How did I get here?

[etanick]

Boy, sad news last week with Joe Kubert's passing. Other than Adams, he was so prolific as a cover artist for DC. I have a ton of his war books and his works there are just fantastic. I need to dig out a few to post...hard to choose the top 10 or 50 because there are just so many good one. No doubt, under appreciated in my book. I sold a bunch of my DC bronze war books but I still have a lot left and I am likely to keep them and enjoy them.

 

I was digging thru the boxes to find some Kubert books and I ran into some more Marvel horror books...some nice forgotten stuff. Here is one. Probably one of the better Ploog's work in my opinion, a keeper for sure.

 

 

I ordered some stuff from Ikea and they will be here next week. I can't wait to assemble the shelves and start my man cave project. Next week will be hectic as my 5 years old son will be attending Kindergarden. New schedule, new school, all the little things that we all need to adjust and adopt...part of life I guess.

 

[etanick]

ah...back from a 3 days weekend trip. 7 years wedding anniversary and we all went away to a nice place for relaxation. But we are back and my 5 years old starts Kindergarden today and he will be home by 3pm instead of 5pm as he has been for the past year so less time goofing around for daddy for sure

 

I take parenting very seriously so going forward it will be a balancing act of being easy, stern, demanding, strict, forgiving, nurturing, and lot of loving. Not that this is new but from 1 to 5 I think was "easy", now is the real test for the next 12 to 15 years until he is on his own feet for good. My wife and I are totally different in parenting style so it is more about us navigating thru our differences.

 

Really, there is no "right" ways to raise a kid in my opinion. Perhaps the best advice my older sister gave me when my son was born was "do whatever you feel is right, you know best...everybody will tell you how and what to do...just hang in there and go with whatever you feel is right...there is no "right" formula"

 

One thing I do know...kids learn fast so exposing them to things they are not ready can have dire consequences down the road. I was put into a position where I had to grow up fast and made many adult decisions by the time I was 14 but who knows what could have happened if I took one too many wrong turn along the way?

 

Note, I said "one too many". I did a lot of dumb things that could have sent me to jails. What is it that motivates one to do something "good" or be "good"? Is it nature or nurture? I can go on forever with this debate but I am a believer that both play a part in the grand scheme of thing. There is plenty of things none of us can foresee or control, the one thing I want to do is help navigate my son's life thru paths that have less potholes..that is all I can do.

 

Life is about making decisions, I believe the sooner you can encourage your kids to make decisions on their owns, the better.......uh segway into comic books now...collecting is also about making decisions.

 

Heck, we all overpaid for things or didn't mannup for somethings and regretted it later...etc..you name it. For those that can figure out how to profit and enjoy the hobby at the same time over a long period of time, more power to you. Heck no, I certainly made some bad decisions and I am certain I haven't learn my lesson. Perhaps the worse decision i made long ago was a chance to buy out an insane collection...perhaps Pedigree worthy from a collector that wanted to sell the entire collection all at once and I didn't mannup for it. I eventually parse it out so somewhere out there, somebody bought a lot of nice high grade books.

 

 

This collector had a full run of many things (Daredevil from 1 to 300 or so, Captain American from 1 to 300 or so, Avengers 1 to 300, Iron Man 1 to 200, Marvel TEam Up 1 to 100,etc.) and the asking price was not outrageous either. The conditions of the book was super nice...sure a few damaged one here and there but I recall his Daredevil 1 was at least 8.5 and his Capt 100 was 9.0 or better...and his Marvel Team Up 1 was at least 9.2. The majority of his silver age books were VF+ to NM and his bronze and copper was NM/NM+. All I bought from that insane collection is his Not Brand Echh run....SERIOUSLY...WTF. No doubt my single most regrettable decision as a collector/investor years ago and no doubt I will never made again....as if that kind of luck will fall on me again.

