How did I get here?

[Timely]

Don't forget Electro is going to be in the next Spider-Man movie... the time to buy ASM #9 is NOW!

[etanick]

darn, I sold my ASM #9 earlier this year that is alright though. For me, the more removed I am from the "values" of things, the more I enjoy the hobby.

 

We are near the end of the year and this is the first year since 2009 that I won ZERO books from Heritage, ComiLink, Pedigree or Comicconect. I bid on a few books but for the first time all year, I got no packages from any of those big auction houses.

 

I bid strong on the few I really wanted so it wasn't for the lack of trying but in the end, no biggie.

 

2012 in perspective was a year in slimming down the collection, not adding a bunch of junks. It wasn't easy seeing nice books and not want to bid on them but each time, I had to stop and asked "do you NEED it?" and the answer often is "nope".

 

Yesterday's horrific shooting rampage in CT was senseless, unthinkable and heartbreaking. Family is so precious. Kids are so precious. COMIC BOOKS are not precious...they are fun and may have been an important part of my life and still are but precious they are NOT to me.

 

i often read threads on "books you will never sell" or "books you regret selling"....and for me the last thing on my mind on my death bed will be "oooh, I am so happy I completed my X-men run from 1 to 150".

 

I already instructed my wife to sell EVERYTHING if something untimely happens to me. Sell them all because our son may never care about the books..at least not the way I cared about them.

 

If I am lucky enough to grow old and live for another 40 years, then i might pass along the few big keys to my son if he understands and appreciates what those meant for his old man but the remaining books will be sold long before I am dead.

 

speaking of precious...one of my all time favorite picture of my son...so beautiful and that is a 10.0 by CGC standard. I remembered scrambling to take that pic because it was on the first time he was strong enough to lift his head up.

 

[scooter99]

Cute pic of your son, Nick. They grow up incredibly fast. Oh, and if your son doesn't get interested in comics, you can adopt me.

[vaillant]

Hey Nick, your son is incredible cute, very little here, how old he was?

 

I think what you say about comics goes without saying for each and every material goods. As important as they may be, it is clear that they should never make us forget or neglect our responsibility towards others, especially family and people which we hold more dear or that trust us and may be needing us for help.

But I also think this shouldn’t make us generalize by saying comics and other possible reading is "just fun". To be honest, there are a lot of things which I may have found fun as a kid but did not leave so much mark in my cultural formation and education.

 

And I make quite a difference between reading matter (books, comics) and other leisure stuff which may be good to recreate you but does not give you any intellectual or spiritual nurturing, so to speak.

Look also at it this way: I would have never met you, or some other people I befriended, if not for comics. Since comics have been an important element of my life, thing works both ways, but as you say: we should be ready to get rid of things as needed.

 

P.S. I did not knew about the Connecticut killings you mentioned (well, I guessed they were killings as it has became infamously common nowadays to hear such things from the USA). And of course I am "freezed". Now, really, at least, something should be done about U.S. gun control, until someone realizes the country need some spiritual renewal from scratch.

(If you have the occasion to buy some on the cheap, I think "Hard Time", a series which Steve Gerber wrote for DC Comics before his untimley death, has something worthy in its approach. Gerber basically took his themes from "Omega" or "The Defenders" and made them heavily dramatic and related to today’s crime and TV broadcasts: I am talking of this because the story springs from a similar killing, with the difference the main character, a 15 year old boy, finds himself involved because of a friend, and is equally found guilty and sentenced to 50 years in prison, so in the first issue he already knows he will be out of jail, if he lives, when he’ll be 65 years old. A very corageus and difficult theme choice, and Gerber handles professionally, although less brilliantly than his Marvel "classic" stories).

[etanick]

thanks guys...he is almost 6 months old on that pic. He was an odd one. My son never crawled, not once. He just laid on his stomach for months and once in a while he would stretched out his arms and legs like he was sky diving...quite cute and funny.

 

at month 11, all the sudden he stood up and walk, just a few steps and fell down but he skipped the crawling and all the walking toys/helpers we bought to prepare him weren't needed. I can talk about my son 24/7

 

I think most if not all parents think their babies as equivalent to CGC mint 10.0 once they become teenagers, that might come down to 3.0

 

speaking of 10.0

 

I don't own anything 9.9 or 10.0 so I have no idea how "sharp" those must be but if I have anything in my collection that might be in that range, it would be this book.....urghh....not even sure if CGC would even grade it but it is a freebie when I bought the blue ray DVD a few years back

 

[etanick]

Merry Christmas everyone!

