C2E2 Variant Drama 25 25

[NewWorldOrder]

"yeaaaaa Milton, I am going to need you to go ahead and use that stapler again on some more books, that would be Greaaaaaaaat"

Edited August 9, 2022 by NewWorldOrder

[THE_BEYONDER]

On 8/9/2022 at 2:53 PM, awakeintheashes said:

 

Thanks.

 I edited my post.  It’s already on GPA

[Shpeeler]

Quote

Book sold

Can someone more computer savvy than me pull up what offer was accepted?

$1800 I believe.

[StillOnly25Cents]

CGC's response is unacceptable

maybe the community needs to bring this to the attention of mainstream journalists to get the word out there and hold CGC accountable for their response

I know the audiophile community has a current integrity issue with Mobile Fidelity misrepresenting their brand (caught admitting to using digital sources in their production chain for recordings the represented as coming from all analog sources) that is making waves in the media

maybe someone needs to reach out to someone like a Geoff Edgers at WAPO and have him bring this to a wider audience and see if CGC/Blackstone continues to stand by their statement

 

Edited August 9, 2022 by StillOnly25Cents

[awakeintheashes]

Anybody able to add some acetate to the Neeley house group shot?

 

Edited August 9, 2022 by awakeintheashes

[williamblood]

all they had to do was say all future gradings of these books would be green labels, that it. but they couldnt help but make it worse

[Red84]

I’m more concerned with how half the graded books got a 9.9 or 10. 
Are we really to believe that previously made books were handled, had 2 extra staples added to them and are still 9.9 and 10? Would the books before the extra cover was added have gotten a 9.9 or 10? It is not just the cover that determines the grade. Are we to believe these were 9.9 and 10s before?  Come on. Not believable. 

[ExNihilo]

On 8/9/2022 at 11:51 AM, Sigur Ros said:

Is this statement simply based on the fact CGC is already embedded with these and the next run of Black Flag books coming up in Boston? 

Given Boston hasn't happened yet, if CGC had any credibility, they'd just call up Black Flag and tell them they have been made aware of an issue with regards to grading, that the books need to be returned, and that Black Flag will be compensated for grading and shipping fees.  But they won't, because it somehow makes more sense to continue dragging your reputation through the mud than to admit wrong doing and set yourself on the path towards mending trust with the community.

[onlyweaknesskryptonite]

[awakeintheashes]

On 8/9/2022 at 2:58 PM, williamblood said:

all they had to do was say all future gradings of these books would be green labels, that it. but they couldnt help but make it worse

This isn't the first time and won't be the last time. The fun is this is in the journey CGC takes to find its conscience. 

[NewWorldOrder]

On 8/6/2022 at 9:38 PM, darkstar said:

Retailer and event variants are garbage. 

Now there is one exception.....

[ADAMANTIUM]

nope 

 

Edited August 9, 2022 by ADAMANTIUM

[Willbert]

The Stray Dogs Acetate was manufactured by the publisher, Image, whereas the UF4 was altered by Black Flag. The Stray Dogs Acetate has a unique barcode and a $12.99 cover price versus the Stray Dogs cover A price of $3.99. The UF4 is an admitted recycled facsimile book from 2021. Outside of having 4 staples there is nothing, I repeat, nothing similar about the origins of these books.

But set all that aside, can someone explain to me how 274 copies of Stray Dogs Acetate can be on the census and there is not a single 10.0 or 9.9? But Black Flag can submit 30 books, known so far, and have 3x10.0s, 11x9.9s among the 3 titles? So 0 out of 274 for a legit published book to grade above 9.8 but 14 out of 30 for retailer altered books.

[FFB]

On 8/9/2022 at 11:13 AM, THE_BEYONDER said:

@FFB

 

Thoughts on their official statement?

Everyone else is already saying pretty much everything that I think about the situation. 

