Howard the Duck 1 signed by Steve Gerber+++860
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Odins_Raven private msg quote post Address this user | |
clickable text Rare Steve Gerber signature. ComicLink auction ends in 3 days |
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dielinfinite private msg quote post Address this user | |
| Nice! 3 verified signatures and 1 witnessed signature. It's a shame you can't see the Gerber sig on the first page :/ CBCS needs to start adding images of interior sigs to the graders notes |
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Odins_Raven private msg quote post Address this user | |
 This is the picture I took before it was encapsulated. Btw I agree with you and have suggested that CBCS offer images of the just the signature pages (for a nominal fee) that can be accessed via the graders notes or by scanning a QR code on the back of the label. |
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Rafel private msg quote post Address this user | |
| HTD is one of my favorite heros!! :-) | ||
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VaComicsGuy private msg quote post Address this user | |
| I'd pay a few bucks more to have an image of interior signatures | ||
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MR_SigS private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by Odins_Raven I'm an older guy slowly catching up with modern tech. Can hi res scans be taken without the book having to be face down? If not, I'm not sure I'd want my high grade book opened like that in order to scan the sig. And certainly not by someone else. It wouldn't take much to add spine damage and slight wrinkles to a flawlessly flat book. Can you imagine a modern book with the sig on the splash grading at an amazing 9.9 only to be damaged when scanning the splash? Oh, the flaming threads that would be started  And anyone CONVINCED their book is 9.9 or 10.0 (when it isn't) getting anything else could easily say, "CBCS did it. They should pay!" I have hundreds of splash page signatures, and I know very well what a pain it is to scan them when the cover is still nice and tight. Unless there's another way to take a nice image, I'd have a hard time imaging CBCS wanting to take on the risk. |
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dielinfinite private msg quote post Address this user | |
@MR_SigS While not a scan, per se, but book scanners exist that take high resolution photos of books to convert them to digital formats. Even a device like that isn't really needed. It would be a simple matter to take standard, high resolution photograph and process it to correct for perspective, like so:   And these are from fairly crappy photographs taken and processed on my phone with a free app. Using a professional, super high resolution camera, professional lighting, and a proper software suite, far, far better results are possible without a lot of work |
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dielinfinite private msg quote post Address this user | |
here's a more relevant example, again done on my phone with bad lighting but you get the gist of how simple a process it is:  |
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MR_SigS private msg quote post Address this user | |
| I suppose photos would work, but I still think there would at least be some situations when CBCS would have to turn away the service request, such as for books like Killing Joke or Image Holiday Special 2005 (card stock). Those covers would have to be forced opened a bit to allow for a decent photo. If they can make it work without adding much more time to the process (now there will be another work station for these books, plus time for image touch ups), then it would be great! I suppose realistically the image would have to be taken prior to grading, just in case something did go wrong. |
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VaComicsGuy private msg quote post Address this user | |
| They are going through the book when they check it for defects, so it shouldn't be too difficult to take a picture of the signature at that time. | ||
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 I live in RI and Rhode Islanders eat chili with beans.
