C2E2 Variant Drama 24 24

[Semicentennial]

For CGC to not acknowledge their customer's concerns and see how this will impact their integrity shows either their arrogance or that they don't care about maintaining integrity in their business.  People get canceled for the stupidest reasons and some influencers are panicking at the negative feedback they're receiving for fear of getting canceled.  Obviously, CGC feels they're above that and that they're invulnerable.  That batch of books with the three magical 10.0 and nine 9.9 makes them no better than PGX.   

[Mijael.Levy]

All this for an ugly variant... because yes it is F ugly. 

Edited August 10, 2022 by Mijael.Levy

[Nic8612]

On 8/9/2022 at 9:55 PM, CGC Mike said:

I would appreciate it if everyone would leave the competitors out of this discussion.  

 

 

You guys did something SO colossally stupid that the entire collecting community is in an uproar, you personally basically told us all to bend over and take it, and your competitors are openly blasting your decision.....and you expect us not to mention it?

 

Get real.

[Lirion]

On 8/9/2022 at 9:49 PM, CGC Mike said:

While we allow criticism. we do not allow promoting the competitors.  Keep that in mind when posting.

Not going to promote competitors, but as I'm looking at a small stack of books I want to have graded, I am considering alternatives at this point. Those alternatives may be using another service, or simply buying a bunch of Ultra magnetic cases and skipping the grading all together.  The more I read in the thread and/or the lack of integrity from CGC, the more I'm rethinking grading and slabbing. I'm new to this all in the past year, and I'm already developing a sour taste

[MGH]

On 8/10/2022 at 7:50 PM, 50 Fiddy said:

For CGC to not acknowledge their customer's concerns and see how this will impact their integrity shows either their arrogance or that they don't care about maintaining integrity in their business.  People get canceled for the stupidest reasons and some influencers are panicking at the negative feedback they're receiving for fear of getting canceled.  Obviously, CGC feels they're above that and that they're invulnerable.  That batch of books with the three magical 10.0 and nine 9.9 makes them no better than PGX.   

Knew someone would dare to draw this parallel at some point on these boards...    Hard not to.   

[williamblood]

On 8/10/2022 at 7:45 AM, Kevin Boyd said:

While I do have an opinion on this, I’m paid to give it to the boss first and let him make a decision.

given fanexpo rule against bootlegs i hope at the least the stop blackflag from selling the bootlegs they plan to at boston fanexpo

[Filter81]

On 8/9/2022 at 12:21 PM, SkOw said:

 

She deleted this statement.  I like Adam and while I don't know Danielle real well (only met her once back in probably like 2018 at one of the Chicago shows) and she struck me a a very nice person, but it is weird she would delete it.  My guess is that a lot of people that bought them did NOT know it was just a facsimile with another homemade cover stapled on.  Now you are in the situation where you have 10-15 copies of essentially a bootleg comic you are sitting on. 

My advice would be to: 

1) Recycle them and take a stand against bootleg comics; or

2) Sell them at sticker price to the people who wanted them (or at a slight premium) and donate the proceeds to a charity.

Being associated with something like this in a tight knit community like ours isn't a good idea.  I'm no influencer dealer or whatever, but I wouldn't want my name any where near this whole thing.

When she made that post the plan was always to archive it after several days.  The main reason behind the post was to apologize to anyone at C2E2 who didn't get a copy.  The idea was to leave the post up long enough to give people enough time to read/react and we also attempted/failed to correct some of the misinformation floating around on social media.

When Danielle left the booth it looked like there were more than enough copies left for everyone in line.  When she got home and we started reading that some people in line didn't get one she felt really bad and we felt the right thing to do was apologize since she left the booth with a bunch of copies.  On the plus side, that post allowed us to connect with more people that we were able to give copies to that didn't get one at the show.  I know the boards have largely moved on from there but that's why the post went up/came down and that's what we felt we owed an apology to people for.  

Of the 15 copies Danielle bought to sell, she's given some away for free and some at her purchase price to people that couldn't get one at the show.  The rest were auctioned and there is one left that she's giving away for her birthday.  

As far as the book being bootlegged/unauthorized, we are reading about that in real time same as everybody else.  I would like to give everyone involved the full benefit of the doubt and wait to hear from all parties before commenting about the situation with Marvel.  I will say Danielle has been receiving plenty of DMs on social media from people who think we are sitting on a stack of these looking for the "unauthorized" UF4 in the last 24-48 hours, I think at this point the controversy is making more people want the book not less.

