Heritage's Next Event Auction has started posting books ! 31 31

[tth2]

9 minutes ago, Timely said:

That’s what I’m liking about original art. No need to press art so it can be better than another. There is only one. No need to press a 9.4 piece of art to a 9.6. And you don’t loose money when one grades higher than yours!

This is why so many high end comic collectors have moved into OA.

It's no coincidence that comics have almost become an afterthought in Heritage's Signature auctions. 

[Crowzilla]

17 hours ago, lou_fine said:

Well, although the highest graded Archie's have apparently joined the party at Heritage, it would appear that some of the non-highest graded copies are still waiting to receive their invitations at CC:  

https://www.comicconnect.com/item/902644

Looks like this copy of an Archie first issue along with quite a few other GA Archie's must be feeling a bit stood up like poor Betty here as they are still sitting at $1 awaiting their first bid.  

 

That's because no one can find it on their website.

15 hours ago, lou_fine said:

Well, maybe not quite that far yet as the sports card traders, Gamestoppers, and crypto investors probably haven't discovered Star Spangled yet since this one here barely managed to fetch condition guide, although those staples do appear to be a bit of a problem:    

Wouldn't copies of Star Spangled fetching condition guide be the equivalent of double guide for most other titles?

59 minutes ago, tth2 said:

This is why so many high end comic collectors have moved into OA.

It's no coincidence that comics have almost become an afterthought in Heritage's Signature auctions. 

You forgot to add you love this hobby!

[tth2]

23 minutes ago, Crowzilla said:

1 hour ago, tth2 said:

This is why so many high end comic collectors have moved into OA.

It's no coincidence that comics have almost become an afterthought in Heritage's Signature auctions. 

You forgot to add you love this hobby!

Too sad to display my trademark sarcasm.

[batman_fan]

11 hours ago, RareHighGrade said:

Yes, there's a noticeable difference, but rather than raising the grade to a 9.6, it's one that should have reduced the book from a 9.4 to a 9.2. Just look at the damage at both (seemingly sunken) staples caused by the pressing.  That damage did not exist when it was a 9.4 with an untouched, rounded spine:  

ComicConnect - 

This is what I truly hate about the pressing game.

Looks like CCS did the work on it.

[lou_fine]

16 hours ago, RareHighGrade said:

Yes, there's a noticeable difference, but rather than raising the grade to a 9.6, it's one that should have reduced the book from a 9.4 to a 9.2. Just look at the damage at both (seemingly sunken) staples caused by the pressing.  That damage did not exist when it was a 9.4 with an untouched, rounded spine:  

ComicConnect - 

This is what I truly hate about the pressing game.

Totally agree with you and although I still see CGC as a net benefit for all of us here, this is the part of the whole grading game that I do indeed hate.    

Not a big surprise and totally expected though when this whole pressing fiasco was outed on these boards here way back in 2005 and CGC gave the process its seal of approval by calling it as nothing more than "maximization of potential".  Although most of us called potential conflict of interest when CCG bought out Matt Nelson's Classics Incorporated back in 2012, I am sure what we saw as conflict of interest, the ownership group at CCG saw what they say in the Corporate business world as business synergies just waiting to be unlocked.  This was clearly done when they upped their game in 2016 when Matt took control of grading at CGC and from that point forwards, their undisclosed grading standards were subtly changed to ensure that pressing became a key and critical part of the entire grading game.  

And that there is one of the primary reasons why I hate this whole current grading game since pressing is now so embedded within the grades that I have been told on many occasions that it would be totally absurb to submit a book straight in for grading without at least having a pre-screen for pressing (for a fee of course ) done on the book first, unless you don't mind receiving punishment grades on your books.  Absolutely makes no sense from a collector's point of view to hammer the grade of a book by 2 or 3 grade decrements for a few tiny NCB spine ticks that can only be seen when the book is held up at a certain angle to the light, and yet give a pass or even a grade increment to books with visible pressing related defects on them.  Although Borock initially claimed that books that were improperly pressed would be downgraded for these associated defects during the grading process, it has become quite apparent that this is now no longer the case ever since Matt shifted over to the grading side of the business and left the CCS work to a bunch of seeming newbies who are just simply not as qualified when it comes to pressing.  Makes perfect sense from a coporate business point of view though since you certainly wouldn't want to have in place undisclosed grading standards that would serve only to hurt your top and bottom lines.  Especially when this whole grading game means more money for everybody involved who plays by their rules.  

