ExNihilo

Picked up the Secret Warriors set at a great price inching me closer to completing my Hickman Saga set.  Very grateful.  Great seller.  

I mean the 1st and 4th printing covers don't even look close to the same so it should be easy to figure out who was in the wrong.  If CGC was, I'm sure you can call them up and they'll have the book correctly reholdered.  In any case, it really doesn't put a whole lot of confidence in their Quality Control department.

On ‎10‎/‎20‎/‎2017 at 11:20 AM, joeypost said:

What is a .5 or .2 grade bump worth these days on an ASM 300? If it is more than the CPR costs it may be worth the risk. If this book is for your private collection, leave it as is until you decide to sell. 

What does CPR stand for?

And thanks everyone for the advice here.

1 hour ago, Rich_Henn said:

I have over 10,000+ CGC s/s slabs in hand

Wow! 

2 minutes ago, tommydee89 said:

I'm really not worried about it the original post wasnt worrying about the cost.. It was worrying that I wasn't going to get my book. It was four months til I got it and I got paranoid and scared since it was my first time doing it. Next time, I'll know to ask why something is so much. Get a green slip with what is included in cost and make sure what i'm doing is worth it. Other then that, the experience was great. Awesomecon was great. I met everyone I wanted too. Bought some comics and met Stan Lee. Of course I'm going to over pay to experience those things.

I guess we all focused on the cost when you mentioned that you were worried that you might have paid too much for the signature process.  But now that you mention getting the book pressed, it's starting to make more sense why the book took so long to get back to you.  Even with FastTrack, that's an estimated 50 business days (10 weeks) that a book will take to move through the entire process.  Factor in holidays, the fact that your books probably weren't subbed immediately, and that CGC takes longer during Con season and the time that it took for you to get your book back to you doesn't seem as outrageous.  Glad you're happy with the end product though.

Alright, I do see 3 creases on the back cover, with the one near the staple being the worst of it.  They actually look worst in the photos (not sure if the lighting or what makes it look like a color break), but to the naked eye, there's no color break on the middle one.  The one nearest the staple does appear to have a slight color break.  All in all, i'm starting to second guess how much a press would actually benefit this book.

By my calculation, this should be your approximate cost

Stan's fee: $120
Excelsior Collectibles fee: $20
Value Fast Track: $42 ($32 + $10)
Shipping: $32 (1 book, registered mail)
Handling Fee: $5

Total: $219

They should have given you a green submission form for your records which should have the cost to CGC (Stan and Excelsiors Fees would be on top of that).  That actually gets close to the $153 + $60.40 which leads me to wonder if you were double charged Stan's signing fee.  And again, I don't understand how CGC is billing you $60.40 when you already have your book back.  It was my understanding that they wouldn't even move it past "verified" without you first settling your bill.

18 hours ago, Bomber-Bob said:

First off, I do think that reader's crease breaks color, forget that book. Regarding the spine stress, keep in mind that the book has some pressure on it in the slab, sometimes making the lines hard to see. Sometimes you have to deslab the book to see what they are talking about. Fingerprints on a black cover will be tough to remove. Remember, fingers leave oil and it cannot be 'erased'. It would have to be dabbed off, not a sure thing. I think your best chance of improvement is on the ASM 300 with the spine stress.

So what is a spine stress though?  I guess in my head it's like the image below where it's merely a product of the book being opened and effectively a color breaking crease along the spine.  The below example seems to have a color break along the entire spine, but some books have less of this.  Is my understanding of a spine stress correct or is it something else?

It sounds like I'm SOL on the fingerprints and that's understandable.  I am glad to hear that a press might be able to positively affect the ASM 300 since that is the one book that would benefit the most from an increase in the grade.

Thanks.

At some point, it must become impossible to verify the exact version of something.  For example, if I take a panel of X-Men #1, how do I know if it came from cover A, B, C, D, or E?  Does a panel come from a first print or a 4th print?  But verification issues aside, I imagine CGC would be willing to slab whatever you ask of them.  If you're willing to give them money for something that's gonna receive a NG rating, who are they to argue?  I agree that key pages/panels make some sense considering the exploding cost of major keys.  And as a piece of art, there is probably a lot of appreciative value that can be attributed to a panel as opposed to a book.  Like if you have the panel with the first appearance of Superman, then you could look on your slab and tell people "this is the VERY first appearance of this character".  Maybe cameo appearances will start increasing in value (like Incredible Hulk 180).

