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And Then There Was One

The end of the tunnel is in sight! During the course of 2013 I decided that I wanted to try and get graded 9.8s of all the issues involved in the Mutant Massacre storyline. I also decided that whenever the opportunity arose, I would attempt to get them signed. At the beginning of this year I decided to set my ultimate goal to have ALL of them as SS 9.8 copies. One by one I have been accomplishing this. All of mine but one were already graded copies that I cracked for signatures. The one that
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The (Mile High) Empire Strikes Back!!

Or should I say, "Strikes Again"!! I have had a number of occasions where I've purchased raw books from Mile High online and wound up with gorgeous copies that wound up as CGC 9.8 books! In some instances I've gotten 9.6 but usually with books still worthy of owning in the grade. Heck, the one 9.4 I got on a book from them was my Special Marvel Edition #15 which is now SS 9.4 OW/W and signed by the great Jim Starlin! So I'm never gonna complain about these guys! They are the reason my grad
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Another Amazing Pickup Story!!

Or maybe I should say, "Another SPECTACULAR Pickup Story". Last year, at Baltimore CC 2013, I picked up a raw copy of Avengers #196 (1st appearance of Taskmaster) for $20 and proceeded to have Joe Rubinstein sign it at the show and then submitted it for grading. It came back CGC SS 9.8 WP!! I have a total of only $55 in it total!! (Thanks big bro for letting me jump on that) I didn't think it could get any better than that. Then in January of this year I went to a first-time convention in
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Another Submitting Success!!

Some work out and some don't. When it comes to grading, I am very strict and tend to undergrade books. I'd rather be pleasantly surprised by an unpredicted 9.8 than be sure of the grade and wind up disappointed. I've had plenty of books that I hoped were 9.8 but secretly thought might wind up 9.6, but getting a signature on it made it worth the gamble. In most cases I get the 9.8 but in some cases the books match my secret certainty. I seem to be mostly in my element with Copper Age books
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Your Set, Your Way

Custom sets are here! Yes, everybody. In case you were not aware, you can now create your very own custom sets, with personalized categories and set names, along with the ability to input whichever CGC books you feel belong in them however you like!!       My brother pointed this out to me last night and I've already taken advantage of it to create two sets that I will get busy researching to find books that fit in them and filling them with the books I already have that fit.       T
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Some Books Back!....and.... What the Heck????

Both thrilled and perplexed. When I attended the Tampa Bay Comic Con, I chose my books carefully. I started with over 50 possible copies for signatures, but couldn't do so many, so I had to trim it down little by little.       Sometimes the decision was made for me with a cancellation or two. Sometimes it was simply me deciding that a book just wasn't as hugely important to do at the time. But I mainly wanted to take advantage of Marv Wolfman, Keith Pollard and Michael Zeck, all of who I
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The Beginning of the End

NYCC -Ground Zero!! No, this journal is not about a certain class action lawsuit being taken by CGC corporation against another third party grading company, which by the way, I am in complete disagreement with and very disappointed about, but won't go into details on it here for fear of deletion (do it CGC, I dare you!). But, I still love all you hard working CGC guys and gals at the convention booth and behind the scenes with grading and encapsulating, shipping, receiving, quality control....
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Reholders, Coupon Books and NYCC!!

A lot going on right now! Well, its been almost a month since my last journal. Has anyone missed me?.....       Probably not.       But while Ive been away, Ive been super busy with work and other things, and just havent had enough going on to warrant doing any journals lately.....       Until now, that is.       Since Baltimore, Ive been in hold mode on my books and submissions, with nothing new to report. But now, things are starting to pick back up and I have a few thin
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My Baltimore 2014 Experience

Not as many books this year, but more fun than last year!! I fell asleep around 6:30pm on Wednesday evening. When I awoke, it was 10:30pm and I decided that time was a wastin' and I needed to get on my way to Baltimore. I live in Tallahassee so driving to Baltimore takes 14 hours!       The trip up was uneventful. No bad weather, no bad accidents, and I shave my head, so there was no bad hair either. Haha       I got to Baltimore, got everything into the hotel room and waited for my
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Labels Labels Labels!!!

Baltimore, Here I come! So I've been preparing for the Baltimore Comic con this weekend. I'm working on getting all of my books ready and having forms filled out for the most part to make things go quicker at the tables.       Most of what I'm taking is raw this year, but if have had to be very selective about what I take, due to only having so much money to spend this time around. Last year I did over 80 books, most of which were crackings!!       This year, I only have about 17 boo
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The Bouncing Grade Mystery

My dear Watson, As you are well aware, my cases as of late have been frightfully dull and uninspiring to a man of such intellect and deductive reasoning as I.       I very much regret the death of my arch-nemesis, Professor Moriarty. Ever since his demise, it has become nearly impossible to truly engage my interest in a case. Missing people, lost kittens, illicit affairs and such are just not worthy of my abilities.       However, as you know, my presence has been absent from our Bak
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My First CGC Silver Age Submitted books!

And OCC copies as well! Up until now, the only Silver Age graded comics I've purchased have been Harvey books, and I've never submitted a Silver Age book from any publisher before..... until now.       After four and a half long months, I finally have a couple of books back in my hands!       These two OCC (original collection copy) books are very sentimental to me, because they are part of the collection that my father and I put together back in the 80s and 90s. Being that my father
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The Fun That Was TBCC!!