Speaking of possible grading defects, is that a squashed bottom staple area from an improperly executed pressing job that I am looking at here:    

https://www.comiclink.com/auctions/item.asp?back=%2FAUCTIONS%2FSEARCH.ASP%3FFocusedOnly%3D1%26where%3Dauctions%26title%3DGIANT-SIZE%2BX-MEN%2B1%26GO%3DGO%26ItemType%3DCB%23Item_1468605&id=1468605&itemType=0

 

 

If so, I guess it didn't really matter though since the CGC graders still gave it a 9.8 grade and the consignor must have been ecstatic with it since this copy here   still managed to fetched a record $67,900 (for now ) in the just completed CL Focus Auction.      

Edited April 4, 2021 by lou_fine

[comicnoir]

Doesn't look 9.8 to me.

[lou_fine]

4 hours ago, Crowzilla said:

20 hours ago, lou_fine said:

Well, maybe not quite that far yet as the sports card traders, Gamestoppers, and crypto investors probably haven't discovered Star Spangled yet since this one here barely managed to fetch condition guide, although those staples do appear to be a bit of a problem:    

Wouldn't copies of Star Spangled fetching condition guide be the equivalent of double guide for most other titles?

Yes indeed as these newbie NFT traders probably really don't know what they are doing when they are willing to pay $2,640 or more than triple condition VF guide for this copy of Leading Comics 2 when this not so much in demand DC title normally seems to sell at only a big discount to guide:  

https://comics.ha.com/itm/golden-age-1938-1955-/leading-comics-2-mile-high-pedigree-dc-1942-cgc-vf-80-white-pages/a/7242-96035.s?ic16=ViewItem-BrowseTabs-Auction-Archive-ArchiveSearchResults-012417&lotPosition=0|0

 

Sure, it's the Church Mile High copy here, but then again, it's a Leading Comics that we are talking about here.    

[lou_fine]

11 minutes ago, comicnoir said:

Doesn't look 9.8 to me.

  I guess the only way to tell for sure is for you to contact CL so that they can let the winner know you are willing to buy the book from them (at a higher price point of course ) so that you can crack it out of the slab and check it out for yourself.  

[adamstrange]

17 hours ago, RareHighGrade said:

Yes, there's a noticeable difference, but rather than raising the grade to a 9.6, it's one that should have reduced the book from a 9.4 to a 9.2. Just look at the damage at both (seemingly sunken) staples caused by the pressing.  That damage did not exist when it was a 9.4 with an untouched, rounded spine:  

ComicConnect - 

This is what I truly hate about the pressing game.

 

[RareHighGrade]

11 minutes ago, adamstrange said:

 

Thanks for posting the side-by-side comparison.  It shows that one of the "improvement" attempts was to re-press the spine so that part of the front cover rolled to the back (I remember a whole thread from a couple of years ago criticizing this technique).  CGC shouldn't incentivize this type of behavior by giving gift grades to now-damaged books.

The reason this bothers me so much is that, when it comes to Church GA books, they are one-of-a-kind items.  Once the damage is done, the book can never be returned to its original beautiful state, and there is no other similar copy to replace it.  They should instead be treated like priceless heirlooms for whom we are simply temporary caretakers. 

[adamstrange]

48 minutes ago, RareHighGrade said:

Thanks for posting the side-by-side comparison.  It shows that one of the "improvement" attempts was to re-press the spine so that part of the front cover rolled to the back (I remember a whole thread from a couple of years ago criticizing this technique).  CGC shouldn't incentivize this type of behavior by giving gift grades to now-damaged books.

The reason this bothers me so much is that, when it comes to Church GA books, they are one-of-a-kind items.  Once the damage is done, the book can never be returned to its original beautiful state, and there is no other similar copy to replace it.  They should instead be treated like priceless heirlooms for whom we are simply temporary caretakers. 

It was for a tiny bump of .2 from 9.4 to 9.6.  Would the auction result have been much different if the book was unpressed?

