StreetPreacher

Would this book benefit from a press? I see a few minor spine bends near the staple, and the back cover corner is all curlred up, but it seems these are things that a press could dramatically improve? And the creases on the front cover don't appear to break colour either?

Now my question is why do I have a dozen X-Men #1 from 1991, but not a SINGLE COPY of Bone #1 which seems to have also come out around the same time...

Well I have NO IDEA how CGC determines the fair market value they use to calculate charges for services, but it looks like a CGC 9.6 of the FIRST printing of BONE #1 SOLD on Ebay September 13 for ~$2500. Have you posted images of your copy here to get an idea of whether it's a 9+ grade candidate? In case you aren't aware, you can use the ebay 'advanced' options to search for SOLD items so you can see what things are actually selling for, not only what vendors are asking for them https://www.ebay.ca/itm/Bone-1-CGC-9-6-NM-White-Pages-1991-Cartoon-Books-1st-Print-Jeff-Smith-NETFLIX/143732535726?hash=item21772071ae:g:k6UAAOSwbp9fW~Mq What condition is yours in? It looks like a lower grade raw copy also sold recently for ~$900.

And that's Deathstroke THE TERMINATOR to you!

Love this one too, and picked up a NM copy at my LCS a week ago for $5! And did you know this was also used as the cover for an Xmen video game? Think Jim made royalties from the video game deal, or if it all went to Marvel at the time... And we needed to see this cover reposted to remind everyone that Jim did have some style... Although the image is a bit similar to Wolverine #17, but those 'speed lines?' make all the difference!

Well he is like the DC CEO or something now right? Is he still drawing anything? Compared to guys like Liefeld and McFarlane who seem to genuinely ENJOY drawing, is Jim Lee more of a business guy? Does Jim still draw anything other than the odd sketch for charity, or is he more of a behind the scenes business guy?

And how do they go about hiring more graders anyway? How does someone become a professional grader? Do you need to first become well known and respected by grading independently at a comic store? Is there a practical test? Is there a comic grading college that I'm not aware of? Just wondering how you would even go about hiring more people with the credentials to professionally appraise comic books? And did that other guy really say that he sent CGC books back in April and still hasn't gotten them back? I always thought the 6 month thing was just an exaggeration lol. And if you're doing this to help sell the book for top dollar, then I guess you also have to consider whether the books you're sending will still be as hot when you get the slabs back half a year later?

Exactly! As long as people keep sending in books, and collectors continue to ignore or devalue the 'competition', then why would they bother changing anything? Sounds like they have a GREAT business going, and weren't they just hiring more staff to assist with receiving and storing the large volume of shipments? And also hiring more accounting type employees for handling the invoicing to give their existing small group of expert appraisers time to properly inspect everything? Just curious, but Is CGC private or can I buy stock?

Well it's been nearly 30 years in the making, but I finally completed my McFarlane era run of the 1990 launched "Spider-Man" series! I'll have to see if there's any documentaries about this comic era on youtube, because there must have been some craziness going on. Just look at this run for example. Marvel gave Todd nearly full creative control of his own brand new 'Spider' book series, but then he only did 15 issues before jumping ship along with most of Marvel's top artists and starting up Image! Anyway, just wanted to share my complete McFarlane run in celebration of SaTodday Still working on my McFarlane ASM run, but those #300,#316 are making that collection a bit more expensive to fill in...

Just curious, but why did you buy so many copies of that book anyway? Big fan of foil holograms that don't quite work? I was a sucker for all of the 90's comic gimmicks, any foil or die cut cover was an automatic buy! Although, for some reason that ASM #365 cover just didn't seem to work as well as they probably hoped... I think the issue with this one is that the hologram image is only really visible from specific angles, so from most angles the cover just looks like a wrinkled mirror. lol. A 'great' (90's) gimmick that just didn't look quite as radical as it should have!

We have a winner! As for favourite, I don't have an ASM #316 yet, but still think I like the Hulk #340 cover better anyway. Just something about McFarlane that does it for me.

Hardly mint

What equipment do you use? Are you also using one of those heatpress machines designed for transferring designs onto t-shirts? It looks like the only economical way to do it yourself? Unless you use my method?

