Grading Comic Books Does NOT Increase Their Value 

I’m scared to have them graded. I just don’t want my comics to leave me and possibly become lost or damaged. Separation anxiety for me 😂

You ain’t wrong. This is gonna sound funny but I’ve always loved the smell of old comics

Their reason for slabbing should never be value increase. It should be a neutral party mediating a Grade, after that the value should fall in place based on that grade. The biggest problem with raw books is dealers and sellers grossly over grading which is the reason we have third party graders on the first place

There are two reasons as to why I’ve personally had comics slabbed (around 30 total books): 1. For key books that I want to sell that are in good enough condition that I will make more money from their sale. 2. To preserve key, high price, high grade books in my collection that I never plan on selling that will go to my nieces and nephews when I am removed from this mortal coil. I figure those books will be a lot easier for them to sell at a good price even if they know nothing about comics. This is only what I have done. It is not a suggestion of how you should handle your books. To each, their own. 🤘

I like having my valuable books slabbed for the protection, but you are right. This new 9.9 and 10.0 grading crap really puts me off.

It's more fun to collect books rather than pieces of plastic. Also, 9.9 killed the slab market:(

This is my dream come through. A world where we can actually enjoy the book we bought and not entombing it in plastic because it makes you more money. Agree with your points about it keeping it raw. It takes so long sometimes for humans to realize they are being duped from their hard earned money doing things like slabbing or chasing 9.8's with endless re-submissions for a grader to lower the grade making you frustrated and less likely to enjoy this great hobby.

I never have been big on graded books. Even my keys, my Batman 181 and Batman 232. I’ve always loved being able to look at them and smell them. There’s nothing better.

Never slabbed for all the reasons you mentioned. Cgc is a business for those who can't grade comics. Perfect for those who are liquidating when they have no idea what they have

Amazing video!👍👏 I just began my comic book collection and found Toon Haven. They have an incredible range of digital comics for every genre, including the hard to find ones. Lifetime updates too!😁

I gotta say, where your content is today vs last year is like night and day. Keep up the great content.

The books are there to be enjoyed for the stories and the art. The creators deserve that respect, and there are some incredible comic book stories out there. Glad to see you're getting into yours, sir.

I will not buy an expensive comic online unless it has been graded. Period. Too much risk of being ripped off. That's why third-party grading started in the first place (because of the online market). In person, of course, is different. But even then, in today's world more than ever, the buyer had better beware, as there are plenty of crooks around.

I’ve stopped selling raw keys on eBay because of so many scammy buyers are using you to upgrade their beat to hell book, file for a refund as item not described and get their money back. Meanwhile you’re stuck with their beat copy and a net loss. At least slabs put an end to the switcheroo.

I use top loaders to protect valuable raw books. They are cheap and you still have access to the book. CGC isn’t doing anything in their grading process that anyone reading this comment couldn’t do at home. Take the power back!

The only time I find value in graded books is buying online for golden age, where pages or cutouts are often enough that severely hinder my commitment to buying anything of value raw. I'm not worried about buying lower grade unless it's a grail with significant value/risk.

So many people forget about or do not mention the size difference between raw books and graded books. There is QUITE a difference.

lol..duh!!!! Never once slabbed a book. All this "human" grading will be meaningless when they get to the "Ai Graded" label in a couple of years!!

Hey sticky, love the channel. Personally i enjoy buying raw books and then working on them via pressing and cleaning myself, then sending the comics off to CGC. Feels good improving the comics and hopefully getting good grades in return

Well said. My own view is that only the really high-end grails need to be slabbed (mainly to check for signs of restoration). Everything else is just a waste, and, as you say, robs you of the full experience of the book. Even if I don't read the comic, I still love reading the ads and the letters, and enjoy just being able to hold a piece of history in my hands.

I love getting mine CGC graded just because it does display nicely with the rest of my Predator collection. I do have the Omnibus of the comics from the 90's, so I can still read them Predator 1-? I don't loose out as much about "not" being able to read any of my stories.

