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Showing results for 'blackstone'.
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Are prices still climbing or have they eased up a bit???
Grottu replied to InfantTerrible's topic in Comics General
All of which makes me wonder how Blackstone views its CGC investment now that the mid-pandemic tulip bulb craze is fading… -
Where in the world was the Quality Control at CGC???
Phill the Governor replied to Wally's Comics's topic in Comics General
Cheaper and more cost effective to have two. There also used to be two pieces of micro-chamber paper encased with the books. Last several dozed I've cracked (GA-SA books) there was only a single sheet, and on two books (valued at over 10k a piece) there was no micro-chamber paper at all. CGC cutting corners all the while raising costs since the Blackstone purchase. -
All Winners Comics #19 CGC 3.5 OW/W pages (Fall 1946) - Blackstone Copy (according to Connect sticker on back) MOVED ELSEWHERE
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Blackstone, Master Magician Comics #1 (CGC 7.0 with off-white pages.) $325: SOLD! Comical Situations. Pretty E.C. Stoner cover. Nice back cover as well.
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Where in the world was the Quality Control at CGC???
mattn792 replied to Wally's Comics's topic in Comics General
At this point, I think it’s safe to say that everyone’s worst fears about the Blackstone take over have come true. The recent exorbitant price hikes and new ME policy make it perfectly clear that dealing with CGC (at the very least, are the other members of CCG also suffering from this?) is just like watching Goodfellas: - Your book’s FMV is $1050? Fk you, pay me. - Newton rings make it look like your book was slabbed by BP? Fk you, pay me. - Plastic shards in your slab? Fk you, pay me. - Your mom was in the hospital and you didn’t notice an ME until 30 days later? Fk you, pay me. Blackstone stock is also down about 45% in the past 18 months if you’re looking for some correlations. -
CGC’s OFFICIAL Mechanical Errors / Returns Policy
shadroch replied to ak47po's topic in Comics General
We need to let the Moms for Freedom and Kid Blocks of the world know that CGC is sending out rainbow slabs. They'll get Blackstone's attention. -
CGC’s OFFICIAL Mechanical Errors / Returns Policy
MAR1979 replied to ak47po's topic in Comics General
Won't matter. Blackstone now believes they are simply entitled to your money without providing any semblance of quality service. As there is no viable competition it will get worse, this is only tip of iceberg stuff. The only solution is to stop submitting and just as importantly stop purchasing their slabs regardless of the seller. If their black ink ever starts to sniff red the exec's will need to cowardly shield their large ill-gotten bonus' by selling off the CGC division, which frankly is probably the best thing that could happen. -
Where in the world was the Quality Control at CGC???
NewWorldOrder replied to Wally's Comics's topic in Comics General
and you thought that was from Blackstone? That was started back in 1999, where have you been. You guys act like CGC is your pal. They have one goal to make $$$$$$$$$$, which is the goal of opening up a business. -
Yes, it really is. I can't wait for these Blackstone guys to finally decide they're not making enough money and sell this company to people who actually know right from wrong. Hopefully, they'll know a little about comics, too. I miss the days when CGC was a good company. For the past few years, it's been a very slimey one.
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CGC’s OFFICIAL Mechanical Errors / Returns Policy
JollyComics replied to ak47po's topic in Comics General
If Blackstone sold me for $1, I will whip their backs all day. -
CGC’s OFFICIAL Mechanical Errors / Returns Policy
captainzombie replied to ak47po's topic in Comics General
You can't say that enough about @CGC Mike! Mike offers top class customer service and actually cares about us and the issues we keep running into. I've seen Mike through his messages and actions move mountains with many of the issues I've reported to him. Who knows what the rest of the company even thinks or what they are trying to do at this point besides chase customers away. I vote @CGC Mike as Chairman of Blackstone or CGC at least. LOL! -
CGC’s OFFICIAL Mechanical Errors / Returns Policy
captainzombie replied to ak47po's topic in Comics General
I posted this in the QC thread, but would probably be good here to. @CGC Mike Please have a talk with upper management and if you need examples (like you guys don't have enough already), please use the images that I sent as a PM to you two weeks ago where I had several books all get mislabeled. I try to privately message you about the issues I encounter out of respect and I know you do your job to help us out, but some of these issues of late are not cool. I think a lot of us can swallow these price hikes and inconsistent kinks in some of the process if the tables (with regards to cases) by Blackstone and CGC are not turned around on the customer. They really then need to figure out the situation with these cruddy cases if they plan to have 14 day return policy to fix the issues. Even worse is the newton rings on cases now are our problem, when in actuality its the cases you guys use. Then if the cases are in such bad shape, your company should be really looking at a new company to produce better cases. My previous submission before last, I had a case that looked like it was dragged on pavement and then placed in the box to be shipped to me. -
Where in the world was the Quality Control at CGC???
