Bomber-Bob

Good point, things can deteriorate in the slab. I actually had a chip fall off on a 7.5 in the slab. I sent it back in and they said the flaw is allowable in a 7.5 and sent it back to me.

I think CGC has gotten much more thorough on their notes. Years ago, if there was any notes at all, there was no access. You had to call and speak to a grader. Often the only thng they could tell you was how the individual group of 3 graders 'voted'. Say, if you had a 9.0 graded book with a 9.2 vote, you would consider a resub. All of today's requirements of color breaking vs non color breaking was not mentioned. At least the notes today, if not complete, usually have something informative. LIsting every flaw in the notes would bring the TAT to a standstill and that's not good. I've said this before, they usually list the flaws that mattered in the grade. It seems reasonable to me .

Sometimes these things get rectified but you really should call to be safe.

I know I will face backlash for this statement but yes, I think you definitely experience loss of gloss with a dry clean. It's often hard to see through the slab, you need to have the raw book in hand and look at an angle but yes. I also think you can experience loss of gloss from a press. Not dramatically, a little more subtle but yes. I will now await the onslaught saying I'm wrong. BTW, any question regarding pressing, any question, will usually result in bickering on these Boards.

Wow, that was a big win !!! Congrats.

The problem is finding these good sellers. For me, it's just not worth the aggravation.

I don't understand why anyone would shop or buy comics on E-Bay. There are so many reputable auction houses out there with auctions going on all the time. Too many scammers, overpriced books, sellers that don't know how to package, sellers that don't know how to grade, etc. Cut out E-Bay from your life and you will be better off !

I'm not sure I understand why a notation on the specific length of a crease would benefit you ? Everyone thinks CGC grading is strictly an analytic process, plug in the numbers in a magic equation to get the grade. That's not how it works. There are simply too many permutations. A 1/4 inch crease may be a certain grade if the rest of the book is near perfect but what if it is combined with a 1/8 inch tear or a slightly rusted staple. Also, they usually don't list all flaws in the notes, just those that mattered for the grade. BTW, I think the inside tanning held this specific book down.

Litch took over from Haspel, and you are correct, the grading got soft, really soft. I still avoid anything slabbed around the 2011 timeframe. I recently got lazy and bid on a book in auction without doing proper research. I surprisingly won the book with a soft bid. Upon closer inspection I could see the book was graded soft. After checking the grade date, sure enough, graded in 2011. I believe Haspel is back on a consulting basis and the team now seems to be grading properly. Between the emergence of pressing and the soft grading from this time period, again you are correct, many got spoiled.

I would be more concerned with the ink smear on that date stamp. Did you have this book pressed ? The smeared date stamp has the look of an overzealous press. The Newton rings are really not even there. It's really not a big deal. I love date stamps but I would not buy a book with a smeared date stamp like that.

I think I see what you are talking about, mostly near the top area of the right edge ? I've seen this before on ASM 300 so apparently CGC considers it bindery. I'm not sure how 'common' it is. Personally, I think it would bother me.

I think we still need to see a pic. Now it sounds like you are describing chips.

You really need to show us a pic of the book. I have no idea what you mean by 'the front cover is all jagged' . I suspect you mean wavy and that is a problem with the slab. If so, you should get the book reholdered. It is generally NOT acceptable.

Bob, have you tried tweaking your scanner settings ? I'm sorry but the scans on your website make most books look terribly dark.

I seriously think I owned this specific book many years ago. I bought it raw and had it for many years. If it's the same book that chip on the top edge was still there but barely hanging on. I'm pretty sure it was from impact and not a Marvel chip. I'm going a solid 4.5 on this book.

Realize when you filled out the estimated value of your books on the form, that is the insurance value when shipped. You can only be compensated up to that amount, no more. This will probably be a USPS insurance claim. BTW, when you submit to CGC, you simply have to be patient. You cannot do the business day countdown thing. It will be done when it's done. I believe they have to recalibrate the encapsulation machine when processing magazines. They don't like to recalibrate the machine until they have a substantial number of magazines ready to be processed. Perhaps they got a rush job from Harshen on your magazines and the calibration was not done properly. It's best just to leave them alone and let the whole process play out.

Yes, I think it's a matter of CGC doesn't list this flaw on the label anymore. I wish they would. It is helpful.

LOL. I've noticed this too. It's almost to the point of being an irritant, He'll have 10 Avengers drek listed, then one or two good comics, then more Avengers drek. It's all copper stuff that nobody seems interested in. I'm surprised he slabbed some of them.

I think you are better off calling CGC rather than E-Mail.

I don't think they prescreen onsite. You can give it to them to take back to Sarasota though. Maybe you can partner up with a friend to make the 25 books ?

First off, I am sorry this happened to you. This is terrible. I think you may be correct with the assumption that the weight of these Playboy magazines was too much for the packaging. Some of the worst damage I have encountered with getting slabs shipped to me was not from damage to the box itself. It was from the slabs not being properly packed inside and had some free movement. Maybe the typical way CGC ships books in these large boxes doesn't work for the Playboys. DO you remember if the inside of the boxes had sufficient padding, peanuts or something ?

It seems like nobody submits a book anymore without getting it pressed first. Pressing is not a guarantee of a higher grade and you really have to learn where pressing will help. Example, a book has a small tear and a light fold. Sure the press can eliminate the fold but it will not improve the grade because of the tear. So why bother. Instead of wasting so much time and money, submit books directly to CGC with a prescreen. A much better long term strategy.

Your logic is based on the assumption that CGC is only in business to slab. I think the big winner for them is CCS. No matter what, I just think it's rude to promote other companies on this site. The newbie can do plenty of research on his own outside of this site.

This is about the 10th time we've had a newbie ask this same question. Ultimately, the newbie disappears and we argue amongst ourselves. So predictable.