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esaravo private msg quote post Address this user | |
| If they can add an image of the encapsulated front of the book for $5/6 without adding any additional time, you would think that offering an image of a signature page should be another $5/6 option, again without adding turn-around time. Hell, they can image the entire book for $300 (but that does increase processing time). I also have some books with interior signatures that I want graded, but see no point if you can't see the signature (or a picture of it) after it is slabbed. Charge $5/6 to image it, link it to the grader's notes, and done. | ||
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VaComicsGuy private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by esaravo +1. I'd love an option like this. |
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dielinfinite private msg quote post Address this user | |
| What makes it even stranger that they don't offer this yet is that they already offer a "Sideshow" option, which takes images of every page, for $300. Seems like this would be a much smaller version of that. | ||
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MR_SigS private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by VaComicsGuy So the $300 'slideshow' means the grader sits at their station with a digital camera taking pics of each page? There isn't a separate station for that? And if there is a separate station for photographs, that's where they grade the book? I wonder why they charge almost $10 per page for something as simple as sitting at one work station holding the book open with one hand and taking a picture with the other. Quote: Originally Posted by esaravo Carefully opening a mint book with a tight spine in order to take an angled photograph that later has to be touched up so it doesn't look like a cheesy, angled, could-have-easily-be-done-at-home photograph is just as easy as scanning an image of a slabbed book? I doubt that. I bet a person can scan 10 slabbed copies of Killing Joke before another could carefully set up and photograph 5 raw copies. I guarantee a lot more care and time is required to do the latter. I have a NM+ Killing joke that I had to be very careful with when I read it because of the card stock cover, and had a hell of a time reading the word balloons closer towards the spine, and opening it wide enough to get a straight on view of the page would have damaged it. I just can't imagine having a flat photo taken of each page without causing damage to that type of book. Try and lay that book flat and open it to any page, then let go. I promise you it will close all on its own. It has to be pried open and held that way, page after page. I'm not saying the idea isn't good and won't work, but I don't think the service can be safely offered for EVERY type of book they slab. |
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dielinfinite private msg quote post Address this user | |
| @MR_SigS I'm not sure. If we're talking just getting photos of first page signatures then no, I don't think that process should add much to the turn around time. Scanning/photographing an entire book is a pain in the ass so I agree that that is a longer, more intensive process. Scanning can be a time consuming process in high resolutions because it gets so much more information from the original document. The photo/retouch process is extremely quick. You may not be able to use it to scrutinize every subtle nick and dent but if the purpose is to capture an image of the signed first page then that isn't really necessary. I'm at work and I did this in less than 2 minutes (including taking the photograph) using a purposefully bad photo as a source. Using a high resolution camera and a standardized set that won't require much in terms of setup you can get far better reaults in not much more time   This is the official product inage from Amazon. I'm not going to say my image is better or that you can't tell the difference but again the time it took me to create it from a bad source image would beat or at least be comparable to the time it takes to do it with a scanner  |
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I live in RI and Rhode Islanders eat chili with beans.
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esaravo private msg quote post Address this user | |
| It has been stated somewhere in this forum that the images of the front of the slabs are photographs and not scans. I am sure that you simply place the slab on a table in front of a fixed in place digital camera and shoot. The whole process probably only takes a minute or two. Six dollars please ($5 for members). The slideshow option is obviously more expensive and time consuming, and "invasive" to the comic. I am not sure how it is done or how popular this option is, and anyone with an extremely valuable and/or fragile comic will probably pass. This option also seems unnecessary for a lot of comics. With reprints and trades, you can probably get a copy of the story to read. I can walk into any Barnes & Noble or Borders right now and get a Killing Joke hardcover for less than $12. Or for $300, buy a few "reader" copies. Digital versions also exist for most newer comics. |
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dielinfinite private msg quote post Address this user | |
| For $300 you can buy a slabbed Killing Joke in 9.8 :/ | ||
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 I bought a meat grinder on amazon for $60 and it's changed my life.
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kaptainmyke private msg quote post Address this user | |
| oh my god i want that book brahhh it would go GREAT with my full set of Howard the Ducks + Mags + Annual #1. MMMMmmmmm I bid. |
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I bought a meat grinder on amazon for $60 and it's changed my life.
