Round #2 Extras Revealed....

[tchalla8]

Also, as an aside: my oldest son suggested that I should think about 'slabbing' (sending to CGC) some of these special issues we've gotten from these extras. I've never slabbed any comics before, but these are special enough I would think about it just for the protection factor. Anybody else doing this or thinking about it? Does it matter to CGC if the item is signed/embossed/VFVSS? I'm not worried about whether this would increase the book's value as I don't plan to ever sell these, but for any other consideration I'm interested in what others think.

As for grading...I don't know that CGC would recognize any of these for the unique books that they are. For it to be a Sig Series grade they have to witness the signing. Also, I don't know that these books would qualify as a separate publication like the original VVSS series or not. Are these going to have their own listing in a price guide? I guess time will tell.

[magnusr]

Also, as an aside: my oldest son suggested that I should think about 'slabbing' (sending to CGC) some of these special issues we've gotten from these extras. I've never slabbed any comics before, but these are special enough I would think about it just for the protection factor. Anybody else doing this or thinking about it? Does it matter to CGC if the item is signed/embossed/VFVSS? I'm not worried about whether this would increase the book's value as I don't plan to ever sell these, but for any other consideration I'm interested in what others think.

As for grading...I don't know that CGC would recognize any of these for the unique books that they are. For it to be a Sig Series grade they have to witness the signing. Also, I don't know that these books would qualify as a separate publication like the original VVSS series or not. Are these going to have their own listing in a price guide? I guess time will tell.

As you say they would not be a yellow label. They would be a green label. Also, CGC never includes certicates in the slabs (they might very well throw away the certs). It is safer to remove those before submitting and slip them into the slab when it comes back.

/Magnus

[lorddunlow]

Re: CGC - if you do send them in, they would be Green label (Qualified grade) due to "damage" from the signatures which were not verified by a witness. Also, I think CGC discards anything that isn't part of the book, so keep the COA with you if you do send it in, otherwise it will be lost.

I, personally wouldn't risk damage or loss in the shipping to/from CGC, but I'm not a fan of CGC in general, so my opinion doesn't count for much. Maybe some of the CGC veterans (ckb, BloodShot, etc.) will chime in.

[brucehartshorn]

Other than a single qualifier who has yet to give me his address, all the round #2 extras AND Harbinger HCs are now in the mail.

This was quite an undertaking. We had 46 qualifiers and 2 non-qualifiers who purchased Harbinger HCs. They were in the US, Canada, England, Sweden, and Australia! Proving that the Valiant loyalty is global.

Will post the whole "backstory" today or tomorrow on how this came to be, and the steps it took to make it all happen.

[tchalla8]

Other than a single qualifier who has yet to give me his address, all the round #2 extras AND Harbinger HCs are now in the mail.

This was quite an undertaking. We had 46 qualifiers and 2 non-qualifiers who purchased Harbinger HCs. They were in the US, Canada, England, Sweden, and Australia! Proving that the Valiant loyalty is global.

Will post the whole "backstory" today or tomorrow on how this came to be, and the steps it took to make it all happen.

So Round #3 starts next week, right?

[lorddunlow]

Other than a single qualifier who has yet to give me his address, all the round #2 extras AND Harbinger HCs are now in the mail.

This was quite an undertaking. We had 46 qualifiers and 2 non-qualifiers who purchased Harbinger HCs. They were in the US, Canada, England, Sweden, and Australia! Proving that the Valiant loyalty is global.

Will post the whole "backstory" today or tomorrow on how this came to be, and the steps it took to make it all happen.

So Round #3 starts next week, right?

That's what I heard.

[comicsyte95]

[brucehartshorn]

Any idea who is doing it?

[comicsyte95]

[brucehartshorn]

ROUND #2 EXTRA BACKSTORY

Elery and I had talked about round #2 even as we were finishing round #1. How many participants? Would we cap it? What would the qualifiers have to do to get the extra? What else would VEI give us to help make round #2 bigger and better than round #1? It was a subject we discussed by phone and/or email at least each day.

Then, in August, on a phone call with Dinesh, I posed this question. "Is there any possibility of VEI bringing back the VVSS program so that we could use these as the extra for round #2?" The answer was that it had been discussed before but decided against. That said, if there was anything VEI could furnish us for an extra, Dinesh said we could count on him. So, in back and forth discussions the idea was formulated to make it a Valiant FANS Validated Signature book and to better what had come before, we would use a gold book which had never been done. Then, if one was good, how about two? Dinesh agreed and said he would get us signatures on them like the VVSS program so we had the basis of the extra.

In the meantime, Elery and I decided to cap it to 50 participants and all would need to review 10 TPBs to be qualified for purchase of the NYCC con exclusive and "maybe" get an extra if VEI decided to do one for us.

