Messages posted by: tommyj

MARTYMANN wrote:Unable to post my graded variant copy of PETER PENNY AND HIS MAGIC DOLLAR...
one of the reasons I'm here.

Marty

Marty - you will have to wait until the next update of the Nostomania database to add this one.
Sorry - any time you find something that is not in our database, which should be very rare, you
will have to request we add it and then wait for the next production database update.

Marty - I've seen some of your books on the CBCS boards, so great of you to scan and share pics. We are thrilled to have you on Nostomania and will be here to help with any questions. Thanks for registering and exploring the site!

Shrewbeer wrote:
Sorry, what is live on the site (and where?)

Shrewbeer - not a huge deal, last month we implemented a change Thanatos requested on the CBCS forums, where he wanted to specify certification in My Lists at the top level (where you supply the "primary" info - issue number and grade).

But you guys should check out the Premium Subscriber newsletter mailed out yesterday and let me know what you think of this month's new feature

Shrewbeer wrote:Guys that sale is on ComicLInk's front page now, as a "record sale"

Perfect Shrewbeer - I was able to grab the ID number from that URL, thanks for chiming in!

Sugarman - if you or anyone else can confirm whether this sale really happened, please do. I have not been able to get into my ComicLink account to confirm...

Sugarman - the main reason is NM 9.4 is by far the most well-known, and most sought after grade for collectors. In other words, it's the grade most collectors can "relate to". Statistics back this up. Go to the pricing details page for ASM 300. See how many, by far, NM there are compared to other grades?

While it is true that for many of the Nosto Top 100, a CGC NM 9.4 may not exist, that is still the "holy grail" for many of these books, and the grade people get really exited about when one is discovered.

A great example is the All Star Comics 8 recent sold on eBay. Check it out here:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/253099656149

Who would have thought a 9.4 copy was out there? And isn't it cool that there is? There have been Golden Age books found and graded as high as MT- 9.9 (e.g. Zip Comics 6 from the Church collection).

Think of it this way, have you ever heard someone say "I wonder what a CGC FN 6.0 copy of Action 1 would go for?". We feel you are much more likely to hear someone say that for CGC NM 9.4.

Now, that said, the point of the Nosto Top 100 list is not so much books and grades to go after as a collector, but more a way to simply know the order - the title says it all "Top 100". The only way to do that is to compare apples to apples, and we had to pick a grade and certification. If a majority of members agreed on a different baseline, we are happy to consider, discuss, and possibly implement. I certainly concede it's possible we are not conveying information in the best manner.

Ok Shrewbeer, this is done, pretty much as you suggested, see what you think.

Jeez Le'Frickin Weeze, how did you get that so quick!?!
Contest is over folks, Shrewbeer wins!
Shrewbeer, will PM to get mailing address for the book, and your Sub refund will show up soon on PayPal.

Yeah, good point, I'll take care of this ASAP Shrewbeer, thx for suggestion.

Hey Shrewbeer - did you get the email newsletter for July? There was a little chart in there - I can post here too if needed, you need to guess the comic book the sales data represents. First hint: it's a DC.

Post your guesses here. If nobody gets it I'll provide hints.

sugarman - I haven't seen enough CBCS books up close yet to make a broad assessment, but your comments seem on par with others I've seen. I would expect nothing but high quality from CBCS, given the guy who started it (Borock) is the guy who got CGC solidified in the market. If the post-Borock consistency has suffered, that's too bad. Especially in the all-important 9.4-9.6 range. Not to say it's not equally important to get any grade right, but collectors will care a lot more, in general, if you botch a 9.6 vs. 9.4 compared to say a 7.5 vs. 7.0.

Personally, I've been a little puzzled why CBCS sales to date seem to underperform their CGC counterparts. The best grader CGC had is now the head CBCS guy, don't people get that?

If it's a seldom offered book, it's not going to matter too much whether it's CBCS or CGC - I'll see if I can dig up a good example of this...

When I first heard Mike Baron was seguing from writing mostly comic books
to writing novels, I'll admit I was a little nervous. I knew he had a somewhat
unique creative style in that he often wrote not only the comic script, but
pictographs roughing out the actual panels of the entire book.

When you are used to telling a lot of your story with pictures, how will that
transfer when you are suddenly forced to paint all the pictures with words alone?
I hold a deep, sad nostalgia for the finest years of Nexus, and you just don't
expect quality like that to come around again.

To say Baron still has game is an
understatement - he's at the top of his game, and has expanded the toolset.
He's wittier than ever, the vocabulary is bigger than ever, and he can still
create those moods that are creepy, gripping, and funny all at the same time.
He replaced the unreplaceable Dude with metaphors that make me wonder how
the hell does anybody come up with shit this clever? It's like a great
songwriter, how do they do it?

When Baron is at his best he effortlessly crafts plausible implausibilities.
This is the fun stuff, why we read novels, when it's clear we are in a
fantasy world but it feels real enough. Banshees takes chunks of some of
my favorite styles and genres, and melds it all together. It's part Coen
Brothers, part Sam Raimi, part Tarantino, all dropped into a Sex Pistols
12 Days On The Road setting. The Banshees rise from the dead, play in
Europe, land in the states for a tour and weave an odd path to the west
coast where things get nuts and unravel.

The book flows too easily. Tons of short chapters, each telling a mini-story.
It gets compelling quick while playing fast and loose as you go. Mike never
misses a chance to pay homage to friends, his past, and his pop culture
preferences, name dropping people he's worked with and little-known gem
musical acts like the Foreign Films. I love this stuff in movies - what
posters do they have on the wall, what song is playing in the background?
Cool choices here make a ton of difference, and Mike is always slipping
this stuff in.

What a fun read - you can't go wrong with sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll.

And why would they be smiling like that? Almost as if it were a publicity stunt. Weird. You'd think, most artists, when they got to that book, might think to themselves "hhmmm...."

Hey, closing in on 6,000 views on this one Mario.