RockMyAmadeus

It is your old blue label

I hate you.

Spawn ruled the 90's...for about 5 months in 1992. After that, the Death of Superman wiped him off the map, and he has remained there ever since. (Is this where I say "simple fact" to demonstrate how solidly I believe in my position?) Spawn was, indeed, a consistent top seller...until McFarlane left the book. It wasn't Spawn people wanted...it was TODD MCFARLANE. McFarlane left to do what he really wanted to do: run a business empire. And once McFarlane left, no one cared. Spawn has been a mediocre book, written for mediocre 12-14 year old boys, for 22 years. All the other factors you mentioned can be said of all sorts of other characters, including Batman and the X-Men. MAXX had his own cartoon on MTV, and he hardly comes close to ruling the 90's. Don't get me wrong...of the first wave of Image #1s, Spawn definitely rules the roost...but that's not saying much. And sales numbers means little, unless it is indeed sales numbers of the last 15 years you want to look at. Remember: the top 6 selling comic books of 1993 were Adventures of Superman #500, 501, Action #687, Man of Steel #22, Superman #78, and Turok #1....all of which sold more copies than Spawn #1 And those are all some of the worst, most ridiculous comics ever printed. He was the least mediocre in the most mediocre decade in comics...? I'll buy that. I do dispute that, even IN the 90's, he "completely dominated the decade." He was dead and buried by issue #50, with a small spurt for the movie. Make NO doubt about it: people didn't want Spawn. They wanted McFarlane. McFarlane could have drawn Strawberry Shortcake, and it would have sold 1.75 million copies. Batman had more movies and TV shows than any other hero in the 90s... But DC didn't really put enough effort into the comic line so the comics weren't that great other than Bane. Otherwise Batman still blows it all out of the water. Well, we started off the decade coming off the greatest Batmania ever.... LOTDK was going, Robin was back.... Then, we got Knightfall/Knightquest, which, all things considered, was pretty much the IT event in comics for 1993. I can see a lot of the rest of the decade being rather blah, BUT...we did close it out with one of the most critically acclaimed Bat crossovers ever, No Man's Land, which was the IT event in comics for 1999. I dunno, there's a lot of really huge Bat stuff there in the 90's.....

That is your definition of first appearance, as you've stated many times, and it's correct from a strict dictionary standpoint. However, as comic books are a storytelling medium, what is collected as first appearances is usually character involvement in a narrative, not Previews ads, CSN stories, flyers, coupons or inter-office memos. Once again, despite the dictionary, if someone calls you 'bro', don't assume they're your brother. + forever.

Spawn ruled the 90's...for about 5 months in 1992. After that, the Death of Superman wiped him off the map, and he has remained there ever since. (Is this where I say "simple fact" to demonstrate how solidly I believe in my position?) Spawn was, indeed, a consistent top seller...until McFarlane left the book. It wasn't Spawn people wanted...it was TODD MCFARLANE. McFarlane left to do what he really wanted to do: run a business empire. And once McFarlane left, no one cared. Spawn has been a mediocre book, written for mediocre 12-14 year old boys, for 22 years. All the other factors you mentioned can be said of all sorts of other characters, including Batman and the X-Men. MAXX had his own cartoon on MTV, and he hardly comes close to ruling the 90's. Don't get me wrong...of the first wave of Image #1s, Spawn definitely rules the roost...but that's not saying much. And sales numbers means little, unless it is indeed sales numbers of the last 15 years you want to look at. Remember: the top 6 selling comic books of 1993 were Adventures of Superman #500, 501, Action #687, Man of Steel #22, Superman #78, and Turok #1....all of which sold more copies than Spawn #1 And those are all some of the worst, most ridiculous comics ever printed. He was the least mediocre in the most mediocre decade in comics...? I'll buy that. I do dispute that, even IN the 90's, he "completely dominated the decade." He was dead and buried by issue #50, with a small spurt for the movie. Make NO doubt about it: people didn't want Spawn. They wanted McFarlane. McFarlane could have drawn Strawberry Shortcake, and it would have sold 1.75 million copies.

I'm glad he was able to make a deal for the #3 black that was consigned to Lonestar (I'm assuming here, but it's a pretty reasonable assumption.) I doubt we'll ever know what happened to the vast majority of the ashcans. I suspect they were tossed. How very, very sad. The only ones I need are the #3 yellow and #1 Black. Those are the only ones I've never owned.

I'm just a guy, with a very good reputation on the boards and in the hobby in general. The non condescending type who can actually grade a book. Don't worry about me though, I'm not the issue here. A half dozen people have already said the book ain't even close to a 9.8 and this has been a very enlightening excerise. :thumbsup: Jim Your raw 9.8s are 9.8s. Now, the hamster bedding that comes in the package is another story. Oh I know Sean :thumbsup: I'm still 100% on 9.8's for WD books too...never had one come back a 9.6 yet In Chicago last year I did screw up on a regular copper on site submission of 100 books. Only 96 came back 9.8's, the other two were 9.6's and the other two were 9.9's. Jim What a looser! Yeah, loosers are no good. I prefer tighters.

Well I bet the problems you are talking about didn't happen in transit. They pack well. Also they will refund you if you aren't satisfied. Unless they don't.

The problem with Firestorm #1 is that most copies out there on the bay suck donkey balls. They're filled with ticks, rubs, splits and generally are in poor condition. If one actually came around that was even close to NM I betcha it'd fetch some bigger $. Ebay NM = found in trash can covered in splooge. You would think the fire would repel the ticks....

