CGC? Need info or advice...

[Captain Late]

I'm just looking for some basic direction or advice on how to go about getting some of my SA or GA books graded and slabbed... Should I go through CGC direct? An affiliate? If a book is less than VF/F is it still worth it? Any comments or advice is appreciated...

[Aarrgghh!!]

I hate CGC. That said only get those slabbed you plan to sell in the near future. I'm thinking the market for slabbed books will drop once people realize what a crock they are. Wizard pushes them because they have an intrest in them. Oh, yeah I hate Wizard too.

[Sam Wilson]

Umm, the dude is asking for advice. No need to go on a tirade against cgc.

Bartman who posts here has a crap load of CGC books, he would be the one to ask. I'm seriously thinking of going to CGC directly because I have a lot of books I want to CGC.

I think it would be a question of volume. If you got a lot, and plan on having more in the future, it might be worth it to deal with CGC directly. If you only have a couple of books You may just want to go through a dealer.

[gman]

cgc has allowed collectors and investors to buy and sell with more confidence. At the very least you knww the book is unrestored and in the condition stated. Of course grading is subjective but cgc is usually on target. Prices continue to escalate for gold/silver and early bronze keys. Late bronze and moderns (with exceptions) tend to not be worth getting slabbed unless 9.4 or better IMO.

[Gladiator Max]

A suggestion in regards to getting a comic CGC is the 10% rule. If the book costs more to grade then 10% of the Value then it is not worth grading. For example if you have a book valued at $100 and it costs you $49 to grade (50%) then it is not worth it. Hope this makes sense...

But it is also your own preference. I would go through CGC direct, because when you enroll your cost is between $100-150 and you get 3 free Express gradings. These are $79.00 a piece. With Express gradings you get them back in a week.

[Teague]

CGC is a good deal right now, since you'll generally recoup the cost of slabbing several times over when you sell on Ebay. If you're doing it for your own books, just for safekeeping, though, it's not worth it at all.

Many LCS (including mine here in Denver) will send out books from customers with their own, and charge them only what it costs them, or perhaps (for some stores) slightly more. That can still be a good deal, though, and make it easier.

I don't know of any rules of thumb about what's worth CGCing, but what we do at our store is this: anything modern age has to have a good shot at NM 9.4+--even then, we aim for 9.6 or 9.8. Silver Age we've gone as low as VG, but that's pushing it, I think. Judgement call. Golden Age we've gone as low as G, but again, a gray area. Depends on the book and its overall value. Another rule of thumb that we use is this: if the book itself is only worth a couple times more (even 3 or 4 times more!) than it will cost to CGC it, it might not be worth it, unless you see the book increasing in value in the near future.

Personally, I don't much like CGCing either, but I've had a couple of things done. I do worry that the bottom will drop out of the CGC market because eventually people won't want their entire collection slabbed, and won't want to pay for them to be re-slabbed once they're opened. People think that CGCing a book keeps it pristine forever--but these things aren't airtight or watertight, remember. They're still vulnerable to the elements--just less so.

[Teague]

A suggestion in regards to getting a comic CGC is the 10% rule. If the book costs more to grade then 10% of the Value then it is not worth grading. For example if you have a book valued at $100 and it costs you $49 to grade (50%) then it is not worth it. Hope this makes sense...

But it is also your own preference. I would go through CGC direct, because when you enroll your cost is between $100-150 and you get 3 free Express gradings. These are $79.00 a piece. With Express gradings you get them back in a week.

I like the 10% rule, GladiatorMax. That makes a lot of sense, though there are books that are worth CGCing (for the store, not for me) that would break that rule, I think. For example, we just CGCed a F (6.0) Giant Size X-Men #1 (books about $175), and paid more than that 10% rule, though I'm not certain exactly how much more. Still, we sold that book through an online auction, and it went for $460 or so, since it was CGCed. So in that, it can be tough to tell...

[furie]

So, what about 8.5 books that are silver age -- worth it?

[Aarrgghh!!]

Umm, the dude is asking for advice. No need to go on a tirade against cgc.
Ummm, he asked for comments too, right? It's just my opinion. You might as well buy stamps or ball cards if you plan on sealing a book up never to be read. I just don't get it. For those who want that, great, me I don't think it's good for the industry. It's the collecting mentality of the 80/90's.

[sleepindeath]

I have a quick question, please keep in mind I do not own any CGC comics.

Question: How the Hell are you suppose to open the slab without causing damage to the comic book?

[Collection King 13]

I have a quick question, please keep in mind I do not own any CGC comics.

