sfcityduck

Dictionary definitions don't tell you anything about the inner workings of CGC. The only way they have gotten this type of disparity between Moderns and Economy is one or the other of the following: Either (1) they are opening Modern submissions early, before previously submitted Economy submissions (e.g. not "first-in") or (2) they have inadequately staffed the Economy grading group (if there is such a thing), as compared to the Modern grading group, resulting in longer delays for Economy than for Modern. An example, if it takes 15 graders to grade 100 Economy submissions at the same rate as 10 graders could do 100 Moderns, on average, than the solution is to have more Economy graders than Modern graders to to hit this balance. This is not rocket science.

Either (1) recognize that graders can grade both Moderns and Economy comics and just pass the comics by the group of graders on a "first-in, first-out" regardless of tier (which would even things out) or (2) if you must have a group of Modern graders and a group of Economy graders for your own internal tracking process, shift graders from the Modern group to the Economy group to make sure you able to have enough staff to match demand. It is an easily solved problem. CGC could do it very easily.

Even an Action 1 does not take 40 days longer to grade than a modern book. For a true "first-in, first-out" system, even if a low grade GA book (under $400) takes a bit more time than figuring out the gradients amongst super high grade moderns (which may not be true), that should not lead to a situation where books submitted on the same date ("first-in") are coming out 40 work days apart (the current gap between Economy and Modern). That gap tells you that CGC needs to shift graders to Economy from Modern to at least even things out and make it true "first-in, first-out" as they have represented. Not sure how anyone can view this differently.

It is all one service: grading. And the grading service is supposed to be provided, CGC says, on a "first-in, first-out" basis with higher tiers getting preference. If Economy and Modern are equal tiers, than Economy and Modern should have the same TATs. They don't. So CGC should be moving graders from Modern to Economy to at least equal it out. If Economy is a higher tier (as I contend), than that need is even more obvious as Economy should have priority. (No one is contending Modern is a higher tier.) Another example of the problem: There cannot be any doubt that Standard is a higher tier than Modern. Yet, Modern Fast Track priced at $37 bucks has faster TATs than Standard priced at $75 bucks, even though both tiers grade Moderns. That too is messed up. How do you reconcile that one?

Thank you CGC for culling out the disruptive previously banned poster who decided to lob defamatory attacks at Matt Nelson and myself! And, I assure my friends who are the same side of this discussion as that poster, there is no guilt by association and you are not responsible for that poster's bad behavior. Carry on!

Action Comics 1 is not eligible for Economy grading. But, setting aside the extra time an Action 1 might get in the grading process because of its historical significance and high value, it might take less time to grade than the Action 1000 depending upon the grading increments which are in play. But, in any event, differences in grading time should be irrelevant in a true "first-in, first-out" set up because grading time should slow down the whole line (Modern and Economy if they are equal tiers), not just the Economy books (unless it really isn't "first-in").

To follow up on that post - CGC said: Even if Economy and Modern are the same level of tier, "first-in, first-out" means that Economy books submitted before Moderns (e.g. "first-in") should be graded before the subsequently submitted Moderns (e.g. the Economy should be "first-out"). But, the TATs on Moderns are faster. That suggest that CGC should be shifting graders from Moderns to Economy to ensure that the "first-in" Economy really do get "first-out." Especially since smart businesses make representations they can live up to. I think Matt, a GA guy, will make this right.

I love Newbies (or sockpuppets). Such insight and interest in the hobby and its history.

CGC says this: And I think many of us care about TATs.

Thanks for providing that. But, CGC has never stated they are the only tiers that get priority in the grading process, just that they are the only tiers that will get priority in the opening of packages. CGC does provide priority to Standard over Economy and Modern for grading as well.

Here's one, check it out:

psst - we all know what the problem with Batman was - this foreign cover captured Wertham's view:

I'm not calling Economy a premium tier of Modern. I'm calling it a "higher tier" on the continuum of tiers based on its higher price and, until April 2021, higher Value limit (and up until April 2021 - and books before that are still being graded - you could have submitted a modern under the Economy tier).

