So I toured the CGC facilities on Monday...

[Timulty]

What did you do lighthouse? Man, that is kinda freaky. I can understand, if maybe they are getting inundated with collector's dropping by for a tour but I can't see that many people wanting to take the time. Oh well.

[lighthouse]

Travels with Lighthouse - Part 18

 

[*] And that pretty much ended the tour... After that Steve and I chatted about CCG's master plans, and I was grateful for the insider information. It will send me on several buying sprees this year. We talked about restaurants, strip clubs, poker, how hard it is to get good help, the inherent dichotomy of country music and western music, and the giant balls hanging on the wall in the waiting area...

 

[*] Then my badge started beeping, and I noticed a faint smell of smoke... I turned it in as quickly as I could, said my goodbyes, and headed out down the road again...

 

[*] I loaded my paperwork in the car, and started to get in when I heard a commotion from inside... I walked up to the window and put my ear against it in hopes of hearing what was going on. At first all I could hear was gibberish, then I could make out what sounded like four or five guys all yelling "YES!" like they were watching a football game... Next thing I know, I clearly heard Newt's voice above the din, "700 BOOKS AND NOT A SINGLE HULK 181!!! YES!!!"

 

[*] As I walked back to my car, I could have sworn I heard a faint wailing cry, "and still no gay squirrel porn"... then sobbing...

 

[*] I drove out of the parking lot, past the line of Escalades. It was after business hours now and many of the employees were getting into their rides. I watched a couple CGC trainees push-starting an old Honda Civic. I thought to myself, "keep with it guys, maybe someday you'll get promoted and start getting a paycheck".

 

[*] I stopped at the gas station on the corner, to reload on beef jerky, and to remove the hidden microphones and cameras I was wearing. I was brushing my hair when the door to the lavatory burst open and I was knocked to the ground by a blow to the head. I felt my camera equipment ripped from my hands, then a kick to the stomach. As I lay on the tile floor, I watched them leave. The bigger guy was wearing a coat that said LCNGC... Sorry Daniel Patterson, I tried...

 

[*] I headed back to the freeway and turned North. Only 400 miles before I sleep...

 

[*] Around Tampa, the billboards reappeared... "We Bare All"... Exit 374...

 

[*] Aw heck, I needed to stop for gas anyway...

 

[*] A four dollar cover later, I saw the strangest thing I have ever seen in my life... and yes, I have been to greggy's apartment... Picture a Denny's in your mind... Picture the round tables, a row of bar stools mounted to a dining counter... Picture the bright lights... Picture the garish decorations... Picture the salt and pepper and syrup and jam on the tables... Picture the menus standing on end, wedged between the syrup and the jam... Now picture that instead of a walkway for a waitress on the other side of the dining counter (where she normally paces back and forth refilling coffee and bussing plates) there is instead an elevated platform, and three girls are dancing completely naked... while guys are eating pancakes... and bacon and eggs... and sipping coffee... and eating omelettes... with naked women about 12 inches from their faces... naked women at "that' height, 12 inches away...

 

[*] I sat at a round table off to the side and quietly drank my chocolate milk for about 10 minutes... I kept expecting a Rod Serling voiceover to start playing in my head... Eventually my waitress (who was wearing a button that said "I do private dances") came by, and she tried to give me the spiel about $30 dances in the back room and whatnot, but I don't think I ever got the dazed look off my face. When I finished my drink, I left her a dollar tip, and walked out.

 

[*] It took me almost 100 miles before I could clear the fog out of my head... That $7 chocolate milk wll haunt me for years... As I was leaving, I noticed a map on the wall, apparently they are a chain, running up to the Carolinas... I really can't imagine... Naked Denny's... mpphh...

 

[*] About 20 miles further down the road I spotted my 5th hitchhiker of the trip. I pick up hitchhikers at least once a year and I briefly considered stopping for this one. Looked like a college student, relatively clean cut... Then I saw his sign... "Miami"... I'm travelling North on 75 about 80 miles north of Tampa, and he is hitching the northbound lanes with a sign that says Miami... As I drove past I almost gave him the benefit of the doubt, maybe he meant Miami of Ohio???

 

[*] I stopped for the night somewhere in the Panhandle... I was pretty tired and don't remember much of the conversation with the desk clerk, except the part where she asked me where I was headed, and when I said San Antonio, she said "oh wow, it's probably really cold there, that's way up north"... yeah... yeah it is...

 

[*] By the time I reached Mississippi, the billboards were thick again. "Please don't leave". "Stay here". "We believe in this area". "Together we'll make it through this". "Loosest slots allowed by law!"

