GamingEtc

Officially boycotting teasers... Even though I don't have a lot registered at the moment, a graded run of X-Men 1-300 is my primary collecting focus. I do have many things in the works, such as books lined up for signatures and should have a nice boost to my set in the coming months, but currently it is somewhat skimpy. I normally try to get my own books signed mainly because it is usually more cost effective, but I could not pass this one up after accidentally running across it on eBay a few days ago. I feel based on the sold prices of universal 9.8s and the cost of getting a book signed multiple times, this was a bargain! So without further ado, the latest addition to my collection, X-Men #130, first appearance of the lovely Alison Blaire aka "Dazzler", signed by Stan Lee, Chris Claremont, John Romita Jr., Terry Austin and Jim Shooter! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Thus far anyway... So I recently sent a couple of books to be signed and graded through DesertWind; Hulk 181 and Amazing Spider-Man 122 to be exact. Both were raw eBay purchases. The Spider-Man being a solid VF and the Hulk 181 being a very nice looking near mint. I was going for the elusive quad-signature with the 181: Stan Lee, Herb Trimpe, Len Wein and John Romita. Now to back up a second, before I got to a position to send this in for grading I sent the Hulk 181 to Matt Nelson (before they relocated to Florida and were draped under the CGC banner) to make sure it wasn't restored in any way and to be pressed for good measure. Matt estimated after pressing it would get a 9.4. This made me giddy because of what I paid for it. So cut to today and the books were returned. I opened the box carefully and was hoping the 181 would not be on the top. I slid the invoice enough to tell it was. My heart is racing and all I can think is "please don't be a 9.2, gimme that 9.4 oh please oh please". As I was chanting this mantra, I began sliding the invoice slowly down to reveal this newly acquired beauty and things took a turn... 9.6? Huh. That's...odd. Really? Hmmm that's good I guess? Now you are probably thinking I would be turning cartwheels, but I was so locked in to a 9.4 or possibly a 9.2 that I never entertained it being HIGHER. It honestly wasn't registering what I had. Of couse as the minutes and seconds ticked by I got more and more excited to the point I closed my store for a long lunch and went out the celebrate. I cannot believe what I now own. This is undoubtedly the new crown jewel of my collection. Like many that post here, I am not made of money and don't just buy a lot of the better graded books I own. I wait for an opening, find that good raw candidate and take the long (and more rewarding) do-it-yourself road. I am certainly not hating on anyone that buys slabs, as I do as well, but on the BIG books, it's just not practical/afforadble for me. Which again makes this all the more satisfying/shocking. You will not be seeing my copy turn up on eBay or comiclink, etc. I am so happy to have this in my collection and have no intention of flipping it even though I got the deal of a lifetime on it. So this one goes out to any fellow journalists who acquire a grail the "hard way", you know how I feel right now...isn't it wonderful? And on yeah, my ASM got an 8.5 signed by Gerry Conway, John Romita and Stan Lee. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Trying to turn a bunch of nothings into a few somethings... So I submitted a prescreen order to CGC about a month and a half ago and was curious who has done this and how it went for you? For anyone not familiar, you can submit an order and check a certain grade that you want and CGC will only grade and charge you for the book if it will make the grade you request or higher. They charge you a smaller fee if the book is rejected, around 5 bucks I believe. The catch is you have to submit 50 books in an order. I submitted a 50 book modern order with a prescreen of 9.8. I'm interested to see how it goes, but the catch is, you don't know how much it's going to cost because they don't charge you upfront, they charge you right before grading when they've done the screening process. So if your eye is amazing you could hit up to about a thousand dollar bill. Anyway, I will comment later whenever I found out how many passed if anyone cares how it went, and feel free to share your experiences with this service if you would like. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

or resubbing a book and retaining its grade... For everyone that already read my previous journal, here is a look at the defect in question. If you didn't read the earlier journal you can find it here: http://comics.www.collectors-society.com/JournalDetail.aspx?JournalEntryID=13702 To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

