DBoy

Wonder what's keeping it from being. 9.8?

I had a similar experience with a seller on eBay so I blocked him and won't buy anything nor will he be able to buy from me.

Ok so what is this about?

I guess it pays being a good big boy this year. I must say that I must have done something right this year to deserve the gift I had just received from the good people at CGC. I have to admit over the past few years I was frustrated along with other collectors with some of the things that CGC was changing with their company such as changing their modern tier from 1975 to 1980 and with their slower turn around times with higher prices and not so friendly staff at the shows, but this past year that all seems to have faded away with friendlier staff and faster turnaround times with reasonable prices on grading. I just received in the mail today a returned submission from the NYCC this past October and to my surprise I almost fainted when I opened the box and saw my ASM #148 come back a 9.8! I was in total shock considering that when I submitted it there were only 6 in the registry in this grade so this would be lucky number 7. I had recently saw on eBay one had just sold for $2500 so I was really shocked that this book was in such high demand and rarity in this high grade but I have no intentions of selling this bad boy in the near future but to rather join its high grade friends in my collection. Thanks for reading and Happy Holidays! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Today I'm happy again. Back in March of this year I posted on to the journal about my trip to the AC/BC comic con and about how I paid for a V.I.P experience with my family to meet Stan Lee for a photo op and signature with the legendary writer and creator of Spider-man. I recall asking my fellow CGC'ers for your advice on which book I should have him sign. Unfortunately Stan Lee cancelled but the Organisers of the show failed to inform the fans who were attending the show that he wasn't going to be there. So you can imagine my dissapointment and frustration considering I purposely skipped going to WW Philly because of the AC/BC con. Never doing that again. Even though I was dissapointed I decided to make the most of it, so instead of having Stan Lee sign my ASM #16 & #121 I decided to give them to CGC and have them pressed and re-graded. My ASM#16 was a 6.5 and the 121 was an 8.5 so I had a feeling if I gave them in I would get a better grade and I did! My #16 came back a 7.0 & 121 came back a nice 9.2 so kudos to CCS off gif great work! Thanks for reading. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

And the countdown begins. For the past 3 years I have been trying so hard to complete my Marvel vs DC set in the competitive set category and it seemed like an uphill battle all the way. At first I hand picked every copy including the free preview issue and submitted them to CGC for grading waaaay back when. I was very happy when they all came back 9.8 except the free preview issue which received an 8.5 but that's fine as long as I had it graded I was happy until that dreadful day when XXpheonix knocked me out of first place by boasting about it in one of his journals by getting a higher grade on it. I started to think I was never going to be able to retain the first place position again until I came across a really nice copy of marvel vs DC preview so I submitted it to CGC hoping for atleast a tie but low and behold a 9.8! So now wing it's the only 9.8 copy in existence I felt like this is the wholey Grail of all comics in that category that is. But that just wasn't enough to win anything big from CGC except for a worthy notation on the boards. I decided to step it up a bit the following year and have them all signed by Stan Lee at NYCC and Peter David and Joe Rubenstein. Ok great so I gave them to Desert winds to crack out for me and give them in to be signed except for the free preview issue because there was no way in Hell that book will ever be touched by human hand other than in its CGC slab. So off they go for Cracking, signing and regrading. Mind you all 4 were 9.8's when submitted to Desert winds but that wasn't the case when they came back. When I saw the grades my heart sand so deep I needed to get miners to bring it back up. Ok so these were the new grades with sigs now on them Marvel vs DC #1 9.8 ss #2 9.4 #3 9.8 and #4 9.6. So what do I do? I submitted them to CCS for pressing. So off they go with my fingers crossed hoping they can press them back to their original state. The submission was semi successful where as my #4 cam back to its original 9.8 glory but the #2 only received a 9.6! Really big bummer but that's ok because I found another 9.8 copy CGC graded and cracked it open and submitted it to NY Comics to get Stan Lee's signature on it again. I figured NY Comics would handle it better than Desert winds right? WRONG! NY Comics didn't do it either and again a 9.4! What the hell do I have to do to get a 9.8 on this book!?! So I submitted it again to CCS for pressing and let me just say I explained the situation to them over the phone and pointed out the defects to them by submitting a copy of the graders notes that I paid $5 for so that they can focus on where to press it the best. They did it fast and they did it perfectly! CGC also graded it quickly and behold finally a 9.8! The set is complete and ready to compete! Now all I hope for is that the judges see it and I will hopefully get the prestigious award of being either best presented or best modern set. I'm keeping my mangers crossed because the competition is feirce this year but I'll keep hope alive! Thanks for reading. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

