thewritestuff

On 4/10/2022 at 10:02 AM, ThothAmon said:

Ooh! Nice Amazing Ghost 14, and raw to boot!

I'm updating this to say these guys are a bunch of incompetent clowns. I won a couple books in their auction almost a week ago. Their guidelines state that you must make payment within 72 hours, or they will cancel or hit you with a surcharge. I've called and emailed daily and they can't get their act together to get me a link for the payment. Bad enough they charge $75 to ship two books what is only five or so hours away, now I can't even pay for the books I "won", and not sure I have faith enough in them to actually get them to me in one piece.

No one answers when you call. No response to email. Someone called me back...eventually, and said he'd take care of it. Waited a couple days, and still no communication, no link to pay. Horrible, horrible customer service, if one can even call it that. Wish I'd read this thread earlier. Hopefully this will warn others away.

Avoid at all costs.

On 2/20/2022 at 1:53 AM, Professor K said:

Is it me or does this seem a little sketchy? Contact 12 on eeebay. 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/313883132646?hash=item4914e482e6:g:5kUAAOSwFk5gpHas

description : 

PLEASE NO TIME WASTERS, WE ONLY SELL AT THIS PRICE!!! PLEASE DO NOT CONTACT IF YOU DON'T WISH TO BUY!!! PLEASE CHECKOUT THE PICTURES AND CONTACT US!!!

WE ACCEPT FAST SALE FOR THIS ITEM AT THE PRICE OF: 6000 USD

And although they have it up for auction they say don't bid. All bids will be removed. But the account has been around since 2000 so I don't know what to think. 

Same book was for sale, sold, and feedback left by a legit seller in December and the current seller is even using the same pictures.  I wrote the previous seller already just to let them see.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/164873350176?nma=true&si=ktHsJPescstZlf6ifTurwKqyfGI%3D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

I’ve reported this scam to eBay pretty much every day this week. They’ve been shut down several times and then pop up with a different seller’s account. Look at their other books… this guy knows what he’s doing.

On 1/17/2022 at 11:28 AM, manetteska said:

I was going through my raws, looking for something else, and figured this guy deserved a picture and a post. 
 

Great copy! This one is definitely on my want list!

On 1/6/2022 at 4:14 PM, G-G © ® ™ said:

I would prefer that you would not interfere when I'm talking to my peers. Keep your opinions to yourself where I am concerned.

Your hostile reaction to a boardie adding a tidbit of information to a public forum is infantile at best. You certainly have no problem sharing YOUR opinion.

On 12/31/2021 at 12:30 PM, Robot Man said:

The "Inner Sanctum" of Cherokee Books. With Burt Blum and early legendary LA collector Rick Durell (wearing tie). 

This just confirms that I was born in the wrong era! Wow!

On 12/27/2021 at 11:01 AM, Ryan. said:

The seller didn't point out that this BB 108 is the Superior edition, and not the Star edition. Hopefully the winning bidder realized what he or she was buying, if that matters.

Blue Bolt 108 CGC 2.5 L.B. Cole Classic Sci-Fi Atomic Age Cover | eBay

In a world where people are willing to fork over $2,000-$3,000 for a modern Batman simply because it’s the ‘rare’ second print newsstand edition, I’m shocked that the Blue Bolt wasn’t pitched as the  super rare reprint variant 🤷‍♂️

for the non-flat faced lycanthropes.

On 12/18/2021 at 11:55 AM, Perpendiculous said:

7.0??? Where do they get these grades?

Can you clarify what you mean by that?

On 12/17/2021 at 1:37 PM, docgo said:

Are those photocopies of the Thorn book? I’ve never seen one in real life, only images.

Back in the 1990s I purchased a HUGE collection of Bone stuff, featuring a full page of original artwork, also including first printings, signed prints, pins, post cards, original sketches, rare cards, Thorn: Tales From the Lantern, toys, virtually every copy of the OSU Lantern with all the original first appearances in the Thorn strip that would later become Tales From The Lantern, which would later become Bone.  The collection pretty much contained every Bone-related item ever made, featuring rarities most people had never seen or heard of...

I was in college at the time and yada-yada-yada, I had to sell most of the items. I have the first few Thorn strips ever published, clipped straight from the OSU Lantern, a couple of the first printings of the comic, and this... a binder of sorts between two heavy stock "covers" with high quality copies of most if not every Thorn strip ever published in the Lantern.