With that said, between Filter Comics / NerdyGirlComics we have been selling for more than 20 years.  We have always accepted returns on books we sell going back to the very beginning and this book is no exception.  If anyone in light of new information no longer wants this book or decides in the future they no longer want this book of course it can be returned at any time for a full refund.  If one or more people actually do decide they want to return the book, I really like your idea of selling them at sticker price and donating to charity.  The charities we've donated to most recently are Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women USA, The Gary Sinise Foundation, and Honor Animal Rescue, so probably one of those.  Really appreciate that suggestion!  

Edited August 10, 2022 by Filter81

[MGH]

On 8/10/2022 at 8:02 PM, williamblood said:

given fanexpo rule against bootlegs i hope at the least the stop blackflag from selling the bootlegs they plan to at boston fanexpo

Regardless those same bootlegs are right now taking real estate  in the CGC census with impossible grades for all to see 

[SkOw]

On 8/10/2022 at 8:04 AM, Filter81 said:

When she made that post the plan was always to archive it after several days.  The main reason behind the post was to apologize to anyone at C2E2 who didn't get a copy.  The idea was to leave the post up long enough to give people enough time to read/react and we also attempted/failed to correct some of the misinformation floating around on social media.

When Danielle left the booth it looked like there were more than enough copies left for everyone in line.  When she got home and we started reading that some people in line didn't get one she felt really bad and we felt the right thing to do was apologize since she left the booth with a bunch of copies.  On the plus side, that post allowed us to connect with more people that we were able to give copies to that didn't get one at the show.  I know the boards have largely moved on from there but that's why the post went up/came down and that's what we felt we owed an apology to people for.  

Of the 15 copies Danielle bought to sell, she's given some away for free and some at her purchase price to people that couldn't get one at the show.  The rest were auctioned and there is one left that she's giving away for her birthday.  

As far as the book being bootlegged/unauthorized, we are reading about that in real time same as everybody else.  I would like to give everyone involved the full benefit of the doubt and wait to hear from all parties before commenting about the situation with Marvel.  I will say Danielle has been receiving plenty of DMs on social media from people who think we are sitting on a stack of these looking for the "unauthorized" UF4 in the last 24-48 hours, I think at this point the controversy is making more people want the book not less.

With that said, between Filter Comics / NerdyGirlComics we have been selling for more than 20 years.  We have always accepted returns on books we sell going back to the very beginning and this book is no exception.  If anyone in light of new information no longer wants this book or decides in the future they no longer want this book of course it can be returned at any time for a full refund.  If one or more people actually do decide they want to return the book, I really like your idea of selling them at sticker price and donating to charity.  The charities we've donated to most recently are Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women USA, The Gary Sinise Foundation, and Honor Animal Rescue, so probably one of those.  Really appreciate that suggestion!  

Adam - You are aces in my book, and this confirms my thought that MANY people buying them at C2E2 didn’t know what they were really getting.  If you check back a few pages and read the comments from Marvel and one of the Stray Dog creators, I think you will see that this has been confirmed as an unauthorized bootleg.

My main issue is with Black Flag creating this thing and CGC grading this as a blue label when it is clearly NOT.  I have no issue with you guys and not questioning your integrity at all, and wouldn’t hesitate to buy or sell with you in the future. 
 

Cheers!

[Lirion]

On 8/10/2022 at 8:23 AM, SkOw said:

My main issue is with Black Flag creating this thing and CGC grading this as a blue label when it is clearly NOT.  

As someone new to having books graded and such and after doing a bunch of "homework" to ultimately choose CGC, I agree with you. I think that everyone agrees. It's not the grade so much (other than what is most likely a couple of bought 10/9.9 grades), but the Blue Label. Grade the books however they grade out, if that's truly a 9.8 then great!, but CGC should give it a Green label along with the grade.

 

[manetteska]

On 8/10/2022 at 7:04 AM, Filter81 said:

When she made that post the plan was always to archive it after several days.  The main reason behind the post was to apologize to anyone at C2E2 who didn't get a copy.  The idea was to leave the post up long enough to give people enough time to read/react and we also attempted/failed to correct some of the misinformation floating around on social media.

When Danielle left the booth it looked like there were more than enough copies left for everyone in line.  When she got home and we started reading that some people in line didn't get one she felt really bad and we felt the right thing to do was apologize since she left the booth with a bunch of copies.  On the plus side, that post allowed us to connect with more people that we were able to give copies to that didn't get one at the show.  I know the boards have largely moved on from there but that's why the post went up/came down and that's what we felt we owed an apology to people for.  

Of the 15 copies Danielle bought to sell, she's given some away for free and some at her purchase price to people that couldn't get one at the show.  The rest were auctioned and there is one left that she's giving away for her birthday.  

As far as the book being bootlegged/unauthorized, we are reading about that in real time same as everybody else.  I would like to give everyone involved the full benefit of the doubt and wait to hear from all parties before commenting about the situation with Marvel.  I will say Danielle has been receiving plenty of DMs on social media from people who think we are sitting on a stack of these looking for the "unauthorized" UF4 in the last 24-48 hours, I think at this point the controversy is making more people want the book not less.