I agree with this! For instance, before spending some time here, if I saw any of those 'grail' "Tales to Astonish" or "Tomb of Dracula" books I would have assumed they were worthless old 'horror' comics, and bought the cool looking Spider-Man book sitting next tot them that I actually recognized

Yep that was my intention, and the nuclear example is apt! But, that is basically what how pressing works right? Make the paper moist enough to manipulate, and then press it flat with extreme force to hopefully smooth out any wrinkles or minor creases? I mean in the amateur examples I've seen, people actually use equipment originally designed to heat transfer designs onto T-Shirts

And is there an obvious stand out favourite? Maybe I'll do a round-robin and swap them with some of his other covers until we have a winner?

Sorry, that's $400 CAD, so more like $300 USD for a CGC 7.0, white pages I assume. I keep forgetting to convert to USD when talking money on the forum... And I haven't actually done any research yet, but do ASM #300 & #301 both use the same basic pencil art? And they just use different colouring for the costume and background? Or did Todd actually draw the same cover twice? Or is Spidey actually in a different pose, and I'm just not very perceptive ?

Guess you're having the same reaction, the other book just looked dirty lol. Thanks, sounds like I made the right choice! Next on the radar is to find a decent deal on #316, but every reasonably priced copy seems to be in the States with delivery costs nearly equal to the price of the book itself! Who knows, maybe I'll get lucky and find somebody getting rid of some dusty old asm 300s they found in the attic lol. And do people actually prefer the #300 cover art? If this had the city-scape background instead of a green circle then I think #301's cover would EASILY beat #300, with its boring monochromatic costume, pretentious "Special 25th Anniversary Issue" branding, and uninspired repeating 300 background design At least this is what I tell myself when I realize I'm too poor to pay $400 for the CGC 7.0 copy on display at the LCS Happy Hunting!

Are you guys available for live consultations? Just wondering if people would consider this issue to be in better condition? I almost bought this copy instead for nearly the same price. This copy has a nicer looking back cover, but the discolouration across the bottom of the front cover looked worse, and since I figured I'd be spending more time looking at the front cover... Thanks again guys, I need to improve my skills for those times when my LCS has multiple copies of the same book, and I'm standing there like an insufficiently_thoughtful_person trying to decide which one is in the best condition lol. And wow, I didn't realize how sensitive this forum is! It looks like the word I picked was changed to "Insufficiently thoughtful person"! Since when did I D I O T become considered a profanity? And in context I was calling myself an 'insufficiently thoughtful person'... Guess you gott watch your P's & Q's around these parts!

Thanks guys. And if it matters, the triangular colour breaking 'scar' at the top edge of the back cover isn't a complete tear, as the inside of the cover still appears intact. I guess the bottom discolouration could be 'dust shadows', but while shopping around I noticed a lot of copies with the same 'issue', so I assume it's common to see on this book., which is probably why the 9.8s are so valuable :).. I just picked up the book myself so not exactly sure how it's been stored over the years. And I actually did grab this copy for $45 CAD ($35 USD), so sounds like we both got a fair deal, and I'm 1 issue closer to finishing my McFarlane run!

Missed it by 'that' much! What's the consensus on this copy? Is the discolouration along the bottom what's referred to as 'foxing'? I was originally concerned that there might have been some water damage, but I've noticed that many copies of this book seem to exhibit similar discolouration, and the interior pages don't have any damage, so it's only the cover that seems affected? Anyway, it looks like this issue is really only valuable in high grade because it's so rare to find a pristine 9.8 due to the white cover being so easily soiled. So this definitely isn't an investment book, just wondering if I got a fair deal on it

That's an interesting question I was going to bring up. If a 9.8 book sustains damage AFTER it's been sealed, then is it still a 9.8? I guess it depends on the honesty of whoever sells the thing to mention that the book was damaged after grading?

Don't they roll them to fit into cylinders that travel through those pneumatic tubes? And actually, we need to quit texting and return to those pneumatic tube systems for inter-office communication, they're just SO much cooler!

Well as long as people continue to send books and pay for the service, then I don't see why CGC would bother wasting money on accelerating their process? I did notice CGC were recently hiring additional staff for something, so maybe they've actually started losing enough sales to people unwillling to endure the wait time? But, I always seem to read posts from people complaining about long wait times and poor service, and then they also mention they've had like 1000 books graded/slabbed by CGC... So why would CGC consider increasing capacity as long as customers are obviously willing to wait?

Well pressing a comic book is essentially 'controlled' water damage right? They intentionally add moisture to the paper to make it pliable, and then squish it really tight between 2 flat plates, and add a bit of heat? I can't see how anything could ever possibly go wrong