I don't want to be that "I told you so" guy. So I won't be. I've bought a few slabs myself. But you just pointed out yet another reason not to bother. You think you've got a nice old book, some teenager sitting bored at a table pops a lower grade on it because they want to get back to their phone, and BAM! Your book just ended up being worth way less than you paid for it. On top of that, you're out the fees and postage! And that postage isn't cheap or safe anymore. Thanks, Postmaster General! Don't get me started on that... Being an old school collector, I remember the days when we would just trade comics at school and we didn't care if they even had a cover or not as long as it was a book we wanted. In the 90's, condition definitely started being a more important factor to collectors. Just having something wasn't good enough. It had to be pretty. Then grading came along and it had to be perfect. Now, it has to be key issues. Screw a regular run of a book. I'm glad to see more people getting interested in comics for comics. Reading them is fun! Yeah, you can get the story in an omnibus, but it's kind of cool to open a book and know when it came from just by the particular smell! It's like drinking a fine wine...Letting it breathe...Smelling the newsprint...Feeling the different textures...Reading the book and getting a feel for time period it came out. Seeing ads from a time long gone to see what companies thought kids would be into. Slabbing...Is like buying a bottle of MD 2020 and chugging it. It gets the job done, but you're not really enjoying it. And the hangover the next day... If someone really loves slabbing, that is fine. I've gotten over fighting about how it's killing the hobby. The comic industry is doing a fine job of that all by itself. But it's nice to see people get into the spirit of collecting by opening and enjoying their books. Now, if you have something like that Wrightson signed Swamp Thing, I could totally see getting that slabbed, since it's a book you love and it would be nice to have as a show piece. But the people getting random crap slabbed....I won't mention any names, but a good instance is a RU-vidr who had like fifty issues of a book slabbed and most came back 9.8's. Like I told him..."Good on single-handedly killing the value on that book!" One thing slabbing is doing is proving that a lot of "rare" books are not nearly as rare as we thought they were. I wouldn't say Incredible Hulk #181 would ever tank, but is it really worth thousands of dollars if there are as many of them floating around as there is? I mean, some modern books are WAY more rare than that! Probably be the collecting boom of the future: Comics from 2016-2025! Prints runs of under 20,000! Wow! Ok, anyway, great video! From what I've seen of your channel lately, you're definitely one of the more sane comic tubers! Keep up the great work. And...To slab or not to slab. The best answer is probably somewhere in the middle. Everyone should do what they want. But I'm always happy to see someone enjoying their comics fully.

Couldn’t agree with you more. I actually just cracked a handful of slabs this week because I wanna page through and read!

Crazy part is the graders spend an average of 10 seconds per comic. 10 SECONDS!!

My two cents on to grade: If something happens to me, my wife (who knows nothing of comics) can know what the value is and not be taken my a scammer saying oh this ASM 300, yes its worth 500, but your has this tick and this tick, I will give you 100. If it is graded at a 9.4, she knows the values is $605, and she could make a better decision on what to sell it for. Also, if you have these books for the long haul, long term investment, I think it is worth it.

Couldn’t agree more. Too many issues with grading now. I’m done too.

I have a collection of nearly 10 000 books and in my entire collection, I only have 1 CGC book. It's an Aipha Flight #51 SS Jim Lee CGC 9.8. I love that book. But to not be able to open, read or see the art, I find that ridiculous, in my opinion. I personally never understood the appeal

I don't slab my Silver Age books, i bag and board them, then put them in Top Loaders.

Never started sending or buying them. Have no intentions of starting anytime soon

I don't own one slab. Great comic videos. Thanks dude!

Agree with your view. I recently bought at auction mid grade silver age ASM’s well below their respective FMV’s and cracked them out of the case to enjoy. They will not be regraded, rather to be enjoyed in their raw form.

Books were meant to be read, cars were meant to be driven, toys are meant to be played with. I collect but damn...I hate COLLECTORS.

My ex-wife works at CGC so I can't send mine there anyway.

I was at an LCS about a year back that had a wall of slabbed BRZRKR variant covers going for $70. Considering the variant covers didn't come into play until $60+ in the kickstarter, and the slabbing costs, I couldn't help but think how much money whoever slabbed those things already lost.

I grade my books to make them easier for my daughter to sell after I'm gone. People submitting new books, chasing the 9.8 dragon, annoy me. They are the main reason that grading takes so long at CGC. Don't go into the hobby hoping to get rich.

Ironic thing is that if grading fees were lower, you’d most likely still be slabbing your books and missing out on the enjoyment of actually reading the books raw. Sometimes it takes a financial hit for folks to come around but hey, we all make mistakes.

