Phill the Governor

Then you need to do two things: 1. broaden your perspective and 2. go back and re-read what I stated about how it's irrelevant compared to CGC's initial approval of a defective product.

Unfortunately this is not an assumption, this is more or less their current policy (with the addition of a very small window). If CGC wants to act in their own best interest, they will deal with these issues the way they used to. Glad we finally agree!

No it was purchased on ebay several months ago and the return window is closed. You are making an assumption that the mistake was "accepted". I myself deal with slabbed books regularly and didn't even notice it until I diligently went back over all my graded books. Your point defeats the purpose of holding CGC accountable for their mistake. Personally, I want that accountability because despite all their problems lately, CGC is still the best grading service. But I want them to work for their reputation, not just for their bottom line.

By your own definition of "approved", CGC "approved" the encapsulation and shipping it back to the original submitter, despite the unequivocal fault in the case. They are the first line of defense, and bc of that responsibility falls back on them. This book, as it is, should never have been shipped back to the original submitter to begin with. This isn't even contestable considering CGC used to offer "complimentary" reholders for books with really bad newton rings or inner well scuffs. The entire inner well on my book here was never sealed to begin with and their response now is "sorry, not our problem".

Exactly: While there is technically some responsibility of the original submitter of the book, none of that responsibility falls on me, and ultimately it falls on CGC. A reasonable person would think a company would go out of their way (as they did in the past) to remove examples like this from the marketplace (on their dime) because examples like this removes confidence from clients (and new potential clients) for fear of having books damaged. This is why car companies instigate recalls- because they don't want faulty products out in the marketplace: they cause problems and make the company look bad (aside from killing/injuring people or in this case damaging an otherwise undamaged book). It is not unreasonable; see above comment. The book was not dropped or mishandled by any owner post encapsulation: it was never encapsulated correctly to begin with, still resulting in damage. This book, like many others in recent time, survived the duration in nice condition up until CGC touched and damaged it through carelessness, their lack of oversight and poor quality control. I find myself not even wanting a complimentary re-holdering here because the sad truth is that CGC already damaged this book by improperly encapsulating it. I am the same person who had my Avengers 4 damaged by CGC. I was not happy with how they addressed the problem. And as far as I can tell the publicity created on this forum and elsewhere already cost them thousands and thousands of dollars from cancelled submissions from myself (and others) and that only extrapolates moving forward. The customer is not always right. But in this case, I stand by my convictions and say to CGC- you have a disappointed customer who expects a higher degree of professionalism and customer satisfaction.

This recent fail is just one in a sea of them, across the board with many dealers and collectors I know. But to answer your question, yes. CGCs recent lack of QC has made me more vigilant, taking more pictures before submitting and making sure the insurance values are maximized - assuming CGC will damage each book in some way. In short, I'm just taking more precautions to make sure client books are protected as much as they can be once the books transition to CGC.

I disagree, and it's even worse coming from a company that is taking 6 weeks just to open packages and start processing orders. They either stand behind their product or they choose to hide behind a legal disclaimer with a tiny window. They chose the latter, and I am calling them out because it's disgusting, greedy behavior.

If the book arrived with the case cracked I would blame the seller. And of course some blame is on whoever submitted the book in the first place. However, final responsibility lies with CGC as far as I am concerned. They should rectify the mistake made since they made it; why should anyone else? The book is no longer a 9.6, so CGC's integrity to accurately grade/properly encapsulate a book gets questioned right off the bat to a prospective buyer. It's advantageous for them to quickly rectify the problem so it's exposure is minimized. Instead, here I am calling more attention to it.

In theory I agree with you. However, I expect a higher standard of a product when I buy a hundred dollar book that arrives looking like through the case (you know, the case with a "crystal clear display" ), and was actually damaged by the case itself- which completely negates the grade and point of the "protective" case in the first place. Good thing they presumably put microchamber paper inside the book, doing it loads of good! This book was better off before it was sent to CGC, graded, and they improperly encapsulated it.

