Tony S

Anything can happen. CGC damaging books is by all evidence extremely rare. In my experience, most of the time those rare occurrences are a result of books being fragile to begin with. To grade a book it has to be opened up, pages counted. And even more stressful (for the book) is the restoration check. A lot of restoration hides along the spine or along the staples of interior pages. So the book has to be opened wide, looked at carefully. If the paper is weak....well. damage can occur.

We send books to CGC to be graded so that the debate of the grade is settled. Why pay money to a grading company to grade your books - and then ask strangers and novices if they think the book is the assigned grade. You are making this way too complicated.

If you wanted a 9.8 of this book you have a 9.8 of this book. Why return it?

That has been going on for a while now. I'm not inclined to complain about "how long it takes" because CGC's TAT is sooooo much better than five years ago and way better than the competition on the least expensive tiers. BUT - since you mention it - the initial step of receiving packages, getting books out and entered into the system often times takes several days now. If the books are delivered to CGC on a Monday it's common for it to be Wednesday or Thursday before they appear in the system. But as for the new "upgrade". Before the upgrade, once books were initially entered in the system they were either "received" or "verified". Now the moment books are entered into the workflow management system they are listed as "scheduled for grading". Which is simply way, way less accurate on tiers that take a months. Scheduled for grading used to mean your books would be graded soon. A week or less. Now scheduled for grading can mean your books will be graded in a 2-3 months. Or 2-3 days. CGC has rolled "received" "verified" and "scheduled for grading" into one. Not helpful.

If the motivation was true, outright fraud by trying to fool someone into believing they were purchasing an ASM 1 - the book would have been sold raw. Now that it is encapsulated and fully described, fraud is harder. Should be impossible, unless the next purchaser cannot read. We don't know if the person that sent it into CGC is the same person that created it. So we can't know the motivation. If for instance the same person that created this book is the one that sent it in, maybe they are trying to create something of value from things of much less value. In the world of POP vinyl figures, there are people and stores "making" collector editions by switching parts, painting on fake blood, stuff like that. If someone bought this book raw believing it was an authentic ASM 1, then they had a huge disappointment when the book came back from CGC. But the person buying the book next knows what it really is.

This is the same argument advanced that CGC should not encapsulate counterfeit books. And that's what this book really is -- a rather pathetic and primitive attempt at a counterfeiter copy of ASM 1. As as serious collector of comic books since 1967, I'm not buying the argument that CGC should not encapsulate books like this. In fact I believe just the opposite. They SHOULD encapsulate such books - and the hobby is better off for their doing so. The warts and sketchy side of comics is just as important a part of the hobby as the stuff more...dignified. BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY - CGC's encapsulation and CLEAR DESCRIPTION of this book makes fraud LESS LIKELY. Not more. A person with limited knowledge of comic books might fall for a reproduction ASM 1 cover attached to a Marvel Tales 138 being sold raw. They might believe they are purchasing an ASM 1. But once CGC encapsulates the book and clearly describes what it is, the ONLY PEOPLE FOOLED ARE THOSE TOO IGNORANT TO READ. So no. I and others maintain CGC has done a GOOD THING - provided a VALUABLE SERVICE - in encapsulating and describing this book.

I get why they quit showing the grades before the books go out. Same reason the place (that used to be ) across the street did. People would see a grade lower than expected and call wanting someone to "look at the book again" So it slowed stuff down. I don't like that grades don't show until books have shipped - but I understand the "why" of it. But label type/label comments and related? It would seem logical that catching labeling errors before a book ships would be less expensive overall than paying all the costs associated with getting such books returned and fixed. I suppose it's possible that managers and accounting have sat down and determined that most labeling errors never get returned for correction? So ultimately current policy saves time/money? IDK. There are people that kinda collect labeling errors. I have a couple and don't intend to return them. The only books I've ever returned for CGC to reholder (at their cost) have been a handful over the years that had encapsulation errors. Usually something encapsulated with the comic that didn't belong - bit of plastic or such.