captainzombie replied to Wally's Comics's topic in Comics General
@CGC Mike Please have a talk with upper management and if you need examples (like you guys don't have enough already), please use the images that I sent as a PM to you two weeks ago where I had several books all get mislabeled. I try to privately message you about the issues I encounter out of respect and I know you do your job to help us out, but some of these issues of late are not cool. I think a lot of us can swallow these price hikes and inconsistent kinks in some of the process if the tables (with regards to cases) by Blackstone and CGC are not turned around on the customer. They really then need to figure out the situation with these cruddy cases if they plan to have 14 day return policy to fix the issues. Even worse is the newton rings on cases now are our problem, when in actuality its the cases you guys use. Then if the cases are in such bad shape, your company should be really looking at a new company to produce better cases. My previous submission before last, I had a case that looked like it was dragged on pavement and then placed in the box to be shipped to me. -
Maybe CGC / Blackstone could offer to verify our profile to the tune of $8 a month. In return we would get a Spider-man head or better yet a blue checkmark next to our name... Wait... forget it. -
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And finally for tonight is another Timely, Blackstone, the Magician #3 CGC Universal 7.5 ow/w pages. Beautiful copy with a Blonde Phantom story inside! Since I have a raw copy, I'll make this one available at my cost of $725.
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Where in the world was the Quality Control at CGC???
Gaard replied to Wally's Comics's topic in Comics General
Afterall, we are talking Blackstone here. They've made certain things clear. I believe this (holds up a dollar bill) bucks anything an employee might say. -
Where in the world was the Quality Control at CGC???
Gaard replied to Wally's Comics's topic in Comics General
Where I work, whenever the company makes a major decision, it is discussed beforehand with the employees. Then it is discussed again. This way all possible viewpoints are looked at ... this is to prevent a possibly bad decision being made. With all these bad decisions being made at CGC the last few months - acetate fiasco, pay for grades with empty slabs, removal of certain notes from the labels, 14 days and you're out of luck, and on and on (not to mention the forever ongoing QC bs) - there's no way these things are being discussed beforehand. It's impossible that all the CGC employees would say "Yeah, let's do it! That's a great idea!" I think these Blackstone people care about exactly one thing and one thing only. $$$ I think I'm starting not to like them. -
CGC Announces Price and Policy Changes
LOC Collectibles replied to ThatNerdyCanuck's topic in Comics General
I will say we've seen an upsurge of individuals looking for quality raw material in recent months. We've had multiple instances of raw books achieving higher realized prices than the same graded issue. With Blackstone owning CGC it's going to get worse before it gets better. -
CGC Announces Price and Policy Changes
JollyComics replied to ThatNerdyCanuck's topic in Comics General
No, it didn't kill my enjoyment of my comic book collection. CGC took fun out of it. I don't enjoy overpaying CGC's service and many unexcused errors/unreliability and they didn't hire me for the job (I would love to help them out during the crazy time) or invite me to their CGC Academy (I would prove myself to them - they chose to blow me off. I am not afraid to say it if they read my posts) last year. They "killed" my moral. I submitted only one book this year and submitted the last batch of my books on 3/18/2022 (before previous increased prices). I enjoyed their company and had several friends with them. That was 2018 (my last year for Signature Series and it was a blast time). CGC changed everything since Matt Nelson was promoted to the president of the company. They are different now after Blackstone purchased the company. I decided to limit selling on eBay this year. They report 1099-K annually. I recently sold four graded books via Comiclink. The result was slightly disappointed with little profit. Yes, the margin of the profit is hurtful. I made a lot of money until 2019 but after that, Sales Tax, CGC's increasing prices and insane shipping costs are disaster economically I don't enjoy. It forces me to look other alternatives to make money. It's definitely my last year with CGC and my membership will be the last one (Elite - $150 credit and 10% discount on the submission online). It will be my last drop off at CGC booth at Chicago Wizard World in August. I will not go to any convention after Chicago WW. I definitely will buy CGC books from anyone for sure. -
CGC Announces Price and Policy Changes
JollyComics replied to ThatNerdyCanuck's topic in Comics General
Blackstone just owns CGC deed. Do nothing. -