 

[*] While I was driving through eastern Louisiana, I was struck by how many people were from out-of-state. At one point I counted 16 license plates in a row that were not Louisiana. I stopped at a Wal-Mart to pick up a replacement wiper blade, and the parking lot was jammed with cars from other places. I would bet less than 25% of the cars in that lot were local. Maybe 10% from nearby Mississippi, the rest from all over. The rebuilding process is definitely not being handled by the former locals... The diaspora from the Crescent City has left a gaping void, and it looks like it will be filled by people from everywhere else...

 

[*] I stopped in the town of Maringouin in western Louisiana, at Ramah Bait and Grocery. A little hole in the wall gas station and bait shop. Had the old gas pumps where you can't insert a credit card. I gave the guy my card and asked where the restroom was. He told me it was around the side of the building. As I walk around, I see a group of eight kids around the eight of 7-10, all different ethnicities, playing some made-up game that sort of resembled a cross between soccer, kickball, capture-the-flag, and red outside-affiliatelinksnotallowed. I watched for about two minutes, seeing the joy of youth, and the complete and total lack of prejudice. It brought a smile to my face. After I finished pumping my gas, I bought some jerky and a bottled water, even though I still had both in the car. As I left, I heard one of the kids yelling in triumph after a good kick...

 

[*] The rest of the trip home was mostly uneventful. A little traffic here, a little construction there. Two more hitchhikers (both bound for cities that were actually on the route they were hitching), though neither met my criteria to be picked up. I listened to the Spurs game on the radio for a couple hours, though I really don't care about the NBA until about the middle of April.

 

[*] The first night back home, I woke up in the middle of the night, with the wife shaking me... She said I was tossing back and forth screaming something about "Denny's"...

[lighthouse]

What did you do lighthouse? Man, that is kinda freaky. I can understand, if maybe they are getting inundated with collector's dropping by for a tour but I can't see that many people wanting to take the time. Oh well.

 

To be honest, security is ridiculous tight... as it should be...

 

I mean I have no doubt I could break into PGX any time I wanted and steal every book they have on hand, by myself, with less than a week's planning, and with virtually no risk of getting caught...

 

CGC's building? Yeah, that's not gonna happen... while it would be possible to steal from there (you can steal from the Louvre after all) the risk-reward is so skewed against you that there is no reason for anyone to ever try. Even the employees are monitored constantly with tracking devices.

 

And with all that security in place, one of the things you want to do is limit the number of times that people can poke around looking for weaknesses. It's not like they offer free tours of the facility every Tuesday afternoon. Most of the security is in place for the benefit of NGC, because let's be real, that's where the money is. And other than knowing which way to turn at the first corridor I saw nothing of the layout of that side of the company. But the way things are set up, there is only room for two people to be doing dropoffs at once. Coins, comics, whatever, only two total. And coin dealers with six figure submissions they have brought in their carry-on luggage aren't going to be thrilled about waiting for some guy with a stack of Spawn 1s to finish turning them in.

 

After they expand, it's possible there will be more room. But to be honest, if you have a Spidey 1 at CGC, do you want a bunch of random people wandering the halls? Dealers have to submit paperwork to CGC to set up their account, paperwork that would help CGC track them down if something were to happen during a visit. Joe Blow with a stack of Spawns isn't the same...

 

Plus, I would be willing to bet that anyone who has been doing drop-off submissions in the past won't be affected by this change. I would also bet that if you've been to a couple forum dinners and your travels are taking you to Sarasota, this policy wouldn't prevent you from dropping off a few books (as long as you talk to Steve in advance, and make an appt)...

[OldGuy]

three girls are dancing completely naked... while guys are eating pancakes... and bacon and eggs... and sipping coffee... and eating omelettes... with naked women about 12 inches from their faces... naked women at "that' height, 12 inches away...

 

Yes, I'd like some tang with my pancakes. Um, no, I mean the breakfast drink.

 

Boobies and pancakes.

[Timulty]

three girls are dancing completely naked... while guys are eating pancakes... and bacon and eggs... and sipping coffee... and eating omelettes... with naked women about 12 inches from their faces... naked women at "that' height, 12 inches away...

 

Yes, I'd like some tang with my pancakes. Um, no, I mean the breakfast drink.

 

Boobies and pancakes.

 

Heh, heh....dude, he said Boobies...heh, heh

 

[lighthouse]

three girls are dancing completely naked... while guys are eating pancakes... and bacon and eggs... and sipping coffee... and eating omelettes... with naked women about 12 inches from their faces... naked women at "that' height, 12 inches away...

 

Yes, I'd like some tang with my pancakes. Um, no, I mean the breakfast drink.

 

Boobies and pancakes.

 

Boobies and pancakes are a natural combination... dating back hundreds of years... I mean you really can't go wrong...

