Or is this something else I am going to get addicted too?

Is something arriving on the scene so new and revolutionary that we will be upset we didn't start with it at the beginning. Will CVA be just as big in ten years as CGC is today? Will they be the next standard? Which bequeaths me to ask, what is CVA? What does it stand for? Are they another third party grading company? And is it worth it?

CGC appeared in 2000 out of Parsippany NJ., a baby company sprouting from the already popular NGC which started thirteen years prior. I became aware of CGC through the popular comic book periodicals of the time and dismissed the grading company. The more I dwelled on the articles, the more I became appalled. How anyone could encapsulate a comic book and shield it away from being read was beyond me. Flash forward to now and I'm an avid collector of comic books graded by CGC.

At NYCC 2012 I spent my time at two of my favorite booths. I was talking with Sean, Mike, and another Mike at the CGC booth where I met Wallace. When I wasn't walking around taking pictures or getting signatures with a witness for my signature series graded comic books, I spent the rest of my time at the World Wide Comics booth. Placed sporadically around, or maybe strategically, were postcard sized placards about CVAcomics.com.

CVA stands for Comic Verification Authority. This is a brand new start-up company, separate from CGC and formed by Joe Veteri; ESQ. managing partner and verifier with Tomis Erb, MBA partner and lead verifier. From what I can ascertain from the site, the duo wish to create a data base of the best of the best, much like the safety of purchasing a pedigree book in the eighties and nineties. These days, purchasing a "9.6" or a "9.8" is most likely the best book available, even among pedigrees.

Stephen Ritter and I discussed a bit about CVA; I picked up a card and read both sides very quickly. There wasn't much information available. I placed the "postcard" in my book-bag to remind myself to look at it later. Stephen pointed out some of the books that were displayed up against his "wall." A few of the books already had the silver pull away sticker on the upper left hand side above the CGC numeric grade. This is outside the slab. Once the CVA Exceptional sticker is peeled away it destroys the sticker and voids CVA's endorsement, much like cracking and removing a comic book from a CGC certified holder nulls the grade.

How many times do you pass on a "9.8" or a "9.6" because of a slight spine roll or an off-centered cover? There are many times I purchased a high grade copy of a book that I felt shouldn't have made that grade. Would a CVA sticker applied have eased my mind?

CVA's intentions are not to compete with or state that CGC's grading is inferior on some books, or even that another is better. Since no one knows the "Secret Sauce" CGC uses, CVA hopes to have their sticker placed on only the best of the best, giving more confidence to the collector, who is willing to spend his/her money on a superior collectible at a premium price.

Thanks for Reading

Tnerb

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