HA May 16-18, 2019 Signature Auction 3 3

[jhm]

Thanks a ton for the kind words everyone 

[jhm]

17 hours ago, szav said:

Don't know his story, but the mention of his arrival seems to coincide with HA really amping the colors on their scans lately.  There are worse examples but this one came to mind because I was interested in the book when it was up a few weeks back.  The first is a scan a previous owner gave me, the second obviously HA's seemingly juiced scan.

 

I won this book. Both scans show the reds deeper on my macbook pro screen than they are (especially the wings behind the logo). The blues are more vibrant than they show on the first scan, but don't have the aqua tint you see on the ha scan. The yellows are actually deeper and more vibrant than either scan shows. It's a gorgeous book in hand. All in all, I'd have to say the Heritage scan is closer to reality on this one.

I have received a couple from ha that I was a little disappointed in though... seems to be a pattern with the reds if memory serves.

[Cat-Man_America]

24 minutes ago, batman_fan said:

I did forget to mention, two sweet sweet pickups 

Muchas gracias, sweet pickups indeed!  

The Cap 43 is the current census top dog (until someone decides to risk a 9.2 copy in hopes of a grade bump) and #18 is a tough book that doesn't come up often.

Alas (miniature violin playing "My Heart Bleeds for You" in background), neither Cap is the most wallet crunching book I'm acquiring this year, ...but that would be telling. 

[szav]

27 minutes ago, jhm said:

I won this book. Both scans show the reds deeper on my macbook pro screen than they are (especially the wings behind the logo). The blues are more vibrant than they show on the first scan, but don't have the aqua tint you see on the ha scan. The yellows are actually deeper and more vibrant than either scan shows. It's a gorgeous book in hand. All in all, I'd have to say the Heritage scan is closer to reality on this one.

I have received a couple from ha that I was a little disappointed in though... seems to be a pattern with the reds if memory serves.

Well I’m glad I phrased it “seemingly juiced”... wanted to allow for the chance that the first scan was under-amped if that’s the proper technical way to say it.

I’m glad you’re happy with the book, I’m sure it’s amazing as is.  I considering going higher than I did knowing it would still be beautiful in hand even if it didn’t look like the HA scan.  There was just something offputting about the apparent misrepresentation.  I’m definitely less inclined to bid  big (for me) on books on HA relative to the other auction sites.

[batman_fan]

30 minutes ago, Cat-Man_America said:

Muchas gracias, sweet pickups indeed!  

The Cap 43 is the current census top dog (until someone decides to risk a 9.2 copy in hopes of a grade bump) and #18 is a tough book that doesn't come up often.

Alas (miniature violin playing "My Heart Bleeds for You" in background), neither Cap is the most wallet crunching book I'm acquiring this year, ...but that would be telling. 

Looking forward to seeing what it is 

[Cat-Man_America]

54 minutes ago, jhm said:

I won this book. Both scans show the reds deeper on my macbook pro screen than they are (especially the wings behind the logo). The blues are more vibrant than they show on the first scan, but don't have the aqua tint you see on the ha scan. The yellows are actually deeper and more vibrant than either scan shows. It's a gorgeous book in hand. All in all, I'd have to say the Heritage scan is closer to reality on this one.

I have received a couple from ha that I was a little disappointed in though... seems to be a pattern with the reds if memory serves.

I agree with asserting that the second scan is closer to what you're seeing, but I also agree with your impression of inconsistency which favors a brighter more color saturated appearance in auction views than exists with every holdered book in hand.  IMO, that inconsistency isn't acceptable because it's the only image bidders have to rely on in lieu of traveling to the location where these books can be seen prior to the auction.  If the scans are being manipulated to artificially enhance colors that could end up being an issue for contention with HA.

One of the reasons I rescan HA images is to capture what I'm seeing in hand.  That doesn't mean my interpretation is always on the money nor should anyone viewing images that I'm providing assume my scanner is as capable of tight imaging as the scanner Heritage uses.  However, when sync'd with what I'm seeing in side by side comparisons, my HP rescanned image ...after meticulous color correction through PB's editing function... is usually more accurate.  The point here is that HA should take a bit more care in providing reasonably accurate color images of books in holders.  The old adage "what you see is what you get" should always apply.

Edited May 17, 2019 by Cat-Man_America

[Cat-Man_America]

7 minutes ago, batman_fan said:

Looking forward to seeing what it is 

Thanks, it'll be awhile, but you will.  I don't like teasing folks ...well, maybe a little.  

[Ricksneatstuff]

I know this is not a GA pickup but having any original drawing from Bill Watterson has long been on my grail list. So freaking tough! Every time I go to Chagrin Falls I keep my eyes peeled for someone that might be Bill Watterson based on the few known photos from years ago.

I am really happy to get this 

 

[MrBedrock]

13 minutes ago, Ricksneatstuff said:

 

[lou_fine]

5 hours ago, szav said:

 I’m definitely less inclined to bid  big (for me) on books on HA relative to the other auction sites.

I assume one of the other auction sites you are referring to would be CC here?  

