Petroman

On 9/11/2022 at 3:31 PM, Jasonmorris1000000 said:

I wish I knew how to press myself.  And just more about pressings in general.  My 9.8 percentages are lower than your’s because I’m also speculating as to whether a pressing would actually bump a book to a 9.8.  Sometimes I’m off base and I end up wasting my money

There are a few books on Amazon that are worth checking out if you're interested in the pressing and cleaning process.  The Jacob Gadbois book has been very informative.  I have been pressing books myself long before the book came out but its always worth looking at the pressing process that others use.  There is definitely an art to pressing, which is why I'm always quite skeptical of someone offering a "quick press".  Yes, a quick press can get out very simple defects like light finger bends, but many other defects require far more time and attention

On 9/8/2022 at 9:42 PM, Ed Hanes said:

yeah, I am lowering my expectations on financial returns..just gonna do prescreen 9.0 from now on. Looking at most of the rejects, I could still make some money on 9.0-9.6 

Always tough to maximize profit, especially with inconsistent grading.  Will definitely require more effort going forward to research what each book sells at across various grades and then building submissions that set the minimum thresholds appropriately.  Kinda sux that you can only do the pre-screen for 25 book submissions and that all the books have to have the same minimum but it is what it is.  I would *really* hope that CGC has some audit process in place where if say 80% of the books screen out in a batch then an extra set of eyes gets involved.  If they don't have this, they certainly should.

On 9/8/2022 at 8:45 PM, Ed Hanes said:

It was just a facetious remark, the next statement (...but I am a very careful packer) provided more context to what I said. As if what 'I hope' would dictate how my comics were handled in shipment

Sorry mate, didn't read it that way at all.  But regardless, I still think the 9.8 grading experiment is worth it.  Or maybe a little lower depending on the books submitted.  I've sent in too many books that I expected 9.8 or 9.6 at worse that come back as completely worthless 9.4, 9.2, 9.0...etc.  I'd rather get my book back for an $8 fine than get is slabbed at a horrid grade that means I'll either CPR it or dump it for a loss.  Personally I'm looking to downsize my collection from the 70's - 90's but it really sux selling a book that I've kept for 30+ years at a loss.

On 9/8/2022 at 3:50 PM, Ed Hanes said:

I am hoping that maybe there was some shipment damage on the way there ...

Why the heck would you hope that your books were damaged during shipping???   I'd much rather pay the $8 reject fee and get my books back unharmed than have them damaged and facing a difficult insurance claim (especially books targeted for 9.8's).  I seriously doubt the shipper would give you anything if the receiver opened them without reporting a problem with the box.  

25 book Modern Slow

Received & SFG:   5/16

G/E/I:                      7/23

Shipped:                 7/26

Grades were pretty spot on for what I had written down in advance so my hats off to the grader!  These were mostly Marvel books from 1978-1993 with a few DC's in the mix.  

On 7/22/2022 at 8:23 AM, justinsl said:

Okay, so I am a noob with getting my own books graded but I think this thread has answered the question I had: just because my books are now "scheduled for grading" does not mean I should expect to see them anytime soon.

These were two different modern submissions, no fast tracks. One was received 6/10 and the other 7/12; interestingly they both were made "scheduled for grading" yesterday (when my card was charged.)

I'd say the reality is that there is no way to predict when you will get your books back.  It's quite possible that the 6/10 book could move to the Grading/Encapsulation/Imaging step in the very near future, and its probably equally as possible that it could take another month or two.  I personally have a MODERN submission that was received and went to SFG on 5/16 and hasn't moved since.  But I've seen others showing MODERN submissions from June that have already been shipped back.  The inner workings of CGC are very opaque, but many have surmised that books in the SFG status have been assigned to a specific grader and are thus in that grader's "queue".  Some graders are faster than others, so the time in the queue varies.  Anyway, good luck with your subs and hope you get them back in a timely manner and with the expected grades!

On 7/19/2022 at 3:21 PM, jjfversion1 said:

I sent 25 modern prescreen and 25 modern slow boat and both were received on 6/7/22. The slow boat just changed to GEI today and the prescreen is still sitting at SFG.

Honestly, I was surprised that the slow boat submission status changed before the prescreen given previous posts.

CGC certainly keeps us guessing as to how their internal processing works!  My slow boat modern from 5/16 still sits in SFG while others received in June have already been processed.  Maybe it has to do with the types of books submitted?  Mine was mostly early 80's to early 90's stuff.  Maybe those books go to different graders than more recent books?  Who knows and there's not much you can do about it anyway.

