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n2wdw's Tales of the Comic Book Room
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1,372 posts in this topic

Tomorrow is the big day.  We're moving the stuff out of our house to put it on the market.  That includes moving the rest of the stuff from my old comic room. 

Most of my collection is already in my new comic room -- that's the one I post pictures of here.  But I still have about 10 mag boxes that hold my magazine collection, and about 10 long boxes that hold my miscellaneous alphabet.  I'm moving this stuff to a storage unit, along with all the other things from our house that we want to keep but don't have room for in our beach house. 

Then on Tuesday the liquidation company is coming to clean out the rest of the house.  At that point we'll paint it and put in new carpeting, and put the house on the market.  This is the house we've lived in for almost 25 years.  Whew, big life changes.

I'm not sure if I've ever mentioned this here, but my wife and I also collect wine.  So as part of this move, we've got to move about 1500 bottles of wine.  That's something we'll tackle next month.

Below is a picture of the wine cellar in the house we're selling.  (My wife and I are way younger in the picture, and for me, thinner!)  I'm going to miss this wine cellar, but life goes on I guess.

 

WINE 6.jpg

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6 hours ago, n2wdw said:

Tomorrow is the big day.  We're moving the stuff out of our house to put it on the market.  That includes moving the rest of the stuff from my old comic room. 

Most of my collection is already in my new comic room -- that's the one I post pictures of here.  But I still have about 10 mag boxes that hold my magazine collection, and about 10 long boxes that hold my miscellaneous alphabet.  I'm moving this stuff to a storage unit, along with all the other things from our house that we want to keep but don't have room for in our beach house. 

Then on Tuesday the liquidation company is coming to clean out the rest of the house.  At that point we'll paint it and put in new carpeting, and put the house on the market.  This is the house we've lived in for almost 25 years.  Whew, big life changes.

I'm not sure if I've ever mentioned this here, but my wife and I also collect wine.  So as part of this move, we've got to move about 1500 bottles of wine.  That's something we'll tackle next month.

Below is a picture of the wine cellar in the house we're selling.  (My wife and I are way younger in the picture, and for me, thinner!)  I'm going to miss this wine cellar, but life goes on I guess.

 

WINE 6.jpg

I knew you were a Gwen Stacy fan, but I had no idea that you actually married her, Mike..... way to go. GOD BLESS....

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)(thumbsu

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21 hours ago, mlansdown said:

I'm looking forward to more photos of your comic book room and your latest comic book acquisitions.  This thread is how I originally found the CGC boards and rekindled my passion for old comic books.  

I hope your move goes well!

Thanks for your kind words!  Lately I've been busy with the move so haven't posted much, but hope to start up again soon.

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Report - Terry's Con 2019

It's amazing how much things change in a year.  Last year I was very much into going to Terry's con.  I stayed all day and spent tons of money (for me), and I picked up a bunch of great comics.

This year, my wife and I are in the process of selling our house.  Downsizing, as our last kid is going to college in September.  Packing and moving your keepsakes that you accumulated over 20 years -- while your kids grew up -- was ALOT of work.  Then we hired a cleaning company to clean up 20 years of cobwebs and dust.  Later this week, the painters come in to paint the entire house, then we get all new carpeting.  Hopefully by the end of Feb, the house will be on the market.

Whew.  Big life changes.  People ask if I'm sad to move.  If I'm sad to pack up all my kids' stuff.

No, not really.  Maybe a little melancholy.  Mostly though I'm excited.  This entire process is incredibly liberating.  I remember 25 years ago, when my wife and I had just gotten married, I talked to the mother of a friend.  She said there are 2 stages in life.  The accumulation phase, and the simplification phase.  I didn't really understand her then, but I understand her now.  My wife and I are definitely in the simplification phase of our lives.  With the kids gone, I want to get rid of this big house and move to the city for the last phase of my working career.  I want to walk or bike to work, and maybe sometimes take those fun scooters that are popping up all over the place.  I want to be able to walk down the street with the wife to bars, to restaurants, to clubs. 

And here's the thing about kids.  Yes, they are getting older and we don't see them as much, and that's a bad thing.  But they get more interesting as they grow.  You don't get the hugs and snuggles like when they were babies and children.  But they are turning into adults and that's really something to watch.  I think we have a few years before they start getting married and having kids.  That will be another new phase of our life.  I'm looking forward to that too, but I'm in no hurry (as long as the kids are happy).

