@@katabellioniguess If you're talking about an actual corner ding and and not the common frayed corners that come from every publisher I don't even think it should make a 9.6.
@@Marcus-ru1ht I swear if you send them high grade comics that are 9.8 or tens maybe , they have other comics available that are 9.7 or 9.6 and tell just take yours , grade it at 9.8 or something more and then send you the lower comic . How would you ever know ?
@@KTMGUNNER They wouldn't do that Lol. Every company in the world has p*****d of an employee, so if what you say was true then someone would have reviled that they do that by now.
This video explains the mystery fingerprints that appeared on the cover of my Ultimate Fallout 4 when I got it back CGC graded. Damn fingerprints got it knocked down a couple grades.....thanks CGC
Great video, i’d like to see much more about the internal operations and how you do things. I think that that brings CGC closer to fans as well as being informative and educational. In particular it would be nice to know: 1 how you grade between 9.4-9.6-9.8 2 how you press and clean books 3 if you have a colour chart to determine page colour 4 an example rationale of graders giving a grade for 1 book and then what the master grader determines the final grade to be 5 old case cracking and updated case procedure 6 and just a look at the CGC offices.
In no fan of cgc there customer sucks I sent them email four months still waiting pgx and cbcs get back to me in days and week what respectable company doesn’t have paypal account every company online and in person have paypal account except for cgc
You busted a common myth that gloves are worn during grading, but nothing about how you protect the books from transferring oils or dirt from your own hands?!? How often do you wash and how do you prevent your own fingerprints from negatively affecting the grade?
@@CrackingCody I mean, you’re not that bright if you think they wash their hands after they handle every comic. It takes all of one minute or less to grade a high grade modern. It would take more time to get up and wash then sit than it’s worth. I’m sure you don’t think things through before insulting people but I wouldn’t expect you to, it’s not in your nature to be smart.
@@CrackingCody my question wasn’t “Do you wash your hands?” Of course they do that - the question was “how often do you wash your hands and what measures do you take to prevent dirt from transferring?” ALL WORDS MATTER.
I'd love to see a future video tell how you can determine if a book has been trimmed. Glad you're doing this series! Wasn't aware of the ink smear on Hulk 181s. That's good to know!
Repent and trust in Jesus. He's the only way. We deserve Hell because we've sinned. Lied, lusted stolen, etc. But God sent his son to die on the cross and rise out of the grave. We can receive forgiveness from Jesus. Repent and put your trust in him. John 3:16 Romans 3:23❤😊❤
It would be nice for your graders to clean their hand between books. There's tons of people who are getting grades dinged for finger prints that weren't on the comics when submitted after professional press & cleans.
I appreciate that you did this video. I do have 2 comments that can be taken however you would like. 1) I noticed when you said that the corner piece missing takes it to a 6.0. I thought for sure lower but I apparently grade to strict. 2) I think it was interesting how slow you counted pages in this video compared to the superman 1 that you looked at in the convention video at 4 times the speed. That being said I like that you are counting pages slow now and more careful. And thank you for this video.
If you visit Heritage Auctions website there is an Amazing Spiderman 1 graded 9.0 with a corner piece missing on the front cover. Its a Bethlehem Pedigree copy. How can this be a 9.0?
Usually, one of the corners of the book isn't perfect (very minor blunting) whereas on a 9.8, all four corners are razor sharp. In my experience, as being one with both 9.6 and 9.8 books in my collection, that's what I've deduced.
This was a very informative video. Honestly, I had always presumed that the restoration check was much more involved than that, including the use of UV light and/or whatever the appropriate technology is in such a setting.
