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Showing content with the highest reputation since 02/19/2024 in all areas

  1. Well, then this IS a lucky coincidence. I just received the following email earlier today. --------------------------------------------------------------------- To: Mr. Domo Arigato Date: February 24, 2024 Mr. Arigato, Greetings and salutations. I hope this correspondence finds that you are goodly and of excellent health. I am sending these words via electronical communication to let you know that your books have completioned and are ready to take their journey to you through the postal mail system. Unfortunately, due to the unrest in my country, all of my huge wealth has been temporarily seized, and I need your help to regain it so I can return the books back into your willing hands. The quickliest way you can accomplish this is also very easily. Just go to the nearest location and purchase $500 in Blockbuster gift cards. Then you will need to correspond back to this email and supply me with the codes revealed on the back of said cards. This will allow me to gain access to all of my funds and return you property so that you will once again be a fully complete and happy person. With respect and humble dignity, Michael D. The True Crown Prince of Nigeria
    36 points
  2. Yeah. That’s me. I bought the domain and threw something together quickly because all of the “official” HR contacts (phone, websites email) have disappeared. So if someone is not familiar with the boards they may be looking for more info. I’m basically trying to keep this alive for anyone unaware of the Hero Restoration implosion.
    34 points
  3. Spook 24 CGC 9.2 ow/white. Second highest graded copy of this magnificent Cole cover book.Excellent wrap on this copy. Bright cover colors and nice gloss, from an original owner collection. Asking $11,500 shipped.
    28 points
  4. Here are the Feb ComicLink Results - Session 1 and the first day of Session 2. Session 1 was full of less frequently sold goodies so take it for what its worth. Not sure if I will find time this week to finish up Session 2.......
    21 points
  5. You're Mike, aren't ya..?
    21 points
  6. i'll entertain reasonable counters here, but the first take on the thread beats any p.m. chatting. $20 s/h domestic, we'll have to figure out a border-crossing. return ok, but let me know w/in 3 days of delivery. check or m.o. only here. i've decided to move out of my mini-run [9-20] keeping only a couple of the faves. but unless this one sells, i don't want to break it up. gpa no help, hell a 9.0 isn't even on the list. just talked to an expert, and we figger $7,000 is the right ask, so indeed it is the ask.
    20 points
  7. The posted pictures were from trips after his diagnosis, so he squeezed every last drop he could out of life. Ed was a 1/1
    20 points
  8. Daredevil 1 CGC 8.5 - UNLISTED ⬇️ (NOTE: This shifts the timeline of alleged tampering further back to Jan 15, 2018) Over the past two weeks, I shared two UNLISTED books (FF 48 CGC 5.5 and ASM 300 CGC 9.8) and have continued compiling others. I continue to try to set aside time to work on this because of its significance, and would like to share the third UNLISTED today because I believe this is becoming even more important as events continue to unfold. Applying the same details on the retrospective and current comparabiles analysis for books impacted by this "holder tampering." The purpose here is to use this unlisted book as an example of how one might arrive at a valuation suitable for redress and/or compensation. While the serial number from the ComicVerify badge below is a sample, the data is live, and the screenshot takes you right to the sample appraisal and assessment, with notations, working links to diagrams, etc. Full disclosure, ComicVerify is an online appraisal service I began in March of 2022, along with an appraisal service called ToyVerify. It allowed me to streamline reports, and uses proprietary software I developed which helps accelerate the process of mining/discovery, recall, insight assement, as well as calculating comps using the desired valuation method, as well as offering real-time reporting, all accessible in a digital format (smartphone or on your computer). Certification: 1202031002 (NOT ON THE LIST) Daredevil (1964-1998) #1 CGC 8.5 Beginning first with the screenshot of the Cert for posterity: Based on the assessment arrived at, replacement value would be the method of valuation best suited to handle the market fluctuations seen from the time the book was sold in January 15th, 2018, and the current day, where consumers are being made aware of an alleged incident involving "holder tampering." Click screenshot below to visit the online appraisal for further details ============== Additional notes for comparison, review, and posterity: Sales history, this Daredevil 1 appears twice for sale, the order that follows is from the first appearance of this cert to the last: Cert: 1202031002 Daredevil (1964-1998) #1 CGC 8.5 302012634340 | ebay | Seller: potatochipman |Cert: 1202031002 [7/19/2016] | $5,818 282813660478 | ebay | Seller: alleged seller | Cert: 1202031002 [1/28/2018] | $7,363
    20 points
  9. Have you ever gotten that sweet dopamine rush from winning an internet argument? Lemme tell ya, brother, that's a dragon worth chasing.
