Superman #204

[Aman619]

how about this simple setup? Marvel instructs Ronalds or whoever prints the books to pull two or more cases and ship direct to Wizard. Just like when comics hit the stores, in most cases a few cases will yield a certain percentage of 10s and 9.8s. Marvel gets them for cost, deals with Wixard on what Wizard pays for them, etc. If too few books are up to snuff, go to a better plan or ship more cases.

 

by getting books direct from printer, the extra handling at Diamond is omitted which should save a few bent spines and corners!!

[UnrulyAppendage]

Did anyone see a printing defect on the back cover?

 

 

No, but I did have a 3 inch printer wrinkle on seven pages in my copy.

 

I checked my LCS and they had about75 copies on hand...ALL had the same weird printer/roller caused bump on the back cover, running from the top of the book down to the bottom. It is pronounced, but it is not throughout the book. I'm crossing my fingers that my supplier did not get copies with this problem.

 

As for the story, I just read Action 814, Adventures of Supes 627 and then Superman 204... what can I say...I'm liking it all! Maybe it is because I have not been bogged down with past DC continuity cluttering my head and I have a fresh perspective on Supes, but it is good stuff.

 

In Action, Doomsday has escaped from Apokolips. Supes interaction with Darkseid was pretty interesting. In Adventures of Supes, that Replikon thing with the power of the entire Justice League is an interesting concept. I can't wait to see who is behind this new plot against Supes. And Supes 204, I'm looking forward to more on the vanishing and this new cop Lupe seems to be a new key player in the Supes storylines.

 

I liked the Superbooks too. I think Ivan Reis will be the suprise artist to come out of the revamp of Superman. Jim Lee is still the best artist on the books, but I hope Reis stays on Action throughout his two year contract. I would just like to see his Superman after he has had a few issues under his belt.

[lou_fine]

Technically, they shouldn't since they have first pick and if there is a Mavel rep out there looking out for Wiard's best interest, this should decrease the chances of ending up with this type of flaw, BUT... I am unclear about the exact details of Wizard's deal with Marvel. If I were the dealer with a "First" program in place, I'd be the one doing the selecting off the presses or have a trusted staff member who has an eye for perfection be the one at the end of the presses, with gloved hands ready to bag and board 100 perfect looking books (after going thru about a thousand or so) and box it up with bubble wrap and hard carton. with this in mind, I'm thinking this would be very costly to set up and I'm wondering what kind of $$$ changed hands between Wizard and Marvel to allow this type of access and scrutiny. OR... if Wizard did this haphazardly as they are wont to do in all their past schemes, they are paying Joe Packer minimum wage, with no extra instructions for care and ending up with the first 100 books off the line, sight unseen, packed slapdash and sent to Sarasota.

 

 

Darth;

 

Since you are the acknowledged expert on the Modern books, do you view this agreement as providing Wizard with an unfair advantage over other Modern collectors or dealers. Unfair in the sense of the following factors:

 

1) Wizard having first pick of all the books

2) Wizard being able to cut in line and have immediate turnaround times

3) Wizard being able to dictate their own grading system

4) Wizard's REAL conflict of interest in creating and selling comic books while publishing an APPARENT price guide

 

From your dealings with Modern books, has Wizard created an artificial ceiling for new Marvel CGC 10.0 books by selling their copies at only $150.00? Is this good for the Modern collectors since it negates the silly run-up to nosebleed levels such as $1000 to $2,000 for brand new CGC 10.0 books right off the newsstand?

 

Actually, this is starting to get off topic and should probably be over on the Wizard First thread, so feel free to reply over there if you want to.

[Darthdiesel]

how about this simple setup? Marvel instructs Ronalds or whoever prints the books to pull two or more cases and ship direct to Wizard. Just like when comics hit the stores, in most cases a few cases will yield a certain percentage of 10s and 9.8s. Marvel gets them for cost, deals with Wixard on what Wizard pays for them, etc. If too few books are up to snuff, go to a better plan or ship more cases.

 

by getting books direct from printer, the extra handling at Diamond is omitted which should save a few bent spines and corners!!

 

I would definitely go with this route. But will Wizard want to get stuck with a case full of potential rejects or deal with offloading them? Maybe likely, now that I think about it.

