ASM #252 CGC 9.8 Record Sale - something fishy going on? - Holder Tampering Incident confirmed by CGC 50 50

[sledgehammer]

On 1/6/2024 at 10:05 PM, mrd160 said:

Also I think people should know that I came across this guy at a show. He wasn’t just selling online and he wasn’t alone

Has anyone sent you a photo of 5 people at NYCC from about 5 years ago?

I believe it is possible that you would recognize who you bought it from, from that photo.

At this point, I would recommend holding off on naming the company(s) that might possibly be involved.

I believe there are several investigations going on, and the word is that somebody that might be involved loves suing people.

But I'm no genius.

Edited January 7 by sledgehammer

[comicwiz]

This is another example of a certification number showing a pattern of the book inside changing. In this instance, the different example is seen on 12/10/2019 (2), and the only prior we have as a WP example to compare is from 6/29/2019 (1). The most noticeable differences to ascertain the change is the 2 in the 25¢ cover price box is seen wrapping around the spine, as well as the comic code stamp being right at the top edge, whereas the previous instance shows the 25¢ in full, and plenty of gap seperating the top edge from the comics code stamp. The chronological order shown below is from the first time the book appeared to the last, for a total of 6 times. Data points that are greyed out have no WP record. It's important to note that any differences in price are relating to WP showing the Best Offer amount, while GPA shows the accepted offer. The other noteworthy thing to point out is that WP appears to register the sold date a day later in certain instances. What is most important from exhibiting these past sales in such instances is the photos revealing the certification number on the label. Always go by the written sales date and price for the most accurate data point as per GPA.

With this example, we have now confirmed the earliest timeline point where we have evident changes in slabbed contents happening as early as Dec 10, 2019

Certification number: 1055471002 (on Impacted List)

200643750964 | ebay | amazingspider-fan | 8/21/2011 | $1,225

1. 273905842840 | ebay | saiyanzzrage | 6/29/2019 | $5,250

2. Seller: alleged seller Cert: 1055471002 [12/10/2019] - $5,300

3. 233928379358 | ebay | frost451 | 3/12/2021 | $12,000

53411230 | mycomicshopX | | 5/17/2021 | $14,000

4. 126006887497 | ebay | tasteecatcomics | 7/11/2023 | $8,750

Edited February 15 by comicwiz

[sledgehammer]

On 1/6/2024 at 9:40 PM, mrd160 said:

On 1/6/2024 at 9:37 PM, brute_nm said:

@BlancoBros thank you!

@mrd160, the 2018 listing has our perp's background. Was this about the same time he sent you the pic? Or was the 2018 sale to himself?

I bought the book from him in 2019. The 2018 sale was probably him 

So comic connect sold it in may of 2018, and GPA reports a sale for almost double that price, about a month later.

My guess is, scamboy shilled it to the moon with his various ebay IDs, in June.

 

[sledgehammer]

On 1/7/2024 at 8:19 AM, comicwiz said:

With this example, we have now confirmed the earliest timeline point where we have evident changes in slabbed contents happening as early as Dec 10, 2019

[mrd160]

On 1/7/2024 at 9:00 AM, sledgehammer said:

Has anyone sent you a photo of 5 people at NYCC from about 5 years ago?

I believe it is possible that you would recognize who you bought it from, from that photo.

At this point, I would recommend holding off on naming the company(s) that might possibly be involved.

I believe there are several investigations going on, and the word is that somebody that might be involved loves suing people.

But I'm no genius.

I know all the players but have no interest in naming anyone. I will send the book in to get evaluated by cgc, tell them what I know and let things take their course

Edited January 8 by mrd160

[BlancoBros]

On 1/6/2024 at 10:40 PM, mrd160 said:

I bought the book from him in 2019. The 2018 sale was probably him 

I found an earlier sale on comic connect from 3/12/2014 
The book appears to be the same though.

So maybe this book is unaffected?

[mrd160]

On 1/7/2024 at 9:40 AM, BlancoBros said:

I found an earlier sale on comic connect from 3/12/2014 
The book appears to be the same though.

So maybe this book is unaffected?

