im one of those old guys that hated grading or i should say "encapsulation" of comic books. Now I have bought , sold and traded for nearly 50 years, Not a professional, i didnt get my degree in grading from ive seen everything University. I have been around for a long time, like everything, things change as do opinions. Encapsultation started as an investment gimmick for those who knew nothing about comic books and wanted to invest and make big bucks on big books. You cant fight big money, that shit talks loud so dealers began sending books out to CGC. Once that trend hit, it followed the way of Coin Collecting, everyone (mostly Everyone) began slabbing books just like the coins. What once was a good reading hobby(like rolling up your book and putting it in your back pocket as shown in your vid :) became, a hunt for the perfect copy, either shelf or news stand. Pristine Covers no dings no dimples ..."NADA". But hey, I caught that bug too so I am not complaining, Things just change, and you have to go with the flow or just get out of the hobby. I do think that as a preservation tool the slabs do save the books condition and that I think is a really good thing. Today you have the facsimilies if you want a copy of those really older super keys. So it is what it is. Happy Collecting.... Oh and by the way its tough gettin old and you all are right behind Me, Nuff Said, Excelsior!!!!
100% agree, all valid points. You are able to do whatever you want with your books. Slab, no slab it doesn't matter. The whole point of the hobby is to enjoy it the way you want and not shit on the way anyone else does. Excellent video. 👊🏼
“It’s okay to do both” awesome way to end the video. Anything that discourages people to engage in the hobby is bad! We want the audience and love for comics to grow not die down! I appreciate your shared knowledge and opinions on the hobby as always.
As far as one thinking they got a lower grade than they were expecting and blaming it on the grader for having a hangover, it needs to be noted that under the Grading Process / Grading section of CGC's website it specifically states that "Grading is a team effort, with multiple CGC professionals examining every collectible to ensure accuracy and consistency. . . . A consensus is then reached on the final grade of the collectible." That redundancy is in place specifically to avoid the possibility that one particular grader might be having a bad day. I've found that when I've gotten disappointing grades back and then took a really hard look at the book (which yes, I should've done before sending it in), there were things that I didn't noice and the grade was totally justified. Great video 👍!!!
And now Overstreet is not looked to for value -- but it is still great for information -- and, ironically, Overstreet could benefit from doing grading/guaranty work. What I still want is grading standardization from the companies -- and a society or professional association of graders. Antiques (even more complex than comics) and other collectibles have similar and it would be a natural progression.
I recently had the choice of 6.0 graded x-men 35 or a raw evaluated to be 6.0. I chose the graded for assurance of the grade verses someones evaluation. we always have these choices based on just a simple search but I had both in front of me at the lcs. you get confidence with the grade.
I'm predominantly a reader, but every now and then I come across a character or a moment in a book that I want to collect. I'm not super picky about the quality, although I try and get the best. A few times I've gotten a book from a person or place and it meant something more than just putting it in a box. Sometimes the quality and the moment match up, and those are the ones I get slabbed. It's kind of like the pinnacle moment of collecting. Once it's slabbed, I'll always remember the story.
All valid points. At 48, my collection is not huge anymore. I sold what was “nonessential” and kept what I felt was a true representation of my collection needs. I have about 9 comics graded and did this only as a means of preservation. I will attempt to have my whole collection slabbed. This was a great leap for the hobby. Not only to give collectors a fair shot at getting a book they want in the condition they desire, but to give collectors a way to better preserve those books they spent so much time, energy, and money on purchasing and protecting. I would like to see a few more companies break into the grading market to provide more options to collectors and maybe even newer techniques and technologies into the fold. Great video all around.
I’m not that guy but I am an OG collector but what makes your books 9.8 some guy who looked at your book and determined to himself it’s a 9.8 if he didn’t get any pussy that morning your book would’ve been an 8.5 that’s facts I’m just not a big fan of graded books But I do have some like eight with 75 long boxes of RAW BOOKS Keep up the great content 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
I'm not personally a fan of slabbing everything under the sun, but I will not begrudge those that are. It has made it a little tougher to find raw versions of some issues. I also don't like the different grading standards for Gold versus Silver age and above. Just makes more sense to me that a 8.5 is an 8.5 regardless of it's publication date. Wouldn't be practical to change it now though. Can't go back and regrade everything put out before 1956.
