• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Triskelion

Member
  • Posts

    27
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Recent Profile Visitors

The recent visitors block is disabled and is not being shown to other users.

  1. Two key “collecting milestones” for me were getting a hold of a copy of Hulk 181 (a 3.0 SS signed by Len Wein and Herb Trimpe), and later on, one of the Sideshow Collectibles diorama statues based on that iconic cover. Showed both here side by side with a graded 7.0 I’d acquired more recently, amidst a backdrop of 181 facsimiles and other slabs in my custom display cabinet/ drawer.
  2. Thanks! Yes I LOVE pairing books with statues/ figure!
  3. Haven’t posted a journal here in a loooong time, and have never attached a hyperlink to a journal post before (so not sure if this will work). Below is a link to a Custom Set I’ve been trying to update for the last several months. Focus is on comic books signed by celebrities (actors/ actresses). Another thing “unique” about it (I think!) is that I’ve also been trying to create photos to go with each slab showing the comic book along with a few of my other collectibles (statues, figures, etc). Still havent been able to complete shots for all, but getting close and hope to get this done in a couple of months or so. Please do have a look if you have the spare time, and let me know what you think! Thanks for reading, happy collecting and advance Merry Christmas! https://comics.www.collectors-society.com/WCM/ComicCustomSetView.aspx?s=16813
  4. Triskelion

    Thanks

    Congratulations!
  5. Thank you Chris Faulkner I've always found storing and displaying comic book slabs very challenging. Always seems like a difficult trade-off, ie keep 'em stored away im boxes or frame and hang 'em, etc. When I saw Chris Faulkner's You Tube uploaded comic book glass drawer storage system, it suddenly dawned on me: "Yes, this is it, this is EXACTLY how I would like to both store & display my slabs." Had my buddy make this one for me, just recently completed. Display + storage rolled into one. 6 x 4 drawer type shelving which can hold approximately ~750 slabs (or a combination of slabs, raw books, TPB's/HC's, etc). What I really like about the glass front cover is that it allows me to change & rotate slabs I'd like to display etc. It's been a personally wonderful 2014 for me especially in the CGC collecting space, and this shelf/drawer was a great cap to the year. I wish you all the best in your collecting journeys in 2015! Thanks for reading and happy collecting guys! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.
  6. Painfully fun Been collecting slabs for the last 6 years or so and its been a pain (in the wallet!) being based overseas here in Asia. I'm sure those of you reading this from Singapore, Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand (all places which at one point in the past 10 years I've called 'home', and where I've had the pleasure of interacting with several fellow comic book fans) can relate to. Fortunately I have a shipping address in California where I have my slabs purchased from US sellers to, later consolidated and shipped en masse to the Philippines which saves me big time on freight. On the brighter side, I do see interest and the hobby in general growing, albeit very slowly. In 2008 I remember searching for and not finding any Ebay listing for slabs located out here. Nowadays I see a lot more interest as well as active buying/selling in this around the region - local Ebay, Facebook forums, even in an LCS in Manila (where I just recently found out we also had a CGC SS witness which is cool). Pricing I can see is still normally about +50% at the minimum higher versus what one would pay if one were based in the US though, but on occasion I do see pretty good bargains though I suspect the sellers could be absorbing losses. A few things which I've learned through the years (which worked for me and which I'm hoping can also help my fellow collectors out here): 1) Leveraging door to door shippers who provide the service to Southeast Asian countries, most of which are based in the west coast. Several have even begun offering consolidation services. Makes sense paying say $50 bucks for sea freight which can cover for over 100 slabs versus having 3 slabs USPS'd here for the same amount if not higher. 2) GPA and OPG have been my best friends throughout, and have really helped me not overpay for books (raw or slabbed) .... or at least not do it with my eyes closed. I know astute collectors in general living anywhere use these as references, but its even more important for overseas collectors, for obvious reasons 3) Cautiously try out non-Ebay and non- trad online auction sources, i.e. direct deals with reputable sellers, BST forums etc. Over the past 2 months I was able to get 2 modern slabs and 2 SA keys very close to guide (+/- 10%) DELIVERED here in Kuala Lumpur. Bit risky and won't do this for pricier slabs I will pursue, but makes sense I think for some. Always good to develop relationships also with sellers you can trust. 4) Leverage the selling community both locally and in the Region. I got several of my SA slabs from an Australia-based seller, where shipping fees are obviously lower versus getting from NA and where I found his pricing very reasonable. Also active in a handful of FB forums here where I clearly see interest grow (which can only be good) 5) PATIENCE. I've found that the most economical way for me to get from raw to slabbed is to ship it to Sarasota and have them ship to my CA consolidator, then sea freighted to Manila. This process takes months - on top of CGC grading. So I end up physically seeing my slabs maybe 6 months or more after I send in my raw book. Many other things learned through the years. Love this journey and I really do hope that hobby continues to thrive for us out here in this part of the world. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.