I guess what I'm saying is that i'm sure it could be done if you're interested in verifying your page/panel, but as far as presentation of your art at that point, there are probably better alternatives that would look nicer. 

I guess for what purpose?  Is there any added value for CGC to grade a single panel?  Wouldn't it be better to get it matted/framed in museum glass and have it displayed that way?

I paid $32 for shipping and handling.  Having personally sent slabs of the same (or greater value), I know to mail something USPS Priority Mail with $1000 insurance only ran me $24 ($500 insurance runs about $17).  The whole reason they push registered mail service is the $50k insurance (b/c for whatever reason their advertised Priority Mail only comes with $100 in insurance).  If a customer is going to pay extra to insure their books, then it stands to reason they're going to want the book safely packaged.  I'm not sure why CGC would think it's okay to send a book with limited protection.  Other than their pockets, where's the rest of the cost going if not for padding/protection.  (eyeroll)

Thanks @BeachBum

What more can be said that hasn't already been mentioned.  Great, simple communication, and I love how he organizes his sales threads with recaps.  Makes it so easy to see what's still available without having to click through 20+ pages and cross referencing against everyone who's taken a book.  

So I got my first batch of books back (which you can see in the following link) and I had a few questions regarding pressing and whether it could potentially increase my scores.  I know it's all conjecture, but I figure those of you with more experience would know which grading notes can be fixed through pressing and which cannot.

For starters, every book with grader notes came back with "Spine Stress Lines Spine", but what exactly does that mean?  As I look at the spine on my ASM #300, I see no flaking or color breaks of any kind that would indicate stress.  So what is it and is it something that can be addressed through a press?

My ASM vol2 #36 (9.4 copy) notes a fingerprint on the front right center (if it's there, I can't see it).  Can this be removed through cleaning?  I read that you can remove fingerprints immediately, but it has now obviously been a long time since that print was probably placed there.

And the big one, Incredible Hulk #271 has a "readers crease full right of back cover."  Upon closer inspection, I can see what they are referring to.  Fortunately, there doesn't appear to be any color break as a result of the crease.  So overall, would it be wise to have the books cleaned/pressed before they're re-graded (since I still want to get sigs of the series artists/writers).  Am I at risk of a cleaning/press ruining Stan's sig that is already on there?  Thanks in advance for your advice.

36 minutes ago, ADAMANTIUM said:

Congrats!! Did you have it pressed? 

it could have been something as simple as a fingerprint.

I'll get you next time Gadget! Next Time! 

Book was not pressed and grader notes did not mention any fingerprints.

Subbed books under my own account for the first time and finally got them back.  I didn't peek at the grades until unboxing and all-in-all, everything came back as I had expected, with the exception of one book.  (All books were signed by Stan Lee @ Palm Springs Comic Con and unpressed.)

Silver Surfer #1.  I bought it slabbed at 7.5, and thankfully it came back with the same grade.  Silver Surfer's my favorite character and I love how Stan used a silver pen to match.  It seems like they could have used a silver sharpie with a thinner tip, but beggars can't be choosers.

This was the only book I subbed that came from my personal collection (the rest were bought on eBay).  The low score clearly reflects that its been in my collection for 20+ years.  I could have waited to find a higher grade book, but at the time (remember I'm new to all of this), I wasn't sure how many more signing events Stan would be attending.  Since it's for my personal collection, I'll probably have it sent off to be signed by Bagley and Michelinie at some point.

The lone 9.8 of the group.  The cover's a bit busy and I wish they let him use a silver sharpie on this.  But then I guess it might interfere with Iceman and the grey background.  Still a badass wraparound cover though.

Subbed this book in the PGM section.  To the naked eye, the book has no flaws and sharp corners.  The only issue I had before submitting to CGC was some black ink making it's way into the white lettering on the cover.  So I knew the book wasn't gonna be a 9.8 going in and am happy that the grader didn't find anything else to drop it down below a 9.6.  This is one of my favorite books and I'm really pleased with the placement (front and center) and, at least to me, it was the nicest signature of the bunch.  Next up, I plan on trying to get J. Michael Straczynski, JR Jr., and Scott Hanna to sign...

...Then again, there is something to be said about the elegance and simplicity of a (mostly) black cover.  Second copy came back a 9.4.  Not entirely unexpected due to some corners not being exactly sharp.  Debating whether I should keep this book simple or if I should pursue additional signatures on this book as well.

