The weather was a lot better in Florida than in Philadelphia. I was surrounded by comic books and those that enjoy collecting them. Even though things didn't begin as planned, the event went over very well. What should be stated first is that even though Steve Borock was an amazing host along with his team from CBCS, this couldn't have been done without Tony Starks, who at the last minute couldn't attend.
After we ate, Steve Borock held an impromptu Q&A session. There were a number of good questions. One was about the grading practices between eras. Another one was about the effect of cover miswraps and other manufacturing defects on final grades. The subject of the equipment being used and not properly maintained allowing pages to be torn rather than cut was also discussed.
Steve also talked about the beginning of CGC, if only very slightly. He mentioned grading guides and then said to forget all about them, unless you were an amateur. And according to the master himself, the best way to learn about grading is getting burned.
Steve answered question after question, then after the tables were cleaned off, he handed out a comic book to each table for some training. My greatest weakness, a square bound book, was the first comic book to grace the table I was at. Also making the rounds were Bronze Age X-Men and Captain America books, and Silver Age copies of Incredible Hulk and Fantastic Four.
We were told to grade them, but not share our answers to anyone. Normally when I'm next to my lil' bro, I ask him his opinion, much like Steve and West do when grading. This time I was made to judge by myself.
I never did find out what the grades were. Nor did I discuss them with Steve. We were too busy talking amongst our new acquaintances. There were a few questions I wanted to ask, but I was too busy taking notes and even they weren't good enough. So what else happened? Was poetry recited? Were the Dirty Blues played? Was this enough to stop me from using CGC? Was it worth traveling from Philadelphia?
More to come,
Thanks for Reading
Very interesting post, I must admit sometimes I get obsessed about comic book grading, and I know that's not a healthy thing. I also enjoyed tremendously your post about Star Wars #1 (going from a 9.6 to a 4), that was just brilliant. By the way, I just read your post about Sandman Overture and it was great. You seem to be a bit of an expert in Neil Gaiman. Anyway, I also wrote about Sandman Overture in my blog (wich I encourage you to visit):
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I hope you enjoy my review, and please feel free to leave me a comment over there or add yourself as a follower (or both), and I promise I'll reciprocate.
Cheers,
Arion.
I'm not a blog person but this was a good read. Now I wanna know the rest of the story. Don't leave me hanging Lee!
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