 

got this Friday, courtesy of Metro/CC thanks guys for having me on the list. I guess being the underbidders on a few big books kept me on the Santa list note to self, keep bidding high to get more cool wine bottles.

 

The AF 15 was last year and the Iron Man is this year. I have a few suggestions for Vincent for next year.

 

 

There are many choices but my favorite yet long shot is Logan's Run #1...yes lame to many but I think putting Vincent's head on Logan's head and replace the gun on Logan's hand with a bottle of wine is good fun for me.

 

 

[vaillant]

 

Merry Christmas to you, my friend!

[scooter99]

I remember picking up my copy of Logan's Run 1 in the late 70's. The only reason I bought it was because of my loyalty to Farrah Fawcett.

 

Merry Christmas!

[etanick]

 

Merry Christmas to you, my friend!

 

Claudio,

 

your Christmas gift for my son arrived today (thumbs u many thanks. I think he likes Astro Boy book the most out of all the books..and the pin. Heck, I am loving the Uncle Scrooge for myself great arts in that book. He already asked me to read him those books for bedtime. He can read, not all the words for sure but he enjoys the way I read and explain the stories.

 

You certainly didn't have to send the package but thanks again.

 

 

We are rapidly getting to year end and I don't have really any new major books to show off this year. Sure, I won some "junks" here and there from Ebay but nothing major. Perhaps, my favorite additions this year are books that complete the mini Silver Age run of Spectre. I have always love Neal Adams' work on Spectre #2 to #5 but I figured I might as well add #1 because it is a good looking cover also.

 

 

 

 

 

I had this one already and it is slightly nicer than the one I bought above but the crooked miswrap annoyed me.

 

 

 

[etanick]

1-1-2013

 

Happy New Year!

 

I have zero goal for 2013 as far as comic books. i scanned a few upcoming auctions at heritage/CL/CC and nothing interested me so the drought likely will continue for me at least for the next few months.

 

In hindsight, perhaps the "best" buys for 2012 were these books.

 

 

if you follow my journals from the start, I did mention about Asterix. Last year, I was able to buy a few copies of my earliest "illustrated" books on Ebay. What a fun read it was to get them again and flip thru the pages. The arts in them are fantastic and the stories are fun. Even now, 40 years later, I find them entertaining to read...much more than many of my Silver/Bronze Age comic books where i often find don't hold up well at all with times. Hell, I went back and reread Iron Man 150 (my first purchase at the LCS) and I was disappointed.

 

I am guessing these are first print in bounded books. I believe the early Asterix was published in magazine first in the 50's and then reprinted in bounded books in the 60's and all the way till now. These were published in the late 60's and the conditions for most of them are decent. The hardcovers have plenty of dings on them and they were well loved by their owners in Europe.

 

The Legionaire book is my all time favorite. I must have read that book more than any single books I read in the past 40 years so I was trilled to get my hand on a first print copy again. The artist, Albert Uderzo is still alive today. No doubt a legend in Europe and unknown here but I rank him up there with Carl Barks.

 

If you enjoy Carl Barks' works, you will like Uderzo's works also.

[vaillant]

The Scrooge story is top-quality stuff…

Did I send you "The McDuck Foundation" or "The last Balaboo"? Since I sent some books to Mike Forrester’s daughter as well, I do not recall.

I think it was "The McDuck Foundation" as I seem to recall you’d have appreciated the story theme, which is pretty into economy and unusual. One of the earliest Scarpa efforts as a writer, and top notch as he understood Scrooge.

Here I am with Romano Scarpa (scroll down), in 1991, when I interviewed him in his native Venezia before he moved to Spain with his family:

http://www.romanoscarpa.net/articoli/intervista-scarpa-e-l-alchimia-della-disneyanita

Scarpa died in 2005 and we are missing him a lot! :-(

This is Atomino Bip-Bip, a Disney character he created in the 1950s, which was awesome, but he abandoned it after a few stories since he was too powerful as a companion for Mickey Mouse, and because of his powers he solved situations too easily when he and Mickey investigated:

http://it.paperpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Atomino_Bip_Bip

 

I recall correctly I also sent you a Bob & Bobette book, but in french since although that episode is one of the few published in Britain I do not have the english edition (english language editions are pretty tough to find).

I am a huge fan of Vandersteen work, and I wondered if you already knew him.

 

I have to admit I have never been a big fan of Asterix, although I have read some stories. In general, I still have limited knowledge of the franco-belgian productions, with due exceptions.