Question: How the Hell are you suppose to open the slab without causing damage to the comic book?
The point of having it CGCed is not to open the slab its in...

[Gladiator Max]

I have a quick question, please keep in mind I do not own any CGC comics.

Question: How the Hell are you suppose to open the slab without causing damage to the comic book?

You can use a knife or a screwdriver and pop the plastic apart. They do charge for a re-slabbing though.

[sleepindeath]

If that is the whole point then why buy one at all. If you cannot read the comic then you are throwing your money away. Unless you are a hardcore collector and not a fan.

[Captain Late]

Thanks for the comments and such... I think one thing that has me thinking about it is that there are so many quality reprint collections available that there isn't a need to break out an old issue. Plus some of the SA comics I have that may be in VF+ may be worth slabbing and selling... I may pm Bartman for more advice but I think the CGC membership with three "free" grades may be the way to go. For those who care my top three tp grade would probably be Amazing Spiderman #6, All Star Comics #45 and Flash Comics (1940) #12...
Keep the advice coming however... I'm in the SF Bay Area if anyone has advice for local affiliates of CGC...

[Gladiator Max]

If that is the whole point then why buy one at all. If you cannot read the comic then you are throwing your money away. Unless you are a hardcore collector and not a fan.

You can be a collector and a fan. That's what TPB and Archive and Masterworks are for.

[sleepindeath]

So, you CGC your books. Which mean you can no longer read them...Then you go back to your LCS and purchase the same material once again via TPB, Archive & Masterworks.

There you have it...the industry as you in their loop.

[gman]

Thanks for the comments and such... I think one thing that has me thinking about it is that there are so many quality reprint collections available that there isn't a need to break out an old issue. Plus some of the SA comics I have that may be in VF+ may be worth slabbing and selling... I may pm Bartman for more advice but I think the CGC membership with three "free" grades may be the way to go. For those who care my top three tp grade would probably be Amazing Spiderman #6, All Star Comics #45 and Flash Comics (1940) #12...
Keep the advice coming however... I'm in the SF Bay Area if anyone has advice for local affiliates of CGC...

you can go through heritagecomics.com and save 20%....

good luck...

:)

[Teague]

So, what about 8.5 books that are silver age -- worth it?

I think so, if the price is right.

[SirConor]

Thanks for the comments and such... I think one thing that has me thinking about it is that there are so many quality reprint

Bingo!

[Bartman256]

Sorry for the delay in responding. I had a hard time getting on here tonight (anyone else?).

The Collector's Society Consists of 3 entities: Coins & Currency, Cards and Comics. Coins have been around for some time. Cards too, but not as long as Coins. The CGC is the baby of the bunch.
IN MY OPINION, the main reason the CGC was/is so successful is the internet and ebay. CGC came along when ebay was "blowing" up and made it safe to be these collectibles worry free.
As in life, timing is everything and the Collector's Society came along at the right time. I honestly don't believe they would have made it or been taken seriously w/o the internet.

Gladiator Max made some good points and suggestions. Gman and Teague are on the money. Aarrgghh!!, if you're still waiting for the "bottom to fall out" on the CGC craze, you're gonna be waiting a loooong time brother! The CGC is pretty much here to stay. Yes, Wizard does push them, but don't forget, Overstreet has embraced them too! And judging by the delays in their turnaround...they're STILL REALLY BUSY!

My first dealings with CGC was when they 1st formed and their offices were in New Jersey. I made an appointment, took the day off work & drove down with a bunch of books. One being a copy Amazing Spider-Man 1. I had that "walked-through", same day grading. Cost me around $110.00 at the time.
I met with Steve Borock, a hell of a nice guy. I went to eat lunch & returned to get my book.

I've been a member ever since.

Do I always agree with the grade assigned, HELL NO! There are times I feel a book was undergraded...BUT there have been times I felt they were OVERGRADED too! My Hulk 181 I was sure was going to be a 7.0...I got an 8.5.
It's so subjective...
There have been many stories of people re-submitting books 2 or 3 times and getting different grades EVERY time! For the most part, they're pretty good.
I do appreciate their extensive restoration check. They find EVERYTHING. I've become something of a fanatic about this. I don't want restored books. I've purchased books, sold as unrestored, only to find color touch, an edge trimmed etc.

