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Entries in this journal

Bob Loblaw. Why are you here (with added bonus content)

Time for flame wars. Why are you here? what is the point of your flames? You have no sets, you only have two posts that enflame people, and while I didn't mind your first post, you obviously now have some kind of vendetta or insecurity. Seriously. Answer me. Coward. Why are you even here? *Revision starts here, and I'm going to start first by saying, forget about it. Don't answer my question: If I don't like quilt knitting, I don't go out of my way to visit their knitting circles and c
duckduckmike

duckduckmike

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Waiting Game Test and some thoughts

Yeah, we get mad at CGC... and I hate these teaser sections. So today is the "20th" day on my express coupon submissions, so I'm just waiting out the rest of the day, hoping they are on deck and done by the day's end. But in the end, it won't matter if they are "on time" or miss by a day or even a week. Sometimes when I get mad at the turnaround times (talking about my 5 month waits from the past), I think about PGX. Here's the things I reflect on: Why do I grade a comic? To lock in a v
duckduckmike

duckduckmike

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2011-2012 Wrap up and goals

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. I love a good tag line. I made a lot of progress this year on my X-Men 1-201 run, including buying some real dogs, grading, and "laddering" up to a better condition copy after selling the worse one. It's been a bit tedious though, but I moved up to a rank of 26 in the total score in the set. This is where the quality stalls me. I'm actually ranked 4th in terms of set completeness, but those low grade early issues really handicap my score.
duckduckmike

duckduckmike

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The value of scans

Why do you do it... I've been very neglectful in not adding scans of my books to my CGC registry lists. It doesn't take "a lot of time" relatively speaking, but sometimes I wonder why do it. So I made some pros and cons. PRO: Display great cover art Show some condition quality for those "less than perfect" copies of old comics Fun to browse when trying to remember which issue # is which story. CON: I'm not adding anything new by scanning another 9.8 copy of X-Men 201...212... 500..
duckduckmike

duckduckmike

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CGC at Austin this weekend?

Uh oh... Better mail out your submissions ASAP to get to the front of the line of all those value submissions they are going to take in over the weekend... I'm just saying based on my past submission timings... To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.
duckduckmike

duckduckmike

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SCHEDULED!!!!

June 21st submissions finally on deck! Man, it's like Christmas waiting and waiting and finally the books are on deck! I've got a whole bunch of X-Men that are one step closer to coming home. As per my new budget rules, I don't send in more books until some come back, so I'll be prepping another order form this week... To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.
duckduckmike

duckduckmike

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"Where" are my comics, physically.

Ever wonder what your comics do at the CGC while pending a grading session? So my big question today is not a criticism but I'm looking for information from those who know. "Where" are my comics at the CGC? I've had books sitting for a few months waiting for a grade and I'm curious as to where/how they are stored. I'm going to be clear, I'm NOT LOOKING FOR SPECULATION. Does anyone know? Are they kept in original shipping materials? Are they in a holding bin/drawer? Is this a climate control
duckduckmike

duckduckmike

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Halloweeny Comics

What's your favorite spooky comics? Just put up a new blog post on my favorite "scary" comics. I'm looking for good reading ideas to keep in me in the mood. The list was inspired by my outloud reading of the first story of the Batman: Vampire Elseworlds arc, where, yes, I had to read like Christian Bale as Batman and a gravelly Brian Dennehy mashup for Jim Gordon... http://jackowick.wordpress.com/2011/10/11/this-is-halloween-this-is-halloween/ To see old comments for this Journal entry, cl
duckduckmike

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Another signature event

Well CGC is adding more mud to the pipeline I just got the email for the Quesada and Fraction signature series event. While I enjoy both and they won't add as much as say a Stan Lee signing, I can't help but voice my objection to taking in more money while many of us who paid three months ago are still waiting for comics to get SCHEDULED for grading. If you don't have the bandwidth, don't do it, CGC... I'm done with rant. I'll go back to waiting patiently... To see old comments for this
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It's my comic now... but not...

Anyone have trouble with a CGC transfer? I picked up a CGC 8.5 copy of X-Men 44 on the cheap from Heritage, but when I've gone to register it in my sets, it says the typical "this is owned by someone else blah blah..." Usually, I get the transfer verified in a day or two, but this one has been outstanding for about a week so far. Any thoughts/suggestions on how to nicely force the transfer through? I'm guessing that if the person has not read their email yet, they probably aren't going to
duckduckmike

duckduckmike

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Books by Halloween?

