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The Unofficial Underground Comix thread...
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Oi lads... I saw a new 64pg softcover Freak Brothers comic book "50 Freaking Years of the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers" was coming out with new content and parody content from Crumb and Hunt Emerson. It is solicited in this months' Previews, and is from Knockabout Press. 

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On ‎31‎/‎10‎/‎2017 at 3:44 PM, icefires said:

There was the black and white first print #1, which CGC will not grade

59f8d28c94ffe_CM11st-FileCopy003.thumb.jpg.8354090cfb0c01139c3cfa9d4d3af6ba.jpg

I am trying to figure out CGC's acceptance criteria.  They will not grade the Eerie 1 Ashcan (all BW, single type of stock), because it is too easy to reproduce.  It seems that they also will not accept the Cherry 1, first printing, it is because it is of single color and stock?  Besides the E1 ashcan, it is the only other item, that I am aware  of that they will not touch.

They will grade the rest of the Cherry mini herd, because why?  Those contain more than one ink color?  Can't those not be color photocopied, just like an all BW publication.

They will also certify Barbaric Fantasy, Gobbledegook and some really notorious counterfeits, including Love and Rockets 1 (real and unreal)?  Is it the presence of glossy cover stock that allows those to be processed by the CGC?

Would they accept a first printing of Jesus Comics?  It is a photocopy, but it has a water mark.  Just wondering, please everyone share and enlighten,

Edited by CDNComix
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3 hours ago, CDNComix said:

I am trying to figure out CGC's acceptance criteria.  They will not grade the Eerie 1 Ashcan (all BW, single type of stock), because it is too easy to reproduce.  It seems that they also will not accept the Cherry 1, first printing, it is because it is of single color and stock?  Besides the E1 ashcan, it is the only other item, that I am aware  of that they will not touch.

They will grade the rest of the Cherry mini herd, because why?  Those contain more than one ink color?  Can't those not be color photocopied, just like an all BW publication.

They will also certify Barbaric Fantasy, Gobbledegook and some really notorious counterfeits, including Love and Rockets 1 (real and unreal)?  Is it the presence of glossy cover stock that allows those to be processed by the CGC?

Would they accept a first printing of Jesus Comics?  It is a photocopy, but it has a water mark.  Just wondering, please everyone share and enlighten,

Good question. The late Howard Greber once told me that they will not grade this book because it is black and white and too easy to reproduce.

It would be good to know CGC's exact criteria.

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On 11/5/2017 at 10:56 AM, oldmilwaukee6er said:

Oi lads... I saw a new 64pg softcover Freak Brothers comic book "50 Freaking Years of the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers" was coming out with new content and parody content from Crumb and Hunt Emerson. It is solicited in this months' Previews, and is from Knockabout Press. 

Thanks for the heads up on the softcover! I just pre-ordered it on Amazon for $12.99.  Says April 19, 2018.

You can "Make Offer to Owner" of the lone CGC 9.6 copy of Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers #1 (first printing) through Heritage. Minimum offer is $12,428. lol

Edited by icefires
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30 minutes ago, icefires said:

Good question. The late Howard Greber once told me that they will not grade this book because it is black and white and too easy to reproduce.

It would be good to know CGC's exact criteria.

I went fishing around and stole some images of Barbaric Fantasy.  Have a gander it seems to be all BW and fairly easy to reproduce.  Is it the high production value, staple placement that makes it impossible to counterfeit and therefore they will certify it?.  Warm up the photocopier, we are submitting to the CGC:

 

barbaric fantasy.jpg

CGC Barbaric.png

Edited by CDNComix
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26 minutes ago, CDNComix said:

I went fishing around and stole some images of Barbaric Fantasy.  Have a gander it seems to be all BW:

 

barbaric fantasy.jpg

CGC Barbaric.png

I would love to get an explanation from CGC on this. It is actually pretty irritating and frustrating to see this black and white copy graded, yet they refuse to grade black and white copies of Eerie 1 ashcan and Cherry Mini 1 ashcan. I'm guessing we will never hear from CGC on this because they don't know themselves....

I once sent in a file copy of a Cherry comic with certificate to be graded by CGC. When they were done, there was no mention on the label that it was a file copy. Upon my inquiry, they said "We don't put File Copy on labels for any comics graded after 1975." I then proceeded to send them several examples of graded books after 1975 with "File Copy" on the label. They added File Copy to the label for me. I wish CGC would get their act together on this sort of stuff!