    20 points
  10. I'm not aware of anything Alex Ross is attributed to have created, so there's no reason to consider them on the same, or even similar, level. Ross has a popular style of depicting well-known characters, but is otherwise not especially influential in the creative or business side of comicdom, as far as I know.
    19 points
  11. Vault of Horror #28 (CGC 8.0 with off-white to white pages.) $950:$850 A ghastly Johnny Craig cover! Outstanding centering, superb structure, bright, vibrant and fully saturated colors! I doubt you’ll find a better looking 8.0 than this. I recently had this graded. An interested back story to this book. In the late 1980’s I discovered Redbeard’s Book Den. I was living in the SF Bay Area and Ron was living in Crystal Bay, NV- not that far away. Ron was early with posting comics online and that’s how I came to know about his books. From the late 1980’s to 1990 I purchased many books from Ron, mainly ECs and Silver Age Marvels. It was always a pleasure to do business with Ron. Spot-on grading, super knowledgeable and always willing to share that knowledge. This is one of the many ECs I bought from Ron. Adds a tiny bit of provenance.
    19 points
  12. n2wdw

    Baker Romance

    I recently added shelves to a small closet that’s normal size except about 1/3th the normal depth. I’m using the closet to store my Baker collection. I managed to fit my entire Baker collection into this closet. The door has a lock of course.
    19 points
  13. Comparison of three Feb auctions for ASM 300 CGC 9.8 MCS: ASM 300 CGC 9.8 sold in our weekly auction ending Feb 19 for $3600 winning bid. Seller gets 92% of that = $3312. HA: The HA sale you referenced for a CGC 9.8 ended Feb 27 for $3840. Before 20% BP, that was a $3200 top bid. Seller gets 85% of $3200 = $2720. CL: The Feb CL sale for a CGC 9.8 referenced in the report above ended at $3350. Seller gets 90% of $3350 = $3015.
    18 points
  14. It reads like a fake yelp review for 5 stars left by a business’s owner when all the other reviews are 1 star.
    18 points
  15. There were quite a few people in this thread willing to help out and lend some words of encouragement - and it was pretty much met with derision, venom and anger from Mike. Stuff like this doesn't happen to normal people. It happens to people who are less then genuine, duplicitous and shady. Hope you get your books back, along with everyone else who is stuck in limbo - but you probably need to start reading from this thread from the beginning, because he's had about 14 chances to get on his feet and "do the right thing" - all documented here.