On 7/19/2022 at 9:37 AM, awakeintheashes said:

21/25 - I’ll take it. 

So it does seem possible that using PRESCREEN will speed up the grading process, huh?  My MODERN sub received 5/16 has been hanging out in SFG for 2 months now, but looks like a prescreen from a few weeks later has jumped the queue.  I've been planning on using prescreen anyway for newer books to avoid getting a bunch of worthless under-graded slabs back, and if that ends up speeding up the TAT all the better.

On 7/12/2022 at 5:24 PM, Willbert said:

Well your books must be stacked on top of my books. I came by just to vent more than anything. I've got one Modern submission of 22 books that was marked received back on 3/2 and has been stuck in G/E/I since MAY. 90+ working days and counting. I've had multiple subsequent Modern and even Prescreen Modern submissions get completed and shipped back weeks ago. But this one order seems to be stuck in the CGC black hole. I broke down and called last week and got the expected canned response. "Everything looks fine. No red flags." 

FWIW I have found that the longer the TAT on MODERN books the better (i.e. more reliable) the grades.  Others have speculated that each grader has a queue of books, so maybe this explains it.  The better, more senior graders take longer to grade books and thus come up with more accurate grades.  Will be interested to hear how you guys do grades-wise on these submissions.  Good luck!

On 7/11/2022 at 9:42 AM, skybolt said:

Ran into another buzz-saw. This submission went to G/E/I at the same time as the one above, so I'm assuming it was the same grader.

2 - 9.8's, 16 - 9.6's, 4 - 9.4', 1 - 9.2 & 1 - 9.0.

Ouch!  Those are brutal, and costly, grades if you were hoping for the majority to be 9.8's.  I'm planning on using the pre-screen option for all of my expected 9.8 MODERN submissions going forward.  Getting them back below 9.6 is frankly just a waste of money, and even at 9.6 I'd just prefer to leave the books ungraded and maybe submit down the road if they appreciate.  I figure worst case you end up with $200 in screen-out fees if the entire 25 book submission kicks out, but I'd rather lose the $200 than blow $500+ on books that I'll have a hard time selling.

On 7/8/2022 at 11:52 AM, Ninja0215 said:

I am  also insane 

ROTFLMAO!  Thanks for the Friday humor!

On 7/8/2022 at 10:32 AM, Ninja0215 said:

CGC0277766222

4090470

7/8/22

3

1,200

ECONOMY

Received at CCS

 

CGC2991320005

4090491

7/8/22

3

300

MODERN

Received at CCS

Mailed out saturday 

ECONOMY with CCS!  You must be a very patient person!

On 7/7/2022 at 4:13 PM, captainzombie said:

My brother had to do that yesterday and give them a call as he has had books still sitting at CGC since May 2021. He thinks he may have had some resolution on getting his books finally to get graded but he still feels uncertain even speaking to a manager.

May 2021?  Wow.  I can maybe see it taking that long if they went to CCS first, but otherwise I'd be pretty worried if I were him.

On 7/6/2022 at 5:52 PM, Miguelb said:

Sent three fast track modern where they were opened and entered on 6/28.  They are already on their way back to me.

How were the grades?  My recent experience has been the faster the turn around, the worse the grades.  Hopefully this was not the case for you!

On 6/29/2022 at 5:29 PM, Ed Hanes said:

this is strange..sent in 26 comics ..broken up in two submissions ..I only thought each submission had to be 25 minimum..not also maximum

I think the only time a submission minimum is 25 is if you add in the pre-screen option.  WRT the maximum, yeah they can only fit 25 books into a box so that's why the broke it into 2 submissions.

On 6/29/2022 at 5:19 PM, Aarrow108 said:

1x Express
Delivered 6/27; Received 6/29; Scheduled for Grading 6/29

2x Standard
Delivered 6/27; Received 6/29; Scheduled for Grading 6/29

4x Fast Track Economy
Delivered 6/27; Received 6/29; Scheduled for Grading 6/29

All charged the day they were entered into the system if anyone is wondering...

Yes, this seems to be the new process where they charge you immediately upon entering the order in the system.  I think the only exception is if you add the pre-screen option.

On 6/29/2022 at 11:04 AM, Stefan_W said:

I use the 9.8 pre-screen quite a bit. It works for me because it lowers the risk cost in case I hit a particularly harsh grader.