  7. Or am I? I really love spending time and reading through various journals, fantastic collections, awesome pictures & fascinating stories posted in this forum by you guys! And every now and then, I do get inspired to post and share my thoughts also. Here's my latest 'venting': Being based and living in Southeast Asia, sustaining a comic book collecting & practically any other similar genre collectibles hobby can become annoyingly tricky. There's always the natural question of cost & availability. A little over 10 years ago I had to relocate overseas for work, which made things even worse, forcing me to leave my home and treasured comic books & collectibles behind. Until now I've been moving & living around the region, coming home only briefly in time for celebrating the year-end holidays. This means that I only get to physically see and grasp the vast majority of slabs and collectibles purchased online & shipped to Manila once a year, before they go back into storage. While I've been able to establish quite an effective system of having items procured online from sites such as Ebay and Heritage sent over to an LA-based consolidator's address (a friend of mine in the business), verified, accumulated then shipped overseas in bulk at a reasonable cost, it's still gets frustrating especially at the start of the year when I begin winning the occasional online bid for a slab and have to wait several months before I actually see what I won! This also unfortunately creates a situation akin to 'hoarding'. Accumulated slabs and similar theme collectibles like statues and die-casts do take up a lot of space. Trying to control this as much as I can (i.e. given my situation 1/4-scale or larger statues/ dioramas for example are simply out of the question, also getting back into less space-consuming coin collecting), but even small things pile up. Took me a while personally to get focused on my CGC collecting hobby, so there are several slabs (over half of what I'd accumulated) & items back home which I will definitely need to somehow dispose of when I get settled back. Impossible for me to do anything major about this now apart from the occasional consignment here and there, and no idea when I'll be able to really sit down and better manage my 'hoard'. I'm not sure if some of you are in the same or similar 'predicament' as me. Maybe not exactly under the same circumstances but I imagine a lot of us share a bit of the 'hoarder' traits also, as avid collectors who at one point in time in our 'journeys' sit back and make difficult decisions on which items to keep, and which to part with. And struggle with constraints relating to space, and of course changing collecting focus and even life priorities. At the end of the day though, I'm still a believer in the adage that it's the journey that matters most, rather than the destination. Personally, I find that the angst I feel whenever I think about just how much stuff I will need to inventory, store etc whenever I get back home is simply overshadowed by the excitement I feel whenever I find an item I am looking for overseas, whenever I win a bid or see status of a CGC order shift to 'Shipped', and when I go back once a year, unwrapping packages, arranging my stuff, etc. Priceless memories over the last 10 years, for me. Helps make it all worthwhile. Thanks for reading guys, and happy collecting! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.