What most people do not know is that there were some Thorn strips that were considered too controversial to publish in the Tales From The Lantern book. This binder contains those missing strips. 

This is roughly 8 1/2 by 11", and was supposedly compiled by a friend of Jeff's with whom he opened an animation studio, before the book was made/published. I reached out to Jeff Smith to see if he remembered this, but his rep (wife?) said he did not. I mean, it WAS almost 40 years ago!

I have no reason to doubt the authenticity of it, or what the original owner told me, but I also cannot verify it as anything but a cool collection of photocopies of some fairly rare original newspaper comic strips...

On 9/20/2021 at 10:27 PM, Point Five said:

And by chance, I had the foresight/luck/what-have-you to buy this copy at a convention in the late 90s. (Luckily the dealer didn't also have a low-grade copy for a few bucks less...)

I've always loved this cover.

Nice copy! And I like the gal's leg tat!

Only 7 shown on the census.

I am also waiting on books that were dropped off in person at the end of February.

In essence, one could theoretically take an otherwise sharp modern book with a top corner ding, take a pair of tweezers, make a small incision and--abracadabra--you've got yourself a bindery tear and score a higher grade than you would with the corner ding?

1 hour ago, Greatwhite said:

I understand there are rules although I cannot seem to locate them to read them. I am not praising or promoting a competitor. I am asking if the grade on that book seems accurate. 
If CGC wishes to remove the post they have every right and I have no issue with that. 
 

However, I have posted elsewhere and seen snarky comments and I have read insults directed at other posters because every message board has trolls. I was just stating that I will not respond. 

So, back to my original post. Does that seem like a 9.8 with the couple of spine ticks that I can make out and the rounded lower, left corner?

Again, considering this exact same copy was deemed a 9.6 with lesser page quality only a month or two ago, you be the judge.

3 hours ago, Greatwhite said:

What is the significance of CVA? Because on the 9.8 Grade it is no longer there.

 

It’s to say it looked better than a 9.6, but either they missed the press damage or the damage didn’t show up until after (regression).

53 minutes ago, Greatwhite said:

https://www.comiclink.com/auctions/item.asp?back=%2FAUCTIONS%2FSEARCH.ASP%3FFocusedOnly%3D1%26where%3Dauctions%26title%3Dbone%26ItemType%3DCB%23Item_1470839&id=1470839&itemType=0#detail

 

This is on comiclink and I would appreciate any opinions.

It is not CGC but it is graded 9.8 and I see several flaws on the spine and the corners.

I would like to use  CBCS as they are in Canada which is where my collection is but I understand that they are not the "Gold Standard". How would you guys grade this book?

And, please, if I am going to be trolled and scolded for even mentioning CBCS on these boards do not expect a response or engagement. I do not argue with strangers on-line. It is just a stupid thing to do.

Thanks for any responses.

So... this 9.8 was a 9.6 with a CVA sticker only a couple months ago. I was the high bidder but I ended up nixing the purchase after it was confirmed that there were bad ripples/bends on the lower right side of the cover. The assessment was that this comic had a "bad" press that caused water damage in the form of ripples, and it is *believed* that the regression did not show up until after the comic had been slabbed and given the CVA designation. Otherwise, that would be mighty embarrassing to think a comic with such obvious damage could possibly receive the CVA designation at a 9.6. It appears that the owner sent the book back to get pressed (again) and re-graded. I was already leery of this book due to the unknown extent of what the bad press could do the the interior, and now that it has been pressed at least twice I would be even more leery to pay a 9.8 price for it. Also, it's curious how the page quality magically jumped from off-white/white to just WHITE...

Does the OP have any photos of the comic prior to submitting? 
 

it looks like there’s a little pieces of paper or other artifacts caught in the inner well to the left of the corner tear in the magnified photo...if so this would support the damage was done during slabbing.

Early CGC books received purple labels on miscut comics, which is a factory error. If you send just about any comic with a chip that size already missing, they’d normally nail you on the grade. 
 

It would be better for the integrity of the company to admit the mistake and make good with the OP rather than admit to people that they are aware that one of their highest grading tiers allows for comics with such an obvious flaw, regardless of how said flaw occurred.

Will some future buyer feel better knowing “It’s okay that it doesn’t look like a 9.8... it happened at the factory.”? At that point, what’s the difference HOW it happened? If it’s a 9.8 it should be damn near perfect.