It was a mixed bag. Hi all! Just wanted to say thank you all again fo your feedback and suggestions for which book I should use to give to Stan Lee to sign, however it was all in vein due to Stan Lee canceling a week before the show. I had actually heard the bad news from a CGC employee because I had called CGC to ask some questions on how to obtain a witness for the signing and he told me the bad news. I'm not mad at CGC one bit because you don't blame the messenger nor am I upset with Stan Lee. The man is in his 90's and is in the twilight of his years. However I put the entire blame on the organizers of AC/BC for not promptly issuing refunds for the cancellation and sending out notifications via e-mail to people who had purchased tickets to see Stan Lee. Very wrong on their part and very sneaky because I overheard people say they came all the way to Atlantic City just to meet Stan Lee as I did because I never would have attended this show and have not skipped WW Philly but I couldn't afford two shows in 1 week. The show itself was mediocre at best. It wasn't too crowded which is great for me and had a decent amount of celebs signing autographs but only a hand full of comic book dealers so the pickin's were slim but I managed to find a nice copy of avengers annual #10 for a friend of mine for $40 so that was good in a way. Marvel had a booth and stage set up in the middle of the show and I was able to get a few copies of Secret wars #1 AC/BC variant. But other than that nothing really wowed me there as side from a few hotties dressed up as marvel characters. The people who ran the Stan Lee museum did offer a refund for the signing in the form of vouchers which can be used towards the purchase of some Stan Lee items that he signed and were graded by cgc but there wasn't anything there that was the value of the voucher do you still had to pay at lease $100 or more out of pocket which I wasn't planning on doing cause it was all waaaaaaay overpriced to begin with. So I decided to just stick with my refund which I'm still waiting for. On a lighter note I did stop by the cgc booth and submitted some books for pressing and regrading and the girl who helped me was great and so polite and helped make markings on the cases for CCS to concentrate on where the defects were in order to get the most out of pressing my books. Thumbs up to CGC for their help. So all in all I was very dissapointed with the whole show and will def not be attending it again. Lesson learned to just stick with what you know and not go to these pop up shows again. Thanks for reading. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

The results are in. I just want say Thank you to all the people who contributed their ideas and opinions to my Journal post the other day and the outpouring support and ideas from all of you made me see how great this hobby really is and that's why I love it so much. As I was going through my CGC boxes of my early ASM's I took them out one by one from my first box starting with número uno. I looked at it for a minute and thought about it and thought about what SW3D mentioned and it was a good point so I put it to the side and decided to pick out two more. My limit was from #1-50 so then I looked at my #16 which came recommended by Hammershipdown. Also a great suggestion and so I put it to the side with the no.1 and finally I picked #20 and pulled it to the side with the others and looked at all 3 side by side and it just came to me that #16 was the most sentimental one to me because of the fact that it was one of my fist silver age comics I had purchased of ASM and that I hand picked it out back in 2008 at the Big Apple con. I paid $150 for it from a dealer named Dave from Northcoast Nostalgia who is Originally from Cleveland Ohio. I was fairly new to CGC and I had submitted it right there at the show. The book came back a 6.5 which I thought was great considering I bought it for a great price and it still is a great book. So Amazing Spider-man #16 has been chosen to be my issue of choice to be signed by Stan Lee this Sunday at the Altantic City comic con and of course graded by CGC but I think I will have it pressed by CCS after the signing to possibly get a better grade because I would love it if the book would be at least a 7.0 when it comes back to me. Once again I want to thank you all for the great suggestions and of course I will be keeping you all posted in the future with all the results and progress of the signing and grading of the the comic and of course the final grade with some pics to follow. Thanks for reading. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Caught up in a dilemma. This Friday I will be attending the first ever Atlantic City Boardwalk Comic Con. I am bringing the family to this event so I won't be hitting the Blackjack tables at Ceasars..... but I did manage to get complimentary rooms for that weekend so I'm happy about not having to spend money on that and use it for AC/BC. I purposely missed Wizard World Philly this year which I attend every year in order to attend the show in Atlantic City even though it meant missing out on getting signatures from one of my all time favorite Punisher artists Mike Zeck but I weighed the option and said to myself that having a Photo Op and signature from Stan Lee will be much more worth it which I purchased off the website. I already have his signatures on my other books which is great but I had them all signed through an outside company that submitted my books to him for me and that's great and everything but it's just not the same as meeting him in person. So here is my Dilemma in which I need my fellow CGC'ers to help me with and that is which Amazing Spider-man issue I want to have signed by him because I just can't decide which one to give him. Being that I have every issue of Amazing spider-man from #1 till now it's hard to decide which one I want to present to him for signing. I have considered giving him my ASM #129 or My #121 but I still can't decide so I am relying on you to help me figure it out and I will be tallying your votes. Thanks for reading. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