 

At the time, it was cheap and i thought it was a neat title I was never into chasing keys or buy things for investment reasons back then so my thoughts were "why buy DD #1 to 300 when I wasn't into DD at all and the same for the rest of the titles"...now he never mentioned X-men or I would have been all over that run but he was "secretive" about what he had and since I didn't come across as a serious buyer, he basically sold a junky small run to me and moved on. He did tell me he collected everything Marvel from 1961 thru the mid 80's so I am certain he has EVERYTHING. Later, I did find out at least one of the buyers that bought some of his runs later and tried to buy SOME books from that one buyer but I had no luck. That guy was not selling then and I doubt he is selling today. We exchanged some emails and that collector is not breaking up those runs....at least that was the impression I got.

 

So here are most of the Not Brand Echh books. Still junky years later but I keep them as a reminder to not pass up another opportunity. The missing issues had water damage that I chucked long ago.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think I already posted #13 in this thread before.

 

as you can see, they are very nice so his other runs are just as nice

 

 

 

 

[etanick]

by the way, the collection mentioned above I missed out/passed on was in Cincinati, OH.

 

I did find out a name of one of the buyer later and contacted him but he has zero interest in selling even one book and this was just a few months after I realized I was dumb to not mannup for it.

 

I took advantage of the long weekend to finally work on my man cave....it is far from finish but I finally got the shelves up. I still need to frame a few things to hang on the walls but at least one side of the room is starting to shape up. I still have to organize the the contents on the shelves.

 

 

I moved into this house in 2/11 and it took this long to get this far so I figure it will be 2014 or so when I can update this pic with frame arts on the wall

[Timely]

by the way, the collection mentioned above I missed out/passed on was in Cincinati, OH.

 

I did find out a name of one of the buyer later and contacted him but he has zero interest in selling even one book and this was just a few months after I realized I was dumb to not mannup for it.

 

I took advantage of the long weekend to finally work on my man cave....it is far from finish but I finally got the shelves up. I still need to frame a few things to hang on the walls but at least one side of the room is starting to shape up. I still have to organize the the contents on the shelves.

 

 

I moved into this house in 2/11 and it took this long to get this far so I figure it will be 2014 or so when I can update this pic with frame arts on the wall

 

I see many books there I'd like to "paw" through!

[etanick]

 

I see many books there I'd like to "paw" through!

 

wouldn't shock me if you already "paw" through many of them

 

I am contemplating cracking out a few more books since none of them are going anywhere in the near future...I feel a need to smell the papers

 

Man, I have been sick with a flu since Monday....the darn flu season is here and I caught one early. Uh...my 5 years old caught it last Friday at school and he was sick all thru Labor day and now it is my turn to hack away.

 

Now that the CC, Ha, and CL auctions are over last month, I got zip again...bid on a few and was not even close on any. All went for much higher than my max bids. I wasn't being cheap either. I bid pretty strong on many of them. So, now that 3/4 of the year is gone, could this be the year that I won't win anything? maybe...it might be the first time since 2009 that I bought NOTHING...wow.

 

I am hoping the November Heritage auction will have some killer books.

 

Now that I got the shelves up, it will be so much more fun to enjoy my collection. All of the slabs and raw books were in boxes in the closet and each time I need to find a book, it was a hassle. Now, I am loving the easy access.

 

[etanick]

ah....football Sunday

 

finally the flu is leaving my body, just a lingering cough here and there but I am feeling like my old self again.

 

Well enough to start checking out the major auction houses for the future big auctions. Wowza on CC

 

Superman 1

http://www.comicconnect.com/bookDetail.php?id=471761

 

I don't mind the tape one bit here....as bizarre as it may sounds, I rather see old yellowed tapes like this because it was more likely done decades ago by the owner to prevent the book from falling in pieces. I am more annoyed by the gaming of tapes on the interior cover to get higher grades on NEWLY TAPED BOOKS. Whatever damages that were done by the old tapes on this book are likely not going to be worse, at least not in my lifetime if I can mannup for it

 

My stance on tape in a perfect world(not CGC) is:

treated as if the tapes aren't there at all so if you have a book with split cover that are all taped up and reattached, graded it as if the cover is split and not attached. Give it a 0.5 or whatever the appropriate grade is but to give it anything more is pure silly.

