Shaun03

I sent in 11 of The Maxx ashcans to be graded. When I received them back 10 of them had been graded as qualified and while I'm not a professional grader, I think they received reasonable grades for their condition. One of them came back as a universal grade and was very low. The book looks better than some of the others that were graded in the 7-8 range, but it received a 4.0. CGC's own description of qualified is: A Qualified label is used by CGC for collectibles that have a significant defect that needs specific description, or to note an unauthenticated signature (one which was not witnessed by CGC). For example, a comic book with a missing coupon that otherwise grades 6.0 will receive a Qualified grade, avoiding a considerably lower grade. CGC would give this book a Qualified grade of 6.0 and a Label Text notation “COUPON MISSING FROM PAGE 10, DOES NOT AFFECT STORY.” Or, if the book is signed on the cover it may be noted as “NAME WRITTEN ON COVER IN MARKER.” I reached out to CGC to ask about it, and if they would regrade it as qualified. Their response was simply that it is up to the grader to decide to how to grade it. Even if someone is not familiar with the ashcans, knowing that all of them were signed and numbered, it is clear that there is a signature and number, not some random marks. Along with that, 10 others in the same box that was sent in were graded as qualified. I'm not sure why they would even have a qualified category if their graders can just choose not to use it if they don't want to. It's a bit frustrating to have just one come back like this after spending the money for a professional service. Has anyone else experienced this with the ashcans, or with any comic that was signed but not witnessed by CGC? Did you send it back in and get it graded as qualified? If so, did you leave it in the holder when you sent it back in, or did you remove it and send it back in? Would putting a note in the box asking for a qualified grade help?

For anyone still following this thread, I want to give a heads up that eGerber is supposed to be taking orders for Fullbacks again soon. I called them about a month ago and they said they would be taking orders for the Fullbacks on the 9th or 10th of this month. Shipping at the time for items in stock was 10 weeks out so I imagine that won't be any different. I also found an alternative I like, Crystal Clear backing boards. They are spendy but you can order them and they ship quick. They aren't something most would want to use on all of their comics because of the price, but if you some high value comics and can't find the Fullbacks, they are made of mylar like the MyLites and are available.

Thanks, I appreciate the link. It looks like their 42mil boards aren't available either and their bags are about 3x the cost of eGerber. I can find some eGerber stuff on ebay for around that price. So it looks like I'm either paying a high price or having to wait. Hard times for trying to protect my collection.

I called eGerber and I was told that all orders are 10 weeks out and I can't place an order for Fullbacks until May, so I assume it will be 10 weeks after that to get them. Are there any other bags and boards out there that are similar? If I have to wait then I have to wait but I'd like to get something sooner than 4 months from now.

Thanks for the link to that article, it was very informative. I have noticed that the places that do have eGerber in stock are charging quite a markup at the moment. It might be a little bit before I can get my collection into the mylars, but at least now I have the knowledge to know what to order.

That is also a possibility. I know I've ordered things in the past and have been sent entirely wrong items, so it wouldn't be a stretch to have the wrong size bags or boards grabbed and shipped out.

Hey Hulk. Your response was understood and I have found other posts that talk about the boards not fitting all the way into the Mylites4s so it's not just you. I think if I was going to display any of the books then the 4s might be the way to go, but they will all be stored in boxes so the 2s should do just fine. If I do decide to display any in the future, I would probably spring to have them graded so they are protected in case anyone decides to take a closer look at them.

It wasn't that post, I don't remember where it was that I read it. Some further reading on 2 vs 4 has brought some posts on Fullbacks not fitting all the way into the 4s so that may have been the issue. I'm going to go with the 2s and Fullbacks, if I can find some that aren't crazy expensive right now, and see how that goes.

Thanks everyone for the replies. My best guess at this point is that the post I read about not fitting is either due to trying to fit the wrong sizes together, as several have mentioned, or it was an usually thick book and just needed a bigger size. I'm going to order some and start getting my books transferred over since some of my bags have seen better days.

I've never used anything other than the bags and boards from local comic shops. Recently I starting researching higher end stuff for some of my more expensive comics. eGerber MyLites and Fullbacks seem to be the number one suggestion. Before I spend the money on them I wanted to ask if anyone uses them together? They get high reviews but I did read one person who said that they were not able to get a book into the bag when using a fullback because of the thickness. There were no details on what book they were trying to get in there or what age the book was so I wanted to get some feedback from folks who have used them together and see what the experience was.

I think that might be the same person who blocked me about 14 years ago. I was just starting to collect the ashcans and there was a black one posted. I thought the price was high and I couldn't afford it so I made an offer of all of the money I had at the time. The offer was rejected so I saved up a little more and went to make an offer and found out I was blocked. I did reach out and was told that my offer was insulting and wasted their time which is why I was blocked. I got close to completing my collection a couple of years ago and tried to pay the asking price for one of the blacks, around $3,000. I thought it was overpriced again but I really wanted to finish the set so I was willing to pay it. Turns out I'm still blocked after all of this time so even paying full price I was blocked. A couple of years ago I probably would have bought everything they had listed at the price they wanted. I did end up finding everything I needed so they missed out on selling at asking price for what was considered an insulting offer over a decade ago. If the $800 blue #3 is who you are talking about, that is way too high for a blue and it's not even graded. Maybe if it was graded and a really high grade it would make sense.

Hey Jimmy. You are taking on a very daunting task. It took me 13 years to complete a set, and a lot of luck. 3k does seem like a lot, but the yellows are pretty rare, I think I've seen more blacks come up than the yellows. The yellows on ebay right now are high grade as well. It became kind of a passion to collect the set so if I needed one of those I would be tempted to pay that price because you might not see another yellow for years. Like Ike said, getting to a full set is going to cost you thousands due to the yellows and blacks. I've got some duplicates, mostly blue but there might be another color in there. I'll dig mine out and see what I've got but no guarantees it will be anything you need. I do wish you luck, it was a fun journey for me. Have a lot of patience and be ready to spend some money.

Thanks for the link, I appreciate it.

Where is the full set for sale?

I'm looking for the yellow #3 if you still have it.

I've been trying to collect these for quite a while now. That is an amazing site to see them all together. I keep just missing them when they go up for sale. If you ever decide to sell them in the future let me know, I'll make you a good offer.