Qalyar

If anything, they seem to be tossing in the towel on that, since the standalone Batman film in the pipeline is apparently explicitly not a DCEU films. On the other hand, the Flash movie is apparently "inspired by" Flashpoint, and is going to jump us into the deep end of DC multiverse potential, perhaps in the same mold as Into the Spider-Verse did, so perhaps at the end of this, everything will be a DCEU film? I really feel like DC doesn't know what its doing right now... More than anything else, that's what is hurting them.

I find if you get both hands under the comic, sort of thumbs up underneath the spine, you can get enough momentum to flip the comic. Still, you hardly ever get enough rotation, and people always complain that you should have just used a coin instead, and .... Wait. Not that kind of comic flipping either, huh? More seriously, the most important thing to remember about turning a comic over is to make sure you turn it over while keeping the spine straight. For example, it's fine to hold the book by the outside edge of the pages and lift it that way (holding it spine-down as you bring it back to rest). You can also do it the other way, holding the spine side of the book (especially for stiffer books). It's a bad idea to flip the book over its short dimension though, because that makes it much easier to kink the spine. Regardless, you of course need to hold the book with an appropriate amount of care; the easiest way to tick a spine is to allow the book to flop over, but you can make them yourself by holding too tightly or placing too much stress at specific points on the spine while turning.

I think many of us maintain our own naughty lists. Dylan's just special because he evidently wants to get on everyone's naughty list.

I don't expect much "defense". Dylan's strategy tends toward all attack, all the time. If he engages in the discussion at all, I expect it will be to simultaneously attack the process and declare that he has so much business and such good books that no one will stop buying from him because of a stupid list. Honestly, I can't imagine that Dylan won't eventually end up forum-banned by CGC's moderation team. They've stated that they are following a point-escalation system and that he hasn't hit the hard-ban level yet... which in my mind means they must have one heck of a shallow slope on that escalation system. The primary advantage of electing him to the Hall of Shame is, frankly, to formalize the community's disdain for his ethics and methods.

Comic grading may be more subjective than we wish it was, but the fundamental idea holds water. "How is this comic's condition not the way it was supposed to be?" Signature verification... isn't like that. Signature verification experts present themselves as engaging in some sort of forensic science, but that's rarely if ever the case. The big names in the industry use known-good examples of signatures as "exemplars" and more or less try to make sure submitted signatures are plausible equivalents. And they still get played, as sports memorabilia scandal after sports memorabilia scandal indicates. "Stare and compare" with an exemplar only works if you 1) have a good exemplar, 2) are dealing with a person whose signature did not vary substantively over time -- so, you know, not Stan Lee, and 3) don't have really skilled forgers in the field. And that's the best signature verification options. I don't think certain other comic grading companies necessarily keep a deep library of authentic signatures for comparison. I don't know, maybe they do. But regardless, witnessed signatures can be known to be authentic because they have an established chain of custody. Unwitnessed signatures can never be authenticated beyond just someone's best guess, no matter what the authentication services market. CGC doesn't offer after-the-fact signature authentication because there's not really such a thing, not to the level of certainty that it would really require. So, for the OP, as noted, you can send in a DF signed comic. It will come back with a green label. I don't think there's much collector interest in most of those DF signature issues when the book is just a 100% normal production copy that DF had signed and then packaged in a DF sleeve. But, to the extent that I'm wrong about that, you may be better off keeping it unslabbed and in the original, sticker-sealed DF sleeve with COA. I feel that's likely to be more marketable than a random book in a green label. YMMV.

I'm gonna throw a dart and hit 9.4 here, because I think there are some problems with the bottom left corner. But, honestly, it's going to be impossible to estimate a grade on this, especially with any accuracy in the 9.0+ range, while it's in that mylar because that just does not allow it to be photographed cleanly enough. Just as an example, in several pictures, I thought there was a bit of color rub in Reed Richard's black ink at the spine. But... I don't think that's real; I think that's an imaging artifact caused by reflections from the mylar. Similarly, is there a color breaking tick near the bottom of the UPC? I sure think so, but you could probably argue either way in a couple of these photos. So, basically, I'm saying this book is "nice" but that's about all I can commit to with what I've got to work with here.

