justafan

and my AF15 with the "Stan Lee written in pen on first page" and maybe get a grade bump!

It's probably already been said but they are really just buying the signature database. With properly trained AI, they won't really need to retain or train a whole batch of new authenticators.

This was my expectation as well when he was being investigated. Unlike Rhody who had only recently been introduced and wasn't a significant part of the story arc yet, Kang's character as a villain had already been fully fleshed out by Quantumanias end and was found to be...underwhelming and overly complicated. I mean, he got beat by ant-man. How was he supposed to match up against the new/remaining avengers especially Capt Marvel and Thor? Multiverse fatigue has set in and what Marvel appears to have failed to realize is that the Multiverse should only have been used as a means to an end not the end goal. It should only have been used as a vehicle to introduce/bring in the Fox properties and not the whole point of Phase 5/6. Though I am curious to read the original script. Unfortunately Marvel chose to go right into infinity war which was arguably Marvel's most popular crossover showdown event next to secret wars. The only real remaining Baddies that can stand up to all these heroes are possibly Galactus. The Celestials, the Beyonder, some other yet to be introduced character or space faring race or combination of less powerful heavy hitters.

Saw it tonight in a completely empty theater. Like I had the whole theater to myself. It wasn’t as bad as it was made out to be. I actually enjoyed it but had my expectations low. However I don't think the direction setting up for had legs.

That we know of. We only know of many of Mike's issues now coming to light with unfinished or even unstarted work due to this thread and the last locked thread. Look at how many clients came out of the woodwork once these threads caught on with google's search optimization. That Flash wasn't necessarily the only outlier. There were several AF15's one of which reported to having been held for the last 4 years. Who knows how many other books or clients Mike has wronged that have yet to find these boards. Some clients may not be as internet savvy and others may have just forgotten or written them off. I know I sometimes forget about single shipment pre-orders and CGC submissions that took over a year and only remember them due to my notes in my spreadsheet and google calendar to follow up on them. And now they can't even reach him because his business is closed and he has no public contact info. Here's a frame of reference. I only first heard about Hero Restoration on this board about 5 years ago just before the pandemic. I remember hearing nothing but praise and how great of an operation they were. They were referred by several boardies and talked about as rivaling Joey when it came to pressing/cleaning and Matt Nelson when it came to restoration. Based on this feedback I had imagined them to be a top notch pressing and restoration company with several experienced pressers and restoration experts in paper conservation with years of experience on staff. I researched this lightly when looking into restoration removal from a color touched AF15 I had and their name came up frequently. I ended up not doing the removal or using their service (thankful) due to other factors. However, when asked, I would list them as an option for pressing right under Joey and CGC (again, feeding into the reputation echo chamber). Now this thread and the previous locked one comes up and I am completely confused as to whether it was talking about the same Hero Restoration that was highly recommended all those years ago. Now after reading about his "learning" threads on CPG and on here back in 2009 and that he was primarily just a one man operation until the mid 20teens a picture begins to emerge. It may not be that he was intentionally scamming anyone or setting out to pull a long con but early on and continuing until last year he was likely misrepresenting himself when advertising his services. He was practicing with customer's books and learning on the fly. He may have informed some early customers of using their books to practice but for any customers of his in the years following his posts in 2009 did he ever inform them that he had recently acquired these skills and that he may still be learning to do other types of restoration? I doubt it. And now we hear that he requested his early posts on CPG be deleted due to "investor" concerns about his amateur past? Sure I get that it might make some customers uneasy but that is information a client should have when choosing an expert. And restoration isn't a 1 year program to become an expert. Some of the best restorers have been doing this for decades and went to school to get degrees in paper conservation and archiving. In 6 months I became really good at pressing learning through trial an error many of the same processes that others have already mastered and been pressing casually for the last 3 years but in no way do I feel I am qualified to offer my services for hire nor would I feel comfortable recommending my services or those of anyone who has only been doing it for a short time and didn't have expertise in the exact comic paper types. I don't know Mike personally like some on here might or as close as Sauce Dog does and some still vouch for him but it is hard to believe this is the same Mike. I wish we could hear from some of his former employees about the real Mike. The following spoiler content is just my opinion of the conclusions I was able to draw from what I believe happened based on the information from these 2 threads and what I've heard in the past and should not be taken as a fact of what actually happened: At this point I'm worried he is in such a downward spiral with his arrest, personal issues, and possible pending legal action, I fear for his personal well being but hope he gets the help he needs to recover and can try to seek redemption and repay those he wronged at some point in his life. Mike, in case you read this, please know there is always a way back to redemption no matter how difficult. Do not expect forgiveness or forgetfulness from others but focus on moving forward to be a better person and strive for restitution.