CGC, Lot's of questions here! Appreciate the videos, but part of that appreciation is the engagement with the community by responding to questions. It is also a good way to create good-will and loyalty towards your brand. Thanks
This is great! You could make 100 of these and I'd watch all of them. Here are some questions that came to mind. How long did it take to grade this book? Is there another grader that grades it as well for consistency? If so, what happens if a grade is different? Is there a database for every comic book that says there are a certain amount of pages, this book is likely to be missing a stamp, and ink smear is a common issue? The missing part of the cover seemed like the biggest issue, as he said bringing it down to a 6.0. The other issues were shown, but is there a specific amount they drop the book or was it subjective based on this particular book? How do graders know that a particular color is white as opposed to off-white, cream, etc.? This got an off-white rating because there was a shift in color from the middle to the edge, but how did the grader know the middle was white in the first place?
@@dandixon7 We can hope they'd cover these kind of questions, but I think the reality is they don't want to disclose those type of specifics. If they dare get too specific about what means what, they'd be subject to more scrutiny. That's why they lean on the "it's a subjective artform" argument. If they keep things vague then we can't argue what should be what. Which is sad because if one grader says a book is a 9.6, and another says it's a 9.8, their differing opinions significantly impact the value of the comic and under their "standards" neither one of them can be considered right or wrong.
Transparency in any business or corporate entity goes a long way in creating confidence in the consumer in that business or corporate entity. Personally, I currently lack confidence in CGCs business practices and for that reason, will not utilize their services in getting any of my books graded and slabbed. That lack of confidence comes from the stories I've seen, heard and read about on RU-vid, Instagram and other social media outlets. Stories of books being damaged or lost, improperly graded, handled roughly, and CGC's unprofessional response to criticism. This video is a step in the right direction, but unless I see an improvement in CGCs customer service relations, I'm holding my books back from submission at this time.
Except, they won't answer any of the questions here. Why do a video? Actually makes me lose more faith that they won't be transparent by answering the questions.
Would love to see more videos like this especially of the actual grading process in the warehouse and not a mock-grading. I would like to see the actual space the comics are graded in, how do the graders receive the books, how do the graders remove the books from the bags/boards because you guys at CGC have thumbed up the top of a very important book I recently sent in for grading and signature, I then would like to see how the books are handled after grading do they go back in the same bag/board do they go to a holding area, and then I would like to see the actual encapsulation process of the book. We need to see step by step! We need to understand why you guys are causing so much damage in the warehouse while grading.
I've noticed there are instances in my submissions where grader notes might not be available for 9.6 all way down to 9.2 grades. What determines when grader notes are entered or not?
I have been waiting for this video for years. Thanks, Matt for your transparency and the interviews you have done with Reggie. I hope CGC is here to stay for the long term.
I grabbed an 8.5 of this issue a little over a couple of years ago, and it has tripled in price since. I submit a lot of books but not so much this year since it is taking 7 to 8 months to get anything back! I would never bother buying or submitting a book that bad. I press and clean my own books and get 9.8s all the time. A video I would have loved to see as a newbie is what separates the top grades from each other straight from CGC. Plenty of third party videos out there based on collectors' personal experience that I find are right on, but insight into the secret sauce at CGC would probably build customer confidence this year when turn around times are making things super difficult for everyone.
While I appreciate this kinda insider view on the grading process, I chuckled when he said, "in the spirit of transparency". Next time you see them at a convention (if we ever have conventions again) ask them how many graders they have on site and let's see how transparent they are. Also, CGC's "published standards and procedures" are vague one sentence descriptions that they cut down from the traditional Overstreet grading guidelines. They do this so they don't have to justify mistakes in their grading. I'd be interested to see how they grade books 8.5 and up. I'd love to know why they graded my friends copy of X-Men #129 a 9.4 despite it having 5 color breaking spine ticks. I think maybe the grader did the "first impression" step, and then skipped past the rest cause they had 800 more books to grade. Like in this video, the missing pieces dropped it to a 6.0. Wear to the cover dropped it another 1.5. The stain knocked it down another full point. How does that apply to super high grade books? How many flaws are allowed in a 9.8, 9.6, etc? Seems like it should be easy to decipher but I've seen many inconsistencies in books of that grade. I'm sure most of you have too. Oh and pro tip. Don't say these kind of "slanderous" things on their forums. Rather than allowing a discussion that may or may not shed some light on questionable practices, they'll simply ban you for life.