From what we can see of these two copies, I don't have any reason to necessarily suspect trimming in either of them. Although, of course, trimming is hard to diagnose, especially with no book in hand. That said, the Heritage copy has Ben's head well clear of the spine in the logo box. Meanwhile, the metallic debris above and to the right of Ben shows four circles and only the barest hint of a fifth. The OP's cover shows logo-Ben wrapped into the spine, but almost half of a fifth circle visible at right. Take a look at "Marvel" to see just how far to the left the OP's copy is shifted compared to the Heritage book. Miswraps, miscuts, and sizing inconsistencies are de rigeur for this period of books, but I don't see anything here that I'd consider a red-flag for trimming (although of course that doesn't preclude the possibility of other forms of restoration).

#1s are almost always going to command higher prices than #2s, even when rarity suggests otherwise. People just like that #1 on the cover. As a more modern example, Walking Dead #2 had fewer copies ordered than #1. In addition, there are 914 9.8 Universal slabs of #1 on the census (plus another 22 9.9s!), while Walking Dead #2 only has 205 copies at 9.8 Universal. Yet no one -- no one -- is going to pay more for #2 than for #1. Value doesn't always track with rarity.

Ah, okay. That means it's very much not like Bizarre Sex #4. If it doesn't come attached, CGC won't grade it ... or at least, won't grade it with the book. The rule is usually pretty distinct: if it came attached, it has to be there; if it didn't come attached, it won't be included in the slab. I suppose they might grade it separately, but that's definitely something I'd contact them about before paying for shipping.

142 copies in 9.6 blue. 47 copies in 9.8 blue. And 85 in 9.4 blue. High-grade copies of Aliens #1 aren't exactly rare, but the 9.8s are pretty tough to chase down. To some extent the whole series is like that, although the ratios get a little better after #2 (which has 23 in 9.6 but only 7 in 9.8). The only thing harder than putting the full series together in 9.8 would be doing the same thing for the reprints. Some of the issues went to five printings. some of which I strongly suspect would be quite a challenge to locate in grade.

This is on Non-Stop Spider Man #1, yes? I'm curious what CGC's philosophy is going to be with this book and its myriad cover layers (traditional cover inside die-cut cover inside "no-cover"). I know Marvel's thinking here is that die-cut covers have historically not done well in shipping, and this is an effort to ensure they arrive in collectors'/readers' hands undamaged. I haven't actually held one of these myself. The no-cover is attached to the book, yes? If so, I view this like Bizarre Sex #4, where the white retailer protection cover is considered a mandatory part of the book for grading purposes.

Somewhere in the 8.5-9.2 range, but it's tough to judge what's going on from these pictures. There's definitely some corner crunch at the bottom of the spine from the front; both corners of the spine look a little soft from the back. Is there a larger diagonal fold to that bottom left corner? And I'm fairly sure there's a couple of color-breaking ticks: one in the green area (which I think is also visible on the back, although the dot pattern doesn't help discern that in this pic), and maybe one against the front-cover black down near the flames. EDIT: Also, make sure you check the indicia on this. Printings for Faust are, shall we say, not well documented, but most -- if not all -- of the early issues had as many as 4 printings, generally distinguishable only by the indicia.

I know at least one case where the creator of a series pressured the publisher into increasing the paper quality. J. Michael Straczynski convinced DC to up the paper quality after the first few issues of Babylon 5, because the original paper stock used (which was the cheapest DC was still using at the time) was resulting in blotchy colors and blurred lines. Starting with issue #5, they switched to DC's "Fracote Format", which used a higher-quality coated paper instead. This did increase the cover price from $1.95 to $2.50, but I really understand why he demanded it.

