Labels Labels Labels

Im sitting at home. Ive had a few and Im looking through my collection and attempting to come up with a subject to write a journal about.

How about this hobby of ours in general. It is a very niche hobby full of die hard collectors and nostalgia chasing grown ups. To be truthful this whole grading thing is not all that old quite yet. At first no one was sure if it would catch on or last all that long. I know I waited at least ten years before I considered getting into it. Even then I wasnt sure because of the high cost of these things once they have been encapsulated. Once I found out about the registry I was hooked. The element of competition always brings out the beast in a collector.

But Ive always wondered about the longevity of these graded comics. I mean once a comic is graded how many years does it have to exist inside its plastic prison before the info on the label becomes wrong? This is especially true with the page quality. It might have been White Pages when originally graded but that could have been ten or more years ago and who knows if it still has that distinction. I wanna say it could have been stored improperly making for faster degradation but being that most of us are extremists in this hobby that probably isnt the case.

Ive seen where CGC actually recommends having your graded comics reholdered every few years or so in order to keep them up to date in their labels but that would be inordinately expensive. I can see where you might want to get a graded issue with the old labeling system upgraded to a new label but again you are taking the risk that it might drop in grade or page quality.

Speaking of which Ive seen that issues with the old labels seem to be passed over for copies with the new labels and often sell for less even though they are worth the same amount of registry points. The only time I dont see this is when the issue is an older SA or GA issue. Then it doesnt seem to matter as much that it has the old label. I understand that the new labels look better and are easier to make out the grades and page qualities but why would that translate to more valuable?

Sorry. Getting off track. Anyway Ive only had occasion to have one comic reholdered and it came back the same grade and page quality as when I sent it. Ive heard of plenty of other experiences however where drops in grade or even in page quality occurred when this is done. Getting a graded issue signed is always a risk too.

It all depends on who is grading it when you send it in. Ive heard you could literally get three or four different grades for the same comic. That seems ridiculous but I guess it wouldnt be impossible. We all see things differently. My idea of perfect may not be yours but this grading system is supposed to remove most of that difference of opinion by making the grade UNIVERSAL. The truth is they have a number of graders working for CGC down here in Florida who could also see things differently.

The fragility of these cases is also a subject of concern. You have to be very careful with how you handle these things or you just might cause a crack or scratch or busted corner post. Then you have to consider whether or not to send it in for reholdering.

Sorry folks. Im rambling on here. Ultimately as long as all of us extreme collectors continue to fall all over ourselves for these unarguably BEAUTIFUL pieces of art and history CGC collecting will probably continue as a hobby for years and years to come. Where it stops nobody knows.

Hopefully it never does.

P. S. Check out this cool image of my favorite New Mutant Sam Guthrie AKA Cannonball. Got this out of my loose copy of Marvel Fanfare number one.