James J Johnson

Yes, to all of it.

This

Based on only being able to see a few minor spine stresses and a flake line projecting upward from the top staple, my feeling is at least 9.0, and if that's all there is, 9.2.

Pedigree quality paper. The colors are surreal. There's isn't a trace of toning on those covers or tanning paper off-gassing through from the inside pages that cause cover colors to tone and lose their original color. Good purchase.

I wouldn't. Acid-free board, archival mylar, climate controlled environment, cool, dark place (62 to 75 degrees = a place that is thermostatically controlled), you're good to go for a long, long time.

Even if you paid around Fine, maybe Fine + market price, I don't think you overpaid. The colors and paper appear un-aged.

Definitely way cool! It's a Golden age veteran who survived the battle of time intact. My suggestion is to enjoy it as it is. My suggestion is to forego the cleaning and pressing. An unnecessary moot point.

Absolutely. Of far more value for the reading only than the actual market value. And there's a reason for that. If he feels he screwed up the forgery, and that's going under the assumption that he exercises any quality control over his worst forgeries at all (and I would guess, not much, as they're all putrid abominations), he can take the finished forgery and shred it, he's out a quarter at most. He's not going to forge Lee on pieces he could get $10 for anyway, because A) his forgeries don't bring much more than that, and B) like all thieves, he's greedy. Aside from the money, he's getting a certain amount of satisfaction of turning quarters into $10 bills at the collector's expense; getting over on them, it's a psychological thing. It's all made very clear by Tonf..... er' VietNam67's posts on the subject, a window into the forger's mind and his incentives.

The Cap 22 cover layout was used for the 1943 132 pager:

+1. A squeaker:

Is that an inch and a half clean spine split at the top?

To note, on non-sig series pieces, raw books actually signed by Stan, the price for books of nominal value is typically in the $70 to $90 range from what I gather on Ebay, and for books with a strong COA, like PSA/DNA, a little more, $95 to $110 range is usual.

Nope. Typically $100 and up for sig series CGC pieces (comics of nominal value). For the more expensive comics that are signed, of course the price goes up accordingly.

Yep. Just mentioned it above, corrected my post. Title stated, "Stan Lee character". I had done a search, Stan Lee signature series CGC; queried from the least expensive up. This showed up due to the Stan Lee keyword in the title.

Mistaken. Wasn't Lee. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Venom-150-CGC-9-2-signed-Scottie-Young-variant-Todd-McFarlane-Stan-Lee-character-/302567415611?hash=item46726c5f3b%3Ag%3Ad0gAAOSw63FZ~mOH&nma=true&si=rY364cGV%2BPf15p0gxdNKuT54w1I%3D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

I saw a Stan Lee Sig Series 9.4 or 9.6 fetch $50 and change last week. Horrible cover to have signed, I'll see if I can find it.

With your heading to Baltimore, can we expect fall off in production at the Stan lee forging foundry?

I hope your bluffs at the poker table are better than they are here.

No, if you are the seller you will be doing exactly what you're doing here about it. Exactly what you're doing. No more. No less. Coincidentally, you are the only one here who first defended obvious forgeries, and then crowed encouragement for the seller to rip off as many people as he can, "I hope he sells $10,000 worth of forgeries per week", etc., etc.

Aside from the forgeries being horrible, if there was a snowball's chance in hell that he was capable of being educated, he wouldn't be openly selling $100 bills for $10, and then rationalize that could appear legit, even if he got them from Uncle Stan for free. And I'm not worried about him or anybody else. I pointed out a thief. See something, say something. You condone and encourage it, I don't.

Wrong about what? Which faction of hobby research am I in need of?

Somebody already pointed that out a while back, page 1 or 2.

Easy to prove anywhere, especially in court. "Hey Tonfulle-84. Where and when did you acquire these". Stan then called to rebuke Tonfulle-84's testimony. Let's face it. If push comes to shove, and Tonfulle-84 does not have a source for these signatures, other than himself, his goose is cooked, especially when signature experts and Stan himself is called to testify. Don't you realize that?

"This guy and that guy"? Which other guy's forgeries did I mention? The only Stan Lee forgeries mentioned by me here are Tonfulle-84s Stan Lee $10 to $25 forgeries on bargain box dreck.

I love this!