What to have graded? That's tough. I'm a hard core Marvel collector. So 1961 & up is what I'm about. I started with Spider-Man, moved on to X-Men, Fantastic Four, Daredevil, Hulk and Avengers. Once I completed those runs, I then went after the "keys". 1st appearances of characters, major events...
Me, I HAD to have ALL the key issues graded.
I love the holder. For protection, you can't beat it! The comic is placed within a holder. It's like a mylar bag, but light sealed. Then it is placed in the "well". That's the hard outer plastic case. Plus they place a micro chamber carbon sheet in between the cover & 1st page and the last page & back cover. It's supposed to remove harmful gases from the books pages.
It's very easy to "crack" open and safely remove the book. I've done it several times. $5.00 to have it put in a new holder.
I've had books from the Silver Age to Modern graded. You mentioned you had some Golden Age as well. I'd grade them.

There are 4 tiers Modern, Express, Standard and Economy.

Economy is the way to go, but it takes forever (at least 3 months).

The benefit of joing the Society is of course submitting your books directly, no middle man.
You do get a discount, I believe it's 15%.
The 3 coupons Gladiator Max mentioned, 3 books at Express. That's a $237.00 value!
You can submit books for yourself & others.

The shipping is the rake. Here's how get around it.
I submit books directly to the CGC at conventions. Just hand over the books with your pre-filled form (fill em out on line) & you only pay for the return shipping & insurance. The CGC is at most conventions nowadays.

As far as, you can't read them...yes you can. I HAVE READ THEM. I love the letters pages. Heck, I even enjoy the ads! But as much as I enjoy reading them, they are collectibles and they do have value. It's not like I was reading these copies on a regular basis anyway.
The piece of mind I have knowing they won't get creased or a corner blunted by dropping or banging around is worth it to me. There are sooo many reprint collections for cheap available now, I can always read these stories.

I could never afford to CGC my entire collection, nor would I. But the "big money" books, I had to do.

The other benefit of the CGC is the liquidity of collection. I know that if I have to get my hands on fast cash, I can easily flip these books over & get good money for them. I also think of in the event something should happen to me. My family could easily sell these themselves without too much trouble. (I hope to never have to do this, but you never know)!

Anyway, I hope I answered some of your questions/concerns about the CGC. They are a useful tool to todays collector.

I have a bunch of my CGC graded comics posted on the Collection Pics thread.

[Bartman256]

Here's a few more:

[Teague]

Gladiator Max made some good points and suggestions. Gman and Teague are on the money. Aarrgghh!!, if you're still waiting for the "bottom to fall out" on the CGC craze, you're gonna be waiting a loooong time brother! The CGC is pretty much here to stay.

You might be right, man, and for the sake of the stuff I've had CGCed, I hope you are. Still, don't you think there will be some sort of backlash against basically sealing these books up? Yeah, for the first owner, they've had the pleasure of handling the book, reading the letters pages and Stan's Soapbox, admiring the ads from yesteryear, etc. But once it's sold, that next owner hasn't. So maybe "the bottom falling out" is extreme, but at the same time, there might be an effect of sorts where there's "double collecting", so that people buy low-grade reader copies of issues to go along with their slabbed copies, so they can see what's in that casing! This is something that already happens to some degree, but it might get more pronounced.

Anyway, great response, Bartman. Always cool to trade practices, insights, and ideas with fellow collectors! (And I really envy you that Avengers, my friend! Sweet copy, and what a fantastic cover!)

[Aarrgghh!!]

Aarrgghh!!, if you're still waiting for the "bottom to fall out" on the CGC craze, you're gonna be waiting a loooong time brother! The CGC is pretty much here to stay. Yes, Wizard does push them, but don't forget, Overstreet has embraced them too! And judging by the delays in their turnaround...they're STILL REALLY BUSY!
It's so subjective...
There have been many stories of people re-submitting books 2 or 3 times and getting different grades EVERY time! For the most part, they're pretty good.
I do appreciate their extensive restoration check.
I may be waiting a long time, as long as the 80's/90's craze took to drop, but I'm sure it will. You mentioned the main problem with CGC, it's subjective even for them. If the same book get different grades, what makes this new company better at grading a book than a LCS guy that has been in business many years more than they have. CGC places most the value of the book on the condition and not what's between the covers, who wrote it drew it etc, kinda like the foil covers of days past. Am I glad some of the stuff I buy holds it's value and increases, sure, but that's not why I buy them.

[JR2]

You can use a knife or a screwdriver and pop the plastic apart. They do charge for a re-slabbing though.

Of course they do, because once a slab is opened CGC cannot guarantee the grade of the book anymore. The book must be regraded.

[Bartman256]

Of course they do, because once a slab is opened CGC cannot guarantee the grade of the book anymore. The book must be regraded.