In terms of how consistent the tier is, based on my experience I would say that it is as consistent as the other tiers. That is to say that you can expect to hit one of the tougher graders every 4 or 5 submissions. It is worth noting that I am pretty sure they put their newest graders in this tier, so any toughness is likely due to a new person trying to show that they are precise. 

I have never used pre-screen but plan on doing so for my modern submissions going forward.  Especially those that need a 9.8 to be worth it.  I was always put off by the extra processing time, but it seems that it may not really affect the TAT much and with their new up-front charging when received it has the added benefit of moving the charge out closer to the date you will get the books back.

On 6/29/2022 at 11:24 AM, djzombi said:

I think moderns are being held to much, much higher standards.  
I had a Standard submission come back recently.  
Adam: Legend of the Blue Marvel #1 (2009), with a couple of spine tics, I estimated to be a 9.2.  It got a 9.0.  
Comico Primer #2 (1982), with that black border cover, had many color-breaking spine creases and I estimated it to be 8.0.  I got a 9.2.  That's a HUGE difference!
(no pressing on either one)

Completely agree.  If you compare a Modern 9.0 vs. a Silver Age 9.0 it wouldn't even be close.  That same Modern would likely be a 9.6 or better if it were Silver Age.  The same can probably be said for Bronze and Copper age books but I think the differences get less extreme.  

On 6/29/2022 at 12:38 PM, skybolt said:

I honestly hate seeing non-color breaking spine ticks on pressed books. I wonder if spine stress lines tend to revert back after a couple of months sitting at CGC, more so than other pressable defects.

Its possible that they revert back, or that they were just never completely pressed out.  Because of the curvature around the spine of the book those ticks can be difficult to press out.  Sometimes you need to use a heat sealing iron to do it, but I don't think your typical "quick press" is going to go that in depth.

On 6/17/2022 at 2:23 PM, KEY ISSUES Comics said:

Given all of the QC errors lately, I would not be surprised if the 9.8 with grader's notes was actually graded 9.4-9.6, but assigned the wrong grade/label...

Honestly I think the book was fairly graded.  It was an Excalibur Special Edition #nn that was pretty darn near perfect.  Submitted 2 copies that were both bagged and boarded back in 1987.  They both had an identical production error light scuff on the back that I was afraid a new grader would hammer.  The other copy came back as 9.6 and had "fingerprints to cover".  I didn't see fingerprints on either cover but it is a pretty busy cover so I probably missed them.  In any event I feel the grades I got on this batch were consistent with the grades I used to get prior to 2021.  I am hopeful this will be the trend with submissions going forward. 

On 6/17/2022 at 11:44 AM, Beastfeast said:

Fingerprints got a 9.8?! They've always hammered that. 

It was a square bound prestige format book.  Not high gloss, but definitely a little glossy.  I guess the fact that both defects were "very light" was minor enough to allow for the 9.8 grade.  I'm hoping that the grading eases up enough to get back to the point where a 9.8 does not have to be a mint condition book.  This MFT submission took about 1.5 months to process whereas my prior ones were done in about 2 weeks.  My guess is that I got a more experience grader on this submission and thus the extra processing time and more accurate grades.  The grades on my prior two MFT's were pretty .  I'll happily have them take the extra time versus rushing the books through and getting low grades.

Best grades I've had in over a year.  All pre-1993 books, 8 x 9.8 and 2 x 9.6.  Oddly enough one of the 9.8's had grader notes.  Never seen that before.  "very light fingerprints on cover
very light spine stress lines to cover"

On 6/15/2022 at 1:13 PM, Petroman said:

It's probably not worth wasting your time trying to contact them as they will likely just give you canned responses.  Them telling you that your "submissions is in line" is probably correct, albeit somewhat misleading.  From scouring this forum it seems that there is no "one line" per tier where things get graded on a first in, first out basis.  Honestly, I don't think anyone but people at CGC know how books progress through the grading cycle.  I've got a MFT submission that was delivered on 5/9 that has been SFG ever since.  But I've seen others post that their MFT books received as recent as 5/27 have already been shipped back.  Trying to rationalize it, or worrying too much about it will only aggravate you further.  Just keep checking periodically and one magical day it will move to G/E/I and beyond.

And my magical day is today...

On 6/15/2022 at 6:24 PM, skybolt said:

Honestly, I'd rather they just ask for a refund instead of giving a neutral or negative feedback.

Agreed, and really in the case of something with a third party certified grade, Ebay should remove neutral/negative feedback that has to do with the questioning the accuracy of the grade.  It might be worth asking if they would do this (although I must admit I have never had much luck dealing with their support people).