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Tropean

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Everything posted by Tropean

  1. I guess - very appropriately, given the title we're talking about here - miracles do happen. Mostly anyway Yesterday I received my Gold Edition back from that other (new) grading company, in a slick new 9.6 "verified signature" slab. Out of respect for our hosts I won't be posting a photo, but if anyone would like to see the book just let me know and I'll get a photo off to you. Feeling very good about how this turned out
  2. Great post and info that I had not seen before. Really interested to see that #55 had previously been sold on eBay, as I went ahead and took the plunge on it at a recent ComicLink auction Yes, I went in with my eyes wide open about PGX. In an incredible bit of timing vis a vis this post, just yesterday I sent the slab off to a - ahem - new grading service for cracking, re-grading, and re-slabbing. Will be fascinating to see how it comes back. Will keep you posted.
  3. I picked this up int he most recent ComicLink auction. Mid-grade, but happy to be in both the #1 club and the 35 cent variant club:
  4. How about his son? Joe Hill, Horns. Was chatting with a colleague about Joe Hill and the next day she lent me his Heart Shaped Box, which I read this weekend and thoroughly enjoyed. If anyone else here has read it, did you visualize Rob Zombie as Judas Coyne? I definitely did.
  5. If you haven't all ready read them. Check out the King and Straub collaboration - The Talisman or start on the The Dark Tower / Gunslingers series. All great reads!!! I agree except for one book, "Wizard and Glass"... overly long and incredibly boring. Waste Land was excellent and Wolves of the Calla that followed but I really struggled to finish book 4. Really struggled. Just finished The Gunslinger (first book of The Dark Tower series). Almost wish I had read it without reading King's introduction, in which he discusses writing the book as a very young man as sort of a Sergio Leone meets The Hobbit / Lord of the Rings mash-up and then going back after 30+ years to edit and refine it. I think I would have preferred to be underwhelmed and ask the question "What's going on here? What is this master author trying to do by writing and plotting this way"? as opposed to being underwhelmed because the author was a novice who had done nothing of note before taking on an epic quest. If that makes any sense.
  6. Ditto, ditto, ditto. Great variety of material, from a hardcover to a full run to one of his own sketch covers, all in pristine condition and ridiculously well wrapped (Chris should seriously post a YouTube of how to package a box of comics). Glad a bought a second mystery box!
  7. Over the Christmas / New Year's break I re-discovered Martin Cruz Smith of Gorky Park fame. He's a terrific writer whose prose far surpasses the typical murder - mystery - police procedural stuff. Just finished Wolves Eat Dogs, a Renko mystery set in post-Chernobyl Chernobyl, and Rose, which is a departure from his Renko series set in Industrial Revolutio-era Britain. Both recommended.
  8. Very interesting as a business proposition, in that now the question will inevitably be asked whether CGC gave a "home team" grade to a book which its sister company restored and/or pressed. This would seem to open the door to a legitimate competitor (i.e., not PGX) which did purely grading. Be interesting to see if someone sees that opportunity and pursues it. As a matter of curiosity I did a very quick and superficial search to see whether Sotheby's or Christie's auction houses did restoration or conservation along with their appraisal and sales functions. If they do they're hiding it pretty well on their websites (like I said, I did not look very deeply). This would seem to indicate that a firm whose primary business is grading (and therefore implicitly offering opinions on value) might not be the best candidate to offer resto and conservation services. Will be fascinating to see how this plays out in the marketplace over the coming years. EDITED: Further looking around indicates that Sotheby's has a restoration division, so I appear wrong on that point. Still looking for more info.
  9. Massive kudos to Makmorn, not only for an accurate description of the books I bought from him and timely shipping, but for maybe the greatest packaging job in the history of comic packaging. Bubble wrap, custom-cut cardboard dividers, that thick foam in which computer components and televisions are packed, peanuts . . . this package had it all, fit together as though it were made to hold these books. Will, I'll definitely look to do business with you again. (thumbs u
  10. Kudos to DCMan and Hillbill for two excellent deals. In both cases the books were just as described, were sent immediately (if not sooner), and were perfectly packaged. I will happily look to do business with both of them again. Thanks guys.
  11. Kudos to MLMeade for high-grade copies of 5 out of 6 books in the the Kraven's Last Hunt story line. They were just as described, impeccably packed, and sent immediately. Will definitely look to do business with Michael again.
  12. Kudos to cloudofwit for ASM 293 and 294 (Zeck covers, part of the Kraven's Last Hunt story arc). They were just as described, impeccably packed, and sent immediately. Will definitely look to do business with Scott again.