There is a big difference between a variant that is approved by the publisher (Stray Dogs) and what happened here, which is some retailer's unwanted variant version of a Facsimile Edition UF 4 being altered after publisher approval and original release by attaching a sheet of acetate to it to make it desirable (when the original, Marvel-approved release didn't sell through), and then marketing the altered book for sale.  While I personally do not care about dumb marketing tactics like this, Marvel may care.  I'm not certain that what Black Flag did is unlawful, but in my opinion it is an infringement of Marvel's copyright on UF4 if in fact they altered the approved book and then marketed it commercially without getting the alterations approved.  But, that's between Black Flag and Marvel.  

What I do care about is the leading certification company putting its imprimatur on this tactic.  This is obviously just a cash grab by CGC and it makes no sense.  The damage to the brand has to outweigh whatever grading fees they got from these books.  But as bad as this decision is, it's not the most troubling aspect of this situation.  The convenient coincidence that the current release and future releases have exactly one 10, 3 9.9s, and 6 9.8s suggests to me that there may be some kind of collusion between CGC and the retailer.  As much as I dislike the idea of certifying the acetate add-on versions to begin with, the fact that they are apparently agreeing in advance that a certain number of books will get a 10 or 9.9 is much worse than the decision to certify them in the first place.  It suggests that high grades can be for sale.  Definitely more transparency is needed here.  Do I think we'll get it?  Probably not because the answer might be worse than just keeping quiet about it.  

[Atomic Ponkie]

On 8/9/2022 at 2:05 PM, Willbert said:

The Stray Dogs Acetate was manufactured by the publisher, Image, whereas the UF4 was altered by Black Flag. The Stray Dogs Acetate has a unique barcode and a $12.99 cover price versus the Stray Dogs cover A price of $3.99. The UF4 is an admitted recycled facsimile book from 2021. Outside of having 4 staples there is nothing, I repeat, nothing similar about the origins of these books.

But set all that aside, can someone explain to me how 274 copies of Stray Dogs Acetate can be on the census and there is not a single 10.0 or 9.9? But Black Flag can submit 30 books, known so far, and have 3x10.0s, 11x9.9s among the 3 titles? So 0 out of 274 for a legit published book to grade above 9.8 but 14 out of 30 for retailer altered books.

I would say there needs to be a little more digging on the relationship between black flag and cgc. 

[filmboyuk]

On 8/9/2022 at 8:05 PM, Willbert said:

But set all that aside, can someone explain to me how 274 copies of Stray Dogs Acetate can be on the census and there is not a single 10.0 or 9.9? But Black Flag can submit 30 books, known so far, and have 3x10.0s, 11x9.9s among the 3 titles? So 0 out of 274 for a legit published book to grade above 9.8 but 14 out of 30 for retailer altered books.

Is it possible for a retailer to pay CGC to send someone round to sift through all the copies and pick out those most likely to get 9.9 or above? Or to send them all in, and have them screened for 9.9 and above? 

[awakeintheashes]

On 8/9/2022 at 3:05 PM, Willbert said:

The Stray Dogs Acetate was manufactured by the publisher, Image, whereas the UF4 was altered by Black Flag. The Stray Dogs Acetate has a unique barcode and a $12.99 cover price versus the Stray Dogs cover A price of $3.99. The UF4 is an admitted recycled facsimile book from 2021. Outside of having 4 staples there is nothing, I repeat, nothing similar about the origins of these books.

But set all that aside, can someone explain to me how 274 copies of Stray Dogs Acetate can be on the census and there is not a single 10.0 or 9.9? But Black Flag can submit 30 books, known so far, and have 3x10.0s, 11x9.9s among the 3 titles? So 0 out of 274 for a legit published book to grade above 9.8 but 14 out of 30 for retailer altered books.

[Murphman13]

Come on CGC. Think this through and do the right thing. Your position is completely illogical. 

[I like pie]

This is opportunity you've been waiting for Voldemort. 

[ADAMANTIUM]

On 8/9/2022 at 2:08 PM, Murphman13 said:

Come on CGC. Think this through and do the right thing. Your position is completely illogical.