MMC 27 9.6 Single Highest 2 2

[lou_fine]

On 2/13/2019 at 1:26 PM, Timely said:

That was my 9.4 copy.  Looks like the spine defects got moved to the back.

https://comics.ha.com/itm/golden-age-1938-1955-/marvel-mystery-comics-27-timely-1942-cgc-nm-94-cream-to-off-white-pages/a/7192-92129.s?ic4=OtherResults-SampleItem-Thumbnail-022817&tab=ArchiveSearchResults-012417

Wow, from the boardies who responded here, it looks like Masterchief   is still patrolling the boards here.  

It's been years since I last saw a post from him and well over a decade since he did a lot of the grunt research work to dig up what was really going on behind the scenes and blew open the whole CPR game that was going on here before anybody else here knew what was going on.  

Edited February 23, 2019 by lou_fine

[lou_fine]

On 2/13/2019 at 1:27 PM, Bronty said:

Ugh.   This kinda is why I quit collecting.

Yes, unfortunately we did lose a number of collectors who did decide to step away from the hobby after this whole fiasco about what was being done to books first came to light.  

At the same time though, it was also unfortunate that even more flippers and speculators probably came into the marketplace as they saw this to be the perfect opportunity to manipulate and launder the books to make fast money on unsuspecting collectors.    

[lou_fine]

On 2/13/2019 at 7:09 PM, MrBedrock said:

On 2/13/2019 at 7:08 PM, Timely said:

1st of all, I never said Ritter or anyone did anything wrong, I just made an observation.

 A guy who absolutely loves to up grade his books? Realy? Um, you don't know me as well as you think you do. 99% of the books on my collection were not pressed, at least not by me or by my instruction to do so. I think the last time I had a book in my collection pressed was in 2009 or so. 

Poking my head in? Yes, I hope that freedom is still allowed! I know you occasionally like to do some head poking of your own. 

You CBCSers sure do whine a lot. 

Boy, look at all of the fun I've been missing the past few weeks while I've been away. 

Probably really nothing more than just a "prissing" match between the CBCSers and the CCS/CGC acolytes.  

Sad to see between 2 real stand up guys on the boards here.  

 

Edited February 23, 2019 by lou_fine

[lou_fine]

On 2/13/2019 at 11:42 PM, Timely said:

Not that anybody cares, but this book used to belong to another nice Timely collector guy named Dan Bennett. He sold it to John Verzyl and I got it from him.

Sad to say that Dan Bennett is unfortunately no longer with us as he was a true collector and lover of the Timely books. 

Edited February 23, 2019 by lou_fine

[Phill the Governor]

The sheer amount of speculation about how books are pressed is frightening.

If you've never pressed books then you don't understand the process of pressing. And you also probably don't understand the properties of the paper comic books are made out of and the relationship of how it's all held together by the staples.

The fanning you see on the right side of the book can often happen because that's how the book looked when it was initially published. When the spine is corrected you are making a false comparison to how the book looked with the spine roll, which is an altered state to begin with. Obviously there are examples of books that have been outright manipulated, the Avengers 1 comes to mind. But this doesn't mean that every book that every book that has been pressed and gets a grade bump has been seriously manipulated. In my mind, proper dry-cleaning and pressing helps to conserve the book and protect the book in the future. 

I think the reality of all this, though, is even more grim. The amount of collectors, or even just investors, who don't know how to handle a book correctly or even be able to detect something as simple as missing pages is staggering. People need to educate themselves. Comic collecting should be a fun, care free hobby. But when you start collecting more expensive books, at a certain point it's your responsibility to do due diligence on what you are buying.

Edited February 23, 2019 by Phill the Governor

[waaaghboss]

On 2/13/2019 at 6:44 PM, batman_fan said:

I still think it is a pretty book and the price was decent 

Of course I only play in the shallow end of the pool 

Pretty much me.  I love looking at these high end books but my budget kneecaps anything close.  

 

There's a phenomenal weekender on Ebay right now that's well within my price range that ends in 2 days, but I know it will jump to over $250 in the final seconds of the auction like all the GA books I watch do

[MrBedrock]

2 hours ago, lou_fine said:

Sad to see between 2 real stand up guys on the boards here.  

 

I was sitting down when I typed that.

[lou_fine]

1 hour ago, MrBedrock said:

4 hours ago, lou_fine said:

Sad to see between 2 real stand up guys on the boards here.  

 

I was sitting down when I typed that.

Yes, the old Al Bundy reading library and meditation room.  

You better not get too comfortable in there or your better half might start whining about the toilet seat ring around your butt.  

