Me and ASM1

[jcjames]

My ASM1 Tale Of Woe

 

 

PART 1: The Set Up

 

So I ordered a midgrade X-Men 19 through ebay over the summer, and when it arrived and I opened it up, this is what I was sent:

 

 

 

 

 

Needless to say I was QUITE surprised. In fact, after I put my eyes back in their sockets and started breathing again, I just stared at it and all I could say was "Wow!".

 

And so after a few emails with the seller, the next day I packaged Mr. ASM1 back up in cardboard and bubblewrap and sent it on back to the seller. I think I got sent someone else's ASM1 and they got my X-Men 19 - I could only imagine the surprise the other guy had when he opened his "ASM1" and found my X-Men 19 instead!

 

{Sigh} But it was nice to hold it at least for a little while - I had never held an ASM1 before.

 

The only problem was... after having an ASM1 in my hands, I wanted needed to get one to keep.

 

So....

 

After returning that ASM1 to its rightful owner, I just had to go shopping for a nice ASM#1 for myself....

 

 

PART 2: The Lesson

 

So after a few months I found a nice clean-looking blue-slabbed copy in my price range and bought it. For being a low-grade copy I still thought it looked really nice:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, since it was a lower grade I thought it'd be great to get it signed by Stan Lee and give to my young son as great piece of history.

 

And that's where my karma from Part 1 of the story apparently dozed off and I got whacked by Murphy's Law.

 

So I take it along with several other low/mid-grade silver-age books to Comikaze for signatures and I get ASM1 cracked open and ready for Stan Lee to sign, we wait in line for a couple hours or so and we finally get up to him and my wife and son are standing right next to me as we slide the ASM1 over to him and he has his sharpie in his hand and we're all smiling and then......

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ouch.

 

That's a 1+ inch tear on the cover from signing.

 

Our first reaction was feeling bad for him, that we gave him a book that was that delicate to sign, but I don't have much experience at all with signatures on really old books and so I wish I could have said something beforehand like "Please be careful, the pages are delicate".

 

But... what's done is done.

 

So now my ASM1 is working its way through the CGC SS grading process and I'm really really really hoping that it somehow comes back looking not as bad as I think it looks.

 

 

Or at least is there's a way for it to be noted on the label that it was torn by Stan Lee?

 

 

 

[nmtg9]

that's terrible.

[CAHokie]

I remember how I excited I was the first time I met Stan Lee and just like you, I had him sign my copy of ASM-1. I thought it was funny that he signed it and just kind of tossed it on the table like a wrinkled copy of X-force 1. If it is for your personal collection, the tear can just be part of what makes the book special to you.

[fmaz]

Sometimes the story is worth more than the value of the book. This isn't one of those situations. Sorry for the loss!

 

It is a good story but would have been just as good if it was "Stan Lee tore my copy of Ninjak #1 when he was signing it"

[redknight99]

OUCH! You can put a remark, Sign and Torn by Stan himself! Joking aside, I agree with fmaz that you got a great story to tell to your friends and families for years to come.

[budsbundy]

Sue him

Stan Lee and his heavy marker hand need to be taught a lesson

[ebtorres]

Man, that sucks dude... not only did he tear it, bit that's one of the worst Stan Lee sigs I've seen. If it wasn't SS I might have said it looked forged. Sorry man, but like some have already said, you've a cool story.

 

[Chadwick]

Kudos for sending back the first copy, there are plenty of people that would have kept it.

[Hibou]

Very interesting story and read.

 

Sorry about the damage but good luck with your book!

[jcjames]

 

Can it be noted in the label that it was torn by Stan Lee?

 

I mean - if he doodled a giant spider on it, it would be noted in the label as such, so can it be noted that he "customized" the cover with his sharpie by tearing it? Throw me a bone here!

 

And yes, it's for the collection to be passed on down to my son - but really... darn!

 

 

[jcjames]

Man, that sucks dude... not only did he tear it, bit that's one of the worst Stan Lee sigs I've seen. If it wasn't SS I might have said it looked forged. Sorry man, but like some have already said, you've a cool story.

 

He was not having a good day, not feeling very well I think.

 

 

[Wally's Comics]

you guys gotta remember the man is in his 90's and signs literally thousands of items a day...

 

Things like this happen.

 

I'll never forget my signing.

 

Me and a pal of mine we at the front of the line and my friend had a top graded Cap 3 and during the signing stated: "Sir, do you remember the book? it's kind of special - it was your first Marvel that you worked on" Stan looked at the book he looked at my bud looked at the line and yelled "NEXT!!!"

 

I was getting my af15 signed next and for the life of me it was the hardest thing not to laugh and offend anyone. I literally had a tear going down my cheek to hold it in.

 

It was so funny because he was being so sincere and Stan had other things on his mind - like getting finished with these geek sigs to get back to the hotel for a damn poop!

 

 

 

 

[FineCollector]

The lesson of the story is not one of karma, it's "stop putting signatures on key books!"

[oakman29]

The lesson of the story is not one of karma, it's "stop putting signatures on key books!"

 

Amen!

[Senormac]

The lesson of the story is not one of karma, it's "stop putting signatures on key books!"

 

Amen!

 

At least you are the one who had the signing done and were there. It's part of your story which makes it kinda cool. Imagine if you decide to sell this book somewhere down the line. The new buyer won't have any of that

[Vikingreed]

Taken as a whole, it is a great story.

 

It is priceless, and your son will love it one day.

[The Madness]

Oh Stan!

[Generic]

you guys gotta remember the man is in his 90's and signs literally thousands of items a day...

 

Things like this happen.

 

I'll never forget my signing.

 

Me and a pal of mine we at the front of the line and my friend had a top graded Cap 3 and during the signing stated: "Sir, do you remember the book? it's kind of special - it was your first Marvel that you worked on" Stan looked at the book he looked at my bud looked at the line and yelled "NEXT!!!"

 

I was getting my af15 signed next and for the life of me it was the hardest thing not to laugh and offend anyone. I literally had a tear going down my cheek to hold it in.

 

It was so funny because he was being so sincere and Stan had other things on his mind - like getting finished with these geek sigs to get back to the hotel for a damn poop!

 

 

 

 

lol now this story made me laugh.

[jcjames]

The lesson of the story is not one of karma, it's "stop putting signatures on key books!"

 

Amen!

 

At least you are the one who had the signing done and were there. It's part of your story which makes it kinda cool. Imagine if you decide to sell this book somewhere down the line. The new buyer won't have any of that

Yeah, that's true - we wanted the experience of being there when he signed it so. But it was destined to stay in my collection no matter what, so there probably won't be any need for potential buyers for at least 50 years

 

And I know not to get high-grade keys signed, but I figured this one was lower-grade so I thought "it shouldn't make it worse"... but I was wrong.

 

 

But I do have a question though - can such a thing like being torn by the signer be noted in the label?

 

 

 

[Columbia Comics]

The lesson of the story is not one of karma, it's "stop putting signatures on key books!"

 

Amen!

 

At least you are the one who had the signing done and were there. It's part of your story which makes it kinda cool. Imagine if you decide to sell this book somewhere down the line. The new buyer won't have any of that

Yeah, that's true - we wanted the experience of being there when he signed it so. But it was destined to stay in my collection no matter what, so there probably won't be any need for potential buyers for at least 50 years

 

And I know not to get high-grade keys signed, but I figured this one was lower-grade so I thought "it shouldn't make it worse"... but I was wrong.

 

 

But I do have a question though - can such a thing like being torn by the signer be noted in the label?

 

 

 

no...