  8. Beyond comics Every now and then I like taking a step back, evaluate priorities in life (including this hobby), and ask myself if I need stop what I'm doing, continue, or modify. Seems like I do this more often nowadays. I think its simply because I'm getting old. Hehe. Take comic books for instance. A little over 30 years ago, it was all about saving up to buy the next issue of my favorite series (back then, Avengers). Prior to this, it was about browsing through and reading (and unfortunately destroying in the process) my dad's huge collection of silver age Gold Keys and Dells. But in any case, it was primarily comics and reading pleasure, back then. Then came the 80's and mid 90''s, with the explosion of new titles and new publishers. While continuing to read, I got caught up in the speculation frenzy, sometimes buying multiple copies of 1st issue Images, Valiants, etc. Expanding beyond this though I started buying the random statue/ figurine here and there. The late 90's and early 00's was somewhat of a hiatus from the genre. Responsibilities, early family life took a stronger hold. Didn't even buy any new book for months on end. However did get into collecting DVD's and later Blu-Rays and amassed a huge collection. From the mid 00's though I did see a resurgence. Got back into the hobby and started reading Avengers again plus the new Ultimates lines, and several other books. Started collecting trades and hardcovers. Got my first slab in the 2009 SDCC, first time I attended too. Bought a few original art also. And started buying Sideshows also, later on Hot Toys, Master Replicas etc. 2010 onwards was somewhat more restrained. I'd since slowed down comic and CGC 'collecting' habits significantly. No longer feel obsessed with completing some sets. And settled for virtual copies of favorite books I continue to download and read. At the same time, have slowed down statue and figurine collecting also. Recently though, a 'new' side hobby (for me) started by way of commissioned art. Never really got into this until now. I feel I'm lucky enough to have 'stumbled' into this with a first encounter with the Fraim brothers, who to date have been nothing short of awesome in my experience (great artists, extremely professional service, reasonable prices). I have a work in progress JLA/Avengers cover homage with them, with several character cameos representing genre figures who've at some point in time influenced me, and/or which I really liked, a lot (photo below). This seems to me like something I will probably settle into for the foreseeable future. What I like about this hobby is that it gives anyone the option of 'branching out' to multiple side hobbies/interests beyond just reading comic books, which I think most if not all of us in the forum started out with. Some expand to collecting statues. Some to collecting original art. Some to collecting genre trading cards. Some to starting up a business of buying/selling books and collectibles. Some to CGC, PGX collecting. Some to simply watching and enjoying comic book character TV and movie interpretations. Many, I think, expand to a combination of some or even most of these. And the beauty is that the hobby is so much entrenched already in today's culture and also very scaleable, depending on the priorities of the day and one's plans for the future. I really treasure this hobby, as it's one of the things which has been with me all these years, ups and downs, and has truly helped make life very interesting and enjoyable for me. I do hope you are enjoying the same if not even greater satisfaction in this, than me. Thanks for reading, and happy collecting guys! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.
  9. Reading, collecting, slabbing, & downloading It's been about 5 years since I started collecting slabbed CGC books, and almost 40 years since I began reading comic books. Over these years, I've amassed quite a large collection of books, slabs, TPB's/HC's, artwork, and figurines/statues. Now I'm having what will likely be my retirement home built. Quite large space I may say, and is being constructed with an eye towards preparing for an ideal environment for a collector (ie Low E windows to keep out UV, LED lighting to avoid damage, shelves with glass covers, ample cool/dry storage space etc) but still it will be impossible for me to properly house & display everything that I have collected (most items now in storage). Choices I will have to make, and make soon: 1) Which of these items should I keep, and which should I dispose of? 2) Which books do I keep in a display shelf/bookcase, and which should I keep in storage boxes? 3) Which slabs do I frame and display, versus those which I keep hidden in storage? 4) With limited display space, how do I decide what items to display (books? statues/figures? original artwork? what's an optimal mix?) What makes it somewhat easier to avoid the temptation of further amassing more and more books is the availability of online comics; to date all my issues of Walking Dead and Justice League are virtual. Helps avoid needing space to store more books. What makes it difficult however are the dozens of great Bowens, Sideshows, Hot Toys, Efx's etc which are released every day. Many better than previous versions. It was hard for me to resist the temptation of not buying the complete line of Hot Toys 1/6 Avengers for example. Soon, it will occupy a prominent space in my display. I know that I'll need to stop someday. I have considerably slowed down, i.e. a year or so ago made a decision to cease expanding my CGC collection, start selling off, and only focus on a core CGC set on the Turok character (ie highgrading where financially feasible, and completing a few uncompleted sets). So I thought my intense CGC collecting days were over. Of course, earlier this year Dynamite revived the character .... and I'm back! Its been a great 40 years of ups, of pauses, and downs. Of wanting to get each and every issue of a particular character. Of countless hours reading and re-reading favorite books. Of following certain creators. Of eagerly waiting for slabbed books shipped by CGC. Of hours looking both mine and at other collectors' image galleries (in CGC, in Comicartfans, etc) and admiring with envy! Of waiting in line to be among the first to see Avengers. Of attending comic conventions, meeting creators and fellow fans. Of eagerly anticipating results of an Ebay bid, or availability of a Sideshow release. Of refocusing buying habits. Of rationalizing with my very patient wife on why this hobby is good. I've enjoyed all these years as an avid comic book reader and fan tremendously. From the time I picked up and read my first comic book (a hand me down Turok from my dad), to the time I write this journal. It was an opportunity I was truly blessed with to enjoy. And, I presume like all of you reading this, I look forward to moving on to the next chapter of this journey. Happy reading and collecting! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.
