mosconi

A recent Captain Marvel evolution trailer.  I'm getting more and more interested in the movie and what future MCU storyline develops from it in their next phase...

On 9/25/2023 at 1:36 AM, jimbo_7071 said:

My gut instincts tell me that micro-trimming is still getting through easily. They would not have caught Ewert if before and after pics of some of the books hadn't surfaced.

I would not be surprised if micro-color touch is getting through as well.

I'm not sure how easily, but I have to agree with you on some books still being micro-trimmed and getting through.  I've seen a few silver age CGC and raw comics over the years that have made me pause, take a closer discerning look, and scratch my head wondering if Ewert or others of his trade are still performing devious works of deception.  I can't believe he just stopped cold turkey        

On 9/25/2023 at 4:26 AM, Math Teacher said:

Could you please elaborate about the Ewert fiasco? This was before I joined the boards in 2018. Thank you!

Jason Ewert was caught and banned by CGC for micro-trimming many books back in the mid 2000's.  From my understanding, books from his submissions were later identified through barcodes and attempted to be pulled from the market.  He has not been heard from since, but I have to believe he is still around practicing his shenanigans somewhere 

The thread that namisgr provided is a good link to get more detailed info on all that transpired and how he was caught.  

On 9/24/2023 at 2:48 PM, Buzzetta said:

I cannot help but wonder if that the guy that was put in the HOS here…  Do you remember the guy here that was selling fake Ditko autographs on lower grade ASMs?  I’m on my phone otherwise I will look for it later. 

I vaguely remember someone trying that on the boards but don't recall if he was put in HOS.  I do remember doubling over in laughter when I saw these Ditko signature books pop up on the CL website  

On 9/24/2023 at 2:21 PM, Buzzetta said:

The cards in question were error cards that were factory cut so they would look the similar to what he did in the video.  With quality control issues that is pretty rare to see these days so they are considered error cards, sort of like but not to the extreme degree of getting a miscut penny from the US Mint.  The other companies have been able to discern the difference between genuine cuts and factory errors and people doing it at home.  CGC should not have missed this in my opinion. 

We do not have video of people trimming comics, but I do know the things that have been floated past me over the years as I have mentioned in other threads.  Supposedly there may be a couple of extremely marvel chipped books out there that were doctored to look as if they were chipped to disguise a slight trim job.  There are other things as well. 

PGX has missed things in both directions.  I have cracked a few over the years and sent those books to CGC with the mindset of hoping all the rest of you stay away from a PGX slab so I can continue picking certain things up from them and sending them off to CGC.  At worst I have received one full grade below.  At best I have sent a PGX book off to CGC that looked far better than the grade PGX assigned and with a press it went 2.5 grades higher.   Other books came back around .5 higher or lower. 

That's great you were fortunate with many of your PGX purchases and re-subs.  Just consider all PGX books purchased as raw comics with no resto check and that can sometimes work in your favor.  High grade expensive SA books are a much greater gamble and not something I would advise anyone to attempt unless they have excellent resto knowledge.  Even then it's a tricky situation.  For those collectors that feel they can grab a great PGX deal and pick up an authenticated Ditko signature, by all means go for it.  Just don't say you haven't been warned...

http://www.comiclink.com/img/comics/scans/RADC11E02016927_155955.jpg

On 9/24/2023 at 12:43 PM, Buzzetta said:

 

Are you aware that someone recently pulled the same thing off on CGC?  They did something similar with cards and made a submission to test the graders.  The graders missed what he did.  He notified them as to what he did and they banned him from future submissions. 
 

As per his Instagram videos. 

I've never seen that IG post or am familiar with card grading.  Seems a lot more training is needed by CGC with their card graders if people can take crafting scissors to cards and slice away without them being identified as trimmed.  That is quite an embarrassing result and I have to imagine that trimming is a rampant problem with all cards in general. 

Now do we have any videos of people trimming their comic books and then sending off to CGC to see if they could identify the intentional deception?  That would be something very troubling if trimmed books are getting through easily and consistently. 

