Is this the dumbest idea ever? 1 1

[Ken Aldred]

3 hours ago, Beige said:

who are 'Excelsior approved'?

And who needs their approval.

[Ken Aldred]

6 hours ago, ExNihilo said:

Report: Stan Lee's Stolen Blood Was Used to Sign Marvel Comics Sold in Las Vegas (gizmodo.com)

 

6 hours ago, kav said:

at least we can clone him at some point!!!

It’s a possibility that Gene Simmons could be cloned from copies of Marvel Super Special 1.

As that’s a Bronze Age magazine, the DNA might’ve degraded enough by now as to be unusable.

Edited May 3, 2021 by Ken Aldred

[vheflin]

man, you guys gotta learn to think outside the box

imagine the TAT reduction and labor & materials savings

that would be passed to the customer if they just glued the label to the book instead of this slab nonsense

[vheflin]

lick 'em & stick 'em economy tier

 

 

[Ken Aldred]

30 minutes ago, vheflin said:

man, you guys gotta learn to think outside the box

imagine the TAT reduction and labor & materials savings

that would be passed to the customer if they just glued the label to the book instead of this slab nonsense

Yup.  And, if collectors or speculators didn't like the label obscuring the cover, then they could always use some lighter fluid to remove it.  No problem, especially with cheap books like this one.

Edited May 3, 2021 by Ken Aldred

[Buzzetta]

When it comes to PSA / DNA or Steiner while we are at it, the sticker is there to denote authenticity regardless of grade.  The adhesive is "allegedly" designed so that the sticker suffers damage if someone attempts to remove it.  If the sticker is damaged, then the item's authenticity is called into question. 

I think sometimes in this hobby we tend to drift into the false notion that a number on a slab equates the value of the item if you are collecting signatures and sketches.  There are plenty of rare signatures out there where the condition of the item signed is secondary to the item itself. 

Edited May 3, 2021 by Buzzetta

[WolverineX]

10 hours ago, Beige said:

Apologies if already covered..

This seems to maybe be some Aussie guy, but this bloke is selling dozens of 'Stan Lee' signed comics.

All 'guaranteed' by Excelsior.

Never heard of them - but even if this is real - why in the name of all that's holy would your 'proof' sticker be STUCK DIRECTLY ON THE COMIC???

 

Mind officially boggled that someone could be so dumb.

 

 

Seriously WTAF?

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/333826855502?hash=item4db9a1924e:g:DJwAAOSwsgtf2fkL

 

There's this from 2017 - but why so many books with an Australian seller?

 

 

 

This market is batshizzle crazy.....

Who is this psychopath. I hope the market doesn't reward this type of behavior. Unfortunately the cynical side of me knows otherwise

[Randall Ries]

8 hours ago, Terry_JSA said:

The description for the book doesn’t make it any better. 

“You are getting a great rare item where it has been signed by STAN LEE himself. As Stan cannot do anymore signings, and that he has passed away. RIP Stan ' The Man ' Lee.”

They’re using his death as a selling point. That sounds pretty scummy to me.

Tell it to Elvis Presley and Jerry Garcia. Worth far more dead than alive. Especially the remaining members of the GD. They would put that Stealie on cyanide ampules if they think it will make them some money.

[miraclemet]

I havent read either the OP post or any comment, but the answer is yes. Regardless of the question, yes. 

 

[Qalyar]

So, I've seen similar Excelsior holofoil labels before. They were produced by Stan Lee Collectibles, authorized as a sales outlet for official Stan Lee signatures and miscellaneous products. Many of them have a printed ID number (oriented vertically, on the left side of the sticker) that matched the ID number on a printed COA, and that could be looked up on their website (much like the CGC certification number lookup). The idea was that anyone forging such a product would have to forge the holofoil label on the comic and the holofoil label on the COA, plus make sure the entry matched the online database. As comic collectibles, they leave a bit to be desired because the stickers are applied to the comics, but in terms of signature authentication, numbered Excelsior stickers with matching COAs are probably the next best thing to witnessed Stan Lee autographs. Unfortunately, Stan Lee Collectibles has been out of business for quite a few years (shortly after Stan's death, I believe), and the online number check is no longer available.

