASM #667 by none other than Mr. Dell'otto. The Italian edition has a huge 25th anniversary logo on it and a Spider-Man corner box, the thing is ugly lol.

-In the case of the Bulletproof variant. The cover was marketed as an "exclusive cover" with the intended use of creating hype, drawing buyers, and slapping a hefty price on them. The latest variant is not ugly like the covers I mentioned. Again it goes back to being lazy. It's just hard not to look at it as a cash grab.

32 minutes ago, SquareChaos said:

Devil's advocate  - many seem not to mind when these covers are reprinted at a later date, or maybe as a different country variant. Is it about the unique printing, or about the image, or about the image being used too close together from a calendar perspective?

-I don't mind covers being reprinted at a later date because typically there is a clear announcement on the cover that it is not the original version and the intended use of the comic that has the reprinted cover is for accessibility to other readers. Best example is Walking Dead #1 The original cover goes for a couple of thousand and at a way later date Image published the Image Firsts #1 with the banner plastered along the side and the $1 sticker, the thing is ugly lol. As far as the different country variants pretty much the same thing. Best example is ASM #667 by none other than Mr. Dell'otto. The Italian edition has a huge 25th anniversary logo on it and a Spider-Man corner box, the thing is ugly lol.

-In the case of the Bulletproof variant. The cover was marketed as an "exclusive cover" with the intended use of creating hype, drawing buyers, and slapping a hefty price on them. The latest variant is not ugly like the covers I mentioned. Again it goes back to being lazy. It's just hard not to look at it as a cash grab.

19 minutes ago, Polirer said:

We all know that I work for Bulletproof I apologize that there's some backlash, I was the one speaking with Normda. I don't see the difference between us printing a Bw and a color version. And now this cover. I think it's beautiful.

Hey Polirer I'm new to CGC in general and didn't know that you work for Bulletproof, but It's nice to meet you and I respect the fact you're open to having a conversation about this issue. You're absolutely right, it's a beautiful cover. The issue at hand, at least with me, is the re-using of an existing cover and then simply doing a color scheme change and then slapping a $30-50? price tag on it. It was okay to do that when you guys FIRST released Metal #2 with the B&W, Color, and Virgin variants but to do this again and call it an exclusive cover is lazy and only adding to the increasing frustration over what I like to call variant fatigue and the perception that the foundation of comic collecting has shifted to collecting for a quick profit rather then the content and stories themselves.

However, I also understand that at the end of the day this is a business and everyone can choose whether they want to buy something or not   

I apologize if I got a little philosophical at the end  Lastly I'd like to say that I don't mean any disrespect whatsoever with my post my friend and I am a little jealous you work at Bulletproof. I'm sure you must have access to a lot of cool stuff.

I just took a look at the flaming swords/blue cover variant and I feel really let down. I bought the original red virgin cover the moment I became aware of it because I thought it was one of the most badass covers I've seen this year. I don't buy my comics to sell them and have never sold any comics in my collection so whether the original version skyrockets or not doesn't really matter to me.  What makes me sad however is, like @NormdaMarine posted, the fact that we were told the original would be limited in copies. While I get that the NYCC is technically "different" with the flame/blue to me it's splitting hairs and a weak justification. There are B&W and sketch variants of covers all the time but I didn't expect something like this from Bulletproof and especially an artist like Dell'otto when they've already given us a B&W, Color, and Virgin variant of Metal #2. I hope that this doesn't turn into a regular occurrence from Bulletproof and Dell'otto, the last thing I want is for him to adopt JSC's model. I've defended the idea of variants for a very long time and love variants, but it's getting hard to do with the ridiculous push across both Marvel and DC.

Maybe I'm just making a big deal out of nothing lol. Anyone else have any thoughts, feel like this is a cash grab, excited about the NYCC variant?

6 hours ago, thpike said:

The secret variant is cool too... I only know what it looks like because a seller included a picture of it in his ebay listing. Despite the whole point of the variant to be "secret" and not show anyone lol. Lots of cool old "D&D" like covers with it. I enjoyed the first issue so I'm happy to read it.

I got one but I don’t know if I should open the bag to see if mine has the golden ticket   

I’m personally loving all of the covers.