They are different tiers of the comic category. Baseball cards and magazines are a different category from comics.

In any event, I think Matt will make some progress on this problem. I assume that he was promoted to ensure that the operation runs smoother and more professionally for the new ownership. Magazines are a different category, like Baseball cards and concert posters. I'm getting a bit bored of repeating this, but Economy and Modern are different tiers. And until April, Modern comics worth more than $200 went to the higher Economy tier (valued cap of $400). And what is being graded right now? Here's a hint: CGC says they are only up to opening boxes shipped in May. So the Economy comics right now being passed up for grading by Modern comics are losing out to a lesser priced and lesser value capped tier. Them's the facts.

And, to be clear, when CGC announced the new pricing, they did not separate any of the tiers by "service level." They put them in a chart. The chart runs from Modern (the lowest priced tier) to Walkthrough (the highest priced tier) with no differentiation in "service level" (whatever that may mean). The clear implication is that Modern is the lowest tier and Walkthrough is the highest with all other tiers prioritized by where they are on the contiuum. The ordering is by price.

Begging the question: Why is CGC charging a higher price for lesser service? As I said before, that is messed up. Especially since the higher price implies a higher tier (as did the higher Value limit prior to April 21, 2021 which was after the date of submission for books still at CGC).

One final identification of an error in your argument. You assert that CGC deterines priority of tiers based on the value cap. But what CGC actually said, as quoted in my first post is: "We are working on a first-in, first-out basis with higher grading tiers prioritized." "Higher tiers," not higher Value cap tiers. Economy is a HIGHER PRICED tier, and you're Freudian slip post up above (since edited but presered by the magic of quotes) got it right that higher price means higher tier.

The value cap on Modern was upped to $400 in April. The price for Economy is 50% less than Economy. They are not the same tier now and they were not the same tier prior to the April 2021 change. Yet, Economy books are being graded up to 41% slower than Modern books, even if submitted prior to April. That is messed up given CGC's statement that higher tiers will have priority. What other conclusion can be drawn?

You responded to a post wherein I was asking for evidence of what CGC believed about the priority of the tiers and difficulty of grading. The goal posts have been firmly planted. As I said in response to your first disruptive post above, you lost of thread of the conversation.

The only info you link does not evidence your assertions. There is no link evidencing that CGC thinks grading Economy is more difficult and therefore takes longer to grade than Modern. There is only evidence, which was in my first post on this thread, that CGC is taking longer to grade Economy than Modern (which could be due to a myriad of factors other than difficulty - such as improper prioritization by the graders). There is no evidence that Economy and Modern are the same tier. The evidence shows that Economy has ALWAYS been priced higher than Modern. And the evidence shows that until April 21, 2021 or thereabouts the Value Cap on Economy was twice that of Modern (which means that any Economy books languishing at CGC as Moderns submitted before that date whoosh by to grading would be, UNDER YOUR RATIONALIZATION, getting passed up for lower tiered books).

And you're evidence that CGC made the change based on that understanding is what? You got nothing. You are also ignoring that whether "higher tier" is determined by higher pricing or higher value caps, in either case the Economy books submitted prior to the change in value cap for Modern are taking longer to grade than Modern. Under either ratinale, that is messed up. In short, you protest too much.

Got it. You got no evidence you can link to support your factual assertions and the only way you can dodge out of your original analysis, which was correct - hence the self serving edit to delete it - is by sloganeering instead of reasoning. I link my evidence and my arguments. And, most importantly, you have NOT providing a single link to evidence that CGC agrees with or has stated that any of the "reasons" you offer for why the higher pricing for Economy and slower TATs makes any sense whatsoever.

Here are links which evidence my belief (can you do the same?): Read to see April 2021 changes: https://www.cgccomics.com/news/article/9057/cgc-fee-updates/ Start at 5:12 for confirmation that until the April 2021 change Value Cap of modern was $200:

Economy does and always has COST more than Modern. Also, until April 2021, it had a HIGHER value cap and the books languishing at CGC getting passed by Moder tier books were submitted under that higher value cap. Your rationalization does not hold water.