Correct, and this is based on their own, older business model. In the past I've been able to re-sub books, on CGCs dime, if they deemed the problem "inherently the fault of something happening during encapsulation". For the few previous re-subs I've done like this, if there are a ton of newton rings, or scuffs like you see here, that has been more than enough for them to say "send it in, we'll take care of it". They knew that the $ they would spend on re-holdering on their dime helped remove undesirable cases like the one seen above from entering the marketplace. It appears that before CGC actually cared about their product, and customers liking their product. But now, they could care less about having poor quality cases out in the market, and they don't care if they lose future submissions from people seeing books like this and becoming afraid it will happen to their own books if submitted. Their answer now is drastically different for a problem that isn't even purely aesthetic, and the problem here- specifically, is absurd- it's a defective case that has damaged, and will continue to damage the book as it slides up and down in the case.

Hey everyone, If you know me, you're aware I am no stranger to CGC's lack of quality control in the past year. I purchased a newer Modern book, graded a 9.6 several month back on ebay. Sometime shortly afterwards I dealt with a fiasco where (amid everything that happened), CGC encapsulated one of my 4-figure comics in a case and the bottom of the inner well was not sealed at all- causing the book to shift down and slide partially out of the inner well inside of the case. Thankfully, through some fluke, the book was not damaged bc of this (CGC did end up damaging the book after re-encapsulating it, but there's a whole different thread just on that). This incident recently made me more vigilant about checking my graded books. So I went back through my collection and came back across the 9.6 I had purchased previously. The 9.6 (It's a Walking Dead #48 for those curious) is covered in scuffs on the inner well - a really great feature of the often laughable "Crystal Clear Display" that CGC touts. The four corners of the case and all sides are secure, and there is no evidence that it was dropped. I had intended to have the book re-encapsulated bc of the scuffs, but after looking back at it the other week I noticed that inner well is not sealed at the bottom of the book, at all! And of course, there is new damage on the bottom back cover corner that could not possibly have been there before the book was graded. In the past, when I've encountered a problem with a slab that is unquestionably the fault of CGC, they have offered to re-encapsulate it for not extra cost (minus shipping). I think they should cover shipping expenses too, but I digress. More to my point, I was livid when I received this response back from CGC's customer service the other week about the problem with this book: Dear Phillip, Thank you for your inquiry. This book was submitted back in 2020. According to the terms and conditions, the customer must inspect all collectibles immediately upon receipt from a Company. A Company shall have no liability for any damage or errors unless reported to Company within fourteen (14) days of Customer’s receipt of the collectibles from Company. CGC offers a Reholder service to replace the encapsulation of CGC certified books. The cost is $20.00 per book for most books. The grade assigned to the book should not change unless any damage occurred post-encapsulation, in which case the grade will be adjusted accordingly. To qualify, the book must still be encapsulated in its original CGC holder. Thank you, and have a great day. I am disgusted by CGC's response, and I feel offended by CGC hiding behind a measly 14 day window that has to be utilized by the person who submitted the book in the first place. Why on earth would I re-sub the book on my own dime when CGC couldn't even grade and encase the book properly the first time, causing the book to become damaged? Apparently they do not care about having poor quality cases out in the either for prospective customers to see, and this example is acceptable to their quality control.

This is my copy, not some other 7.5 from ebay or elsewhere. I don't hold grudges, and am happy to have the book in a relatively okay case now. I deal with enough things to not get caught up on this book and let them ruin my enjoyment of it. It is still one hell of a copy and I love the book. It is just unfortunate that it will always be a reminder of CGC's carelessness and greed. They had the opportunity to make this right and and they did the bare minimum.

Possibly! Unfortunately I do not think you'll find the answer you are looking for if you are just looking for a few hours of something to do. Not the right hobby to get into, lol. I do not recommend it, but this is why people just revert to using archival tape- because it is the cheapest and really only option for people in your position.