3+ months and counting... So my current outstanding order is an invoice date from late June, and based on the "shipped" timetable on the CGC turnaround time pages (it lists May)I'm going to guess my books will be here around Halloween. When I phrase it that way, my usually gentle flexible patience for the CGC starts to turn brittle. I'm not sending out any other books until I get these back, as they've already charged me and have been using my money for 3 months. I'm starting to think the
duckduckmike

duckduckmike

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Wayne Collectibles Show Prep

Getting ready for next show and FREE STUFF if you meet me at the Wayne NJ show. On Sunday I'll be at the Wayne NJ Toy and Collectibles show. You can check out the homepage here: http://waynenjtoyandcollectiblesshow.com/ This is the second time I've done the Wayne show. It's a firehouse style show, a step above a swap meet but lots of fun items all around. Getting ready for my first show last month was tough, I had to take it like a blue sky project and just brainstorm how much I could bri
duckduckmike

duckduckmike

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Turnaround Time Activity Sheet!

There's a lot of turnaround time questions/complaints so I'd like to propose some better alternatives to twiddling thumbs! What to do while waiting for books: 1) SCAN YOUR SLABS! I am very very bad in this area, but it is a great reference for others to use (I love comparing mid grade slabs of rare books) plus it adds some value. We can all google an issue to find out what the cover looks like, but I love having a one-stop shop here. I promise, I'm going to start. 2) PGX FUN: I am not adv
duckduckmike

duckduckmike

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50 Percent!

I'm halfway home to the X-Men 1-201 set! Just got a few purchases delivered today and I see now that I'm listed at 50% complete. Still waiting on 30 graded ones to be delivered, and 30 more that are in "verified". I got an X-Men Annual #7 that is an alleged Howard Graber pedigree with a copy of the heritage auction listing and receipt. I'm sure the CGC number will also verify. Hmmm... I have to get cracking on my project to scan all of these... Once I'm complete (or almost complete), I'll be
duckduckmike

duckduckmike

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Data collection

There's a lot of sites and a lot of uses for comic collecting data I wrote a quick blog on comic collecting databases, more of a "think" piece, about all those online sites that compile our comic data, and do we use it or do they use us? I don't have answers, I'm not looking to start a pro or con debate, but I think it's interesting that we have a LOT of data that SHOULD be helping to create efficiently priced markets. http://jackowick.wordpress.com/2011/07/09/who-collects-the-collector/
duckduckmike

duckduckmike

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Scheduled for Grading!

My April books are finally scheduled for grading! The light IS at the end of the tunnel! I dropped off a bundle of 30 X-Men comics for grading at the Pittsburgh Comicon (great fun con, btw, if you ever get to go) and the invoice dated 4/20 is now in SCHEDULED status! I missed these books. I can't wait to see how they do, and update my sets. I hope this adds some hope for those who (like me) have been waiting a long time due to the recent backlog. I have another bundle of books from Philly W
duckduckmike

duckduckmike

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Old Blue vs New Blue label

Are CGC "old" labels worth less than new ones? Recently, some of the books I've accumulated have been great deals, and I noticed that some of these are the "old" style CGC Universal grades. Comparing to other books on auction sites (ebay cough cough) and some cons, are the older CGC labels considered less valuable or am I making something out of nothing? Any thoughts from others? Is this a recent trend? I'd rather have all "matching" labels, but in the end I don't care, I just want to know
duckduckmike

duckduckmike

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Grading goal in sight

Long way off, but I've got the "cap". This weekend after picking up a few more X-Men cgcs for my 1-201 run, I put together a budget and projection. I could have done this sooner, but it's less daunting with where I'm at now. I have approx 90 books registered in my set here, and I have 30 in "verified" limbo on my last order (I understand that there's a bit of a backlog...) So adding in 5 books I bought this weekend that were 9.8's, I have about 125 CGCs to my name for the set. Looking over
duckduckmike

duckduckmike

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Wizard World Philly

Boo Wizard World. Yay Wizard World. While I understand the number of reasons why people are against some of (if not all) of the Wizard World sponsored cons, I'm very exicited to have such a big local and easily accessible event AND to have CGC onsite available. I'm saving my pennies for another 30 X-Men to drop off (plus or minus a few Golden age goodies). I usually do Pittsburgh and Philly due to access to family in both areas, plus the diversity. Pittsburgh is a great indie-heavy show, IMO
duckduckmike

duckduckmike

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Gary Dahlberg appreciation

Hello all, I wrote up a little Gary Dahlberg appreciation article on my blog.. Hello all, I wrote up a little Gary Dahlberg appreciation article on my blog, mostly so my non-comic collecting friends would gain a little perspective on what I do and why I do it. Wanted to pass along, hope you enjoy, (and may this be a teaching tool for those who don't "get" our passion) http://jackowick.wordpress.com/2011/04/29/gary-dahlberg-the-anonymity-of-a-national-treasure/ To see old comments for th
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6038 points

Just started adding my X-Men 1-200 run! Well, 71 issues, 33% complete, for 6038 points and a rank of 54 in the run. I'm pretty happy with that for a start. I have most of the X-men 1-200 in my hands, but the CGC has another 30 in process and I have another 6 shipping to me. I'm not going to be winning any awards, but this has been an ongoing project of the past 2 years as I've concentrating my collecting on a legacy collection and investment. Plus, I do have reader copies as well as Essentia
duckduckmike

duckduckmike

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