Math Teacher

Hello, everyone. I am new to sports cards collecting, and I have some questions. When a card is graded, it can receive a grade based on the shape the card is in, and another grade based on the autograph. Is this correct? I would really like to obtain an autographed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar basketball card. I would like to get one that was autographed when it came out of the pack, rather than one where it was signed afterwards. How much should I be budgeting for this type of purchase?

As is often said here on this board, collect what you like. I am mainly interested in SA Marvel and DC books, with an occasional GA book. I have tried several non-superhero series (Fables, Saga, Y - The Last Man, Preacher, Sandman, just to name a few). I gave up on Fables around issue #150 and Saga around issue #50, but I read the other series beginning to end. I read all these series via TPB. So, I have sampled books that do not pertain to superheroes, as I am sure that many other people here have. I even read a manga TPB called One Piece that I student loaned to me. I finished it, but it was a struggle. I really have no interest in reading other manga books, regardless of how popular they are with other people. Yes, I am quite focused on what I like, but I don't feel that makes me narrow-sighted. I well aware that there are other genres besides super-heroes, as I have tried them, but they are just not my cup of tea. Quite honestly, and I know this may sound harsh, but I really have no stake in whether more comic books stores go out of business. I am currently not their client, as I don't buy new comics anymore. I like to visit my local comic book store (Krypton Comics in Omaha) every once in a while, but they seldom have any books that I want. Currently, I am trying to finish JLA #1 - #10, Atom #1 - #10, and Hawkman #1 - #10 in slabs. As long as there are back issue dealers and Ebay available to me, I will be happy as a clam.

Damn. It happened again.

I mis-typed that. It should have been "waken." I will fix it now.

This is definitely not something that you see every day. Great book!

Steve Ditko was a big fan of Ayn Rand and objectivism, but it had no effect on my enjoyment of his Amazing Spider-Man run. I know that he wanted the Green Goblin to be "just some guy," instead of Peter's best friend's father. I don't know how I would have felt about that, but the Green Goblin was a good villain no matter what secret identity he had. I'm not going to start arguing with you about "waken," because I find the topic utterly ridiculous. There is one thing that I know to be true: some people look and find things that aren't there. The converse is also true: some people don't see things that are there.

Of course, back then, if you wanted more Superman, Batman, etc., your choices were watch the few serials that were produced, or listen to the radio. Today, the same type of choices seem almost endless.

I stopped going to the theater because I can't make it through a 2+ hour movie without having to get up to use the restroom. I saw a matinee of the last Avengers movie, and the only way I made it through was to not drink any liquids the entire day. If I watch the same movie at home, I can pause it whenever I need to, so as to use the restroom or get something to eat, and then pick up where I left off when I return. Also, I have been wearing hearing aids for 3+ years, and they amplify ALL sounds, not just voices. Another benefit of streaming services is close captioning, which I don't expect to see in a theater any time soon.

I believe that @Prince Namor was commenting on what led him to stop reading comics, rather than commenting about all comic readers.

I would be hard pressed to remember the last time I bought a new comic. I'm guessing that it is nearing ten years now. This mainly happened due to the fact that I did not enjoy reading new comics, along with the fact that I realized that I was idiotic to continue to purchase comics that I did not enjoy just to have a complete run. I agree with @Prince Namor's suggestions. I would add the following, and this is mostly related to the publishers. Lower the prices! I can't begin to tell you how many times I have seen or heard a parent express sticker shock, followed by, "These things used to cost $1.25 [or less] when I was growing up!" Why would any parent, in their right mind, buy their child ten comic books, which would provide maybe two hours of entertainment, when they can buy the latest PlayStation or X-Box game for approximately the same price, and get virtually unlimited entertainment?

I picked this book up from an Ebay user. Would this corner nick preclude this book from getting a CGC 9.8, assuming everything else was pristine?

Here are the first five Amazing Spider-Man Annuals from the Silver Age that contain original stories. ASM Annual #2 is a CGC 6.5 with white pages (it's a little hard to see).

Get something like this. Problem solved.

As Bart Simpson would say, "¡Ay, caramba!"

I would assume that most of these non-comic people are from Iowa, since Nile Kinnick is on the cover. Or maybe they are just Hawkeye fans who live somewhere else.

Bruce did a cover recreation of X-Men #4 for me. It turned out great.

The title and issue number say Silver Age to me, but the artwork says Golden Age to me. By the way, whose work is this?

I wanted to put in a link to Marvin Gaye's "Mercy Mercy Me," but it's not really germane to @sartrexpress's awesome book.

I remember the quarters lined up along the bottom of the screen when the first Space Invaders machine was installed in the Student Union, not unlike quarters lined up on the pinball machines. It seemed like it was in use 24 hours a day.

I bought a console that has 61 games on it, such as Space Invaders, Pac-Man, Donkey Kong I, II, and III, Frogger, Centipede, Dig-Dug (my favorite), Galaga, Galaxian, Breakout, Burger Time, Zaxxon, and many others. Unfortunately, no Defender, no Asteroids, and no Q-Bert (another favorite of mine). My grandchildren and I play multiple games every time they come over to visit.

Jumpin' Jehoshaphat! That is one nice book!

No, you weren't. I got where you were coming from. DC stories always seemed to be wrapped up with a nice little bow at the end, not unlike how math teachers expect an answer at the end of every problem. That is why so much effort was put into solving Fermat's Last Theorem (Fermat's Last Theorem), even though it certainly wasn't elegant as Fermat claimed it to be. DC had some truly great craftsman during the Silver Age (Infantino, Anderson, Cardy, Swan, Kane, Kubert, Andru/Esposito), but they just didn't have the dynamics of Kirby and Ditko (well, maybe Infantino and Kubert did). I enjoy doing math to this day, but if I was to try to draw (which I most assuredly can't), I'm sure it would be very static and bland.

Let's eat, kids. Let's eat kids. Punctuation matters!

I think that the center panel is a very iconic picture of Superman.

No, I did not take offense. I knew what I meant, but you clarified it for me.