 

Now, the debate will be...well how can one tell if the cover is completely split? just because the tape is on the entire length of the spine, doesn't mean it is completely split right? yes, that is correct but I would rather CGC takes a hard stance that if the spot is not ripped, there is no need for tape so any taped up area is assumed damaged. I am sure this issue can be debate to death as it already been done many times before...anyhow, it is jus my 2 cents.

 

how about this beauty

http://www.comicconnect.com/bookDetail.php?id=471769

 

or this one? crazy but I think there may have been tapes on the spine of this book at one time.

http://www.comicconnect.com/bookDetail.php?id=415237

 

and then this one. next CC auction is loaded with GA goodies as they usually are

http://www.comicconnect.com/bookDetail.php?id=471758

[bane]

Awesome set of Bat books Nick!

 

Have been enjoying your journal, keep going my friend

[scooter99]

Wow, the last time I looked at the 9/3 entry, photobucket was out of commish. Now I see the pics. Hmmmmmm......the books taking a peek at the camera are awesome.

 

What's up with that TV? It's nearly as old as the books.

 

 

[etanick]

 

If that TV doesn't weigh a ton, I think I would chuck it by now. I think it is almost 10 years old. How fast tech evolved heh? I remember buying that TV back in early 2003 . I am waiting for someone that is willing to lug it out of the house for me so I can get a nice flat screen there.

 

I have no ideas who is reading my journals outside of a few...hehe, how many surfers clicked on this thread and ran away screaming

 

for those(Scooter, Bane, etc.) that have and continued to read, thanks (thumbs u

 

New this week from Sharon (Darkpinkblue) is the Dark Knight Archives Volume 1 that contains Batman 1 to 4. Great reprint with vibrant colors but right away I can see a ton of changes in coloring and shades compared to the reprint. I read my Batman 1 enough times to know many of the changes but here is an example.

 

 

as beautiful and vibrant as the reprint is, I think the original color set up was much better...just look at the first panel. The car in the reprint isn't on a "road" anymore...the color of the water under the bridge is no longer different than the bridge and now Batman is swimming in green water? vintage is where it is at. More vibrant is not necessarily better.

[bane]

Ah!!! Don't talk to me about the money I spent on "HUGE" TV's back in the day

[Awax]

You figured out the right way to get rid of that TV nick. I had a 27" Sony that weighed a ton. Gave it to a friend. All he had to do was come get it. I loved that TV. Was sad when he took it. But I have a beautiful 47" LED there now. What a difference.

[scooter99]

I only kidded about the TV because I still have one about that age in the bedroom and 2 months ago I took the family room behemoth 35" Sony to a free recycler. I literally put on a weight lifting belt so I wouldn't have a hernia lifting that monstrosity. When the attendent was attempting to lift it out of the pickup, I asked him if he needed some help. The 130 lb. kid said "no, I have it". Right after that it dropped 3 feet out of his grip.

[bane]

Those things were HEAVY!

 

I had a Sony 32" monster, I'm sure my bad back is attributed to getting rid of that damn TV!

[etanick]

I only kidded about the TV because I still have one about that age in the bedroom and 2 months ago I took the family room behemoth 35" Sony to a free recycler. I literally put on a weight lifting belt so I wouldn't have a hernia lifting that monstrosity. When the attendent was attempting to lift it out of the pickup, I asked him if he needed some help. The 130 lb. kid said "no, I have it". Right after that it dropped 3 feet out of his grip.

 

Hehe...that is funny....seriously...no one believed me the tv is heavy every time I asked for help to move it

[etanick]

the best thing about being sick last week was catching up on all the shows I DVR'ed. I enjoyed Collection Intervention and saw the 5 episodes. I have seen that show mentioned a few times in the forum so if you haven't seen it, try it.