or resubbing a book and retaining its grade... So I see and a hear a lot of people receive grades on a book and question why they are what they are. I have also seen someone (myself including) receive a high grade they did not expect and were surprised to get. And a lot of people seems to question just how consistent the grading process really is. I would like to think that for the money we pay and the time involved in the process that there is a legitimate rhyme and reason to everything and the books deserve the grades they get whether we always understand why. Let's face it: We do not work for CGC and are not privvy to the process and discussions on why a book is graded the way it is. So where is this going you ask? I have a 9.8 copy of ASM 65. There are only 13 of these on the census and 0 that are 9.8 signed. So I thought it would be great to have mine signed by Stan Lee and Romita for the fabled OAK. I am not afraid to crack books for signings as I've had good results in the past. The problem to me though is this book, from my perspective, has a noticeable defect. On the bottom back cover right by the spine there is a small chip out of the cover, literally a little piece missing. Now I would like to think for whatever reason, this book deserved it's 9.8 for the reasons I have already listed but I just would never ever expect this book to get a 9.8 sending it in raw. I would really like the take the gamble and have this book signed but if I knew in advance that it would definitely drop to say even a 9.6, I would rather have a 9.8 universal than a 9.6 signed personally. Any thoughts on this? If it makes any difference I have zero intentions of selling this book if it were to become signed and hold it's grade. This would be one you'd have to pry from my cold, lifeless fingers. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

or Stan Lee defaced my comics! Last month I sent in my first signature series submission through Desert Wind Comics. These are not the first signature series books I own but they are the first ones I have submitted myself. Before I submitted these books for grading, I sent them to Classics Incorporated to be screened and pressed. For anyone that hasn't used Matt Nelson before I will give you his prescreened grade after pressing and what they actually got. Amazing Spider-Man #4 Matt's Grade 8.0, CGC Grade 8.0 Avengers #1 Matt's Grade 6.0, CGC Grade 5.5 X-Men #1 Matt's Grade 4.5, CGC Grade 4.5 Journey into Mystery #90 Matt's Grade 7.5, CGC Grade 7.5 So as you can see everything graded exactly as it was screened except my Avengers was a half point off. Also take into account these books were all signatures series and had to go through more hands and potential dings before being graded. So if you haven't tried pressing books or are skeptical about it, you might want to give Matt's company a try. To me the biggest example is my Amazing Spider-Man #4. It was already graded a universal 7.5 and was pressed into an 8.0 signature series, so you can definitely benefit from this service. As for Desert Wind, they got my books where they needed to go and obviously took good care of them as the grades reflect so I am happy with the service and would use them again, HOWEVER, I must say of all the companies I have ever used for anything I think they may have hands down the worst communication ever. So if you use them the first time, just trust everything is going ok because this was a nerve racking experience for me having some of my prized treasure going through so many hands and not really being in the loops. All in all I am happy with my experience with all 3 companies: CGC, ClassicsIncorporated and DesertWindComics. Maybe this journal will help someone make a decision about some of these services they have been on the fence about. Here is a picture of my new old books. Thanks for reading. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Mystery and suspense! I picked this book up out of a dollar box and can't seem to find another like it anywhere online to get an info about it. It has a certificate of authenticity, autographed by Michael Turner with an original Michael Turner sketch, hand numbered 39 of only 100. Anyone ever seen one of these? I've seen this Witchblade/Tomb Raider comic in countless variants, but never this issue. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

