richard8158

G.I. Combat 81 Even though the 93 deal went sideways, this one worked out. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

My latest pressing experience Several months back I purchased a G.I. Combat #93 (1962) from a seller on eBay. He had advertised it as a NM with a fairly large price tag. We bargained for a bit and finally came to a suitable price. This deal came with the stipulation that if it did not grade at 9.0 or better, a portion of my purchase price would be refunded. When the book arrived, it appeared to be a solid 8.5, perhaps even a 9.0. With no significant flaws, only a couple of minor indents in the cover, I was thrilled! I thought that with a press it would easily achieve a 9.0. Even at 8.5 it would be the highest graded copy. Having heard so many great thing about Matt at CCS, I forwarded it to them as a fast track. After a month and a half of anxiously waiting for it to arrive at CGC, I called CCS. They had missed the fast track part. Okay, things happen. The lady was nice and said she would get it in with the other fast tracks and only charge me the standard price. In a matter of days it was at CGC. It was marked shipped the other day and of course I had to look at the grade. I felt crushed when I saw the 6.0. So I checked the graders notes. Only 2 notes were present: cover detached at top staple and cover detached at bottom staple. WHAT? It was tight and secure when I sent it in. I contacted CCS and asked what happened. After a day of investigation, they acknowledged it happened in their possession. At first they offered about half what I had invested in the book. I ended up with roughly 80% of what I put into the book. In the end I have a disappointing and overpriced 6.0, and I can't recover anything from the seller, after all it's not his fault CCS ruined the book. It's not about the money anyway, I treasure my comics. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Best Silver Age Set? I truly appreciate the award although I was totally blindsided by it. The set has so many holes and issues that need upgrading that I never even considered it a possibility. Not to mention that there are so many great sets on display. So often I look at other members books and am amazed at what they have put together. Maybe mine will be like theirs in another 5 years.... http://comics.www.collectors-society.com/registry/comics/PeopleSetDetail.aspx?PeopleSetID=80699 Thank you To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Update on my 1st new holder My first new holder came back with a very wavy book inside. I contacted Brittany McManus and was told to return the comic to her. It was written in as a mechanical problem. The comic returned today looking fine! No waves whatsoever, also no newton rings! If any of you still have books that are wavy, send them back. You can contact Brittany at: bmcmanus@cgccomics.com She also offered a direct refund to my credit card or an account credit, whichever you choose. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

I'd really like to hear how others feel about this. Yesterday I was going from one auction site to another, just looking to see if there was anything I was interested in. My comic collecting is confined to only a couple titles so it's pretty easy to know what I've already looked at before. Anyway I saw a comic that recently sold on one site, appear on another, for sale again. The difference was it was more than 7 times higher in price this time. I went and checked the numbers on both sites. Yep, same book. I felt like this major dealer was taking advantage of collectors. I also wondered if the items I bought from them before had the same markup. I have also seen this from another seller (same comic issue) but he only marked his up a bit over 5 times. I know, I know, they haven't broken any laws. And it is their right to charge whatever they feel. But they remind me of the folks who sell hammers and toilet seats to the government. I approve of reasonable profits. At what point does profiting end and gouging begins? I don't feel good about it, but am curious how others feel. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Maybe My Last New Holder I was on the chat boards the other evening, something I rarely do, and a nearly 800 page chat was going on about the new holders. So I read for several hours. Well I received my first comic today in the new holder. Pretty much everything that I read was true. The edges of the book look like they were dipped in diesel fuel and the top of the book has some waviness. There are those who suggested that the bowing of the book along the top was due to a bad pressing. This one was pressed by CCS, but I don't think that is the case. You can easily see the warp in the top center, but it travels down as well through the entire cover. I have a hard time believing that it left CCS that way, since it was flat when I mailed it in. I really didn't dislike the new label, but the last labels weren't bad either. I did like that the top sticker is inside. Very clear too, which I also appreciated. I would like to see what CGC plans to do about this. I know I will no longer be sending in any books until this is resolved. Has CGC even acknowledged there is a problem? To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

What did it prove? Okay, just what we all needed, another comparison of grading companies. I had four previously graded books that I wanted to convert to CGC. Plus I wanted to find out for myself how they all compare. The first book was GI Combat #29 PGX 7.5 WP The second was GI Combat #35 PGX 8.0 OWW The third was GI Combat #118 CBCS 9.0 WP The fourth was GI Combat #119 CBCS 8.5 OWW Three were sent in one group and the #35 with another group. I skewed the test by having all four comics pressed before grading. I thought that the other companies could use the help since we all have seen other tests. The results from the group with the three came back with nice grades. The 7.5 PGX held the same grade after a press and page quality remained the same. The 8.5 CBCS 119 came back with a 9.0 and also kept it's white pages. The 9.0 CBCS returned with a nice 9.2 although page quality went from OWW to just OW. The #35 did not fare as well. The PGX 8.0 went to a 6.0 CGC with OWW pages. I must say that many in the last group seemed to receive some very harsh grades. I might be getting old and my eyes aren't the best, but that comic is way better than any 6.0. I'm not convinced that it rated the 8.0 either but 6.0? No way. It is a very clean nice book. I was going to convert all of my other companies to CGC but not as sure as I was. I always felt that CGC graded very strictly, even undergrading (which I appreciate - to a point), but to drop four grades? I'm not sure what to think.... To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Did I read it right? I thought I got a mail in the last day or two from CGC stating they have drastically reduced the turn around time. Did I read it right? If it's true, why are my January comics still only marked as graded after more than 40 days? To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Is it good or bad? I have never had a comic pressed before so I decided to conduct an experiment. I took 4 comics that in my opinion were no higher than 4.0-5.5 (and ones that I didn't particularly care about either), had them pressed and graded. They all came back as 7.0s. I know that this is a sensitive subject for some collectors, but I don't really see a downside when it comes to pressing. I have had books stored for years in boxes and looked as though they had been pressed. I don't know much about the process but apparently if it is done right, you can't even tell that it was done. It seems to be gaining acceptance as well. The pictured comic was mailed to me in a soft mailer with no cardboard or support of any kind. It was bent all over but not creased and looked horrible. Thoughts? To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

