I know everyone is tired to the age old CGC vs the company which shall not be named, but here it is once again with feeling.

Lets start with some simple things, when I was a kid I bought G.I. Joe comics as a child of the 80's. I didn't care if they were particularly good or well written, I liked G.I. Joe and the comic books were grittier ( haha ) than the cartoon. I bought them and reread them until they fell apart. I would spread them all across my floor and read and my mom would vacuum over them or throw any of them away if she felt they were too violent. A few years later, I got into Marvel Comics during its late 80's - 90's hayday just in time to pick up books from the spinner rack ( remember those ), things like ASM 300 or New Mutants 98, etc. I had a cousin who had a cache of Silver Age runs and called my shabby collection trash. I bought a copy of the first appearance of Silver Surfer in FF ( probably 8.0 ) and traded it for $50 and some other books in trade and actually felt like I got over on the guy. Yeah, we sure pulled the wool over that guys eyes, lets go get some Burger King.

I say all this to express that before CGC, I read and collected comics for the love of collecting comics, thats it. I knew that certain books were " worth something " but I never thought of it in terms of cashing in. My mother always taught me that its not what the book says its worth, its only worth what someone will give you for it ( I'm sure everybody remembers Wizard Magazine and their price inflation ). Then came CGC, and everything changed.

CGC definitely brought clarity to the market such that you could buy with confidence and there would now be uniformity in grading, eliminating the subjectivity to a large degree. CGC also provided this service for a hefty price, in many instances the price outweighing the value of the book. In a short span of time they essentially helped to further monetize the hobby. CGC also effectively devalued everyones collection instantly. Im sure everyone remembers sending in they're prized books that in their minds were NM only to get them back as 6.5-7.0's. Everyone, dealers and professionals, will tell you that it raised the bar extremely high and some might say too high. Let's not forget that CGC also had a virtual monopoly on the industry for 12-13 yrs. Lets not forget that the turnaround times for books are around 4 - 4.5 months which is roughly back to back submissions in 12 months.

Don't get me wrong, I like the clarity that CGC provides. I like the idea of maximizing the value of my books and preserving them. Im also saddened by the fact that with the price pressures that have come along with monetization of the hobby a lot of doors are closed to average people. When I got married, I bought a ridiculous batch of Marvel keys as a wedding gift to myself as I figured " I'm spending how many weeks salary on this ring, why not do something for me ". I'm glad that I did, as the prices have more than quadrupled, I couldn't buy those same books today even if I wanted to. For example, I bought 2 copies of Hero for Hire 1 for $40 and $65 ( from Comic Supply, remember that dude, before he started ripping people off ) which came back 9.0 & 9.2. Sadly those same books in the aforementioned grades are going for around 1K, which I know I wouldn't pay. I recently saw a dealer listing a Marvel Premiere 15 9.6 for 1K or a Ms. Marvel 1 9.6 for 1K. I remember going to SDCC several years ago and a guy had a box, a freaking box of Nova 1 priced for $5 and $10 so I bought three cause I was into New Warriors at the time. I got a 9.8 and two 9.6's, I was pleased. When they hit their peak in a few years people were asking $4-500 for them which I would never pay. What about all the books that we all want but can never afford due to price pressure. I wanted a first appearance of Black Panther, yeah right, maybe if I take my daughter out of daycare and homeschool her.

So, in closing I do have an appreciation of what CGC has brought to the industry but its not without cost and those costs are high. I like the way my comics look in their slabs and I'm proud of them but I'm also separated from them which is weird when I think about sitting on the floor reading those G.I. Joe comics. No matter what, I can no longer get the dollar figures out of my head, no matter how much I like the book. Sadly, I have slabbed books that I like that I have never read, cause they're slabbed! So yes my friends, there is a cost, make no mistake. Don't even get me started on the conflicts of interest that abound. Like, why am I now getting advertisements to sell my books in my boxes with my slabbed books. I got an advertisement for a copy of Dark Knight III signed by Frank Miller and the whole creative team for like $1,200, guaranteed 9.8 ( why can't I get guaranteed 9.8's ? ). Or my favorite, the Darth Vader Star Wars variant which goes for like 4K unslabbed, who knows what a 9.8 would go for, like 12K. So like I said, just some qualms and quandaries that I struggle with when I think about CGC. Or my very favorite, who can tell me the difference between a 9.8, a 9.9, and a 10. Rob Overstreet is probably rolling over like a damn rotisserie chicken at Sams Club.

I still haven't sold a comic yet, but the pressure is on.

- Spexx -

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