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Stefan_W

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Everything posted by Stefan_W

  1. So we seamlessly shifted from CGC being awful because there are no 9.8 copies in the census to CGC being corrupt because there now is one? This is like the re-holder scam thread all over again except there is no scam or wrongdoing.
  2. So this is kind of strange. I was curious to see if there were any other copies at 9.9, and when I checked the certification number it would not link to the census. As a work-around I checked other GSX and linked to the census that way, and no 9.9 copies show up even though the cert number checks out. **EDIT** not sure if there is normally a lag between grading and a book appearing the census. It seemed odd to be but it could be perfectly normal.
  3. Mine is definitely not a 9.8 copy since it has a crease (I can get most of that out) along with a tiny bit out of the top right front corner. Known error variants can be really erratic when it comes to pricing, and my guess is ones not acknowledged by CGC would be even moreso. If someone told me I could make $50 as a novelty item I would believe them, and if someone told me I could make 500 since completist collectors who have all the other variants will want one of the rare copies I would also believe them.
  4. Hi Folks, I am hoping to draw on the experience and expertise on these boards for something I found baffling. I was sorting comics for my next show and I normally toss Death of Superman stuff in my dollar bins. I am not an avid Superman collector so I don't know the ins and out of the run, so I set it aside to check it out. It appears to be an opened Superman 75 Platinum edition, but there is no number printed on the back. I searched online, including these boards, and it seems like there are others but I could not get any info on them. Specifically, roughly how much are they worth? How does CGC handle them when they go in for grading (green label, blue label, etc)? And are they some type of error variant that is not identified in the census yet? Here are pics of my copy. Any input is appreciated.
  5. When I sell comics I sell at full market value on Ebay and take the 15% hit, accept the risk of selling on CL and take a 10% hit plus the amount it goes below value (which may be a lot), and when I sell in person I ask for 85-90% of full market value. Works for me. When I buy books I pay close to value for a raw key books and expect to get a steep discount on filler books. Most people have no ability to sell filler in any meaningful way so my offers typically go over well with people selling their collections to me. I then clean and press the keys to increase the value on them, and I take the filler to comic shows to offload a few boxes to make room for more buying along with replenishing a bit of the cash I set aside for buying collections. Again, works for me. The biggest thing is a deal has to make sense for both sides. When I buy collections I make offers that are super reasonable to the person selling. When I sell off books I offer them below market value so people have a reason to open up their wallets. So often I see prices at comic shows that just make me shake my head. It is like they are hoping someone comes along who does not know how much the comic is actually worth. I also sometimes see completely unrealistic price expectations from a few people selling off their collections. I once had a person offer me their collection of 5,000 comics that she said has a total value of $18k based on MCS prices (with no books worth over $20 to show me), and she offered me a "deal" at $14k for that collection. The math suggests those books were listed on MCS shop for $4 or under which makes them books I throw into my dollar bins at shows. Full value to me for that collection would be roughly 10% of what she wanted for it, so different universes in terms of valuations. It takes all kinds to fill a freeway.
  6. Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. People may be saving their books for the Con season and things may slow down again when that glut of submissions starts to come in. It is a part of why I am trying to get the last of my next submission pressed and out as quickly as possible. I think there is still time to beat the rush.
  7. 25 book modern submission Mar 8 - Shipped to CGC Mar 12 - Arrived at CGC Mar 13 - Box opened and SFG Mar 20 - Variant editions updated in submission tracking Mar 21 - G/E/I Mar 22 - Q/C Mar 28 - Shipped Really happy with both the speed at which this went through and the results. Trying to get another shipment finished so I can send it in before the Con season slows things down. Kudos to the CGC team for their hard work!
  8. 25 book modern submission Mar 8 - Shipped to CGC Mar 12 - Arrived at CGC Mar 13 - Box opened and SFG Mar 20 - Variant editions updated in submission tracking Mar 21 - G/E/I Mar 22 - Q/C This one flew through the process!
