VEI's XO 2, Harbinger 1 in CGC 9.8: grading process

[ckb]

Same deal as with XO 1 last month! Deadline is Friday the 20th.

These books come out in June, and you should not expect your slab (or, hopefully not, refund) before September. Hopefully I will get them back way before then, but it actually could be September. I guarantee I will have them in the mail to CGC within 10 days of release date.

Rules:

1. Price is $40/slab. I worked the numbers and this is what I have to do, unforunately. I am going to be paying about $5/copy for the raw books. I worked out a deal with a local shop to screen them right out of the cases when they come in. So, if you work out my out-of-pocket costs:

$5 (book) + $18 (slab fee + return shipping) + $1 (shipping to CGC) + $10 (shipping to you) + $1.50 (paypal fee) + $0.30 (bag/board/HOTFLIPS CGC bag) = $35.80

2. Post what you want in this thread - XO 2 regular, Harbinger 1 regular, Harbinger 1 pullbox variant, and quantity.

3. Do not edit your post past the 20th or I may not honor your order.

4. I have decided, probably unwisely, to go on the honor system in terms of payment if you just want one. Please don't make me be sorry. Be prepared to pay me via paypal in June or July. This way if I have to refund anything I can do it for free within the paypal system.

5. If you want more than one copy, I probably need payment in advance. Post your order here and I will PM you with instructions.

6. In the unlikely event I do not have enough slabs to go around, we will use a lottery run by a third party to determine who gets the slabs and who gets refunds.

7. In the unlikely event I have higher grades than 9.8 available, I will offer "upgrades" to the people who order here first. This is totally voluntary and you can skip the whole rule with no effect. An upgrade to a 9.9 will be $40, upgrade to a 10 will be $80. We will use a lottery run by a third party to determine among those interested in upgrades the order in which they are offered.

8. In the even more extremely unlikely event that I have enough slabs to go around but some are above 9.8, the following will be how the slabs are allocated: 1. I get one of the highest grade off the top for the master set. 2. A lottery run by a third party will be held to determine who gets the higher grades at the original $40 price. 3. Everyone else gets 9.8s. ( I can't stress how unlikely this is because I am going to oversubmit by a lot. I just want people to know I am not going to refund their money and then go and sell 9.9s I got back.)

9. The process will be as open and transparent as possible. You will know how many of each book I submit and how many I get back and what grades. I will work to keep this as fair as possible.

That's it. Thanks to everyone. If anything is unclear ask questions here.

[vooch311]

1 Harby Regular
1 Harby pullbox Variant

thanks!

[magnusr]

One of each (XO2, Harbinger regular, Harbinger pullbox), please.

/Magnus

[zoso20]

1 Harbinger pullbox please.

[SnotDrip]

XO #2 (REG)
Harbinger #1 (REG)
Harbinger #1 (pullbox)

One each for now

[caxiotis]

I will take one of each.

X-O 2
Harby 1 reg
Harby 2 pullbox variant

[Ricomortis]

You know I'll take one of each!

Rico

[Johnseye]

One of each please.

With buying 3 slabs is the shipping cost combined or how will that work?

Thanks

[Chiclo]

One Harbinger 1 regular cover

[SJS4]

Please include me for 1 of each. Thanks for doing this!

[ckb]

One of each please.

With buying 3 slabs is the shipping cost combined or how will that work?

Thanks

The $40 each price includes shipping, one slab or 100. I really appreciate the multple slab orders as it gives me a little more room over cost. Although all packages with more than one slab will be shipped insured, which eats away at it a bit.

[wyospl]

I will take one of Harby 1 reg and Harby 2 pullbox variant. Thanks

[400yrs]

I'd like these, please:

Harby 1 reg
Harby 1 pullbox variant

[maggy]

1 Harby Regular
2 Harby pullbox Variant


Thanks

[ckb]

I want to thank everyone so far. You can expect pictures of the process come May 2-4. I have to document this effort for posterity!

I've had a number of inquiries about getting XO 1s. I am going to have extras for sale - they will be available from me, but I cannot sell them for a fixed price any longer. I will try to establish a market for them after I get them back if one has not been established already. I'm "wait-listing" people who want them, and I will offer them for sale to that list at market before putting them up on eBay.

The costs for this whole effort are going to be tremendous. My goal is to break even in the short term in the hopes that the long-term prospects are better.



Today is the last chance to get in for Harbinger 1! So here's a final BUMP.

[jmatt]

1 Harbinger pullbox variant, please.

[ckb]

Let me first say Harbinger 1 is just awesome. Love it.

Hmmmm.... what do we have here?

[ckb]

Valiants variant offerings today, and the new Bleeding Cool with the Bloodshot cover.

[ckb]

Sorting XO 2

[ckb]

So, VEI appears to have addressed the cover stock issues. All the releases today were much less wavy than XO 1. I still would like to see it a bit thicker, but its a marked improvement. Compare with what DC did on the new Watchmen series also out today. The production issues with the grabber marks on the paper were less prevalent as well.

That being said, not a single limited variant I had access to screened at 9.8. Either handling or production issues kept them under. One thing to look out for - a rough cut of the top edge on the back cover.

On the regular issues, I have screened the H1 pullbox and the XO2 regular and am picking about 1 candidate for every 4 books I look at. That's as compared to 1 in 10 or more for XO 1.

I hope to have my submission ready by the end of the week.

[400yrs]

Good to know they upgraded the stock, but you can still see the waves.

Any idea how the waviness is considered in the CGC grade or is it not considered damage at all because it's a part of the process?

[ckb]

Good to know they upgraded the stock, but you can still see the waves.

Any idea how the waviness is considered in the CGC grade or is it not considered damage at all because it's a part of the process?

Yes, waves are still there, but it is much better. I won't know about what CGC thinks until XO 1 is back. Which, by all appearances, will be within 2-3 weeks.

[ckb]

I now have about 120 copies of this month's offerings at CGC. I will post scans of the CGC invoices by this weekend.

I can't truly express what a PITA this whole effort has been. I am pretty conflicted about whether I will do this for June.

[400yrs]

If you decide not to do it for June I can't blame you. Thanks for your efforts thus far.

[SnotDrip]

The decision of course is yours but can only thank you for everything done so far. I can see some of us curled up on the floor suffering from withdrawals

You da man...thanks again