Gonzimodo

Okay, my reading comprehension skills are apparently nonexistent today. They're stealing people's books. I get that part. Then what? Were they duplicating labels, so there could be two books out there with the same certification number, or were they waiting for a book to be graded, then stealing it, putting a lower graded book into that case, and taking the higher graded one? All of this? None of this? I'm probably overcomplicating this in my head...

My answer to this question is always GI Joe #7 (my profile picture), but now I'm kind of questioning that. I remember exactly where I got it (an IGA in a small town near the farm where we lived), but now that I think about it more, I'm pretty sure I had to badger my mom for the money to buy it. However, she was always way behind on paying us kids our allowance, so I'm going to say it was my money, anyway.

Anyone remember the heyday of the 90s Star Wars action figures and all the variants people were pimping for big dollars? I remember long sabers vs. short sabers, short sabers in long saber trays, Boba Fett paint application variants, safety stickers on cards, full portrait vs. half portrait for Obi-Wan, something to do with variations of Leia's belt... Now they're all worth about tree-fiddy each.

Yep, I said when I bought mine that I was really just guaranteeing there would be no snow for the next couple of years. You're all welcome!

The inserts kind of annoyed me when I was buying them, but now I really cherish them because they're keepsakes of my time in the Army. When I open one of my comics and see that MJI, I know exactly where and when I bought it. But, yeah, I have no desire to seek out any more to add to my collection. New ones bought on the secondary market wouldn't feel as "legit" to my collection because I'm an obsessive weirdo, I guess.

I've still got a really nice-looking New Mutants 98 MJI...

I sold my raw Uncanny X-Men 266 MJI years ago (early 2000s) on eBay. I didn't advertise it as an MJI because at the time I didn't realize that actually meant anything. (Most of my comics from late 1989 to mid-1991 are MJIs because I was in the Army and stationed in Germany at the time.) It was a really nice-looking high grade copy aside from a dinged lower left corner (probably from shipping back to the US), so I sold it and bought a better-looking direct edition copy. I've often wondered whatever became of it, and it's crazy to think that it could theoretically be involved in this scam.

I know it's been said a couple times already, but I really hope the scammer had at least one new submission at CGC when this scandal broke so they can review the cases and try to figure out exactly what the process is. We'll probably never get to see any of that evidence with our own eyes, but at least CGC can train its employees on what to look for. A new case would be nice, but I doubt there will be one anytime soon. I do find it kind of crazy that the labels and inner wells (that hold the actual comics) are completely separate from each other, though. I never really thought about that much until this scam was discovered, and now it seems ludicrous to me that there's really nothing directly linking the sealed, certified comic with the label/certification number other than a cheap plastic case. (But I may just be dense.)

Clever! (I never would have gotten it without the pronunciation help. )

I'm still stumped.

Beater on a feeder?

I can't remember if these came from the comic memes thread here or if I got them somewhere else...

I got that Star Destroyer playset for Christmas the year it came out, too. I actually just pulled it out of storage and put it back together about two months ago. It's missing a couple parts, but it's mostly there. Kind of a strange playset, but I enjoyed it. I also love the old school Nerf soccer ball.

Finally caught up! So I've got a pretty good stack of Mark Jewelers variants in my personal collection from my time in the army. Does this look like a good place to offload those?

Huh. That sure looks like one of those "reputable dealers" I'm always reading about here...

Apologies, I finally caught up enough in the main thread and see you posted the same question there, and it has been pretty well answered. (Also, apologies for such a longwinded answer in my post above. ) Only 60 more pages in the main thread and I'll be caught up!

Pretty early on in the main thread, the 9.8 ASM 252 MJI is discussed. Basically, that one works like this: Book A = CGC 9.8 ASM 252 newsstand Book B = CGC 9.2-9.6 ASM 252 MJI (Remember, all MJIs are newsstands, so you absolutely need Book A to be a 9.8 newsstand copy.) Crack out both comics, place Book B (still intact in inner well) into the Book A holder. Then resubmit that Frankenbook (Book B in the Book A holder) back to CGC as an ME or label correction because they missed the MJI. Due to an apparent flaw in the process, CGC did not remove the book from the inner well or scrutinize the grade too much, but they could see that the MJI was present, so they simply updated the notes/label and reholdered the book to reflect that it is now a 9.8 ASM MJI. So the original certification number for Book A shows this other, lower-graded book book as a legitimate 9.8 MJI. Book B's original label is (probably) destroyed, so that certification number will never again see the light of day. (Although I suppose it could potentially be used for some other nefarious purpose. ) So what about the real Book A? The scammer can break it out of the inner well and resubmit it to CGC, hopefully to obtain another 9.8 grade tied to a new certification number and repeat the scam or just sell it off as a "new" 9.8 newsstand copy. For some of the other more basic ones that were just swapped-out lower graded copies in higher-grade cases or the qualified books now with blue labels, I suspect they were "laundered" back through CGC as MEs or through custom label reholdering to get new scans in the census and/or to get brand new cases so any tampering on the original cases would never come to light. (If the scammer's re-encasement wasn't flawless but close enough, they could have damaged the cases enough to distract from the actual tampering and just claim they were damaged in the mail or something. That's just supposition, though.)

Based on the submission numbers, CGC knows who it is. If he's a high volume customer, you are probably correct!

Yes, that's definitely a risk, but if you have a pristine 9.8, it's theoretically possible to have it graded multiple times and get multiple 9.8s. Even if it comes back as a 9.6, he could still use the case and certification number, but it just wouldn't be as profitable. It just seems that it would be more profitable to use the same "base" comic multiple times than to have to buy multiple 9.8s for this scheme. And ultimately, when it's no longer of any use, you just sell it off.

I guess I should be saying "certification numbers" instead of "registry numbers."

No, I'm saying he can use the same copy to resubmit (as a raw) multiple times to get multiple registry numbers and 9.8 labels. It obviously takes a lot of time, though.

I love the idea of CGC and what they say they do. I want to submit my books for grading and slabbing. One of the reasons I originally came to the boards was to see if their service is worth the price and that I can trust them with my books. Unfortunately, I just don't think that's the case right now. I may be too pessimistic and focus too much on the negative things I've seen since coming here, but it's my money and my comics here, so I'll do what I think is best. I absolutely love the boards, though.

This also continues to reduce the accuracy/usefulness of the registry, sadly. It is something that an AI review of submissions could theoretically help to prevent, though, at least for books that have been scanned by CGC.

Yeah, basically. I don't know how he's opening and resealing cases or whatever, but he would need an individual 9.8 certification number and case for each of his little manufactured fakes. Buy the 9.8. Crack it open, add a lower-grade newsstand/MJ/CPV/whatever and send that comic in the 9.8 case back to CGC to correct their "error." Resubmit (as a "raw") the original 9.8 book that he cracked out and receive a brand new certification number and case. Crack it open, add a lower-grade newsstand/MJ/CPV/whatever and send that comic in the 9.8 case back to CGC to correct their "error." Resubmit (as a "raw") the original 9.8 book that he cracked out and receive a brand new certification number and case. Repeat as necessary. The same, original 9.8 copy could generate as many 9.8 certification numbers and cases as he needs.