    18 points
  16. If Stan hadn't worked at marvel in the early sixties then the FF would have been a rehash of The Challengers of the Unknown and the Amazing Spider-Man would have been a direct imitation of The Fly. Just the same stiff dialogue and cardboard characterization that permeated comics at the time. They would have read just like every other run-of-the-mill super hero comic from National or Charlton or Gold Key. Same old blandness. Read the first 10-12 stories of the Challengers and compare them to the first dozen issues of FF. (and I'm not knockin' the Challs, I'm just sayin' character-wise the FF would have been just more of the same). No Marvel Age of Comics, no Face Fronting, no 'Nuff Said, no True Believing, no Keeper of the Faithing, no No-prizes, no Bullpen Pages, no Marvel Madmen, no Merry Marvel Marching Society, no funny credit boxes (in fact no credit boxes at all), no Jack "King" Kirby, no catering to the older college-age crowd. No "Dear Stan and Jack" or "Dear Stan and Steve ", just the impersonal "Dear Editor". And Spidey would have been like the Fly if Lee wasn't there to veto Kirby's initial attempt at the character and handed it to Ditko, instead. Comics are pictures and words. When I started picking up Marvels after reading DC's, one thing that attracted me (besides the art) were the stories and characters and the way that they were written. It can be a combination of art and dialogue that sets the tone. Ben Grimm's dialogue would never be confused with Reed's. Peter Parker's personality was markedly different from previous teenage superheroes (in fact, the couple of stories drawn by Kirby where Spider-Man appeared were noticeably off-character. The Spidey-Torch dust up in ASM #8 comes to mind). The flowery, Shakespearian speech in JIM's Thor and TTA's Sub-Mariner was a welcome change. I read Ditko's Captain Atom and Blue Beetle and those characters aren't nearly as interesting or fleshed out as Peter Parker and Stephen Strange. Kirby's Fourth World and some of his clumsy character-names (Mother Box?) and dialogue with all his " " " " " " just became bothersome (YMMV). I'd bet Stan would have adjusted "Mother Box" to something much cooler. And all this while Stan was editing every single book. What; 9 super hero books, 1 war comic, 3 westerns, and whatever else - over 13 books while writing/scripting a majority of them. What does the average comic book editor handle nowadays? 4-5, maybe 6 titles? With an Assistant(s)? Stan worked his butt off for Marvel in those formative years. Without him, comics would have been the same same-old. There's a reason all those future comic creators like Roy Thomas, Kurt Busiek, and Claremont and Cockrum wrote to Stan back then (as evidenced by the letters pages). And when all these guys entered comics, did hey write more like Stan Lee or more like Jack Schiff? - No offense to Mr. Schiff intended. - It was Stan that changed the way comics were written. Sure they were creative giants, but it wasn't Jack. Or Steve. Denny O'Neil's GL/GA stories wouldn't have happened without Stan paving the way (and DC needing to catch up to Marvel's relevance). It was Stan's flair for drama and hipness. And I firmly believe the comic industry would have taken a different path, or just tromped down the same old path, if not for Stan Lee. What If: the FF read like the Challengers and Spider-Man was a copy-cat of the Fly? I shudder to think. 'Nuff Said.
    17 points
  17. Added one more book (see below) to join my Journey Into Mystery 89, CGC 7.5, OW/W. Was considering sending this off to auction, but thought I'd try it again here. I had listed this (the JIM 89) in a thread last summer at a 'not-too-eager-to-sell' price; this time, lower. The Rules … No one on the naughty lists. Payment by cheque for these books; in Canada, the CDN equivalent of the asking USD price paid via e-Transfer is preferred. Shipping via Canada Post within Canada is $15.00; shipping to the US via Canada Post is $22.00. No international shipping for these books. As much as it pains me to say this, two claims in a few of my past sales threads by new Boardies did not end well. If you are a new Boardie, please PM me first and provide references for past deals completed here with established Boardies. I reserve the right to not sell the book if these conditions are not met by interested new Boardies. No return on these slabs. The first (or 'Take') in the thread claims the book(s) and trumps ANY negotiations via PM. I’ll mark the book(s) SOLD as soon as I, but if another Boardie beats me to it, then he/she is the winner. Please provide/send payment within 2 days of receiving my PM with the invoice. The book(s) will ship via Canada Post Expedited once the cheque/e-Transfer clears; tracking will be shared. My Kudos https://www.cgccomics.com/boards/topic/377554-buscemas-avengers-kudosfeedback-thread/ Please ask for additional pics/questions if needed. Journey Into Mystery 89, CGC 7.5, OW/W. Classic Kirby cover, origin retold. A 7.5 white pager sold at Heritage (here) in 2022 for $1535.00 (before BP). My price: $1400.00 $1350.00 SOLD to Straw-Man per PM
    17 points
  18. From my PC...graded in 2001. Looks nicer than grade..a pretty good CPR candidate if that is your thing!! Brave and the Bold 28 CGC 6.5 1st Justice League of America $8950 SOLD!!
