In the Dark

A journal by Tnerb

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About this journal

Oblivious to anything new

Entries in this journal

My Final 20 Pt. 2

The first step... The arrival With my parents credit card I sent in my last batch for the year. Yes I decided to jump the gun before the new prices are kicked off for the new year. If I had the money I would send in another twenty. I do want to get my own books graded regardless of the turmoil going on now. These are the books I don't care about the grade. At first I was checking to see if my second of two invoices are marked as shipped and safe. It is not. At first I thought so and even let
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The Five Dollar Fees

I started off talking about the handling charge but went so much further. The following is from CGC directly. CGC has announced its revised services and fees schedule that will go into effect January 1, 2012. These changes constitute the first comprehensive revision to CGC's price schedule since May 2009. A $5 handling charge per submission invoice has also been added to all grading submissions. The rest is from me......save all hate and verbal venom till after the entry please Other tha
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The Waiting Game

Should I send comics in myself or have others do it for me? I have been sending in a few select comic books myself. Some have been 9.8's for added signatures. I am still not sure how these 9.8's dropped a grade. Others I sent in through other means. One of those books I just got word was graded. This is a book that someone else sent in for me and I know I will start my withdrawal systems soon because I will not get it back till mid January. He already has two others that I have been waiting
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CGC vs. PGX

Beta vs. VHS; Blue Ray vs. HD; Star Wars Vs. Star Trek; and the list goes on. Both CGC and PGX use the same basic principles to encapsulate their books. The following was taken from their own sites. The first is from CGC: The newly-printed labels are stacked in the same sequence as the comics to be encapsulated with them, ensuring that each book and its label match one another. The comic is now ready to be fitted inside an archival-quality interior well, which is then sealed within a tran
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CBCS vs. CGC

Or, And in this corner... The gauntlet has been thrown. Someone put their money where their mouth is and that someone is Steve Borock. I too once did that by meeting with CGC to try to get a job. I flew down to Florida to try my hand at grading. The three days there were great, but alas due to reasons that I will not disclose I did not get the job, although I was good enough to be offered one. I do know more about the grading practices and "secret sauce" of CGC but will not discuss that e
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Less than 24 Hours

If only sending in books to CGC was this quick....of wait! I check my views mainly because I like to know my stuff is being read. I have mentioned this before...possibly numerous times. My latest Journal (well before this one anyway) ?Is It Cheating?? was the first journal of mine to reach over 100 views in the first 24 hours. Something I am rather pleased about. I wish a lot of my journals were like that because I also like to communicate to others on here. I'm still upset I offended someb
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The New Mutants

The New Mutants As it was with collecting comic books, it was the New Mutants that drew me into the grading community. I was new and naive. I did not get the small intricacies between a 9.8 and a 9.6. I didn’t realize what a trimmed cover was or how you could tell if a book was restored, But over the years I have learned that as much as I have learned there is still so much more to absorb.   I met Bagofleas through the registry, as I did others, but it was the New Mutants set that
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Feeling Blind

My first Journal was simple. I had a through an dI wrote. Now, thoughts have been few and far between. My life opened and upended again. I am almost exactly where I started and better off for it. However, my collecting has changed, and I don't necessarily mean by grading company. Marvel lost me on all titles but two and that might change to one. I have been visiting more comic conventions in the hope to lose myself into my hobby. Ive been listening to inspirational messages and trying to create
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The Golden State Collection

A modern age pedigree or just overstock? I have been collecting outside my means. I set a goal for myself to collect the following titles in a 9.8 grade or better, pretty much I wanted the best condition possible. They are ?The New Mutants?, ?Longshot?, and ?Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars?. Since making that decision I have purchased the ?Uncanny X-men?, Marvel Graphic Novel #4, a couple Spider-Man?s (the Amazing variety), and many other Miscellaneous comic books. My main priority was (and s
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Million Dollar Comics

What do you mean they are only worth 30 points? This was originally Written for Comicbooked.com I thought it would be appropriate here too??   It finally happened; a silver age book broke the 1 million dollar barrier. A copy of Amazing Fantasy #15 recently sold for a whopping $1.1 million dollars, marking the first time in history a Silver Age comic book has breached the one million dollar price mark. Amazing Fantasy#15 featured the first appearance of the acclaimed comic book superhero Spi
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Fed-Ex Vs. USPS

No wonder the USPS is having difficulties... This is the first time I ever posted two journals on the same day, or at the very least so close together. It is almost midnight and after working for 42 days in a row (some of them doubles) I finally have a day off. My internet has been sporadic at best. It took me a full day to download an episode of Doctor Who, which is slightly quicker than the last episode I downloaded which took three days. The upsetting fact is if I do not cut and paste to ge
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Rumor has It

How would CGC grade these? I can?t remember the first pre bagged book I ever picked up and I am not talking about back issues either. I remember X-Force bagged with Variant Cards, I remember Spider-Man bagged as well. Both those bags were clear. The Death of Superman was the first bagged book I remember that was not see through. The black background accented the Red S. I bought more X-force books than I ever should have and I learned to curtail my spending for the Superman bagged issue. I only
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The Issue #1 Craze

Thank you for reading our comic book, find out what happens next month in the sequel issue #1 abcdefg with variant covers brought to you by the letter F,the letter U and the number 1. Seriously, does DC actually expect me to buy their comics just because they are starting over with issue #1?s? Fifty two of them no less, maybe dedicated to the 52 week program when they were releasing the title of the same name every week of the year, because they seem to like that. I like the Legacy numbering a
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CGC for the Amateur

