lou_fine

I thought it was all to do with the microchamber paper and didn't really have anything at all to do with the longevity of the exterior slab itself?

If this is the case here, is it possible that Todd was not as careful with the handling of the books as he could have been when he was signing them?

I imagine CCG's's money making machine is based upon submittors sending in books for pressing and grading whereby they hit the jackpot if they come back as a 9.8 graded copy, but only break even or make just a bit if it comes back as a 9.6 graded copy, and lose money for anything graded below that. Being the pisss-poor grader that I am when it comes to grading defects, I stay far away from this game and would much rather send in books that have real value across the entire condition spectrum and that big number in the top left hand corner of the slab is not the game changer as to whether you make or lose money on the underlying book itself, whether it be a CGC 4.0 graded copy, or a CGC 9.0 graded copy, or what have you .

Or is it possible that the difference might be best seen based upon this image here: Especially since grading is more of an art than an exact science, especially since it is really nothing more than a subjective opinion, albeit a so-called unbiased expert one, whenever the book crosses a grader's table. To each their own, but this then has always puzzled me as to why bidders would pay multiples more in terms of money which is an exact science for a fractionally higher grade which is just a subjective opinion

Yes, I've always wondered whether it's better to be a bright glowing star shining through on a cloudy night sky or to be one of many indistinguishable stars shining through on a clear star-filled night sky. Then again, I guess that's really more from the supply side of the equation. From the demand side, bidders are more likely to bid higher in a rising marketplace when they think prices are only going to go higher, as opposed to a cooling marketplace when prices might possibly be dropping depending upon the particular book(s) in question. So, I guess it's a between the supply and demand side to see who wins out in the end when it comes to truly vintage quality collectible books in a marketplace like the one which we currently have. Appreciate your concern, but absolutely no worries at all, as you should be able to tell from this post that I am in perfectly good health here.

In all seriousness though, I remember checking out about a dozen of Schmell's resubmitted Dell File Copy books which he had up for sale in his Doug's Dell & Gold Key Showcase Auction on Heritage a couple of months ago. Out of the ones which I were following that had either a CVA or QES sticker on them in their prior incarnation, it was a perfect 100% batting average when it came to CPR as every single one of them came in at least one or two grade increments higher. So, probably a easy and useful tool for those into playing the CPR game, but too lazy or have bad eyes to do the necessary analytical work themselves. The one positive out of all this CPR manipulation though was that the large majority of the upgraded books actually sold for LESS money than they did when they were in their lower graded slabs, especially the ones brought from the CC website. He did have a couple of big winners though, much more so from the CL platform which allowed him to break even or possibly even made a tiny bit of small change after all of the work that must have gone in on upgrading the books.

Yes, take it back one-step further and my bet is that the turnaround times for the pressing and grading companies will continue to drop throughout the year as the prices on the readily available so-called hot spec books have dropped by huge double percentage digits from their recent highs. Not sure if we'll reach the point where CGC was sending out email messages for submissions like they were back when the Coronavirus first started and hardly anybody was sending in books at the time for grading since nobody knew the state of the market at the time.

Doesn't this also mean that if you have some truly quality HTF vintage collectible books to auction off, now might also not be a bad time since they will now stand out like a shining star in this sea of riff raff books that's out there.

Haven't we gone through this with one of the other major comic book auction sites with shall we say rather "spectacular" results?

I believe the best people to shed some light on this issue here would be those who are actually willing to pay more money for a slightly higher CGC graded copy of a book as opposed to to a slightly lower graded copy even though the lower graded copy clearly presents a whole lot nicer than the higher graded copy. Yep, totally befuddles me, but apparently there are some bidders who do actually do this. To each their own, but really................go figure that!!!

Yes, there are now so many when you also take CL and CC into account that you simply can't keep track of them anymore.