Is that image from the comic connect sale, I couldn’t find it. Either way, the books needs to be looked at IMO. Also the direct texts I got from this person included about 10 or so other books many of which were the types/titles already flagged and 1 on the cgc list as well as contact info for someone else he wanted me to buy books from privately

[mrd160]

Me and a few dealer friends also tried to match the book up with the graders notes regarding the defects on the back cover and couldn’t 

[sledgehammer]

On 1/7/2024 at 8:46 AM, mrd160 said:

Is that image from the comic connect sale, I couldn’t find it. Either way, the books needs to be looked at IMO. Also the direct texts I got from this person included about 10 or so other books many of which were the types/titles already flagged and 1 on the cgc list as well as contact info for someone else he wanted me to buy books from privately

No, my mistake. It had a comic connect sticker on it, posted 8 hours ago by brute_nm, but the sale was on Ebay I think.

It depends if comic connect reports sales on GPA. I don't know.

[mrd160]

I did find these on gocollect from 2015 but the pics are terrible

[mrd160]

There is no comic connect sticker now but I always take those stupid stickers off the back

[sledgehammer]

The large back cover image was posted 8 hours ago.

Has something changed from that 2018 sale?

[mrd160]

On 1/7/2024 at 9:55 AM, sledgehammer said:

The large back cover image was posted 8 hours ago.

Has something changed from that 2018 sale?

The graders notes mention tears/creases/stains on the back cover we really couldn’t identify in hand. 

[BlancoBros]

On 1/7/2024 at 9:46 AM, mrd160 said:

Is that image from the comic connect sale, I couldn’t find it. Either way, the books needs to be looked at IMO. Also the direct texts I got from this person included about 10 or so other books many of which were the types/titles already flagged and 1 on the cgc list as well as contact info for someone else he wanted me to buy books from privately

Yes, that image is from Comic Connect from 2014
https://www.comicconnect.com/item/534150
If you think it's suspect, definitely have it checked out.

On 1/7/2024 at 9:55 AM, sledgehammer said:

The large back cover image was posted 8 hours ago.

Has something changed from that 2018 sale?

Not that I noticed. From 2014 to the newest images, they appear the same. Unless it was swapped prior to this.

[sledgehammer]

On 1/7/2024 at 8:59 AM, BlancoBros said:

Yes, that image is from Comic Connect from 2014
https://www.comicconnect.com/item/534150
If you think it's suspect, definitely have it checked out.

Not that I noticed. From 2014 to the newest images, they appear the same. Unless it was swapped prior to this.

I see what looks like staining pretty close to the words " B B GUN" on the middle of the back cover

[BlancoBros]

On 1/7/2024 at 9:56 AM, mrd160 said:

The graders notes mention tears/creases/stains on the back cover we really couldn’t identify in hand. 

On a side note: The comic connection description says the book is from the Christopher Avenue Collection.

Edit: meaning it was probably slabbed for the pedigree. So it probably was not swapped prior either.

Edited January 7 by BlancoBros
added more.

[EastEnd1]

On 1/7/2024 at 9:40 AM, BlancoBros said:

I found an earlier sale on comic connect from 3/12/2014 
The book appears to be the same though.

So maybe this book is unaffected?

Nice find... and thanks for posting.  I was wondering how that guy in the most recent "scandal video" could be so CERTAIN that the book was trimmed at the bottom and right edges from the grainy image he put up.  It's difficult to identify trimming with any kind of certainty from a sharp photo let alone a blurry one.  This image from 2014 would seem to indicate that the book is likely untrimmed (unless the scam pre-dates 2014).

[EastEnd1]

On 1/7/2024 at 9:56 AM, mrd160 said:

The graders notes mention tears/creases/stains on the back cover we really couldn’t identify in hand. 

I've lost track of whether you still have this book in hand... if you do, does the bottom edge look trimmed to you or just a misprint (ie, is that sliver of white edge at the bottom the first page peeking thru or just white cover paper?)?  It looks like a printing flaw to me, but again I'm just looking at a two-dimensional picture.  I'm wondering if there are other FF #2's with a similar printing flaw at the bottom. 

Edited January 7 by EastEnd1

[mrd160]

I don’t have the book in hand right now but it does look suspicious in hand. Also because this was sold to me by the person in Question AND he solicited multiple other books to me at least 1 of which is in the infamous 350, it warrants extra scrutiny. I also have a lot of info I need to share with cgc to try and aid in the investigation 

[mrd160]

Also, I really don’t buy big books on eBay it’s just not my thing. I only buy at shows directly from dealers or other collectors. I am old and analog for the most part. Lol My interaction with him had been really from comic book shows where we exchanged info

Edited January 7 by mrd160