sterlingcomics

You want to talk about books that are tough in high grade? How about tough in ANY grade? And here's one more. That might be a refreshing direction for me once my ENGLISH counterparts are taken care of!

I love it when Baldie gets the acid when this "Hunger Games" type event goes awry.

Yep (mine is only a 9.2), and #47 and #57...those three bastards are one of the final remaining ones I have. And of course a 9.8 #1. Speaking of which, need to ping my inside man and see where the books are at inside CGC...

No x- men without wolvie, as far as mass appeal to non- comic geeks is concerned. Would be like never putting daleks in the dr who reboot. Using this logic, I'm guessing somehow Darth Vader is going to be in EP 7... oh wait...

That's a catchy little mascot you've adopted for your service! I don't get what a mushroom has to do with high grade comics. Thats what happens to Bob when he sees a high grade book.

That's just not right! Is that book for sale? Cause the sticker just made it worthwhile...

I've been waiting to finish my common bronze runs for years...doesn't look like it will happen since they jacked up the prices of mid 70s books that in the eyes of sellers isn't worth bank to certify, and I'm too lazy to get my out to a convention. Oh well.

I always thought Steve was a great advocate for the collector while he was the Face of CGC and would stand up against the types of changes that didn't balance the company's need for revenue and what was best for the hobby. Steve was great in that role! Then he left...then Mark left...then West left...then customer service left...then they started charging for graders notes...then their fees went up...then their wait times increased dramatically...then PQ standards were loosened...then grading standards were loosened...then the mother company bought a company with a direct conflict of interest...and now their graders are "...working 10 hour days and have been working six days a week..." Sound like a barrel full of monkeys at CGC since Steve left. Yeah but keep in mind that the first 1 million books took almost 10 years...didn't they double that second million in a year or two? That would probably add to the barrel of fun...

you crack me up That was probably my best post in 12 months. What's your vector, Victor?

I thought being smart would mean mitigating/managing risk. Not sure how they've done this, short of simply waiting six years to make this more approachable.

fixed that for you. :thumbsup:

Yeah, and I've been to blame for my portion of it. I've retreated from some of the insanity. sigh.

Very old marketing, and I still use that to describe impatient people. Love it! BTW, the Whopper is celebrating their 55th anniversary....yummy. BTW, special orders DO upset us. I have a feeling this is more appropriate. Even our food has attitude.

I noticed a loosening of PQ when Borock left...and totally agreed on the last point. If we still had those high standards in place now I suspect the CPR game would be more in check, as I'm constantly shocked as what gets placed into the coveted 9.8 slab these days.

It's more of a testament that CGC was harsher on PQ in the beginning...the PQ upgrade is more or less "automatic" when you go from old label to new label.

I agree with this, which is why I think the announcement is such a non-starter. Those that already could has--we're clearly onto the later stages of maturation of the "slabbed" phase of this hobby. This coincides with Mike's comment about the continued marginalization of collectors who "paid their dues" with higher prices when the elusive grades weren't there. The move just continues to allow CCG to make bank while providing a service construed as non-restorative by CGC although documentation has said contrary for years. We've simply accepted its practice because we haven't been able to detect it--OR-was a genius move for another segment of the hobby. Still, we know where this is headed.

How is aquiring another company addressing ANY of the turnaround issues? Why are you relating the two? They are different things altogether.

Vote with your wallet.

Read this very slowly, emphasizing the bold...answer is obvious.

Thank goodness we have CVA to help us with that.

The last panel of Walking Dead 103 comes to mind when I read this thread...I wonder who CGC is and who the customer is....

Pricing structure and how it all plays out in the real world is going to be interesting. I think 2013 will be the year we move from pressing to seeing some interesting market shifts that will be interesting to see unfold. Personally, I don't think we've seen anything yet. About to teeter over the edge. Where's Joe?

Stick a fork in bronze. Really It's going to be virtually everything post 1966, and basically every Marvel post FF 1....but all of that was happening already I guess. This will just speed up the inevitable wind down of values. and again I will postulate: If collecting comics is about collecting and enjoying them, is a softening of prices a bad thing? Only if you sell.

Stick a fork in bronze. Stick a fork in Wonder Woman comics. Touche. yeah ga Wonder Woman comic books will make a comeback just in time for her to celebrate her 100 anniversary in the year 2041. comeback is now...greggy and shrunkenhead is the market.