RockMyAmadeus

This is where we diverge. The grading process is...must be...collaborative. The third party must agree with the seller who must agree with the buyer who must agree with the third party. It's not enough that the market accept what the third party says, without question. That cannot work in the long run. There's a lot more to it, but that is the essence. I've been percolating an article about this that I will post in my journal at some point.

Yes, Mrs. F was a spitfire, and she made sure her hubby got paid.

You mean boobs, right? You're talking about boobs? Hanging out of shredded clothing? That's what you're referring to, right...?

Sure...but they weren't always $250.

Some of the people reading this will laugh... This is my phone: Maybe I'll have to transition to the 21st century....

If eBay offered free listings on everything, I would list a lot more. But they don't seem to agree.

What is "free payment"?

I hear you! I just didn't want to pay north of $1600...or whatever it would have taken...to compete for that particular copy. I considered it, though!

People that are trying to complete sets only have so many buying options. There are many books that sell for ridiculous prices because of low census numbers. And, by far, the best option is to pre-screen, find a copy raw, and submit it yourself...or hire someone else to do it for you. It's not difficult, and it's far more cost effective. It's a 1980s Star Wars, after all...they're not even remotely hard to find in 9.8...if you're willing to do the legwork. Start with buying 9.6s, and see if there's a chance to improve. Many times, there are.

I considered making a bid for the #22 that sold on Heritage last month (the 8.0 Restored), but decided the resto was just too extensive for my liking. It presents very well, though.

It's a batpoopy crazy idea. I'm not shocked that they came up with this idea but I am shocked that they actually followed through with it. Just a bad idea on so many levels. It is a perfect example of how not ready for prime time they were. Very disappointing.

I got caught up in the fervor of the thread title...

"I have a dream today....I have a dream that my comic books will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the drawings on their covers but by the content of their storylines! And when this happens, and when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every newsstand and every comic shop, from every convention and every film premiere, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's comics, Marvel and DC, Image and Dark Horse, IDW and Dynamite, will be able to marry wraps and flutter to the words of the old EC spiritual: Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!" (with, of course, respect to Mr. King, Jr. )

Excellent posts, as per the usual.

Say no more.

Yes, this is a permanent change, and yes, everyone is up in arms about it.

Just Sig Series. I imagine there are quite a bit more non-SS out there.

Shall we start a thread for the even steppier step-child, the DC bullet variants...?

These results are additional data points for the current grading conditions at CGC: there's a hammer loose in the modern room, and they're being relatively generous with Silver and early Bronze.

No. No.

Just remember... "Once hot, now not..." is the time to buy. Books that have established records...like Preacher...will, barring total collapse, come around again. I bought my copy of Turtles #1 for $66 shipped off of eBay in the spring of 1999. That was *after* it was a $300-$500 book in the early 90s.

Nore: that's not a backdoor route to after-the-fact sig authentication. It's simply reading what's there, and noting it. If John Romita signs a book...it's clearly legible as the words "John Romita" without stating that it was signed by THAT John Romita. Noting the words "John Romita" instead of "name" has greater value to me.

It would be nice if creator signatures which are obviously theirs (like John Byrne, for instance) were consistently noted. I have gotten slabs with the creator's name noted, which I like, and slabs with the generic "name written", which I don't.

Eventually, the tooth fairy will come and take your wavy comic and leave a shiny new quarter in its place.