Watch my slab collection grow from scratch to BIG $$$ scratch!

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well, I have made a major decision...Imma buy a press! I have boxes of drek to practice on and it will be a lot of fun to experiment.

well, I am closer to have my desired slabs mounted on the wall under the television. This is in the spare room, which I have essentially taken over. In my day as a teenager I would have been down here and tried to claim the room from the family and I thought that was the likely battle I would face with my daughters. But with the advent of the smart phone they are content to sit in their rooms, so the bottom of the raised ranch remains mine.

This is the room I watch football and maybe the Knicks in and replaced a NY Knicks blanket on the wall with these slabs.

The Airtight Garage books were bought online and really were the books that pushed me over the edge to slabbing as I thought that they were instantly the nicest books in my collection. I have since realized I have many 9.6s and 9.8s waiting in my longboxes; unfortunately I sold half of them last year or so. I was very unhappy with that 8.5 on issue 2 and thought I had a shot of getting at least two 9.8s, but only one came through. What if I had pressed them? Hmmmm.

The top half needs issue 2 of the Stan Lee Moebius SS, but I sent the first issue in as it seemed a better 9.8 candidate and it came back 9.6, so I want to have the second issue pressed. I sent off 13 books yesterday but held off on adding this book. I have a few more to send off soon before a larger CGC submission so I waited on it once again. In its place as filler is Doc 169, a great copy that I got from a boardie in trade for some OA. He offered it to me and chose some nice art, so it seemed to work out for us both.

Curtains are coming on all windows; the blinds just aren't cutting it and the fabric has been purchased. One set is up but we have stalled there. I got the fabric out yesterday and made it obvious, so it should happen this week.

A better angle on these perhaps will spur a comment or two!

Sean it looks awesome. I have something like this on my office wall and in my mancave but I dont use any expensive comics. Just extras and such that have nice covers. Again looks great.

well, I submitted 9 books at onsite today and will pick them up Sunday. One is the Silver Surfer 2 by Moebius and Stan Lee that I can put next to the number one in the display above. (I mislabeled it on my sub form, hope that does not cause too many problems.) Doc 169 was a place holder anyway. I also got 3 signature series (Vess Web of Spidey 1, Terry Moor Rachel Rising 2, and Jim Starlin Infinity Gauntlet 1) but was not able to get them in the onsite subs and have to wait for them. No biggie though.

I also bought these books today.

The Rachel Rising 1 will get pressed and slabbed SS at NYCC hopefully. I am not sure how soon I will slab the B/HQ nn and the SS4.

It's nice with books on display - actually I've just ordered two custom frames - handpainted etc. - I think such frames look amazing on books - here are some examples (I've ordered the Batman and Fantastic Four frames, unfortunately without the books, sigh ):

Each frame is $60 plus shipping ($50 if it isn't a CGC book). More info here:

https://www.facebook.com/CustomComicDisplays

Those frames look great, but they actually violate my framing principles so I am not interestwed myself. I believe that the frame should be only that, a frame for the eye to delineate where the art starts. I don't want my frames competing with the framed content for the eyes attention; I want that directed towards the art.

For almost all of my framed comic art (33 pieces or so at this point) I use simple black frames with white mattes that match the background of the piece as close as possible. It is the Jeffrey Catherine Jones approach to framing, which I learned about on the comicart-l yahoo group but only after Jeffrey Catherine stopped posting there.

But I understand most people like colorful frames, and as I said these art pretty spiffy.

So tomorrow i get back (hopefully) 9 books I subbed at onsite cgc grading at the Baltimore Comic Con. 8/9 were sent away and pressed, so I am hopeful of good grades despite hearing of tight grading cycles and such. I plan on keeping two for my personal collection for sure, and am debating on 3 or 4 others. A few will hit the marketplace to generate some cash for NYCC and more grading. If I hit 9.8 on my Captain Marvel 14 (probable I think naively) or on the Gwenpool (feeling less sure but it looked perfect to me) I will be sorely tempted to hold them for potential growth. It would be a good problem to have, huh?

Those frames look great, but they actually violate my framing principles so I am not interestwed myself. I believe that the frame should be only that, a frame for the eye to delineate where the art starts. I don't want my frames competing with the framed content for the eyes attention; I want that directed towards the art.

 

For almost all of my framed comic art (33 pieces or so at this point) I use simple black frames with white mattes that match the background of the piece as close as possible. It is the Jeffrey Catherine Jones approach to framing, which I learned about on the comicart-l yahoo group but only after Jeffrey Catherine stopped posting there.

