Tony S

No, sun shadows do not clean off. This is tanning, not dirt. The paper is darker. All the way through. I have seen dust shadows that were truly just dust or soot. Those often clean off. Most of the time you will know the difference by looking at the inside of cover. You see the discoloration on the inside, it's not gong to clean of with dry cleaning methods. It's through the paper and it would take solvents to wash out.

Nice to know they listen.....

I don't mean to be snarky - this is a serious question. Is there any point to MEMBERS running polls to change forum rules? If one of the Admins was running this poll I would assume the results could lead to change. But just members?

People have already mentioned Kenny Sanderson and Hero Restoration. Kenny worked with Matt Nelson back when Matt was independent as Classics Inc. In the past I have personally used Classics Inc and Hero Restoration. Happy with both. Other respected Restoration places The Restoration lab Eclipse Paper Conservation

I'm more a Diet Coke in the morning guy Robert's done a great job with this show. Hat's off!

Yes, I believe 0.5

Given I have never run across a "water tideline" that CGC said was common and known issue on a particular book (and so a production issue?) I think Lightning55's description is accurate. But I would mention in the cleaning of books "tidelines" usually refers to the use of water or other solvents to spot clean a stain. A tideline in this case is where the solvent has washed away the dirt in an area and you can have a dirty ring or outline where the paper is very clean where solvent cleaning took place but then left a line where the solvent stopped cleaning. So sort of a reverse stain. The solution to these tidelines is being really good at feathering out the area cleaned and not leaving one - or where that just isn't possible removing and washing the entire cover. And it should be mentioned that solvent cleaning does risk a conserved label if CGC detects it and a note of restoration on the label at CBCS. I know there are those claiming to get away with it on grading company submissions (still get blue labels) but the grading companies have not said it's OK and accepted as they have with pressing and dry cleaning. For a production issue like described whether or not a press fixes it really will depend on if there is any discoloration or stain. A regular press won't fix that part. If the only flaw is a bit of waviness to the edge, a press should fix it.

CCS (CGC's in house pressing/restoration removal/restoration service) does restoration removal. I do not know if they remove tape. I kinda doubt it, but it would not hurt to call and ask. Removing tape is - with most taped books - best left to those that do restoration work, not just clean and press. The reason why is obvious - it's easy to damage the. Sometimes you run across books where the adhesive to the tape as dried off and it's not hard nor going to cause damage. But most of the time to remove tape is going to require use of solvents and plenty of experience dong so. I would also mention it seems unlikely only removing tape from the outside of the cover by itself improves the grade much, since it still has tape inside. Books with tape can be safely cleaned and pressed. Your book might improve some grade wise with only a clean and press.

Well, some quick thoughts. I don't see that CGC is recognizing Foom #2 as anything Wolverine. Nothing. Not mentioned. And that's not "Wolverine" like the Marvel character. It's a kid's sketch of the same name that looks nothing like Wolverine that people selling Foom #2 are hawking as some sort of Wolverine prototype. Anyone paying the asking prices by some sellers for this book are overpaying. Dumb money is still real money - but it is also still dumb money. If there was any legitimacy to this claim we'd have heard about the lawsuit and settlement. THAT is not Wolverine. FOOM 10 is basically legit and people are warming up to it. I personally am unconvinced FOOM 10 was distributed before GS X-Men 1 and more research ought to be done before Foom 10 is considered first. Grand Comic Book Database - noting Library of Congress info - indicates GSXM 1 was out first. However - all that said - even if Foom 10 came out first it is not a "first appearance". There is no "New" X-Men story here. Foom was Marvel's in house fan publication. There is a cover, a centerfold and an article. But there is no "story". So regardless of publication date, the first comic book appearance of the "new" X-Men is GS X-Men 1. Maybe in time these fan type publications and their previews of upcoming comics/characters and events will become highly sought after. There are actually quite a few such examples. Probably hundreds. Marvel Age is stuffed full of such. So to is Comic Interview. But there is a very real difference between an article with a few pictures of a new comic team/character/book coming out soon and the actual book that introduces the character(s) / tells the first story. Foom 15. What I said about #10. Except it does look to be first.

