lostboys

I hear you. Its risky approaching strange kids with gifts these days and I dont have many kids in my neighborhood, mostly retired folks. Ill figure out a way to get comics in the hands of kids. I usually go to the mall for lunch and there are always kids eating with their parents in the food court. Im thinking Ill bring a few books with me each day and approach the parents, ask permission to give the kid a free comic. That will probably be my strategy. Approach parents with kids and ask permission.

I work in an office and I keep a short stack of mostly TPBs in my desk. A co worker brought her 12 year old son in for the day and as I watched him playing games on his mothers phone, I thought: "Why not see if this kid will read a comic." So I grabbed (Spider Man - The Birth Of Venom TPB) and asked her if its okay to let her son read the book. "Sure.", she said, "But hell probably just look at the pictures." Putting her surrendering to technology aside, I gave him the book and watched from a distance. He didnt lift his head for 15-20 minutes before going back to the phone. Did he just look at the pics?...I m not sure but it was a victory in my eyes either way. A while later I asked him if he liked Spider man and he told me he had seen all the movies but never read a comic before. Of course he was talking about all the recent movies, he had never seen the Toby Maguire movies. He asked if he could take the book home and I told him its his now, he can keep it and Id be giving his mom more in the future to take home to him. Man, did he smile at that. Im on a mission now. I dont own a lot of low grade books. Im a very specific collector (ASM, X-Men, Spawn) and I only collect high grade copies. I do frequent a local flea market where a guy has boxes of unbagged, low grade books he sells 3 for $1. My plan is to buy a long box of readers this weekend and Ill give them away every chance I get. So... if possible, give a kid a comic.

Well, if someone tried to duplicate this "error" and sent it in to CGC...it would get a purple label...no? While OPs copy should get a blue label and notation...no?

Thats cool but ive cracked books that had paper and came out in the 90s... A few posts above this one I mentioned that the ASM 348 had 2 pieces of paper...book came out in 1991. My question is: when was the start date for this new policy? Modern books graded before that policy went into effect would be more desirable to me going forward.

I have a few 9.9s and even a 10 but they are all in slabs that say 9.8.

Cracked last night: ASM 290 - CGC 9.4 - OFF WHITE PAGES 4050979011 This book came out in 1987 and has a white cover. Not only are the pages off white but the white cover is already lightly toasted. Youd think CGC would insert some microchamber paper in a book like this... no? Well, there were ZERO sheets of microchamber paper inside this book.

Sure, TWD 1 isnt a problem NOW but I do plan on holding on to it for 20 - 30 more years before passing it down. All types of paper need proper conservation as they age...no?

I think its pretty obvious that CGC, at some point, started skimping on the paper to save money. The only question really is...when did this start? ASM 348 was far from vintage in 2003, yet, back then...it got 2 pieces of paper. All the other ASM books I cracked from issue 193 through 260 ARE VINTAGE and got zero sheets of paper. They had new style labels so they were probably graded during or after the pandemic. Tonight, when its my comic book time, im going to look up some of those CGC numbers and see exactly when they were graded. The thing is, there had to be a company wide memo at some point directing the encapsulation team to start holding back on the paper. We should have an answer of some sort, eventually...no? I dont have many books that are worth big money but Id hate to think that my 9.4 ASM 194 or 9.6 TWD #1 doesnt have micro chamber paper.

Cracked an old label slab with a modern book inside last night. ASM 348 CGC 9.8 slabbed in 2003 CGC #0041112005 This book had 2 pieces of paper inside. One in the front cover and one in the back. If this book had 2 pieces, its safe to say there was a time when all books got paper...that must have stopped at some point.

This morning I bought a book from a seller. 10 minutes later I found another book in his store. A total impulse buy. I message him asking him to combine shipping and refund the difference...IF POSSIBLE. I didnt demand. I asked politely. I wouldnt even have cared if he refused. Then I get the refund along with a rude message, went something like: "We ship by invoice and dont combine invoices. Dont just assume you know how we do business here." Dont worry boss, you just lost me as a future customer. Just now, with a different seller, I made a $50 offer on a $59 book listed as "or best offer" The seller declines (fine) and then messages me with a lecture about how hes trying to feed his family and Ebay takes 15% and he has to pay shipping insurance yadda yadda yadda. He then tells me to come back for the book when I get my finances in order. What in tarnation?

Cracked another last night. ASM 295 CGC 9.4 slabbed on 3/14/23 No paper inside. I have a few more coming next week.

I only buy raw books that are NM to NM+. You have to be willing to pay for them. Bargain hunting for raw 9.6s is near impossible.

$3+ per book is too much IMO for this lot. If you really want this lot, ask for a better price or walk away.

Yeah, I know but Im not gonna look them all up. The cracked slabs/labels are in my basement in a box. I can say that all the labels are recent looking.

IM not sure but I purchased them all from Ebay within the last three years.

I cracked a couple of the other guys slabs maybe a month ago. They were UX-Men 139 and 140. Signature slabs where Claremont signed on the 1st page. Those slabs didnt have micro chamber paper but instead they had very thin slices of crystal clear plastic between the cover and 1st page. It was weird.

These are the ASM issues that I cracked out. Im downsizing my graded book collection and trying to go about 90% raw. None of these books came out after 1986. They all should have had micro chamber paper. #193 195 196 197 200 201 202 209 210 229 230 239 250 251 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 276 Im guessing my 194, 252 and 238 probably dont have micro chamber paper either, based on these results. Thats not good.

Maybe they only use it for older books? The ASM books I cracked out were between issue 190 and 275, so...copper age?

Asking because I cracked 25 AMS slabs last night and not one single book had any.

Oh, sure...I do as well but im not gonna to pay more than the minimum for them.

Needs more pics.

Thats uh...thats a lot of covers.

The cheapest ones? Seriously, guys...whats next? A case to protect the sleeve that protects the case that protects the inner well that protects the book?

Message the buyer with a super low ball offer. Youll be surprised how often that will work out for you. Just be polite with your words. Use plenty of pleases and thank yous. I usually start my messages off with an apology for reaching out...yadda yadda yadda. Sellers eat that chit up.

FINGER BENDS ! ! ! !