Lightning55

On 3/3/2024 at 8:13 AM, JollyComics said:

I remembered you mentioned about the best offers that were not shown on eBay.  What tool was that can show the best offers were made?

https://130point.com/sales/

You used to be able to search by item number, but they changed that a while ago.  You have to use the title, as exact as possible to narrow down the results.

On 2/26/2024 at 3:57 PM, CJ Design said:

Ebay does not show sales that are older...

On 3/2/2024 at 2:15 PM, JollyComics said:

After 90 days, all sales are removed.

If you use Terapeak, you can see eBay sales a few years back. Maybe longer with a paid subscription. 

Cool books. I hope you are able to pick them up. Please let us know if you do.

First 2 things to check...

Does the book inside match the title and grade? Meaning someone could slip in a cheaper version like a 2nd print, or a lower grade. If it looks right, probably is right, just a case anomaly.

Is the book worth more than $300-$500? If not, no one has gone to the trouble of messing with a lower value book. It's likely legit.

It wouldn't hurt to run this all by your insurer, with a few "what if" questions. And the same with the shipper, if relying on their coverage. 

Sounds like the collection in Hawaii has financially changed hands already, and you are arranging shipment to take physical possession?

Your policy doesn't cover your collection while in transit?

How good is the shipping company's insurance? 

On 2/18/2024 at 11:49 AM, RockMyAmadeus said:

So it looks like he put in an offer, you accepted it, and now he wants additional photos before paying?

And you have Free 30 Day Returns, meaning he would get a free look and be able to return it for any reason at your expense?

Should be blocked just for being ultra stupid. 

It looks better, but no change in grade or value, mostly due to the water damage.  I think it would have been better to put the $15 toward a nicer copy.

CGC might delete your post since it is about a competitor's pressing, which is a service they provide through CCS.  But maybe not, I'm pretty sure a Facebook presser is not a serious threat. 

In any event, I'm in before the lock.

On 2/16/2024 at 6:02 PM, Jaylam said:

Isn't that how the scam was discovered, people started noticing the book didn't match the grader notes for said certification number?

I think it was mostly that 9.8's exclusively were being sold by the scammer, and many sure didn't look like 9.8's. And they were unusual 9.8's, like 9.8 Mark Jewelers Newsstands, unicorns. But not really too rare if it's a 9.2 in that 9.8 case.

And not really caught by the notes, because 9.8's typically don't have notes. Some of his did, which was in itself suspicious. 

There is no easy way to block sellers. The only thing I have found is to use Advanced Search.

Near the bottom, you can add sellers to exclude. But you have to do it with each manual search, or save the search for repetitive use so you don't have to set it up each time. 

I don't know how many bad seller usernames can be added, hopefully as many as necessary. 

Photos of the comic have only been available on the CGC registration lookup page for less than a year. If you are buying at a convention, you may not have internet access to check, and viewing on a phone is less than ideal.

And the grader notes are practically useless, very vague, if there at all.

CGC Grading Scale

10.0 ----  A little better than 9.9

9.9 ----  A little better than 9.8

9.8 ----  A little better than 9.6

Etc.

Work your way down.

On 2/5/2024 at 4:18 PM, Axe Elf said:

It can even be a 9.9 with an inked arrival date:

9.9 MINT (MT):  Back to Top
Near perfect in every way. Only subtle bindery or printing defects are allowed. Cover is flat with no surface wear. Inks are bright with high reflectivity and minimal fading. Corners are cut square and sharp. Small, inconspicuous, lightly penciled, stamped or inked arrival dates are acceptable as long as they are in an unobtrusive location. Spine is tight and flat. Staples must be original, generally centered and clean with no rust. Paper is white, supple and fresh.

I see this is from Heritage. Looks similar to Overstreet, excellent detail.

Here is what 9.9 looks like to CGC: 

CGC Grading Scales

CGC uses a highly accurate, industry standard 10-point grading scale to evaluate collectibles.

Mint. 9.9

The collectible is nearly indistinguishable from a 10.0 but will have a very minor manufacturing defect. It will not have any evidence of handling defects.