Thanks for de-mystifying the grading process. I would be interested to understand how you determine between the highest grades, i.e. the differences between a 9.8, 9.9 and 10.0. Also, as pointed out in many comments, why do you not wear gloves for the majority of the grading process?
Matt this video was fantastic. The transparency is wonderful. Video suggestion of grading: Severity of defects. I’ve heard you say before there are different severities of defects. Example of what I am looking for is: three spine ticks on a book might be less degrading than on small corner crunch that doesn’t break color. You guys do a fantastic job!
I would like you visit Comic cons at Mexico to facilitate the graduation of comic books. At this conventions the most of the artist signs comic books but at the end there in not way to probe the signing and for the collectors is a lost opportunity ,Great video!
This explains a lot. I submitted Saga 1 (first print) and it came back 8.8 saying there was fingerprints on the cover. I made sure that it didn't have anything before I shipped. I looked at an angle and could clearly see fingerprints. Those were not there when I shipped it. Your grader put fingerprints on there, and docked me for it. I always wondered how fingerprints got on there when there was none when I shipped it. I always thought your company wore hand protection. I wonder how many customers got lower grades because of grader accidents. How does it feel to have ZERO accountability for worker mistakes. Only your customers suffer.
I appreciate this series, it's helping me decide if I want to get my books graded or not. I'd love to see a few more videos with the same issue, but varying grades. I'm not a pro-grader, but still that seems like a low grade to me in terms of how old the book is. I'd be ecstatic with a copy that nice, and you guys are like "meh, it's a 3.5". What does a 5.0 look like? A 6.0? A 7.0? Would be super cool to see the same book from Silver Age graded out, like a 9.8 all the way down to a 1.0. That would be super helpful. Also, how would you prevent pages from going off-white? I mean, I have an ASM 300 that's been bagged/slabbed since the day I bought it, and the pages are not exactly white anymore. Does it need to be hermetically sealed without oxygen able to enter?
My question is if there is a printing error .... such as the ink smear .. I personally would have thought it wouldn’t affect the grade because that’s how it was sold....
If it is minor and not distracting, printing defects and ink smears from production are not supposed to affect the grade ... according to Overstreet. CGC though will reduce the grade.
You would think they would use more definitive techniques rather than a guy eyeballing it. No checklist, no uv light, NO GLOVES!!! WTF is this company doing.
@@Kaiesis Yes, and I always assumed that at least 2-3 people graded the same book, then the book was given the consensus grade. One person giving their 5 minute opinion on a book, and this is what this community is holding up as the standard?
@@Kaiesis No one grades with a checklist, either you know how to grade, or you don't. I agree with no gloves: if your hands are clean and dry, it's fine. You need to feel the pages
@@jsuperflyc The Overstreet guide to grading comes with a sort of checklist which shows the total number of defects within each grade. But like most things today, people/companies believe they are smarter than the founders. The Overstreet method makes sense and removes some of the conjecture in grading. Also, about gloves... why not just use the Michael Jackson method of one glove? Gloved hand holds the book, bare hand turns the pages. Easy!
At a cursory glance of the book I came up with about the same grade. I would love to see a video of an actual step by step grading of a book understanding of course that grading is subjective. It would still be great to see and hear exactly what one of your graders thinks as they grade a book.
Would like to understand how you put the comic INSIDE the mold. - Can't you damage the comic just by handling it and putting it into a sleeve / plastic slab? Does that happen?
I like that you guys are getting on board with transparency. It will be good overall for the company. As for future ideas, comparing 9.2, 9.4, 9.6 and 9.8 books would be interesting. Maybe even on the same book but in different grades. Personally, I have seen 9.6 books that look better than some 9.8 books and just wonder how much more challenging those are to grade.
