KCOComics

I like the $49k copy better. Better PQ and no tanning on the right edge.

Everyone should be seeking legal action. Even those who get their books back had their money stolen. My hope is, no one let's this go. Every single person he stole money or comics from, takes legal action. Mike needs to face consequences.

If you do send it, don't send the COA with it. There is a good chance it won't come back.

So it's not really for security, like a safe would be? I'm not sure there would be much benefit in doing this over above a room with a dehumidifier or central air. I feel like there is the risk of the "unknown"

Yes, I would love to hear this story! The colors look fantastic, congrats on the find!

I checked out this one on Amazon and it does suggest it can store print paper and books (or at least suggests the humidity level to do so). But I don't think paper was ever the concern with safes. It was rusting staples. So I'm really not sure if this will work.

This may have been mentioned, but look at the picture of his AF15. All of the pictures on his listing are pretty lousy, but this one stood out. I imagine he blured the picture so the owner can't easily pick up defining characteristics. It's so disheartening to see how this situation has unfolded.

Wowzer!! What a beautiful copy!! Its so fresh, it almost looks like a reprint

Thanks for calling it out. It's very odd behavior and given the situation and the player involved, it's fair to be skeptical of everything. He's proven he's willing to go to great lengths to deceive. I'm not saying Flake is Mike. I'm saying- it's fair to be skeptical. At this point, I hope every victim is going to the police or contacting lawyers.

@Sauce Dog and @MattTheDuck have a list of impacted customers. It's not comprehensive, it's just those that found there way the boards.

Restoration is anything added to improve the appearance of the book. So a kid writing his name or adding a mustache to a character isn't resto. But if there is place where the color faded or a color breaking cease, and a kid takes a pen or market and colors it in, even if innocently done its resto. I had a book graded 15 years or so ago. There was a spot in magic marker. I never considered it CT because it didn't match the background well. To me it looked unintentional and if anything it made the book look worse. But CGC disagreed. I called, I argued... they disagreed. And i was so disappointed I sold the book at a loss because I just couldn't look at.

The pictures didn't upload for me, but those split covers can give you beautiful looking books at affordable prices. Some people refer to them as "Mylar Queens". Or maybe I made that up?? Anyway - this is a book I use to own. It presented like a mid-grade, with absolutely brilliant colors, but the split cover got it a 1.0. I traded it away, but I've regretted that decision.

It's a great community for buying and selling. Like others, I've bought and sold hundreds of books without issue. Some very expensive and others very cheap. My advice: over communicate, pack well and price fairly.

I was going to put a laughing emoji because on the exwife comment, but didn't want you to think i was laughing about the drugs! Drugs are no laughing matter... ex wives however, are hysterical! (Although they are less funny in the moment)

I think both things can be true. His life is chaos, but it's self created chaos. And he is intentionally and deliberately stealing from people, selling their books and trying to buy time. To go a step further, I don't believe anything he said about health problems. Covid, a stroke. Maybe those things happened, but they weren't debilitating enough to stop him from drinking, possibly using drugs, selling books online and opening a store front. He is a liar, a thief and deserves 0 empathy. No one should give him the benefit of the doubt on any excuse. He has lost all credibility.

That's just it. I've got a pretty big personal collection. And I can tell you the grade and defining charetoristics of every key and secondary key I have. If I had a TOS 57 with a very distinct date stamp in red pen at the top of the book, how could you forget that? Or mistake it for yours? I believe his life is chaos. I don't believe for a second that he's confusing people's books.

I'm not going to comment on drug use, but it's very hard for me to give him the benefit of the doubt on the books he's selling on eBay. I can't imagine this is an honest mistake. And boy, he seems pretty healthy for a guy who is knocking on deaths door and can't find the strength or money to ship customers their books back. Opening store fronts, selling on eBay, buying RVs... The fact is, there is only one logical reason he hasn't sent customers their books back. It's because he's selling them or attempting to. And that is backed by the sold books on his eBay site. Until every customer has their books safely in hand, I can't even consider another possibility.

Yeah - I mean, i wouldn't argue the point. Anything we can do to stop people from working with him or buying stolen books I'm all for. I know there are rules and I'm not sure if it qualifies since it largely took place off the boards. That said, the act seems egregious enough to bend rules.

In all seriousness, you got to enjoy looking at it for many years. Unless it's a NM / NM+ it isn't terribly valuable. So, while the comic is no longer particularly valuable, you enjoyed it and now its a great reader.

I believe he's band from here. Does it matter at that point?

For pricing / value- you can use eBay sold prices. You can also get a monthly subscription to GPA to view recent sales across many different auction platforms. For the raw books it would be good to pick out the high value ones and then get a sense for grades and if they are worth grading. As for selling, you can try the forums here if you feel comfortable pricing them. Otherwise mycomicshop.com is a popular and easy auction house.

I would not. It's a very common book and this likely wouldn't return a grade that would offset the cost of grading.

I don't deslab anything slabbed. As @october mentioned its expensive. And if I ever sell to upgrade, it's harder to sell the raw book, even with a label. That said, I do find myself looking buying raws more and more. I buy a lot of Atomic age horror and Science fiction. Over the years I've filled up a few short boxes and I really enjoy flipping through those boxes and looking through all the cool covers.

I'm loving these stories. Maybe we should start a new thread. Or you could do a journal perhaps?

I do alot of traveling for work. I haven't been to Dayton yet, but if I'm ever in the area I'll make it a point to drop in. I appreciate your posts and perspective as a comic shop owner.