 

I can totally related to that show. I had my own intervention 2 years ago and it took that long for me to pare down my collection to a point that I truly believe I can enjoy for years to come. As you may have noticed, I changed my sig to reflect a line spoken during one of the show..."if you keep your collection in the closet, you can't..."

 

so true...the need to focus a collection is so important for me. Speaking of focus, Neal Adams' books are a major part of my focus and shockingly, to this day, I have never own what I considered the #1 Neal Adams book....GL 76.

 

Just as Hulk 181 for the die hard Wolverine fan, I never owned that copy until this year...it took me this long to find the right copy.

 

I haven't find the right GL 76 yet but no doubt, it is my single most important bronze book that I am missing in my collection. I would love to find a nice high grade raw like my Hulk 181 but that won''t be easy...so it can join these beauties. I bought all of these raw and I have been trying to put a raw run together for quite sometimes. I have many of them in slabs also but I will sell those eventually...no need to keep the slabs.

 

 

[etanick]

Keeping with the Neal Adams theme…..perhaps one of the best thing about reorganizing and bringing my collection (keepers) out from the closets is the chance to look at them. I am sure I am not alone in this but there were multiple occasions in the past where I bought something hoping/thinking it is an upgrade copy to something I had and it turned out to be not the case because I forgot what I had since it was tugged away in a box for years if not decades. So taking the books out, grade and inventory them all have been a great process. Take this book for example, now that I pulled it out last night, heck I am pleased as hell. I am glad to not buy the “upgrade” that almost went thru a few months back.

 

 

 

Now that I focus on buying raw books, I also readjust my desired grade to 9.2/9.4. I used to buy mostly 9.6/9.8 bronze slabs but I can live with well presented 9.2 or 9.4. Heck I will take 9.0 also if the corners and edges are sharp. I rather have all the flaws on the spine than at the corners or edges. I own a few 9.6 with small corner flaws so it isn’t a deal breaker.

 

What is a deal breaker? Hmm…tough question.

 

I think before I collected GA, I used to have many deal breakers such as restored books, water damaged, pieces missing, detached covers, tapes, PQ worse than cream like tan or brittle, etc...heck even low or mid grades weren't good enough. But the day I decided to take a plunge into GA, I abolished many of my previous deal brakers. These day, trimmed, married and/or rusty staples are the only 3 I would avoid.

 

[etanick]

Yippeeee it is Friday! or is it Friday every day on here

 

looks like I will be super busy in the next 2 weeks with works/business ...and that only means more money to buy funny books

 

anyhow, I see Jimmy went kookoo again, more Ebay issues(the usual), and some good entertaining reading.

 

Quick PSA for those not familiar with Ebay buyer protection as with my only other PSA in this thread (don't open expensive package without having a witness/delivery person), hopefully it will save you a little hassle later.

 

If you buy an item $250 or more...even if the seller has a return policy and you didn't like it. Make sure you get signature as well as tracking. Tracking alone is not enough. Please spend the few bucks to PROTECT YOUR AZZZ FROM SCAMMERS.

 

Why?

a) I bought a book for exactly $250

b) didn't like it so I returned with tracking. Before I did that, I contacted the seller to warn him ahead of time that I am returning the book because he grossly overgraded it and missed stains and other damages on the cover that can't be seen from the pics.

c) Seller sent a message "sorry, the book didn't meet your expectation"

d) I waited a week after I mailed out the package and contacted the seller to see if he is going to refund me.

e) Seller wrote back "you returned it? I didn't get it"

f) we exchanged a bunch of messages thru Ebay and he claimed that he moved last week and I must have mailed it to the wrong address. Anyhow he doesn't have it even though TRACKING showed it it delivered. I asked him why he didn't tell me about the move when I contacted him about returning....no reply.

g) to cut it short, he refused to refund because he claimed I mailed it to the wrong address and I didn't have signature requirement and the package is missing.

h) I opened a case with Ebay and 3 days later, Ebay sided with him and closed the case due to the "signature required" disclaimer they have.