Agree on all accounts. I’d be so scared and hesitant to send things off to get graded, and like you said there is so much enjoyment and satisfaction just having the ability to open it up and look at it, even if you never actually do

OMG SG this video appears to be an application submission to join the OMCCS. Old Man Comic Collectors Society . It is about damn time. You just need to do one more thing. Repeat after me: Get Off My Lawn!!!!!! 🤪

“I thought I was going to be rich but got played!”

I only submit to CGC for books I want signed or a book that I really really love, for which I always have a reading copy of.

Thank you for doing this video. Yeah, another thing is ALL the variants for each issue that come out now.

Has anybody in here ever purchased and/or ever used clear backing boards. If so, what brand; and what is your opinion on them? Thanks.

Good video. The real treasure of comic books is what’s between the covers. When they slabbed they just a conversation piece. What ever makes people happy tho, so many ways to collect.

Completely new to the comic book world as an adult, but have been doing a lot of research on my family’s collection of comics and I have to say, I agree with your sentiment. I’ve been enjoying finding raw key issues and being able to flip through the pages (with the utmost care of course) and see the history of things we love. Seeing videos on YT about very old graded comics that people don’t even know the contents of is absurd. If I become insanely rich, I’m buying hella rare old slabbed comics and breaking them open IDGAF.

I think there is value to slabbing older grailish keys if you ever pass them on to family or pass away because buyers will know if there has been restoration or not and will help the family if they choose to sell the books. Also signature series books make sense since you otherwise may not be able to have the artist or writer sign your book unless you sent it in for grading.

I think it depends on how you define value. I would argue that slabbing increases a book's "fungibility" - I'm using the term in the sense of how fast you can sell the item for the most money. I would rather have an item I could sell quick over an item that is worth a good bit but takes forever to sell. So, in the sense of getting your money quicker - I think slabs have more "value" than raw. But do I personally slab books - NO - and I only buy slabs when they are the near the price of raw.

All 8 of my slabbed books I bought them slabbed but I'd never send any of my raw keys to CGC, I'm not comfortable with that yet.

Im mainly a Raw buyer. The only time I buy slabbed is when I'm looking for grail and cant find it any other way, or, if I get a great deal on a slabbed book.

love that you have re-discovered the true joy of collecting comics

I like the look of my books in the slabs, but I also buy books and never resell them, so I don't slab for the financial boost it provides, purely for the aesthetic value the provide

I love the smell and feel of a raw comic. I have very few modern books slabbed, eg. UF 4, SIKTC Dekal variant, etc. for the reasons you discussed. I do routinely slab my bronze and silver keys for protection and display, however. I also enjoy buying and cleaning raw books and slabbing them for resale and some "beer money." I find the cleaning and pressing process is very relaxing for me. You do make a valid arguement with good points about the costs and potential pitfalls of grading. Also, I should note I'm older and am financially stable, kids grown up and living their own lives, and I do live just a hop, skip, and a jump from Sarasota, so my mailing costs are not huge. I don't think I'd spend much on getting books slabbed if my family was still young and debts were not paid off.

In my old age I am learning that life is short and there are more meaningful things to spend your money on. Over valued pieces of paper ain't one of them. I see collectors spending more money on books rather than making money on books. I know I have.

The only problem i have with grading what people choose to send in. Modern minor keys that end up selling for $20 in 9.8, or mid-geade non key silver or bronze age. Grading should ve reserved for more important or significant books. Even then, i dont send in unless im getting ready to sell.

Strong case for the comic capsules for protection and display. Also I think submitting to CGC at cons is a much better equation.

Yeah, there's pros and cons. Personally, I'll only buy a graded book (or get one graded myself) if I love the book and I have a raw copy alongside it.

Can't beat that nostalgia effect

I agree, I was thinking about sending a few but the cost/benefit is not there, and then when I have sent books that for sure are 9.8s in my mind they come back 9.6 for the stupidest reasons. Good video, you saved me some bucks

I am in a bunker, reading my comics, waiting for the apocalypse.

eBay sellers often tend to sell raw books with an estimated slabbed grade value anyway, so if you’re buying a raw copy for a premium price, the cost of having it graded wouldn't be worth it at all.