You're a f** genius, this might be my first video of your's I've seen, so your next video might be trash....but really, every thing you said, I can completely get behind on....good on you....i subscribed....
Objective : "There is a 2" stain on this book's front cover." Subjective : "No book with a 2" stain on its front cover could possibly grade higher than _________." Objective : " That stain is very dark." Subjective : No book with a stain that dark could possibly be graded higher than _______." Different sorts of defects, different sorts of reactions and feelings about those defects.
Grading is a scam you send your books out for months and could get damaged and how you know you will get them back. I remember when you could buy comics at newsstands and grocery stores.
I buy Golden Age back issues and I actually go out of my way to avoid slabbed CGC books because I buy my comics for their stories and art, not to seal them away like they were coins, I actually bought one slabbed 2.0 Walt Disney Comics and Stories #33 and the first thing I did was break open that slab and liberate that sweet Carl Barks comic, The only thing I like to keep my back issues are Mylar and acid free backing boards and boxes.
Thats awesome! Id love to have that WDC book. HUGE DISNEY FAN! And of course nothing wrong with the original way of collecting 👍🏼 Theres certain books im dreading slabbing because i love to enjoy them raw. But my other reasons for doing so just out way it. CGC should have a sticker that say “Break In Incase of Emergency” lol
Really enjoyed this. I just recently started making a few videos of my own and got back my first cgc submission. I was pretty disappointed in the 9.6 I got. Unfortunately, there’s a pretty intense price drop between 9.6 and 9.8. Because of that, I feel like CGC should do better with grading notes. I was told I could send it back in to be evaluated again, maybe a press would get me there. But I have no idea what the problem was. Anyway, loved this video, subscribed. Look forward to more!
Well, maybe I'll take the shot on it! If I do, I'll tag you as my inspiration lol, you know in 6 months when I get the book back LOL! @@paperchasecomics
If you send a book in thinking it will be a 9.8, I think you can get them to only slab a book if it is above a certain grade so you aren't paying for a slab you don't want.
@@kellygoodine9944 yep! The video that this one is related was a 9.8 prescreen like you mentioned. Good strategy for not wasting money on value slabbing
This was a good watch. I want to grade my silver age books for preservation, mostly. I'd almost rather just have the cases that they go in, but that doesn't seem to be a thing. I don't collect for value. I collect for the history. Preservation is the name of the game for me. Condition is secondary as well. Good video, man.
It’s like most “big ticket” items in your life, you buy a house, you get it inspected… you buy a car, you have your mechanic inspect it…..the bank that loans you the money has an interest, they want it to be a sound investment…. You go out to eat, guess what, a third party inspection happened to make sure you are safe eating at that establishment. There is nothing wrong with having a third party inspect your purchase/ investment worse case is you can buy a graded comic for piece of mind and crack it out of the slab if you like raw so much. Once you own something you can do whatever you want with it….. slab it or not, just don’t whine if you get duped or realize that the collection you want to sell for retirement will only gets you pennies on the dollar because you didn’t offer piece of mind to the person that wants to buy it! I had an older gentleman that I went back and forth with over his collection that he wants to sell before he dies because his wife won’t know what to do with it. He was asking for 300k for a collection he stated was worth 500k, no slabs and has been collecting his entire life! Some really big books, FF #1, AF #15, just massive books. I asked him about restoration, he said “nothing was restored” and “that’s a new thing people do”! He got angry very quickly and I let him have my heritage contact, but he did state he would not be open to selling to someone that gets the books slabbed, under no circumstances. I politely declined and told him good luck!