What a joke. "Highly accurate"

On 2/5/2024 at 4:52 PM, Lightning55 said:

What source is this definition from, please? Just comparing notes. Do you have a page link for the complete grade list?

Never mind. I see that it is there already. It didn't show as an underlined link in my email.

On 2/5/2024 at 4:18 PM, Axe Elf said:

It can even be a 9.9 with an inked arrival date:

9.9 MINT (MT):  Back to Top
Near perfect in every way. Only subtle bindery or printing defects are allowed. Cover is flat with no surface wear. Inks are bright with high reflectivity and minimal fading. Corners are cut square and sharp. Small, inconspicuous, lightly penciled, stamped or inked arrival dates are acceptable as long as they are in an unobtrusive location. Spine is tight and flat. Staples must be original, generally centered and clean with no rust. Paper is white, supple and fresh.

What source is this definition from, please? Just comparing notes. Do you have a page link for the complete grade list?

Maybe they did take it into consideration, you'll never know.  Could have been they thought it was a 9.0 and dropped it a step.  Or a vendor "code", and didn't knock it.

What you have is much better than getting a 9.8 on a book with an obviously bent corner, missing corner, or other defect that shouldn't be on a 9.8. I've had that happen.

Makes it hard to sell as a 9.8, hard to sell as anything else, because the grade is definitely wrong.

+1 with above.

I wouldn't cut it. Maybe send it in for Restoration removal assessment, see what they recommend, try to gauge the impact of that, and go from there.

I think its value as a Restored 6.5 will be in the ballpark of a lower grade blue label. Presents very nicely as is.

But if you hate the label, and you can get your money back on the comic (presuming you haven't owned it for decades), maybe best to do that.

I didn't know that you wind a compass...at all.

On 2/3/2024 at 3:43 PM, batman_fan said:

Yeah I would think when the 1st book went missing you would be concerned about its where abouts

Did these books actually go missing, or were lesser copies substituted? 

I could see a scenario where the employee sees a key comic receiving a high grade, like a 9.8. He has a 9.2 copy at home, raw or slabbed, purchased ahead, waiting for the 9.8 match. Smuggles his in, makes the swap before encapsulation, smuggles the 9.8 out.

If this could be done, there is no red flag along the way, no triggering of suspicion, no accounting deficiency, no lost book. Only a camera, another employee, a security person, or a manager could catch it.

If the submitter claims the book he got back is not the one he submitted, CGC could say it must have been damaged on the way in, not their responsibility. 

On 2/1/2024 at 4:36 PM, Dr. Balls said:

I think there are definitely imitators - but not on $100-$200 books. The hassle factor would be pointless even to the dumbest of scammers:

Buy $100 9.2

Replace it with a $80 9.0

Re-sub removed 9.2 for $35+shipping

Sell new 9.2 for $100

Not enough in there to bother with the risk, I don’t think.

On 2/1/2024 at 4:49 PM, shadroch said:

Substitute the book with an 8.5 raw you bought for $10, and the equation changes. Since everyone knows no one would do this on $100 books, you could get away with it all day with just a heat gun.  I'm curious about what can happen to the seller who sells a swapped-out book.  Where does the crime occur? Is it in swapping the book?  Is it in owning a book that was swapped? Is it selling a swapped book?

I understand and respect the morality of the situation, and it is certainly unethical, but I don't understand the legality of it.

You can't swap in a raw book, unless you access or ability to duplicate the inner well. Which has yet to be shown to be in practice. And if you had that capability, along with being able to discretely open and reseal a slab, you wouldn't be wasting your efforts or resources on $100 slabs.

As @Dr. Balls said, no one swaps out cheap books. You'd move backwards financially, like spending 35 cents each to counterfeit quarters. If a comic is under $300, no one has messed with it.

On 2/1/2024 at 6:57 PM, Math Teacher said:

Unfortunately, Mr. Terrazas will not have to pay taxes on his ill-gotten gains, as the government has kicked the "anything above $600 is taxable" can down the road.

Every dollar of net income is taxable. The $600 threshold pertains only to 1099 reporting requirements. 

Looks like a  printing/cutting/manufacturing defect to me. My opinion doesn't count for much, unfortunately.