Axelrod

Well, you know, the last three Marvel movies not involving Spider-Man were Black Widow, Shang-Chi and Eternals. I'm not calling any of those movies failures, but The Batman is kicking all their butts.

This looks like an updated version of Conan.

The first movie I can remember that hit 100 million (domestic) but was still considered a disappointment was Warren Beatty's Tracy. That was when "big budget" movies still generally cost a lot less, of course. Then, the first movie I remember hitting 200 million (domestic), and still being considered a failure was Superman Returns (but that apparently was saddled with a decade of pre-production/development costs unrelated to the final film). I really never thought that I would see the day a movie would hit 300 million (domestic), however, and yet still have people strenuously arguing what a huge disappointment it was. Even considering the increase in ticket prices and the increasing importance of global box office vs. strictly domestic. This movie is a huge hit. I have no idea how profitable it will be in the long run, but to argue it isn't a huge hit just seems silly.

Oh man, I'd have to re-watch it for a full critique, it's been years. I do remember that I thought how Kevin Costner's Pa Kent died - meant to come across as this great noble sacrifice - was incredibly stupid. And the reason the Kryptonians even came to Earth (something about Clark secretly carrying their "genetic history" or something like that) was also needlessly and stupidly convoluted. And how Superman was "forced" to kill Zod at the end felt particularly artificial. But I admit I am a nit-picker when it comes to plots.

Uhhhhhhhhhh. I like the music. But a lot of that movie was a complete mess. Looked good though.

It's cool you're posting this information. I find it very useful and interesting. I always browse the mycomicshop auctions, though I can never pull the trigger on anything. I wonder if you mind saying what the books you bought were that you are confident you can instantly re-sell for 30% more (including the consignment fees?) Identifying stuff like that seems like a key ability in this market. Of course, if your methods are a trade secret or something, I understand.

I remember reading somewhere a long time ago that the real reason VHS won the format war with Betamax was because of porn. i.e. the porn industry decided on a VHS standard, and after that it was basically over....

I still have my old Betamax player! I'm holding onto that sucker.... (no, this time I don't )

I still have my old HD-DVD player! With the original packaging! I'm holding on to that sucker. Going to be worth thousands someday! Thousands I tell you! Or at least tree-fiddy.

The cynic in me (which is mainly just me) says that CGC is engaging in ultra-strict grading in an effort to bolster the credibility/desirability of their grading services. If they get a reputation for strict grading, then, I guess, people will value their grades more. Not giving out many 10s is part of that. This is not completely unlike how 9.8 is basically the best one can hope for a grade on a comic.

Heh. I have to check my attic. I know I dumped a large box of VHS tapes off at the GoodWill 10+ years ago, which included the original Star Wars trilogy (these were all opened/viewed tapes though, so I can't imagine they would have had that much value today). But I guess I have no idea. My arm was twisted to even dump that box though (I am a bit of a hoarder by nature.) I guess I should keep all my DVDs and Blu Rays now, yes?

Congrats guys! At least I don't have to feel like I came "this" close." I almost went 7.5 on the MTU, but I was never going to 8, so I was never doing better than 2 points.

I felt like he definitely did that. Some of the ones I was the most stumped on were the books with large, singular defects. (the cut out cover/the whole book stain).

Man, I knew I would be right on the line.... Not that I can "win" from here vs. the top 3 guys, including an apparent robot grading machine. Just kind of playing for pride, now. I also want to thank @CGC Mike for all the work he's done running this.

Yeah, I know. This is not really an excuse, but I know what I was thinking, and it was that - not counting the staining of front and back covers - it looked like a very nice book. Maybe at least an 8. So if I was ONLY docking it for the front/back cover stains, which weren't super extensive, maybe knock it down to a 7? Which is obviously wrong, as the staining clearly has to go through the whole book. But, you know, the rules say there are no significant defects to the interior....So I was kind of just grading based on the covers. Again, not an excuse and I should have known better.

Actually had 3 bullseyes, and only missed the Wings by 1 grade. and missed the Atom by 4

Well, maybe, not a total bomb after all. The only real miss was the Atom. Hugely overgraded that stain. I think I score 5 for this round.

Oh man, I got a “you definitely bombed” emoji.

I believe it is entirely possible that this will be my worst round by quite a bit!

This time, I am going to wait until the last possible second to submit my grades! (no I'm not)

Sadly, these images are not enlarging for me any better than the R2 images did. The R1 images did, but those were the only ones.

Rex Dexter of Mars #1: .5 Lawbreakers Suspense Stories #11: 7.0 Action Comics #242: 4.0 Scooby Doo #1: 6.5 Amazing Spider-Man #300: 9.6 7 points. Clearly did not know how to grade that big hole in Rex Dexter. I've seen the 1/3 strip covers that get .5 grades, and I knew this was better than that, but, I thought at a certain point it was just automatic .5 And I couldn't blow up the Spider-Man image and it looked very clean to me. Otherwise, reasonably close. Missed all the coin flips.

I would have said not to discount too much for a "Qualified" where the defect is an unverified signature, especially if it's a known, limited signed and numbered run, which is what this seemed to be. You might not get a premium for it, but I probably would have started at market for a regular 9.4

I got this cute little Rocketship emoji from Mike after my first entry, which I wondered if, maybe, might have hinted I did well. I did not get a Rocketship emoji this time....