With that said, between Filter Comics / NerdyGirlComics we have been selling for more than 20 years.  We have always accepted returns on books we sell going back to the very beginning and this book is no exception.  If anyone in light of new information no longer wants this book or decides in the future they no longer want this book of course it can be returned at any time for a full refund.  If one or more people actually do decide they want to return the book, I really like your idea of selling them at sticker price and donating to charity.  The charities we've donated to most recently are Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women USA, The Gary Sinise Foundation, and Honor Animal Rescue, so probably one of those.  Really appreciate that suggestion!  

Out of all of the exclusives available at C2E2, how did you/Danielle know to get in line for this one and buy 15/75 copies?

[october]

On 8/9/2022 at 11:49 PM, wombat said:

Is anyone even questioning at this point that CGC is selling grades? I hope they made a boat load of money on this to make the debacle worth it. 

It's honestly hard to believe, but the chances of getting a 10, three 9.9's and the rest 9.8's on THREE 10 book subs in a row approaches zero without collusion. 

I've been on these boards for 18 years and there have been plenty of scandals, but selling grades (and I don't know what other conclusion to draw) is by far the worst. 

The greed and stupidity and arrogance just ratchet up every year, and will continue, until the whole rotten house of cards collapses like it did in the 90's. 

[Jimmy Linguini]

On 8/9/2022 at 11:41 PM, Willbert said:

Like the 274 Stray Dogs Acetates on the census with none cracking above 9.8?

The Black Flag exclusives were graded on sight at the con - the Stray Dogs were graded in Florida.

Seems like that is a very important part of the story.

EDIT: I AM WRONG THEY WERE NOT GRADED ON SITE - NO SIGHT. LOL VISION BABY!

Edited August 10, 2022 by Jimmy Linguini

[MGH]

On 8/10/2022 at 8:28 PM, Lirion said:

As someone new to having books graded and such and after doing a bunch of "homework" to ultimately choose CGC, I agree with you. I think that everyone agrees. It's not the grade so much (other than what is most likely a couple of bought 10/9.9 grades), but the Blue Label. Grade the books however they grade out, if that's truly a 9.8 then great!, but CGC should give it a Green label along with the grade.

 

It's 100% the grade.. What's the point of being a certification company that has almost undeniable optics of having said certification up for sale? 

There's no value for the end user seeking to purchase a legitimate product that has been certified to be of  a particular standard if those standards can be bought.  I e. It seems we now you have to go and DYOR to make sure you haven't got a bootleg graded as a legit comic. 

Given that there is not one other 9.9 or 10 of this issue, these  all magically appeared from those unsold ones at the bottom of the pile,   still attained prefect score after being  butchered with additional staples  it's hard to understand where the value lies for customer choosing  to slab their book beyond paying for a pretty blue label. 

[Bird]

On 8/10/2022 at 7:50 AM, 50 Fiddy said:

That batch of books with the three magical 10.0 and nine 9.9 makes them no better than PGX. 

[MGH]

On 8/10/2022 at 8:42 PM, Jimmy Linguini said:

The Black Flag exclusives were graded on sight at the con - the Stray Dogs were graded in Florida.

Seems like that is a very important part of the story.

It appears all the black flag variants on census  were graded in July... 

[Jimmy Linguini]

On 8/10/2022 at 1:23 AM, ExNihilo said:

Well, one way to find out...

Don't the people that run C2E2 aka Fan Expo have accounts on the boards? Just tag them. They're nice.

[Jimmy Linguini]

On 8/10/2022 at 8:45 AM, MGH said:

It appears all the black flag variants on census  were graded in July... 

Well that puts a wrench into that theory. My apologies.

[Filter81]

On 8/10/2022 at 8:32 AM, manetteska said:

Out of all of the exclusives available at C2E2, how did you/Danielle know to get in line for this one and buy 15/75 copies?

She bought a lot of exclusives at C2E2.  She bought 15 copies of the Clayton Crain 301 homage too.  UF4 is just the one everyone is talking about.  If I had been there and had heard a vendor was dropping a UF4 Clayton Crain cover that might've been where I'd started also.

Edited August 10, 2022 by Filter81

[Jimmy Linguini]

On 8/10/2022 at 7:00 AM, Sigur Ros said:

FYI, if you want to Stan her some more, for the past couple days she's been reposting her Action run and 'Tec 27 again.  For the umpteenth time. 

Can't imagine why she's flexing so large right now.........

Why did she join into the Dylan bashing anyways pointing out his feedback did she have any relevant information about Dylan? no.  It was for clout online. So yeah..