BrianHoward

Just throwing some feelers out there.. Looking for quality pieces from the listed artists. Please feel free to reach out!

I recently came across this piece and not really sure what it is from. I believe it's Rich Larson and Tim Boxell artwork. Looks like maybe something from Charlton? Anyone out there have an idea?

Yes, that is the book.

Here's another bad one... Guy went on a compulsive bidding spree on a Showcase #4 we were auctioning.. After winning, he emails us trying to change terms and finally hits us with this "I overbid, cancel the order" setd-5

Here's another blatant thief... tmoney120 (Terrance Boudin-Johnson) Buyer won a Luke Cage NM run from #1-14 for $1100 Contacts me claiming that the package was damaged in transit. Claims that the Post Office told him to leave the #1 with them and he took the rest. Files a not as described case. We contact Post Office and they claim that he did not leave anything behind. They state that he took everything. I begin the process for an investigation and insurance claim. I ask the buyer to go to the Post Office and retrieve the stuff he claims he left behind. I get no assistance from him and he never goes back to get the stuff he "left".. He does stay on ebay and pressure them to close the case on me.. Someone at ebay makes a mistake and closes it as a return, telling him to send everything back. The rep I spoke to admitted that the case should not have been closed. Today the "return" finally arrives and it's issues #2-14, but they are very clearly NOT all the same comics we sent him... The comics we sent were NM and Terrance even confirmed that #2-14 were not damaged, which was why he claimed to have taken them.. Beware

Thanks so much for the info!

Thank you! Figures I'm a day late Still holding out hope. I'd love to get a chance at one of those Capullo, Dell'Otto or Fabok covers.

Looking for Covers and splashes featuring The Batman who laughs or great examples from this series.

I think that's a great point you make. We sell thousands of comics every month and have done so for a very long time.. Fortunately situations like this are pretty rare. Ebay really needs to fix their return system protocol. I will be discussing this with my rep.

Nope. They say there is no way they can validate my claim that what I received was not what I originally sent.

Although I have a big list I've amassed over the years, it's been a while since an outright scammer has surfaced. relequin - https://www.ebay.com/usr/relequin: Is a true scammer. He purchased a Shazam #28 from us for $275... Filed a return request and when we received it he had swapped out the Shazam #28 for a worthless free "preview" comic..

I'm sorry that we had to cease slabbing all of our comics. We do still regularly, although not exclusively, sell graded comics and will continue to do so. We understand that for buyers who only buy graded comics, this would be a disappointment.. However, we're still offering the same comics, no reserve auction and top notch customer service! I hope one day we can earn your business again.

Hi, We really prefer that people contact us directly with any questions or concerns they may have. We're easy to find and very responsive. We are not on the boards much and won't be. Please don't ever hesitate to contact us directly in the future (brian@sparklecitycomics.com) . As far as the Batman #227, I'm not too sure what looks funky to you. This book was brought up early in this thread and the consensus seemed to be that our grade of was fair. The book has some production flaws which might be what you're concerned about.. Please feel free to PM me with some more detail or email me: brian@sparklecitycomics.com As for the Marvel Premiere #1, I'm looking at the book right now and what may look like foxing is just dust shadow/tanning, not actually foxing. The page quality is turning a bit after 40 or so years, but there doesn't appear to be oxidization to the degree that we would call foxing. The pages are OW. That impact top edge is not visible on the actual book in my hands.

That's fair. We definitely did transition from a majority slabbed to majority raw. I understand this is going to limit our appeal to slab buyers, but this was a business decision that needed to be made. Thanks for the kind words. I hope we have the opportunity to earn your business again!

I'm sorry that slab buyers are disappointed we aren't offering as many slabs as we used to but this business decision is now years old and was explained on here previously. We still achieve great results and provide the same customer service and shipping/packing. Our brand is absolutely not ruined. Our business has actually been strengthened by this decision and our customer base grows every year.

My intentions and perception of the private message I sent to this poster differs a little. I sent this message to a poster who made a statement that appeared to be factually incomplete or incorrect. This was not to scold the poster, simply to set the record straight as this poster has been a valued customer of ours over the years and I did not want him forming an opinion of us based on incomplete information.