Here's where the surprise came in.  Going in, I was expecting a 9.0 (minimum) on this book.  Even now I look at the book and I just can't seem to find enough faults to drop it to a 7.0.  Especially when compared to the Silver Surfer #1 which has some wear and tear on the spine along with some color break along the top edge.  By comparison, the corners on this book are so sharp, I was a little worried that some restoration might have been done.  I mean, the book really looks incredible to the naked eye.  I will admit though, after sending this book to get signed, I immediately felt some regret.  It's a very busy cover with a lot of dark colors that led to a difficult decision on where I wanted the sig placement.  Overall, I think this cover just looks better raw.  That being said, my original plan was to get the book signed by Sal Buscema, but now I'm wondering if it's worth it at all considering the dismal score.  (NOTE: I will have a separate thread regarding pressing and whether or not any books may benefit from it.  It just didn't seem appropriate here.)

Lastly, I was hoping for a 9.6...oh well.  

1 minute ago, ADAMANTIUM said:

No cracks, I hope 

Nope.  Slab looks sharp as a whistle.  

Same as OP and @ADAMANTIUM - Gemini mailer, except in my case no bubble wrap.  Edges of box were largely undamaged.  I ordered Registered Mail if that makes a difference.

4 minutes ago, ADAMANTIUM said:

I'll post pics of the box... As soon as it gets here... Is yours FedEx too?

 

USPS Registered Mail.

Yeesh, now this thread has me worried about my single Standard book I'm expecting back any day now. 

On 8/29/2017 at 11:49 AM, poppy73 said:

I believe you're referring to the black ink that's intruding into the white lettering. I don't think that would be held against you by the graders due to it being a printing error but if you want to play it safe that's still a book you can pick up in NM condition without breaking the bank. I own an ungraded copy myself that I plan to have signed when the opportunity presents itself. Tonight I'll have to pull mine out to see if my book has the same defect.

On 9/26/2017 at 11:58 AM, Spawn1709 said:

Nice looking book. Probably 9.4 - 9.6. Printer defects are a fault of the manufacturer and CGC does NOT lower the grade because of them. 

Book came back a 9.6 which I'm perfectly happy with.  There weren't any grader notes so I'm only left to assume the black ink in the white letterings dinged it 0.2 points.  Either way, I'm extremely happy with how the book turned out.  I got Stan's sig right in the middle of the cover and it looks pretty decent, which seems to be a rarity these days due to his age and how many books they have him sign.

What book did you submit?  How certain are you that it was indeed a first print and not a fourth print?

Tier (also list FastTrack where applicable): Standard
Number of books: 1
Received: 9/28
Verified: 9/29
Graded: 10/9
Shipped/Safe: 10/10
Received (by owner): 10/17  (Total Business Days to Completion: 14)  ***EDIT: turns out the book arrived, but no shipping notice was ever sent my way.

Tier (also list FastTrack where applicable): Modern Fast Track
Number of books: 7
Received: 9/28
Verified: 10/3
Graded: 10/10
Shipped/Safe: 10/11 (sch ship date: 10/12)
Received (by owner): 10/16 (Total Business Days to Completion: 13)

NEW SUB
Tier (also list FastTrack where applicable): Modern
Number of books: 2
Received: 10/16
Verified: TBD
Graded: TBD
Shipped/Safe: TBD
Received (by owner): TBD

10 hours ago, ADAMANTIUM said:

Or the book in question, you feel you could have paid less for it already signed and graded on ebay (perhaps even higher graded)? without the experience of seeing Stan sign it and waiting in line and waiting so long for it to get back to you? as meeting Stan doesn't seem worth the extra $$ ?

You paid $150? for the SS, witness, and grading? all in one for $150?

I paid $185....I did get mine back within a little over a month. Mine was a Silver Age Book an X-men 12.

Having submitted books through Excelsior Collectibles, the $150+ sounds like just the cost for the signature.  I subbed books 2 months ago and the rate was $120 to Stan, $20 to Excelsior, a form fee, then shipping/insurance.  All that should get to the $150+.  It sounds like OP might not have been clear on what was covered in the initial fees.  The $60 might be Value FT plus registered shipping owed to CGC.  Though, I am surprised that Excelsior would complete the order without collecting all dues owed to them first.

Literally had a dream two nights ago that someone was pressing books using an iron.  I think I've been hanging around the boards too much if comic pressing is making its way into my dreams.