The 8.5 and 9.0 appear to be the same copy, but that 9.4 appears to be a completely different book unless it was also micro trimmed at the top cover. Look at how the top cover edge is cutting off the MARVEL title.

Those are either 2 different books or they did a tear seal/amazing press if it was just a wrinkle.

I swear it feels like they just unpacked it, took a quick look over the case looking for damages but finding none they figured ot was a mistake and put it right back into the same shipping box and shipped it back ignoring the order form. My first attempt they let me ship it fedex overnight for free! They paid over $300 in shipping for both attempts. I can only imagine how much in shipping they covered for all 4 of your attempts! Bleeding money.

Something happened to my earlier reply so here's the condensed version. It was a while back but I think they did offer to have it sent in for a reholder but I'd gotten so busy with other personal things that were a higher priIority and was so dissappointed with it I just kind of ignored it. Looking back I should have addressed it with them but I don't hold anything against them. I'm sure they would have done the right thing. We negotiated the sale on instagram.

Huff...pufff...I...huff...puff...made it....huff...puff...through all 404 pages and boy are my eyes tired. A few things. 1. Most of this thread is unnecessary commentary and semantic arguments which im now obliged to contribute. 2. @comicwiz rocks! 3. This scam was inevitable when cgc switched to the 3rd Gen holders. I remember the first time I cracked out a cpr candidate in these 3rd gen slabs and was surprised when I noticed that the inner well that contained the comic was not attached to the label. Forget about any crazy expensive tampering countermeasures. The biggest, cheapest deterrent cgc could do is sealing the the label inside the the same inner well that the comic is in similar to the 2nd generation slabs except this time make sure more than just a corner of the label is welded in place. 4. Someone joked about it earlier but I do believe there is likely more than 1 scammer who is now pissed that this reholder loophole has been closed. Cgc may want to do a full review of all reholders over the last 6 years. Or perhaps they'd rather not. 5. If you dig deep enough you may find a number of 2nd Gen blue, green and purple slabbed books sent in for regrading/reholder to be converted to 3rd Gen slabs just for the purpose of getting the book separated from its label in the 3rd Gen inner well style. I started noticing this when doing cert lookups on comics in 3rd Gen slabs that have really old grade dates. Doesn't mean they're all swaps as some collectors just preferred the newer slab. 6. It is possible the scammer started off working with someone on the inside or merely had inside info that reholders were never scrutinized due to the priority of graders time on TATs leaving low skilled employees to handle reholders. This became evident to me when I sent a ME book in due to missing PQ on the label. The book was sent back with the same label still missing the PQ despite me writing clearly on the order form in 3 places that the book needed to be regraded for page quality designation. 7. This wasn't isolated to just reholders. Comic swaps and sales bypassing cgc has likely been occuring and will continue to occur with 3rd Gen slabs. I believe this due to a personal experience. Ironically, the scammer may have repurchased one of his early resubs or that of another scammer. 2 years ago I bought an ASM 238 Newsstand 9.8 w in a 3rd Gen slab from a comiclink auction that looked perfect. But when it arrived the bottom right corner post was separated cleanly but there was some cloudiness to the bottom right slab edge. To my dismay, when I tested the corner. I was able to pry the bottom right side of the slab open enough for the inner well to slide out completely. The book itself looked perfect except for a light pressable bend near the top front cover staple. I rechecked the comiclink listing photos and saw the same cloudiness in the photos. I think I reached out to comiclink about it but I was so disgusted by it that I just put it aside figuring I'd need to get it regraded and hope that it was a true 9.8. I forgot about it after buying a replacement in what I now hope is a legit 9.8 canadian newsstand copy with a perfect wrap. Later that year I cracked out the older newsstand copy from the damaged slab, confirmed that it contained the tattooz and submitted it along with a 9.6 direct edition asm 238 copy for a press and grade to sell. To my amazement both came back as cgc 9.8 white copies. Satisfied but prefering my canadian newstand copy, I listed the regraded newstand copy for sale and eventually sold it to Ulysses Zanello last year who then cracked it out and did the reholder swap with a canadian price variant. If it was a previously swapped 9.6, it became a legit 9.8 after a press. 