This sticker does not have a printed ID number.

Honestly, I suspect that it's a legitimate Stan Lee signature, and that this book was sold through Stan Lee Collectibles, probably at a cheaper price point than the ones with a number-matched COA. The alternative would be that this is a forged signature, falsely-authenticated by the additional of a (presumably surplus) Stan Lee Collectibles Excelsior holofoil label, and well-crafted enough to fool PSA.

[onlyweaknesskryptonite]

1 hour ago, Randall Ries said:

They would put that Stealie on cyanide ampules if they think it will make them some money.

So you haven't bought any of the Jim Jones Certified Jonestown Flavor Aid ?

[Randall Ries]

17 minutes ago, onlyweaknesskryptonite said:

So you haven't bought any of the Jim Jones Certified Jonestown Flavor Aid ?

Haha. Not as of yet. I remember clearly when EP died. I was 14 or so. The record plants couldn't keep up with posthumous sales. He was worth much more dead than alive. That phenomenon has always been intriguing.

[onlyweaknesskryptonite]

15 minutes ago, Randall Ries said:

worth much more dead than alive. 

This has applied to almost every artist and so many more. Morbid as it may be..

[grebal]

12 hours ago, kav said:

12 hours ago, Off Panel said:

First Spider-man comic I ever bought was ASM 147. You and I must be of the same vintage, kav.

 

Mine was ASM 151 and it was also my first of any comic book.  From the local stationery store.

[Gatsby77]

When I was in law school 15 years ago one of the case studies was on the "Right to Publicity" (the opposite of the "Right to Privacy"). Basically, the right to a dead celebrities' use or likeness.

And the fun fact then? As of 2005, the dead celebrities who were pulling in the most money annually:

1) Marilyn Monroe

2) Elvis

[the blob]

the books with the stickers ought to have a COA? i wonder if someone got a hold of a bunch of extra stickers?

[Qalyar]

8 minutes ago, the blob said:

the books with the stickers ought to have a COA? i wonder if someone got a hold of a bunch of extra stickers?

I dug into this a little more, which is slightly challenging, with the company's website long gone from the internet. As I suspected though, they did sell books with un-numbered stickers and no COAs in addition to the numbered/COA books. As best as I can tell this far after the fact, they'd issue the COAs for specific, pre-planned signings, but would also sticker other books that they witnessed being signed. As CGC took off in popularity, they mostly transitioned to just creating Signature Series slabs.

I couldn't find any indication that their holofoil stickers ever made it into the wild. So, yes, it's certainly possible that this is a forged signature using a surplus Excelsior sticker, that also fooled PSA. But I think the most parsimonious explanation is that it is legitimate and exactly what is appears to be. A book signed by Stan Lee, either sold or witnessed by Stan Lee Collectibles (the then-official outlet for Stan Lee signatures and merchandise), stickered by them, and later sent to PSA for their signature authentication service.

[Off Panel]

32 minutes ago, grebal said:

Mine was ASM 151 and it was also my first of any comic book.  From the local stationery store.

Welcome to the Collectors Of A Certain Age club, grebal. We meet monthly at kav’s house and have superhero-themed cupcakes and beer.

[the blob]

The first comics i can remember buying were all back issues or books my older brother bought, so I don't have an "off the rack" story. My first comic off the rack was years later, Thor 280, just because I had 35 cents and the cover seemed cool. I wish I had bought the X-Men for that month instead...

 

[the blob]

I sold a Stan Lee signed Scottie Young variant here for like $15 right before he died. I was pretty sure it was legit as someone working at the CGC booth gave it to my son at a NYCC like 9 years ago when he got lost and terrified and they called me to tell me they had him. It has a chunk missing from the cover or back I think, but I feel pretty comfortable CGC people weren't playing with forgeries. He asked me to sell it because he wanted to money for something (probably a video game). I never could have imagined the market for this stuff as Stan spent most of his later years signing stuff, it seems, I figured they didn't have a ton of upside, especially uncertified. but these seem sort of certified.