FAQ

IMPORTANT AND ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY: On ANY AND EVERY item you send to us for this signing, please ATTACH the following information to EACH ITEM:
Your name
Your address
Your email address
Your phone number
Indicate signature placement
Request ink color (every effort will be made to make sure your wishes are followed, but there is no absolute guarantee that an exact pen color will be used).
Signature placement is not guaranteed to be placed in the location you designate unless you prepare your own books in window bags prior to sending them in. If your poster/pop/flat/magazine/toy/comic book/etc is NOT accompanied by a post it note with the above information included, your item likely will not be signed and you will be issued a refund following the conclusion of the event.
Send to 10908 COURTHOUSE ROAD, SUITE 102-263 FREDERICKSBURG, VA 22408

We will only use Priority Mail for collectibles and memorabilia sold on our website. Express Mail is available upon request and your order can be upgraded to this faster delivery speed for an additional charge. Multiple purchases made at the same time on the same invoice or cart order are eligible for combined shipping and the total will be calculated at the checkout stage. Tracking will be loaded automatically using the email address you provide at checkout and insurance is included for the full purchase price of your order at no additional charge. Although we have been successfully preparing high value orders for many years, the potential for damages during delivery to your confirmed address does technically exist. In the very rare instance that this occurs, it shall be the responsibility of the buyer to file an insurance claim with their postal carrier or local post office and recover any monies associated with the order. Keep in mind that the carrier (or local post office) will likely request to inspect the damaged item(s) as well as the box it was shipped in so please make sure to maintain custody of all shipping materials.

CGC is an independent, third-party grading service that grades and encapsulates comic books (among many other collectibles). For those unfamiliar with how this process works, there are some points that should be addressed to dispel claims of imperfection. Upon inspection, the old style CGC cases (those used by CGC to encapsulate prior to April of 2016), the left and/or right sides of the case appear as though they have not been sealed properly. However, this is NOT an irregularity or imperfection. The sides of what is referred to as the “outer shell” were left slightly open so that a fingernail or screwdriver head could be inserted between the two sides of the outer shell in the event the owner wished to have a signature series facilitator “crack” the case (or “slab”) so that autographs could be applied, or simply for general removal of the book. The new style CGC cases (those currently being used by CGC since April of 2016), allow for this same procedure to take place along the top and/or bottom portions of the casing (or “slab”). Do not be alarmed when you inspect your CGC encapsulated comic book and you discover this.

We are obligated by the policies and procedures of Paypal to ship your order ONLY to your confirmed paypal address. Adhering to this practice protects both the buyer and the seller against potential fraud. As a result, we are not able to ship orders to any address other than the one designated by the buyer in their confirmed paypal profile.

 All international packages ship via USPS Priority (if the value of the order is less than $250) or USPS Express (if the value of the order exceeds $250). We are not able (or willing) to falsify customs forms by declaring a lower value than the actual sale price of the order. Not only is this practice illegal, but doing so can result in fines (or other penalties) for both the buyer and the seller. Additionally, declaring an order for less than the value paid does not allow the item(s) from being fully insured against loss or damage.

Please be aware that there may be additional costs that your country’s government may impose upon you before they will release your package to you. Any customs fees, duties, taxes, etc. are the responsibility of the buyer. Additionally, USPS may sometimes release packages to a local carrier for final delivery to the buyer. If this practice is commonplace in your country, it is the responsibility of the buyer to make arrangements for the delivery of the package, signed for (if necessary) and/or provide instructions to the carrier as to where to safely leave the package.

This is simply an interference pattern which is created by the reflection of light between two surfaces. It is a fairly common phenomenon which occurs during CGC encapsulation and can often be mistaken for moisture or oil inside the case itself. What is actually happening is that an interference pattern is being created between the inner plastic sleeve (or “inner well”) and the hard plastic shell which surrounds it. In NO way does this reflection of light compromise the book itself or the grade designated and assigned by CGC. We disclose this common phenomenon because it is very difficult to see it in a photo or even a high resolution scan of the book. Should you wish to send your book back to CGC in an attempt to have them re-holder it and potentially remove or reduce this effect, any costs associated with doing so would be the responsibility of the buyer and not thecomicmonster.

Absolutely. We will update our website regularly with the events we attend and introduce links for each event which will allow you to do so.

Send us an email or a message through social media and we will do everything we can to accommodate you. Please note that at some events, we are not able to obtain autographs from every celebrity in attendance.

These options are available with each guest we feature in our event links. Please note that although EVERY EFFORT will be made to accommodate pen color choices and signature placement, thecomicmonster does not guarantee ink color or signature placement. We do our best, but if a celebrity decides they prefer to sign their name in a place that was not recommended by you, we will not argue with them on the spot. Doing so creates an awkward environment for all concerned.