We announced the rollout of the program and quickly had 50 people sign up. At the same time, we created a database to keep track of who did what reviews for which TPB and proceeded to update that every 2 days. All the while, we gave weekly reminders to participants of how many were fully qualified. Ultimately, 46 of the 50 people who signed up became fully qualified.

NYCC came and the exclusives were announced. To sweeten the pot for the XO HC, Brian Wells stepped up and make the offer to include signed X O Manowars #1 with COAs, and VEI agreed that any people who purchased the XO HC could have VEI team signatures as well. Terrific. Participation was great. It took a while for Elery to get the books and when he did, the $40 version of the HCs did not have all the signatures, so he had to send them back to VEI offices to be finished. Also, some of the A & A 14 NYCC variants were damaged so we needed to get more of those as well. Delay.

Back on the extra front, Elery and I were in constant touch with VEI, trying to determine which 2 gold books were going to be given out. It changed with almost every email/phone call with VEI. We wanted to know, because we were going to have personalized letters AND COAs for these, but needed to know which books and who was signing. It went back and forth for far longer than we ever thought. Elery was waiting to generate the letters. Greg Holland was waiting to generate the COAs, I had ordered a custom embosser to emboss each cover of each gold book. And we waited.

In the interim, since we had done so well pushing XO HC sales, Dinesh called us up just a few days before Comikaze and asked if we could help out with the new Harbinger HCs for that con. So, yet another announcement, taking of orders and funds, yet another database to be sure we had it all, and another set of books to deal with team signatures at VEI offices.

Finally, the announcement that it would be Harbinger and Archer & Armstrong. Yeah! VEI was taking care of the signatures on their end and one day let me know they were done and ready to ship. Since we had yet to know who signed, we asked and were told Josh and Fred Van Lente...only 1 signature per book! With them about to be shipped out the next day, I quickly asked if Fred Pierce as publisher could also sign them since he was a link from VH1 to VEI and since we were bringing back a VH1 idea, this would kind of tie it together. VEI and Fred Pierce agreed, got them signed and shipped......or so we thought.

Harbinger arrived in great shape. But no A & A.... We had a tracking number, but Fed Ex had lost 50 gold books! It was over a week before they suddenly showed up. At last the first component was in Vt.

Contacted Greg Holland and asked him to generate 50 COAs for each gold book which he did. He signed them, then shipped them off to VEI for Dinesh and Fred Pierce to sign and forward to me.

Proceeded to cut down Priority boxes to create the shipping "sandwich" for each extra packet which took considerable time.

At the same time, the XO HCs finally came to Elery and he worked with Ed at Paradise to combine shipping for a lot of members to save on shipping as well as include extras VEI had supplied us. We had wanted to include both HCs at the same time, but Harbinger was being held up so we did the XOs either in concert with Ed or with Elery packing and shipping books and goodies.

VEI had given us signed Unity Reds for inclusion with the extras. That meant another COA from Greg who signed them and sent them to me for me to add my signature.

Then we had to number the COAs for the two gold books. It was coming together, bit by bit.

Elery generated the personalized and numbered letters, signed them, and sent them to NYC for Dinesh's signature at which point they were sent to me in Vt for my signature and assembly of all the pieces.

I proceeded to put the provided Shadowman mask, the signed Unity Red with COA, and the two gold VFVSS books together with the letter, making sure that the number on each VFVSS book and the letter matched. If you got #3 letter, you got #3 COAs on both gold books.

Contacted each member with their cost for Priority shipping and asked for payment.

Had everything ready to go, waiting for the Harbinger HCs. VEI had given me the tracking numbers on 12/19 and Fed Ex was supposed to pick them up on 12/20. That didn't happen! It was 12/26 before they got picked up and were shipped to me. One week ago, they arrived.

FINALLY I could assemble everything, and ship them off. That process finished today.

I share this with you just so you can understand all the moving pieces that had to come together for NYCC con exclusives and goodies, Comikaze con exclusives and goodies, and the all important extra for round #2. Elery and I would speak AT LEAST once a day each day and there were dozens of contacts with VEI staff and members to pull all this together. It doesn't happen quickly. It requires constant attention to detail and pushing and following up to make sure it's right, all the while with Elery and I working to see how we can make it better. I can honestly say that Elery and I each have over 100 man hours in the efforts for all of this.

Brian Wells and Greg Holland were a tremendous help throughout the two con exclusives and the extra process and Elery and I truly appreciate this support and assistance.

Elery and I are very pleased and proud of what we were able to put together for the members here since all we do is for you folks. YOU people are true supporters of VEI and their efforts and in our way, we strive to meet our statement, "It just even better to be a Valiant supporter".

Thanks for all the kind comments and accolades for our efforts on your behalf.

