Rune

Just got this piece home behind Museum Glass, I guess I'm ready to watch the new movie now - a few through the glass shots... - it's signed by Stan in the Spring 2018, one of his last sigs...

Haven't bought any art in years - got no more room on the walls, - but could not resist this Venom cover, which I won yesterday at Comiclink: More info about the piece here: https://www.comicartfans.com/gallerypiece.asp?piece=1732747

You might need both - Sonja starts on page 15 in #23: - but clearly the #23 cover totally pales compared to #24. The Sonja art and story are much better in #24, but of course it's not her first appearance. From #24:

Can't have it all, I guess - I do appreciate white pages and when there's just one book, there's nothing to choose from. The miswrap is a reminder of how mags were produced back then, you won't see that among modern books, so you could consider it a feature illustrating production history ;-) Also it has taken about 22 years for CGC to grade just one mag - you risk waiting forever for another copy. Not many may have preserved SSoC #11 in 9.8 condition, this usually takes an adult buying the book in the 1970s and never reading it - kids and teenagers may be very fast getting these mags below 9.0, lol.

Was lucky to find and add this book to my collection today - I know the centering isn't good, but it's the single highest graded and has pure white page - and beggars can't be choosers, lol:

Seems prices are quite strong right now - last night a CoB #1 9.8 ended close to 8k: - and #20 ended at 4k - glad I don't have to buy them again! Even #1 9.0 has gone beyond 1k: https://www.comiclink.com/auctions/item.asp?back=%2FAUCTIONS%2FSEARCH.ASP%3FFocusedOnly%3D1%26where%3Dauctions%26title%3Dconan%2Bthe%2Bbarbarian%26GO%3DGO%26ItemType%3DCB%23Item_1454757&id=1454757&itemType=0 That #1 does look quite good though. Haven't been following much up on prices lately, maybe it's just me being behind - not going to sell anything anyway, the wife says I lack that gene Btw, sent in my #1 reading copy a few years ago, and got back this one - but admitted, I never let the kids read it Unfortunately now I no longer have a reading copy

Some of my photos were quite old - just took some new shots of #16, 17, 19 and 20 for my set, but they do get shrunken quite a bit for the set. Here the new pics are in large format - note that these were very hard to find without profound miswrap and with pure white pages: - also got some nice messages for #19-20 from the original owner:

Maybe fun to put it all in one post with big pictures, - Here we go, if I can still count to 25... (Might need to take new shots, some are below the quality I'd like - but kinda feels like ... work ) Click on an image to see full size To quote the movie Citizen Kane, this would be the "Rosebud" of my collection - the set I love the most. Nothing else really comes close.

Thanks, Matt - I have found it - it was well hidden! ;-)

Just bought this book - but can't seem to add it to the Ultimate Comics Spider-man set? Help would be greatly appreciated! Hello @Rune, This book is eligible for the "Ultimate Spider-Man (2011)" set. I renamed the Ultimate Comics Spider-Man set to include "(2009)" as it can be confusing. ( I am actually still scratching my head on these ones).

Thanks - nice knowing that some are reading all the words I've spent time writing! :-) Just saw that Carlo added a signed #1 to his collection, and even if I have not added more to the collection since 2014 I'm still actively looking for the few books I miss. My dream still is to get them all with 9.8 WP and nice centering - maybe one day

I'm still waiting for another copy of #11, sigh - got the rest: https://comics.www.collectors-society.com/registry/comics/PeopleSetDetail.aspx?PeopleSetID=9292 I wonder if I'll get one in this life Maybe I should buy some 9.6s, send them in, get them pressed and hope for the best...

Congrats - it's an awesome book! In case you have not done so, you can add your SSoC Boris collection to the Registry here: https://comics.www.collectors-society.com/registry/comics/SetTypeDetail.aspx?SetTypeID=4381 Did get this one in 2018 for my Boris set, although it's not complete - but nice to see that CGC seems to love the great mags too! I'm still looking for a 9.8 regarding #13 and #15, but no luck searching the first 5 (or more) years, sigh. With this speed I'll capture a unicorn or bigfoot before I get #13 and #15 in 9.8

Got this one maybe a month ago, 9.6 + Pedigree + WP should be really close to the quality of a 9.8 non-pedigree non-WP Then got this one too - grew tired of waiting for a 9.8: But then this one surfaced - what are the odds... Still I'm not able to count to 10, but 8 - maybe more like 7.5, sigh

Just added OA for #5 to the library: https://s1270.photobucket.com/user/runesr2/library/Original Art Covers?page=1 Get it here http://comiclink.com/auctions/item.asp?back=%2FAUCTIONS%2FSEARCH.ASP%3FFocusedOnly%3D1%26where%3Dauctions%26title%3Dconan%26ItemType%3DCA%23Item_1310421&id=1310421&itemType=1 With the current speed these pieces are surfacing, I'll have a complete collection in just 20 years or so!