I have a CGC 9.8 book with 10 rather large spine ticks, and a CGC 9.6 copy of the same book with zero spine ticks. I would buy the 9.6 copy every time. Talk about baffling.
I always use latex gloves myself when it comes to reading my Golden Age comics, simply because I’m always studying the stories and the art. I always handle them carefully with kid gloves though, and would never send them to be slabbed in holders, Mylar and acid free boards and boxes do well enough for me.
So I just submitted 23 books but one mysteriously disappeared! I was told the security cameras didn't find any theft had taken place, but that doesn't explain my lost book?? What are the next steps I can take? This book was without a doubt in the shipment sent to you guys.
Hey CGC - I sent you a G.I. Joe #1 (9.4) to be signed by Larry Hama. Thank you for damaging the book and getting it back to me as a 9.0. Also thank you for turning my G.I. Joe #63 (9.8) into a 9.4. You guys are amazing.
I understand that the standards of grading are per individual grader and can lead to errors in grading based on one's opinion. Why can't a checklist and standards be followed by employees? Is this too hard to train? Plus this grader is allowed to wear a ring and a watch while grading a book? What if this damages the book. Maybe no jewelry should be worn.
Grading isn't entirely mathematical. Things like the stain affect the grade of the book differently, depending on what other defects are there. On a NM book, that stain would take it down from 9.4 to 5.5-6.0. On a 4.5, it only went down to 3.5. I'm pretty sure he had the grade pegged from the beginning. The initial inspection told him it was in the range of VG. After examining the defects, it was still a VG, but not a very good example of one, so VG-.
@@Lunchparty 9.8 is defined as a book free from defects. 10.0 is free from imperfections. There should be no such thing as a "golden age bump," the standards should be the same. If the best copy in the world is an 8.0, then so be it.
You said that the cover chip dips the book down to 6.0 and then the other defects take the book down lower etc etc Do you have a fixed table of defects and how they impact the grade? Something like a norm lets say..That all graders follow and take into consideration.. Or one grader can say.."that defect drops down the grade to 6.0" but the other will say.."that defect drops down the book to 5.0" What i mean is that..do you have specific rules that everyone follows? Or its only the individuals interpretation. Thank you for trying to explain this topic because its highly speculated on..(speculation on what you guys are doing i mean..)
Great video. Thanks Matt !! I just now read a bunch of the comments. Hard to make some people happy. I'll comment on a few just for fun. CGC staff probably makes sure their hands are clean. You probably missed the fingerprints on your books. That said, they can't grade the books without touching them. Matt explains why no gloves. And no... they probably don't use UV lights. UV lights give newbies a false sense of security. Use a magnifying glass your eyes and your fingers to catch restoration. Yes, grading is ultimately subjective. Even professional grading. Think of it like Umpires and professional baseball. Are the umpires "right" 100% of the time? No. But they are better at balls, strikes, safe and out of bounds than the vast majority of us. But most importantly you can't play the game professionally without someone that makes the calls. The lack of an accepted final authority is far worse than an occasional missed call. A number of people have asked for examples of the same book in a variety of grades - particularly the NM range grades. This is a good idea. Give people examples of the small defects they should look for. A future video on the why's and what's of Universal (Blue) Qualified (Green) and Restored (Purple) labels would probably be informative to many.
What do you guys think of the grade? I thought a 3.5 was pretty harsh but I guess age isn't a consideration. At first glance I figured that would've deserved about a 5.
Just based on what I see, I would have given this book a 4.5. It's not in bad shape, but not in great shape either. It's middle of the road to me. Giving it a 3.5 just seems a little too low of a grade. I've seen worse looking books get a 3.5 or a 4. This is why I don't trust grading companies. Different graders might give it a higher or lower grade than a 3.5, and then your book can lose tons of value. I just don't like the way they grade things, and for some reason, their personal books are always grade super high even with multiple flaws. People who work at CGC shouldn't be allowed to own CGC graded comics. I'm sure some of them have graded their own books from time to time, and that's not fair to everyone else who pay tons of money and risk mailing their stuff out to get graded.
