RockMyAmadeus

Yeah, I don't mind newtron rings. But those elektron rings better watch out!

Oops! I should have looked closer. It's not even the same color! Still...Canadian newsstand version! Thanks for the info on where. That's quite an interesting location. I think another was found in North Carolina, which is the other side of the continent. Interesting!

He's been bullying me since 2002.

Plymouth, of course!

I love the Wizard 1/2 issues. Totally representative of Wizard and the market in the 90s and 00s. That said, there are some that are shockingly rare...like the Shi 1/2 variant...and some that are just cool. Personally, I think all the "Special Edition" books...and they didn't do it for all of them...are great.

Now, if you REALLY want to be impressive, name the cover dates that go with them... (Jan 1987 for Karate Kid. )

Did you find it with the Firestorm #23 you have behind it? By the way...may I ask where you found it?

Liar. We all know Valiant started in 1990. The name did not escape me...

That is like comparing a JV high school basketball team to the Golden State Warriors. This is quite true. The CGC forums are one of the finest, if not THE finest, comic book message boards on the entire internet. The CBCS forums...? Not so much, right out of the gate. Many people here gave it a shot, discovered it wasn't ready for prime time, and never went back.

I had 1973 Gran Torino with only 41k until my little brother wrecked it. Surprisedly it ran great. Only 41k? That's brand spankin' new! My mom (yes, my mom!) had a '71 Mach 1. My sister had a '68 Firebird, my older brother had a '71 Challenger, my little brother had a '72 'cuda, and I had a '72 Valiant. Yeah...we were a family of muscle cars, fo sho.

I loved my 1985 Mustang, ugly little sucker that it was. My first manual transmission!

That is always true, of everyone, all the time, regardless of the circumstances. However, being the vocal loudmouth that I am, I am under closer scrutiny than others...and rightly so...and would do serious damage to whatever credibility I may (or may not) have by manufacturing or fabricating information...about anything. I would be tarred and feathered...again, rightly so.

You will have to come to that determination on your own. Things to consider: is what I stated factual? You will notice...there's no response to the substance of my comments, no attempt to refute them...just a "consider the source" comment. And, by all means, you should absolutely consider the source, for all things. As far as me being banned goes, that's absolutely true, and I've not said otherwise. That was, for me, the "straw that broke the camel's back", after attempting to dialogue with upper management about the situation on their boards and other issues with the company, and getting absolutely nowhere. I tried, in good faith, to appeal to upper management, and, while I appreciate the time I was given, it didn't result in any substantive changes. Things only got worse. I am only one of multiple people they have banned, and/or suspended, (as Logan510, himself, has been.) As another example: if someone or something is moderated on the CBCS board, and anyone even hints that they might not agree with the decision...whether they were involved or not...that has been interpreted as "questioning moderator decisions", and that person has received an instant suspension. That's not a sober, reasoned response. So, obviously my direct experience with them is going to affect my opinion of them, as it would anyone. After all...if someone reports that they had a bad experience with a seller on eBay, for instance, and they go into detail about that experience, noting that it upset them, and finding out in the course of their experience that the seller has done the same sort of thing to others...is that report legitimate or vengeful...? If it's all true, if it's all factual...does it matter the motive? And wouldn't "vengeance" be seeking to do something in kind...? Do I get "revenge" by reporting these true things, or am I simply reporting what is, from my perspective, and letting others decide for themselves...? Interesting questions, I imagine. Do understand, TwoPiece, that there are bad actors on this board, who act in bad faith. Who that is is up to you to determine. Long boards have long memories, not all of it good.

Yay!

What? You don't like Nowl Donmuz?

The 5th one lives in Oregon? ZZZZZZZZZING!

CBCS is a disaster. They were thoroughly and completely unprepared for primetime, as some of those involved have noted, and there's no one in charge who knows what they're doing, or how to deal with customers. Their message board...their public face...is a disaster, filled with people who know little to nothing about comics, run by people who know little to nothing about comics, and who don't know how to deal with criticism other than silencing it, and then using that platform to lie about it, because, after all, you can't respond. It's not much better than your average comics speculation blog. It has been documented that their cases can be opened AND CLOSED AGAIN without showing any evidence of tampering, which they attempted to resolve by extending the "heat seal" on their inner well a bit longer. Their "witnessed signature program", as ILP mentioned above, is a joke, with "people in charge" offering to "yellow label" books for people they didn't know, merely because those people were associated with other people they did know...like the bouncer saying "oh, you're with Biebs? Come right on in!" when they should be the guardian of the integrity of the program with their lives. They decided to distinguish between "newsstand" and "Direct" market versions for 70s, 80s, and 90s books...which is great...but then decided to stop at the totally arbitrary year 2000, which means every newsstand book after that...the most critical for such a distinction...was not included...which makes no sense whatsoever. Their "head presser" made a video showing an Avengers #4 in which he rotated, on a table, the book 360 degrees...which made collective comicdom cringe, thinking about the potential for scuffing and abrasions. You never, ever allow a comic to rub against any surface. Even backing boards will eventually rub off ink given enough time and movement. They have no census, despite repeated calls for four years for one...I sadly suspect they haven't kept records to establish one. And, as others have said, there's been massive infighting, which is no surprise. Maybe Beckett can save them...maybe. We'll see. They had the good will and support of perhaps the entire graded comics community behind them when they opened in 2014, and they completely and totally squandered it. CGC, for all its flaws, is the only legitimate third party grader in the hobby at the moment. And that's really sad, because competition...legitimate competition...makes everyone better.