I never thought it would happen but then......... I actually manged to get all 3 issues of ASM #'s 149, 150 & 151. It took me almost 3 years to get all 3 of these clone story issues in 9.8 was so difficult and the feeling Of satisfaction that I have finally completed them is pure Utopia. I had picked up the 151 over the summer from Heritage auctions and finally had found the 149 on Comic Link. I know I way overpaid for the 149 & 151 by double compared to what GPA had listed and I'm not surprised due to their rarities in the comic market as of late but it's over now and I am just glad that I have them and will be pulling back on the buying for a while..... I hope. This addition has really made my ASM collection really stand out but I digress there are way better sets than mine so I can only dream of hitting that #1 spot in the registry some day. Thanks for reading. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Will I get them all? It's been a while since my last journal so I have much to contribute to the comic collecting world. I just want to start off by saying I hope everyone's new year is starting off great like mine is. In this new year I have set a goal and that is to get every early Punisher appearance in Amazing Spider-man vol.1 in CGC 9.8. I have always liked the Punisher character since my first purchase of the Punisher limited series back in 1985. I loved Mike Zeck art especially the way he drew the Punisher. I think I have somewhat of a connection to the Punisher being that he was created the year I was born in 1974 so maybe that's even more of a reason I have an obsession to get every early appearance of him. I am about 90% done in completing this goal being that I currently have an ASM #129 in 9.4 and an ASM#135 in 9.2. with my current acquisition of ASM#202 cgc 9.8 which are only 29 in existence in 9.8 I am very confident I can complete my collection within the year. Thanks for reading. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

I'm still scratching my head why? Last night I was on eBay bidding on a comic that I needed to nearly complete a set I am building. The title and price are unimportant but the story behind the whole auction is so here goes. About a week ago I was on eBay searching for CGC graded books when the book in question popped up and it was an auction style listing. The book was CGC graded 9.8 universal with Off white to white pages with a shipping fee. Now there was another book just like it on eBay but CBCS graded 9.8 with white pages with free shipping but as a buy it now price. I said to myself ok this is good right? I'll will bid on the CGC auction because I'm sure it will go for less that the CBCS because it has OW/W pages and it has a shipping charge right? So I placed a bid the last day of the action for the book and my bid was just under a $1 of what the other buy it now price was of the CBCS graded book was. There was still a few hours left to the action so I went out to do things around town and just randomly checking on the auction status. I had had noticed little increments bids going up but nothing near half of what the buy it now price was and what I had bid. Fast forward now to the last few seconds of the auction the book is holding at the same price it had been for the last 2 hours and I thought oh yeah this book is mine right? Wrong! I had been outbid by a sniper bidder in the last few seconds of the auction not only by 1 but 2 bidders. I was a bit dissapointment and more shocked than anything. How could an equally graded book but with worse page quality book with a shipping fee of over $12 go for more than an equally grade but better page quality book with free shipping go for more? It just doesn't make sense unless egos are involved here and they just want to feel good that someone else was denied the chance to own it. I don't know I don't have the answer cause it still baffles me. Thanks for reading and have a great new year! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