Reminds me of a life insurance agent I once knew in Hong Kong who had absolutely amazing top and bottom line numbers for themselves when they first started in the business decades ago. As the years went by, although the top and bottom line numbers for the company sky rocketed, the numbers for the individual agents didn't follow suit as the company were simply hiring more and more agents on commission who only ended up cannibalizing each other to gain their sales. So, no doubt that Heritage is concerned about THEIR corporate top and bottom line numbers and could care less about the top and bottom line numbers for their individual consignors.

I don't know that there was an announcement, but they now have had signature auctions in November, December, and January. Yes, they had their Signature Auctions in November and also the one coming up in January, similar to what they had in 2021/22. If I am correct, the one that they had in December was what they called a Fox Comics Showcase Auction and now they have one coming up in February 2023 call the Good Girl /Bad Girl Valentine's Showcase Auction. Looks like they are having more of these "focused theme" auctions intersperse between their Signature Auctions here. Totally agree with your point though that there's just too many auctions nowadays which tends to dilute some of their main feature Signature Auctions.

Going monthly dilutes the pool, but you've got a HG Bat 1, pedigree Supe 1, and a heaping helping of OA. That's pretty good for a monthly. Didn't see any type of announcement on this increased frequency change to their Signature Auctions, but are you quite sure that they are now going to Monthly Signature Auctions? Or are you including their recently implemented Showcase Auctions as part of their Signature Auction line?

Welcome to my world! Yikes.................I guess this battered down economy must be affecting even the upper crust, considering that even YOU are now "slumming" around in the lower rent 9.4 neighborhood, instead of your usual 9.6 penthouse digs on the upper side of town.

I remain amazed that CGC/CCS hasn’t been hit hard with some kind of conflict of interest suit. Boggles my mind really.... Well, clearly the judge had this part of his court ruling wrong as CCS is actually owned by CCG (i.e. the Certified Collectibles Group) who also owns CGC along with several other related collectibles grading companies, with CGC being a relatively small part of the overall CCG umbrella of companies. As for the conflict of interest aspect to which you are referring to, I believe it's pretty hard to prove anything in a court of law when their official grading standards are undisclosed as it's considered to be proprietary knowledge to their business and also subject to undisclosed changes at any point in time. This potential conflict of interest aspect was also already pretty much talked to death on these boards here when CCG first acquire Matt's Classics Incorporated back in 2013 and reorganized it into CCS (i.e. Classic Collectible Services). Of course, what you and other old school collectors might see as a conflict of interest, in the real world of business, it's called vertical integration and the successful realization of business synergies, especially after the changing of the guard at CGC. Then again, isn't it all good since it simply means more money for all players involved, as long as you play by their rules of the game.

TMI Does this mean that you've actually have prior experience being caught in this particular situation, especially while travelling in some countries where toilet paper is seen as a luxury item, and not a necessity? 💩

Smart thinking and a good contingency plan for emergency situations like when the washroom runs out of toilet paper and you are desperately scrambling around in a panic looking for something to wipe your arse clean.

Well, you best hurry and get your bids in on this book here, although it's sitting at a whole dollar which might just be past your max bid already: https://comics.ha.com/itm/modern-age-1980-present-/the-amazing-spider-man-667-dell-otto-variant-cover-marvel-2011-cgc-nm-mt-98-white-pages/a/7338-91025.s?ic4=ListView-ShortDescription-071515