Okay, so those prices adjusted for inflation. Really? You're going to make me dig up the February, 1993 Wizard (#18), which was published in Dec of 92, to quote those (lower) prices...? The takeaway is that that seller's listings look like they were either all shilled, or the (3) and (7) bidders really wanted the books. With the FB score of the seller (also 3), I'm leaning towards the former. We'll see if they show up for sale again. If they ARE real, those are some mighty impressive sales results. Bloodshot movie's being filmed in South Africa, so who knows?

That Tec #578 splash isn't the greatest piece (but oh, that last page!), but it IS a McFarlane, one of the few Bat books he did, and I don't own any McFarlanes....I made the high bidder earn it, though. I'm not a rich guy, so spending that kind of money tends to make my heart stop a bit. I was willing to go to the mat for the Batman #426 cover, but it was already at $28,000 by the time it reached live bidding, and I couldn't even remotely justify spending that kind of money. The next bid would have made it $35,000. That's more than a lot of people earn in a year. I did get the MCP #87 piece, and I'm glad I wasn't outbid. No Wolvie...technically...but a bunch of Cyber panels, and a beautiful Sam Kieth lady as the centerpiece, so I love it.

Those are spring/summer of 1993 prices, if even that. Even at "full Wizard", those books never reached $290 in 1992. The total for all 8 books that existed by the April, 1993 Wizard was only $216.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Rai-0-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-Valiant-Near-Mint-w-Cards-/302856258152?nordt=true&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.m43663.l10137 What...? That would be sad if the winner is a legit newb. But it's all probably fake.

Is there anything boys won't try to turn into a missile?

At this point, MSH 12 is not and never will be in the same stratosphere that MSH 13 is in. If the 1st appearance of Carol Danvers isn’t already a major key, it will be after she transcends comics and becomes a cultural icon/household name next year after her movie and Avengers 4 hits screens. Mar Vell is now a minor character who will stay dead in the Marvel Universe, whereas Carol Danvers is about to become a flagship character of the MCU and adorn little girls’ lunchboxes and backpacks across the world. That could change at any time. A year ago, most collectors could never have told you what the first appearance of Carol Danvers was. Nothing is forever in comics, and nothing is guaranteed.

ASM #300 is certainly not a rare book, but the only time you could have ever bought "stacks" of them was when they were brand new. They were disbursed far and wide, and by the time 1990 rolled out, McFarlane was done with ASM (#328 came out in November), and people were having fits waiting the EIGHT MONTHS in between that issue and Spiderman #1, the whole collecting world just went insane over those ASMs. I certainly own hundreds of copies of single books, but that's because I bought them (usually long after the fact) from the people who published/printed/distributed them directly. ASM #300 is a special book, in that it never experienced a time, in its entire history, where it was devalued to "cover or less." Certainly, Harby #1s could be found for cover price by the late 90s (and some people even found them, rarely, in dollar bins), and that was against the $10 or so they were selling for on eBay. All of the regular issue Valiants could be found for cover price or less. Batman #426-429, Gen 13, New Mutants #98, even New Mutants #87, all sank to $5 or less...often less...by 1999 - 2001 or so. I own a long box of just Batman #426-#429, most of which I bought for $2 each or less. My first copies of Magnus #0 and Harby #0 Pink were bought for 30 cents each from Tom Kalb in one of his "I'm tired of selling comics to fleabag comic geeks" phases in the summer of 1999. But not ASM #300. I imagine there were a handful of lower grade $5-$10 sales on eBay in that time period, but a copy described as "NM"? Probably you were going to have to shell out $20-$30, even at the lowest of the low period of the late 90s. The lowest price for a slabbed copy ever recorded is $10 for a 5.0 in 2002 and 6.5 in 2003. That was a loss. The lowest price for a 9.4, however, is $41 in 2002, and with the cost of slabbing being a mere $12 (with discount) back then, that's a raw cost of about $25. And that price was a fluke...next lowest is $52. And the lowest price for a 9.8, ever? $250.