I am sorry for all grammar mistakes but nothing else...

Since everyone is discussing the lengthy turn around time for CGC I might as well add my two cents. I had a few other journals scheduled to post but I thought this would take precedence. The first time I sent books to CGC was in October of 2010. The 20 day estimated turn around time was 21 days. I can lie with that. Skip ahead to now.

I have books at CGC right now. One book is through a John Romita Signature Series, another two are a Stan Lee Signature Series, and a third invoice was five books through another Signature Series, this one by Bob Mcleod from the Baltimore Comic Con. Each one of these I won't comment on since I don't have all the information.

The invoices I will mention are the three I had sent to CGC myself under my own membership number. Two of the invoices I sent to CGC in Florida for them to take to the NYCC this past October. I was going to go the whole weekend but a wedding stopped that. The only day I was able to attend was the 16th of October, the last day. CGC could not guarantee they would be able to get all the books (10) signed if I brought them the last day. I arranged with Joe Pierson to have the books shipped to CGC care of him. This was a good two weeks before the convention. An Invoice was not created on the site ad I wasn't charged since they didn't yet know if they would attain all the signatures.

I sent in nine modern books and one graphic novel under the signature series "Modern" grading service. Seven of these books were already graded, the other three were raw. The first invoice was marked received on 20-Oct-11. What scared me was there were only nine books marked received and I sent ten. I had previously confirmed that the books got to CGC before the convention and to make sure I did everything properly.

I sent an e-mail to CGC with my concern and the reply was that since the graphic novel is a magazine size it would have to be placed on a separate invoice. this invoice appeared 5 days later (3 business days) on 25-Oct-11. I was billed separately for each but was told they would still return to me together. The third and final invoice for an eleventh book I brought to the NYCC myself. I was told that the signing for this (John Romita) wouldn't be till Monday the 17th and I could drop it off at the show.

The book I brought for the signing was my AMS #129, a book I had previously signed by Stan Lee. CGC was the first booth I went to when the doors for the convention opened. I said hello to Paul Litch and was introduced to Joe Pierson. I saw him before but was never officially introduced. Paul opened up the slab and handed the book back to Joe. The invoice was written up, a ten dollar donation paid, and my credit card was turned over for the $90 CGC charge and the $29.80 to ship it back to me.

The Modern service is listed is listed as twenty business days and the express is listed as five. If you calculate the days for the two "Modern" invoices they should be graded and ready to ship by the 17th and 22nd of November provided they are on time with their listed estimated turn around times.

The third invoice with the express option was handed to CGC o the 16th of October. The book was signed under witness the following day. From the 17th till the day it was marked as received(27-Nov-11) my book was listed nowhere....that was ten days the book stayed in Limbo. However by the 2nd of November it was marked as graded and the 3rd the book was marked shipped/safe and an e-mail was sent to me with the tracking number. The express service was on time.

Do I expect the "Modern" books to be on time? No, I don't. Different graders grade different books. A grader who grades golden age books will not grade a modern age book if he doesn't have the knowledge to do so, likewise a modern age grader won't grade a golden age book. I believe I can grade a modern age book (1980 to present) pretty well. I might even be stricter than CGC because I have some slabbed books that I feel should have been a 9.6.

Saying this I will put my money where my mouth is, even though I am only a cashier and a waiter I would be willing to relocate to Sarasota, Florida and accept a job as a grader. I am fortunate because I also have experience in shipping and handling so I would be able to do multiple jobs. It would also be cool to be able to write under a more secure staff position rather than just under the "journals" section.

I don't know how much they get paid but my resume of getting comic books goes back to the age of 5 (Star Wars Over-sized treasury Edition...thank you Pop-pop) and collecting comic books since the age of 12. i have learned a lot in the past few years and know I have to learn so much more but I am willing to learn. Gemma if you are reading this please let me know where to apply. Although I would have to be allowed to still purchase the last issues I need in a 9.8 for the New Mutants set.

As for the other item...the long wait. As a collector i have no problem waiting, if I were a dealer the wait would kill me because I would be suing that money to reinvest into my store to buy more comic books, pay employees, bills, and other finances to keep afloat. And as a collector where does it matter where my books are, if CGC doesn't have them lined up to be graded they would only be sitting in a box at home on a shelf.

http://www.cgccomics.com/services/services_and_fees.asp I don't know how up to date this link is but what i would like to see, maybe under the numismatic trivia question how far behind (or how on point) the grading is. Or just a list of dates where the waiting time is double (or triple the allotted wait time). Maybe along the lines of "Please excuse the elongated wait time of 2x during the convention season between March and October (OK , it could use an edit)"

I did ask Paul what the best time to send books in and he told me after convention season which is October till about January, only four months. The things is though if everyone decides to send in books during this "best" and we all listen then wouldn't that "best" time become the worse time.

I have yet to send in a full invoice of books I plan to sell but when I do (using the Modern tier) I might be more inclined to be less patient than I am. I love the on site grading CGC has at Philadelphia and wonder if more on-site grading would be an answer to their onslaught of books. After all i did have to pay an additional few for this service.

If they could higher part time graders for each city to expand for the larger workload. Mind you any PT grader would have to go through a rigorous test (I was thinking a five mile run). There are many things CGC can do but would anyone really be happy if it meant an inferior product.

PGBeckstrom's journal's pertaining to this issue is justified and whether you agree with him or not is entirely up to you. Go back and read his journals along with others and come up with your own conclusion. One thing to do is to keep writing journals bout what you feel. Another is to send direct e-mails to the staff over and over again, while a third is to stop sending in your own books and just buy them when you find them available. The journal "Occupy CGC" had a huge response through the "Discuss on Chat Boards" link, the longest I can ever remember on a journal entry (good Job PG) with a lot o

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