bagofleas

According to the pricing chart, “cards may be a mix of different types/games. This makes me think they WILL grade other types of cards besides MTG or Pokémon. What I’m curious about is whether they can encapsulate thicker cards, like 100pt thick or thicker.

It's been a while but Kaholo had one of my cherished original collection books and hadn't sent it back to me yet. It's an ASM 300 in CGC 9.4 with Stan Lee, Bob McLeod, David Michelinie, Tom DeFalco and Todd MacFarlane signed on it. He sent me a picture of the book, which is shown below, right before the "you know what" hit the fan with him. It was completed and graded, but never returned to me. Please let me know if someone can reunite me with my book.

Its finally that time again! Since hitting Heroes Con last year for the first time, I resigned myself to never missing this awesome show again! Easily the best show on the east coast every year! And now its finally time for Heroes Con again this weekend! Ive got lots of stuff to do at this show! Many books that I will get signatures on, many people to aid in their searches for that next awesome graded treasure, and many friends to see and spend time with! And of course, all of the awesome artwork that the artists do at this show for the annual art auction that they run every year!! This will be a fantastic weekend filled with comic art greatness!! I will post pictures after the weekend is over. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Little by little. As many of you know, I am slowly putting together a set of all 29 of the Marvel 25th Anniversary Border Covers. I am shooting for all 9.8 WP on them. Although a few will be nearly impossible to accomplish with that goal. I have a copy of Classic XMen #3 that surfer99 got signed for me In process at CGC right now, but while I am waiting on that to get done, I had a chance to win one for really cheap online, so I went for it...... and got it! I figure if the signed one does not get 9.8, at least I will have a 9.8 copy. And if it does get 9.8, then I can either sell this one or give it to my big bro, Tnerb. Anyway, here is a picture of the unsigned copy that I won. Now to try and find those last couple of pesky Star Comics issues....... To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

