What Is Happening With The Ewert Trimmed Books?

[ronm3-migration]

I believe (anyone feel free to correct me, of course) that Brulato has disclaimed all knowledge of the trimming, stating that it was all Jason's doing. Brulato was in a partnership with Ewert on some of the trimmed books; that is, Brulato provided capital for the purchase of the books by Jason and was to share in the profits made on the resale of the books by Jason. Brulato feels that by offering to buy the known trimmed books back from their current owners, he is absolving himself of his unknowing participation in Jason's scheme to defraud collectors.

 

Being a partner of the joint account used to perpetuate the scandal makes him very involved in my eyes...ignorance only goes so far...

 

Jim

[Theagenes]

 

Maybe they keep them around the office as examples for the graders

to work with in order to recognize (if possible) this type of trimming?

 

 

 

Joker--

 

To me this seems like the most logical and useful solution, that is if CGC were concerned about be able to identify future examples. If they are not keeping them for this purpose then it makes me wonder how seriously they are taking this problem. BTW, giving them to orphans sounds nice (if a bit sappy), but that would still be putting them back into circulation.

[esquirecomics]

Nothings gonna happen.

What judge will Listen to a lawsuit ove comics books.

they will probably laugh it out of the building

 

That is simply not true. The lawsuit, which is still in the works, will be taken very seriously by any Judge who it is assigned.

 

Now, if it were filed in a Canadian court ....

[Red Hook]

I believe (anyone feel free to correct me, of course) that Brulato has disclaimed all knowledge of the trimming, stating that it was all Jason's doing. Brulato was in a partnership with Ewert on some of the trimmed books; that is, Brulato provided capital for the purchase of the books by Jason and was to share in the profits made on the resale of the books by Jason. Brulato feels that by offering to buy the known trimmed books back from their current owners, he is absolving himself of his unknowing participation in Jason's scheme to defraud collectors.

 

Being a partner of the joint account used to perpetuate the scandal makes him very involved in my eyes...ignorance only goes so far...

 

Jim

 

Nothing personal against Tom, as I don't know him really at all. But it just makes one wonder how much of an ethical firewall was really in place. Given the lack of concrete answers about the whole situation..... it just seems a little too neat. You know what I mean?

 

Brad

[OldGuy]

They will not be destroyed. If true that would be the most stupid thing CGC has ever done.

However cgc might buy them and take out of the circulation. At least that's what they should do in my opinion, if they aren't able to detect those trims.

 

They should slab them in lead and tie them around JE's neck and drop him in a lake.

[ronm3-migration]

They will not be destroyed. If true that would be the most stupid thing CGC has ever done.

However cgc might buy them and take out of the circulation. At least that's what they should do in my opinion, if they aren't able to detect those trims.

 

They sould slab them in lead and tie them around JE's neck and drop him in a lake.

 

[OldGuy]

I think collectors of the ultra-high grade material just need to accept that there are some cat turds in the sandbox they're playing in and there's just no way to sift them out.

 

That's not the attitude we take around here, Mr. Woog!

 

 

[comicwiz]

With Steve Borock's permission, here is his response to me in a PM:

 

We would never trash any comics, that would be worse than trimming them. As of this moment, we are just holding them. I would love to give them to an orphanage or something like that. Imagine being a little kid and getting a Green Lantern # 77 for free. Just not sure what to do with them yet, but they will never be destroyed by CGC.

 

Not an easy decision for anyone to have to make. That said, I am relieved to hear that the books aren't being destroyed. The idea of donating them to children would certainly find some good out of what has otherwise left a black mark on the hobby.

 

Understanding of course that not stamping these books as trimmed might leave opportunists some room to get them back into circulation, and worse sold to an unassuming buyer, I'm really not convinced that CGC should be deciding the fate of these books.

 

This isn't like a product recall that a car manufacturer would be able to correct. CGC is simply a 3rd-party grading service. The product was originally manufactured by another company, and the product prior to being altered for the purposes of committing fraud had no defects. Except of course for those defects that stained the minds of the vile and greedy, driven by profiteering ways to perform the most reprehensible procedure known to the hobby, forever destroying what were otherwise perfect examples.

 

If I were Marvel or DC, I might have a problem with the way my product/brand was being dragged through the mud because some swindler found a way to exploit a grading scheme for economic gain. Whether or not the original manufacturers of these effected books should have any say in the matter is debatable. Some of them might not even be operating any longer.

 

I know if I were working for DC or Marvel and had caught wind of this situation, I might consider buying these books back as museum or showpieces for the visitors lobby area. One things for sure, if there is anyone who stands to have a say in this whole situation, it should be the people involved with creating the books in the first place, and least of all, the people who stood to gain the most by destroying them.