 

But these girls were 18 inches higher than that... naked as the day they were born... while guys are eating Denver omelettes...

[OldGuy]

three girls are dancing completely naked... while guys are eating pancakes... and bacon and eggs... and sipping coffee... and eating omelettes... with naked women about 12 inches from their faces... naked women at "that' height, 12 inches away...

 

Yes, I'd like some tang with my pancakes. Um, no, I mean the breakfast drink.

 

Boobies and pancakes.

 

Heh, heh....dude, he said Boobies...he, he

 

 

[Stronguy]

three girls are dancing completely naked... while guys are eating pancakes... and bacon and eggs... and sipping coffee... and eating omelettes... with naked women about 12 inches from their faces... naked women at "that' height, 12 inches away...

 

Yes, I'd like some tang with my pancakes. Um, no, I mean the breakfast drink.

 

Boobies and pancakes.

 

Boobies and pancakes are a natural combination... dating back hundreds of years... I mean you really can't go wrong...

 

But these girls were 18 inches higher than that... naked as the day they were born... while guys are eating Denver omelettes...

 

Wearing hair nets?

[Timulty]

three girls are dancing completely naked... while guys are eating pancakes... and bacon and eggs... and sipping coffee... and eating omelettes... with naked women about 12 inches from their faces... naked women at "that' height, 12 inches away...

 

Yes, I'd like some tang with my pancakes. Um, no, I mean the breakfast drink.

 

Boobies and pancakes.

 

Boobies and pancakes are a natural combination... dating back hundreds of years... I mean you really can't go wrong...

 

But these girls were 18 inches higher than that... naked as the day they were born... while guys are eating Denver omelettes...

 

Wearing hair nets?

 

Or Hair thongs? Sorry, couldn't resist.

[drice6900]

Light,

 

NOW look what YOU did

 

Policy Change Regarding In-Office Drop Off and Pick Up at CGC, NGC, PMG and NCS

The option to drop off and/or pick up submissions at the Sarasota offices has been discontinued for non-dealers and submitters through any of our affiliates.

 

We regret the inconvenience to our customers. However, in the interest of security, this change in policy is necessary.

 

But for dealers it's OK...another collector friendly policy by CGC...

 

Jim

 

That jumped right off the page, didn't it?

 

BSDs get the VIP at CGC in FLA

[arexcrooke]

www.silveracrecomics.com

Were you in the armed forces? Or education? Both organizations love acronyms.

[deathlok]

You had me at 'diaspora'.

 

I had to look that one up.

 

[arexcrooke]

You had me at 'diaspora'.

 

I had to look that one up.

 

Diaspora-The worldwide scattering of the Jews by the Romans. Teach it every year to my students

[deathlok]

You had me at 'diaspora'.

 

I had to look that one up.

 

Diaspora-The worldwide scattering of the Jews by the Romans. Teach it every year to my students

Not really something I can work into everyday conversation.

[arexcrooke]

You had me at 'diaspora'.

 

I had to look that one up.

 

Diaspora-The worldwide scattering of the Jews by the Romans. Teach it every year to my students

Not really something I can work into everyday conversation.

Yeah, greggy doesnt know big words like that either.

[OldGuy]

You had me at 'diaspora'.

 

I had to look that one up.

 

Diaspora-The worldwide scattering of the Jews by the Romans. Teach it every year to my students

Not really something I can work into everyday conversation.

Yeah, greggy doesnt know big words like that either.

 

Greggy knows words? Go figure.

[deathlok]

You had me at 'diaspora'.

 

I had to look that one up.

 

Diaspora-The worldwide scattering of the Jews by the Romans. Teach it every year to my students

Not really something I can work into everyday conversation.

Yeah, greggy doesnt know big words like that either.

 

Greggy knows words? Go figure.

I was surprised that arex thought that was a big word.

[Timulty]

You had me at 'diaspora'.

 

I had to look that one up.

 

Diaspora-The worldwide scattering of the Jews by the Romans. Teach it every year to my students

Not really something I can work into everyday conversation.

Yeah, greggy doesnt know big words like that either.

 

Greggy knows words? Go figure.

I was surprised that arex thought that was a big word.

Cryptosporidium, now that's a big word.

[deathlok]

You had me at 'diaspora'.

 

I had to look that one up.

 

Diaspora-The worldwide scattering of the Jews by the Romans. Teach it every year to my students

Not really something I can work into everyday conversation.

Yeah, greggy doesnt know big words like that either.

 

Greggy knows words? Go figure.

I was surprised that arex thought that was a big word.

Cryptosporidium, now that's a big word.

STFU is not a big word for you to understand.

[arexcrooke]

STFU is not a big word for you to understand.