The nature of grading. As graded comic collectors, we all know how it's a patient man's way of collecting. You can fork out the money to buy already graded books like I did for the first five years of my collecting cgc books, or you can submit books yourself, which is mostly what I do now. But the length of time to get them back after submission can be agonizingly slow. We understand that that's the case ahead of time, but it doesn't make it any less frustrating. But that's what happens when everybody wants books done in massive volume all year long. Paying the extra $10 per book for Fast Track is always an option, and one that I very often take advantage of, but when you're submitting a lot of books, that extra cost adds up fast!!! So depending on what I've budgeted myself for my current round of invoices, I may or may not do Fast Track. In the case of the four current invoices I have at CGC, only one is Fast Tracked, and that one is only because I want it back YESTERDAY. It is my ASM #300, which I sent to Kaholo1256 (thanks buddy!!) for getting MacFarlane to sign. I would normally be willing to wait the regular time for it, but it's a personal thing and not for selling. It is the copy that my late father and I picked up right off the shelf back in 1988. It has been graded and cracked a total of FIVE TIMES now!!!!! But when it comes back to me for this last time, it will have signatures from Tom DeFalco, Bob McLeod, David Michelinie, Stan Lee and Todd MacFarlane!!! It was 9.6 at first but fell to 9.4 during the multiple cracking sessions. I had it pressed this last time to try and get it back up to 9.6, so hopefully that will be the case, but regardless of the grade, it is a very sentimental book to me. The other three invoices however are in the process of going through at the normal snail's pace. I've been patient, but I dying to know what they get. Among the three invoices are six total books. Four of them are for my Marvel 25th Anniversary Border Covers set!! One is for my Indiana Jones set, and one is for my What If set. Two of them were sent to Surfer99 for Herb Trimpe to sign at Phoenix Comic Con, les than a month before he passed away. I am so thankful to him for getting those done for me. Heck, once the Transformers #22 and Indiana Jones #17 come back, they will be not only the only signed and graded copies, they will both be the only graded copies that will ever exist that are signed by Herb!!!! So while it may be mind numbing to have to wait so long, it just makes it that much sweeter when they finally make their way back to you! The picture below is of my copy of Transformers #5, which I'm contemplating cracking for Bob Budiansky to sign at Baltimore Comic Con. Ive never seen him attending a show before and the only reason he is going to this one is to support the Heroes Initiative. I want to be sure to take advantage of him being there, and I have a few books I can get signed by him, but this cover was always one of my faves of the original series. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Onsite is always awesome! No, I'm not trying to be a poet with my title. Not on purpose, anyway. But what I AM trying to do is post a journal that describes what books I'm going to get done onsite at the next convention I'm attending. Baltimore Comic Con wasn't an onsite convention until last year, but they couldn't have picked a better show to add to their repertoire of super-fast-TAT conventions. Baltimore always has a massive guest list of comic creators, which always makes for a lot of multiple signing opportunities (sig-ops). Being able to get books signed and done onsite at this show is a real treat. I have done what I always do when preparing for a show. I go through the guest list, do a massive amount of research, put a list together of everything I have that can possibly get signed, and then slowly start whittling the list down to the most important books to me at the current time. Usually, it boils down to three things: 1. Books that can help with sets that I'm trying to complete. 2. Books that can be multiply signed. 3. Books for creators that I've yet to meet and get sigs from. I believe I have dwindled my choices down to four books, hence the title of this journal. I may do another book or two, including the Marvel Super Special #10 I did my last journal on, but these are the four that I will do for onsite. New Mutants #58 - Louise Simonson New Mutants Annual #4 - Louise Simonson and Bob McLeod Avengers #273 - Tom Palmer Conan the King #37 - Mike Manley I simply can't let an onsite show happen without trying to finally complete my New Mutants set in 9.8, which is why I'm doing the NM Annual #4. The NM #58 is so that I can try to get an SS 9.8 copy. If I do manage it with this one, my big bro gets my Universal 9.8 copy. The Avengers and Conan the King books are to get ever closer to completing my Marvel 25th Anniversary Border Covers set. I actually cracked the Conan one for Tampa Bay CC, but Mike Manley cancelled literally on the first day of the show. Hopefully he doesn't do that for Baltimore too. I have more books that can be done to help complete these and some other sets I'm working on, but I'm holding out for two reasons. 1. I need to put intervals in place for my spending. 2. I want to try and wait for sig-ops on them. If any creators are added to the show that can sign any of these other books I'm waiting on, I will have to seriously reconsider my limitations I've put on myself. I'm sure this will be another fantastic Baltimore CC, especially since I will finally (hopefully) be able to meet up with Kaholo1256!! With me, tnerb and Kaholo tearing up the convention floor together, this will be a show to remember!!!!! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Here it comes! It's been a while since I've posted a journal. This is due partially to being so busy for the last few months, and partially due to having more jobs placed upon me. But now it's time to start back up with posts again. I have done far more shows this year than I thought I might be able to. When the year was starting, I was looking at doing ECCC, but once I realized what it was going to cost me to the show, I decided that this would restrict me from being able to do all the other shows throughout this year that I wanted to do. So I didn't go to ECCC, even though it would have allowed me to meet up with so many fellow board members. But even after making that decision, I wasn't sure I would be able to attend all of the other shows I really aimed to this year. But somehow I managed to go to Megacon, which was great. Then I went to Heroes Con in North Carolina for the first time! It was an amazing show!!! It reminded me very much of the show I will talk about in just a moment, but with more of an emphasis on original art. Then I attended Tampa Bay Comic Con, where I was able to get a number of things done, and meet a bunch of creators that o have never been able to before, including John Bolton, who hasn't attended a U.S. Convention in over 20 years!!! Now I've got yet another major con coming over the horizon. Baltimore Comic Con is a show that just a few years ago, I never would have thought I would attend. But I have been to the show for the last two years, and I was sure that due to finances, I wouldn't be able to go to it this year. But thanks to some new jobs and newly acquired funds, I will be able to go for a third straight year! This show means a lot to me, because it was at this show that I met tnerb in person for the first time and as a result, acquired the big brother that I never knew I had. We will be attending the show together again this year as well, and I couldn't be happier about it. It is also the first show that I ever attended that was strictly comic book oriented. No TV or movie stars, no wrestlers, none of that. Just artists, writers, dealers, producers and manufacturers. I've gotten so many awesome books signed and graded at this show over the last two years, and I hope that this year will be just as rewarding. The one big difference for us this year is being able to do audio recordings for our new podcast! We are really going to try and get some interviews with creators and attendees, so hopefully we can get some really great audio for our next episode! So far we only have one episode from a few months back. We've wanted to do more episodes by this point but we've been so busy between the two of us that it just hasn't happened. But now that con season is beginning to come to a close, and all of our other personal distractions are starting to settle back down, we can hopefully start being more consistent with recordings. Baltimore CC will feature our first recording done onsite at a show, so it should be very interesting. Being an onsite show means that I will try to get at least a few books done right at the show. I have a few options and I hope to get at least 4 or 5 done. But one book that I absolutely HAVE to get signed and submitted at this show is my Marvel Super Special #10. Being a magazine means it can't be done onsite, since Megacon is the only show every year that CGC can do onsite mags. But having Tom Palmer sign this and then getting it graded will make this the single highest graded SS copy in the world! Why? Because it is easily a 9.6 copy, which is awesome all by itself. But getting it signed as well is the big bonus here. So far, the highest graded signed copy is one single 9.2 copy. So this will be an OAK when done! With the hyper popularity of GOTG now, these early Starlord books are a lot more pricey tha they used to be, and finding top notch copies of these mags is very tough. If you're planning on going to Baltimore CC and want to meet up with us, and maybe even do an interview with us to possibly make our podcast, let us know! We can maybe meet up! Between hanging out with my big bro, getting books signed and graded, doing audio recordings for our podcast, and scouring dealer boxes for awesome books and fantastic deals, this will be a show to remember!! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

