The 31st Co(s)mic Comic Book Broadcast: Heartbreak!

I'll bet you're wondering why this edition of the broadcast is called Heartbreak.  Well if you're a comic book collector like me, read on and you'll understand.  You'd better sit down for this one, it's a wordy one. 

There was a time when I had actually stopped collecting comics.  Yeah it's hard for me to even believe that but there were a few years there when I told myself, no more comics, no more buying, no more collecting.  I gave up.  It was a decision I reached because I had other responsibilities in my life which had to come first.  Oh sure I would buy the occasional trade paper back but I gave up on comics almost totally, I didn't follow any of my favorite titles, I just stopped.  A few years before that I saw something that I wanted.  It was the year 2000 and CGC was established.  Now CGC is the first independent, impartial, third-party comic book grading service. A proven and respected commitment to integrity, accuracy, consistency and impartiality has made CGC the leader in its field. In fact, in 2007, CGC crossed the million-book mark and has now graded over 2 million comic books.

I saw comics that were graded 9.2 to 9.8 which meant they were as Mint as they were ever going to get, which to me meant You knew what you were buying with a CGC comic or slabbed comic.  Well at the time there was no specialty comic book shops in town.  The only comic supplier who came along later was a small comic shop called Area 51 but while they carried alot of comics but no slabbed comics.  But by then I had decided it was time to give up this hobby, I quit, telling myself No More Comics!

Once in a while I would see friends who were still collecting and their collections and there they were, slabbed comics, beautiful slabbed comics.  I really wanted them but I had bills to pay and I stood my ground, no more comics.

Fast forward to 2012, I found myself in some trouble health wise.  Scariest moment ever is when you're lying flat on a gurney being taken to an emergency room.  Well, long story short, I made it through that awful period in my life.  While I was recuperating, a good friend of mine came to see me, he knew I read comics and gave me a Trade paper back of Marvel's 1602.  I read it from cover to cover.  There wasn't a whole lot to do in a cold hospital room.  You read and it was then that I started liking reading comics again and I was told by doctors I should have a hobby, something to help me get back on my feet.  The answer came to me just like that, Comic Books. 

So I got back into comics and in a big way.  I went online and went shopping on ebay.  I started out small and bought a few issues but then it hit me, what have I always wanted?  Slabbed Comics, CGC Comics.  So I would bid and bid on any slabbed comics on offer and I got a few but I was new and the veterans on ebay outbidded me but I did find a few I liked and I got them.  The sellers were nice and they helped me out a lot, it was fun.  One day I saw something really nice on ebay, here it is:

It was Fantastic Four # 250, a CGC grading of 9.6 which was a near mint +.  And it had the original CGC label.  I wanted this so bad.  The seller had another comic for sale, this one:

Isn't that beautiful?  The Amazing Spider Man # 214.  Spider Man and The Submariner against the Frightful Four.  A CGC grade of 9.4.  I knew I wanted this.  Growing up I saw the cover to this issue and this was one of the comics I wanted, well finally I would be able to add this to my collection, I made a bid and I won these two CGC Comics.  The seller sent them to me and within two weeks plus, I was asked to collect a package from the US, I was excited and went to get the package. 

Now here's where the heart break part comes in.  Have a look at this.

It was literally heartbreaking to see this.  I contacted the seller, who was sorry this had happened and even offered a refund of some sort.  The seller also swore that the items were in pristine condition when it was packed.  Whenever I buy anything on ebay I would check the ratings and comments about any seller, this seller had a 100 percent rating and no complaints.  Well I went to the post office and made a complaint, I filled out a form and left.

A few days later another package arrived with another CGC comic, one I bought just a few days earlier.  Here's what I bought:

Spider Man # 13.  I bought this because of the cover by Todd McFarlane.  It's a beauty isn't it.  I liked it when I spotted it and bought it from a different seller who also had a 100 percent rating.  Well when this CGC comic arrived, I saw that something was very wrong with it.

Wow, a cracked shell or capsule as CGC calls it.  I was so angry, three CGC comics were damaged and it happened one after the other.  I was besides myself, I was angry.  I went back to the Post office here and got another complaints form to fill.  On my way out, a staff of the office offered this advice: " Next time when you send something, pack it better"  I nearly went nuts! I mean talk about someone who had no idea what they were talking about. This incident already made me very angry with the post office and hearing such words from the staff there was just unacceptable but when I tried to tell her how idiotic her advise was, she ran off. 

I was so angry but I knew I couldn't do anything. Apparently burning the place down wasn't going to work and the Post office here loves paper work and red tape.  I still have these CGC comics but I was told that If the seal has been broken, then the grade has become invalidated.I think this is more than just a broken seal.  I am still going to hang on to them but I was so disappointed in the whole thing and how utterly unprofessional the Post office here can be.  In the past they have flung packages over gates and the contents of the packages....well, let's say that it wasn't good.

My friend's have said that I should send them back to be reevaluated and then have them re-slabbed.  Don't know if I can afford that but I'll think about it, see if it's something that's plausible sometime in the future.  Right now I'm just going to keep these.  Just wish they were in better condition.  Yeah that's my heart break story.  Has this ever happened to you before?

Tell me about it, you can leave a comment or go to my facebook page, it's facebook.com/thecosmiccomicbookbroadcast/ leave me a story there and I'll share it on the broadcast.
Thanks for dropping by and I hope you'll drop by again for the next Co(s)mic Comic Book Broadcast. Until next time, you take care.