So the JSC cover D or sets that include cover D for Spider-Man Renew Your Vows #11 is insane. I just don’t get it. I’m guilty of loving Campbell’s work and I even bought this set signed, but I bought it from his website with his discount code for the low price of like $130. They are going for $350-$450 which is insane. I don’t think the print run warrants these prices. Cover D which I think is the main one people want will have a print of 1,350 copies. The others have print of runs of between 2k-3k

1 hour ago, Jaydogrules said:

I have five words for this:  "shill bidding" and "blatant market manipulation".  One of the worst examples I've seen of it in a long time.   Let's have a close look-see, shall we?

Auction 1- Item shill bid by bidder 4***y (1), and "won" by m***l (33) with 100% bidding activity with seller, only for item to be immediately re-listed.  

http://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewBids&item=122693287540&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2565

Auction 2- Item shill bid (again) and "won" by bidder 4***y (1), who was one of only 3 bidders in this auction.

 http://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewBids&item=292251465774&showauto=true

Auction 3- Just two bidders, and "won" by our friend 4***y (1), again.  Other participating bidder is m***v (52)....

http://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewBids&item=222651733202&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2565

...who also bid up Auction 4-

http://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewBids&item=122669179821&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2565

Auction 5-  Once again, "won" by bidder 4***y (1).  Oh and look who was the under bidder on this one too! m***v (52) again. 

http://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewBids&item=272844925942&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2565

Auction 6-  Look, here's our friend m***v (52) bidding up another auction again. 

http://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewBids&item=222629285632&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2565

And these are just from the month of September.   

Sorry fans, but this book is as dirty as a wallowing pig's butt.  I would avoid like the Plague. 

-J.

 I was having this exact conversation with a friend of mine. He’s a die hard Rick and Morty fan and really wants some copies but  I told him to be carful. 

Speaking of shill bidders (who deserve a special kind of hell) has anyone here reported the activity to eBay when they’ve suspected it? I was bidding on a comic last week and I looked at the bids, there was two people that bid with zero history and one had 100% activity with the seller. Every couple of hours they would increase their bids by $10-$15. I reported it to eBay and the next day their bids went away. Just wondering if anyone here thinks its effective?

@Jaydogrules Haha I definitely have it in a top loader and in a secure file cabinet in my office. I just took it out to take pictures. I'd love to post pictures of the back but I don't want to take it out of the bag. I've only ever taken it out once and that was to check for damage. Once I get it graded I'll post a picture. 

And I feel honored to be part "Club"  

Thanks @DTM700 ! That is an awesome cover you have there  

9 hours ago, Jaydogrules said:

Hello and welcome to the boards !

And congrats on having a 667.  It's always interesting to find out how people came into their copies, would you mind sharing how/when you were able to acquire yours?  

Also, I'm not sure I would get that signed.  There may only be a few signed copies on the census right now, but there's only a few copies, period, on the census.  If you want a Dell'otto sig on something, I would personally choose a different, less expensive and more common book.

What condition is your copy in ? Many copies were produced with spine/rear cover damage. Feel free to post some scans of yours and the community can give you a very informal assessment of what it might grade out at if you should choose to send it in.  

-J.

Thanks for the advice! I think I should get it graded without a sig too.

I pre-ordered a copy when it was first announced. I was a broke college student and had recently started collecting comics when I saw a preview for it and I just loved everything about the cover. At the time I think I had like $230 bucks to my name. The price on it was $100 but I had to have it. I bought it and it’s been the best $100 I’ve ever spent. I remember how happy and excited I was when it arrived in the mail. I barely made it through the month paying my bills and gas. At the time I didn’t really know much about the rarity of comics, speculating, and sometimes the cut throat aspect of collecting comics. I was just a kid that loved superheroes and comics. I try and keep that attitude to this day when it comes to collecting. 

I really think that mine is a 9.6 -9.8. It doesn’t have any spine/rear damage, the corners are sharp, and there’s no discoloration on the cover. I just don’t know how CGC decides between a 9.6 and a 9.8 

Here some pictures and I’d love to hear what you guys think.

Hey everyone, new to the site. I have the chance to get my copy of ASM #667 variant by Mr. Gabrielle Dell'Otto signed and graded, but I don't know if I should just send it to get graded without being signed. I like the signature series and have multiple of them but for this comic I'm at a crossroad. Since I've had it, I haven't sent it in for grading because I've been paranoid of it getting lost, stolen, etc. but I think it's time I get it graded. Any opinions or what you would do in my situation would be appreciated