Edited February 23, 2019 by lou_fine

[lou_fine]

On 2/15/2019 at 6:31 AM, batman_fan said:

2.  If you don’t know if a book has been worked on to improve the grade, assume it has and bid/buy accordingly. 

Personally I would say option 2 is the better path

Yes, that's the approach I used to take back in the day when it came to bidding on those perfect looking uber HG books from Jason Ewert way back in the day.  

The only problem is that I never ever came close to winning one of those books since I just could not compete with those lucky unlucky winners with the real deep pockets.    

Edited February 23, 2019 by lou_fine

[Cat-Man_America]

3 hours ago, MrBedrock said:

I was sitting down when I typed that.

I've seen West standing while you were seated in the same room, and you both looked like stand-up guys to me. 

1 hour ago, lou_fine said:

Yes, the old Al Bundy reading library and meditation room.  

You better not get too comfortable in there or your better half might start whining about the toilet seat ring around your butt.  

Ah, so that's why one side of the conversation seemed a bit strained.  

[lou_fine]

On 2/17/2019 at 1:13 PM, MrBedrock said:

On 2/17/2019 at 12:21 PM, GreatCaesarsGhost said:

First of all, that upsets me. Ill keep further opinions to myself because I understand there’s many boardies ok with it.

but how do you know those 2 Bat 1s are the same book?

I don't think too many boardies are comfortable with that amount of manipulation. I know I am not.

Well, unfortunately it really doesn't matter what you or I or anybody else is comfortable with anymore, as we've already gone way too far down the dark road to ever go back.  

I think anybody with any common sense should have known that once the barn doors were opened a bit by CGC, it would not be long before they would be blown wide open as more and more activities would be given a green light over time.    

[MrBedrock]

2 minutes ago, lou_fine said:

Well, unfortunately it really doesn't matter what you or I or anybody else is comfortable with anymore, as we've already gone way too far down the dark road to ever go back.  

I think anybody with any common sense should have known that once the barn doors were opened a bit by CGC, it would not be long before they would be blown wide open as more and more activities would be given a green light over time.    

The End of the World is nigh!

[lou_fine]

On 2/17/2019 at 3:55 PM, batman_fan said:

On 2/17/2019 at 3:50 PM, gino2paulus2 said:

Even better then!!! Was this a CCS book or did you do the work bc consider me thoroughly impressed!! 

  I am flattered someone would think I could do that sort of work.

I didn't do it and I can't remember who did it.  The procedure is actually pretty common place now.  I have a super nice Batman 40 that I am sure will go through the process once it gets on the market.

Well, if you can't remember who did this magnificent work on the book, there's a high probability that your Batman 40 won't come out as sharp when you get it done.  

Knowing my luck, if I ever tried something like that, the entire right edge of the whole book would be scraped right off.  

[batman_fan]

39 minutes ago, lou_fine said:

Well, if you can't remember who did this magnificent work on the book, there's a high probability that your Batman 40 won't come out as sharp when you get it done.  

Knowing my luck, if I ever tried something like that, the entire right edge of the whole book would be scraped right off.  

I wasn't super clear in my post.  The original thread that had all these examples exposed who did it I believe, but I can't remember for sure so don't want to take a change mentioning who did it.

For my Batman 40, I meant when I either die or get to the point I liquidate, whoever buys it will likely put it through the treatment to see about a grade bump, not me.  The dust shadow is across the top, especially on the left side and down the right side.

Edited February 24, 2019 by batman_fan

[cheetah]

1 hour ago, lou_fine said:

Well, unfortunately it really doesn't matter what you or I or anybody else is comfortable with anymore, as we've already gone way too far down the dark road to ever go back.  

I think anybody with any common sense should have known that once the barn doors were opened a bit by CGC, it would not be long before they would be blown wide open as more and more activities would be given a green light over time.    

I think there is some logic to CGC’s decisions on what is acceptable and what isn’t.  I know I’m not saying anything revolutionary but CGC will accept any degree of manipulation that they cannot identify from doing a one-time grading of a book.  If they can’t pick it out the vast majority of times they look at a book, then they have no choice but to accept whatever was done.  Manipulating the spine in a well-known copy may be identifiable from research threads like this but on a book that has never been graded, they don’t stand a chance. 

If it is any consolation, though, publicity on the manipulation of these types of books really does affect the hammer price.  Whether it is from GPA showing a pedigree copy with an originally lower grade that has been pressed up, or a book like the Bats 1 in this thread, more times than not the hammer price will be disappointing to the seller.