I'm a collector by nature.  I have spent the last few years moving my comic collection to our little beach cottage.  Those are the pictures I post here.  That process is done.

I also collect wine.  At this moment, I have about 1600 bottles.  In my old house (the one we're selling), I have a temperature controlled wine cellar where I store the wine.  For the last 2-3 years, while getting ready for this life transition, the wife and I talked about what we would do with our wine.  One option was to store it with a wine company who offered such services, like Zachys.  But there are alot of drawbacks with that, which I won't go into here.  Another option was to buy wine refrigeration units -- again, they have their drawbacks. 

At the end of the day -- and we just made this decision this past summer -- my wife and I decided to build a temperature controlled wine cellar at our beach house.  So that's what I've been focusing on and why I couldn't really get into comics at Terry's con this year.  Our new wine cellar will have a small footprint.  About 10'x14'.  But, like my comic room, I've planned it out so it can hold about 2600 bottles of wine. 

Below's a picture of it.  We actually call it a "wine tower," somewhat reminiscent of the glass wine tower at Aureole in Vegas.  Hopefully, by the end of March, the wine tower will be finished and we'll have move all the wine over.  That'll be another adventure!

IMG_7692.thumb.jpg.5a3c3ffc34a8be618e133cd9636cbc77.jpg

 

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My New Favorite Collectible -- Dave Stevens and Bettie Page

I got this from a seller on eBay.  It's a Topps card of Bettie Page by Dave Stevens, signed by Bettie Page.  This is special to me, because I learned about Bettie Page through Dave's Rocketeer series.  Both Dave and Bettie sadly died in 2008.  This is the only item I've ever seen where she signed something by Dave.  There are a few of these signed cards on the market.  Apparently, a friend of Bettie got her to sign some of these after the card was shown (maybe released) at a Glamourcon.

I bought this from a seller on eBay, as I mentioned above.  I sent it in to PSA.  They will authenticate signatures, and also grade the sig and the card.  I was very happy that her sig is authentic, and it got a perfect 10 grade (I've sent other things to PSA where they told me the sig was fake, but that's another story).  The card itself was just one step down, with a 9 grade.

I tried to get PSA to give Dave a credit on the label.  But I guess there wasn't enough room. 

So here's my new favorite item in my collection:

 

IMG_2150.thumb.JPG.91e8301efb765052179e407fbce47389.JPG

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On 1/28/2019 at 8:19 PM, n2wdw said:

Report - Terry's Con 2019

It's amazing how much things change in a year.  Last year I was very much into going to Terry's con.  I stayed all day and spent tons of money (for me), and I picked up a bunch of great comics.

This year, my wife and I are in the process of selling our house.  Downsizing, as our last kid is going to college in September.  Packing and moving your keepsakes that you accumulated over 20 years -- while your kids grew up -- was ALOT of work.  Then we hired a cleaning company to clean up 20 years of cobwebs and dust.  Later this week, the painters come in to paint the entire house, then we get all new carpeting.  Hopefully by the end of Feb, the house will be on the market.

Whew.  Big life changes.  People ask if I'm sad to move.  If I'm sad to pack up all my kids' stuff.

No, not really.  Maybe a little melancholy.  Mostly though I'm excited.  This entire process is incredibly liberating.  I remember 25 years ago, when my wife and I had just gotten married, I talked to the mother of a friend.  She said there are 2 stages in life.  The accumulation phase, and the simplification phase.  I didn't really understand her then, but I understand her now.  My wife and I are definitely in the simplification phase of our lives.  With the kids gone, I want to get rid of this big house and move to the city for the last phase of my working career.  I want to walk or bike to work, and maybe sometimes take those fun scooters that are popping up all over the place.  I want to be able to walk down the street with the wife to bars, to restaurants, to clubs. 

And here's the thing about kids.  Yes, they are getting older and we don't see them as much, and that's a bad thing.  But they get more interesting as they grow.  You don't get the hugs and snuggles like when they were babies and children.  But they are turning into adults and that's really something to watch.  I think we have a few years before they start getting married and having kids.  That will be another new phase of our life.  I'm looking forward to that too, but I'm in no hurry (as long as the kids are happy).

I'm a collector by nature.  I have spent the last few years moving my comic collection to our little beach cottage.  Those are the pictures I post here.  That process is done.