[vaillant]

Ah, of course Atomino epitomizes perfectly the "Atomic Age" of comics.

[etanick]

It was the McDuck Foundation...beautiful NM condition fun read for sure.

 

Thanks for the link. I have never heard of BipBip.

One of these days, you need to elaborate on your visit to the US and your meeting with Jack Kirby.

 

I have never heard of Vandersteen so thanks for the Bob & Bobette book.

 

I am a big fan of TinTin and my dad also had a bunch of those books also. I am also looking to buy a few of those to add to my Asterix collection.

 

[vaillant]

I knew the freak in you would have appreciated more the condition than the book itself… Old habits hard to die, but it was for your son, not you!

 

If I recall correctly the Bob & Bobette is "The Texas Rangers" (I sent my copy as I have it in Italian, and I wish to buy a first edition some day): it’s an awesome story (I read it at age 8, we have had just six episodes in Italy, but I was hooked!), when you can take the time to read it to your son: it will be an exercise in instant translation…

Vandersteen is an awesome author: althoug the characters are probably less humorous than Asterix, the weirdness factor is always ready to rise… Not in that story, that is quite "normal" in its themes, but pretty deep.

 

I have read Tin Tin as an adult and although I am partial to Jacobs, some Tin Tin stories are great, like the two-parter which was used as a story for the Spielberg movie (which has been quite cricized for its "action-packed" quality which mystifies a little the pacing of the original stories.

[vaillant]

P.S. Atomino Bip-Bip is an awesome character, I still have to nail down his first story in english (the only one published so far), which is in a pocket-sized title.

it’s this one:

http://coa.inducks.org/issue.php?c=us/MMAG+11

 

It may not say so much to an english reader, but it is truly a "key" issue, first 1959 apperance of the character, which is pretty well-known in Europe as our italian productions are as widespread as the american classic stories.

[etanick]

hehe...I did catch myself telling him the first time he touched the book "be careful, it is a real nice book" and then I realized it is his gift and he can enjoys it the way he can as a 5 years old.

 

It is never easy for a high grade freak in me to not try to "protect" book. There was a time when the high grade freak in me couldn't stop from wanting to buy anything ultra high grade that crossed my path.

 

Like the ring to Gollum...high grade books were irresistible to me even dreks like this one.

 

 

good grief, I had to boycott Ebay because it was too easy to find high grade dreks to buy there.

 

On the opposite end of nice high grade, when Scott(Scooter) posted his sweet ASM 121 in the PGM forum, I pulled out my copy fugly copy.

 

 

as ugly as this copy was, I reread it again and enjoy it. It quickly reminded me of how great John Romita was. Gil Kane drew that book but Romita inking was fantastic and certainly boosted up the art of that book.

 

Blasphemy to many Ditko fan, but to me Romita was born to draw Spiderman. He drew the cutest Gwen Stacy. I always felt Romita's take on woman/girl much cuter than many other artists. If you are talking about sexy, beautiful or gorgeous, then others like Adams or Byrne might be better.

 

so to update my "born to draw" list

Adams - Batman

Byrne - Wolverine

Romita - Spiderman

Kubert - war/western books

Buscema - Silver Surfer

 

Speaking of Gollum and LOTR, for Christmas, I bought the Lego game for PS3 and loving it. I love the Lego franchise and I enjoyed the countless hours playing all the Batman, StarWars, Indiana Jones, etc...that they made so far with my son. I can't wait until the Marvel version this summer.

 

[etanick]

Finally got a chance to upload my first video on Youtube. Santa got me a nice camcorder so I am taping a few things just for fun. I watched so much youtube related comic books videos for a long time and finally decide to jump into the fray. I personally think UHG raw books are often nicer in hand/person that a scan can ever convey. Is it better with a video? no idea....urghhh...turn the volume down if you don't want to hear my babbles.

 

 

 

I wanted to get a camcorder to start taping my son and the family going forward. Pics are great but I think the videos will provide great sentimental pieces for us for years to come. I regret not getting one years ago but better late than never.

 

Speaking of regrets, i saw a thread in CG about what if we can start over again, what would we buy or collect?

 

for sure, save my money and buy what I really wanted instead of settling for lesser conditions. Forget about buying the best money can buy, save and buy what I really wanted would be better so I don't get stuck with multiple copies of low or mid grade books. I have always been that way with many other things I bought. I tend to not have the item at all and save for the want I wanted...from cars to clothes or houses...every time I settled for less, I ended up with something I am not happy with and ultimately spending more money to buy what I wanted in the first place.

