William-James88

This isn't a new normal, it's a glitch in CGC's system and they are aware of it. It happens when someone picks the special labels which only come in blue (or yellow with a signature). Some have even been capitalizing on it to legitimize restoration. CGC asks that you contact them and they will rectify it.

If you are not comfortable with a 10% drop, I would stear clear of comics. You lose 10% or more off the bat on costs alone when choosing to sell.

Just curious, but why does it go for so much? I know it's a key, but I didn't think that Usagi would be such a coveted character.

I remember when I became a professional grader (meaning paid to grade comics). It was at a jewler who had a side business in vintage collectables sold on ebay (comics, coins, bills). He gave me the overstreet guide and a bunch of comics with the guideline "give these a grade you'd be happy with if you were the one purchasing". I went to work on the pile, learning the guide. When I graded them all, he took a look at each one to see if I was off or if the grades worked well enough for him. He was content and then raised his hand and blessed me as if I was being knighted by the queen. I had become a professional grader.

A 9.8 grade is usually the result if the book not having been handled much during production. The average grade for normal handling on a new book is 9.4/9.6 so those are the grades expected to get back during signature series unless a particular book is prone to issues, as this one is. Plus there's the fact that grading is not consistent across years and people, so even if bothing happened to the book, the new person grading it might be more strict towards a particular flaw. All this to say that you usually have to choose what matters most to you in this particular process: getting the signature or keeping the grade? It's true you could get a great outcome and get both, but its just as true that the grade will lower so you have to make that choice. If you absolutely do not want your grade to lower, I would suggest against submitting a slabbed book for a signature.

Sounds to me like the impact damage happenned under CGC's watch and not during shipping.

I still dont understand, what do you want with this person, what is your end goal here? Do you want to pay someone to tell you what your book will get as a grade before you send it in? Why not just send the book in then? Because a book can only be given a CGC grade by CGC. Otherwise, a raw book should be graded through the standards of a raw book.

He personalized it, which I was perfectly fine with. Don;t know why he just ripped it out, its not like it was his sketchbook. Anyways, see this is just more Neal Adams shenanigans. I don't mind the guy, I just saw enough of him.

Ooooouuuu, nice stuff. 2 questions: do you have any other Fawcetts? And could you ship to Canada using USPS?

I have another story I want to share, there was one time where I really wanted to scream out loud. Not at the creator, but at the situation. I have a sketchbook filled to the brim with quick Batman sketched by just about everyone who worked at DC around 2008-2014 (except a few like Jim Lee). Adam and Andy Kubert seldom sketch at shows (not to any I have ever been to). But I had gotten Andy to draw the Batman symbol in my book just to have him in there. And when I saw Adam at a show, I thought it would be fun to have him add whatever he wanted in the same page as his brother. He actually, started to draw a headsketch and I was extatic. He started with the lower half of the cowl, then the eyes... And then he finished it off with this giant flourish and it turns out he did Wolverine. URGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Look, having a wolverine headsketch from Adam Kubert for free is great. But until it was done, I was convinced it was Batman, which worked with my sketchbook theme and the symbol his brother had drawn. It's like the time Neal Adams drew me a Batman headsketch in the same book and then ripped it out to hand it over to me. I did gasp at that time going "noooooo" because it didn't need to be detached at all.

me too, it's beyond disheartening.

Yes, as said in other threads, there is becoming more and more a divide between keys and non keys. To the point where even a character's second appearance is going down in value. It's first appearance/hot cover or bust right now.

I think being conservative is the way to go. Grading is subjective so if you see a flaw that might bring the grade down, the particular grader might feel the same. From reading these boards, there are too many people who think they'll get 9.8s and don't.

It is really not. As discussed in other threads on this site, sale prices are up rather than down. Some comics are scoring all time high prices. I really don't think comics are a good investment now, at all. Hence the recomendation by me and others to look at the stock market instead. The only comic I found on a downward slope (and this has been the case for a few years now) is brave and the bold 29. But that doesnt mean it will go up on day either. It just means less people care about second appearances now.

Well my next recomendation was gonna be a GA comic since that's what I would buy if I had 5000 to spare. I'd get the best copy I could afford of Marvel Family 1. It's a rare book in a nice grade and the first appearance of Black Adam.

Fantastic Four 238 has a first appearance of a fan favorite character and is dirt cheap.

Those don't count as errors. They will detract nothing from the grade.

The CGC graders work for CGC. What is it that you really want to do here?

Your best bet is the BMO.TO stock right now. Will give you a better return than any comic.

By all accounts, this looks closer to a Seller's Market.

I can't believe this is actually going to happen. And if it ends up being a decent Justice League film, then I will be even more happy. I revisted it recently and it was just... not good. Which is quite depressing for the first big screen action debut of the freaken JUSTICE LEAGUE!

Such delicious irony.

People talk about buying the book and not the slab and that's something I adhere to as well and wanted to talk about a specific win. Before I regret not buying this while it was still affordable (granted, it may still be affordable for years), I wanted to get the first Ted Kord, the Blue Beetle I knew best. But the paper Charlton used tends to yellow really easily. Here are copies I had bid on previously and lost, for instance: and another which is worse (but still a good looking book if you ignore the colour) Anyways, this is the copy I won on cc's auction yesterday: I much prefer the gloss and colours on that one compared to the CBCS 8.5 and the fact that this cost me $343 instead of $449 (which is what the 8.5 above went for) is even better.

HAHAHAHA and the worst part is I might be one of them.

Not at all, he's just expensive. But he will talk your ear off if you want him to/let him. 10 years ago if you told me I would have seen enough of Adams to never need to speak to him again, I wouldn't have believed you. By the way, none of this is to be meant as speaking ill of him. Because he is rather sociable, you can spend as much time as you want with him and I had my fill. And I never yelled at a creator nor wanted to, but Brian Azarello did raise his tone with me once when I was asking him too many questions about something I didn't get in his "Joker" book. He said, "look why not just come sit on my lap so I can explain everything to you?!" in a very sarcastic tone. I do tend to avoid him now, since he is as grim as the stories he tells and I just don't really know how to deal with his sarcasm. But then again not everyone can be as jovial as Jonathan Hickman or Ty Templeton. And of course, the best experience you will ever have is with Jim Shooter, what a stellar person.