Why do books have to be CGI'd for preservation? These books can be preserved if stored properly and carefully. I hate the idea that slabbed books cannot be read and enjoyed as originally intended.
I’m very skeptical about most influencers whose main job is selling. We’re all influencers to a certain degree but i think that ones who sell, you have to be weary of them. Great video!
I honestly don't understand the slabbing mentality. If I want Amazing Spider-Man 300, I'm buying the cheapest copy I can find. As long as the staples are still holding the comic together and there are no tears or missing pages, that's good enough for me. I want to be able to read the thing, not store it away like it's a museum piece. I recently put together a complete run of Avengers vol. 1 and the condition of most of the first 100 issues isn't great, but they're complete and they're readable, and the entire run cost me less than the cheapest graded copy of issue #1 I've ever seen seen for sale.
The future you describe is a bleak one. A world of oversized trading cards that used to be comics. That would be a travesty. What historical use would a comic be if it's encased in hard plastic? I imagine the future historian saying, "Well, it looks good on the outside. Too bad we haven't a clue what the inside looks like. At least some rando said it looks ok in there." Slabbing benefits only flippers, ebay, and the slabbers themselves. For everyone else it's an imposition of extra costs and hard plastics. I'd like to be able to read the books I purchase please! "But what about reprints??" What about them? Have you seen how cruddy most reprints of especially older books are these days? The reprint department doesn't give a crap about proper coloring or even linework in their books. You just see a bunch of oversaturated colors glopped on to barely visible lines. Details are lost and work as intended to be viewed is gone as well. The only way to check out how the work was supposed to be is to *gasp* read the original! TLDR Slabbing is dumb and I hope to god this predicted future doesn't come to pass.
The biggest issue with going by “census” is resubmissions 🤷♂️ I know hundreds of people that have purchased hulk 181’s etc and pressed , cleaned etc and hardly anyone follows protocol in sending in old labels.
That's it exactly! I don't believe more books are coming into the market RATHER books are cracked out of their slabs, pressed, cleaned, etc...over and over again.
I agree with what you said. There’s a few issues out there that are slabbed that I wanted to buy this past week. It would’ve cost me over $1000 to do it. But I told myself look at the listings for these things. There’s 10 of them right now. They aren’t going anywhere. Save up some money, or buy one every few months rather than all at once. They’re still gonna be there.
Your point of many comix RU-vidrs also being dealers, leads one to guess how much prices are being artificially driven up due to hype/FOMO? The appearance of a character on film or TV suddenly 'validating' it, in other words inflating its value, also bugs me. This feeds into the long held inferiority complex the comics world feels in relation to other media and other (pop) culture.
I disagree with your belief that every key will be slabbed in 10, 15, 20 years. I think there are enough people like myself out there that don't like slabs or deal in slabs to not slab even their keys. As crazy as that sounds. We also don't know how many of any given book is actually out there. Initial orders of a book can be looked up, but that's not the entire print run. So those numbers will be a little higher. You also have to remember that in the 60's, 70's and into the 80's, comic books regularly had print numbers of well over 100,000 copies as evidenced by the Statement of Ownership in those books. I would even say that those books are far more prevalent than most books in the 90's, 00's and 10's.
Not to mention that costs are a factor in grading. Most dealers are charging graded costs for RAW books so its really not worth it unless you have gotten a very good deal. These additional costs may drive up the costs for everyone over time too. I challenge anyone to look up the costs of a graded key and attempt to find a comparable raw copy for cheaper. Its just not happening.
@@DaveTHouseThe latter part of your comment touches right down on WHY some collectors do in fact get their books graded. They’ve placed emphasis on the investment end of the hobby and hope to get their largest return. While CGC and other grading institutions can really vary in their consistency of their grading systems, it DOES help to offer a more clear cut pricing when choosing to sell. On the other hand, there are many long time collectors who simply don’t appreciate the practice of slabbing of books. Some collectors downright despise the practice and refuse to purchased slabbed pieces. I’ve heard the argument that unlike trading cards with only sides 1&2, hampering the true original intention of the book (to be read), is negated by locking it away behind the case. There are many schools of thought obviously and moderate approaches in between. I too, don’t believe all books will be slabbed in a 20 year timeframe…or even a hundred for that matter.