This is the answer..... Did someone else ask this same question a month ago??

The Perez signing was cancelled after the deadline for submitting books because of his failing health. Based on your experience I think it is obvious that most or all of the books received in slabs had been removed from their slabs by the time the signing was cancelled. You will need to get through to customer service to find out what they plan - if anything - to do about this situation of books be cracked out slabs in preparation for a signing that never took place. I can see both sides of the debate of if CGC is responsible. If you had gone to a show with your CGC graded books cracked out for a signature - and the artist or celebrity had to cancel at the last moment then you should not expect the show promoter or the celebrity guest to reslab your books. But then this was arranged as a CGC in house event and they are the ones that cracked the slabs. Either way, Perez's failing health was the real reason for the signing not taking place. I suggest calling and waiting on hold until you get through. Or wait a couple of weeks for whatever is driving the jam up in customer service to pass. Or maybe even write a letter and sending it old fashion snail mail. What I finally did with some accounting issues - sent a letter.

Stan was an unapologetic self-promoter. His greatest skill was not storytelling (and I grew up with and loved his story telling). It was his ability to promote and sell. To make you want his stuff. Stan would absolutely find it hilarious. Just like he would have had no objections to people selling comic books he had signed at inflated prices immediately after his death.

No, you really don't

Foxing can be mold, but it can also be iron oxides in paper oxidizing. Vintage comics were printed on cheap paper, they just basically ground up the tree. If the tree grew where there was plenty of minerals in the ground - like iron - then there is iron in the paper. Bottom line is foxing - mold or iron, it's all about storage conditions, especially humidity levels. No comic book slab ever - Generation 1 or Generation 2 - is airtight. So if slabbed books are stored in humid environments, staples can tarnish/rust, mold can grow, iron oxides in the paper can "rust".

I'll have to take your word for it (which I do) The pictures don't show anything. The CBCS is so pixilated I can count pixels.

CGC's stance on tape repairs is clear as far as grade goes. Since they modified their stance April 2013, tape can never improve the grade of a book. If the tape serves a purpose - like reattaching a cover or centerfold - then the book is graded as though the cover or centerfold is still detached. If the tape serves no purpose, then the tape is treated as a defect and graded accordingly. https://www.cgccomics.com/news/article/3327/CGC-Modifies-Stance-on-Grading-Submissions-with-Tape/#:~:text=After consideration of the expressed,book as if it was Archival tape is a bit less clear. It is listed as a material used in conservation repairs, but there are books out there with archival tape repairs that are blue labels. So not clear what that means. Could be as simple as the graders are not able to always tell if the tape they see on a book is archival. https://www.cgccomics.com/news/article/4083/

Silicone Release paper has no texture. Parchment paper does. That's because SRP is for pressing photographs and Parchment paper is for pressing T-Shirts or baking cookies. T-Shirts already have texture and no one cares what the bottom of a cookie looks like. This gets back to the right kind of press. The photo stores selling dry mount presses (D&K, formerly Seal) are not selling parchment paper to use with the presses. They are selling SRP. There is far too much effort put into trying to make the wrong - but less expensive - things work just as well as the right - but more expensive things. If you went to the dentist and he started to drill out your cavity with a Bauer cordless drill and a set of bits from Harbor Freight, what would you think? "Ahh, a hole is hole. It makes a hole. No reason to buy those overpriced dental drills and bits. This works fine. Just need to practice and tweak it...." You would find another dentist is what you would do. The photo stores that sell the right kind of press also sell nearly everything else you need. If learning, go through the list of what is for sale as press accessories and learn. The presses themselves you can watch for used on eBay or local. There are lots of amateur photographers over the years that decided it was too much trouble and they will just pay someone to mount and frame their photos.

That is not what Matt Nelson said. What he said is "Heat is not as effective as, say, moisture. ..if you throw a book in a dry mount press, there’s a higher chance of reversing in those cases" What Matt is referring to is those that press using heat only. Doing so because humidity is the hardest part of the process to get right. One might also note Matt says "a dry mount press". Not a T-Shirt press.