So glad they got this guy! We were contacted by him last week. He claimed to be selling these comics for his uncle, but something just didn't seem to make sense after talking to him for a few minutes. I did a quick search and found the notification of the stolen books on the boards. With my suspicions confirmed, I contacted the person who posted the thread and they passed me off to the victim. I also reached out to my buddy at NYPD and he put me in touch with a Det. who was working on the case. We tried to connect the perp with with the police and passed off all the info we had, he made some mistakes that made it easy to track his real identity. The Det. seemed very interested in pursuing this and the victim was just as adamant so I was confident they would get this guy. I'm not sure if our actions contributed to this or not, but clearly the collecting community played a role in making sure the right thing got done here. Good job boards!

Hello Boardies, I felt I needed to respond to this because the Sparkle City name is now being brought into question. I hope I can provide some insight. Before the recent timely bump, the last post in this thread was nearly 5 years ago. Greg joined Sparkle City almost 3 years ago. In the time between this thread and his hiring by SC, Greg worked with/for multiple large dealers and some high profile and respected boardies. When I started to consider working with Greg he provided current references and was given the stipulation that his past issues would have to be resolved. To my knowledge, they all were (if you have unresolved issue, please contact me directly and I would be happy to mediate). The issue with Brent was resolved in approx. 2008/09 when he was paid in full plus interest. The details outlined in this thread regarding that situation represent some of the facts, not all of them. Perhaps one of Greg's biggest mistakes was not responding to this thread when it first happened. The information in this thread is incomplete at best. This is not to say that Greg acted as I would have or allow in the scope of my business in some of these cases, but to my knowledge not all information here is accurate and everything has been resolved, most were years before he joined us. In a hobby where we have dealers who have been proven (not simply alleged) to shill their own auctions, embezzle funds, swap out books, peddle Frankenstein books and exploit gaps in CGC grading as well as use strong arm tactics Greg certainly is not the most evil man in comics. I don't believe he is beyond redemption. I believe in the virtue of forgiveness and that people deserve a chance to change for the better. Many of the people who were involved with Greg around the time this thread was created are good friends with him today and continue to seek opportunities to do business with him. Hopefully the fact that he is part of a trusted and honest professional organization will re-assure those concerned anout issues in the past. While those who worked with Greg before he came to work with Sparkle City had no concern for him resolving past issues or in helping him better himself, that was not my position. I discussed all of this extensively with Mark Zaid and was satisfied that matters had been resolved and Greg was not acting maliciously. Mark has done business with Sparkle City and has discussed books with Greg since his hiring. Sparkle City has been operating with Greg as a part for the past 3 years and I have not seen any malicious intent or out of the ordinary issues arise. Nobody is perfect and there is always the risk of miscommunication, misunderstanding or error. If anything ever arises I do my best to resolve it fairly (even if I'm serving only as a mediator). I can't claim perfection, but I take every problem brought to my attention seriously and work to resolve it promptly. To my knowledge we do have hundreds of satisfied customers and clients as well as many dealers who we regularly partner with and buy from. Keep in mind that there is always more to a story than you may know. Anyone who has dealt with Sparkle City, with Me or with Greg in the past 3 years can hopefully provide some relevant feedback as to the professionalism, service and integrity of the Sparkle City Comics organization.

Here is another site for OA, I hope you all will visit! www.comicartsgallery.com

Congrats on the sale. It's a great piece, for sure!

www.sparklecitycomics.com

I'm on that list (neatstuffcollectibles) and I doubt it's for buying something from him.. I pretty much NEVER buy using my business account. The only time I can recall dealing with the scammer in question was a transaction I did with him about 5 years ago.. I sold him a DD statue and he called me up complaining about the box... After a few calls and literally hours on the phone hearing about his Martial Arts expertise and his pain condition, he started to get nasty. Our communications ended when he threatened to show up at my location and kick my butt... I gave him my address but never heard from him after that. I have already contacted Mark about this. As usual, Mark is out there looking out for the hobby and trying to do the right thing. I don't question his motives or intent with this thread for a minute. Anyone who does, clearly doesn't know much about Mark. I agree that many on the boards will form their own conclusions just by seeing names mentioned on a thread associated with someone nefarious, but clearly that is out of Mark's control... Jumping to conclusions is just one of those things that seems to happen often on these boards..

Last time I was there (a few months back) I didn't see any comic vendors, but there was a comic shop on premises. Doubt it's your old timer though.