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gradejunky

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Posts posted by gradejunky

  1. On 1/5/2023 at 7:32 PM, JoeBrrr said:

    Yes sir - I saw it on anti-hero’s shop which I’m realizing lately is related to unknown comics?

    There was the NM98 Spider-Man homage a few years back that was the same. 
     

    but to adamantiums point - if it’s art I like I’ll buy a virgin to display (if I did have a wall display). But for the average consumer or seller it’s really hard to tell what book is which, is it a key? I’ve seen ppl buy Strange Academy Finals 1 Peach virgin thinking it’s her SA 1 virgin since they both have magik. Some of these variants don’t even have the characters from said series in them - I just like knowing what’s a key, or at the very least is that great del’otto with venom a Venom, King of Black, ASM, etc. 

    I realized this was a problem for me when I was watching a whatnot stream where they constantly had to remove the NM comics from the Mylar to look to see which issue and series it was. 
     

     

    It really just boils down to too many variants across all publishers...period. 

    Not to mention all the series restarts over the years for the big 2 especially.  Before legacy #'s on books running concurrent with the volumes ongoing numbering, it is a mess show.  If you don't know what writer/artist team was on a series at what time, you are at a loss for what books you may be buying. Cover A or B etc. of what series? Alot of times the trade dress stays the same as well from one volume to the next, sometimes not which is an easy identifier.  For new collectors this must be completely maddening I would think especially if they do not know how to use the UPC to help identify covers.  There are tons of apps now obviously to help with this very thing, but just looking through back issues pre-2010ish was easy to remember a cover to what books you wanted or needed for your runs.

  2. On 10/22/2022 at 11:40 AM, Cat said:

    Words cannot express how awful that Eidolon armour looks. It was ugly back then, and time hasn't been any kinder to it. 

    Agreed, that looks horrible.  There was a lot of that in the 90's IMO.

  3. Not so much a "comic artist", though he did do some creator owned manga I guess and some covers for DC/Marvel? 1 in a billion artist, Kim Jung Gi, who could draw massive mural type drawings with ink only from his mind mostly, passed away Oct. 3rd/4th in Paris.  I have loved watching this guy drawing on YouTube videos.

    :(

     

    https://www.cnn.com/style/article/kim-jung-gi-death-cec/index.html

    download.jpg

     

     

  4. On 10/25/2022 at 8:56 PM, littledoom said:

    I’ve never found this in person. Only been able to get this rare 3rd print sketch variant via eBay 

    D6235DF8-9DE3-46D7-A771-01E1BED4600C.thumb.jpeg.89940d02935b81b8c39c9d4cedc99bdb.jpeg

    I missed that book when it came out on the shelves and have also never seen them in the wild to my knowledge.  If I have, it was probably not in good enough shape to consider buying.

  5. On 10/25/2022 at 9:14 AM, marmat said:

    IMG_20221025_150834.jpg

    Nice!  I think I have most of those in decent shape myself except one of the Catwoman Zatanna covers.  I believe one of those I have has a small water spot on the cover I think.  I found the WW 184?, maybe; the retro cover I can't see the # clearly.  Found that in a $1 bin years back. Saw the book peaking out about 20 comics back from where my hand was currently sifting and knew what is was instantly.  I hurriedly got to the book and pulled it out only to see the cover was detached at bottom staple, the top staple was hanging by a thread and there was a huge 6" tear on the FC, among many other defects.  I was crushed.  Needless to say,  I left it where it lay.  :(

  6. On 9/17/2022 at 9:58 AM, Tec-Tac-Toe said:

    In my experience, TFAW provides relatively horrendous (typically 8.0 to 9.2, with some 7.5) copies of Marvel and Dynamite. Both companies, especially Dynamite, are known for lousy cover stock as noted numerous times on these boards. Thankfully, I order/ed very little from either one initially to test the waters. Dynamite, for one, rarely "disappointed", with perhaps two comic books out of twenty having no damage (cbst, dents, creases). I have stopped purchasing Dynamite (and, I'll note, IDW) titles. I'll also note that Dynamite copies at my LCSs are also, generally, pure manure.

    Thus far, about six months, TFAW has typically provided me with 9.8 copies of DC titles. However, if that changes, I'll drop TFAW like a bad habit.

    Oh yea, I quit ordering Dynamite from TFAW.  I know they have horrible print quality but Dark Dominion as I stated above obviously vets the books, so even Dynamite books I've gotten from them have mostly been 9.4+.

    I have 1 last large order coming from TFAW right now that the pre-orders were locked, and not able to cancel; that is, I chose to just let it ride instead of telling my Credit Union to block any and all charges from them which I could have done.  I want to keep my options open for the future if they get their mess together at some point.

    :wishluck: I actually get this order packed properly.

  7. I have been using Dark Dominion comics for about a year now as well as TFAW.  I have since completely ditched TFAW since my last order had about 60 smashed comics because of there packaging I have begged them to fix for my medium to large orders, and how to do it for cheaper and less time-consuming than the way they keep packing.  Also, I keep getting books that look like shipping room reader copies that I so luckily have been blessed with many times at this point.

    Dark Dominion only has the weekly FOC unlike other sites that have an initial pre-order a few months out and let you order up until FOC.  The discount on new books is only 20% versus 30% at TFAW, but the bags and boards are free.  They also use the silver/standard 7 1/8" which is my bage/board size of choice.  They are in VA and I'm in FL wherein I do not pay sales tax to them as apparently the nexus from FL to VA in that direction is not taxable.  That is a big factor as well but may/will change based upon your location.  That saves a good chunk of change on orders if there is no nexus between your state and theirs.

    As for condition, thus far, I have received about 4-500 comics from them over the last year.  I can say with certainty that out of all those books maybe 10 have been 8.5-9.2.  All the rest without fail have been 9.4-9.8.  They double box all orders as well and the shipping is pretty reasonable; a 40-50 book order tends to be about $20 or so for me, and is usually shipped USPS Priority.

    They also sent me a free 1:25 Catwoman #43 absolutely free in one of my orders!  I have gotten freebies in my day, but never a $100+ book like that.  I do not know if that was some secret raffle they did, or if they were just thanking me for spending some decent coin with them???

    https://darkdominioncomics.com/

  8. Me neither to be honest.  I did like cover A, and am just torqued a bit I didn't order 3 like I did the action figure cover.  I would say this will be $6-8 within 2 weeks.  I'll probably just order a few 2nd prints as I said earlier.  Not to mention, doesn't every SW book usually have 1st app. of secondary/tertiary type characters in every issue?  They alsmost have to with such a large universe to keep the stories fresh, and moving forward.

  9. On 8/16/2022 at 10:06 PM, xela_v said:

    Star wars 26 releasing tomorrow getting some heat

    Of course it is going for $20+, I didn't order but 3 of the action figure variant.  Love the cover A but I just didn't order as I figured I could grab some later if I wanted.  I have only been ordering the regular SW series since about #20.  The reviews I have heard thus far of the regular series have been lackluster.  Oh well, I guess it will be 2nd prints for me.

  10. I still have not ever replaced the ASM #300 I had and sold about 8 years ago.  Was a direct edition in about 9.2/9.4 that I paid $60 for at a con.  Sold for $100 I believe right here on the boards.  Prices were just too high for a long time now.  I would be happy to buy a raw newsstand copy around the 9.4 range if I ever find one at the right price.  CGC copies are too rich for my blood in the 9.8.