8. He probably started off doing comic swaps with cheaper books to test the reholder scam so there may be some inexpensive comics in the wrong holders. 9. He chose commonly available in-demand books where the margin and availability between grades was significant to make a decent profit with each swap sale. He likely also benefitted from the fact that cgc didn't recognize newstands on the labels until recently so seeing a newstand copy in a holder with a label not designating it as such was normal. GPA also wouldn't be able to have distinguished between newstand and direct edition copies until the last 2 years. Asm 300, 194, 238, and NM 98 fit that type. Had he stuck to common books instead of going for more rare MJ copies he probably would not have been caught but he got sloppy/greedy. 10. I suspect the civil suit may help cgc obtain full discovery from ebay and other 3rd parties to get the detailed records, receipts and evidence for swapped books. Not sure if this is why they are taking so long in providing compensation to those impacted and who've already provided receipts. A lawyer may be able to provide more insight. 11. I believe the last thing cgc wants is a class action suit against them by those impacted for their failure to catch this in their reholder process. I'd imagine a class action judgement/settlement may be way more costly than having their insurance pay out replacement value for all books affected. It is probably in their best interest to quickly recover and satisfy as many buyers of impacted slabs as possible. I would also expect they would not mind even paying out the 2 defendents for all remaining impacted books so they can declare they've identified and recovered all books on their list restoring faith in all existing slabs. 12. I would imagine that all those impacted should probably sync up with other impacted buyers and consult a lawyer to see if following cgcs requirements are currently in their best interest given the lack of recourse once they hand in their books. 13. I haven't bought a cgc slabbed comic since this news broke in december. I've abstained from the past 2 comiclink, heritage, pedigree and comicconnect auctions avoiding purchases in excess $15k. That's my lost contribution to the current market. 14. On the other hand, I've recently sold more cgc graded books in the last 3 weeks on ebay than I did in the last 8 months and all for well over gpa not including shipping. 4 were in 2nd Gen holders and 1 in a 3rd Gen holder 15. Lastly, what will cgc do with all those confiscated books once their use as evidence is completed and all compensation is made? Will they be graded and handed over to their insurance company to be auctioned off/liquidated to offset payouts? Shouldn't they be given to an independent 3rd party grading company to conduct the regrades to prevent any conflicts of interest? Will cgc attempt to resell them, destroy them, or donate them? Ok I'm done now. Been holding all that in for 404 pages.

This is 100% correct. When he was inquiring about my asm 238 newsstand copy, just before agreeing to buy it he asked me if it was a "strong 9.8 or weak?" I thought it odd at the time but now it makes total sense.

Blame ole Capt. John Smith for naming his northern colony tour brochures after it.

This is the biggest issue with GPA outside of price manipulation.

I'm still catching up but if this is true and CGC has only listed about 300 or so known tampered certs.... Ugh, can we ever trust a CGC 9.8 ASM 300 as being legit?

I just checked those out and the picture appears to show the baggier mylar bags now. No indication on the ebay page whether they also sell the ones for the thinner generation 1 and 2 CGC slabs.

Has this individual already been ID'd and being dealt with by CGC? I think he did this to a book I sold to someone in back in early Sept 2023. Not sure if it's the same guy but might help add to the chain of custody. I just found out last night that a cert# that I used to own is now on the list of fraudulent slabs. I do see an email for Reportfraud@collectiblesGroup.com so I'll try sending the info I have there.

