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CSJournals-migration

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Everything posted by CSJournals-migration

  1. Live Long And Prosper This is my journal. There are many like it, but this one is mine.... See more journals by JWKyle
  2. LEADING COMIC AUCTION HOUSES NEED TO ADDRESS THIS ISSUE! First posted on 4/2013 by me.-I think it's time for the leading comic auctions, Heritage, ComicLink, and others, to start posting both the front and back covers on their auction pages. There is no reason that this can't be done for every comic auctioned. I've noticed that they do it for their top of the line rare books with high value. Every book I bid on from them is just as important to me, even if it's value may only be a couple of hundred bucks, as those thousand dollar comics are to the super rich and the dealers. I know from buying many comics that if the comic I'm bidding on has a front picture that looks like a 9.4 grade but is only graded 8.0 that most likely there's something on the back cover that brought the grade down. Sure it could be something on the inside that lowered the grade but by seeing both covers I'd know that. I don't know what would happen if I called and asked for a scan of the back. I know that if we all started calling for a back cover scan the auctions houses would start putting them on their auction pages so they wouldn't have to deal with all the phone calls. I'm not the type of person to start a movemnet to get the ball rolling on forcing the companies to do so. Hopefully a bunch of collectors reading this can jump in and put a little pressure on the big auctions to do so. I think it's time for full disclosure. Thanks. Well, now that it's 2017 I think the above is even more important then before seeing that both of the major grading services put notes on the reverse of the slabs. I'm sure they would say it's takes to much time or computer space, but come on, it's 2017. See more journals by Best2u
  3. 1977 Our Fighting Forces! See more journals by richard8158
  4. cover & art Mike Baron story See more journals by Lille France
  5. It's about f**king time. A few low grades. Overall I am pleased. See more journals by HWW1971
  6. Follow Pike as he plans his future events and gives breakdowns of his past and future adventures in Comics. UPCOMING TOPICS: -DETAILED BREAKDOWN OF CONVENTION COSTS -CONVENTION SETUP -SELECTING CONVENTIONS TO ATTEND -BREAKING DOWN A COLLECTION -MARGINS AND CRITERIA FOR GETTING BOOKS GRADED I will also be answering any question people have along with giving details in regards to collections i have bought. See more journals by PikesComics
  7. I love you so much CGC makes my loins tingle. You've done so much for me, well as long as I've been willing to pay for it. I want to have all of your children. See more journals by samejeffro
  8. Dan Dare doesn't know it, but... The epilogue to "Rusty Staples and Sunken Treasure" begins now. See more journals by Hibou
  9. This journal will showcase 1 underground comic a day Feel free to contribute. I hope this turns into an open dialogue about all things underground. See more journals by freak brothers
  10. I thought they would be better. So got my most recent submission back, and it was the start of the new cases CGC will be using. Well the cases are nice I give them that they seem a lot clearer and a little more sturdy. But being someone that uses graded comic bags they just kinda screwed me. On my smaller cases I would receive, I used the resealable BCW bags and on the larger cases mylar bags. Well now looks like I am gonna have to goto the larger more expensive mylar bags for everything. That is unless someone has a good recommendation for another bag company or size I can also use. Thanks. See more journals by pjallen080483
  11. This journal will attempt to wrangle my irrational pursuit of an Amazing Spider-Man #1 1963 in a comic book speculator bubble. I am entering the fourth phase of my comic collecting. My first phase was 1989-1993. I collected mainly pre-Unity Valiants and Image comics, along with some Uncanny X-Men and Wolverine. My favorite thing was to hop into the car and hit Chicago-land book and comic stores, and I found a lot of great Valiant books that way. I habitually collected Spawn throughout my formative college years, but generally took a break following the Death of Superman until I met my eventual wife c. 1997. I collected again briefly from 1998-1999 (Oni, Kevin Smith, X-Men, Spawn), but then sporadically due to comic shop closures in Montana. I generally stopped again through my graduate school years, but did start to acquire some independent books via eBay c. 2000, mostly Milk & Cheese, Sandman. In 2002, I moved down to Louisiana and my love affair with underground comix started. My wife checked out all the books on comics at the LSU Library and brought home Mark Estren's History of Underground, which referenced Jay Kennedy's 1982 price guide, and both were watershed moments that defined the next 12 years of my collecting. I posted a lot on Comics Price Guide message boards during this time, and there was even an underground comix presence on the old STL boards too. I joined CGC in 2004, but I generally do not post too much (and mostly to underground related stuff). See more journals by oldmilwaukee6er
