mschmidt

It's one of the differences between the old slab & the new - on the new slabs, the sides are sonically sealed so they're very tight. In order to crack the new slabs, you start at the top. On the old slabs, the top & bottom are sealed tight and you crack them from the sides.

Yep: https://www.dalerobertscomics.com/itm/3610/cerebus-the-aardvark-1-cgc-8.0 I saw it in hand at NYCC - it looks like an 8.5, CGC was a bit too tough on that book.

I twist as well - makes it easier to actually get the case apart.

Let me guess - the people spreading that rumor are the ones trying to sell copies of this book, right? It's simple logic - the Sandman #8 editorial variant was a legit "stop the press, we screwed up" sort of book. Which is why the confirmed print run is so tiny. That book was never supposed to exist at all. But to think that DC or Marvel in the mid-90s would print only 600 copies of any top tier book on purpose - 1st or 2nd print, it doesn't matter - is crazy. Sandman #75 was the last issue of DC/Vertigo's flagship title, which, at the height of its popularity, outsold all other DC books. If orders were strong enough to warrant DC actually putting out a 2nd print, you can be 110% sure that DC printed up a ton of these to satisfy the demand. It just wouldn't have been economical for them otherwise. The most likely explanation for you not being able to find the 2nd print by itself in Comichron's numbers is that the 1st & 2nd print preorders are bundled together in there. It's pretty common when you start going that far back in their system.

Aren't you and I the only ones that actively collect these?

Because mycomicshop lists almost half a million items on eBay?

It's a rare book because basically up until last year nobody knew this book even existed - I'm a fairly hardcore Sandman collector and even I thought it was a myth (or misprint in the OSPG). The fact that there's now 12 copies in the census and multiple raw copies are popping up on eBay fairly regularly shows that, as people are becoming aware of the existence of this book, they're managing to find it in the wild. Heck, I snagged my own raw copy out of a $5 box earlier this year - simply because I'm now actively looking for this book. Right now this book is the rarest Sandman variant out there (based on census numbers), but it would be foolish to think that's going to be the case in the future. That honor will always end up going to the #8 Berger editorial variant simply because it has a far smaller print run than this book. Good luck with the sale of your copy

When microchamber paper is "full" (eg. unable to absorb any more off-gassing from the comic book), it simply becomes inert - it will never harm the actual comic book.

The drawers are 1/2" baltic birch plywood. I'd venture an educated guess and say the actual cabinet is made of MDF.

CGC checked directly with the IDW event organizers - it was a hard no on having books signed & slabbed. So, no, there won't be any CGC books from this signing.

What an exhausting thursday.

Totally agree with that - the more information the better

Terms of service: https://www.cgccomics.com/news/viewarticle.aspx?IDArticle=5493& Company has the right in its sole discretion to reject any items submitted for Services in cases where the submitted items do not comply with Company’s then-current standards and procedures set forth on Company’s website. Because Company must still receive, track and examine each rejected item, fees for Services shall not be refunded for such rejected items.

You're referring to this, right? "We talked to the cgc rep there in charge and were told ultimately it's up to the grader." That's a misreading of what the CGC rep said - it's not up to the individual grader to decide which books can & cannot be slabbed (which would imply that one grader might grade & slab something another grader wouldn't). The decision is made by CGC's head modern finalizer, Shawn Caffrey, and then enforced by the entire grading team.