And I was around back when the Ewert fiasco was in full swing, so I am aware CGC is far from perfect from early on. But PGX and their history of fraudulent activity is so far unrivaled in the hobby 

Looks like PGX is coming up with new practices to deceive collectors.  Reprint pages are being graded as original pages and encapsulated through their professional authentication service.  A fellow CGC forum member found this page to be a reprint from Marvel Tales #2 that had been manipulated by slicing off the Reprint warning at the bottom page and then having pieces added.  Don't know how many are out there or how many more are ready to enter the marketplace, but collectors be warned. You really need to be very careful when dealing with this company...

On 8/27/2023 at 5:03 PM, Sauce Dog said:

I am, and have instigated a return request but honestly I don't think that will go my way. I already have cracked the slab AND performed restoration removal on the page  (I had no reason to suspect it before hand since it was authenticated...I only became suspicious after the restoration was removed and I noticed all the edge cuts were very clean and precise, not even like scissors but scalpel fresh to carefully cut out a specific part and leave the rest). I'm going to have to maybe go through my credit card to reverse the charges as I don't think eBay is going to help me here.

When I contacted the seller the first thing they said, and only thing, was "did you crack it out of the slab?". Not "I didn't know! sorry!" or anything else like that. 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/285044643272?fbclid=IwAR3aw3dYLaih6-DQJM_J2qf6UVquD9yxlwEeYeJiUAdAMGY40KNvS6q4gkg

I'm really sorry to hear about this!  PGX continues their fraudulent and/or incompetent practices which have been going on since their inception.  And this could be the new company scam, slowly bringing forth to market more reprint pages graded as original pages.  May be a good idea to alert the collecting community about this.  I'm thinking of starting a topic in "Comics General" to get the word out...

I didn't realize any of their operations were still in business.  Quite amazing if you ask me, especially after all the fraud and scamming they have committed over the years. But I guess as long as they keep the encapsulation equipment in working order, you won't ever stop the enterprise 

An underrated Kraven cover 

One of my favs from 1-10 and from 11-20 ...

On 7/30/2023 at 4:56 PM, trmoore54 said:

I am motivated to rescan my ASM 1-20 so I am going to do that soon.  For now here is a camera pick of #4.  While I think some people are not a fan of the 4-panel approach I love it!  Also the cover word baloons and the humor.  Just love love this cover...classic Ditko!  Also I'm sure Mosconi will be fond of the page quality... 

Such a gorgeous near perfect looking book and I've always loved this cover!  The white pages are the cherry on top  

On 7/30/2023 at 2:34 PM, Straw-Man said:

let's have some fun.  over the next 9 days, let's show our fave cover as we move thru the silver run in groups of ten [with the silver annuals on day 9].   today, show your favorite 1-10 cover.  here's mine.

That is a lot of prettiness! 

On 7/29/2023 at 3:38 PM, trmoore54 said:

So happy for you Andrew!!  Pretty sure there's a book or two I was able to add to your set (lost my total transcations spreadsheet a while back with an external drive meltdown ).  As you know, Spidey is tops for me as well.  Cool your 9 is also old label like mine. Lost all my scans as well and will have to rescan my books some day.  See if I can find.  This is the only scan my 1-20 I have handy... 

Thank you Tom!  You did sell me your #41 CGC 9.0 many years ago and it's a gorgeous old label example too!  Love your #14, quite a stunner you've got there! 

On 7/29/2023 at 5:53 AM, Straw-Man said:

that was a fun tour!!!

On 7/26/2023 at 10:46 AM, DST said:

 In complete awe!! Truly amazing!  Couldn’t be happier for you Andrew.  Biggest congrats 

Thanks Dave!  Appreciate the kind words and so happy to have finished this quest after starting on it nearly 10 years ago!  I'm sure there will be more collecting goals and pretty books to find, as you have yourself attained. Look forward to continued fun and enjoyment in the comic journey! 

On 7/25/2023 at 12:33 PM, drmccoy74 said:

Nice Books! Amazing Spider-Man 1-20 is probably the greatest run ever! So many great and long lasting villains 

Thank you!  It's my all-time favorite comic book run.  And those Ditko covers are so fantastic to gaze at, along with the great villains! 

On 7/25/2023 at 1:00 PM, piper said:

Well done!  I think you need an AF15?

Yesss, I would love to have one someday, although my pocketbook would take a huge beating on that one!   

On 7/25/2023 at 9:28 AM, JohnH19 said:

Well done! Congrats!

Thanks John!  It's been a labor of love collecting and completing it