I am fortunate enough to have bought most of my silver and bronze off the shelf so slabbing is a good way to sell online for me

So glad I missed The CGC Bus!

I so agree with you on the feeling about buying Slabs .I only have 2 and it was exciting at first then …sad AMS#150-9.2 no more slabs for me a raw book is So much more better.Thanks for your post

SG! You are NOT wrong here! CGC intentionally moved the bar as a distraction to there mess and it has put collectors at a disadvantage regarding the 9.9’s. Plus, the adrenaline dump after receiving a slab is short-lived. Like you, I am not against buying a slab. But, the entire notion of slabbing is getting stale. However, I live in Florida and not too far from CGC so, I do save on shipping fee’s. Anyhow, I am riding with you on this one. PS: down sizing my collection as well. But comics still rock!

Also, totally agree comics look phenomenal boarded in a Mylar bag!!!

Best troll 🧌 in comics. Keep them coming sticky!!! Never stop making these videos. 😂😂😂

Casing is meant for baseball/hockey cards, not for comics and it seems we are now ready for that conversation. What a dumb idea indeed and I think whoever managed to convince us all comic book collectors to do it deserves a raise.

I’m with you Daniel, I like to read my books and to read them with my kids. Reading the original books is a better experience.

Great stuff. Thanks for sharing

I wish someone would design a holder that could be manufactured relatively cheaply that protects books as well as a slab but is openable and has a 'label' slot down the spine. So looking at the book is clear, just a nice clear border displaying the book alone. But you can add a thin label down the spine with the name printed and a barcode (or anything else you want.) So they'll look nice on a bookshelf from the side as well. Then have a piece of cataloging software. And you can add your own grade in this software. Then also let people have a 'digital signature' and the ability to add their opinion of the grade to the barcoded book (if asked by the owner.) So essentially, a community could be built around grading each other's comic books and having a digitally verified date/signature that this person says this comic was a specific grade at this time. It basically would be a DIY/community sourced version of graded comic books. It wouldn't taint the book with the ugly labels or undesired grades but the needed info can be shown in the software. It would be well protected and displayable. Sure the grading system wouldn't be as 'fraud resistant' as something like CGC since the book won't actually be sealed in the case but it does give collectors something to show that it isn't just their opinion that the book grades high or low. These 4 other people also graded the book. And you could also see how often those 4 other people grade people's books and how strict they might be compared to others. And if the holders are nice enough and cheap enough, people would just buy them anyway, even if they're not planning to use the software.

Grading is a scam. Never fell for it. Don't own a single slab

I too have been rethinking my submission process. I just sent in an already graded CGC 7.0 blue label with off-white pages of X-Men #94 that I had cracked, cleaned, pressed and then resubmitted for the Chris Claremont signing. The cleaning and pressing done on this book really made the book look way better. However, after receiving it back it dropped to a CGC 6.5 Purple Label with White Pages. Every thing about this book was different and it was very disappointing. I called CGC to ask where this color touch is, and they still haven't been able to tell me. They said once I crack the book their policy is that it isn't guaranteed anymore. I get they have to have this policy to cover themselves and sure, I can understand a grade drop and page colors maybe changin, but color touch that wasn't there before that is now. Either CGC screwed this one up when they originally graded my book, or they are misidentifying color touch that isn't even there. It pretty much is a crap shoot and what graders you end up with. I went into the process pf getting this signed by Claremont looking good on the value I had into the book, just to be in a huge hole. It really is a disappointment.

CGC’s terrible quality control is what’s making me not submit books. Every slab I get seems to have scuffing on the inside of the case and it makes the books look terrible.

Imagine actually reading a comic book, who would have ever thought?

Preach!!! If your book needs to be 9.8 to be worth something then your book is worthless. I own a shop and the only time I consider grading is books worth $500 or more without being graded.

I have zero interest in getting my books Graded. I honestly think it's only worth it to put into a protective case. The grading...they can keep. Plus they rough up your books...I don't know these people. Sell the cases to us...let us do our own thing. Their judgement sucks too.

Only question you need to ask yourself is would i do business with the company that is going to devalue my entire collection because of their schemes to make themselves and their favorite dealers and influencers max profits?