I love any thing that brings more people to the hobby. I don't judge anyone as long as they buy comics slabbed, raw don't care just buy. I personally enjoy reading them but most the current stuff is kinda meh. Ghost Rider, Moon Knight, Dr Strange, and Predator is about all I would recommend for current reads. I love both I have my grails slabbed FF48,49,50 MS5 etc also love yellow label signature books. Every thing else I like raw. Thanks for the video was a fun watch.
The problem I have with grading is the CGC is god mentality. When CBCS has clearly the superior slab. But people will pay extra just because it has cgc on it. When the values of both 9.8's are the exact same and not 100's less then I will full back grading. Until then it's only select books. Which it should be. And those go to CBCS.
OG Jerry CGC has over stepped its 3rd party objective . in the beginning CGC was objective and it leveled the playing field between buyers and sellers especially on ebay in the old days. back then pressing was frowned upon and 2nd prints were garbage books . the good ole days
Lmao! This is a funny concept, but not irrational by any means… some people are getting their slabs remarked by artists cause they dont want to lose the grade or risk damaging book… but CGC has pretty decent reholder program. As long as case has no damage you can always get a fresh case without a regrade, at a decent price.
I just got my first CGC sub back, 27 books and I have to say I was sorely disappointed. I received scores all over the place that didn’t make sense, out of 27 books only grader notes on one book, some books were damaged while in their possession, one slab came back damaged (corner broken off). I am not sure why they are considered the cream of the industry as they failed in my eyes.
Sorry to hear about that! That really blows.. ive had my bad experiences with them as well. I think multiple things led them to being top dog. First in the market, the better label (now to be disputed), and overall consistent when looking at the grand scheme of things. We mainly only hear of the horror stories, (which we should) they should too, so they can improve. But when looking at the amount of books they receive vs the horror stories that come out isnt THAT awful for a system and a business that in the grand scheme scheme of things is still relatively in their juvenile stage of being a company.
@@paperchasecomics so out of the 27 books I sent in, 3 spawn #1s were in the mix. I got 9.8s on all but thats not the issue. One of the Spawns has a flag page (printers tab at the bottom) I gave them a heads up via email regarding this and they responded. Well I have all three books but no notes so I have no idea which book has this unique feature. This seems like it would be basic knowledge to make a note of this.
I still will not risk the damage to my golden age books by CGC. I've always wonder why CGC won't offer a video file for each graded book. At this point there's no consequence to CGC when they destroy comic book in the handling or grading process.
Knock on wood i haven’t had an issue with them damaging a book of mine yet. Unfortunately it is part of the risk, you just have to way for every given book.
Why don't you make a video talking about what and how CGC grades their comics, what they are looking for and what are they giving a mark against the gradings
I wish they just made CGC quality slabs for purchase on Amazon or comic shops. I don't care to wait on a opinion, I'd just like to appreciate my books in something that makes them look nice and displayable. I feel like if your in the market to resell and make a profit then grading is the way to go, but not if you simply just wanting to preserve and keep your comics nice. Sports cards have been collectable forever, why cant cases for comics be obtainable on the streets at comic shops just the way card toploads are at card shops.
I’ve been sending book to CGC for the last three months BRAND, NEW BOOKS, PRESSED AND CLEAN JUST IN CASE Out of five to get two 9.8 The ones I don’t press and I haves got four 9.9 in the last three months. I don’t get it.😂😂
The primary problem is CGC grading is wildly inconsistent (& regularly inaccurate within the parameters of their own vaunted standards). . .so the "consensus" you speak of is more like a deferential bias towards an authoritative institution providing an expected abstraction ("THE GRADE"), rather than a reliable rubric anchored in objectively applied criteria. . . they can't keep up with demand for some time now, and are either hiring people who are wholly unqualified, improperly trained and/or exhausted to the point of losing their ability to accurately assess the issue in front of them in a timely manner, or worse -- some graders are so apathetic that they misplace, replace, lose or even damage submissions. I mean, the deluge of nightmare comments on facebook from justifiably irate submitters was enough for me to never want to give CGC any money. . .if anything, their inconsistency and shoddy treatment of so many books & customers HURTS the industry, rather than bolstering it. I'm all for objective grading standards, I just don't agree that CGC has earned it's position as the superior arbiter of what those standards actually are, as proven time and time again by their practices. . . .