[tchalla8]

ROUND #2 EXTRA BACKSTORY

Elery and I had talked about round #2 even as we were finishing round #1. How many participants? Would we cap it? What would the qualifiers have to do to get the extra? What else would VEI give us to help make round #2 bigger and better than round #1? It was a subject we discussed by phone and/or email at least each day.

Then, in August, on a phone call with Dinesh, I posed this question. "Is there any possibility of VEI bringing back the VVSS program so that we could use these as the extra for round #2?" The answer was that it had been discussed before but decided against. That said, if there was anything VEI could furnish us for an extra, Dinesh said we could count on him. So, in back and forth discussions the idea was formulated to make it a Valiant FANS Validated Signature book and to better what had come before, we would use a gold book which had never been done. Then, if one was good, how about two? Dinesh agreed and said he would get us signatures on them like the VVSS program so we had the basis of the extra.

In the meantime, Elery and I decided to cap it to 50 participants and all would need to review 10 TPBs to be qualified for purchase of the NYCC con exclusive and "maybe" get an extra if VEI decided to do one for us.

We announced the rollout of the program and quickly had 50 people sign up. At the same time, we created a database to keep track of who did what reviews for which TPB and proceeded to update that every 2 days. All the while, we gave weekly reminders to participants of how many were fully qualified. Ultimately, 46 of the 50 people who signed up became fully qualified.

NYCC came and the exclusives were announced. To sweeten the pot for the XO HC, Brian Wells stepped up and make the offer to include signed X O Manowars #1 with COAs, and VEI agreed that any people who purchased the XO HC could have VEI team signatures as well. Terrific. Participation was great. It took a while for Elery to get the books and when he did, the $40 version of the HCs did not have all the signatures, so he had to send them back to VEI offices to be finished. Also, some of the A & A 14 NYCC variants were damaged so we needed to get more of those as well. Delay.

Back on the extra front, Elery and I were in constant touch with VEI, trying to determine which 2 gold books were going to be given out. It changed with almost every email/phone call with VEI. We wanted to know, because we were going to have personalized letters AND COAs for these, but needed to know which books and who was signing. It went back and forth for far longer than we ever thought. Elery was waiting to generate the letters. Greg Holland was waiting to generate the COAs, I had ordered a custom embosser to emboss each cover of each gold book. And we waited.

In the interim, since we had done so well pushing XO HC sales, Dinesh called us up just a few days before Comikaze and asked if we could help out with the new Harbinger HCs for that con. So, yet another announcement, taking of orders and funds, yet another database to be sure we had it all, and another set of books to deal with team signatures at VEI offices.

Finally, the announcement that it would be Harbinger and Archer & Armstrong. Yeah! VEI was taking care of the signatures on their end and one day let me know they were done and ready to ship. Since we had yet to know who signed, we asked and were told Josh and Fred Van Lente...only 1 signature per book! With them about to be shipped out the next day, I quickly asked if Fred Pierce as publisher could also sign them since he was a link from VH1 to VEI and since we were bringing back a VH1 idea, this would kind of tie it together. VEI and Fred Pierce agreed, got them signed and shipped......or so we thought.

Harbinger arrived in great shape. But no A & A.... We had a tracking number, but Fed Ex had lost 50 gold books! It was over a week before they suddenly showed up. At last the first component was in Vt.

Contacted Greg Holland and asked him to generate 50 COAs for each gold book which he did. He signed them, then shipped them off to VEI for Dinesh and Fred Pierce to sign and forward to me.

Proceeded to cut down Priority boxes to create the shipping "sandwich" for each extra packet which took considerable time.

At the same time, the XO HCs finally came to Elery and he worked with Ed at Paradise to combine shipping for a lot of members to save on shipping as well as include extras VEI had supplied us. We had wanted to include both HCs at the same time, but Harbinger was being held up so we did the XOs either in concert with Ed or with Elery packing and shipping books and goodies.

VEI had given us signed Unity Reds for inclusion with the extras. That meant another COA from Greg who signed them and sent them to me for me to add my signature.

Then we had to number the COAs for the two gold books. It was coming together, bit by bit.

Elery generated the personalized and numbered letters, signed them, and sent them to NYC for Dinesh's signature at which point they were sent to me in Vt for my signature and assembly of all the pieces.

I proceeded to put the provided Shadowman mask, the signed Unity Red with COA, and the two gold VFVSS books together with the letter, making sure that the number on each VFVSS book and the letter matched. If you got #3 letter, you got #3 COAs on both gold books.

Contacted each member with their cost for Priority shipping and asked for payment.

Had everything ready to go, waiting for the Harbinger HCs. VEI had given me the tracking numbers on 12/19 and Fed Ex was supposed to pick them up on 12/20. That didn't happen! It was 12/26 before they got picked up and were shipped to me. One week ago, they arrived.

FINALLY I could assemble everything, and ship them off. That process finished today.