    17 points
  19. I can think of one thing it probably isn't helpful to do.
    17 points
  20. It’s so upsetting to see person after person, who eventually find themselves here, posting to ask for their books back. As a collector, for better or worse, I know how attached you can become to books in your collection. No one should have a shred of empathy for him. This wide of a net doesn’t happen by accident. This is someone who knowingly accepted books and money from people that he must have known, at a minimum, would vastly exceed the time frame that was presented to complete the work, if ever. If you’re to believe he actually experienced a health episode, he was mismanaging his business well beforehand. There are lots of people who perpetrate scams that are uncovered when circumstances suddenly change. I’m interested to see how many people would have to reveal their abuse before those who are seemingly justifying horrible behavior acquiesce. Good luck to the victims.
    17 points
  21. I'm in the same boat, trying to be patient with what is clearly an insurance and legal process at this point. They have my (expensive) book, can't tell me if it's now restored, can't tell me what the new grade might be, can't tell me when anything will be resolved, can't tell me if I'll get my money back, can't seem to answer any of my questions, no matter how simple. I've been on the boards for 22 years and have appreciated CGC for all they do, warts and all. But if I'm screwed on this book somehow (i.e., not made whole in a reasonable and timely manner), there will be hell to pay. Every day and week that passes, they are mounting frustration with an important group of people -- those who have been harmed by a scammer taking advantage of a faulty holder process and bought it with trust. At least they should have their leadership letting people know what's actually going on in a general sense. Back to waiting with patience... Dan
    16 points
  22. Carson City beauty I love these Ace covers
    16 points
  23. On the first Sunday of this month my dealer friend invited two friends and I on his final visit to a sale where he was able to cherry pick a storage unit collection. The seller had close to 100 boxes and let us fill shortboxes for $60 each. So I filled up two shortboxes and a half for $150. These are some of the highlights
    16 points
  24. Unnecessary stress is people sending their valuable books and cash to him and years later finding out they may get nothing back and they nay have been sold or lost. That’s fantastic that you both are getting your books back. Congrats. It may not seem like it but for two new people to join, post, and immediately get a resolution is nothing short of amazing. Almost ……too much so. This thread and the comments were virtually the only reason some got their books back. No one was kicking him. Many were offering to help any way they could.
    16 points
  25. Final spring haul is here. Thanks to a fellow boardie @tod09for the ToS 74
    15 points
  26. A few I got back from CGC today
    15 points
  27. Did you happen to spot either of these two in the security footage?
    15 points
  28. It took six years but I finally have the set!
    15 points
  29. My latest book arrived today. I have been looking off and on for several years for a nice copy of either a Black Terror or Exciting Comics issue with the Black terror and some action. I did not have a specific book in mind. This book worked on all of those accounts, and has a Schomburg cover to boot. I doubt if the three thugs in the car planned on buying any war bonds with the bag of loot.