I won an award last year and got the opportunity to get some books graded for free. I sent in my ST #1 reading copy and just got it back: This mag was kinda special, I bought it in June 2009. The seller told me he frequently visited The Studio in the 1970s: "By the way back in the 70's I owned a comic shop & used to hang around The Studio in NYC. That was a loft shared by Jeff Jones, Mike Kaluta, Barry Smith & one of my best friends Berni Wrightson. You would have loved it." I believe he's talking about Baltimore's first comic shop The Nostalgia Crypt in Reisterstown, Md, which he opened in 1973. I also asked him about the grade - his reply: "Honestly I don't know the grading system with numbers. When I was into this as a business in the 70's grading ran from poor to mint period. I used my best eye to give it a near mint. Pages are yellowing a little around the edges due to age ( 1971 ) is what I would have to say Hope this helps." He shipped it in a thin paper envelope, no padding at all, but magically it arrived totally unharmed. I was close to giving him negative feedback just for the truly horrible shipping. I guess this book has come a long way, happy to see it in a proper home :-) I also got ST #1 in 9.6 and 9.8, but there's still some special magic about this copy - and I'm happy for the 9.0 grade. I wasn't expecting more than 8.0, maybe 8.5.

Some dude just took a few photos of Swampy - some of the best pics I've seen - looks awesome: Reminds me that I should get some proper lighting done ... soon ... BTW, the limited edition is almost sold out according to Sideshow - so don't wait too long if you consider getting one: https://www.sideshow.com/collectibles/dc-comics-swamp-thing-sideshow-collectibles-300654

Sigh, I never submit raw books, I just buy slabs In short I completely forgot to ask for Fast Track - I just wrote to Dena and Jose asking if they could change all my submissions to Fast Track

Today 119 days have passed since my books were received, I wonder if I'll ever see land

You're welcome - I've had it for more than a month, and I still can't take my eye off it ;-) It's covered by a lot of paint, and it looks muddy - but that's just how Swampy should look. Like the swamp, Swampy absorbs light, so this statue does benefint from a lot of light - also to show it's surface structures and shadows. In a badly lit room the statue doesn't necessarily show many colors - it may simply look like this: I'm considering setting up some spot lights to really show off the statue. About the $$$, note that depending on your location shipping and VAT may be expensive. I paid $200 for the shipping (from Hong Kong to Scandinavia, took 1 day using DHL Express, awesome speed, but not free ;-) - and $275 for VAT - $1250 in total.

This one arrived today - 928 pages

Just got these ASM books, Doc Ock was the previous owner, sad to see him sell most of his collection. The ASM books may count as a Christmas gift to myself ASM 52 with some reflections in the holder: Astonishing Tales 3 - there're 3 in 9.8 and none better - so they don't grow on trees: Astonishing Tales 9 - also there're only 3 in 9.8 and none better, it took me years to find this book: I'm trying to collect the first 10 issues of Astonishing Tales - the Barry Smith run - now I just need #10

I don't care much about fire too - compared to theft. There once was a thread about a fireproof safe leading to buildup of moisture and possible corrosion af staples. I'm using a safe approved to EN1143-1 grade 1 (=Eurograde 1) - more info here: https://www.safeoptions.co.uk/blog/what-do-eurograde-safe-ratings-mean/ I've talked to a few manufacturers, it seems that "fireproof" may mean that items within the safe will be kept at less than 338F (170C), which might not work well for cgc books anyway. As long as you buy something that no thief can lift and move, you should be fine - I keep remembering that scene from True Detectives, where evidence was hidden in a small hidden wall safe, which was relatively easy to remove from the wall and steal. That won't happen with a real safe ;-) I had a nice discussion with an experienced police detective, he told me that burglars never spend time on a safe - they just leave them alone and go for easier targets. So any heavy safe should be just fine ;-)

My best art 2018 (published cover, pen and ink by Gene Colan): More info here: https://www.comicartfans.com/gallerypiece.asp?piece=1475772 My best book 2018 (I think ): My best statue 2018, 24" (61 cm) tall, 27 lbs (12.5 kg) - it's hand painted, so it's original art, right?

Got this one a few days ago And the real box - I added a blu-ray movie to show the size: Inside the box... Cranius is really awesome - unfortunately there's just no way to truly capture statues using photos, statues look so much better in the real world - but the following pics may provide some impressions. Cranius' base: Next: the giant Swamp Thing base weighing about 20 lbs: Turtle close-up: Snake close-up: The back of the base: Note how the base is made to make it look like Swamp Thing is standing in water - truly awesome: Bottom of the base: And now with Swamp Thing - he completely dwarfs my large 1/4 Batman DKR statue. Both statues are 1/4 in size. I think Swampy is slightly too large, but I don't have a problem with that, it makes Swampy look even more impressive next to Batman: Swamp Thing looks quite different depending on the light - here're a few examples: - and here taken with a real camera (I'm using a smartphone): The complexity of Swamp Thing is astonishing, check out his back: I'm really happy for the piece, it's everything I hoped for and even more. I better start reading the Saga of Swamp Thing again, there's no better motivation for reading those books than looking at this statue. The complexity of the statue is so high I feel I'll never get tired of looking at it. It even makes my Galactus maquette look dull and boring! More info about the statue here: https://www.sideshowtoy.com/collectibles/dc-comics-swamp-thing-sideshow-collectibles-3006541/