01TheDude

best known (imo) for his portrayal of Judge Smails in Caddyshack

I have a one hole punch book - not sure how this happens

holy cow-- 231 days turnaround time? How many comics does the CGC office have just sitting in the queue? It has to be a pretty big pile. That would be fun to look through though

grades in --- woot!

On 8/2/2022 at 9:31 PM, 01TheDude said: America's Greatest #5 9.0 Fight Against Crime #14 5.5 Showcase #4 3.5 Fantastic Four #25 3.0 Supernatural Thrillers #5 9.4 I knew that first one was a Mile High book so I graded it way up (and I can't say it wasn't justified). It is really hard to give a 9.8 grade to a book---and I couldn't find a single thing wrong with that Thrillers book so I assumed I was just missing something and went the safe route. 8 points-- not bad for taking less than 5 minutes to look at the images.

All very good points-- and things I missed. My efforts weren't exactly all out or too motivated. The prize is nothing I really need (I like my raw books/never have sent in a book to be graded). Also-- never really thought I had any shot at finishing in the top three.

As I said--- it is fair for all involved and I mention the CGC comments being shown AFTER as being one area I see as a possible improvement. For instance-- including all the grade notes WITH the initial showing of the images would separate this particular form of contest from all the previous ones. I can only recall a handful of times that anything from CGC grader notes was ever included. Hidden stuff though was often expressly told as if the person playing could hold the comic in hand (obvious stuff not revealed in images easily). Anyway - keep up the good work as it certainly is better than NOT having a contest to play. I think we could enhance it a bit if we could also figure out some method to have people add prizes voluntarily without sounding like CGC is begging for that type of participation.

ok --- I'll keep on playing. But it is frustrating to read the freaking CGC notes AFTER the grades are shown and finding things out like "Oh yeah--- did I forget to mention the cover is totally detached?'" or the one about the tanning. Oh well--- they run it how they like I suppose. In other contests in the past--- things that weren't obvious but would be in if you had it in hand were given to help contestants. Every game has its own set of obstacles so of course this is fair just makes it really hard to guess a thing you cannot (or barely) see at all.

I'm out --- no idea what I was doing with that IH 181--- no way to come close to the leaders.

tough round - grades in

didn't realize we were doing contests again. Guess I missed out on two. Couple of questions for general discussion...... I see there are the three prizes just from CGC --- is anyone organizing supplemental prizes like we used to do with the fans run contests? are there any links to the last two contests to check out how things worked previously? Never mind--- found them with a decent search on "2022 CGC Grading contest" Here is a sample for those who have not checked out this version of the grading tournament:

sign me up, please

It is my copy but it is also the only one I have and I wouldn't want to break up my Thor run. The stamp is not all that important to me but the book is-- in terms of not creating a hole in my collection. I think I gave it a grade of around 5.0 - not crazy nose bleed of course but decent enough. I am not unreasonable---- If you can find a decent replacement, I would be willing to trade book for book. Just a reminder though-- the stamp itself is on the back cover of the book.

from the new movie Belfast - about the Troubles: Thor 139 - can't quite make out whether it is an English pence copy or American 12 center at the 1:13:36 mark

December 1965

I didn't realize that the original golden record had two stories included--- issue #83 of course and also #97 when he battles the Lava Man. Kind of neat to read along and listen to the recording. THUMP! I don't have either of these original the original books but I do have the Marvel Masterworks vol 1 of Thor. PAGE 14 Sorry-- I get a laugh out of the way the recording guides the reader to the next page too. Fun stuff! Gonna try to figure out how to download this for future reference.

People like what they like for whatever reasons they use to get there. Perhaps the larger impact of the types of things you are referring to is how much readily available the information is to the entire public. So yeah-- in a media focused culture-- it will impact things more so than established knowledge or rational thought processes. I would not find it all that upsetting. personally as it tends to help raise the value of all our collections (for however long it continues). It might make some silly things out priced from reality but give it time and short of it becoming camp-- it will come back down.

All lies though, right? Black cat doesn't die, Betty Brant is indecisive, Aunt May is still kicking, and Spider-Man lives to fight on. This one TRULY has it all--- ALL LIES!

Love the responses and the funny theories but the arguing against said theories is even more precious. Nobody makes every cover perfect or amazing. If you are a completionist type collector and you have set your goals for the exact set of covers by Neal Adams-- you have to take ownership that this includes some less stellar examples and keep the focus on the task of the completing. I mean--- we might as well be arguing over the legitimacy of firing all the bullets at a stoic Superman and then thinking throwing the gun at him will work which he DUCKS away from. Suspend ones belief -- the professor had a capable assistant who has gone home to feed his dog. He is the one who removed the brain, placed it under the jar (of unknown make- where you got "under a dome of Vera Wang lead crystal" is beyond me), connected it to whatever sensory devices needed to both understand that someone else is in the room but also convert thought to speech somehow, install the air jets to impact the cape (anot to mention anticipating someone WITH a cape), and then gently covering the discarded corpse with the labs readily available DOA cover sheet. Phew--- sounds crazy but we are talking about a guy who had his own brain removed--- so who are we to judge? Plus this fits in with all the other insane DC covers I grew up despising (laughing at?) as completely silly as part of my membership in the MMMB. Totally understandable. I'd sell it.

SICK BURN!

without trying to jinx it-- this selection has gone pretty much without any long delays or people falling to the wayside for very long. Hope it continues.

I have posted a copy of Robert Bell's catalog several times and you can find it if you search on his name via google probably-- here is a taste I also bought a bunch of those bags-- I think the cheapest versions and they did indeed turn yellow but it was good in the end as it made me understand that all bags have a certain life span before needing to be replaced - not to mention it made me go ahead and add backing boards starting with my first re-bagging effort. I also bought the magazine size ones as well as a bunch of the treasury sized. Probably one of the best things I bought at that time as those books were stored away for decades(other than timely re-bagging) and that kept them as fresh as possible. I did at one point have a comic I bought through Robert Bell as well -- that came in his heavy mylar type bag (no idea what that was-- but it is not a service I found worthwhile).

these are my raw copies all bought from the 7-11 rack back in the day. Only ones I have. count me in the club!

My mom used to work at K-Mart during this time in the mid 1970s-- and she helped me pick up this single power record which I still have (about an 8.0). Only one I ever owned. PR31 and while I also consider these to be simply Power Records -- it is listed as Peter Pan Records: Book and Record Set on Comic Book Realm. https://comicbookrealm.com/series/19224/0/power-records-peter-pan-records-book-record-set

I bought the entire series - all 20 books - at cover price from the racks of 7-11 back when they came out (total cost - $6.25). Most of them are in 8.5 shape or better with a few that are more like 7.0s based on my grading at the last re-bagging/boarding. No plans to get them graded or sell them. It feels like some people get way over concerned about valuation these days-- instead of enjoying the books. Not aimed at anyone in particular but it seems clear to me we have a mix of dealers, semi-dealers, speculators, and some mix in between of those as well as regular Joe collectors. That said-- I wish you all luck in dealing with these books.