  10. Hectic weekend! Had a great time at this year's SDCC, despite having been able to attend only the Sunday last day events. Highlight for me was being able to bring my entire family along this time. Kids had a blast; my 12 year old son was able to get for himself a Simpsons convention edition TPB, with a personalized autograph and note from none other than Matt Groening (he's a big fan), and my other 10 year old son had a great time getting into the Back to the Future Delorean display (he also had a nice opportunity to be interviewed in what looks like a segment for a Michael J Fox foundation clip). That said, I'd noticed that I actually spent significantly less this year than my last SDCC attendance (in 2009). I guess partly because I only spent a day (and the last day, at that!) though some of the retailers I'd spoken too did mention that this year wasn't so successful sales-wise than previous years. Spent almost the entire day browsing through the Golden & Silver Age sections, some key books I'd wanted to get were either simply unavailable, or priced way above my budget (I'm still drooling over the 'highest in grade' Dell Four Color 596/Turok #1 and Four Color 686/Turok #2 displayed in the A-1 Comics booth, just couldn't afford the > $7K price tag). Still managed to score myself a few nice raw books - including about a dozen silver age Marvel Avengers and a handful of silver age Gold Keys (e.g. Star Trek) from Tomorrow's Treasures, at first glance appearing to be in Fine+ condition or higher, for about $5 - $10 each. Plus a handful of raw Dell Turok Son of Stone cover price variants from A-1 Comics and Terry's Comics (which I've been looking for, for years!), and a nice 9.2 CGC slabbed/graded copy of Dell Turok at slightly below guide. Another thing which 'made my day' this week was the very pleasant surprise of finding out that my silver age Turok set had been recognized by CGC in this year's Registry Awards. I think my dad, who accompanied us to this year's event, was equally elated (he's a Turok fan himself, who brought me into the hobbly in the early 70's, and I dont think he actually realized that I managed to complete the set over the last several years!). It's truly a great honor to be counted among the best sets out there (still reeling from the shock), and I'd like to congratulate all the winners in this year's awards. Flying back home tomorrow, and will be spending the next several weeks/months sorting through my purchases (and budget!) and submitting a subset for CGC grading. Not sure if I can attend subsequent SDCC's in the future (i.e. I heard that ticket prices are increasing significantly), but who knows? All for now. Happy collecting!