 

I am much better today with not buying what I don't really want...keep the impulse at bay....avoid Ebay and less regrets later

[etanick]

 

Speaking of regrets, the big one regret on the professional area would be the failure of my start up Sit-Bit. Back in 1998-1999 as I re-enter the hobby with Ebay, I was also deep in the Dot.com frenzy. I had 3 start ups and working 100 hours a week between my day job and those 3 start ups...crazy times but so much fun...so much ambitions and dreams and hopes back then.

 

warning long winded babbling below so read if you dare to read about my start up

 

 

 

 

what is SIT-BIT exactly? Lets step back one moment to explain how and where the name SIT-BIT came from and it will become very clear on what we are all about.

 

 

SIT is short for See It and BIT is short for Buy It. See It and Buy it. What does that mean?

 

It is the end of shopping and marketing in the old ways. It is the end of what we know and understand about product placements and for sure it is the start of a new and ultimate method of shopping and marketing.

 

How many times have we flipped thru a magazine, see an item that interested us but had no clue on where to buy, how much, or if it even available in the right size?

 

SIT-BIT mission is to solve that dilemma across all mediums.

 

If you are watching a show on TV and an item on the screen fancies your taste, you can buy it instantly or find out where you can see it in person for certain item that require further investigations.

 

If you are reading a magazine and see an item in an ad, you can buy it instantly or find out where you can see it in person for certain item that require further investigations.

 

We all understand about product placement but SIT takes this concept to the next level, in fact multiple levels.

 

Television shows have long been dressed by department stores and designers for decades. How often does any of us paid attention to the name of these sponsors during the shows if they were mentioned or at the end of the show as the credits rolled? No longer does that matter. With our technology, everything on the screen, literally, everything on the screen is now something can be more than just a decorative item.

 

From a marketing standpoint, our technology will enable instant feedbacks from the consumers. No longer does a business has to compete to place its product(s) in a television show and hopes that the item get some exposures. With our technologies, any businesses will get immediate feedbacks as consumers will vote with their tastes because they can.

 

 

Benefits for the consumers

1) No longer does the consumer has to wonder where he or she can buy or inquire about an item that caught his or her attention.

2) Whatever peaked your interest will be at your finger tip to take the next step, whichever that is, to inquire more or the impulse buy can and will be available.

Benefits for the marketers

1) Marketing/Advertising will never be the same again. Perhaps the biggest impact to the status quo will be a complete monkey wrench in what those two words, marketing and advertising. This is not the old days where advertisers needed to toil with concepts and clever messages to get us, the consumers, to want a product. This is not the current day of banner ads where billions of dollars are wasted in cyber space because most of us simply ignored them. So why are companies continue to throw billions of their advertising budgets into the current mediums such as magazines, radio, television, or internet? Because they have to and because everyone else do it. What Sit-Bit offers will be an entirely different ways of marketing that will be the game changer.

 

The media, mostly television, has long fed us, the consumers, what we wanted. Why not do it right? Why is it we always see starts on the red carpet get ask the same question each and every time. Who dressed you? Certainly, that is not a random question. It is asked because the designers want you and I to know who is responsible for those fabulous looks but why does it has to end there?

 

Tagline for Nike is Just Do It. Sit-Bit name itself is the tagline. See It, Buy it.

 

Imagine watching a television show Friends and see a cute skirt on Jennifer Aniston. Now you can click the "shop" button and the screen will split in two, all items that are "buyable" will blink on the show and you can buy it right then and there at the same time the show is still playing.

 

 

if you made it this far, I am impressed

 

 

 

I did try to restart the concept last year but I think it is a little late...there are a few companies that are near the verge of achieving/introducing what I wanted to do 13 years ago. The technologies are here now that this is on the verge of exploding..the next killer app in my opinion.

[Logan510]

Speaking of regrets, the big one regret on the professional area would be the failure of my start up Sit-Bit. Back in 1998-1999 as I re-enter the hobby with Ebay, I was also deep in the Dot.com frenzy. I had 3 start ups and working 100 hours a week between my day job and those 3 start ups...crazy times but so much fun...so much ambitions and dreams and hopes back then.

 

warning long winded babbling below so read if you dare to read about my start up

 

 

 

 

what is SIT-BIT exactly? Lets step back one moment to explain how and where the name SIT-BIT came from and it will become very clear on what we are all about.