The only problem is that its almost the exact opposite with them, whereby their scans oftentimes tend to make the book look so horrid, when in actual fact they are much better looking in hand.  Definite advantage to the bidders here.  

[szav]

1 hour ago, lou_fine said:

I assume one of the other auction sites you are referring to would be CC here?  

The only problem is that its almost the exact opposite with them, whereby their scans oftentimes tend to make the book look so horrid, when in actual fact they are much better looking in hand.  Definite advantage to the bidders here.  

Hmm, more CLink to be honest ... they just  seem to get more of the kinds of books I’m lookimg for, but I buy the majority of my books raw anyway, and the majority of my slabbed purchases are not from auction houses.

Not a fan of CCs 4-5 week long format or extended bidding madness either.

[Mmehdy]

2 hours ago, szav said:

Hmm, more CLink to be honest ... they just  seem to get more of the kinds of books I’m lookimg for, but I buy the majority of my books raw anyway, and the majority of my slabbed purchases are not from auction houses.

Not a fan of CCs 4-5 week long format or extended bidding madness either.

agree, the auction process for CC seems endless..they should really revise to match closer to Ha's but there is some great stuff left for Sat

Edited May 18, 2019 by Mmehdy

[lou_fine]

3 hours ago, szav said:

Not a fan of CCs 4-5 week long format or extended bidding madness either.

Will agree with you that they should definitely shortened it by a week or two, especially since nothing seems to happen in the middle 2 weeks.

As for the 3-minute extended bidding format, I absolutely love it and find it very fun to watch sometimes.  Ok, maybe they could cut it back a bit to say a 2-minute extended bidding auction format.  The one I absolutely hate is CL's drop dead format and certainly discourages me from paying much attention to their auctions, let alone to even bother to place a bid.  

[Cat-Man_America]

On 5/16/2019 at 8:54 PM, szav said:

Don't know his story, but the mention of his arrival seems to coincide with HA really amping the colors on their scans lately.  There are worse examples but this one came to mind because I was interested in the book when it was up a few weeks back.  The first is a scan a previous owner gave me, the second obviously HA's seemingly juiced scan.

 

I couldn't resist fiddling with the first scanned image via my Photobucket editor.

This is just to demonstrate what can be done to bring this book up without significant artificial enhancement (color saturation +30, Gamma -5, Shadows -25)...

The yellows are close to the Heritage scan in vibrancy, but the overall color balance looks better to my eye.  Judging from the label's color in the first scanned image didn't appear as artificially enhanced as the HA scan. Using the PB tools this scan should be closer in appearance to the holdered book in hand, but that's just a guess.

One of the most effective editing tools for scanning books is the shadow control.  It removes the haziness while bringing up the black level ...and then determines what evil lurks in the hearts of men!   

Opinons?

Edited May 18, 2019 by Cat-Man_America

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

4 hours ago, Cat-Man_America said:

I couldn't resist fiddling with the first scanned image via my Photobucket editor.

This is just to demonstrate what can be done to bring this book up without significant artificial enhancement (color saturation +30, Gamma -5, Shadows -25)...

The yellows are close to the Heritage scan in vibrancy, but the overall color balance looks better to my eye.  Judging from the label's color in the first scanned image didn't appear as artificially enhanced as the HA scan. Using the PB tools this scan should be closer in appearance to the holdered book in hand, but that's just a guess.

One of the most effective editing tools for scanning books is the shadow control.  It removes the haziness while bringing up the black level ...and then determines what evil lurks in the hearts of men!   

Opinons?

I agree with you on the shadow control.  As a photographer, that is always one of my first adjustments.  Yes, your adjustments look great!

This whole business of color manipulation by the person doing the scanning is troubling to me.  You never know if what you are gonna receive matches up to what’s advertised.  Somebody else has said in the past to pay attention to the blue color in the CGC label, because that is the best clue to color tinkering, but even that is not foolproof 

[tth2]

10 hours ago, szav said:

Not a fan of CCs 4-5 week long format

So just start watching it 1 week before the end. 

[adamstrange]

1 hour ago, tth2 said:

11 hours ago, szav said:

Not a fan of CCs 4-5 week long format

So just start watching it 1 week before the end. 

Is that legal?

[Mmehdy]

Wow War Fury #1 7.0 over 5K...guides for under 1k...yes it the highest graded copy at 7.0..but wow...less than 1 1/2 hours to go.

I like the following:

1-Crack#62...9.6 highest grade copy of last issue...I have never seen this one before..great book..MH and white pages..current bid is only $420 plus bp

2- Weird Fantasy #18...9.4...bid is only at $600

 

3-Wonder comics #1 7.5 classic Hitler cover...bid is around guide at $2600 and only 3 above this strong 7.5 grade

Good luck

[szav]

4 hours ago, tth2 said:

So just start watching it 1 week before the end. 

I know... and it’s like I could even just put in my actual max bid 24 hours in advance and ignore the whole extended bidding thing that I hate too, and watch tv or go to the gym, or do whatever it is I do instead.

[Mmehdy]

Here we go....already 14 Mil....here comes the GA