I don't like it. I could care less about the change in appearance. But they have eliminated some of the "steps" reported in the grading process. Which means we have less information about where in the grading process are books are at. For instance - and the biggest - is now all books are listed as "scheduled for grading" as soon as they are received. "Scheduled for grading" used to mean something. It meant your submission - which CGC would have had for some time (on Value perhaps 2 - 2.5 months) were now actually scheduled to enter the grading room. But now scheduled for grading essentially must means "we have your books and have entered them into the system". I have books that CGC received a few days ago that are 56 business day TAT that are listed as scheduled for grading. They won't REALLY be scheduled for grading for months. They have also combined "grading" with "Quality Control". Those are two different steps. But now one. Again, tells me less. QC meant your books were just almost done. Out the door shortly. Books used to show in grading. Then QC. With the less expensive tiers books can actually be in grading for a week or more. I called the day after the change to express my concerns and dissatisfaction. It gives customers less information. Why would we want less? The only positive I've seen is that it is now much easier to cut and paste grading notes. An interesting note is that customer service told me they had no idea the change was coming. It caught them by surprise and they had numerous calls about the change.

The book can be shipped to CGC in the slab. CGC will open it. Probably would be wise to include a note that says "please take this book out of the slab and regrade it", but that might not be necessary. I believe the fine print in a submission to CGC already says you authorize them to remove from the holder any books already professionally graded. As for you question about "impacting anything". No. To CGC, the only impact is if the books fall into more than one tier, based on age and value. CGC doesn't combine shipments of different tiers. So if you send in a mix of books published before or after 1975, or a mix of books with some valued over $200 and others less, you will have more than one box of books shipped back to you. This matters because of postage costs. The golden rule of shipping is the first pound - or in this case book - is the most expensive. Two books costs just a few dollars more than one for return shipping. Five books just a few dollars more than two books.

I'm with Lazyboy on this. The book is an NG. NO GRADE. The label clearly states what the person is actually buying. So CGC has done it's job here. A buyer knows they are purchasing a Marvel Tales 138 with a color photocopy of the cover of ASM 1. Anyone that buys the book believing they are getting something other than what is clearly stated on the label is woefully ignorant, inattentive & SOL.

Yes - a common mistake is to assume graders notes are an exhaustive list of every defect a book has. Instead, they are just the defects the graders took the time to write down. So MastrcntrlProgram makes an excellent point. The crease might be breaking color even if the grading note fails to mention it. There might be - even probably will be - other defects not mentioned in the grading notes.

My answer is based on your post saying this was your first grading submission.... Pressing may or may not remove creases to the cover. A general guideline is if the crease is noted as "breaking color". Pressing only makes a crease flat. It cannot fix a color break. Where this gets a bit complicated is when creases are in white areas of the cover. Very common on the back cover. Vintage comics often are white along the edges, spine, corners. White is the absence of color. And the paper is white all the way through. So you never see a crease noted as breaking color in white areas. But the paper fiber might be damaged. If it is - even though it does not "break color" - it cannot be removed. Only made flat. Now to your exact question. Skipping prescreen for pressing is something that only those with experience should consider. Since you are new to the entire grading and pressing thing, you would be wise to pay for screening. Otherwise you may well end up paying to press books that will not benefit from pressing. Or even worse are not safe to press. Likewise Quick Press (the cheap $8 service) is for books that only need a light, quick once and done press. It a good service ONLY for those very familiar with what defects are easily improved. Until you have learned more - and you learn by sending books in - you should stick to paying for screening and full service pressing.

Now I want one

You are a lot more likely to see a light bend out of the slab then in the slab. Then you'll have a better idea as to what the CGC graders are looking for. And should you NOT find any light bends....well...that is knowledge too. But odds are high you'll see what they saw once out of the slab.

Light spine stresses and light bends have been very common listed defects the past year on otherwise high grade books. I'm not quite sure what to make of it. Until a year - maybe two at most - ago I seldom saw such. I think it will be more helpful to you to do a couple of things here.... 1) Wait until you get the books back. Can you see any bends? 2) Unslab and examine some of the books that CGC has noted with light bends. Can you see the bends? And last. If you are sending in moderns where 9.8 is actually needed to be worth getting encapsulated - send in less often and wait until you have at least 25 books. Then prescreen at 9.8. Then you will only have graded, encapsulated 9.8's. Any rejects will be returned to you raw and only cost you $5 each. I doubt it is how the books are shipped. Instead it appears to be a subtle defect CGC is watching for.

Counterfeits of color comics do exist. They are not created from scratch. They use reprints, reproduction covers, sometimes even a few authentic pages.