For me with ASM the initial turning point and wakeup call was the extreme manufactured scarcity and hype of the store variants. I already knew the ASM store variant game was a cash grab but at least it was fun to hunt for them in NM/MT condition in the wild once they were out for several months and you could find them at a deep discounts to their pre-order or release month prices. But with time came the nail in the coffin that I had been dreading and anticipating. I refuse to continue to pay for manufactured scarcity and forced second/third party markup pricing on books that have absolutely no value other than its exclusivity. Then there's the issue that others on here have also encountered is the space commitment that comes with completist collecting. I began feeling overwhelmed with just the sheer volume of the books to catalog and maintain. 15-20 variants of the same issue every 5 issues is just insane. that's what one variant dealer exclaimed when he realized what kind of a collector I was. Not just the graded and raw parts to my core ASM collection but all the duplicates and undercopies. I've begun selling them off but it's a lot of work. Lastly is the overall time and money cost. I make pretty decent money and had a pretty good handle of my budget and what I was willing to spend. Or so I thought. I started to realize the bulk of my spare time was dedicated to this hobby and the near round the clock weekly auction and convention grind. Selling to buy more. Working on books to get them in the grade I wanted. It became a second job and began outpacing the hours required of my current job. When I couldn't be certain whether I was working for the hobby or for enjoyment of my life and couldn't tell if I was actually enjoying the hobby as it became difficult to distinguish hobby from a job, I just stopped. Actually, it also took a family tragedy to help get me to a stopping point where I just couldn't focus on my hobby for a good month. However, my pause in collecting continued beyond that month as I focused on grieving with my family. Little by little I let myself fall behind on new issues, variant covers, or even some of the hot auction items. After a good 3 months, my bank account had swollen to an amount I hadn't seen since I got back into collecting. I hadn't realized how lean I had been living to support my hobby/habit. However, I suddenly had so much money and time to put into better vacation travel with my family, upgrades for my home and cars, additional comforts and experiences that I would have shot down as out of budget as it would cut into my hobby funds. For a few years I had allowed the hobby to consume my life which is not how I want to live nor continue to subject my family. I love comics and art but there's little point to being a completist if it ruins the enjoyment of those things and quality of life. So I'm taking a bit of a break casually window shopping on potential upgrades, keys, and value books while I re-evaluate my goals. In the meantime, I'm taking my family on some fantastic vacations coming up and spending more quality of time with them. Whatever little time I do spend on the hobby it is spent reading the forums, selling, organizing, pressing/cleaning books, and whittling down my collection. My new rule is if it requires more time or money than what I can give to my family that day, it's not worth it. Meanwhile, my money is making so much more money for me in high interest accounts, bonds, and the stock market. Perhaps once I reach my savings goal, I can resume hobby purchases with a leaner and narrower focus but I'm out of the completist game.

It is a sad day indeed when this happens. My 2 cents: 1. Really sad this happened to you. That book had a nearly perfect alignment of the 0's along the RFC. Beautiful book. I hate it when this happens to great books. 2. This is a shipping/packing issue as others have stated not a slabbing issue. The CGC holder was never intended to protect the book from extreme shipping issues. It won't protect the book from extreme temperature/humidity swings just as it can't protect from drops/tosses beyond certain heights or forces. It also can't help if the box is crushed under larger heavier boxes. 3. Could the extra plastic tabs have helped in this case, maybe, maybe not. Should CGC be consistent with it's slabbing types and materials across all books of a specific size/type: YES. 4. This is now an insurance claim with CGC and FEDEX to make you whole but, of course, that money won't really make you whole. The biggest sting for us collectors is in the difficulty in trying to replace a copy that we can be satisfied with. That money won't replace the time, effort, emotional tax, and additional expense in obtaining an equally presenting copy in grade let alone any sentimental attachment to a specific copy. 5. Can CGC take additional steps to prevent this damage in the future beyond modifications to the slab? YES. Here's my recommendations based on what others have said and my own experiences: a. They can negotiate with the shipper for a lower defect rate with incentives or higher fees for more secure shipping services (cost passed on to us of course) b. They can change the packaging for large shipments: -use boxes that allow for the slabs to be oriented on their sides with staples down by moving the closing flaps from the top of the box to the larger side of the box and placing the label on closing flaps. -box side indicators showing which side should be UP. -Use larger boxes that allow for additional padding/cushioning around corners, edges, and even in between slabs. c. OR break the shipments up into smaller separate shipments for more expensive items (again, cost passed on to us) d. If it is determined that most damages occur in the last mile of the delivery OR via specific transport method (air vs ground) have the shipping service changed to the transport with least damages and require packages to be picked up from the nearest distribution center vs dropped off at home where carelessness in handling is less visible. 6. I do feel a more snug fit may prevent this type of damage BUT, it would be far more expensive to us as it will require a custom mold for each books since every book is trimmed/cut to slightly different sizes even among the same print run and yet not completely eliminate the risk for damage. My guess is that in this case, if the tabs or a more snug fit was used in the case, there may not have been staple pull from the cover but instead you'd have cover bends and curl to the bottom right front and bottom left back covers as the impact would have forced the cover edges to impact the side of the side of the slab with sufficient force to cause bends and possible crease with color break.