I share this with you just so you can understand all the moving pieces that had to come together for NYCC con exclusives and goodies, Comikaze con exclusives and goodies, and the all important extra for round #2. Elery and I would speak AT LEAST once a day each day and there were dozens of contacts with VEI staff and members to pull all this together. It doesn't happen quickly. It requires constant attention to detail and pushing and following up to make sure it's right, all the while with Elery and I working to see how we can make it better. I can honestly say that Elery and I each have over 100 man hours in the efforts for all of this.

Brian Wells and Greg Holland were a tremendous help throughout the two con exclusives and the extra process and Elery and I truly appreciate this support and assistance.

Elery and I are very pleased and proud of what we were able to put together for the members here since all we do is for you folks. YOU people are true supporters of VEI and their efforts and in our way, we strive to meet our statement, "It just even better to be a Valiant supporter".

Thanks for all the kind comments and accolades for our efforts on your behalf.

Holy crap, that's crazy.

[comicsyte95]

Thank you Bruce,Elery,Ed,Dino and everyone at VEI for all the time spent it was well worth it.

[brucehartshorn]

It has not been mentioned before, but each and every signature on the letter and COAs is an original ink signature, individually done. Nothing is photocopied or a facisimile. All original.

[Jace]

Thanks so much to Bruce and Elery for all your hard work. Personally I can't thank you enough for taking so much of your own valuable free time to get this done for us Valiant Fans board members. We all love Valiant and efforts like this by the fans show the same passion and love for the medium that Dino and the guys at VEI show by putting out amazing books. I very much feel like as an active member of this board I am part of the VEI team, doing all I can to help VEI be successful for many years to come.

[jmatt]

The effort that goes into something like this is simply amazing. A thousand thanks.

[cjv]

Sounds like a great story - wish I could have been a fly of the wall to watch it unfold!

To answer your questions - gold or some "rare signature" book. I feel that gold books have always been associated with Valiant fan appreciation. It would be great to get some rare variant, or a retailer book, or some rare signature, but perception is always "Valiant fans are worth gold". Cobmined with the fact that these projects are done through VF.com, I think that continuing with the gold, when available, is the way to go. Keeping in mind, of course, that no "bonuses" are guaranteed and that VEI can do whatever they want!


BTW, my daughter loves her Shadowman mask from the XO Hardcover mailing!

Chris

[Peter]

My hat is tipped to you Bruce, Elery and the Valiant team.
Thank you so much for all your constant hard work and overcoming each hurdle.

It seems as though we, the ones who did the reviews had the easy part, and it was a pleasure to do these reviews. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it.

To be rewarded with these extras is just the icing on the cake, as it is good to spread the good word about how exciting the Valiant universe is.
Whilst I haven't received the extras yet, as it takes a while to get to me, the pictures that have been shown of the books are fantastic, I can't wait to see them in my hands.

Thank you so much, I feel very humbled.

[nycjadie]

I'm opening mine right now! Thank you so much, guys! Really awesome. It's my last Valiant package before the big move.

If we're voting, I love the embossed gold books. I wasn't part of the first round (doh!), but I'm sure I'd love the signed book as well.

I for one am happy to pitch in any future rounds once my relo to San Francisco is done.

Best,
Steve

[FormerReader]

The amount of work you all put into this for us is truly impressive! We are incredibly grateful! Thank you guys for all the effort!

[The Noto]

Wish I was a member early enough to get in on this. Hopefully I can be part of Round #3, whatever that may be.

[jmatt]

Wish I was a member early enough to get in on this. Hopefully I can be part of Round #3, whatever that may be.

I can't send you anything nearly this great, but if you PM your address I can send a few FCBD issues and a Shadowman mask. I'll even toss in a copy of the Valiantfans.com FCBD version.

[The Noto]

I can't send you anything nearly this great, but if you PM your address I can send a few FCBD issues and a Shadowman mask. I'll even toss in a copy of the Valiantfans.com FCBD version.

PM Sent! Man, everyone I've interacted on this site with has been so rad. Easily the best site in all of comic fandom!

[nscc]

Wow, You guys really put in a PILE of time and effort, thanks again to Bruce, Elery, and VEI for everything. This was a really great opportunity for us all and wouldnt have happened without you guys.

[Man Of The Atom]

I have been avoiding this thread for weeks now, so that I would not know what the extra was.

Got my package yesterday and opened it last night! I was blown away with what was inside. Way better than I had anticipated I don't know what I expected, but all three books are great.

Thank you Bruce and Elery for all the hard work! You guys are pretty much amazingly generous people for all of the time you spend on these projects. If I ever see you guys in person I'm am giving you hugs.

[cjv]

I got my package yesterday.

One word - giddy!

(as a school girl...as in, I was)

Thanks!