  11. A never-ending quest Seeing Amazing Saul's recent journal on upggrading inspired me write this up. Over the past several months, I've finally been able to complete my Turok Son of Stone set in the registry. Took several years to do this, and I'm sure many of you can relate to the feeling of fulfillment one gets when one is able to complete a favorite set. So what's next? On one hand I've been able to meet one of my primary collecting goals. On the other hand, there is that ever-present temptation to continuously upgrade issues in my set to a higher grade. I have a handful of issues in my Turok set for which I feel I could get higher grades at an affordable price for me, so I'll continue to pursue this. Also, there's also a temptation to 'expand' the set by getting 'special issues', which could take the form of special one-shots or mini-series (e.g. in Turok's case, 3 issues of Western Publishing's March of Comics giveaway series published in the early 70's which I was also just recently able to procure), or some nice foreign edition copies. For the latter (and I recall Liaton-9000 published a related journal on this recently) I felt fortunate enough to come across reasonably priced Turok #1 foreign editions over the past several months (an Italian/Spada edtion circa 1972, a Spanish/Mexican edition circa 1958, and a black & white Australian edition circa 1958 also), many of which I am hoping to slab once I have saved up for it later in the year. I find that part of the interest too lies in doing some research to try and find more information about these relatively 'obscure' titles and editions, and subsequently trying to see if there are any issues out there put up for sale or auction. The journey just gets more and more interesting. Thanks for reading, and happy CGC collecting!
  12. What if? It's the year 2020. The live action "JLA/Avengers: Part III" is breaking all box-office records. Happy news for the now combined Walt Disney / Time-Warner Marvel - DC Comics conglomerate, as this follows the heels of its successful Marvel/DC Universe animated series. 'Walking Dead' is in its 10th season, still going strong. Now in HD3D interactive TV. Robert Kirkman is on the cover of Time magazine. Its the 3rd year anniversary of the successful merger between CGC and PGX, and their combined registry. Differences e.g. imperfections in relative grading have been resolved, and the no. of registered collectors have quadrupled since 2011. Because of the influx of collectors and resurgence in popularity, gold/silver/bronze/copper age slabbing costs drop to $10 a book ($ 7.50 if its sent as a 30-book batch) with a 10-day turnaround. Imaging provided free of charge. A 5.0 grade 'Action Comics 1' sells for $5 million in a Comic Connect auction. Modern age books finally reach similar relative price levels as Silver age issues 10 years ago. 500,000 visitors registered in SDCC '20. CGC Registry points roughly equate to about $5 per point, market value. All comics ever published 1938 onward now available for download online. Aliens vs Predator vs Terminator vs GI Joe vs Transformers vs Robocop vs Archie volume 3 issue no. 1 hits the stands Life is good. Ok, I'm willing to settle for a small drop in CGC slabbing costs, or even quicker turnaround times, how about that? Happy collecting! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.
  13. Comic book collecting in Asia - and why I can't wait for SDCC '11! Every time I log in and view recent journals from my esteemed fellow collectors (e.g. the recent posting of Doc Joe and others), I'm always inspired to jot down and share my thoughts (End of preamble) Over the last several years, I've been going around and living overseas, staying in places where as a child avidly reading and collecting Marvel and DC comic books in Manila I'd never dreamed of going. Right now I'm based in Singapore, having moved over from Thailand a few months back. And everytime I move to a new location/country, finding the nearest place to buy comics is top on my 'to do' list. In my experience out here, comic books never got the traction/widespread readership, as it did in the US. Even in countries where theres either a lot of western cultural influence (e.g. Philippines, which had been a US colony until WW2) or integration (e.g. Singapore, with a large western expatriate population), the options are limited. A part of me always envied friends/family living in the States - conventions left and right, comics widely distributed/available, and (relatively speaking, given the shipping premiums) cheap! As a child (and until now), I always looked forward to whenever we visit friends and family in the US, as the trips were always a great opportunity to purchase bundles of books, subject only to the limits of allowable carry on & checked in luggage. Here in Singapore, there are two major comic book outlets where I regularly purchase the most recent releases from. Books Kinokuniya, located at the huge Takashimaya shopping mall here, undoubtedly has one of the best selection of hardcovers and trades in the city-state. There's another smaller outfit, Absolute Comics, which specializes in both recent issues as well as trades (though nowhere near the size of Kino). I find that these two stores are able to satisfy by basic reading/collecting craving, but I'm not sure how long they can stay operating (I've seen 2 other shops in Singapore close down in recent years). For my CGC purchase/collecting needs, there is unfortunately no other option other than going online (and finding ways to deal with the price premium/ disadvantage an overseas bidder would have versus a domestic US bidder vying for the same, US-based item). I'd also attended last year's Singapore Comic Convention with my son, and left very disappointed (it was probably 95% manga-cosplay-anime themed which I'm really not into, and ended up with zero purchases for myself, though admittedly my son had a blast). I guess one part of me feels that the industry I've loved and been into all these years is sunsetting, which of course saddens me a bit. But then I go into the CGC portal (reading journals, messages etc) and browse through Ebay, Heritage and other auctions online, read recent releases from great creators like Brubaker, Bendis, Ennis and Johns, and I can clearly see that there's still a lot of 'life' in the hobby, which as mentioned above I always find inspiring. And my young kids, who have never been to a 'real' comic convention, are wondering why I'm so excited planning for our upcoming San Diego trip in July (can't wait for them to experience this, first hand). I love this hobby!