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kaptainmyke private msg quote post Address this user | |
| Any way you would trade for something you are looking for? Hmm? | ||
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MR_SigS private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by esaravo If it works, great  I mean that.But unless the grader is also taking the image, tweaking it, THEN grading it, it adds one more 'stop' to the process, two if tweaking the image takes place at yet another work station. If they tweak the image as they take them, one book at a time, then I guess that would be one 'stop', but that would be a ton of wasted motion; The grader receives a book, sets it up and takes a photo, tweaks the image, grades the book, moves it along then resets for the next book. Since I doubt all these can be done at one location, that person is 'all over the place', and would slow things down quite a bit, so I'd imagine the whole thing would take more than a minute or two. Seems smarter to perform each function exclusively, just like the grader isn't the person who encapsulates. However, unless I'm mistaken, aren't all books tracked from station to station (receiving, grading, encapsulation, QC, shipping, etc)? Even if they streamlined the sig process by separating those stations, it seems just the act of tracking and entering the book into that phase of the process would add time. And from what I've read in other threads, everyone want to know exactly where their books are in the process. The only people who don't seem to care about that are the ones who don't watch it like a toaster. I don't think anyone has posted, "It doesn't matter to me where they are right now." What it would actually translate to for wait time, I don't know, but you guys are obviously on board with the idea and willing to deal with any additional TAT (I assume), so I doubt that really matters. They would look cool on the back of the label, and I agree that they'd probably gain more customers. If I were someone who slabs, I'd have hundreds of books for them on which they could use this feature. |
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dielinfinite private msg quote post Address this user | |
| @MR_SigS The book and the photo file don't need to be in the same place after they're taken. Once you have the photos the book can go on it's way through the process while anything that needs to be done with the image files can be batch-processed while the book is in another stage in the process. The book could be in QC or waiting to be encapsulated or if the photos are taken at the start, the images could be tweaked, along with the images of dozens or even hundreds of other books by someone else without the need for the physical book itself before the book is even done grading | ||
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I bought a meat grinder on amazon for $60 and it's changed my life.
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kaptainmyke private msg quote post Address this user | |
what...what's happening here. It's still for sale, right?  |
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Odins_Raven private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by kaptainmyke Yes, it is still for sale. I should have offered it here first but instead it is being auctioned off at ComicLink. The auction ends in 2 days and 20 hours. I have only ever seen one other example of this book signed by Gerber. Val Mayerik is a tough person to get a signature from but he had a private signing last year. I got Lee to sign in gold in person which is hard to do these days since he doesnt change pens very often and will usually just sign in black. |
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I bought a meat grinder on amazon for $60 and it's changed my life.
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kaptainmyke private msg quote post Address this user | |
| I almost got Val to sign my #1 but I was too tired from long lines with Bruce Campbell and Stan Lee that day... Yeah, I am going to win it. You may as well just ship it to me now. |
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Odins_Raven private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by kaptainmyke Lol, I wish you the best of luck kaptainmyke! If I had it in my possession I would send it to you. |
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Odins_Raven private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by dielinfinite I agree. The process can be developed to make it easy on everyone to keep the time and cost down. I have faith that this idea will eventually become an option that many VSP or even some ASP customers will take advantage of. I am also curious how many requests CBCS gets for the $300 treatment. Plus, other than if there is a signature inside the book, why would you retake pictures of the same book if someone else has already asked to have it scanned/photographed? It seems like recycling the images would be just as effective for someone who wants a digital copy. |
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MR_SigS private msg quote post Address this user | |
Like I said, if it works, great Nope, I wanna be difficult! lol What if there's, like, 10 sigs inside on 8 different pages, and one of them is Stan Lee's signed over Joe Shuster's??? Just kidding, guys |
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I bought a meat grinder on amazon for $60 and it's changed my life.
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kaptainmyke private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by Odins_Raven You should see me on Sunday evenings with the TMNT action figure auctions from Mirage Studios. Nobody ever wins. Ever. https://www.pinterest.com/kaptainmyke/kaptainmykes-teenage-mutant-ninja-turtle-collectio/ |
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MR_SigS private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by kaptainmyke Campbell lives just a few miles from me (at least for part of the year) and I still haven't met him. I wish he'd do more local stuff, but I can understand if he wants to keep distance between his home and his career. |
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I bought a meat grinder on amazon for $60 and it's changed my life.
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kaptainmyke private msg quote post Address this user | |
| He lives in Portland, OR. Where do you live? | ||
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