[Darthdiesel]

Since you are the acknowledged expert on the Modern books,

 

Moi? Perish the thought

 

do you view this agreement as providing Wizard with an unfair advantage over other Modern collectors or dealers. Unfair in the sense of the following factors:

 

If I could bring to the dealing table what Wizard could, in terms of money, promotional value/advertising, dominating influence over the thinking and tastes of an entire segment of the comic collecting community, whose spending power and reach is highly underestimated by the comic "cognoscenti" on here... basically if I was another "Wizard", I have NO doubt that CGC would be working with me as well. Is it unfair... in the sense that Wizard is this BIG in the comic community and they have what they have...yes it is unfair, but life is unfair in that sense. Does it give Wizard a preferential advantage over Modern Collectors or small time dealers? Only very little. Remember that Wizard has already been grading with CGC and offering presales of CGC GRADED UNIVERSAL books at certain levels (USM 1/2 CGC 9.6 and 9.8 certified mail order edition for example)...none of which resell at what Wizard intially sold them for. (check my $20 sale of a $100 book from Wizard Also keep in mind that DF has teamed up with CGC as well (remember Origin 1-6 signature series through DF? ) and came up with a way to market these CGC graded items as DF exclusives.

 

Are the aforementioned instances unfair in and of themselves? No. Not really. There will always be someone with bigger clout and more money and can use that to their advantage. Is it unfair regarding the factors you made ...let me address them individually and counter...

 

1) Wizard having first pick of all the books

 

Wizard has the clout and $$$ to sway Marvel. CGC has nothing to do with this. Wizard secured this sweet deal with Marvel on their own. Plus there is only 200 books from 2 off the shelf titles(known thus far) that would fall under the Wizard First Program. Would I like to have the same agreement? Wouldn't we all I'm just a small fry and money talks.

 

2) Wizard being able to cut in line and have immediate turnaround times

 

Some of the current regular mass submitters of moderns already have a similar set up. Wizard and DF come to mind. When they submit however, we are talking high volume, consistently worth several tens of thousands of dollars over a short time. Even with my prescreens, they came to $2K at best at a time. No one can live off that So, this faster turnaround for regular mass submitters such as DF and Wizard is nothing new, IMO.

 

3) Wizard being able to dictate their own grading system

 

This might have been part of the quicker turnaround time aspect of the deal. It is easier to put 3 grades (Wizard 9.0, 9.5, 10.0) down vs 7 (CGC 9.0, 9.2, 9.4, 9.6, 9.8, 9.9 and 10.0)

 

4) Wizard's REAL conflict of interest in creating and selling comic books while publishing an APPARENT price guide

 

Wizard has been in "violation" since their inception with sales of 1/2 Issues, Wizard Ace editions and I've mentioned before Wizard Exclusive CGC books offered. The community has lived with it because they are connected well enough to the creators to sway them to come up with alternate covers and 1/2 storylines. As for the validity of price guide data, anyone in the know considers it a joke but as a seller, I find that they are fairly on when it comes to hot modern issues that take off in price the same week as release date due to ebay activity or chatboard "buzz". I prefer to sell at Wizard prices, but definitely don't go by them to buy at

 

From your dealings with Modern books, has Wizard created an artificial ceiling for new Marvel CGC 10.0 books by selling their copies at only $150.00?

 

Yes. However, they MAY not get a 10.0 if it is judged as a CGC 10.0. That is not guaranteed in their deal with CGC, from my understanding. It may be weasier to sell presales at $150 than if they priced it at the $275 - $500 CGC 10.0s that I've seen from other modern mass submitters get no bids and are relisted week after week.

 

Is this good for the Modern collectors since it negates the silly run-up to nosebleed levels such as $1000 to $2,000 for brand new CGC 10.0 books right off the newsstand?

 

The demand has to be there for the book for it to reach those nosebleed prices. And the timefframe I'm accustomed to seeing for this type of sale occurs after a comic has been sold out and in demand for several months. Some say it would be good if it did put an end to exorbitant prices for 10.0s. But I would always say that letting the market decide is the best way to ascertain a value for any book.

 

Actually, this is starting to get off topic and should probably be over on the Wizard First thread, so feel free to reply over there if you want to.

 

Off topic for this thread, but great question nonetheless. I will not be posting a reply in that thread. This is just my opinion. I will still be submitting to CGC when all is said and done. I feel that this will be as successful as ANY other Wizard scheme in the past in trying to market another approach to manufacturing a collectible and attempting to make it a "Wizard exclusive"

 

Maybe one day I can end up with "from the collection of Darthdiesel" on some CGC slabs but that'll be a VERY long time before coming to fruition

[dudesim]

I just got one 4/29.. An It looked Great

[lou_fine]

Darth;

 

Thanks for some very informative and well-thought out answers to my questions. It's always great to hear opinions from board members like you.

 

Lou