Another Con Down!! I went to the Tampa Bay Comic Con on Saturday, and since my original help backed out on me, I dragged along my oldest godson (11) for his very first comic con!       We had a great time, though he didn't much care for the couple of times when we had to stand in line for more than 20 minutes, or when I was at the CGC booth having to fill out all the forms, but these were few and far between moments. Otherwise, he had a great time and was actually helpful to me a few time
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Cutting Back!

Two shows instead of one. Ok, so those first two lines don't match with each other. But I'm not talking about cutting back on the number of shows I'm going to. I'm talking about cutting back on what I will take to each show.       I'm having to trim down from everything I was initially planning to do in Tampa this Saturday because of my decision to also attend Baltimore a month later.       I originally had about 40 books I was going to submit to CGC in Tampa, both for SS and for Uni
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TBCC, Here I Come!!

Another con, another grading company. I went to Tampa Bay Comic Con last year and it was great! I drove down early in the morning on Saturday and returned home after the show that afternoon.       This year, I initially planned to attend all three days of the show and make it be the last convention I go to for the year. But then CGC had to go and make Baltimore Comic Con an onsite show! So instead of all three days at Tampa, I'm doing the same as last year. I'm only doing Saturday at Tamp
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I'm in Shock!!!

Awards results. Ever since I became a registered member of CGC, I have hoped that one day, I would win one of the major registry awards, like the best presentation award or a Best-Set-in-Age award, whether it be for Silver, Bronze or Copper Age.       Being that I'm more of a Copper Age collector, this Age was far more likely. I thought for sure that it would eventually be my New Mutants set, but so far, for some reason, that's never happened.       While I've waited with great anti
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Here Come the Awards!

One of these days.... and other items as well. Well, tomorrow CGC releases the results of the Registry awards for this year!       As usual, I am hoping and praying for one of the major awards. My brother, Tnerb has won one in the past (congrats, big bro) and I've been trying for one for six years now and have yet to get one.       I don't care which one of my sets wins one, I just want to win one. Pleeeeeeease, CGC!       Anyway, I just won an auction on Ebay yesterday and man
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Nowlan Goodies!!

3 more SS books!! My brother and I are always on the lookout for a new signature to add to our New Mutants collections. When I started to get mine signed, I didn't really care about who signed it as long as they were involved with the book itself. Now, thanks to Tnerb, I keep an eye out for an unusual or new signature to add to my premiere collection. He was the first one to do this and now I too love to get a wider variety of sigs on them. So when he informed me that he would be attending
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So Long, Archie...

Another one bites the dust. Some of my first forays into comics were Harvey characters like Casper and Richie Rich, as well as Archie digests. This was back when I was like 7 to 10 years old. I knew, even back then, that Archie and his pals had been around for decades before I was ever on this planet. They made me laugh and sometimes they made me think. While Batman and Superman and Spiderman and many other comic characters showed the heroic side of super heroes, Archie showed children more
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Another Silver!!!

Thanks to my big brother. I have had a lot of luck in finding 9.8 worthy raw copies of books on Ebay. Of course, I'm VERY picky about what I buy raw on Ebay, so that helps. I am in the process of slowly putting together a set of all 29 Marvel issues that came out on November of 1986 with the matching 25th Anniversary Border covers, since the set was created earlier this year at my request. Many of these are fairly easy to locate, but some are extremely difficult. The Marvel/Star issues alo
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Untapped Potential

Or, what remains to be seen? ...................................Darkness..."There was darkness for more years than I can remember. Once, I was new and pristine; out in the world and available. I had the power to enthrall and the ability to help people lose themselves in a world of wonder.""Now, I sit. I sit and wait; for what, I don't know. I long to be out in the light again. I yearn to be useful and appreciated again. I pray that one day, someone will notice me, here in the darkness. Won't so
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More Megacon Returns!!

Very happy with the results on these for the most part. Of the 13 books that are on these last 3 invoices, I was completely correct on the grades of 12 of them! I had all of these at either 9.8 or 9.6, and while I was hoping pressings might help the 9.6 copies to maybe move up a notch, I personally graded them at what I KNEW they would get at minimum. Angel: After the Fall #2 second printing - SS 9.8 WP. I found this book raw at a LCS in my hometown. I brought it with me to Megacon with the
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Awards ahoy!

Some came, some went, some stayed the same... sort of. This years registry awards are in the books now. I hope everyone got the top spots they were trying for. I have managed this year to acquire more top spots than I've ever had in one awards year! I am the top rank on 17 different sets this year. That is due to a number of reasons. Some sets were added, such as the Starlog magazine set, which I seem to be the only person really pursuing anything on for the time being. Hopefully that cha
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A Legend is Born!!

We all start somewhere. Bill Sienkiewicz is my favorite comic artist. Interestingly enough, the first time I ever saw his work, I absolutely hated it. As I read through New Mutants #18 for the first time. I thought the art was way too streaky, angular and splotchy and at times hard to distinguish what was going on Who was this artist who was mangling my favorite series? Arrrrgh! But I persisted through the art and as time went on, I began to appreciate his art more and more. Now I consider
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BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS!!!!

Nothing like having invoices done on your birthday! I have a number of invoices in process right now at CGC. All but one are from Megacon. I just had to take advantage of Bill Sienkiewicz attending Megacon. I had never been able to meet him before and he is my favorite comic artist. So in the few months leading up to the show, I purchased a number of issues that he did covers on. It just so happens that the Bill Sienkiewicz Cover Set that I requested managed to finally be created just a coup
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