@@CuriosityQueue the problem is that a raw copy that a seller is saying is 9.2 isn't the same as an actual CGC slab with a 9.2 grade. There are lots of costs that go into getting a book slabbed, which could run into hundreds of dollars based on the book. However on the like 50 dollar books, the cost of grading is comparable to the whole price of the book. If dealers charge 100 dollars now for that same book, then people raise the prices of their raw copies to match. In order to get value from those graded books will take significant time to recuperate.
Print numbers of well over 100,000 back in the 60s, 70s and 80s is misleading though when trying to work out how many copies may be out there. Back then, comics were only sold on newstands who had a returns policy for unsold comics, so huge numbers of comics were returned to the publishers and pulped. A 100,000 print run doesn't mean there are 100,000 copies out there. The actual number is probably closer to 10,000, and maybe even as low as 5,000.
There's a place for grading. Anything 90s and up I could care less about, but if I'm buying a legitimate bronze or silver age key it has to be graded . Never going to buy a book like that raw....especially from a dealer. If someone who sells comics as a primary or secondary income and they are selling major keys raw I can't help but think "why isn't this book graded? Why wouldn't this person want to maximise their return? What are they hiding?"...if I come across a collection in the wild that's another story but let's be real that shit doesn't happen anymore lol.
So my takeaway is that i should sell all my silver, bronze, and newer books because there are "millions" of copies of everything and buy nothing but 1940's comics. Got it!
I have many key books that i plan to keep raw from Platinum to some Modern. I read everything with my son. Don't care to read online or facsimile unless it's an Action 1 but even if i had that i would keep that raw. Just me as we love to read it all carefully of course. Plus i am NOT paying that BS 4% of MV for ANY of my books. I rather use the monies and buy more books :-)
Something thing like Hulk 181 may see more submissions as the price rises and time goes on but with diminishing returns. If there is x% left ungraded, the likelihood is most are lower grades. A higher % of high-grade copies have been summited. So as more are summited the percentage on 9.0-9.8 is will go down as percentage of the overall census.
Won’t buy a graded book under any circumstance. Seems I have an opposite style to you. All good. Makes collecting fun. Different strokes for different folks.😊
I will never grade my books and I have been collecting since the late ‘70’s. I think it’s a waste of money. They will probably go to a dealer for Pennies on the dollar but I don’t care.
I hate the youtube algorithm It brings me to these stupid channels that are talking about comics like theyre money They're stories you read them and enjoy them. Or you could suck all the fun out of them and make them into investments
😂 i appreciate that youre still going and even changed your name to collectibles dad, but do you ever worry that you speak with authority on topics you arent an epert on? You have a decent basic level in understanding on comics but your audience thinks you know what youre talking about as an expert. Instead of talking about all of this like an expert, why not just invite an expert on. An actual expert. Like Jerno or Dan from Collctors Comics. Wish you and the family well. I hope youre audience doesnt actually take action based on your shallow depth of knowledge
If its an important book, I ALWAYS buy graded. The first big comic book I purchased back in the 90s during my teens was an ASM #300. The dude who ran the LCS was literally a real life iteration of the Comic Book Guy from the Simpsons. Heavy set, goatee, ratty pony-tail, and a very condescending attitude. Told me the book was so expensive was because it was in such good condition. Took me a while to save for it but finally purchased it. Years later, had CGC grade it and it came back to me with the purple label of death. I was not a happy collector that day but I learned two things: 1. I got ripped off and 2. The chances of this happening to me if I purchased a graded copy is very slim. I get he was trying to make a buck but I don't have it in me to pull such sleazebag moves. Yes, I'm aware of the CGC predicament and graded copies are a pain to store but the chances of something wrong with a graded book is FAR LOWER than taking a risk with a raw book. Too often when Im at a con I hear someone asking the dealer if the book was restored and the reply is, "uhhhh..."
100% agree. Anything of substantial "value" I'm buying graded. If it's minor key I may take a risk and buy it raw for a good deal and hope that a little TLC will bump the grade when submitted for grading. I'm personally scared to buy major keys that aren't graded...too many questions as to why it hasn't been graded.
