FSF

First off, while $2100 is not a bad deal, it isn't really a good deal either. There have been multiple copies on eBay that have sold for less recently. But regardless, making any comment based on what one dealer offered you for your book is hardly a reliable measure of value. Quite frankly, you should have sold your copy and bought another one for a few hundred less. And the dealer who offered you $2500 must be an insufficiently_thoughtful_person to be that out of touch with the value of a book that is so well known, especially considering he wants to buy them.

I sold all of my CGC books several months back primarily because of the NR issues. It is completely unacceptable. That should be obvious to anyone that isn't blind. How CGC can take this issue so lightly is beyond me.

I'm not sure if you've already tried this but I would search google for: "orange [purple/yellow] cover comic" and review the image section of the results and find which suits your needs.

I'm a huge fan of Neal Adams' bronze and silver age work but his drawings over the last couple of decades is very uninspiring to me. Unfortunately, he has chosen to follow the herd and draw in that Jim Lee style of Mr. Universe looking characters with muscles protruding from every inch of their bodies. Not a fan of Jim Lee nor the wave of copycats that he seemed to have inspired.

I'd consign with MCS.

Couldn't agree more. There's a TON of impulse buying when looking through comic boxes.

For the record, I just recently sold off all of my CGC books (a few dozen). There were various reasons why but by far and away the main reason was these newton rings. It's hard to enjoy a collectible that looks so ugly. CGC, please get your act together. Because your product (not your service) is abysmal by any rational standard. You take beautiful high grade books and make them look like filler copies.

Wong thread.

I wouldn't know. I can't recall the last time I actually saw a kid in a comic store. I've seem two unicorns and Big Foot in the meantime.

But that's a problem as far as I'm concerned. While the "thrill of the hunt" is fine and all, no one wants to work THAT hard to find reasonably priced material that is by no one's definition rare. It's not like collector's go expecting to find a ton of stuff on their wantlists at bargain prices or even reasonable prices. But no one wants to walk away with little to no material when there's so much of it out there (in general) but either the price is unreasonable or sellers are hanging on for speculative purposes.

I've wondered about this myself.

My goodness. That is some seriously obnoxious font to be using for an ebay listing.

Some general comments: 1) Always take "market reports" from any dealer of any collectible with a HUGE grain of salt. 2) If you ask people here, "What is a good comic investment?", it's the same as asking, "What do you own and like to collect?" 3) If you ask people here, "What books are undervalued?", it's the same as asking, "What do you own and like to collect?" 4) If you ask people here, "What books are the best to collect?", it's the same as asking, "What do you own and like to collect?"

I hear ya! Those GA guys can be real snobs.

Superman bro. Get your superheroes straight!

Like others here, I'm also a HUGE fan of the show. In fact, since Mad Men went off the air, it is easily my favorite show. I have seen each episode on average probably more than 10 times. While I'm sure some things are staged, edited out of context, etc., I think American Pickers is probably one of the most legitimate "reality" shows in existence. I doubt that they actually "freestyle" as that would take way too long and it just doesn't jive with a production schedule. Also, I don't believe Danielle really works for Antique Archaelogy and Frank is not business partners (at least the store) with Mike. Having said that, I do believe that the picks you see are real, that the sellers are real, that money is exchanging hands and that their interactions with the sellers is not staged. I also believe that Mike and Frank are lifelong friends. I'm quite fond of both Mike and Frank and think that the chemistry between the two works really well.

First off, I'm sorry that you have to be going through this because it sucks dealing with unethical people. Having said that, as many have already pointed out, your expectations are unrealistic. And as others have mentioned, it's a huge burden to have to ship things, let alone the same package twice. Curious though, If the "buyer" lives in San Francisco, why did you file a claim with the Hayward DA? Or does he actually live in Hayward? I have to say, your articulation hasn't been all that thorough or clear. I'm still not EXACTLY sure what all went down. Now, I don't go picking on people's grammar or writing skills but it's important to clearly and objectively articulate if you are going to make accusations. Also, as others are also confused by, I don't understand how you thought it would be rationale for anyone here to get involved. This is your problem. No one else's. If I recited all of the eggregious transgressions that have been thrust upon me by dealers/buyers/"friends" in 35 years of collecting coins, cards, comics, etc., I would probably break the internet due to it's lack of bandwidth. If you want to hassle the guy, create a fake ebay account of two using a different ISP address and start buying the guy's stuff and never paying for it. That will likely bother him A LOT more than a handful of random strangers sending him nastygrams. Money (even small amounts) always seems to elicit much more emotional reaction that it should.

A few random thoughts. On anything really expensive ($1K+) I would only stick with slabs. As for lower priced stuff (under $100), I would actually pay a premium for a raw copy (all else being equal) because I wouldn't want the risk or hassle of de-slabbing it. As for a 5.0 selling for more than a 6.0, I don't have a problem with that depending on the situation. I would gladly pay more for an "inferior copy" as long as the handful of deal breaker issues for me are not existent. To me, these are deal breakers (won't buy book): -non-centered wrap (even a half mm of the back cover on the front, especially at an angle, is unacceptable to me) -off-centered books (bar codes/comic codes that touch the border, book is printed slightly diagonal, etc.) -any writing (including date stamps, ink stains, autographs, etc.) -all but the slightest and most trivial tears For my part, if I could not resell the book, I would MUCH MUCH MUCH rather have a VF perfectly wrapped, well centered book free of writing that has honest wear, spine ticks, etc. over AT LEAST 50% of the 9.6-9.8 books of the silver and bronze age and a good chunk of Copper at that. I'm absolutely APPALLED at the rampant amount of WAY off centered and mis-wrapped books and books with HAND writing that are sitting in high grades.

Will also take.

Take. May still add to this.

Take 238

I was obviously just kidding around, which is primarily the main thing I do on an internet forum, unless there is a serious topic being discussed. I never get upset with other folks over the internet and rarely in real life and there is no member that I dislike or will likely ever dislike regardless of what I post or they post. It's all good. And quite frankly, as a general rule, the people that I engage in regular debates with are some of the folks that I would be most disappointed with if they left for whatever reason.

Marwood, I will add that your post was one of the very few that I did read for no other reason than that it came directly into my personal email account and I agreed with every word you said, which was very thoughtful and expressed exactly how I felt concerning the matter.

Well...around here...apparently no one. Except maybe Mr. Mozart. And to think I thought I was finally making some friends in this world.

First off, where did I say that I didn't expect people to reply? I was curious about what I asked about so I asked here. Where should have I levied the question? In a PM to random members? Obviously I hoped and expected that someone would ANSWER my QUESTION. Once that part was done, I expected that the thread would die. This thread was never intended to be open-ended. I've certainly not done anything to make it into what it is nor did I ever expect the admin to chime in. I honestly have not read even a dozen of the posts (which is rare for me as I usually read everything involved in a thread I start and or am active in). I've scanned the pages and it appears (not sure) that a lot of people are making wisecracks (probably at my expense which is fine). There are endless topics I could start that would probably engender heavy discussion and if I wanted attention or wanted people to reply and agree with me, this would not have been the sort of thing I would have started. Nor would I have less than a couple of hundred posts in all internet forums combined during the entire 2018 year.