  12. Reel 0ne (intro) Reel One :Intro Hi all I've been on the Boards for a bit over a year now, mostly posting pics and commenting in the Gold Forum. A few Boardies even refer to me by name, Corey, but Sagii is of course cool also(My Zodiac). As a lot of you know from my book posts and comments i collect across many genres in gold, but my first loves are MLJ super heroes, Ace Publications books, and Looney Tunes (Bugs Bunny is the G.O.A.T.). I also dig Fawcetts, and would love to build runs on Harvey, Fox and maybe Prize Comics before i call the comic thing a day(would like to focus solely on building a Movie Poster collection after i close my comic collecting). Other likes: Movies (especially Film Noir), almost anything with James Cagney or Bette Davis, Horror (Halloween), and Sci Fi (Godzilla) Obsessed with 1970's culture (fashion, politics, music (and yes, Disco too), movies, TV, icons of the era) with the 80's close behind (King of Pop, New Wave, Dallas), but mostly just TV and music stuff. Also Obsessed with political conspiracy theories assasinations (JFK, RFK, MLK), and the files/tapes of Hoover and Nixon. Which brings me to the Journals title: These are my 'tapes', 'files' in a way of things iv'e collected and treasured for years(and hopefully years more to come). I will mostly post books, hunt stories, groups by themes(covers, artist, characters, etc)but it's basically a place to keep all my things(or a lot of them anyway)in one place on the Boards. I'll add and update as the mood strikes, but will try to work out some kind of schedule. Thanks for reading. Nothing long and drawn out today as far as pics, but i'll open the Journal with this one because the cover subject is of a collector of rare books himself! For those of you who have never seen it, dig the crazy dialog! See more journals by sagii68
  13. Let's focus on a few topics for pure ultra-nerd excitement: 1) Advantages of flat storage of larger paper documents (=how to position your CGC books) 2) Why an airtight environment is optimal for CGC books (=should I put my CGC books in airtight bags?) 3) Recommendations for humidity and temperature levels (=what environment is good for CGC books?) 1. Flat storage. Regarding the flat storage of larger paper documents, (and I consider magazines and smaller comic books belonging to this category,) I found this interesting description: "Just where exactly the belief originated that comic books are subject to less stress when stored upright and will inevitably show spine rolling if kept flat is hard to tell, but in all probability this point of view goes back to the era of pre-conservation consciousness when comic books were kept in the loose stacks mentioned at the outset. In such circumstances (for instance with large piles or comics of different sizes and weight) the fact that the spine side is thicker (accentuated by the two staples used to hold the comic book together) can create a lopsided U which will eventually roll the indivdiual comics into the same shape (hence the term "spine rolling"). There is, however, ample and informed information available which dispells the myth of the absolute imperative for vertical storage. The Northeast Document Conservation Center (a non-profit regional conservation center in the United States, founded in 1973 and counting amongst its clients the Boston Public Library and Harvard University) advised that although vertical storage in office files or in upright flip-top archival document storage boxes is acceptable for legal-sized or smaller documents, any objects larger than 15" x 9" should be stored flat. This is due to the pull forces which documents stored in an upright position are subject to, and it is safe to assume that what is best practice for larger size documents works out well for comic books as well." Source: http://www.panelology.info/StoringComics.html Thus flat storage, where the forces of gravity have minimal impact on the book corners, may be a preferred storage method for CGC books (although to my knowledge no experiment has been performed to examine, how many years of storage it may take to favor flat to upright storage ;-) 2. Airtight environment. Mylar bags may help to keep an airtight environment for our dear magazines. According to E. Gerber, one of the leading manufacturers of Mylar (ok, his potential inhability may be a small issue), it seems that airtight encapsulation is preferred: "Isn't it bad to completely seal off the comics and make them airtight? The reality is that an airtight environment is the proper environment and by far the best one for preservation. By keeping out the oxygen, moisture and insects, and by keeping the temperature reasonably low, you can provide an environment in which your comics will become "Golden." For example, go to any library that has older volumes. Open any book and figure out why the pages are always browner at the edges and get lighter and whiter as you move towards the middle of the page. The inside of that book has not been in contact with any moisture, fresh re-circulating oxygen or light". Source: http://www.egerber.com/aboutpreservation2.asp But then again, this may be not big issue with CGC books. The American chemist Max Rodel investigated a few of his CGC books by testing these for water and air influx, he concluded: "CGC's holders are both air-tight and water-tight. This is because the CGC "holder" is actually two holders, one inside the other. The outer holder that you actually touch is merely a hard protective shell. The comic book inside actually is completely sealed within an inner holder that is made from a clear, softer, flexible kind of plastic. This inner holder is independent from the hard, protective outer shell. The inner holder is sealed air- and water-tight on all four sides. So CGC'd books are completely protected from all