  9. A friend stopped by a couple of hours after this exchange to drop off some books for pressing, and he was pretty excited about the new sig verification (he heard about it on Facebook last night). He is planning on submitting 4 books that he kept as raw and asked if I could crack two others from another company so he could submit them as well. A sample of one, but I think we should begin to wrap our heads around the possibility that this new feature will be popular with collectors and re-subbing will be a significant part of it all.
  10. 25 book modern submission Mar 8 - Shipped to CGC Mar 12 - Arrived at CGC Mar 13 - Box opened and SFG Mar 20 - Variant editions updated in submission tracking Mar 21 - G/E/I This is a very quick turnaround! Fingers crossed that I did well with this group
  11. I know people who would line up to do exactly that. The target group would be people who have books they personally took to Stan Lee (or other artist signing) signings many years ago and who only used the competitor because of their verification option.
  12. I'm happy with this announcement and not surprised at all. It will be nice to have a mechanism at CGC for authenticating older signatures. I think it is a nail in the coffin for competitors. I know many people who only use other grading services because they have signed books they know are authentic, and there was no mechanism outside of slab notes like "'Stan Lee' written on page 1" as an option at CGC. I suspect a lot of them will crack those books and send them to CGC. Heck, it would not surprise me if CGC offered up a special where people can send in signed books from one specific other service for reholdering into CGC cases like they did years ago with unsigned ones. In fact, if I was running CGC that is exactly what I would do in order to pull even more higher end competitor slabs out of the marketplace.
  13. 12 book Vintage Submission: Mar 14 - Shipped from Canada Mar 19 - Arrived at CGC Mar 20 - Box opened and SFG Mar 20 - Credit card charged
  14. 25 book modern submission Mar 8 - Shipped to CGC Mar 12 - Arrived at CGC Mar 13 - Box opened and SFG May 20 - Variant editions updated in submission tracking I noticed this morning that some variants that were not identified when the shipment hit SFG were updated today, and a second print that I thought was a first print was also updated. I never noticed this as a separate step before so figured I would include it in this list of steps and timelines.
  15. I just pulled up a couple and it worked fine for me.
  16. I really enjoyed the video. The storyline, as I see it, is that even with modern books direct from manufacturing not all books are 9.8, and the 9.9s and especially 10.0s are hard to come by. Not a bad choice of messaging. I hope they do more like this down the road. The biggest question that I have is based on my own experience - I have submitting hundreds of books that hit 9.8 but none so far that reached 9.9 or 10.0. I know it is (or at least was) possible based on older books in the census that could not have been sent to CGC direct from manufacturing but still reached those levels. I've had one or two along the way that I was convinced had a good shot at landing at 9.9 but they never got there, so basically I am wondering what I was missing in those cases. This video helps a bit but I am not sure you can compare books straight out of the box like the ones in the video to older ones that reached 9.9 or up.
  17. Well that sucks. The silver lining if you had decided to go through with the sale is people who buy there typically know the grading is super tight, and you may have still been able to get FN/VF prices for raw books they list as FN-. But of course there is no point in taking that risk, and it doesnt change the reason for being frustrated to begin with.
  18. You could always offer to pay for these books with three dollar bills.
  19. I would phone them directly. They are really good to deal with and will straighten it out right away.
  20. 25 book modern submission Tried a new shipping process this time and used Canada Post/USPS rather than Fedex, and it ended up getting to CGC in about half the time with less than half the cost. Shipped - Mar 8 Arrived at CGC - Mar 12 Box opened and SFG - Mar 13
  21. I heard a bunch of pressers talking smack about you too, so I guess this is fair.
  22. Someone took a black marker and colored the case in top to bottom?
  23. 25 book modern submission Dropped off at FedEx in Ottawa - Feb 20 Arrived at CGC - Feb 26 Box opened, SFG, and card charged - Feb 26 G/E/I - Mar 11 Q/C - Mar 12 Shipped - Mar 12 Shipped out on day 11 of the TAT, which is pretty spectacular. Got great results in this one - 11 books out of 11 that I cracked and re-subbed got grade bumps.
  24. 25 book modern submission Dropped off at FedEx in Ottawa - Feb 20 Arrived at CGC - Feb 26 Box opened, SFG, and card charged - Feb 26 G/E/I - Mar 11 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 Q/C - Mar 12