First Signature Series Submission I was curious if anyone has every mailed comics to CGC through Desert Wind Comics. I own a few signature series books but I bought them all after the fact, I have never personally submitted a book in person or through the mail for signature series grading. I finally got a few together and was going to mail them to Desert Wind for the New Orleans convention at the end of this month for a Stan Lee signing. I called and talked to someone there to ask a few questions about the submission process. While this person wasn't necesarily rude they certainly weren't very friendly/helpful either. I was told that the books had to be there by the 16th of November to make it to New Orleans. I mailed them out the 13th via priority mail. They delivery confirmation shows them received at about 10am the morning of the 16th. As part of the submission process they ask you to email them a list of what you are submitting and the tracking number for your shipment, and they will send you an email confirmation when they receive your books. I did all this and have never received any such confirmation. They said they would be closed after Friday, but were supposed to be open all day that day. So long story short, I'm worried that my books might be left behind or who knows where. Has anyone ever mailed books to them? What was your experience? I will say the books I submitted were very expensive and I was paranoid about them going through the mail in the first place, now I feel like I don't know exactly where they are. I feel very panicky at the moment. My tracking shows they were received, but still it would be nice to have a formal confirmation of this. And I can't call them or anything since they are closed from now til after the con which is still over a week away. Le sigh. Someone tell me something encouraging! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Lookie what done came in the mailz! Well after about 5 months I got my economy submission in the mail yesterday. I'm very conflicted with this order. Some books were way better than I expected, others worse, and on top of that I have another dilemma. I am first and foremost a hobby enthusiast. I have loved comics since I was a child and am now in my 30s so I don't expect this is something I will ever "outgrow". My main interest is to collect, read and all around enjoy what the medium has to offer. Having said all that, I also know the economy of comics and like to flip books for profit when I can. This money usually goes toward a book I intend to keep. So out of this last batch of book I have the following: Avengers #3 5.0 Amazing Spider-Man #4 8.0 X-Men #26 8.5 X-Men #29 7.0 X-Men #63 8.0 X-Men #65 8.5 X-Men #94 7.5 I submitted all of these books with the intention of keeping them except the Spidey #4. I won this off eBay for an insanely cheap price and thought it had a shot at a 7.0, and a stab in the dark at a 7.5. I was really surprised at the 8.0 and before I could think of the very nice profit my brain just started chanting "keep it keep it keep it". And ultimately I think I have to, it's just so pretty. Does anyone else ever do this? I mean I know we all struggle with what to let go of in this hobby from time to time, but do you ever set out purely to flip a great deal and it ends up so nice you can't do it? And one last comment on this group of books, I think I am happiest with the 26 in 8.5. Not because i's valuable or I have an attachment to that particular issue but because I got such a great deal on it. I am working on a graded X-Men run so I am glad to have it but somehow it slipped through the cracks on eBay one day for 20 something bucks. Not bad for an 8.5 twelve center! Here is a picture of the loot. Hope everyone else is finding some great deals on their own gems! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