The ones from Clear Bags and also from Superior Fit are not Mylar. Instead they use BOPP which is Biaxially-Oriented PolyPropylene plastic. It's similar to poly bags but structurally stronger, more scratch resistant, durable, and more transparent than the polypropylene bags from BCW or Bags Unlimited but still not as strong, thick, or as clear as Mylar. Mylar bags may tend to get scratched up but they protect the CGC case from scratches a bit more than from BOPP or regular poly. I love the older Mylar bags used for the old, thinner CGC slabs. Those fit perfectly on the thin slabs and I've tried looking all over for them but no one makes them anymore. (if you know of a source that still sells them, PM me.) Still, I prefer the look of Mylar, even if baggy, on all my slabs. The BOPP bags still have a slightly cloudy and blueish hue to them and feel too flimsy. For what we pay CGC should absolutely be shipping books in mylar bags AND return prescreen books that didn't make the cut in new mylar bags and boards for what we pay. It sucks to receive prescreen rejects in trashed bags and boards often with the flap cut and a crappy CGC order sticker on every bag which renders them useless. Often, they don't even return in the same mylite2 and fullback that I sent them in with. So now I simply send them in normal polybags with 2 or 3 backboards.

Mylar is king (Mylites or other brand) but E Gerber is the one that boasts their manufacturing process prevents the easy splitting of the mylar sides. I just wish I could find Mylar sleeves for the older thinner CGC cases. They used to make them at one time but now I can only find the size that fits the new slabs. The old ones look like they are swimming in the new mylites.

About Tree-Fiddy......Thousand

This is the real answer. If you own your own home and have a collection worth even a quarter of your home's value, spend the money and build yourself a well concealed safe room. It can be as small as a 2 sq ft closet built into a wall, under, behind or inside anything that makes it easy to conceal and blend in. If you have the space, convert a basement or attic room into a full blown safe room and comic room. There are numerous designs on how to do this on a budget or to survive 50 cal wielding Zombie apocalypse. The simplest I've seen is just building a room out of cinder blocks, bricks, and/or a 12 guage wire mesh lining, fireproof metal security door and reinforced threshold. It may cost anywhere from $3k to 15k to build it out but it's also adding in some value back into your home. Deck it out with shelving, display lights, a comfy reading chair, a workbench, a firearm and ammo cabinet, and independent air vent and water supply. And the number 1 rule for doing this is never talk about it or share where you have yours.

I stopped buying moderns and, recently, thanks to Bry's store variant, I've also stopped collecting ASM store variants. Now I have so much more money to spend on GA/SA/BA books.

I know what a ZJ is and I still can't afford it.

Sorry to hear that. I would think that since they admitted fault the least they could do would be to refund you the cost of books that they can't locate and ship the ones they do have for free to make up for it and give you a discount on a future purchase. Haven't bought from them in a few years but never had an issue like this. I'm in the U.S.tho.