 Absolutely. We are always happy to do it for you at no additional charge, but if you don’t window bag your own books prior to sending them in to us, the likelihood of you receiving your autographs in the exact spot you want them is exceedingly low. There are a multitude of videos available online which will show you the recommended method of window bagging your comics for signings and a quick google search will bring them all up front and center for you.

ABSOLUTELY AND CATEGORICALY IMPERATIVE. With the volume we do (and with many people sending in the exact same pieces), it is extremely important that you mark your items with the following information (at a minimum).
Your name
Your address
Your email address
Your phone number
Your CGC account number (if applicable)
A description of the item itself
Who is to sign the item.
We do NOT maintain a list of personal client information in any format or under any circumstances. The information requested above is purely to identify your item from other items that may be similar (or exactly the same). If you would like to subscribe to our newsletter to keep up to date on current signing events, you may do so independently from our home page.

Unfortunately not. Talent management forbids us from passing on any fan mail or hand-made items to the celebrities we sign with.

 As much as we would love to be able to honor such requests, the signings we conduct often have hundreds of items to be signed. So not only are there time constraints to consider, but most talent agencies do not allow candid photos to be taken routinely. They may allow a couple near the beginning or the end of the signing, but never will they allow for a photo to be taken of each individual item.

 Unfortunately, for the same reasons we explain above, this is just not possible.

 We are more than happy to do that (and do it routinely). For CGC purposes, the first 30 day hold over is free of charge. After the first 30 days, CGC imposes a fee of $5 per book per 30 days. So if you wanted to have a book signed in January, have additional signatures applied to the book all season long and then wait until New York Comic Con to add the final autographs, then CGC would charge you $40 for the hold fee. Memorabilia (Like posters, props, prints, cast signed pieces) we are more than happy to hold over for you from event to event as long as you’d like at no additional charge. The only thing you would pay would be the autograph fees for each celebrity who signs at each event. As well as JSA authentication fees (optional). If we are flying to an event where you want your prop to go for additional autographs, we would either bill you for the shipping costs or you may provide pre-paid shipping labels for us to use on your behalf.

In this instance, and at your direction, we would take your signed item to the next event in which JSA is in attendance and have them sticker your item with the basic certification as opposed to the Witnessed Protection Program (WPP). We do this routinely with cast signed movie poster projects. Although there is no charge imposed by thecomicmonster for taking your item to the next JSA attended event, the cost for the authentication service itself is $10 per autograph (charges imposed by JSA).

 Second part first…absolutely and totally worth it! JSA is one of the top Third Party Authentication (TPA) services in the world and their Witnessed Protection Program (WPP) certificate of authenticity is SECOND TO NONE! The WPP guarantees the autograph to be authentic because it has been witnessed by a JSA employee live and in person. The cost for this authentication service is $10 per autograph. This includes the JSA serialized sticker which is affixed to your memorabilia as well as a hard card certificate of authenticity (COA) which bears the same unique serial number as the sticker. This serial number, linked to your memorabilia, is maintained in the JSA database for life and can be viewed at any time by doing a search on their website.

 No problem. We can handle any order of any size. However, we do use air transportation to get to and from events from time to time. If the event you’re looking at is a flight for us, we would have you ship your large items directly to our hotel with pre-paid return shipping labels inside the box. This way, once your item has been signed, it can be mailed back to you right from our hotel with no delay.

Not at all. We handle large/bulk orders for fans, collectors, exhibitors and retailers routinely.

 If you have a bulk order for a celebrity we are signing with and would like to inquire about bulk discounts, contact us directly at [email protected] and we can discuss it further.

Absolutely. There is an option for doing so in each of our event links in the drop down menus.

Totally fine.  There is an option for doing so in each of our event links in the drop down menus.

 Although we are happy to recommend, upon request, whether we think a pressing service would benefit your book(s) in some way, we would never want to give you an anticipated grade on your own books. We leave that to the professionals at CGC.

Valid question. For certain books (like photo covers, incentives, unique variant editions) we will pre-order a large quantity and pre-screen them to the best of our abilities, looking for spine stresses (if any) that we feel could be eliminated with a press, color breaking stress marks that can NOT benefit from a press, and any other slight imperfections we feel would prevent a book from achieving a 9.8 grade. As an authorized CGC signature series facilitator, we are obligated (as ALL facilitators are) to offer a full and complete refund if we are not able to produce an advertised grade.

No. We do NOT impose paypal fees for any purchase made on our website.

 We are happy to send you a screen shot of your paperwork and you can follow up with CGC and/or CCS using the invoice number on the top right of the paperwork. Unfortunately, because of the volume we do, we aren’t able to look up invoice numbers for every client we have and determine status. As a general rule (barring CGC being back logged with multiple shows one right after another), turn around times for modern fast track grading service is approximately 9 business days. Non fast track modern grading service is approximately 28 business days. CCS pressing ADDS another 35 business days for quick press or fast track press and 70 business days for non fast track pressing.