What if you didn't know? Then what? It's been a while since I posted up here because of my hectic schedule but I can finally catch my breath and post up here on the boards for all you good collectors such as myself. NYCC was great this year even though I missed out on getting to see Tnerb at the show and saying hi. I was also very dissapointed in not being able to see Stan Lee or Todd Mcfarlane and have them sign my Amazing Spider-man #300. That was the biggest bummer of all so I gave the book to NY Comics to get the sigs for me. Not the way I hoped to get them but it will have to do. As I was browsing the NYCC for graded books to add to my collection I was haggling with sellers over books and pointed out that if they would give me the book for a certain price in respect that I can get it on ebay for a better price than what they were offering it for at the show. I was willing to pay cash and pay the same price as on eBay and I even proved it to them on my iPhone. But none the less the seller wouldn't budge so I joyfully walked away and kept searching for a better deal. What book was it you may ask? It was the Killing Joke 1st print CGC 9.8. The seller wanted $175 for it And I offered him $125 and actually wound up getting it for an even $100 on eBay so it was worth it not buying it at the NYCC. This brings me to the question of Page Quality and the declaration of it on the CGC labels regardless of the color whether it be yellow or blue, purple etc. The page quality is always stated and that's great to know. I also noticed the desirability of a book due to having white pages as opposed to off white to white which to me isn't a big deal but I guess it is to some collectors. That is also a deciding factor when it comes to values on the open market. For example: There are two books equally graded at 9.8 one book has white pages and the other with off white to white pages. The book with the white pages will sell for more because of it. Now my question is what if you didn't know? Then what? What if CGC didn't put page quality on the lable and only put the grade? Then how would you know? Or better yet how would you place the value of it? You would solely base your buying decision on the posted grade and that's it. After all you can't see the pages once the book is sealed, all you can see is the front and back cover. So I think it's more of a mental issue of rather you just knowing the page quality than actually seeing it. That actually can drive the cost up of a book having white pages but I am more concerned about the grade rather than page quality and if I can get a nice graded 9.8 comic for less I don't mind the page quality at all. Thanks for reading. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

And the winner is? Ok so as you all know from those who have read my previous journals on the speed and accuracy of CGC and CBCS aka (TOC). I had conducted a test of three points 1. Price 2. Turn around time and 3. Grading accuracy. I submitted 2 copies of ASM #1 Vol. 3 one copy to CGC and the other to CBCS to see if the new kid on the block has what it takes to keep up with the already established CGC. I graded both books at a 9.8 with no doubt in my mind that they both achieve the same grade by using CGC's grading standards. I scanned both books with a fine tooth comb so to speak just to be 110% certain leaving nothing to chance. Both books were shipped by me using the same shipping by USPS priority mail and received by CGC and CBCS on the same days. Ok so to start off CGC won in price by a few dollars in total but none the less still cheaper than CBCS. CGC wins in accuracy of grading so far because the comic has been graded a 9.8 so they are on point with their modern grading accuracy. And finally turnaround time where CGC has won in that category as well! Surprised? I am too but here's the kicker it was graded and shipped safe within exactly 20 business days! Just like it used to be! Your results may vary however but none the less CGC has won in all 3 of my categories! Looks like I'll be keeping my business right here at CGC comics after all. Thank you all for reading and have a great weekend. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Look who pulls ahead. So here we are at business day #19. Both my ASM's have been at both graders and to my shock and surprise CGC has actually pulled waaaaay ahead of TOC in grading my book! CGC has already graded my ASM #1 (mile high variant) and is in the next stage which is quality controlwhile TOC still only has it "In Safe". As they call it which is equal to CGC's version of received. Hmmm I wonder? Has CGC finally improving on their modern turnaround times due to the lack of modern submissions going to TOC? Or are they just truly caught up? I can't answer that because I'm just speculating either way if I get my book back in less than 3 months I'm a winner regardless of who beats who but I still want to see who's the fastest. I can't wait to have them both back and take a picture of them side by side and post it on the boards. Hopefully it won't be deleted. Thanks for reading. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.