People like 'em some xenomorphs. That said, I really don't expect a ton of movement in this franchise. Alien and Aliens are both candidates for a short list of essential science fiction. The rest of the series? Ehhh... not so much. Prometheus was so bad it defies rational description; a lesser property would have seen fan abandonment in its wake. Covenant isn't tons better. Where do they go from here? And yeah, I know they're still planning a third prequel. The first two films are never going away, and so interest in the early comics is never going away, but I don't expect some new tranche of franchise material to suddenly alter the landscape here.

Looking at old sell lists like this, there are always keys (and especially keys-in-retrospect) at silly period prices to make us all wish we'd stocked up then. But I'm always as interested to see the titles that used to be hot, but ... aren't. The Vampire Lestat #1 for $20, eh? I think you can probably get the full 12 issue run for that now. I remember when it generated a ton of excitement, but I guess the shine has come off Anne Rice's star since then and the whole series has been sort of forgotten. That $25 NM Starslayer #2 hasn't really held up all that well, either; the Rocketeer's film didn't do that property any favors. And, personally, I have always hated that book's cover... What even is Dragon's Quest #1? I don't see a lot of titles in these lists that I fail to recognize.

It's definitely not common. Big Shot Comics was a tiny indie press that put out a few overlooked (and largely with reason) books. Their "best" known title is probably Gideon Hawk, which no one has ever heard of, but which went to 3 issues. I think Bad Blood may have gone to two or three issues, too, but I've never seen them. The only thing Big Shot ever did that might be of wider interest was a one-shot called Shark, a trite, cliched piece of anti-drug propaganda produced in partnership with the Muskegon Chronicle (which tells you the level this publisher was working at). However, it's either a very early, or potentially the first, published comic work by industry veteran Scott Rosema, so there's that. Plus the 80s anti-drug stuff always attracts niche interest. I don't know of any reason to be interested in this book, except that dollar bin indie dreck is its own sort of fun!

I own a similar giant 10 label. It's a fun sticker, but certainly isn't at any risk of "upgrading" a slabbed book -- not even a Giant-Sized one.

In the interests of accuracy, this thread is about the Hall of Shame, a de facto indefinite-duration ban from conducting business on the boards. His current temporary suspension, and any potential future forum ban, are handled entirely by CGC's forum moderation team, independent of community input.

I don't know what to expect from Actual Dylan's comments. But the conveniently-appearing but already-deleted shills were little more than an advertisement for why this thread is necessary to begin with, so...

Insurance-wise, USPS is the only logistics option that really has an innate insurance option, but they will require extensive documentation before paying out. Neither UPS nor FedEx should be considered to have meaningful insurance; if you're shipping legitimately valuable items, consider a third party collectibles insurer. Also, all 3 services, to varying degrees, have been slacking on actually getting signatures on signature required deliveries, citing COVID concerns. It's... a problem, and I don't have a good solution. A lot comes down to the individual drivers right now. Maybe as we return to normalcy...

That's pretty on-point, but part of me still wants to drop a bundle of Banks ducks into G.I. Combat. It's possible that I'm not quite right

This shouldn't have happened at all. UPS Stores are weird semi-franchised facilities with an odd relationship to the parent company. Call the main UPS customer service line, and ask to open a case regarding this store's arbitrary restrictions on shipping. The problem will... mysteriously get resolved.

While off-topic here, I feel compelled to note that there are at least three CGC-graded My Little Pony slabs that have recorded sales well into the four digit price range. The doom you speak is already upon us! Okay, yes, one of them is a literally unique book and the other two are from a limited print run of 12 and so they're not really representative of anything but that's really not the point which is why this text is, like the ponies, very tiny.

I'd like to thank forum moderation for cleaning up the shill spill that had splashed over the last couple pages of this thread. Moderation, anywhere, is thankless and underappreciated work. Thank you for it.

Also, I feel like this is a pitch for a real missed opportunity of a book!