 

 

I got the message from Ebay that they closed the case and within 30 minutes, the seller relisted the item. I called Ebay right away and went crazy with the rep and the supervisor on this BS. They agreed the seller is wrong and lied about the item missing but they cannot force him to refund me the money. They wrote him an email to politely asked him to refund me.

 

************************************************

I reviewed your case, and I understand that you sold this item, and your buyer sent the item back but has not yet received their refund. We just wanted to send you a courtesy email and make sure everything is alright with the item you sold, and to please go ahead and issue the full refund to the buyer. I do understand that you have been working with the buyer to get them a resolution, and they enjoy working with you, but would still like to get the item or the refund.

We very much appreciate your contribution to eBay.

Thank you for choosing eBay,

Mindy D

eBay Customer Service

************************************************

 

basically, that email above IS ALL THAT THEY WOULD DO FOR ME after I spent 30 minutes on the phone with Mindy and her supervisor. Before I hung up the phone, I asked "so my only recourse now is to call my credit card and charged back if the seller does nothing?"

 

Mindy said "DO WHAT YOU MUST"

 

so I went thru the entire hassle of doing a charge back, signing and sending all the proofs to the credit card company and waited weeks to get the charge reversed.

 

Next time, I won't make the same mistake. I don't buy much on Ebay these days and only choose to buy from sellers with return policy but as you can see...even then, douchenozzles out there will take full advantages of any loopholes to screw you.

 

Oh, the seller has relisted that item TWICE now since this entire mess occured...thanks Ebay. Every time I read on this board that Ebay is all about protecting buyers and screw sellers...I can't help but

[Ditch Fahrenheit]

Great thread Etanick!

 

Thanks for sharing.

[etanick]

thanks for reading (thumbs u

 

I just finish reading my early Neal Adams' DC Strange Adventure and Spectre books. His interior stuff was so amazing even at the early years of 1967 and 1968...truly fantastic. Some of his covers from the early years aren't all that great. Although you can recognize his style fairly quickly...many of his early DC covers were "boring" to me. I might be a big Neal Adams fan but I have a hard time forking out big money for the Adventure, Action, Superman and many of his early DC covers. No doubt by the time he did Brave and the Bold and other Batman titles, his works on the covers were much better. It is rare that a panel of the interior was good enough that it was re-use for the cover. I could be wrong (cover was done prior to the interior art) but here is an example of what I am talking about. This is 1968 and the 2 pages here is just an example of how great Neal's work was back then.

 

recognized the panel that was reused for the cover?

 

 

 

[etanick]

So last night CL auction had some great looking Neal Adams' books from B&B to Batman, there were some great looking, well centered white PQ high grade slabs. I did have my eyes on 3 books but life got in the way so...oh well and I didn't have a chance to place my bids. If I did, I wouldn't win one and the other 2 books "could" be mine assuming the highest bidders didn't have higher max bids.

 

no biggie..that is the best part as far as the state of the hobby is with me these days. There aren't that many books that are that important or must have or need to have. It would be fun to win them but I have no doubt, something nice will be up for auctions next month and the month after and so on.....and that was part of the reason I cut back from the hobby. It is exhausting to see the endless offering on a monthly basis. I literally don't have a set collecting focus really.

 

There are 5 books I would love to have and they are Action 1, TEC 27, Sup 1, Bat 1, and Captain America 1....and I might never own all 5 in my lifetime but if money was no object, those are the 5 most desired for my collection. Other than that, cool bronze horrors and Neal's cover here and there is more than sufficient to keep me happy. Heck, it took a long time to clean out my closets so I have no desire to fill them up with books and slabs.

 

speaking of Neal, here are some more cover proofs with his sigs. I have a ton of them and my goal is to get a nice high grade raw for each of the proof I have.

 

 

here is my copy I bought off ft88

 

 

 

 

I bought this one from Boozad

 

 

for the most part, I think the placement of the sig is decent but there are a few that didn't have good placement.

 

oh, and for those that are curious, the back of each cover proof has this

 

not the best PQ but I am happy to find a nice raw copy