[Illiterati-migration]

Can someone explain to me how CGC came to be in possession of these books?

[OldGuy]

Can someone explain to me how CGC came to be in possession of these books?

 

They were sent in to get checked for trimming and CGC isn't sure what to do with them? Just a guess.

[Illiterati-migration]

Can someone explain to me how CGC came to be in possession of these books?

 

They were sent in to get checked for trimming and CGC isn't sure what to do with them? Just a guess.

 

So, how is it that they are "CGC's" books?

[Mr. Zipper]

So, how is it that they are "CGC's" books?

 

The owners are being reimbursed in the amount of the purchase price by Brulato (if it was a Ewert/Brulato submission originally.) I presume Brulato has an arrangement with CGC that CGC will retain the books.

 

However, if a book was trimmed -- but it was ONLY a Ewert book (with no tie to Brulato) -- I believe those books are not eligible for reimbursement and they are going back to the owners in a purple casket.

[Illiterati-migration]

I think collectors of the ultra-high grade material just need to accept that there are some cat turds in the sandbox they're playing in and there's just no way to sift them out.

 

The man's a veritable poet of his times...'cat turd in the sandbox' beautiful, dude.

 

And the sentiment is all too correct, someone would try and pick and up and palm them off for the full potiential (untrimmed) value within a heart beat of them returning to the market.

 

Why thank you Mr. Pym.

 

It's too late to close the corral gate, the horses already ran off. Anyone who thinks that CGC is going to gather them all back up is in dream land. My guess, they'll get less than 20% of the micro-trimmed books out of circulation.

 

Exactly. And why in the WORLD should the "responsibility" of monitoring the population of Restored books fall on CGC's shoulders? How have they proven themselves successful, or even COMPETENT, when it comes to restoration detection?

 

This is mind-boggling. Just put the books back out there, and let fools soon be parted from their money. Nobody worried this much about restoration before CGC put that boogeyman in everyone's closet.

[OldGuy]

Can someone explain to me how CGC came to be in possession of these books?

 

They were sent in to get checked for trimming and CGC isn't sure what to do with them? Just a guess.

 

So, how is it that they are "CGC's" books?

 

I don't know bro. I'm neither indorsing nor opposing their actions, I'm just sharing info.

[Illiterati-migration]

Can someone explain to me how CGC came to be in possession of these books?

 

They were sent in to get checked for trimming and CGC isn't sure what to do with them? Just a guess.

 

So, how is it that they are "CGC's" books?

 

I don't know bro. I'm neither indorsing nor opposing their actions, I'm just sharing info.

 

I know... I'm just wondering if I've missed something here.

 

And hey, FU, GB. (Good Buddy)

[RDK]

Yeah, I'm not sure why CGC is holding these books either. Who actually owns them now? If the owner (buyer of the trimmed book) wants it back, there should be no way that CGC should be able to deny the book's return. Doesn't matter if they're reimbursed or not. CGC can't unilaterally claim a book and decide it's future fate.

[Zonker]

Guys, I think we're talking about a hundred-so raw books from Ewert sitting in grading queue when this whole mess surfaced. So Ewert and/or Brulato are the owners. I guess the question is does CGC have an obligation to purple-slab them and send them back to Ewert, knowing he has a history of gaming the system.

[drbanner]

Yeah, I'm not sure why CGC is holding these books either. Who actually owns them now? If the owner (buyer of the trimmed book) wants it back, there should be no way that CGC should be able to deny the book's return. Doesn't matter if they're reimbursed or not. CGC can't unilaterally claim a book and decide it's future fate.

 

If the owner (buyer of the trimmed book) wants the book back knowing it's trimmed, I see no reason why Tom should pay for the book, that doesn't make any sense at all. Likewise, if Tom reimburses them for the book, it should belong to him, not CGC.

[Illiterati-migration]

Guys, I think we're talking about a hundred-so raw books from Ewert sitting in grading queue when this whole mess surfaced. So Ewert and/or Brulato are the owners. I guess the question is does CGC have an obligation to purple-slab them and send them back to Ewert, knowing he has a history of gaming the system.

 

They certainly have an obligation to send the books back to him; whether the books are slabbed or not is the only decision CGC has to make in the matter.

[drbanner]

Guys, I think we're talking about a hundred-so raw books from Ewert sitting in grading queue when this whole mess surfaced. So Ewert and/or Brulato are the owners. I guess the question is does CGC have an obligation to purple-slab them and send them back to Ewert, knowing he has a history of gaming the system.

 

That's one set, the other set are the books people have previously purchased from Ewert (or that are on "the list") that they are now sending in to CGC for evaluation.