This. I work on books as a profession. The question at hand is too specific without going into trade secrets. There is no simple "how" because people make a living (myself included) on those techniques. I will say that archival or not, tape is never ever the answer because it ultimately causes more problems. Tape is evil. Same with glue. The best option available is having reinforcement at the staples done using conservation, which if done properly is completely archival and reversible. Unfortunately, if you want it done properly, there is no cheap do-it-yourself option for this type of stuff.

The $900+ worth of submissions I just sent in were all client owned books, none were mine. In short, I took the offer I could get from them and will now be sending in only client own books and very select books of my own. What CGC doesn't know, or doesn't care about, is that the few hundred I wanted in compensation for the damage & my time would have gone right back to them for grading fees on my own books. Instead, I've already begun to sell many of my own books raw. The damage has been done - any excuse to not grade books I will take, and as it stands CGC is already out at least $550 for grading fees that would have been included in the $900+ group of submissions I just sent in. Their response was just enough to let me continue sending in the minimum amount of new submissions I can get away with. The amount of $ they have already lost, and will continue to lose from my reduced business far outweighs the compensation I was asking for. Their loss, and unfortunately there are TONS of cases all over the boards, facebook and instagram of others who are sick of CGC's quality control and lack of critical oversight in making customers happy. It's a shame that a company with so much control over the industry cares more about $ and their ego than making customers happy for the services they pay for. And don't get me started on the cases. I love how almost any book in a new generation slab has an increased probability of "shaken comic syndrome" because of the faults in the cases construction. If your product can easily damage a book, how is there any solace in books graded 9.8? Wouldn't they all drop in grade at some point since the book is free to move around inside (I have seen SO many high grade books in new generation cases that are damaged from the slab). Absolutely insane.

It means there are spine stress lines, and regardless of breaking color or not, will always be there. It is what it is. There is a common misconception that pressing magically removes creases - and that is true sometimes. But as others have said, pressing flattens the book, and more often than not there is and will always be evidence of a crease.

Yeesh, gotcha. That is not good. Unfortunately once it's cracked CGC could claim it wasn't them who did it.

Were you commenting on the fingerprint/dirt on the piece of microchamber paper? There wasn't any context for the damage you suspected, was it not there beforehand? Otherwise your comment reads as sarcasm.

And if the bottom of the innerwell not being sealed on $3,000 + book doesn't frustrate you, I commend you.

Shame about that microchamber paper. I only had to deal with the bottom of the innerwell not being sealed (the first time), and damage to the book (the second time), and scratches on the inner well along with the new damage that was "pressed" but still there (the third time). Just one example I am still dealing with.

If it was a quick press, then it's possible not all the creases were removed. Otherwise, it's still possible to have creases on a cover after pressing, that don't break color, but can't be entirely removed.

Is it just me or does everyone feel the same way? I've heard it said elsewhere, but it feels like CGC is grading my book and PGX is encapsulating it. Every one of my submissions over the last year has had a damaged book or a problem with the slab.

UPDATE! After some back and forth, I was told this by customers service: "they’ve stated that the book with the errors you have stated would retain the same grade. They would like to offer you $75 in membership credits." As this was an offensive offer (not to mention they regarded the damage as "errors" LOL), I promptly responded saying I expected my submission costs on the book to be fully refunded, as well as a few hundred dollars for the damage to the book and for my time. Which I do not think is unreasonable at at all. What do others think? Oh, side note: At the same time- I was just overcharged for my $900+ submission order CGC received the other day AND they did not apply the previous $75 credit from a few weeks back from another damaged book. So not only was the previous credit not applied, but I was actually overcharged. This is an appalling level of quality control.

I don't get the appeal of her art on a cover, and would love to have someone convince me otherwise. Maybe I'm in the minority, but the vast majority of covers from Momoko look flat and two dimensional to me. Could be the the shading? I do really like her style for a poster or something... but it does absolutely nothing for me on the cover of a comic book. It looks like, and I mean this with all due respect, high quality fan art.

CGC has lost business from me going forward. I no longer have any interest in submitting books for my personal collection since they keep damaging them. I will only be submitting books intended to be re-sold on the secondary market, and any excuse to simply sell a book raw will be a win in my eyes.