[Funnybooks]

58 minutes ago, RareHighGrade said:

Thanks for posting the side-by-side comparison.  It shows that one of the "improvement" attempts was to re-press the spine so that part of the front cover rolled to the back (I remember a whole thread from a couple of years ago criticizing this technique).  CGC shouldn't incentivize this type of behavior by giving gift grades to now-damaged books.

The reason this bothers me so much is that, when it comes to Church GA books, they are one-of-a-kind items.  Once the damage is done, the book can never be returned to its original beautiful state, and there is no other similar copy to replace it.  They should instead be treated like priceless heirlooms for whom we are simply temporary caretakers. 

criminal..this sickens me to my stomach...

[Professor K]

Either I'm hallucinating or the Sunday night auction was just given another 24 hours. I was waiting for it to begin at 7pm est, at 7:15 it said it will start in 5 minutes. I came back into the room at 7:30 to see if it started and now it says auction starts in 23 hours 20 something minutes. 

Yeah, ummm. Hmmmm? I hate to be That Guy but I don't think that's quite right. I have some auctions ending on e bay tonight, maybe I could give them another day to get more bids. For some reason the word unethical keeps popping into my head. 

[Buzzetta]

10 minutes ago, Professor Chaos said:

Either I'm hallucinating or the Sunday night auction was just given another 24 hours. I was waiting for it to begin at 7pm est, at 7:15 it said it will start in 5 minutes. I came back into the room at 7:30 to see if it started and now it says auction starts in 23 hours 20 something minutes. 

Yeah, ummm. Hmmmm? I hate to be That Guy but I don't think that's quite right. I have some auctions ending on e bay tonight, maybe I could give them another day to get more bids. For some reason the word unethical keeps popping into my head. 

They are saying that they are having technical difficulties. The announcement is on the main page of comics auction area. 

[lou_fine]

1 hour ago, adamstrange said:

 

Nice left hand side-by-side before and after comparison of the changes to the spine.  

Can you also do one on the right hand side for us here since I can't figure out why they look so different, or is that just a color scanning issue between the 2 companies?    

[Professor K]

8 hours ago, Buzzetta said:

They are saying that they are having technical difficulties. The announcement is on the main page of comics auction area. 

Thanks, I see that now. 

 

Edited April 5, 2021 by Professor Chaos

[lou_fine]

1 hour ago, RareHighGrade said:

It shows that one of the "improvement" attempts was to re-press the spine so that part of the front cover rolled to the back (I remember a whole thread from a couple of years ago criticizing this technique).  CGC shouldn't incentivize this type of behavior by giving gift grades to now-damaged books.

The reason this bothers me so much is that, when it comes to Church GA books, they are one-of-a-kind items.  Once the damage is done, the book can never be returned to its original beautiful state, and there is no other similar copy to replace it.  They should instead be treated like priceless heirlooms for whom we are simply temporary caretakers. 

From your above post here, it is quite clear that you are showing your age here  and approaching this from the point of view of a long time comic book collector whose place is relagated more towards the back seat of this current red hot and sexy in vogue marketplace of ours.  

Clearly, what you are seeing as now-damaged books are in fact actually books which have been flattened and now maximized to their full potential.  It's best that you check your calendar because it's now 2021 whereby vintage collectible comic books are best treated as vehicles to be used by their owners for the purposes of acquiring more money.  

After all, hasn't it always been all about the money, and as long as all parties involved are getting more of it, shouldn't we all be good to go.    

[adamstrange]

55 minutes ago, lou_fine said:

Nice left hand side-by-side before and after comparison of the changes to the spine.  

Can you also do one on the right hand side for us here since I can't figure out why they look so different, or is that just a color scanning issue between the 2 companies?    

 

[Mmehdy]

1 hour ago, adamstrange said:

It was for a tiny bump of .2 from 9.4 to 9.6.  Would the auction result have been much different if the book was unpressed?

possibly as 9.6 to me it is a serious upgrade from 9.4

Edited April 5, 2021 by Mmehdy

[lou_fine]

30 minutes ago, adamstrange said:

 

Thanks for the right hand side-by-side comparison here.  

Thought that I was seeing some kind of slight dust shadow or sun shadow on the 9.6 copy which was not as apparent on the 9.4 copy.  I assume this must be due to a color scanning issue since I don't believe that it could be due to improper storage over such a short period of time.