Can you please do a video on how to ship a already graded book for signature series? There’s no video on it and I continue to guess every time I do it.
Wouldn’t physically touching the comic, degrade it in some ways since oils and other human bodily fluids that are in the surface area of our fingers can leak onto the comic?
Great video! Perfect for me because I actually only own 1 comic book and it is a Hulk 181! I purchased from a friend back in 1983 for $25 put it behind a picture frame in my parents house and FORGOT about it for 30 years! I rediscovered it after hurricane Katrina and was BLOWN AWAY how much this thing is worth. It has some flaws but is certainly in better shape than the one in this video. Could you please send me some info on how to get you to grade my comic? Again, I’m not a collector but would love to have your professional grade on this thing when I sell it.
1. When you start grading a comic book, do you start at a 10, and bring yhe grade down based on all defects you see? I notice you said that the missing corner automatically brought the grade down to a 6. So would that mean the grade fell from 10 to 6 just based on the missing corner? 2. How do you put a grade value on certain defect, like determine whether a stain on the cover is worth a deduction of 2 grades or 1.5 grades?
I like how you picked a super safe comic to grade. I could look at it and eye ball it as a 3.5. How about you show the difference with a 9.6 and 9.8. I bet the difference is how close it is to your lunch.
I got Thor 1960's books and they seem to be in this condition. is it worth going through the process to clean it up to get as clean as I can? or is it still gonna be a super low grade? considering its over 50 yrs old I would like to think its worth preserving but not sure
Hopefully the new owners improved the quality of their service. They were always known for two speeds, slow and stop. Slow cost more. Additionally I had a decades long argument with them over a Giant Size X-Men 1 which their employee stole. They never did come up with a satisfactory solution other than a lowball cash offer. Years later I found that they were only able to bilk their insurance company out of a limited amount of money so their offer reflected this. Great customer service eh? Maybe the new management and addition of competitors in the marketplace will make them up their game. Lets hope...Trustworthy graders are vital to the industry.
Good video, but when doing the final grade you didn't seem to take anything inside the book or the back cover into your assessment and grade. You only mentioned the piece missing from the bottom right corner, the spine ticks and the stain, which are all on the cover.
Wonder if 1/ not wearing gloves could introduce oil stains from the grader that will hurt the grade and 2/ if counting all the pages could slightly impact the near perfection of a 9.8
You had me sold the first time I sent a batch of books in almost 20 years ago. Evened the playing field for collectors like me who would buy a copy I thought was NM as listed only to find out when receiving the book it was a lower grade than what I paid for. Thank you for saving comics.
I am curious, when grading Marvel Giant Size books, for instance, Giant Size X-Men #1, would a full-length reading crease on the very left edge on an otherwise High Grade (8.0 - 9.0) keep it in mid-grade? Meaning would the book be graded at around 4.5-5.5 with the regular deduction of a full-length crease? Or is this reading creases an exception, and the book is still High grade, but like a 7.0 - 8.0?
What about a book that was missing a staple from the printer? One silver age book I have is in fantastic condition but has no upper staple, no staple holes, no indentations from a staple. It's clear there just has never had one. How does something like that impact grading?
Dudes, you DO undertand that all books slabbed in 2020 can be like, - i don't know, - tombs for COVID-19 since you're not wearing a gloves? (I already envision a movie about cgc opening killing half planet with mutated virus, lol) Also I heard grading oftentimes depends on fingerprints as a criteria for not being too sexy for your fellow geek. Does your employes burn out their fingertips with acid prior to becoming grader? JUST ASKING, since I have few dozens of CGCs myself.
@@Nick-7-7 couldn't care less, really. Can't say the same about greasy sweaty fingers, sadly. Between those two on my comic books, I would prefer «dead» covid virus any day and night, thank you.