 

But I understand most people like colorful frames, and as I said these art pretty spiffy.

I fully agree - all my original art is framed to distract as little as possible from the art (black passepartout and black thin frames), I only have two CGC books on display, and they are quite small next to the art - and most persons seeing them are not much into superheroes, so my thoughts were to enhance only these two books by adding the Batman and FF logos (one is the DKR #1 which isn't the easiest book to identify, if you're not much into comics).

I do not expose my better books to much light - so the two books on permanent display are low-value books displayed for fun - also the kids find it interesting (also when their friends are visiting), hope the new frames can help inspire the next generation even more ;-)

And good luck with the grading!

well, grades were okay...a little disappointing. I had 2 ASMs from a lot I bought, 238 and 300. I knew they were not highest grades, but of course the 238 came in 9.2 with the 300 at 8.5. Couldn't switch those around for me could you, OO? I got 9.8 on the only unpressed book, so I know my eye was at least good on that one (Gwenpool). The Captain Marvel 14 is also a big difference in 9.6 vs 9.8, so I was glad that one made grade. I continue to learn. Maybe I will know what i am doing a bit by the time I become efficient at pressing!

well, I just checked the cgc site and since I became a member I have subbed 62 books. 6 months.

I have 3 Dr Strange 169s arriving tomorrow, along with a Conan 14. I do not expect anything special, but am probably overly optimistic and eager to get the package. I have gotten shipments of 10 and 6 already in the last week or so but this is the only one I have not checked the grades on . It is the fun one, the good one. I spent a few cons picking out those Doc 169s, and I have one still here at home to beat them all, so I am interested to see what I get. 3.5 - 7.0ish I would expect, a pretty wide range.

I continue to change up and mix around my slab collection. This week an email came out about the annual "Best of" online exhibit for original comic art collectors on CAF and I realized that I had very few comic art acquisitions this year. I am sending off my final payment for a tremendous piece today, so the year was far from a bust in terms of OA.

But I am also awaiting the most expensive comic book I have ever purchased. I seem to be upping that number regularly since I have become fascinated by slabs, and this purchase is just the same comic as the last most expensive comic book I ever bought but in a higher grade.

I'll show you all what it is when it gets here from The Great White North later next week!

w00t w00t!

Best. Cover. Ever.

Beautiful!

Thank you Vorpal! I love it.

Here are two new ones on the left next to one I grossly overpaid for on the right (but it went to Dave directly, so I really paid the right amount).

And I will be getting the shade up on that window this weekend!

 

And I will be getting the shade up on that window this weekend!

Great books, congrats - and I did love your comment about getting a shade up. Personally I feel I am having some sort of lux anxiety Well, probably there are some persons dealing with worse conditions - guess nothing beats some good ol' range anxiety

"Range anxiety is the fear that a vehicle has insufficient range to reach its destination and would thus strand the vehicle's occupants. The term, which is primarily used in reference to battery electric vehicles (BEVs), is considered to be one of the major barriers to large scale adoption of all-electric cars." (Wikipedia)

Guess lux anxiety would be something like:

"Lux anxiety is the fear that a piece of art or a comic book will suffer accelerated fading due to light exposure. The term, which is primarily used in reference to enthusiasts collecting comic art and books is considered to describe one of their major fears, even beating fears of flooding and of extreme fluctuations in humidity and temperature" (sorry for my bad humor - but I have gotten a lux meter in order to face my lux fear )

BTW, I'm not a 100 % sure, but I have seen some signs and maybe - some day - we'll all end up here

Thank you Vorpal! I love it.

 

Here are two new ones on the left next to one I grossly overpaid for on the right (but it went to Dave directly, so I really paid the right amount).

 

 

 

And I will be getting the shade up on that window this weekend!

Nice Berni comic. I'm not familiar with that and now I want one!

Thanks Brandon! Yeah, I picked them up in PIF here on the boards for their aesthetic beauty.

Got this back today. It looks so much nicer than a 4.0, I guess spine length tape might have something to do with that!

That silver stuff on the hood, that is the Basil Gogos signature. I got three that day but only slabbed this one. Each signature is exactly the same, equally illegible but his signature all the same.

Well, 3 slabs hit shipped/safe yesterday so hopefully they will be here tomorrow. I don't want to wait until Tuesday!

They are all SS- Rachel Rising 2 with remarque, Infinity Gauntlet 1 Starlin, and a Charles Vess Web of Spiderman. I do not expect 9.8s, but was afraid to check the grades online. I really enjoy opening them up and checking one by one!