Lee K's Journal

A journal by Lee K

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Entries in this journal

Five dollars! Five dollars! Five dollars!

it sounds like the sky is falling... While my position on the $5 per invoice fee hasn't changed; that is I am still upset about it and I still think it is a poor business decision as it weighs unfairly on the small collector that cannot afford to submit 30 books on an invoice; I am surprised by the passion that it has stirred in others. In review, I submitted ten invoices this year - two coupon submissions, one signature series, on silver age, and six modern. I have no idea if the $5 charge
Lee K

Lee K

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These are the Days of Our Lives

Submissions waiting to be graded over another weekend... So I had two modern submissions and one economy submission at CGC this past month plus... Yesterday was day 41 for the first modern submission and I received my books back. Today is day 29 for the other modern submission and it is still 'verified' Today is day 19 for the economy submission - and it is 'verified' as well. Those are business days, not calendar days and they don't include national holidays... oh well. Lee
Lee K

Lee K

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I have an idea

Maybe... Just maybe it would be more appropriate for persons with no registered sets and who don't appear to have any participation in the registry to comment on the chat boards in Comics General and leave those of us who enjoy journaling with out the vituperative nastiness that accompanies any opinion on the chat boards alone. Happy Hunting Lee
Lee K

Lee K

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Dust, Light, and Oxidation Shadows

Because I was asked to follow up on my journal of 1/18... OK - so I wrote a long dissertation on this subject earlier; and then I bumped the back button on my mouse and lost it all, so I guess I'll be brief. Comics stacked one on top of another and left to be stored for years or even months undisturbed left us with some really nice comics preserved from the 40s, 50s, and 60s - beautiful, flat copies with great color gloss and flat spines. Even non-pedigree collections staored this way proba
Lee K

Lee K

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How we collect

OK - we all collect what we love, but how do you select from your myriad of purchasing options? As much as it hurts me to do so, I assume we all have grade ranges and paper quality requirements for our collections, so I don't want to revisit those discussions. Instead I am interested in those things that are important to each of us that aren't really about the grade: Pedigrees, Dust Shadows, Spine Ticks, Rounded Corners, Date Stamps; Handwriting in ink/wax pencil/pencil; Cover Centering; Cove
Lee K

Lee K

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Welcome new registry members

or: how I dropped 30 ranks in 30 days... I don't know - last month I was ranked 391 and trying to determine how many years it would take me to get in to the 200's - now I'm ranked 421 and wondering how many months it will take to get back in the 300's. Did we get a bunch of new registry members? if so, that's really cool - more people to share with. Or did everyone all of a sudden have a lot more money to spend on our hobby than me? which is kinda cool, but I wish I had some cash too... O
Lee K

Lee K

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It was Christmas Day at the Lee K household

cause my EMCC submission no. 1 came in. and like every Christmas Day there were surprises, disappointments, and excitement all around. Let me preface this entry with the following: all of these books are from my personal collection, all books I bought off the rack at my LCS. Books from 1984 through 1988 are from my time in the Air Force and were purchased at the LCS in Riverside Ca; books that are older than that are from when I was in high school, and books from 89 through 91 are from when
Lee K

Lee K

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Why the registry?

2,123 registry users with point totals ranging from 2,265,493 points to 3 points, and I don't even begin to know how many registry sets... Given that I would have to multiply my current collection by 100 to find myself in second place in total registry points, and with my limited collecting focus it is unlikely that I will ever be in 1st place in any of my registered sets; why the registry? I possess a competitive nature and I want to be 1st - and I am a completionist (is that a word?) so I
Lee K

Lee K

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For the best in Adventure...

Go! - Go! - Go! The Go-go check period, representing a slice in time from early 1966 through the middle of 1967 is more than a ploy to make DC's books stand out on the spinner rack from all the competition. On the surface, it isn't much different than the Marvel picture frame period or even the 1976 Bicentennial issues; it does cover a specific period of time, and it created a cover design format that was used across multiple books in every genre by the publisher and it did make those books
Lee K

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Milestones lost...

The go-go check collection moves backward... So I've been working on the go-go check collection for some years now, and when I first put the list together I listed the superhero books and then I researched for the other titles I needed to make the collection complete; sometimes I missed an issue of one end of a run or the other but by the end of the first year I was fairly certain that I had all the titles accounted for. Except...well a nagging feeling in the back of my mind that I was missin
Lee K

Lee K

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How we collect, Pt. 2

Staples anyone? It was brought to my attention that I neglected to address staples in my mile-long dissertation last week. And after having it tossed in my face, I have to admit that I don't really look at staples - not as part of a mental checklist, and it doesn't seem to be a deal killer for me. So, I went to my LCS - and pulled through their bin of 60's Charltons thinking about how I look at staples. I look for discoloration; I look for dimples, stress lines and staple related tears; I
Lee K

Lee K

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Graded

So one of my two Emerald City CC submissions is now "graded" status... All I have to do is keep from looking at it for 10 days or so until it shows up at my door. ... I can do it... Maybe Lee K
Lee K

Lee K

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Grades, grades, and grades

Yay! My modern submission is graded... All 9.8 - all white pages... So I've been trying to send in a small submission as regularly as I can - I know, I know - not the cheapest on shipping, but I can set aside a small amount of money easier than doing a big submission. I save the big ones for Emerald City CC. Also, I've been sending off the odd modern books - usually Justice League books, but I took time to go through my collection and pull out the covers by my two favotire cover artists:
Lee K