200 out of 289 I feel like I crossed some sort of milestone yesterday, now having 200 issues in the set graded. My goal was to have from #100 and up at 9.0 or better. Although there are more than a dozen that need to be up graded and still some missing to achieve the goal, I feel like I'm closing in. Below #100 is a different story, where I think the grades will be mostly mid grades. The Quality comics are hard to find even in mid grade. http://comics.www.collectors-society.com/registry/comics/PeopleSetDetail.aspx?PeopleSetID=80699 To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Where does "high grade" begin? I was looking on ebay yesterday and saw 6.0 and 6.5 copies of GI Combat advertised as high grade. I never thought of anything below 7.5 or 8.0 as high grade. I'd be curious to know how others see this designation as well. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

1st DC GI Combat & Grey tone #44 I purchased this off ebay a few months ago, and will be sending it off to CGC next week with a couple of others. I haven't even mailed it yet and am already anxious. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

G.I. Combat # 79 Love these grey tones! I picked this one up at auction a couple of years ago.

Grey tone cover Our Army At War #60 As a young boy reading war comics, I didn't really appreciate the Grandenetti covers, Kubert was my favorite. Over the years though his art has grown on me. This one came back yesterday.

GI Combat, Our Army At War I have been trying to find the best time to submit comics, so I decided to send some every month for 6 months. The first 3 groups were recieved on 10/26 (value tier), 11/13 (value tier) and 12/10 (modern). A total of 41 books. They ALL arrived here today 2/25. So maybe November - December is a good time. I did notice that the turnaround time on the moderns shortened after I send my group in. January and February comics have been recieved, verified and Jan's were marked scheduled today. Both are value tiers. March's will be sent soon and I will write when they arrive. I was happy with the grades, most ending where I expected, but a few were higher and a few lower.

I already have the perfect book, just not the perfect grade I was thumbing through my GIC slabs early this morning, only looking at the ones graded below 9.6. I studied a couple in particular, one a 9.2 and the other a 9.4. I remember when I sent them in, thinking they were flawless. I still do. Are we turning our backs on a great number of beautiful comics in our quest for 9.8s? Has grading gotten more strict over the years? I have a few "old label" CGCs that I don't think would hold up to today's standards. Just my opinion. Collect what you like and don't worry about the grade. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

I have 17 Ziff Davis GI Joe comics published between 1950 and 1957. The worst grade is 5.5 and the best is 7.5. All 17 together is worth a whopping 266 points

I wonder if there is a better way to score the registry? You could collect books for years and build a nice set but never be in the top 5%. Then someone finds a single book and is on top. Why does popularity count for so much? Completeness counts for very little. Rarity counts for very little as well.

They just came back! I mailed 17 of these ZD Joes in on November 13 and got them back March 20. Almost forgot about them! Here is 1/3 of the set, they only ran from 1951 to 1957. Not very popular among collectors, they are quite scarce in high grade. I was pleased at the solid mid grades that came back with these. Check them out! http://comics.www.collectors-society.com/registry/comics/PeopleSetDetail.aspx?PeopleSetID=93364 To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

high grades I created a set for my extra GI Combats. Most are high grades. I hope someone will want to trade for some I do not have or another DC war series. I really just don't want to use eBay. I prefer trading over selling, but will consider it. Maybe someone has extra All American Men of War, Star Spangled War Stories or Our Army At War? I also have a few Our Fighting Forces to trade as well. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

My niche collection I started this collection many years ago and am not sure when it will end. I can't say exactly when it started either but I bought a group of US GI Joes and included in the lot was a number 111. But it was named Comandos Em Acao. I found that it was printed in Brazil in portuguese. The thought that GI Joe was anything other than American had never occurred to me. So it began. Don't we all just love the "hunt"? So for at least the last 10 years I have scoured the globe for international copies of GI Joe. Some of the sets are still incomplete (only a couple) and the search will continue. They are printed in all shapes and sizes. Issues are bigger than ours, smaller, digest sized, black and white. Many are just translated issues but a few countries elected to create their own stories and some even added new characters. Some are heavily edited. I have amassed around 1100 different issues from 28 countries (including the USA) in 21 languages. The majority of the collection may be viewed on these two websites: www.gijoecomicsinternational.com www.gijoecomicsusa.com I have been growing weary of the IDW GI Joe comics. Too many different covers, many of lesser quality in my opinion, just there to sell more comics. I miss the old days where a variant cover was a rare thing and sought out. Now we have several variants every month, every issue. Really, how many sketch covers do we actually need? Anyway, enough of my whining, please check out my collection. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

It's not CGC! I bought an 8.5 #119 today. The dark issues are always hard to find in good shape. It was certified by CBCS so it won't be on display with the others. I had never heard of CBCS before a couple of days ago. So I posted a question on the boards as to who they were and if anyone had any experience with them. I just didn't want to waste my money. To my shock, the post was removed IMMEDIATELY, without so much as a word. I thought the boards were there for free and open discussion about anything comics and related. So I did my research and found that I got this knee jerk reaction from them because of an ex-employee who started CBCS. Censorship worked against CGC since I probably wouldn't have bought the comic if they hadn't pulled my post.

Who doesn't like dinosaurs?

Nice cover, and from my favorite set too!

One of my favorites as well (it's mine!) He also did some Our Fighting Forces that were very good, #12 is probably one of my favorites.