This is what I wrote for Comicbooked.com. I felt like I had to share it here. I am curious if people who collect these slabs like I do think I described what we so love. CGC (Certified Guaranty Company) changed the way I collect comic books. They were founded January, 2000 in Parsippany, NJ. and are currently headquartered in Sarasota, FL. CCG (Certified Collectibles Group) presides over them along with NGC (Numismatic Guaranty Corporation for grading coins), NCS (Numismatic Conservation Serv
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Battling a Budget

Or on the precipice. It's safe to say I get personal when I write a journal. I told the whole community I was going for a job at CGC and a week later had to tell the same community I didn't get it. Now it's about my budget. For the last week I have been out of work, not due to losing a job, but because of a surgery. The worst part is I can not do any proper cleaning around the house. Last week, the day before I went in for the simple procedure, my boss asked me if I would be in Monday, the sam
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The Mistakes CGC Makes again and again and again...

The following is long. I am not anti CGC. I still enjoy what this company does, but I had to write the following based off my own experiences. This makes me question if a simple mistake can't be caught then how can they be trusted to grade my most cherished objects. Mind you the following is not a sought after comic, it's a book I purchased a long time ago. Any and all comments are welcomed by members and CGC employees. Thank you. Part I: The mistakes CGC makes What is quality control? It se
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Another New Mutants #98 in a 9.9

Is the third time the charm? I once thought I would win a signature series New Mutants #98 in a 9.9 for a $1000. I was wrong. The fact of the matter is two hours after the opening bell, the first bid was a $1000.00 Even after thinking of bidding a little more, the end result wouldn't have mattered because there is no way I could of topped the actually selling bid at $6,601. If I did my research i probably wouldn't have bid at all since the first universal grade of New Mutants #98 in a 9.9sold
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<a href="http://Comicbooked.com">Comicbooked.com</a>

Can you believe there are others who do not know what fun it is to collect a CGC graded Comic Book? I love being able to talk about my experiences and the fun of collecting comic books graded by CGC. There are many websites out there that sell graded comics. I purchase mine from numerous sources. Over 10 years ago it might have been hypothesized that CGC would never last. After a few comic books sold for a minimum of $1 million each I would have to think those naysayers were proven wrong. A
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A Fond Farewell to Dane

A Moment of Silence. I tend to do things in order. If I write a bunch of journals I like to post them in order. My next journal was supposed to be One Month Hiatus. I wrote in there about holding off collecting CGC comic books. Then CGC had to go ahead and have a signing by Stan Lee. When you read that one next you will find out more. What I have to write this time is more important to me. I was 12 when I officially started to collect comic books. My first comic book shop was called Comic In
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My Deal Breaker

Why I wouldn't buy that 9.8 I remember talking to another collector and he mentioned to me that if a modern age book is anything but white pages then they don't want it. If I am not mistaken someone even wrote a Journal about why they wouldn't want a CGC graded comic book. Currently two of my 9.8's have off white to white pages, both of them are part of the signature series. I still bought them, although to be honest I overlooked the page quality. It never bothered me till that conversation an
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When is the Best Time to Submit Books?

More questions answered by CGC graders. After only a little bit over three minutes in. I calculated this interview would take awhile. I only had two hours sleep and I wish I brought some coffee. I had already finished it during my commute. This next question is very relevant to anyone that has books at CGC right now. I know that when I sent my books I was getting frantic about the turnaround time and it was nowhere near as long as it is now, I only had to wait one extra business day. Some p
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Pressing the issue

What is pressing? Dictionary.com has seven definitions and not one of them has anything to do with our hobby. I scanned through the internet with Google and Bing searching for information. The site I like most with any answers is Classics Incorporated. I am only going to touch a little on what they said but recommend if you are interested in the topic to check them out. They mention ?the purpose of pressing is to raise a high grade comic to an even higher grade by removing small defects using
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Withdrawal

Or... I want a comic. I want a comic. I want a comic. Withdrawal It has been a while since I purchased my last CGC graded comic book. The last one I was able to add to my collection was a gift. I have also found myself writing journals with frequent fervor. I found the more I wrote, the more I had to purchase. The simple solution was to stop writing. I have a few invoices at CGC right now. One of which is going through Quality Control as of February 6th. They were turned over at the NYCC
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Prelude to an Interview

What do you want to know? Just ask. This was originally written for comicbooked.com and edited for the registry. If you wish to see the original please visit http://www.comicbooked.com/wizard-world-2011-prelude-to-an-interview-with-cgc/. The changes are minimal, very minimal, kind of like the difference between a 9.9 and a 10. I am amazed that one question, one simple question can amass such a response. The reason why I say this is because CGC gave me such a wealth of information with my int
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9.8 for 9.8's sake

Are they or aren't they. It felt like Christmas morning. I was at my computer entering my collection into my new database (the old database is paper). My phone rang; it was the Fed Ex Guy. I don't know why he didn't ring the bell. Actually, I didn't care, my CGC books arrived. I went to the door, signed, and wished him a good day. Mine already was. I placed the box in the living room and proceeded to shut down my computer. My comics beckoned, when I waited long enough I opened the parcel. I
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