mosconi

On 3/26/2024 at 6:00 PM, Straw-Man said:

as always, thanks jimbo!!

Those are some gorgeous copies!  #23 may be my all time favorite 

On 2/4/2024 at 11:14 AM, KirbyJack said:

I’m boing to have to pick up a copy. Although I foster no ill will against it, I had skipped it. I want to avoid a jump in prices and buy one while its still a bogan! I could find enough in change down under my couch cushions. Or maybe my wife’s perth.

It's the first appearance of the romping Kangaroo, how could you go wrong!

On 2/5/2024 at 5:17 PM, bc said:

They should be.

Granted them access back in 2016. Suit claims "more then 2000 comic books " Love to see the breakdown between submissions per account - that would tell the real story.

-bc

Is it possible that Comic Station is not being sued as a litigant if the prosecution is planning to use them as a witness against Zanello and Riva?  But if they've received monetary compensation from the fraud slab sales, that would be considered ill gotten gains in my mind.  

If CGC can gather the evidence that the store owner received monetary compensation from the millions of dollars of scam slabs over the years from Zanello, then the benefit of doubt will be out the window.  A documented money trail/money transfers from scammer to store owner would be a starting point to investigate.  I'm no skilled detective, but at this point we can only speculate what kind of financial shenanigans were going on between them 

On 2/4/2024 at 10:14 PM, HighGrade said:

As far as that store, looks like a decent operation, right? getting involved in this was certain doom. Just crazy, they will no doubt try to pin it all on the scammer, "try"
 

Yeah, I'm sure the store owner will try to plead total ignorance to the scammers activities to save his business.  If they can prove he was receiving monetary gains from these slab sales, then he may become a litigant as well.  Anyone believe this guy had no idea with what was going on behind the scenes, with hundreds if not thousands of submissions going through his company?         

On 2/4/2024 at 5:34 AM, Straw-Man said:

just noticing "john romita fashions" on the building for the first time.  coolio!

Never noticed that, good eye!

In this case would CGC be able to go about freezing all their assets, bank accounts, etc., through the courts?  

On 2/3/2024 at 2:24 PM, Gaard said:

Why do you think CGC is doing this then?

That's a good question.  Why would they want to let out this further embarrassment and have a whole new thread on their ineffective/incompetent security system?  There may be more details to come forth 

I'm going to salute CGC for prosecuting these two scumbags.  They could have kept it out of the public eye and never brought forth any charges.  Most companies would have never let this out.  That's the first step which I commend them.  But the next and biggest step is reevaluating and addressing all of the weaknesses in their security model and methods.  Whatever security system they are implementing at their facility is not working.  

How do we know there are not more graders and receivers doing the same fraudulent activities but haven't been caught yet. 

They need to communicate to the public in a clear message what steps they are taking to solve these security shortcomings to avoid future scams          

More Kangaroo action

Without a clear explanation of their security procedures, it almost feels like books were being stacked on shelves in some hallway or back room with graders coming and going and picking up whatever books they felt like grading that day.  Who knows what type of security checks were in place at that time   

On 1/19/2024 at 1:39 PM, Red Hook said:

Here is my raw copy of the ASM Annual #3. Date stamp is almost in the exact same position. :-) 

Beautiful book!  The vibrant color on these issues is a pleasure to behold 

On 1/15/2024 at 11:21 AM, Dark Knight said:

Geeze, things went from bad to worst. Not only is he selling client's books and stealing money, but he seems to have an alcohol and drug  problem and now a sex predator?  

Yeah, he won't be having a good time in prison if the charges are true and on his paperwork.  What a complete mess.  Just return the books you have and stop the excuses  

Love the Green River issues.  Here are a few from my collection if you'd like to compare the stamps for any future books...

I remember hearing some CGC youtubers say there was no way you could switch out a CGC book in the new cases.  They were adamant that it was an improbable if not impossible scam method that people were dreaming up and that something else was going on, like insider CGC help to pull it off.  I think that Immaculate guy may have heard those comments and said "time to make a video and see what they think about this?"  No more arguments from any youtubers now about comic swapping being possible.  Not saying it was right or wrong but he did get his point across 

On 1/12/2024 at 7:40 AM, William-James88 said:

This part makes 0 sense to me in terms of causality. CGC is not the victim, only the people who trusted CGC are the victims. CGC is an unknowing accomplice because the only reason this discussion is even happening is because CGC released a book into the wild where the holder was not indicating the proper content (this ASM 252).

As a customer, knowing that CGC prosecuted this person to the full extent of the law does not in any way make them more credible to me. I don't see how it would make anyone feel better, all it does is remove blame on their part. I don't care if the nefarious behavior is accepted or not, I care far more about the nefarious behavior being possible or not. There will always be bad actors and scammers, prevention is the key, punishment does nothing to make me feel better about anything. All punishment does is tell the bad actors to smarten up about how they undergo their nefarious activities so that they don't get caught.

 

EDIT: Of course, I don't think any culprit should get off the hook, this is not an either or. I am simply referring to what solutions would make me personally feel better about continuing my business with CGC.

I'm not saying CGC is the victim.  What I am saying is CGC needs to follow through on their previous statement and forcefully prosecute this individual, and I do mean incarceration.  We can't have another Ewert result here, that would not be acceptable.  But most importantly, which I did state in my post, CGC needs to address their weaknesses and come forth to the community with a clear explanation of their new safeguards.  Being silent on this matter will not be a solution and I'm patiently waiting to hear what changes they plan to make  

On 1/12/2024 at 6:31 AM, mrd160 said:

This is the last thing I want to say on this topic because I really want to move on with my real life, in my mind the only relevance of discussing any dealer is to see how these books that may have been tainted have moved around. I think it is very possible that many dealers in the Brooklyn/Queens area at least, have had hands or eyes on some of these books, the vast majority (most likely all) unknowingly. The dealers I know in this area knew who he was (one of which gave me the heads-up). If it is true that this alleged scammer has been switching books, then every single one of his submissions needs to be scrutinized…period. And we need to see how the books were laundered. I can say from my personal experience, that these books were sold/marketed at shows and off-line as well as eBay/auction houses. My position, right now, is that CGC is a major victim here in terms of their reputation so it is up to them to decide what they do with any information that is provided. As I have said I’m not a slab collector I offered whatever information I had first-hand knowledge of to CGC and it’s up to them to decide what they’re gonna do. Everyone else needs to chill because we don’t know how deep this goes and quite honestly we probably never will. 

Well said I'm sure CGC knows who the culprit is by now and is further accumulating as much evidence as possible from as many sources available to create an airtight case.  If CGC wants to retain credibility after all is said and done, they'll need to prosecute this individual/persons involved to the full extent of the law (jail time) and set an example to the comic world that this nefarious behavior will not be accepted or tolerated now or in the future.

And also importantly, implement and explain to the community all the necessary changes made in their systems and designs to ensure these scams do not reappear...

On 1/11/2024 at 7:57 AM, comicjel said:

Isn't it this?...

https://www.amazon.com/X-ACTO-Heavy-Guillotine-Trimmer-Inches/dp/B0006HVQH8?th=1

 

Very nice catch!  I know several of us had suspicions of trimming on some previous books, namely the JIM #83 that was shown earlier in this thread.  If slab swapping is getting by CGC, it brings to question if trimming has been getting by on some of the Silver Age books that have been "submitted for grading" by this fraudster?  My thoughts are every SA grading submission from this account needs to be re-looked at carefully for possible trimming.  Maybe a crazy task to undertake and sound silly but every Silver Age book submitted by this individual shouldn't be considered safe without additional scrutiny...