@stock_rotation If it were that easy that's how your local newpaper would print the Sunday funnies. They don't. They contact King Features or Color Web Printers. Some newspapers can print their own. I had one doing catalogs for me years ago. Color Registration and quality was greatly lacking. And the newsprint didn't look at all like the newsprint comic books were printed on before 1980. There is a reason counterfeits are a problem only with black and white comics. It is as dupont said. Once you have put all the effort that would be needed, it would become apparent that counterfeiting money was easier and more efficient. That is NOT to say there are no counterfeit color comics - including Hulk 181. But the counterfeits involve creating "Frankenstein" comics using one or more reprints. I remember the first one I saw in hand was a master of deception. A Hulk 181. A nicely photocopied cover on an interior made of up two different reprints. But the master stroke? A real Mark Jewelers insert. The slight of hand was getting the buyer totally focused on the MJ insert and ignore the warning signs of page numbers not being quite right and the cover while looking authentic have the wrong "feel". And then there are reported cases of people taking the Famous First Editions, removing the cover, cutting the book down to the proper size and then attaching a color copy cover. Just looks like a book with a poorly trimmed interior. It's easy to buy quality looking reproduction covers. Some are quite good. Just don't "feel" quite right. But starting from scratch with today's newsprint and try to get it look right on some off set or other common printer? Sorry. No one would fall for it.

This. I don't believe most people recognize how difficult it is to print color on newsprint. The original printing presses for comics were so large that they built the buildings around the machine. Not moving the press into the building. Even today there are only a few places printing the Sunday newspaper funnies. I've attached a photo what the new "smaller" machines look like. There are a number of places that print comic books now. A Google search finds them. It's made publishing one's own comic in small numbers (100 is often a minimum) easy and not all that expensive. You can get full color. But not on newsprint.

I doubt the CVA sticker has anything to do with the final sale price. Any and all 9.8's are supposed to have superior appearance. While Moon Knight has never much appealed to me personally, the character does have a very loyal and enthusiastic fan base. And a lot of those fans believe Moon Knight will someday get a movie or TV spot. But the REAL REASON for the record price is the book's rarity at this grade level. CGC has only graded 18 copies at 9.8. Compare that to other Bronze age keys like Hulk 181 (311) GS X-Men 1 (166) or even a book known to be hard to find in 9.8 - X-Men 94 (34). Worth noting is that GPA hasn't recorded a 9.8 sale for over two years - and the nicest copy otherwise for sale right now is a signed 9.4. So what is going on is that this was a RARE OPPORTUNITY that came along for the serious MK collector to own one of the best. If they didn't bid aggressively, there might not be another chance to acquire a WWBN 32 in 9.8 for years. If history is any indicator though, we'll likely see a few more of the 17 copies of WWBN graded 9.8 shake loose in the next year. I seriously doubt the owners of any of the other 17 copies have anything close to $50K invested - and taking a profit will be tempting. We also might see a few others reach that grade as people with a super nice copies will see this sale and be tempted to send it in for grading and encapsulation. Might be raw copies, might be some 9.4/9.6 copies that get a successful CPR. But ultimately - I'm confident WWBN 32 did not sell as well as the other keys mentioned above. So it's going to remain scarce in the better than NM grades.

Buy the stuff that is made by the company that makes the best known presses. SEAL Easy Peel release paper. This is made specifically for dry mount heat presses. Most other sources - especially precut sheets - are made for T-Shirt presses and it is more like parchment paper. It doesn't matter if it is perfectly smooth. It's for T-Shirts, clothing, ball caps, etc. The SEAL paper was made specifically for their dry mount presses and mounting photographs. you can find it on Amazon. Comes in large rolls.

