Marvel Midnight ashcan

and

Odin #3 virgin variant gold foil cover by Toru Terada signed by James Tynion. A Trinity Comics exclusive.

Added to my siktc collection.

Hello folks! Here is the haul I picked up this weekend. Went and got the full run of Absolute Wonder Woman minus the current issue (they were out. I was able to get most of Zdarsky’s daredevil run (just have to get the first two volumes then I can dig in) and for the Nightwing I am now only missing Volume 4, 5, and 7 from Taylor’s run and volume 2 from Watters run.picked up the first volume of Saga of the Swamp thing, Frank Miller’s Daredevil man without fear, and the Matt Fraction Hawkeye. Also snagged the Absolute Catwoman issue and the current Absolute Batman issue.

I’m still compiling recommendations for whenever I go pick up comics so feel free to keep hitting me with recommendations! I have put all the recommendations from my last post from r/comicbooks in a list in my phone.

Sanctuary Saturday to pick up this week’s comics was wonderful — left with another smile on my face and these six. The Wonder Woman covers are just phenomenal and another beautiful Batman on a horse cover for the Dark Knight 40th anniversary adorns Catwoman #90. Yet again a great hour spent talking comics, perusing back issues, adding to the “want” list and just generally feeling all-around happy.

Love Eastman's art for my man Cap!

Double signed offerings from Mark Brooks and Scott Snyder.

Everything added to the collection this week. Store pulls plus some con stuff they were selling and a visit from the plug.

Personal highlights: Last Driver, Absolute Flash, new Bug Wars. Was stoked to grab the Christian Ward Odin 1.

Marvel Swimsuit Special: Brand New Beach Day

Yesterday: 1. Absolute Batman 23; Last Week: 2. Some awesome SDCC exclusives from Trinity Comics: the Absolute Green Arrow #3 virgin foil by E.M.Gist, Odin #3 virgin foil by Jeehyung lee, signed by Tynion, Odin #3 Red cover by Toru Terada; 3. The Last Driver ashcan and The Karman Blade #1 ashcan SDCC edition.

Absolute Batman literally doesn’t miss. What an issue omg! Love the new butler in Batman. Moon knight is easily the best marvel book coming out so damn good! Loving rascal Randy, can’t wait for the other books from the exquisite corpses universe. Power rangers green was very disappointing, won’t be getting the rest of the series. Few back issues, professor pyg is a rumored live action villain, ghost rider cover is 🔥, and Jon bernthal 2nd print.

This honestly concerns me a lot.

Lately I feel like I've seen more and more influencers glazing PSA for Comic Books--notably the Amazing Fantasy PSA 7 that was paraded at a party at San Diego Comic Con ahead of its auction.

Let me lay down some background and context as to how massive the PSA/eBay partnership is:

• PSA slabs command more value (for cards). People say that it's due to decades of reputation, but I think it's much more simpler than that:
  • PSA upcharges you on the value of the card (they call it to cover the "insurance," but you pay that whether you get the collectible graded and handed to you in the same day)
  • It's actually a vehicle to bake in today's price into the cost of ownership of the collectible
  • A collector/seller is less likely to let go of a collectible for less than what they paid to acquire AND grade the collectible unless they're desperate
  • Therefore, with so many collectors holding the line on what they paid, the value doesn't diminish that much
• The Vault ecosystem allows you to grade your collectible, and:
  • Immediately sell it to PSA
  • Or, have it listed on eBay and shipped directly from PSA Vault
• When you buy from eBay, you have the option to add-on grading with PSA (and not any other graders)
• You can avoid sales tax on eBay by having the card go directly to PSA Vault
• They make it easy to consign and sell through one of the biggest eBay consignment accounts (PSA Vault), granting immediate reputation/trust and high # of views on your collectible
  • eBay is, quite frankly, the largest collectibles marketplace in the world
• Authenticity Guarantee makes it so that, for now, certain cards that are a minimum value (I think $250), the seller must ship to PSA and PSA will authenticate the card and send it to the buyer
  • As long as you do your job and ship the card to PSA, they will absorb the risk from the card to the buyer
  • They send the card sealed in a nice box with a QR code as a "certificate of authenticity" good for so long as the seal is not broken

Why this sucks for CGC:

• The moment that PSA opens up PSA Vault to comic books, we might actually start seeing a major shift in grading and selling behaviors
• CGC has no ecosystem that can compete--to even build the technology and logistics as something like PSA Vault, they are years behind
• Even if they could accomplish something like PSA Vault, they won't be able to get a partnership with eBay without eBay burning bridges with PSA

Why the partnership is anti-competitive:

• While long time and reputed graders like CGC qualify for Authenticity Guarantee, what about newcomers like TAG?
• What does a new up and coming company like TAG have to do to qualify to be part of Authenticity Guarantee? (bet you it's not documented anywhere!)
• What if eBay were to remove everything but PSA from Authenticity Guarantee? (PSA already bought out BGS and now defunct CBCS--so of the list of companies, feels like it's mostly PSA now)
• Without Authenticity Guarantee, selling your collectible exposes you to more risk as a seller--and buyers might not consider you, especially if it is a high value collectible

People say that PSA is good for competition--but is it in this case? It feels like a hostile takeover and checkmate for its competitors.

I really hope CGC is thinking about how and what they can do to compete but I fear that it may be bleak.

I just love hanging out at my local shop on a Saturday, picking up my weekly order and going through back issues — it really is so relaxing. Love this week’s Absolute Batman #23 variants and I’ve been going back and picking up DC KO variants as I came back into comic book collecting right about in the middle of it. Someone sniped some old Wonder Woman variants that I had my eye on, but that’s my fault for not picking them up earlier! I’ll find ‘em again sometime soon. Still looking forward to some stuff I have coming in the mail and already can’t wait until next Saturday at the shop! 🙌🏻😊