  14. Success...and waiting... I'd recently shipped 30 silver age Dell/Gold Key Turok Son of Stone books for CGC grading, and very happy to note that they're now in "Verified" status. Why the elation? 1. This was my first CGC submission for the year, with the last one being roughly a year ago. Part of my self-imposed 2010 new year's resolution to stop myself from overspending in the hobby (quite expensive as I ship from overseas), and set aside funds on a monthly basis to save up for a batch submission. Right now I have another batch waiting to be shipped (all modern books, including what I hope to be min 9.6 or higher grade Avengers/Invaders, my personal 'read once and subsequently carefully stored' Marvels set, and assorted unread Turok Dinosaur Hunter issues), but need to save up for a few months for this. 2. I'd had about 8 raw book batch submissions to CGC to date (including this one), and had a terrible experience with my last submission where books I'd submitted were inadvertently damaged during shipping. The boards I'd inserted inbetween the bagged and boarded individual issues apparently did not have sufficient allowances in the edges - should be at least 1", mine were about half that - to protect the books. So now I'm paranoid, and apart from following the 1" rule, I placed the items in a conveniently sized hard plastic container purchased from Ikea(costs about $5) prior to shipping. Seems like it did the trick this time, thankfully. 3. In a few of my earlier submissions, it took two weeks to move status from "Received" to "Verified". And on many occassions the books were shipped well over the regular time expected. This batch, took less than a week to move to "Verified" so I hope the batch moves quickly through other stages in CGC's pipeline. 4. I really look forward to having this particular batch slabbed. Took me a while to accumulate these from various sources (e.g. Metropolis, Worldwide, Neatstuff plus the occassional Ebay purchase) given the scarcity and relatively limited print run of the series, and my intent at this point is to high grade my existing complete Turok set to a minimum 8.5 (I'm realistic, unless of course I win the lottery or something) or higher. All for now. It's always been a great pleasure to be part of this forum and the CGC collecting community. Reading through fellow member journals and the occasional chat board post is one of the highlights of my day, as its always nice to know that there are a multitude of fellow collectors out there enjoying the hobby, experience and journey as much as I am. Happy collecting! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.
  15. Crossing my fingers Is it just me, or are a lot of us irked at the unusual delay it is taking to open up general registration for SDCC '11? Being an overseas-based collector, until I attended the Con for the first time in 2009, SDCC had always been part of my bucket list for as long as I can remember. Extremely happy to have gone 2 years ago (and crossed this one out of my list, though that visit did ramp up my interest in CGC collecting, thereby creating new items in the list). Made a few key purchases for my collection (e.g. Four Color Comics #596, a 9.8 graded Secret Wars no. 8), met with a number of retailers I still deal with on a regular basis (Worldwide, Milehigh), and had a chance to meet and have casual discussions with some of my favorite personalities too (e.g. Francis Manapul). Am looking forward to attending this year's event, so is my wife (who really isnt into the hobby, but who had a great time attending the '09 con nevertheless) and my kids for that matter (who couldnt come with me the 1st time). Hopefully they fix the registration problems soon. Latest info from the website says they'll open for registration this Saturday/ Feb 5, hopefully things are smooth... To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.