Hot damn thats some words! But thanks for that input. CGC has yet to damage or lose any of my books so far. . CGC Turn around times are amazing now. Have been for almost a year. Ive submitted over a thousand books by now. I have a video of why i hated CBCS. Lets not forget CBCS was sending books to graders houses for grading and lost mulitple large submissions. There was a big story on it. No Company is without their faults. Except for PGX… lol they are in fact dog crap
@@paperchasecomics Nice to hear your experiences are better than many others :) Here's a purple label 6.5 resubmitted for a blue label 2.5 (time stamped). . .is that anywhere remotely consistent? CGC damaged multiple books from these submissions according to submitter, including popped staples. . .I would lose my mind and want to sue if I hemorrhaged money paying to submit a nice intact book that came back with detached staples!!! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-TadVoz1KKQk.htmlsi=7SmoMxM5ff7PwtOa&t=683
and just one more for the hat trick of recent examples off the top of my head. . .CGC damages a NM range TWO THOUSAND DOLLAR BOOK but still gives it a 9.8 lol. . .I personally have just one 9.8 book & it took me about 30 seconds to find a 1/16" or so spine abrasion that definitely should have precluded it from that grade imho: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-UDsnM8jIk80.htmlsi=jewkY3luk2OXYfBp&t=746
Yeah this was sad to watch. I’d be irate, unfortunately thats the risk in letting third parties handle your belongings. You also cant verify the condition of the box that CGC received the book in. Obviously something happened to the package as a whole because multiple books heavily damaged. To me id point fingers at the POST OFFICE before cgc. Ive seen them annihilate packages. I just think its more unlikely a grader i’d say courier and handling problems. Most comic graders are comic lovers. And would respect the nature of the book, ya know?
I wouldnt say they completely damaged his book, it looks like just what he said, it got bent during encapsulation. (Press-ale fix) The grade is already assigned by then and in different hands. Its possible the person encapsulating didnt even realize what they did. Doesnt make it okay, but it still doesnt discount CGCs grading integrity. More of a quality control issue. And the defect you found in your 9.8 is allowable in a 9.8 according to CGC consensus. (As Stated in their book released last year)
It’s strange that Overstreet doesn’t have the value of comics anything over a 9.2… So dumb. Makes Overstreet completely 100% useless… Who gives a fk about 9.2’s?? They’re stupid not to have the value for 9.4, 9.6, & 9.8 at least.
You defended your position very well. But you did not address several other aspects. The concept of an objective no-skin-in the game grader, is good and clearly useful. Why then should such a graded book be worth--potentially- multiple times what the raw version of same as established by the actual collector's market? Would not a "premium" of some significantly lower percentage--20% , 30%--over market value be more in line....unless.... I have had multiple conversations over the years over the role of a "guide" in general, beyond containing background info (Overstreet); does a guide reflect market value, or seek to establish it. Alas, my feeling is the latter is way too often the case. Considering what prices are being realized for what are--realistically--very common issues, I have seen too often a rationale offered of "well CGC copies are going for X". Why should that impact asking prices for raw copies in such a detrimental way? There are lessons to be learned from other collectable hobbies (you mentioned stamps, and coins; both took major hits and have yet to recover their former levels years later), and comics as well (the original black and white explosion/implosion), the first time we went around on the variant carousel. No industry is too big to fail (as we have learned) and comics might be on the way to pricing itself into non-viability with too many folk going underwater on over paid for "collectables".
A lot to unpack there but i see all of what youre saying.. i think the market is still learning how to react to graded comics from a buyers and sellers standpoint. People are starting to realize what is worth being slabbed from a resale standpoint. The 21’ comicbook boom taught us a lot for sure. The whole CGCs are going for X so raw copy should be X is getting phased out completely. Some books demand more raw than in certain grades because many buyers hold out hope for hitting a desired grade.
