jas1vans

I've been reading this thread for a while. I haven't watched the video above, but I can believe that it happened.

In please. Thank you!

@crassus beat me to it before, I'm glad I got a second chance at it.

I'm curious if the CGC sponsored grading contests are being used to train an AI grading system. It seems like a great way to speed up the process and eliminate any possible human grade deviations (hungover, currently drinking, been drinking all day, just don't care, etc). AI assigns a grade, humans take a look and make sure that the grade assigned makes sense, book gets slabbed and shipped. For all I know, it might already be happening with some of the QC issues I've seen on that thread. I really hope that some of those tears and rips would not have been done by human hands, but by a heartless AI grade-bot's conveyer belt and grabber mechanism.

"I am not a time traveler" Sounds exactly like something a time traveler would say. CGC has been screwing up, but I hope somebody is keeping an eye on this "not a time traveler." Time travel might be a good way to get our hands on some nice golden age books for our collections.

Thanks for the great sales thread! It's sent me down some fun rabbit holes; looking at other books from these series and other series by the publishers.

Do you have high res scans of the slabs before you cracked the books out, of the books before you sent them in, and of the books after the new grade was assigned? Grader notes from before and after? If you have all of that, and your books were damaged or unpressed, you could probably reach out to CGC's customer service and bring the matter up with them.

This was the most useful thread about storage I've read here:

Take please.

In please. Thanks @Get Marwood & I!

Why are you looking to entomb your book? Are you looking to sell it? Do you want verification of grade, completeness, etc? I have thought of getting some of my books slabbed (for the purpose of sale) but have decided against it. There's a thread about quality control at CGC. Take a look at that. I do not know the rate of incidents, but I don't have the stomach to pay a company that can not deliver what they claim to provide. I would be livid if I had to go through what some of those people in the QC thread have gone through. I do not have any high-value books, but I would be incredibly hesitant to send them to CGC if I did.

I'm in. Thanks for the reminder @Get Marwood & I!

Especially names and departments. I've always had better luck with CS screw ups when I've been able to tell them who I've spoken to in what department. Once they know you're paying attention, it seems that they try to resolve the issue a little quicker.

Take: GI Combat 82 (3.5), Astonishing Tales 35 (6.0), Black Lightning 1 (7.0), Capt. Storm 8 (5.0), Astonishing Tales 25 (5.0), Four Color 1183 (8.0), Ghost Rider 7 (7.0), OOAW 60 (4.5), Swamp Thing 7 (6.0), Walt Disney's Comics 140 (4.0), if they're all still around.

I'd go 8.5. At best, I'm 2 points off each book in the grading contest, so you've probably got a 9.2. Two thumbs up for the book! I got these two recently. The bottom staple is the worst area on both of them as well.

Finally got the chance to get pics of the books. Overall, the books I got online are better; assigned a grade, fewer spine tics, sharper corners; I didn't get scans of the CoDs and I think they're nicer than any of the books from the con. The first three pics are the books in common, con on the left online on the right. SM 21 $61.50 vs. $16; WMD 3 $16.25 vs $51; MSH 28 $16.25 vs. $48. Without the extra book online, the overall difference in price would have been $30. I feel I did much better online. Just one experience with one dealer at one con though. Getting the better books online won't dissuade me from going to future shows to buy some books. Edit: I need to find a way to get some better pics.

Thrilled with every book I own, even the overpays and guilt buys. I'm trying to be smarter in the hobby, got back in 7 or 8 years ago and just accumulated stuff. Now, there's a master list that I'm trying to stick to. During the accumulation stage, I went to a show at a bowling alley that I liked. The dealers all seemed happy to be there, selling books felt like a secondary thing. I'm definitely keeping an eye out for that in the future.

I knew I was overpaying for all of it once I saw the $80 sticker. For me, it's part of learning; it wasn't the first and won't be the last time I overpay. I went to a bowling alley show when I was about that age. I stole an Uncanny X-Men 201. I have purchased that book from stores at full price more than a few times now and they're all staying in the PC. Walk in the main doors, turn right, walk to the wall. Older guy with a bunch of longboxes that have a few titles per in no real order. Nice guy, didn't deserve some of the hassle he was getting, but he overpriced a bit.

I did buy one more book than at the con. The cost of the Sub-Mariner 21 was $16 (vs. a slight drop from $80, I didn't math it out) and, at least from the scans, looks to be in much nicer condition. The MSH 28 and WMD 3 cost more but appeared to be in much nicer condition as well.

I didn't watch the video but from the comments it sounds like he needed to be kicked out of a higher window.

I will be updating this shortly with pics. The day following the con, I went online and purchased some books, some with scans, some without. I hadn't bought online other than fu-bay so I'm looking forward to their arrival. I got three of the same books for a side by side comparison. I spent $50 more online, but the total for both was a little less than I planned on spending at the con alone. I received and paid the invoice yesterday, just didn't want to jinx it by mentioning it early.

I liked being able to hold and look at the books too. I'm terrible at looking head on and seeing what's really there. Learning what I am doing was one of the main factors. The boards are a tremendous resource, and I am very appreciative of all the advice shared, but going in and making a decision was what I wanted to accomplish. If the decision was a mistake (cost wise, not a chance on the books), great. I have never, ever learned anything by being right.

The Sub-Mariner 21 was $80. It seemed like the dealer was the one running the tables. He'd been getting chewed over prices and I wasn't there to continue doing that. I was there to buy some books, experience my first con, and see if I could find a value on a book I'm certain I gave a fair offer on f-bay. I asked about a book I knew was overpriced and let him decide how he wanted to handle it. If he'd have been more flexible, he would have gotten more money. There were a couple books on his wall I would have talked myself into buying.

I went to the Milwaukee Comic Con to see what it was like, hoping to find a few books for the collection. I made a lap around, checking out all the comic vendors. I tried to stick to a short list; 12 unlikely books and 20 that I thought were more realistic. First time at a con and I didn't want to get bogged down trying to get everything. I picked a vendor that had more on my list than the rest and bought 6 books (priced $20, $20, $35, $35, $35, $80) for $175. I feel that I could have gotten some nicer books for less. I questioned the $80 book and got a reply of "Well the graders must have..." and he trailed off as he walked away to total everything up. I'm not complaining about the purchase. I went there to buy, got my first con experience, and got some books I want for the PC. Is this kind of par for the course at a con? Pump the prices a little to make up for gas, hauling longboxes in, etc?