As a collector involved with graded books for well over a decade now I can unequivocally state: The financially motivated sale of CGC to Blackstone in 2021 has completely impacted the quality of every aspect of CGC's grading- to such a negative degree that.. Long time collector's who have been a CGC Premium member have, for the first time in a long time, decided that there is too great of a risk that CGC will damage or incorrectly grade books and are not renewing their memberships. The letter from Mark Salzberg is the canary in the coal mine. This is the line that does CGC in: " Blackstone was different. We saw that they recognized our vision and were willing to invest in building a stronger company that adds even more value and vibrancy to the collectibles markets." Considering the reality of how absolutely insane the lack of quality control has been since the acquisition, we are literally being gaslit into being told that the Blackstone purchase was a good thing for CGC and it's customers. I like collecting a very small amount of Modern or Bronze high grade books. And I can say that 100% of the books I've purchased (already graded 9.8s) not a single one looks like a 9.8 in the case because it was either over-graded or the case itself caused new damaged to the book. There's absolutely no way I'm the only one that thinks this. Not sure where we go from here, but considering how hard it is to simply buy an already graded high grade book and have it retain it's grade (or even be graded properly to begin with) submitting books with expected high grades is too high a risk. It's not worth it. Even if, somehow, the book was graded properly and not damaged by the case, there is an incredibly high likelihood there will be scratches and scuffs on the inner well/case which will impact the aesthetics. Edit: Just wanted to add (since this has received several likes over the last few days) that Matt Nelson has been absolutely awesome throughout the above. Any time I've had a specific issue, reaching out to him directly has resulted in a fast, courteous response/remedy of the issue. He, as an individual, definitely should be acknowledged.
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Crystal Ball time here fellow board members and I hope you will add, extend, and give your opinion as to where we are headed in Golden Age collecting land...up up and above for the future. After, my God, 60 years of comic book collecting since buying FF#1 off newsstand in 1961 we have come a long long way. But I can honestly say that 2021 is by far the most significant year in GA comic book collecting that I have participated with joy in. All is not 100% bright, but he is my guess, after 60 years years and I believe over 50 years or ago when I stated the Comic book collecting Clue for all Sacramento comic book collectors (see earlier posts for Journey of a comic book collector for a copy of the clue flyer say circa 1965) we have a hit a milestone year which in 10/20 years from 2021 will be judged very historical. 1- BLACKSTONE Buys CGC in 2021: Let me be clear here about two things. 1- when you control the company 50.1% or more you OWN it, you can at any time take existing shareholders and bleed them out through stock dilution. Now not every company who acquires it will, since the principal owners might actually direct or control the company and then just report to corporate ( Blackstone management) but at some point or whenever they want, they can wipe out anybody. A fundamental rule when it comes to civil litigation: whoever has the most money wins...eventially. Blackstone has the money, a lot of it. It would be exceptionally unusual , probably impossible to get a sophisticated company like Blackstone to grant "non-dilution" shares to the original stockholders...2- Blackstone does not invest $500 million if it does not thing its gonna make a Billion... or more with some of the best number crunchers in the company buying biz. So they own it...lock stock and barrel . Now we deal with the issue that Wall Street now controls a major GA comic book player, and is it that a good thing? It is, 100% and why. Here we have a "Warren Buffet" type company betting half a billion dollars on the CG/SA comic book market and collectables market in general PLUS putting further cash infusions into their purchase to get the "numbers" for their shareholders or investors, or Wall Street or whomever. I like the fact these guys know what they are doing and do not think that this end for "big investor money coming in to buy other players in our GA comic book world, this is just the beginning . It is like the old add, EF Hutton commercial with a 2021 variant .. When Blackstone makes a move..."people listen". The happiness guy alive today or yesterday is not the sellers of the CGC, LOL they are number 2. But Steve, our the CGC competitor IF he got as part of his "sale" of the other company a stock option in that company or some type of retained ownership of his former grading service because that company just became target #2 on the Wall Street investor hit list, especially if Blackstone turns its 500M investment into gold, heck they could even buy them. The future is clear for both CGC and the other guy as I related in earlier posts over the last few years, the" other guy" was created for a" buy out" once they has established a significant market share by their competition. Where the miscalculation lied was that CGC had the market wrapped up on ultra high end sales of GA and SA books and they could not shake them out with a price reduction or quicker grading time. So, they went lateral and sold to another collectable grading company and I am sure after sale today, that it looks really really great today the company that bought them for a bargain with hindsight , and look out..they could be then $400 Million future buyout. The flip side of this is that no way will the competitor