You want low print run? You got it!! I sent some books to Tnerb last year to pass along to Kaholo1256 to get signatures on them at NYCC 2014. I just now got them back, and among them is an extraordinarily rare book that I got double signed! The book is Solar: Man of the Atom #1, but this copy is the Bob Layton Ultra Rare Virgin Variant Cover. They printed plenty of these with the logo title and everything else in the cover, but when it came to this virgin variant of the cover, they only printed....... 25!!!!! Yes, only 25 copies of this book that look just like this exist! Now if that's not rare, I don't know what is! What makes this book even better than that, is that it is now signed by Bob Layton himself and the writer of the book, Frank Barbiere. I've always been a fan of Laytons work, and I loved it back in the 90s when he was doing the early Valiant stuff. Having such a rare commodity as this is a thrill to me, even more so with the sigs! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Got it all done! The guys who run the CGC booths at the various shows around the country really are fantadtic! Mike, Molly ,Bree and all the others are fast, efficient, knowledgeable and very helpful and friendly. The fact that Megacon was an onsite convention makes it twice as hard on them, but they take it in stride, work hard and make it as enjoyable an experience as is possible under the circumstances. I was literally able to get all my onsite books done at the show this year, at the last moment, and it's thanks to them and the great bunch of guys (and gals) they had doing the actual witnessing. I got three magazine size books done onsite and seven regular comics done as well. Two of the comics I got done were for me and Tnerb (pic below), and I was very pleased with the results. I also got a few books done after onsite was closed. These were books I found right there at the show and got signed as well, except for one, which I was just astonished to find for just $4 at a dealer. I will post a journal on that one once I get it back. I got all my books done, I got sigs and sketches in my big bro's sketchbook, I got to browse through the dealers and found some real gems for my registry sets, took lots of pics of cosplayers, and met a bunch of very cool artists and bought some awesome prints. The only thing I didn't do this year was go anywhere near the celebrities section, which is a change for me. Up until now I've always tried to get at least one photo op done at these shows, but this year I was so focused on the comics that I didn't even bother with them. It was an fun experience this year that I felt was very productive and I look forward to the next show I can attend and talk, deal with and hang out with the guys at the CGC booth. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

A non-spoiler review of the Netflix series I have always been a big Daredevil fan. When the movie came out 12 years ago, I had high hopes. But those hopes were dashed in what I felt was a watered down, misrepresented form of the cast of characters and stories that I loved from the series. But now Marvel has seen fit to revisit the character on the newer format of Netflix, which allows them to be more free and in-depth with what they want to do, and be able to release the whole 13 episode origin story in one fell swoop. This gives us a far more complex and deep glimpse into the character, his past, his friends and the other cast of people who make up this corner of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The producers have done a fabulous job of balancing everything together, even with giving Fisk (Kingpin) a love interest that adds a more human element to him, even in the midst of his extreme brutality. I cannot possibly recommend this show enough to everyone, whether you are a hardened comic fan and reader of the original series, or just a fan of drama, action, adventure and suspense. Be warned however, the Netflix show has some very brutal, visual sequences in the violent fight scenes. This is the MCU underbelly, down on the street level, in a gritty, dark and corrupt area of New York known as Hell's Kitchen. It has language and extreme violence, so keep that in mind when considering letting your young children watch it. But the cast is amazing, the acting is top notch and the cinematography is amazing! Just check out the hallway scene in episode two to understand what I mean. It is a sequence that was filmed in one long, uninterrupted shot. Absolutely astonishing. So if you want to see something that grabs at the seedy underside of the MCU, with characters that you come to care about and root for (or despise), in a believable location with extreme, brutal action, then look no further than this "can't miss" new show on Netflix. If this is any indication of what the future Neltflix MCU shows (AKA Jessica Jones and Power Man) will be like, then sign me up! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