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Twin Cities

Just generally overgraded? So I got my second book from the Twin Cities pedigree in the mail yesterday - Flash 162 - I already have a Metamorpho 9. When I bid on this book I could see that there was a strong stress line and color break at the upper staple - but further review of the scan indicated that this was the only substantial flaw with the front cover of the book, so I figured 9.2 was an ok grade. Once I had the book in hand, or rather the slab in hand, I was really disappointed with
Lee K

Lee K

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Modern Turn Around Time

Does anyone know... What the actual modern turn around time is right now? I've been Verified for weeks now with no change in status. I think today is business day 20 - but I don't always know which cons are 'major'. Let me know... Thanks L
Lee K

Lee K

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Today is brought to you by the letter Z

a look at the registry... OK - so not the journal I promised to write about the go-go check collection, but that journal is turning out to be more work than I anticipated. It's coming, it's coming. Instead I thought I might write a bit about the registry - I am fascinated by the registry. And today, because of my love of Matt Baker, Jack Kamen, Rulah, Zago, & Zegra - I thought I would start with the letter Z. In the letter Z there are 11 competitive titles, sort of; three of them hav
Lee K

Lee K

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The Waiting Game

or "RECEIVED, day 6..." Let's be honest, I couldn't live further from Sarasota, FL, and still live in the continental US. And my budget isn't what I would like it to be for buying books and slabbing books - but I do have some moderns from my reading enjoyment of the various Justice League titles I would like to have slabbed. It's just, well, the status titles: Received, Verified, Scheduled for Grading - I know that these terms are defined, but what do they mean to me, from a practical standp
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Birthday Surprise

So I was kinda hoping I would have grades... But, I don't. On the other hand I went to my LCS and my buddy there had purchased for me a raw copy of Strange Adventures #99 - maybe VG+/F-. A complete and readable copy for my collection. I am a happy man. Lee
Lee K

Lee K

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Verified

sort of... So...I sent in two issues of JSA, two issues of Justice League of America, one issue of JLA, and one issue of All Star Batman & Robin the Boy Wonder. I have verified two issues of Justice Society of America, three issues of Justice League of America, and an issue of Batman & Robin. Will quality control catch this and correct it before everything is graded and shipped? or should I contact CGC? Anyone else have this issue before? Lee   And the response from CGC is:
Lee K

Lee K

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Emerald City CC submission no. 2 of 2

Now at scheduled for grading status... Not that either package is really exciting. Submission 1 has some modern variant covers from my collection for my buddy's birthday, a modern wonder woman for my wife, some New Muties from when I closed my own LCS that I thought might grade 9.8/WHITE for some collector I know...and a bunch of Justice Leage of Americas, Justice Leagues, and JLAs that I bought off the rack in the 80's & 90's that I thought would grade out 9.2 and better, oh - and Zatann
Lee K

Lee K

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Milestones...

The go-go check collection moves forward So Emerald City ComicCon provided me with a lot of 'big fat nothing' for the go-go check collection; although I did have fun on Sunday and I dropped some books at the CGC booth for grading - but I only saw three go-go check slabs, all for Justice League of America books that I already have (albeit higher grade - all 9.6) and absolutely no raw go-go checks that I would bother to have slabbed - mostly reader grade stuff, call it 2.5 to 4.5. I did, on the
Lee K

Lee K

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Falling in love again...

for the first time - sort of When I was young, I read comic books: Justice League, Avengers, Green Lantern, ASM, GI Combat, Weird War Tales. Since money was tight and my income/allowance was erratic at best I rarely was able to purchase runs of consecutive issues and I found myself more interested in books written in episodes with limited or no knowledge needed of what went before needed to understand the story. Weird War became a real favorite. When I wasn't reading comics, I read books -
Lee K

Lee K

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Grades are in.

Modern grades anyway... and they're not shipped yet, so the bet is still on whether the moderns (from 7/5/2011) will ship before my SA coupon books (from 8/15/2011). All the books came back 9.8/White - so that's nice (expected, but nice nonetheless) since I selected a mixed bag of JLAs JSAs Justice League of Americas (new #1 at my LCS today!) and a Brian Bolland Batman:Gotham for my brand new Brian Bolland collection (hey - either you dig his art or you detest it - I dig it for its different
Lee K

Lee K

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Going visiting...

with an old friend. So I'm running off to the coast for the weekend with my wife, but I'm thinking on the way back I'll swing by Mike Grell's house and see what he's up to since he was named Editor over at Ardden Comics. As much as I hate to admit it, I don't think I have anything for him to autograph, he's signed it all: Batman Family, Green Arrow, Green Lantern, Iron Man, Warlord, I even found an old Warlord action figure (he-man style) still on it's card and asked him to sign the card fo
Lee K

Lee K

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Hey you - write a journal

Join the family of regular journal writers. It's easy and as a family of readers, we're non-judgmental. Write what you know (comics) or write what you love (more comics), it doesn't matter. An easy first journal could be as simple as sharing your collecting goals for 2011 - is there a target book for this year or a collecting milestone you hope to reach? In 2011 I hope to add one of the following 3 books to my go-go check collection: Batman 181, Detective 359, or Superman's Girlfriend Loi
Lee K

Lee K

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