Jugger Grimrod

At least with CGC you can pick up the phone and get a live person in customer service, good luck with that with CBCS. I saw up on the grading fence for years, never had a bad thing to say about CGC or CBCS but went with CBCS for most of my grading needs. Sadly their service and quality has dropped considerably since Beckett bought them. It has been a nightmare dealing with them and I was hoping I would never had to say that but it's reality.

Also I am sure everyone is aware of this, but if not, the next ECCC will be held August 18-21, 2022. It will then transition back to it's usual March slot for 2023.

Years ago it was basically a free for all when it came to the Funko stuff, but they then started doing a lottery-based system whereas people would enter the lottery and put in the days they would attend and then Funko would alert everyone who won an entry ticket a few days before the show. You then show that on your phone or print it out to gain access based on the day/time slot Funko gave you. I believe they restock each day, so ideally you want to be in the earlier time slots each day to get the ones you want. It's still a mad house but a much more organized and control mad house. I myself don't collect, but my booth is generally close to Funko's so I see all the people lining up, etc. Also, most of the stuff they offer at the shows is "shared exclusives" which means one may be a Target exclusive, or Amazon, or Gamestop, but they will then offer the same thing at the convention, but with a convention sticker on it, and apparently that is why the convention ones are more sought after with collectors, is because of the sticker itself. Of course there are then some convention exclusives that are only available at the show itself that aren't considered "shared".

It doesn't look like CGC has a presence this year at ECCC, I saw CBCS will be there. Also, no Image Comics or Dark Horse Comics, or Boom Studios either. However, the expedition hall will be the same size as it was during pre-Pandemic years. For those coming for Funko, their booth is now right inside the main entrance, instead of their usually spot in the main exhibition hall. Have fun those who are coming to the show here, except possible rain (shocking) and temps in the upper 40's. If you don't make it this year, there is always next year....

For those coming into town, while the weather lately has been unseasonably warmer than usual, the temps are expected come show time to be in the low to mid 40's. as a high. No snow to worry about, possibly rain though. While the show won't be as attended as if it was held in March (during a non-pandemic time), I think the show will see a good amount of fans attending, I have seen the show floor and it's just as large as it has been in the past with regards to exhibitor space. Exhibitor set-up started today I will be there Tuesday-Wednesday before the official start date his Thursday. Enjoy the show everyone!

The Crow by Clayton, this was a gift to me by him years ago, the running joke between us was I would tell him to simply work on his actual customer commission requests and when he would have spare time he would work on this piece, so when he finished he signed and dated it 2007-2010 representing when he started it and then finished. A good laugh was had when I saw that, Clayton is not only a huge talent, but a really nice humble soul.

Funko offerings are lottery-only, if they have anything left at the end of each show day they open it up to the public. Chances are any "exclusives" will all get sold to those who win a lottery ticket allowing them to purchase one of each Funko offered.

I pre-ordered the statue, Sideshow does have a payment plan for those on the fence about it due to the price, it is about 10 months until it's released. Not overly excited about the base, but the statue itself looks great!

I believe they will be slowly transitioning back to the March slot for 2023 and the 2022 show will more than likely held sometime in the summer of 2022. That is just the rumor that is floating out there.

Sounds good, looking forward to a return here in 2021.

No problem, thanks for the kind words. Yeah I am looking forward to sending mine in to CBCS, I know the signatures are authentic, but it is something that needs to be done and I don't mind. I will have mine pressed before grading but my #1 raw looks pretty amazing on it's own so hopefully a pressing is enough to bump it up as well. I am waiting on the pandemic to ease down as the shipping carriers are overloaded and packages are going missing or taking longer to arrive with staff being out and distribution hubs especially for the USPS being closed. Also CBCS has a new case which should be out now and want to make sure I get the latest and greatest they have to offer when it comes to the case. Congrats on the 9.8 I have been watching how they have been going up and up on the secondary market.

Interesting I hadn't heard anything was confirmed for 2020 but I realize that with the current pandemic even if the show here in Seattle was on it probably would have been cancelled as most shows are, the latest being Rose City in Portland. Hopefully a return in 2021 is in the books, if that venue doesn't work out there are a few others that can be considered too but hopefully the show returns next year.

I set up at Ace for their 2019 show here in Seattle and while it didn't have the same attendance as ECCC, and nor did I expect it would, I was amazed at how far people were traveling that came out for the show. Everyone I saw was a new face, meaning I had never seen them at ECCC before, I was quite happy with the show and was hoping they would be returning to Seattle for 2020, but when the pandemic first was occurring and saw that Boston was cancelled, they said their next show would be in Chicago in October with no mention of a summer show in Seattle like 2019 and 2018. Naturally now chances are with the current situation we all are facing, had a show been planned for Seattle it would have more than likely been cancelled, but I do hope they are planning a return to Seattle for Summer 2021.

The Crow by James O' Barr. 11x17 inches, inks on Bristol board, March 2020.

I have not posted in quite some time, but wanted to share with the fellow fans here my latest addition to my Crow commissions collection. Having been a fan since the book released in 1989, meeting O' Barr in the early 90's not only campaigning to get him up here for conventions but when I worked for Diamond Comics I got them to approve a special screening of the film shortly before it opened up here in Seattle for the comic retailers and James flew in for it. Over the years developed a friendship with him which continues to this day, one of the nicest guys out there, and absolutely appreciates and loves his fans as many here can attest to that. One thing in my art collection that I didn't have was a piece featuring Brandon Lee in character. As we all know, the loss of Brandon was a huge shock with a sadness that continues to this day as he was perfect in that role. James rarely draws Brandon, as he told me, when he does it is for a special occasion, such as his birthday, an anniversary, etc. When he does do a piece featuring Brandon, James, having the heart of gold that he has, donates all of the money to charity. In March of this year James did a piece featuring the iconic scene of Brandon holding the shotgun at Gideon. When I saw it, it didn't take me but a few seconds to say "I need/want that!". I reached out to James, he told me the price, and I didn't question it one bit. It was well worth it, and I felt even better knowing the money was going to charity, in the case of this piece, a local food bank near him which as many would agree, couldn't be a better place to donate the funds with everything going in the world. The piece is entitled "Is That Gasoline I Smell?" and hands down is gorgeous, even more detailed in person. It is 11x17 inches in size, inks on Bristol board. I received it a few weeks ago, and had it scanned. Here is an image of the piece below...