AGS announced they were going to start grading comics in December. If they’re affordable, I’ll be done with CGC

A majority of my collection is raw because I like to read my books. The slabs I have are for display and investing purposes

You're wrong if you think grading doesn't increase the value. For major sellers, maybe not. They price their raw books at graded prices. As a collector and seller myself, grading provides a security blanket. I feel more confident buying graded books online, and graded books sell faster online. That being said, any raw books I buy and plan on holding onto aren't getting graded

Wow, finally heard what I feared from a respected Comic Collector. Slabbing is not the answer in this current Market. Thank you, thank you. The King has no clothes, Lol

You’re 100 right. I’d even argue that raw books often get sold for more. A 9.0 X-Men 130 per example, first Hellfire. Sells for peanuts, slabbed. Raw, people will think a press could make it a 9.6.

I only send my signed books to CBCS, but even then now. I don't want to anymore.

I buy comics to read and for myself, not for the value of them. The ones I collect are actually modern. They wouldn’t be worth much. But to me they’re priceless. It’s always a better experience to get joy from looking at the books and being able to admire them out of a hunk of hard plastic in my opinion.

I’ll buy graded for online purchases but I’ll only submit my biggest raw keys going forward (not for resale value - for keeping long term). I’m a comic buyer, not a comic seller so the “grade it for increased value” idea makes little sense to me and always has.

Buying raw books, there have been many times when I’ve been surprised after opening it. Sometimes it’s better graded so you know what you’re getting

I like Comic Skin Slabs they also make labels. So I’m not bias I have ppl I trust at a couple LCS to grade the books I’ll have a label created based on what they believe. It allows me to have a great display but I can read the books when ever I want to.

I bought slabbed books but it lost its luster after a bit. Totally agree. I will say this, once we get rid of slabs for modern books, we should start analyzing what a “key issue” actually is. I believe slab I g also ruined what we consider a key issue.

98% of my collection is raw..I'm glad I never fully jumped in on getting them slabbed

Great video as always, keep up the great work

I actually like to unslab books so they can fit in my long boxes...

I bought slabs only because presentation wise i liked how they looked. Now we have a lot more better looking protective cases and frames. The need to slab is going away..

I just just thinking about this myself when I ran into your video. Save the money on slabs, use it to get more comics :) win win! .. Also what is the ideal way now if you do not slab to keep comics safe ( bad/board and then put in Top loaders? ) I am more concerned on keeping my comics for longevity over quick buck sales.

If you’re not gonna read them why buy them it just a waste of money if you’re not gonna read them

Super helpful, totally worth watching

I just got a Web of Spider-Man #32, its raw but I feel is a 9.8 yet Cover price says a raw 9.6 is $40 (CP has no 9.8 listed) and a 9.8 graded is $400... how do I tell a comic shop owner I want $400 or even get it ?

The only book you showed that I would even consider grading is the signed Swamp Thing by the late, great Bernie Wrightson. But I would probably be a little afraid of CGC losing or damaging it to be honest. I’m with you Sticky Goose, my collection is kept in mylar sleeves and it’s nice to take them out and look at them every now and then. You completely lose the experience once you slab the book.

CGCs value is you can get a premium for a 9.8 you can't get with a raw book. However it is easier to make money with raw books. A lot of people think they can grade the book themselves and make that money and that motivates the sale of the raw book.

I feel you, I only slab books for protection that get put into fireproof storage lol. I do think if you get a good deal and you get a decent grade with CGC it does increase the value slightly. It's basically gambling tho.

"That Smell" "....I had so much more enjoyment in what I bought." Ring the bell we made a believer !!! Grading ensure the condition but doesn't increase actual value. Scarcity, rarity ..low print run this increases value.

Been collecting off and on since around 1987 pretty good at looking at a book and figuring out what its grade is but for me it's not about how much its worth once I have a comic in my possession it stays with me forever I am what some might call a comic hoarder it takes me time to build up a certain collection and to sell it off just defeats the purpose of me collecting them. I do own a few CGC graded comic books, but I bought them online only because I loved the art on the book, and I had one raw I could read anyway so I got them to display. In my opinion buying a graded book is for art it looks nice and can present well when displayed properly. I will always prefer raw over graded any day of the week. I keep my raw books in a plastic comic container boarded and bagged in my closet and every so often I will crack it open and look through them some of my comic books bring back memories of how I got them and who I was with at the time.