MCF335

When I got notice of the price increase, I had little time to go thru my 40,000 plus collection with inspecting-bagging, blah blah. So, I KNEW my X-MEN#1 Deluxe collection was top-notch/no worries. Hasten to Bubble-pack sets of 5 bagged & boarded, double-box with padding in between & send Priority. I was burning up the midnight oil (ended up sending in well over 35 25-count boxes;-) before the price increase. SCORE Or so I hoped... FYI, having started collecting in the 50's with Professional Artists in my Family, I knew Jim Lee's Art would endure the test of time, NO PROBLEM! Yup, I did a lot of volume submissions when I started out with CGC: 70 S.S. SPAWN#1 (98% 9.8s ;-} 100 ASM Carnage submissions for Mark to sign... This is a GOOD thing, yes? I'm not the only Fellow with a well-stocked Warehouse. What IS my intention? To provide ardent Fans/ Collectors with some nice stuff for their personal Collections.

WOW! This is the VERY FIRST TIME I have done this query on my BING SEARCH! I ALSO have had this MISERABLE EXPERIENCE with several dozen submissions INCLUDING with S.S. submissions. Must, this BELLY-FLOP/BURN has resulted in neither anymore attempts with CGC & I am now very carefully following CBCS. I KNOW for a FACT (A very close friend in P.O. along with another who retired with 35 years at USPS) that sending ANYTHING to FL is "like sending something to Greece". I could go on, but I will close with one example: I "Cherry-Picked" from over 1,000 Direct, fresh from Diamond Distributors copies of X-MEN#1 DELUXE Edition. Sent in over 100 of these Puppies to CGC & did indeed receive 3 full 25 count-boxes with over 95% coming in at 9.8. THEN, I got one 25-count with EVERY BOOK banged on that same corner with 9.0s all the way. I have been so bummed over this that I stopped ALL submissions & will probably start sending to CBCS in the near Future. You Good People have Inspired me to finally call CGC & air my considerable list of grievances as this is only fair to them that they KNOW in NO UNCERTAIN Terms what is continuing to happen to many of us Professional Collectors.

OOPS to seanfingh; My Bad; As I've been collecting since the 50's, This "Olde Timer" made a Brain-Blooper! To Clarify; I take a LARGE FLAT RATE BOX, APPLY STEAM AFTER MAKING A 3/4" CUT AT EACH FOLD/CORNER,SHAVE OFF ABOUT 1/2" FROM THE 4 FOLDS ( SO AS TO MAKE A SMALLER BOX WHICH I THEN INSERT INTO ANOTHER LARGE FLAT RATE (EXO-SKELETON, ANYONE ? ;-} WITH ABOUT A DOZEN PADDED PRIORITY BAGS FOR CUSHIONING BOTH INSIDE AND AROUND PADDED BAGS CONTAINING PAINTER-TAPE BOUND 5-COUNT CGC WINDOW BAGS WITH BACKERS PER BOOK AND ON EITHER SIDE OF THE SHINEY YELLOW 5-COUNT WINDOW BAGS INSERTED INTO YET ANOTHER USPS PADDED MAILER BAG; STACKED TIGHTLY AT 25 BOOKS ( FIVE 5-COUNT USPS PADDED BAGS) PER DOUBLE LARGE FLAT RATE BOX. Must have been a Wild night for those FL USPS Handlers. BTW; My Maintenance Man/Friend retired after 35 years with USPS. FL is VERY well-known within the system as being akin to sending a parcel to GREECE. Many times (won't bend yer ears;-} I've sent well-pack items (electronics, yadda yadda) which arrived IN SHAMBLES! I mean; SMASHED TO SMITHEREENS?! I Do believe the damage did indeed occur during USPS handling and NOT from the Good Folks at CGC. The consistency of the exact same corner & the sequence of Certification numbers do vouchsafe that theory. Thank you all for your contribution to this Thread; It's been reassuring to see a Community with some cohesive interaction!

UPDATE; I contacted Brittany to which she replied that the damage did NOT happen at the signing Event; To whit; Not one book was dropped. I BELIEVE Brittany; When one gets to 70+ age Young, experiences finally provide one with an Intuitive awareness as to who is Honest & who is not. Brittany is a very sincere Human (rare these days;-} who is a Credit to CGC Staff. I will soon make it known that I accept her statements as true. That being said, I can only surmise that those fancy Window bags might have exacerbated at bit of "sloshing around in-transit, as I have yet to have this corner-dinging occur when packing sans window bags. For example; My 65+ SPAWN #1's signed by T.M. in 2019 were in bags of my own design; Practically ALL of them were graded 9.8. If anyone else has had this experience with those (to quote Sabretooth, "OOOH, SHINY!" ;-} window sleeves for the S.S. Events, please let me know, yes?

To quote John Lennon; "I should have known better" when I saw that new "SMALL PRINT" disclaimer pop up which one is now required to agree with in order to proceed with submissions; Case you didn't notice, it basically states that any damage that might occur in the handling of one's books for either signing or re-holdering could result in a LOWER GRADE; Not CGC's Responsibility.... ARGH!?! I received one of my Mark Bagley. S.S. shipments of these valuable Newsstand Puppies finding SEVEN out of this 25-count box with BADLY DINGED CORNERS. Having been a Collector since the 1950's, I KNOW ( from my own many accidents;-} what a dropped, corner-dinged comic looks like! Also worth mentioning is the CONTINUITY of the CGC Cert. numbers; Ending in 1002,1003,1016, 1017, 1021,1022,1023. These were ALL 9.8 TO 9.6 AT THE WORST. Bought hand-picked brand new from my Distributor's box, these specimens were meticulously bagged/boarded,stored for Decades and finally inspected, re-bagged in those fancy yellow window sleeves CGC now sells. Very carefully, securely bundled & taped in 5-count per padded mailers by Yours Truly; ALONE. As the Late Great Legend Stan Lee is my Witness; NONE OF THESE had ANY impact at the corners. Alas; These corner dings from either "NEWBIE" Employees or Folks simply moving WAY TOO FAST lowered the grade as low as an 8.5! To wrap this up; These 7 ASM #362 Low-print-run Newsstand Puppies (almost a third of this box;-{) WOULD HAVE GRADE HIGHER & SOLD FOR CONSIDERABLY MORE to Avid Comic Collectors WITHOUT ANY Signature present. After spending THOUSANDS OF BUCKS here; It's an understatement to say I will carefully reconsider any further involvement with CGC's Signature Series going forward. Truth Be Known; If no amelioration is offered for this DREADFUL S.N.A.F.U., I will most likely pass on Future Signing Events. I'll contact Ms. McManus shortly with my photos ( attached is a pic of the very worst two submissions; Pressing won't help these two. ) Brittany has been very kind & generous with my issues in the Past; Hopefully, she will once again, offer some helpful solution. Please join in on this BUMMER of an Experience with your own Sad Stories, as; IN NUMBERS THERE IS STRENGHT! To be sure; I 'll let ya know what's up once I make Contact!