 

 

SIT is short for See It and BIT is short for Buy It. See It and Buy it. What does that mean?

 

It is the end of shopping and marketing in the old ways. It is the end of what we know and understand about product placements and for sure it is the start of a new and ultimate method of shopping and marketing.

 

How many times have we flipped thru a magazine, see an item that interested us but had no clue on where to buy, how much, or if it even available in the right size?

 

SIT-BIT mission is to solve that dilemma across all mediums.

 

If you are watching a show on TV and an item on the screen fancies your taste, you can buy it instantly or find out where you can see it in person for certain item that require further investigations.

 

If you are reading a magazine and see an item in an ad, you can buy it instantly or find out where you can see it in person for certain item that require further investigations.

 

We all understand about product placement but SIT takes this concept to the next level, in fact multiple levels.

 

Television shows have long been dressed by department stores and designers for decades. How often does any of us paid attention to the name of these sponsors during the shows if they were mentioned or at the end of the show as the credits rolled? No longer does that matter. With our technology, everything on the screen, literally, everything on the screen is now something can be more than just a decorative item.

 

From a marketing standpoint, our technology will enable instant feedbacks from the consumers. No longer does a business has to compete to place its product(s) in a television show and hopes that the item get some exposures. With our technologies, any businesses will get immediate feedbacks as consumers will vote with their tastes because they can.

 

 

Benefits for the consumers

1) No longer does the consumer has to wonder where he or she can buy or inquire about an item that caught his or her attention.

2) Whatever peaked your interest will be at your finger tip to take the next step, whichever that is, to inquire more or the impulse buy can and will be available.

Benefits for the marketers

1) Marketing/Advertising will never be the same again. Perhaps the biggest impact to the status quo will be a complete monkey wrench in what those two words, marketing and advertising. This is not the old days where advertisers needed to toil with concepts and clever messages to get us, the consumers, to want a product. This is not the current day of banner ads where billions of dollars are wasted in cyber space because most of us simply ignored them. So why are companies continue to throw billions of their advertising budgets into the current mediums such as magazines, radio, television, or internet? Because they have to and because everyone else do it. What Sit-Bit offers will be an entirely different ways of marketing that will be the game changer.

 

The media, mostly television, has long fed us, the consumers, what we wanted. Why not do it right? Why is it we always see starts on the red carpet get ask the same question each and every time. Who dressed you? Certainly, that is not a random question. It is asked because the designers want you and I to know who is responsible for those fabulous looks but why does it has to end there?

 

Tagline for Nike is Just Do It. Sit-Bit name itself is the tagline. See It, Buy it.

 

Imagine watching a television show Friends and see a cute skirt on Jennifer Aniston. Now you can click the "shop" button and the screen will split in two, all items that are "buyable" will blink on the show and you can buy it right then and there at the same time the show is still playing.

 

 

if you made it this far, I am impressed

 

 

 

I did try to restart the concept last year but I think it is a little late...there are a few companies that are near the verge of achieving/introducing what I wanted to do 13 years ago. The technologies are here now that this is on the verge of exploding..the next killer app in my opinion.

 

That is a very interesting idea. With the every day use of smart phones and tablets you could really do some interesting things with your concept.

[etanick]

I am always happy to discuss my concept further if you wish.

 

The idea actually came to me in 2 ways back in 1998. My girlfriend at the time loved watching Friends and Rachel and Monica had all the great outfits and every show we watched, she would say "I loved that skirt, wish i know where to get that". And for me, back in those days, I was more of the GQ kind of dresser so I would flip thru those magazines and get annoyed with all the ads...sure love those fancy shoes and ties but where the hell do I find them. So I thought of putting codes on ads that you can type in on my website to find out more info...crude but this is before smartphone here.

 

Now, that concept is done with smartphones with scan reading ability and many ads now in magazines have that feature.

 

Back in 1998/1999 when I was pitching my concept, the venture capitalists were saying I was crazy and we are light years away from being able to do what I wanted.

 

also back in those days cable tv was mostly coaxal, not digital so the streaming capabilities of splitting the screen into shopping and regular tv was "wacko".

 

The moment I see you can hit "guide" on your remote and your screen split in 2 with the regular show and the tv guide, I knew the concept is doable.

 

Even though I killed it back in 2000 because I was out of money to throw into the startup, I have been telling the concept to just about anyone that cared to listen for the past decade.

 

I do believe that there are many legs left in this concept so I am looking for partners that can breath life into this. I am trying to pitch the concept to an MBA program and let their entrepreneur program run with this.