I don't mean to state the obvious, but "steps" are meaningless. Look at the estimated turn around time for the service you selected and submitted under. That is about how long it will take.

The obvious answer is that CGC, CBCS and third party retail pressing services have lots and lots of presses. If you want to press 50 books and only have it take a couple of days, you will need 25 presses. If you want to press 100 books a day, you need 50. On and on. If you are using a 10"x12" press, it's also near certain that you are not using the correct type of press. You are not putting graphics on T-Shirts. You are pressing comic books nice and flat and smooth. The correct press is one originally intended for photographs. The overall point is that you if made a small investment, you either are not doing it correctly OR you got an incredible good deal on the right equipment.

Well...actually it's not near so hard as you think. There are a number of data centric companies that make work flow management systems that do 98% of scheduling and progress tasks for a company. The other 2% is handled by managers or more often someone with the title of workflow manager. I experienced this first hand as mid level manager during our transition from an old assign jobs (cases in our case) to people to a modern, break the job down into specific tasks that progress along to completion. It is literally off the shelf software that is tweaked for the specific users needs. I - and virtually all field staff - were skeptical. There were ugly moments - a lot actually - but IBM and the contractors delivered on the workflow management software. So it's straightforward and it appears CGC is already doing something like this -- so they just need to improve. Books come in and get assigned a control number. Entered in at receiving with the received date and submission tier. From there the system can do all scheduling and tracking. The system knows the due date for completion. The system moves (schedules) the book(s) to each task based on timeframes. So workers should not be going into the vault and grabbing the first box they see. They have been handed - by the system - what exact books should be going that day. That same list tells them not just what books but exactly where they are at. As each worker does their part (task) the system tracking is updated and the next task for the book scheduled. Higher level managers and/or a work flow manager can view a color coded report at any time for any or all tiers and a work flow manager will be / should be viewing it several times a day. Green is good - books are within timeframes. Yellow is stuff due soon. Red is overdue. You don't want to see red and if you are seeing red for more than a couple of days in a tier then the advertised TAT's need to be adjusted to reality. The workflow manager or high level managers can also go in and override individual books, orders or tiers forcing the system to move those up in scheduling. So no - any grading company CAN do first in first out within the submitted tier. That should not even be hard. What will be hard is forecasting TAT's that are months later. Because at any moment, the estimated TAT can only - at best - be 99% accurate for AT THAT MOMENT. No one and no computer program can accurately predict today how many books at what tiers will come in next week, next month. This is why the fastest tiers are also the most accurate. Since books spend much less time in the system, there is much less time for things to happen that substantially affect the TAT. Plus the most expensive tiers have the highest priority. So if there is a big increase in submissions at the higher priced tiers, it will push back lower cost tiers. The workflow management system knows all this....TAT's are and can be updated on the fly. There is no good reason - with a modern work flow management system - for books that should take 135 days to be done in 20 days - while other books in the same tier wait the 135 days.

Nice graphic. Is there a reason CGC cannot or should not adhere to first in first out, based on submitted tiers? If there is a reason they should not, then why do they even publish estimated TAT? Why not just say "life isn't fair. We'll grade your books whenever we feel like it?"

Most of the books I submit are for other people. Some of my clients choose to vastly understate the value of their books. Most common are the various moderns that are $10-$20 raw and $200+ in professionally graded and encapsulated 9.8. But a few just greatly understate the value because.....whatever. It can save a few bucks on shipping.

Life isn't fair, that's true. But CGC isn't life. It's a business. There is no reason they cannot - nor should not - strive to have a "first in first out" standard - based on tiers and stated TAT - for their customers.

This happened with a lucky few's orders last November. People talked about it here and on FB. Calls to CGC were reported as being explained as "trying something new" to "routed to new facility" and maybe someone mentioned "golden ticket". But IDK if that was a CGC response or what some submitters were calling it. Obviously it is going on again, as I had a couple of submissions for clients get done way faster than expected. While others sit the length of time listed under CGC's published TAT's. It is a great thing for those that score it. Otherwise it's a bad thing for everyone else that waits the listed amount of time. Because it is unquestionably unfair to the great majority.