    15 points
  30. That we know of. We only know of many of Mike's issues now coming to light with unfinished or even unstarted work due to this thread and the last locked thread. Look at how many clients came out of the woodwork once these threads caught on with google's search optimization. That Flash wasn't necessarily the only outlier. There were several AF15's one of which reported to having been held for the last 4 years. Who knows how many other books or clients Mike has wronged that have yet to find these boards. Some clients may not be as internet savvy and others may have just forgotten or written them off. I know I sometimes forget about single shipment pre-orders and CGC submissions that took over a year and only remember them due to my notes in my spreadsheet and google calendar to follow up on them. And now they can't even reach him because his business is closed and he has no public contact info. Here's a frame of reference. I only first heard about Hero Restoration on this board about 5 years ago just before the pandemic. I remember hearing nothing but praise and how great of an operation they were. They were referred by several boardies and talked about as rivaling Joey when it came to pressing/cleaning and Matt Nelson when it came to restoration. Based on this feedback I had imagined them to be a top notch pressing and restoration company with several experienced pressers and restoration experts in paper conservation with years of experience on staff. I researched this lightly when looking into restoration removal from a color touched AF15 I had and their name came up frequently. I ended up not doing the removal or using their service (thankful) due to other factors. However, when asked, I would list them as an option for pressing right under Joey and CGC (again, feeding into the reputation echo chamber). Now this thread and the previous locked one comes up and I am completely confused as to whether it was talking about the same Hero Restoration that was highly recommended all those years ago. Now after reading about his "learning" threads on CPG and on here back in 2009 and that he was primarily just a one man operation until the mid 20teens a picture begins to emerge. It may not be that he was intentionally scamming anyone or setting out to pull a long con but early on and continuing until last year he was likely misrepresenting himself when advertising his services. He was practicing with customer's books and learning on the fly. He may have informed some early customers of using their books to practice but for any customers of his in the years following his posts in 2009 did he ever inform them that he had recently acquired these skills and that he may still be learning to do other types of restoration? I doubt it. And now we hear that he requested his early posts on CPG be deleted due to "investor" concerns about his amateur past? Sure I get that it might make some customers uneasy but that is information a client should have when choosing an expert. And restoration isn't a 1 year program to become an expert. Some of the best restorers have been doing this for decades and went to school to get degrees in paper conservation and archiving. In 6 months I became really good at pressing learning through trial an error many of the same processes that others have already mastered and been pressing casually for the last 3 years but in no way do I feel I am qualified to offer my services for hire nor would I feel comfortable recommending my services or those of anyone who has only been doing it for a short time and didn't have expertise in the exact comic paper types. I don't know Mike personally like some on here might or as close as Sauce Dog does and some still vouch for him but it is hard to believe this is the same Mike. I wish we could hear from some of his former employees about the real Mike. The following spoiler content is just my opinion of the conclusions I was able to draw from what I believe happened based on the information from these 2 threads and what I've heard in the past and should not be taken as a fact of what actually happened: At this point I'm worried he is in such a downward spiral with his arrest, personal issues, and possible pending legal action, I fear for his personal well being but hope he gets the help he needs to recover and can try to seek redemption and repay those he wronged at some point in his life. Mike, in case you read this, please know there is always a way back to redemption no matter how difficult. Do not expect forgiveness or forgetfulness from others but focus on moving forward to be a better person and strive for restitution.
    15 points
  31. Last two FanExpo pickups...
    15 points
  32. Why is there a user named "Cantina201" that's separate from a "Flake Tapper" whose gmail address is "cantina201"? "Flake" even defends "Cantina201" as if separate in this thread (on page 47). (Cantina started this thread btw fwiw)
    14 points
  33. All you need is a bunch of pretentious art critic blowhards to slather on the verbal diarrhea to really sell the art to people who only buy it based on outlandish after-the-fact implied artistic motivations. For instance, the FF page that went for about $9000 more than it should have - can you imagine if you changed the description from: This page features the first appearance of the infamous Invisible Woman costume which caught the attention of fans in the early '90s. The revealing outfit made a splash as little was left to the imagination, with the "4" cut-out on her chest. And she still has trouble getting Reed's attention. to: A visual monument to the stalwartness of empowered female protagonists, Sue Storm metaphorically breaks barriers by being illustrated outside of panel boundaries to actualize her strength of confidence in revealing her new costume (designed by Vera Wang), taking the patriarchal gesture of "rolling up your sleeves" and commandeering it for the new female regime. Paul Ryan astutely balances the light and dark behind Storm to reveal the dichotomy of her desire to be motherly nurturer and hero warrior, while juxtaposing it with the typical toxic masculinity that poisons the personality of the Fantastic Four's leader, Reed Richards. Bulanadi's short-stroked inks are a classic manifestation of internal struggles rising from the subconscious to exemplify the artist's frustration with matriarchal power dynamics. Overall, a testament to the rebellious nature of the trapped female form breaking out against societal norms, while standing up for individuality in the face of oppressive subservient marriage imprisonment. That's how you sell it to rich people who want to spout the explanation verbatim to their house party guests and show off their art collection that was curated by a keen eye for social backstories. I've seen it first hand. When comic art begins to sell this way, that'll bring it to the next level.