My favorite result from Megacon! I did quite a bit at Megacon this year. I think I was able to do so much because I pretty much completely ignored the celebrities area and only focused on comics and sketches and dealer boxes. I got some comics and magazines done onsite, I got some signatures and sketches done in my big brother's sketchbook, and I dug through dealer boxes, finding a few great books I've been looking for. Among the onsite books I had done, one in particular wound up being the highlight of the show for me, in a couple of ways. I bought a "near mint" copy of the Marvel Graphic Novel, Ka-Zar: Guns of the Savage Land from Mile High Comics over 18 months ago. It's a tougher MGN to find at all, let alone in good shape. I decided to finally take it to Megacon this year for Chuck Dixon to sign. He was thrilled to see it!! Said it was "A blast from the past". Apparently no one has ever asked for him to sign a copy before! He was so happy, that he wrote "Get Savage!" on it and signed it! I turned it in for onsite grading. Megacon is the only convention all year that CGC will do onsite grading of magazine size books, so I always like to at least do a few. I did not expect this copy to get 9.8, but I had it pressed just to give it the best chance. Well I couldn't be more happy with the results! This is now the only graded copy in existence!!!! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

The "death" of a creation is followed by the death of its creator. As a child, I loved the comic books that I read. I loved the art in them. But I wasn't really aware of the names or faces of the creators who wrote/drew them. It wasn't until I grew up more that I began to familiarize myself with the names associated with the books and characters that I loved. It wasn't until then that I began to truly appreciate them for their skills and talents. One of the names that first entered into my repertoire of comic heroes was Herb Trimpe. His work on GI Joe, Transformers and Indiana Jones was always among my favorites. It was his seminal creation however that truly enthralled me. I was always first and foremost a Marvel Mutants fan; primarily the New Mutants and the X-Men. Wolverine was right near the top of my favorites in this regard. Herb inspired me through his art and the characters and worlds he drew. I had the pleasure of meeting him on a few occasions at shows over the past two and a half years, and what a fantastic guy he was! He appreciated the fans who in turn appreciated his work and was always willing to spend a few minutes with each and every one to discuss comics, art and whatever else life had to offer. Unfortunately, life has offered up the end of this great individual and not too long after the "death" of his creation, Wolverine. While we all know that Marvel can and will bring back the rough and tough Canadian with the adamantium skeleton, they cannot undo what has been done to his beloved creator. Rest in Peace, Herb. You will be forever loved and missed. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Long "line" at the show. Or.... I've cracked books before but I've never done crack... and now this happens.Megacon brought many awesome sights and sounds for me this year. In at least one case however, it was a little too much.I had some books graded on-site with CGC at the show and had a rare Marvel Graphic Novel signed by Stan Lee during a quick, unannounced signing session on Friday afternoon.I managed to get a bunch of signatures and sketches in my big brothers sketchbook he sent me for the show, browsed through dealer boxes and found a number of fantastic looking copies of books I've been on the lookout for; and yes, I got a lot of pictures of cosplayers and saw many countless things I had never seen before.But one thing happened to me at this show that I will never forget, though I may wish that I could.I bought a limited 69 copy print run of a Lady Death book from Brian Pulido today at the show, then I went and grabbed a witness to have it signed.It was when we got back to Brian's booth that I visually got a little more than I bargained for.While I was standing there, he had his back turned to us, bent over and down, doing something for a good solid minute........ with his butt crack in full-moon-mode!After about a minute, his wife, who was dealing with a different customer, turned around and noticed it. She tapped him and told him to stand up, and why.He laughed and apologized, using saggy pants as an excuse. I told him I would rather have seen Lady Death instead of the full moon he was giving us.He is a great guy with an awesome sense of humor though, so we all got a good laugh at it.And just when I thought I had seen it all at a comic convention.......To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Still working on them. I've been slowly in the process of acquiring Silver Age Harveys for years now, but I don't pick them up unless they are at least 9.6 and preferrably OW/W pages or better. It's been quite some time since I last picked any up, so when Pedigree comics had their recent Harvey auction I just had to try for some. The one I was most interested in picking up was this awesome copy of Casper's Ghostland #2 CGC 9.6 OW/W!! Casper's Ghostland is a series I definitely want to totally complete someday. I am quite a ways along right now, with only 38 more copies to get before I have all 99 issues! But this is one of the toughest ones to find in great shape like this, since it is one of the first two issues. I was stoked to finally get my hands on one! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

It just keeps on flowin'!! So, along with all my other OA pieces I've been picking up lately is this 11x17 beauty! I'm a New Mutants fan first, before any other series, so I've always loved the particular characters from that run books. Among my all time favorite mutants is Magik (Illyana Rasputin). So when I can get my hands on some OA featuring her, in any era rendition whatsoever, I'm all over it! This is one I just had to have and it was DIRT CHEAP! The artist is Carl Frietas. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.