or restoring my faith in humanity. I'd like to share a recent (and at the same time not so recent) eBay experience. So about a year ago I bought an X-Men 12 and 13, first and second Juggernaut appearances off eBay in the "fine" range. I sat on them and some other books for awhile and eventually submitted a 15 book order to CGC this April. I have been working on a graded X-Men run for awhile now and was glad to have these even in mid grade condition. So anyway, I get my grades the other day and all looks good except both of these issues are "incomplete, missing pages". My heart sinks. First and foremost I'm disgusted that I didn't do a page count. I usually check my books as thoroughly as I am capable, but I dropped the ball here. And then secondly I am angry at being sold these books in the first place. So I go through my paypal log and find the transaction and get the seller's eBay ID so I can send a message. Let me make this next part crystal clear: I did not, nor was I planning to ask for anything here. A year has passed, what's done is done. I purely just wanted to let the seller know, and to vent. So first of all I check their feedback and it's flawless so I decide to give them the benefit of the doubt that maybe this was an accident and send a less hostile message than might have originally spewed forth from my fingers. Immediately, the seller apologies and offers me a FULL REFUND. WHAT? Yes, a year later I was offered a 100% refund on these books. The seller explained to me that they had purchased a large collection and had began to sell it on eBay and a couple weeks later a few buys began to complain of missing pages. The seller immediately checked the remaining books and found some more with missing pages and pulled those off eBay. They said they hadn't heard anything else about it since and thought they had controlled the damage until me. I was just baffled that someone would offer a full refund like this after so much time when I didn't ask, nor would I have asked for such a thing. In the end, I declined the full refund and agreed to half, as I could have prevented this buy checking the books better in the first place and really don't mind losing some money when it's my own choice. In 14 years, as primarily a seller, the times I am a buyer has made me so cynical. Any other time something like this happened it would be intentional. This is the most stand up thing I have ever had happen in an eBay transaction, period. The seller in question is "smilelp". You should all check his auctions and send some business his way as you can be assured he will do you right. Thanks for reading! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Why are teasers mandatory? : / So I got my current oldest submission on the mail today. How did I do you ask (or probably didn't but I'm gonna tell you anyway)? Well let's find out! Walking Dead #7 9.6 - Personal copy, satisfied I suppose. Walking Dead #8 2nd Print 9.8 - Personal copy, wahoo! Walking Dead #9 9.8 - Personal copy, wahoo! Walking Dead #19 9.8 - Personal copy, first Michonne, super wahoo! Walking Dead #27 9.8 - Personal copy, first Governor, super wahoo! Walking Dead #33 9.8 - Personal copy, wahoo! Walking Dead #61 9.6 - Personal copy, Chew preview, no wahoo. I have submitted 2 of these now, and got a 9.6 both times, why must the 9.8 elude me? WHY?? (I'm shaking my fists at the sky right now) Amazing Spider-Man #300 9.2 - Random late night eBay purchase, first Venom, expecting an 8.5 so wahoo! Alpha Flight #51 9.4 - Pulled from a 25 cent bin at a show, first Jim Lee at Marvel art, wahoo! X-Men #135 9.6 - Comic shop purchase, Dark Phoenix saga issue, rant below. X-Men #141 9.8 - Came from mixed X-Men lot on eBay, Days of Future Past issue, rant below. Here's a story about the X-Men issues. I am currently working on a graded X-Men run. I am trying for 1-300 as nothing very important happens after 266 and that's a weird number to stop on. I have many early issues already graded as I have focused more on them to get some of the harder and more expensive issues out of the way. I really want nothing but 9.8s in the more modern ones, the old ones I pretty much take what I can get (my number 1 is currently a 2.5) So anyway I was very very picky about the 135 I bought, I love that cover so much, and I was so sure I had found a 9.8. The 141 came out of some random lot of X-Men issues I bought on eBay one day because it was a price I couldn't pass up. I only submitted it to help get my book count up and reduce some of the shipping costs because I felt it would be around a 9.0 copy. I was heartbroken to see my 135 get a 9.6 as I spent a long time searching for that particular copy to submit and don't have another one lined up, but then before despair could set in I saw the 141 9.8. I could not and still cannot believe that. I was not trying for this grade, expecting it or even entertaining it could be possible. I have it in my hands and still can't believe it. So I think I will just sell the 135 and put that money toward an already slabbed 9.8 and be done with it because I feel I won the lottery on the 141 anyway. So all in all I couldn't be much happier with this submission. Here are some pictures cause that's what people do right? Thanks for reading! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

After this issue nothing is EVER the same! Is it possible to have original art pages from a comic graded? If so what service do you use? I don't think I've ever seen such a thing but I have seen just single page sketches graded under the SS labels before. Anyone know? To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

To resubmit or not resubmit... This is my first time posting on here. I've have a CGC account for about a year and a half and enjoy reading the journals from time to time but have never submitted one of my own. Anyway, on to the point of this... I recently renewed my account and used my 4 free submission coupon on 2 copies of X-Men #1, Daredevil #1 and a Walking Dead #1. Very pleased that the Walking Dead pulled a 9.8, the Daredevil and one of the X-Men issues got 2.5 universals, which I knew going in they were very low grade and would be happy with about anything over 1.0. The other X-Men number however got a 2.5 restored with the restoration being listed as one piece of tape on the interior cover. So my question to anyone reading is this: I know from experience how drastically devalued purple label books are. Do you think it would be worth trying to remove this one piece of tape and resubmit for a blue label. Would that even work? Will the residue of the tape that is left behind still count as restoration? I've never attempted anything like this, has anyone else? Advice, recommendations, etc much appreciated. Thanks for reading! Jason To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.