True, but they don't charge you for it. What I mean is, you can crack it open & read it or just view the pages. Then re-submit for a new case with the label.
They do look over the book, if still same grade, no problem. They will contact you if they think the book has to be downgraded.

Quick story:

One of the few books I purchased ALREADY graded had a crack on the case. It was Fantastic Four 49 in 9.0.
I sent it in for a new case. I NEVER OPENED THE CASE, it was just cracked. I received a call from CGC. They said the book had a "ding" of some sort at the top edge. Most likely the book was dropped, probably causing the crack in the case. The book would not receive the 9.0. I explained I purchased the book like this & how disappointed I was.
I got a 2nd call a few days later. They sent my book out to be "pressed" & the 9.0 grade would stand. NO EXTRA CHARGE TO ME.
Needless to say, I was very appreciative of this.

PS Pressing of books is not considered restoration. Things like this such as removal of spine roll are not altering the book.
Things like color touch, chemical cleaning, tape removal, tears sealed, pieces added, are all restoration.

[Bartman256]

Here's the Fantastic Four 49 9.0 plus a few more! (as you can see, I don't need too much of an excuse to post my collection)!

[Captain Late]

I think when it comes to older books there is a real need for cgc, this kind of grading and slabbing has been around a while in coins and then cards and with the explosion of reprints, whether essential or archives, it makes a ton of sense... Now when it comes to modern comics I think Aaaarggh! has a valid point, anyone who takes in a copy of Ultimates or Astonishing X-men or whatever to get slabbed, no matter what the condition, is probably fooling themselves as to the value of doing so... From what I've gleaned in this thread even 80s and 90s issues need to be both perfect and important to justify the expense....

[Teague]

I think when it comes to older books there is a real need for cgc, this kind of grading and slabbing has been around a while in coins and then cards and with the explosion of reprints, whether essential or archives, it makes a ton of sense... Now when it comes to modern comics I think Aaaarggh! has a valid point, anyone who takes in a copy of Ultimates or Astonishing X-men or whatever to get slabbed, no matter what the condition, is probably fooling themselves as to the value of doing so... From what I've gleaned in this thread even 80s and 90s issues need to be both perfect and important to justify the expense....

Yeah...I have a 9.6 Astonishing X-Men #1 9 variant cover and a New Avengers #1 9.8, and I'm now wishing I hadn't done that. Not much point to it, really, with the numbers that are out there.

Is there a way to easily display CGCed books on the wall, or something? Like special hooks designed to work with the slabs? I'm just wondering because it would be pretty cool if there were...to be able to display your best CGC books (safely!) on the wall? Nice. (My wife made a six-slot matted frame for me a few years back, in which I can slide in comics to display--it's pretty cool. I get out a few golden age Christmas covers for the holidays, break out the Ghost Rider, Werewolf by Night, and House of Mystery for Halloween, and generally display my recent favorite Silver Age stuff the rest of the year. It's like a rotating display, of my collection, I guess.)

[Captain Late]

I like that rotating display idea, i want to do that with my statues and busts some day... I would think it wouldn't be too tough to make a plastic hanger which you could slide multiple cgc books into.. I seem to recall a non-cgc plastic case which was made for hanging, I know they make them for album covers but I'm pretty sure they have had them for comics as well, at least pre-cgc...

[Bartman256]

Now when it comes to modern comics I think Aaaarggh! has a valid point, anyone who takes in a copy of Ultimates or Astonishing X-men or whatever to get slabbed, no matter what the condition, is probably fooling themselves as to the value of doing so... From what I've gleaned in this thread even 80s and 90s issues need to be both perfect and important to justify the expense....


There are ALWAYS exceptions to the rule:

[Teague]

Ah, the White Cover...I wish I'd picked one of those up when I had the chance. I still have the full run, of course, but none of the variants on that title. Sigh. Live and learn. :)

[Bartman256]

Ah, the White Cover...I wish I'd picked one of those up when I had the chance. I still have the full run, of course, but none of the variants on that title. Sigh. Live and learn. :)

T,

I got both covers, off the stands, the day they came out. Cover price! SCORE!
I also have both versions of issue 2. Both I have graded.

[Teague]

T,

I got both covers, off the stands, the day they came out. Cover price! SCORE!
I also have both versions of issue 2. Both I have graded.

Nice score, man. I had the opportunity to get the white cover, but passed on it so that the store my friend owned at the time could make $10 selling it to a general customer. Like I said: sigh.

Still, I have my #1. Maybe I should get that one graded.