I had a solid NM Swamp Thing #37 for sale on eBay, and I kept getting HUGE resistance at $120. Person after person after person kept making $50, $60, $70 offers.... Finally did sell it at $120. Yay.

I just had a guy try to sell me 4 issues of Misty for $2 each. I chuckled inside, and put them back.

Pics! I picked up one of the JL Annual 5 2nd Prints as well. I saw that silver cover and the roman numeral and had to have it photo storage Wasn't thinking....I already have all the Armageddon 2001 2nds and 3rds.

Pics!

No special heat right now. Man Who Laughs has been a $25-$50 book for years now. The time to sell was a few years ago, before the hardcover reprint came out. If you look, the book received one bid. Not exactly "heating" up. More relevant to this thread, the book is from two thousand five . Not Copper or even the post-Copper (90s) range that is commonly discussed in this section. maybe divad's version did well because it is the rare 1988 version printed 17 years before the book was actually published? You really gotta work on learning the quote function. interesting. i quoted the whole thread, but at the end decided to cut your statement because it wasn't relevant to what I was responding to and the website re-jiggied everything to make it look like you had made the 2005 comment, etc. weird. You cut my statement and the end quote html, but then forgot to delete the quote header (that says "quote=RockMyAmadeus") up at the top.

No doubt So, I know you gents have an issue with me, but would it be possible to NOT krap on my book...you know, the common courtesy that everyone else gets? Thanks!

Yeah, I agree. It really does typify the era, does it not? The era of mediocrity at best.

I don't think ANY of them are particularly "king-ish." You've got Turtles for the 80's, Wolvie for the 70's, Spidey for the 60's, Flash for the 50's, Cap for the 40's, and Supes for the 30's. None of the 90's folks even come close to the type of saturation that the others do. SONIC is more far-reaching than DP or Spawn. Sure, IN the 90's, Spawn was king...but no one has cared about Spawn for nearly 20 years. How can you claim to be the "king" when everyone's forgotten about you...? If Spawn is brought up, the question is "oh, is that still being published?" And I don't know how you can say the same for Harley, a character who was virtually ignored for nearly 20 years, too. What IS/ARE the breakout character(s) of the 90's....? Do they compare at ALL with the breakout characters of previous decades? Doesn't that really capture the problem at large for the decade...?

No special heat right now. Man Who Laughs has been a $25-$50 book for years now. The time to sell was a few years ago, before the hardcover reprint came out. If you look, the book received one bid. Not exactly "heating" up. More relevant to this thread, the book is from two thousand five . Not Copper or even the post-Copper (90s) range that is commonly discussed in this section. maybe divad's version did well because it is the rare 1988 version printed 17 years before the book was actually published? You really gotta work on learning the quote function.

That would be a neat trick, since there's only one book, and the 9.0 label is sitting right here.

No special heat right now. Man Who Laughs has been a $25-$50 book for years now. The time to sell was a few years ago, before the hardcover reprint came out. If you look, the book received one bid. Not exactly "heating" up. More relevant to this thread, the book is from two thousand five . Not Copper or even the post-Copper (90s) range that is commonly discussed in this section. I wonder what word you're censoring there... I'm going with "pooping."

No. 7 copies passed a Classics Incorporated 9.8 prescreen and were submitted to CGC. 5 copies came back 9.8 and 2 received 9.6 status. You should read this whole thread. It's really great. 7? Out of 1500 copies? Or do I need to read the whole thread...? I think you need to read the whole thread. My "7 copies" reference is completely wrong. I just skimmed the whole thread. The problem that CGC has, and it's a very big one, is that they are extremely overprotective of the 9.9 and 10 grades, and way, way, wayyyy too liberal with the 9.8 grades. I've subbed nearly 2,000 books at this point, and hit 9.8s with no problem, even without a safety net (prescreen.) I have subbed, in six years, exactly 6 books that graded 10, and a single 9.9. I've got at least 4 books in 9.8 slabs that are no contest 9.9s. Yes, I know everyone says that, but I have dealt only in ultra high grade for 2+ decades. I take magnifying loupes to comics. I don't think anyone would disagree with me, especially in light of many of the books that get a 9.8. These "9.8s" are substantially, obviously, MEASURABLY better than the standard 9.8s, but they get put in 9.8 slabs. It makes no sense to have a book that has an oxidized bottom staple from water damage grade a 9.8....and a book that has a single fleck, no bigger than the period at the end of this sentence, and THAT'S IT...also be a 9.8. I suspect it is the culture of Borock and Haspel that has instilled this into everyone grading moderns. It's not so much that the ceiling is 9.8, is that to BREAK that ceiling, a book has to not just BE flawless...it has to IMPRESS the finalizer. This isn't a bad thing, unless it's taken to the extreme, as CGC has. So, I keep the ultra high grade stuff raw. Not worth the cost to get it in a 9.8 slab. I've got 3-4 long boxes of the stuff. I'm happy to keep them as is, until the culture changes.

No. 7 copies passed a Classics Incorporated 9.8 prescreen and were submitted to CGC. 5 copies came back 9.8 and 2 received 9.6 status. You should read this whole thread. It's really great. 7? Out of 1500 copies? Or do I need to read the whole thread...?

And you can Jedi Mind Trick CGC in to a gift grade too... Awesome book! Oh, no my friend...that's no gift grade. It's dead on target. Other than that spine stress you see, the book is flawless.

Some of these SS books are to die for. Anyhoo, just got this back...started with this: Cracked it, pressed it myself...and ended up with this: Apparently, my fingers are so magic, I can reverse page quality, too. (yay)

So much popcorn today...I'm better switch to no salt...