Your temperature is in a safe range. Your humidity is lower than ideal for paper. 40% Relative humidity is considered the low end for paper. But even more important for paper than being in the ideal temperature and humidity ranges is having consistency. This is why basements and attics are the worst place to store comics and other paper items. Because these are the rooms in a house that have the most variation in temperature and humidity. If you increase the humidity in the room, keep in mind that: 1) you don't need to increase it greatly and 2) A consistent, stable relative humidity is more important than the difference between 27% and 40%. You need to use a humidifier that is designed for a room and has a built in humidistat so that your humidity stays in the ideal range (40-50%) Humidifiers designed for a room will have a fan which will circulate air and humidity evenly in the room. Personally, I wouldn't do anything as far as adding humidity. It will probably turn problematic to maintain and stay in the ideal range. The water tank runs out of water, humidity drops until you refill. The humidistat not accurate or gets bumped, it gets too humid. I am repeating myself, but excessive fluctuations are more a problem than being a little under or over the ideal range. Hooking up a whole house humidifier to your furnace might be worthwhile. They tap into a water line and the humidistat and other components will be of higher quality. Of course this is far more expensive. You might consider instead just focusing on the variables easier to control. Eliminate exposure to light (say store books in collector boxes). Don't put your stored books up against outside walls and allow for air circulation - say 12 inches away from the (interior) wall. Welcome to the boards!

No one really knows for sure. In the past, the circulation of the Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide was considered a benchmark for SERIOUS collectors, as it was a publication that only comic book dealers and serious collectors would have a reason to purchase. Maybe a few thousand more copies to libraries. Problem there is that the sales (circulation) of the OPG have never - to my knowledge - been published. I've heard rumors. No idea if close or not. And for every "serious" comic book collector there might be 50 or even 100 that are casual. And for the past decade, maybe longer a lot of collectors no longer see the OPG as truly essential. There are about 2000 comic book stores in North America. You could make guestimates at the minimum number of collectors it would take to support a comic book store. 50? 100? And some larger, well established stores would have much more than the "minimum" we might set. One could look at circulation numbers for popular comic book titles/characters. Considering that comic books are almost exclusively sold at comic book stores, anyone walking in to buy Batman or Spider-Man probably thinks of themselves as a collector. Those titles usually sell in the 80,000-100,000 copies a month, with special issues doing 2-3x that. The problem with this approach is that there are a lot collectors - serious collectors like myself - that don't purchase new comic books. Back of the napkin guesstimates from all the various sources suggest there is probably a minimum of 100,000 serious collectors and many multiples of that number that could be called casual collectors. If considering anyone that considers themselves a comic collector - serious, casual and in between - A million doesn't sound unrealistic number Sources of information that might get a lot closer to an answer include eBay, My Comic Shop, Mile High Comics. If eBay would agree to do such, knowing how many unique visitors browsed and made purchases in the comics category over a period of 12 months would be pretty informative. Same way with unique visitors to MCS and Mile High. But I'm 1000% certain that information won't be made available. They would view it as proprietary.

I don't think so. The gap seems pretty small based on the video. It looks like it would be difficult for instance to shove a penny in the gap. And that is the actual purpose I believe of the outer holder not being sealed at the top. When opening a slab I use a (very long) flat head screw driver, starting at the middle of the top. Work it in a bit, then slide left to right and pop it open along the top. Then work down along one or both sides. You can find YouTube videos on cracking the Gen 2 CGC slab. Keep in mind that one of the purposes of a slabbing a professional, 3rd party graded comic is for it to be tamper EVIDENT, not tamper proof. There are legitimate reasons to remove a comic book from encapsulation. And you want to be able to do that removal without damaging the comic inside. If the outer holder was 100%, totally sealed along all four edges you'd need a hammer and chisel to get started. So the outer holder is not actually sealed at the middle of the top edge. But it is impossible to crack open CGC's Gen 2 slab without it being obvious

The top edge of the outer holder of the Generation 2 CGC slab is not actually sealed. It's not obvious that it is unsealed on most slabs. But it is not. BTW, this is where one starts if you are wanting to crack open the slab to remove a comic from the Generation 2 CGC case.

With dry cleaning techniques, you risk removing printers ink from areas of the cover that have color. White areas are usually safe. Dry cleaning methods are not considered restoration. A restoration professional can clean a cover with solvents and remove a lot of defects - like pencil markings. Cleaning a cover/interior pages with solvents may well get a restored grade from CGC. There is no financial reason to consider removing a name written in pencil from a low to mid grade copy of a comic. The name isn't going to have much of an impact on the grade of a comic at that level. Dry cleaning is likely to result in an obvious erasure that removed ink and looks worse/grades worse than the name on the cover. Solvent cleaning is going to be expensive and may result in a restored/purple label grade. The smart choice is to leave it alone and consider it part of the comic's history. Welcome to the boards!