That makes sense. Definitely not the case when they first got together as a business relationship, even an informal one, can be just like love where the similarities and desires between the two parties stand out in the beginning and then over time, differences between the two parties start to creep in which can often result in a very public falling out between the two parties as in this case here, as per an excerpt from the court ruling by the judge in the case: The Meyers began restoring comic books professionally in 2013. As they gained experience, they learned the tools of the trade, such as color touch, piece replacement, tear seals, cleaning or replacing staples, re-glossing and cover cleaning. By skillfully applying those methods, a restorative artist can breathe new life into an aged and worn comic book, substantially increasing its market value. Comic books sold at auction are typically graded on a "1 to 10" scale for overall condition, an "A to C" scale for the quality of restoration, and a "1 to 5" scale for the quantity of restoration work. CGC is an entity which grades and certifies comic books for valuation purposes. CCS is an entity that restores comic books and it is owned by CGC. At the relevant times, Nelson had dual roles as both a grader for CGC and the president of CCS. In his capacity as a grader, he evaluated much of the Meyers' work. He also corresponded with the Meyers beginning in 2014, advising them on how to avoid the use of irreversible restoration techniques that would decrease a comic book's auction value, such as "trimming" the outer dimensions of pages and applying too much "color touch" to artwork. It is undisputed that Nelson appreciated the Meyers' talent and sought to hone their ability. In fact, in 2014 alone, the Meyers had received the highest possible rating from CGC on seven comics they had submitted for evaluation. The next year, in January 2015, the Meyers met with Nelson at his office in Florida. Nelson reviewed a number of their restored comic books and gave them additional advice about which processes to use or avoid. At the meeting, Nelson complimented a restored "Batman #1" as the best he had ever seen. Nelson also offered to "press" the Meyers' restored copy of "Amazing Fantasy #15" in order to remove a warp in the spine and thereby achieve an almost perfect grade from CGC. The Meyers followed Nelson's advice and were grateful to be mentored by a respected authority on comic book restoration. The Meyers continued receiving generally high gradings from CGC well into 2015, having followed many of Nelson's suggestions. Nelson confirmed as much in April 2015, emailing them that a recent submission had earned a very high grading. CGC awarded the Meyers the highest known grading in May 2015 for restored editions of two other comic books. Just an except from the court ruling to show that CGC was in fact grading these books at the start before Matt and the Meyers got into their dispute as he felt that their work went further than where it should have gone.

I know we all like to make fun of the Meyers and their work because we are on the CGC boards here after all. Seriously though and just wondering if anybody here has good Search skills because if I remember correctly, the Meyers had several detailed pictures from before, during, and after their process which they had posted in that original thread (i.e. Detective 38 Blowing Up or something like that?? ) along with detailed notes of exactly what was done to the book(s). The "during the process" pictures were quite interesting because we hardly ever see those from anybody else when restoration work is done on a book.

You certainly can't go wrong holding onto a Raboy cover book and with it also being a Promise Collection copy, I am sure the colors must be blindingly eye-popping with the front covers looking like they just came off the printing press yesterday, regardless of any other visual defects.

Ask and ye shall receive, as this is a scan of one of the higher graded CGC 8.5 copies right here: https://comics.ha.com/itm/golden-age-1938-1955-/all-top-comics-16-fox-features-syndicate-1949-cgc-vf-85-off-white-to-white-pages/a/7212-96075.s?ic4=ListView-ShortDescription-071515 One of only 2 highest graded copies slabbed to date at the time when sold back in November of 2019 for a much more reasonable $8,700.

Ummmm.................what exactly does the census or grade have to do with anything since bidders are simply supposed to get all giddy and lose all sense of reality and then their wallets when they see The Promise Collection name on the CGC label? Pretty much the same as last time then when it sold for $13,200 as there was 2 higher 8.5's and 3 equivalent 8.0's back then, as opposed to the current 3 higher 8.5's and 2 equivalent 8.0's. Do I smell a successfully executed CPR which the owner didn't even dare try to do with their Promise Collection copy here?

In 110% agreement with your bottom-line assessment as I had also stated the exact same sentiment way back when other boardies here first started to post what they felt were some examples of clearly overgraded copies of the Promise Collection books. As I had stated, without a doubt an absolutely gorgeous and one-of-a kind generational GA pedigree that fully deserved absolute top notch grading from CGC, but unfortunately ended up receiving what visually appears to be questionable grading at times which will end up damaging the reputation of this collection going forward. As for the apparent overgrading of Promise Collection books, as I had also pointed out in some of my previous posts here, although it is much easier to spot overgraded books from just a scan based upon the visual defects, there might POSSIBLY also just be as many examples of undergraded books in the Promise Collection. It's just that it is virtually impossible to visually spot an undergraded book from just a scan and we would need to have the actual book in hand to grade it correctly.