    14 points
  34. I knew I had a nice copy of this book because I recall how much I loved the cover when I bought it. I haven’t looked at it closely in a long time but found a forgotten but pleasant surprise.
    14 points
  35. Thievery is afoot! How dare Mike someone steal what has rightfully already been stolen by Mike! Sources* did provide me with the following CCTV footage to prove it wasn't Mike though: *It's me, I'm the sources with MSPIANT!
    14 points
  36. Update: ComicConnect added this letter of explanation to their homepage re the missing images... makes sense now. I retract my previous comments.
    14 points
  37. Just now getting caught up with this interesting and informative thread. Took a cursory rewind backward in time and came across the following post... I realize Roy is banned so I’m not necessarily responding to him but to the larger conversation surrounding his comment. I have collected hundreds of before and after images of manipulated books and twice as many associated datapoints of books increasing in grade through apparent maximization means. All through the years of gathering that information, I have never documented an instance where a book increased in grade and yet somehow retained the very same (original) certification number after resubmission. The label ALWAYS changes to a new grade, a new grade date, a NEW certification number, and more often than not, a new page quality. Nor have I witnessed a straightforward reholdering submission – from old to new generation holder and/or from traditional label to new pedigree label – receive a new higher grade and retain its original certification number. The procedural process never changes. The resubmitted book only gets a new certification number IF the grade changes. It doesn’t retain the original number. That fact has held constant until I recently came across the following two examples. These books were obviously regraded and reholdered from 2nd generation holders to 3rd generation holders with the new pedigree label as illuminated by before and after imagery. They have been reassigned higher grades and new grade dates (regraded) in the certification database (initial certification information removed); however, they have somehow retained their original certification numbers that were issued years earlier during initial or secondary authentication and certification. Not exactly sure how that worked out. CGC has advertised the exact opposite down through the years and has directly answered questions related to the specific process for certification number changes during reholdering. I can’t help but wonder if this is a clerical error committed by a new, uneducated employee or if it was purposefully done to obscure certification history for an elite collector or dealer of these legendary grails prior to liquidation by means of favoritism and the “secret handshake.” In any event, this unfortunate discovery brings to mind the following past claim that rocked the community herein during the early days of the certification age: “Select clients who maintained a membership agreement with CGC and who were sworn to secrecy were offered the opportunity to send in their comic books to CGC and have a CGC in-house improvement service maximize the physical condition before undergoing the grading and slabbing service.” ********** Edgar Church copy of Superman #1: Initially authenticated and certified in 2004 as 7.5, it was regraded in 2014 as 8.0. The book is now an 8.5 with a new grade date of 1/10/2022 (exact same certification number as the 8.0 copy). Kansas City copy of Action Comics #1: Initially authenticated and certified in 2010 as 8.0 with OFF-WHITE Pages. The book is now an 8.5 with OFF-WHITE TO WHITE Pages. It has a new grade date of 11/04/2021 (exact same certification number as the 8.0 copy).
    14 points
  38. Two-Fisted Tales #30 - cgc 8.0 cream to off-white pages - $800 In my opinion this is not only the best cover of the run but also on the short list of greatest EC covers period.
    14 points
  39. Re-scanned some of my ECs...got the colors much closer to reality, if not right on...
    14 points
  40. My copy of the Marilyn issue of Love Romances
    14 points
  41. CGC grader on the way to work??
    14 points
  42. 14 points
  43. Quick update. I have been away and busy... As a family heirloom, I bought a watch for my daughter to hand down when she is of age. I was just blessed and welcomed a son into the world and am doing it again. I have a watch on my radar so MAKE ME AN OFFER AND LETS MOVE SOME BOOKS!
    14 points
  44. 14 points
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