I also collect wine.  At this moment, I have about 1600 bottles.  In my old house (the one we're selling), I have a temperature controlled wine cellar where I store the wine.  For the last 2-3 years, while getting ready for this life transition, the wife and I talked about what we would do with our wine.  One option was to store it with a wine company who offered such services, like Zachys.  But there are alot of drawbacks with that, which I won't go into here.  Another option was to buy wine refrigeration units -- again, they have their drawbacks. 

At the end of the day -- and we just made this decision this past summer -- my wife and I decided to build a temperature controlled wine cellar at our beach house.  So that's what I've been focusing on and why I couldn't really get into comics at Terry's con this year.  Our new wine cellar will have a small footprint.  About 10'x14'.  But, like my comic room, I've planned it out so it can hold about 2600 bottles of wine. 

Below's a picture of it.  We actually call it a "wine tower," somewhat reminiscent of the glass wine tower at Aureole in Vegas.  Hopefully, by the end of March, the wine tower will be finished and we'll have move all the wine over.  That'll be another adventure!

IMG_7692.thumb.jpg.5a3c3ffc34a8be618e133cd9636cbc77.jpg

 

That's really something Mike.  Wouldn't it just be easier to drink a lot real fast or just have a big party?  :roflmao:

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9 minutes ago, n2wdw said:

My New Favorite Collectible -- Dave Stevens and Bettie Page

I got this from a seller on eBay.  It's a Topps card of Bettie Page by Dave Stevens, signed by Bettie Page.  This is special to me, because I learned about Bettie Page through Dave's Rocketeer series.  Both Dave and Bettie sadly died in 2008.  This is the only item I've ever seen where she signed something by Dave.  There are a few of these signed cards on the market.  Apparently, a friend of Bettie got her to sign some of these after the card was shown (maybe released) at a Glamourcon.

I bought this from a seller on eBay, as I mentioned above.  I sent it in to PSA.  They will authenticate signatures, and also grade the sig and the card.  I was very happy that her sig is authentic, and it got a perfect 10 grade (I've sent other things to PSA where they told me the sig was fake, but that's another story).  The card itself was just one step down, with a 9 grade.

I tried to get PSA to give Dave a credit on the label.  But I guess there wasn't enough room. 

So here's my new favorite item in my collection:

 

IMG_2150.thumb.JPG.91e8301efb765052179e407fbce47389.JPG

Man, that's so purty!  Real hard to find Bettie Page sigs I would imagine. I remember seeing a large 11" x 14" b/w photo of her signed to him with a great inscription at his house once. They were real good friends.  Funny how she spells her own name "Bettie" and everyone else spells it "Betty"...

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Has anyone noticed that CGC's turnaround times have gotten faster in 2019?  Here are my most recent invoices.  Mags and Moderns seem to go fast.  Values take about 2.5 months.  Everything seems faster to me, but maybe I've just gotten to the point that I've accepted whatever the turnaround times are.

Capture.thumb.JPG.7c74bbac7ce88d7af2f73333cd461546.JPG

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3 hours ago, n2wdw said:

Has anyone noticed that CGC's turnaround times have gotten faster in 2019?  Here are my most recent invoices.  Mags and Moderns seem to go fast.  Values take about 2.5 months.  Everything seems faster to me, but maybe I've just gotten to the point that I've accepted whatever the turnaround times are.

Capture.thumb.JPG.7c74bbac7ce88d7af2f73333cd461546.JPG

Yep....its nice they're definitely faster (or less busy?), lets hope it lasts.  They even made the fast track, econ and value, enough of a speed boost to rope me into doing it on a few small submissions.

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On 2/17/2019 at 7:34 PM, Robot Man said:

Man, that's so purty!  Real hard to find Bettie Page sigs I would imagine. I remember seeing a large 11" x 14" b/w photo of her signed to him with a great inscription at his house once. They were real good friends.  Funny how she spells her own name "Bettie" and everyone else spells it "Betty"...

Yeah, even the card says Betty. So you were at Dave Stevens’ house?

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Two Matt Baker Pickups!

I just won these comics moments ago on Ebay!  I didn't expect to win either.  You don't see WR 13 often; in fact I don't remember the last time I saw it for sale.  Similar for WR 16, and this comic also is one of Baker's best tail light covers.  I was hoping to win one, can't believe I won both!

s-l1600.thumb.jpg.e5a830411b9940a81b39832958f0180c.jpgs-l160a0.thumb.jpg.56092289a036477d795890fcaed31dda.jpg

 

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