ever be able to outspend, outthink, or outdo Blackstone. These guys are the real deal, they put their money. where their month is and they make a profit overall. This insures CGC status at the #1 comic book grading company for the long term future. So that means for the time being that CGC is bulletproof from anyone else. That is not good thing but a great thing. The future and the company performance will determine whether it is a long term hold for Blackstone, or a revamp lipstick resell job. I believe, with this major Wall Street leap of faith in the collectables market, that it looks very good that we will have their management knowledge, expertise and expansion of CGC for a very long time. I am not saying their are not coming in wanting to make money, I am saying if the payoff each year gets better and better they do NOT have to sell, but reap the benefits as long as the return is above their average rate of minimum retention goals they have for their company and investors. I predict Blackstone will keep CGC for a very long time, and when they sell they will make a very very large profit. Even if they sell, for a very large price the new buyers will want keep the asset alive and well with that substantial of a new investment. When Blackstone throws the dice, they are not looking for say 10% or 20% long term return..no they do that probably on stock market trading alone, they are look at two of three times the roll amount, 1 Billion and probably more for the payout. 2- The Promise collection and record GA sales prices in general in 2021: I know a lot of us what to find the "golden Willy Wonka" easy single answer here. Well folks is not one, but a combination of economic and GA/SA comic book Wall Street/ investor recognition flamed by the greatest GA comic book OO pedigree collection coming to market in the last 30/40 years. That is it. Full acceptance that GASA comic books have intrinsic value both in 2021 and in the foreseeable future. That to a lot people GA comic books are and will be in the future attractive widgets to invest in, like gold, coins and artwork. We are there now 2-21 with the greatest acceptance of that fact in the history of our Ga/SA comic book world. We will continue to see record GA/SA prices especially in the Upper or Ultra keys from this day forward for the next 20 years unless a meteor hits the planet earth and gets us again like dinosaurs. Sure, there will be pauses in the next twenty years, some sideways, but overall look forGA CGC graded collectables to hold their own. The one good thing Cyptro currency has created is a generation of NEW investors who will take a chance, gamble etc. The emergence of the Marvel and DC universe both on the movie screen as well as media platforms such as Disney/HBO Max on this new generation of new investors is to EXPOSE this generation of media drive to this material and has thus in 2021 created the perfect storm here in out comic book collecting world. They do not know about stamps, and to some extent coins...but they know JLA directors cut premier on HBO/Max . 2020/21 and Avengers thus as a result this has been very favorable to the comic book world in general with the forced stay at home media driven investor. When great material like the Promise collection hits the GA comic book market it infuses new energy., excitement , and new publicity even to non-collectors as mentioned in other post on the board. That is great thing for everyone here on the form as long term collectors. GA comic book collecting has grown up and matured into a full collecting body in its prime of life in 2021. Hitting on al cylinders. In the past I have been afraid of the "widget" buyer in our great comic book world. With this Blackstone purchase, however I have changed my opinion to say I accept you in our world. Wall Street, widget buyer, pancake presser the world world. I admit it creates our GA even SA comic book world a more exciting and competitive place. Yes we do not know if our E-bay under bidder was "flipper" or even worse LOL a presser flipper...but so be it. I love our GA comic book and will do so until I take my last breath. I for one remember trying to convince the 99.9% of the outside back in the lates/ early 70's that comic books and especially GA comics were much greater than the category that society had placed them in. In 2021 our GA comic book world is bigger,badder and who is to judge whether anyone can participate in it. Ga/SA books could are artistic masterpieces and added with superb stories in my opinion. They can transport you back to a time when we were fighting the greatest evil man has know in history and which Captain American #1 so bravely put on the cover of the newsstands of America knocking it on the jaw or seeing Superman race a train in Superman#3 Now a bigger, even better world can enjoy GA comic book collecting in 2021 and and my prediction for the future GA/SA comic book world the is very very bright. -
I think competing with our fellow members via arcade games sounds delightful, and should definitely be put forward at the next blackstone meeting -
How do you feel about Blackstone?
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A-1 A Helping of 10¢ Golden Age!
A-1 Comics, INC replied to A-1 Comics, INC's topic in Golden/Silver/Bronze Age Only
Blackstone, Master Magician Comics #3 (Vital Publ.; July 1946) CGC 6.0 WH Pages #3798793004 Grade = FN 6.0 Price= $250.00
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