moisture and oxygen, forever! The CGC label is not sealed within the inner holder, but free-floats inside the outer shell. If you crack open the outer shell, the label can fall out. The outer shell is not air-tight, so one minor drawback of CGC's system is that, in the unfortunate event of flood or any water immersion, the comic book itself would be protected but the label would get wet. (CGC's competitor, PGX, has solved this potential problem by sealing the label inside the inner holder with the comic. This permanently attaches the label it to the comic book and, in my opinion, is a better system. Perhaps you knew all this already, but I thought I would pass on things I've learned by breaking comics out of their holders to see how they were put together". Putting CGC books in Mylar bags do make them quite pretty to look at -- and you may strengthen the holder and keep it free from scratches this way. Special Mylar bags for CGC books (including magazines) may be found at EBay. 3. Temperature, light and humidity recommendations. Temperature and humidity levels for proper CGC book storage should be about 18 degrees Celsius and about 30 to 40% relative humidity (better safe than sorry even with the Mylar). And of course the books should not be exposed to UV light - I try to treat mine as vampires, no direct sunlight! ;-) "The optimal temperature for books is 65° Fahrenheit (18° Celsius) with a relative humidity of 40%. This may be hard to achieve in hot Florida summers. Stability is most important. A good rule of thumb is, if you are hot and sticky, your books are, too. [...] Books are best stored in the dark, or at least out of direct sunlight." Source: http://dlis.dos.state.fl.us/archives/preservation/books/index.cfm Again, since the inner Barex bags seem airtight, humidity may not be much of an issue - but temperature fluctuations will be a problem. The main problem with temperature fluctuations is that this causes different materials to expand or shrink with different gradients (=material's coefficient of thermal expansion). So the ink on the cover of CGC book may expand differently than the paper it is printed on. Thus many years of temperature fluctuations cause faster deterioration: "Extensive research and a wealth of accumulated evidence show that the lower the temperature at which it is stored, the longer paper will last. It can be demonstrated theoretically that for every 10°F decrease in temperature, the useful life of paper is approximately doubled. As a result, a number of modern research libraries and archives have been designed with storage areas in which the temperature can be maintained as low as 55°F (=13°C). Few, if any, private homes or small libraries would find such a low temperature feasible or acceptable, but the principle is sound -- the lower the storage temperature the longer the paper will endure, all other factors being equal. For most homes and libraries practical considerations dictate a temperature range of 68° to 75°F (=20° to 24°C). Source: http://www.southalabama.edu/archives/html/guide/bookcare.htm Furthermore, ideally books should rarely be exposed to light: "Materials degrade more quickly when exposed to light, especially ultraviolet (UV). Surprisingly, fluorescent tubes often emit a relatively high level of UV. Lighting should be turned on only when it is needed. Ideally, storage areas should have no windows. Where windows are present, they should be covered with opaque curtains or blinds." Source: http://www.naa.gov.au/records-management/agency/preserve/physical-preservation/artworks.aspx See more journals by Rune
  14. A stream of consciousness ride on the white water rapids of irrelevancy. Now with more clown. This journal goes to 11 Hey, why not? It's what all the cool kids are doing right? Here you get to read my ramblings regarding the comics I collect and any other dumb thing that pops into my head. Comments not only welcomed but demanded. Nobody triple dog dares me! Also, Park See more journals by samejeffro
  15. All about anniversary issues. I have recently acquired Action Comics #800 from April 2003 in 9.8 for my collection. I have been waiting for a 9.8 copy of this issue to come out of the woodwork for several years, until recently, the highest grade for this issue was 9.6. As of this writing (3/02/2012) there 19 copies in the census at 9.6, I wonder if this particular issue has some sort of manufacturing characteristic that makes it difficult to obtain in 9.8, or if a majority of the 9.6 copies were submitted in the early years of CGC certification, with many people still learning what to look for in 9.8 candidates - who knows, both scenarios seem unlikely. With this latest edition I now have Action Comics #'s 500, 600, 700 (Gold Edition) and 800 in 9.8 grade, I now need #900 (Adam Hughes variant). I would love to have the other anniversary issues for Action Comics, #100 (September 1946) has always been popular with collectors as one of comics first centennial issues, #200 (January 1955) is difficult to obtain in any grade and #300 (May 1963) has a familiar Curt Swan cover. I had my eye on #400 (May 1971) with a fantastic cover by Neal Adams in 9.8 grade with white pages a few years ago on ComicLink, but the final price was a little over $700, maybe other copies will appear in the future. I was looking forward to seeing Action Comics #1000 in my lifetime, the new DC 52 re-launch may change this, there is speculation or hope that the title will resume the original numbering in time for this milestone, but only time (and sales) will tell. See more journals by Brandon Shepherd