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On 11/8/2017 at 10:43 AM, icefires said:

Thanks for the heads up on the softcover! I just pre-ordered it on Amazon for $12.99.  Says April 19, 2018

Interesting, good info. I'm trying to get copies through my local comic store. I ordered three to try and get one in high grade. But I'll keep Amazon in mind for a backup. Gotta keep plugging away at the registry set. I have 7 modern Freak Brothers at CGC right now trying for some 9.6s and 9.8s. 

... It could hit a little earlier. When I looked at Previews again when I ordered and noticed it was a resolicitation from a previous month. And just a week ago there was no press and nothing on Knockabout website. Then a few days ago a few articles started popping up and saying the book ships this month. 

Trying to get high-grade copies of Zap Comix #16 led me finally to Midtown Comics (my Amazon copies arrived damaged). The copies I received all made 9.8, but had a Fantagraphics sticker with the UPC symbol affixed to the back cover and so they received green label, qualified grades. The Amazon copies don't have UPC stickers. 

 

The joys of chasing modern high grade undergrounds in the digital era!  :insane:

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10 minutes ago, oldmilwaukee6er said:

Interesting, good info. I'm trying to get copies through my local comic store. I ordered three to try and get one in high grade. But I'll keep Amazon in mind for a backup. Gotta keep plugging away at the registry set. I have 7 modern Freak Brothers at CGC right now trying for some 9.6s and 9.8s. 

... It could hit a little earlier. When I looked at Previews again when I ordered and noticed it was a resolicitation from a previous month. And just a week ago there was no press and nothing on Knockabout website. Then a few days ago a few articles started popping up and saying the book ships this month. 

Trying to get high-grade copies of Zap Comix #16 led me finally to Midtown Comics (my Amazon copies arrived damaged). The copies I received all made 9.8, but had a Fantagraphics sticker with the UPC symbol affixed to the back cover and so they received green label, qualified grades. The Amazon copies don't have UPC stickers. 

 

The joys of chasing modern high grade undergrounds in the digital era!  :insane:

Yes, Amazon copies are hit and miss. Having said that, I bought two raw copies of Funnybook from a bookseller on Amazon for about $75 total. They both came back 9.8 from CGC. :cloud9:

I traded one to Eggs (I really miss him) and still have the other one.

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I think to summarize you guys are hitting on the main points, and it relates to cover stock, the color used in production, the ability to easily reproduce with modern methods, and ultimately CGCs knowledge / information base on a particular comic book. 

One of Howard's advantage as a collector was that he lived in Sarasota and was able to personally lobby on behalf of his books. Or to educate them on what to put on the label. For example my latest copies of Zap 16 have the minimalist amount of information on the label (publisher, date and that's it), since they were probably among the first graded. But had I attached a note I probably could have educated them on cover artist and interior artist etcetera and filled out the label more? 

Edited by oldmilwaukee6er
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20 hours ago, oldmilwaukee6er said:

I think to summarize you guys are hitting on the main points, and it relates to cover stock, the color used in production, the ability to easily reproduce with modern methods, and ultimately CGCs knowledge / information base on a particular comic book. 

One of Howard's advantage as a collector was that he lived in Sarasota and was able to personally lobby on behalf of his books. Or to educate them on what to put on the label. For example my latest copies of Zap 16 have the minimalist amount of information on the label (publisher, date and that's it), since they were probably among the first graded. But had I attached a note I probably could have educated them on cover artist and interior artist etcetera and filled out the label more? 

Yes. Howard knew everyone at CGC and would go out to lunch with them from time to time.

Edited by icefires
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16 hours ago, oldmilwaukee6er said:

Trying to get high-grade copies of Zap Comix #16 led me finally to Midtown Comics (my Amazon copies arrived damaged). The copies I received all made 9.8, but had a Fantagraphics sticker with the UPC symbol affixed to the back cover and so they received green label, qualified grades. The Amazon copies don't have UPC stickers.

My copy also had the Fantagraphics sticker with the UPC symbol, I actually bought it off the shelf at a Hudson bookseller at the airport. (How times have changed, that it was available there...)

The sticker peeled off instantly and easily, and I can't tell where it originally was looking at my copy.

If you're looking for high grade copies on Zap, Last Gasp still has copies of 14 and 15 for sale on their website.  Not positive how high grade they still are, though.  I ordered myself copies last week when I found out about them but they haven't arrived yet.

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