HuddyBee

Quick question for those of you who have more experience with CGC QC/Encapsulation than me. I have a high grade, fairly uncommon book (Jumbo Comics 69) that I'm thinking about getting graded. Because it has a decent amount of value I would be submitting it Express or Walkthrough. I've had some QC issues myself (damaged books), and a lot of what I see in this thread scares me a decent amount. So my question is: would you expect CGC to be more careful with high dollar books? I would like to get it graded because I may be considering selling down the line and would like to have a firm way to value it. I'm just worried, because it's a book that doesn't come up very often and even the slightest risk of it incurring some damage in the grading process would deter me from getting it slabbed.

Maybe my best course of action would be to just wait out this QC nightmare until CGC can properly handle books? I dunno. Any thoughts would be helpful. Thanks.

I mean I guess I can understand not having the book in an elementary schools, but I don't understand the banning of it in a Jr. or Sr. high school.

On 1/20/2022 at 3:20 PM, William-James88 said:

surpsingly, it seems you do. While PGX gets mocked, I have only heard good things lately, in terms of their grading. People seem to not send simply due to resale value, not because the grading is bad.

It's true, PGX resale is abysmal, though I do think they have one thing over CGC. The biggest problem I have with CGC, is their inner well. Honestly it does a horrible job of securing the comic book. SCS happens all the time with CGC's new slabs. I just had to send a book back, because it arrived damaged, with the inner pages pulled from the cover a millimeter or 2. All I can say is I've never seen a PGX books with SCS.

That being said, saying anything good about PGX is a death sentence on these boards, so for PR's sake, disregard everything I just wrote  

On 1/20/2022 at 2:40 PM, Ninja0215 said:

Maybe it's just me then but honestly I didn't want to send them books I'm not going to se for a year from now. At least  here, I can approximate when I'll see them again. I could be totally wrong but I'll take my chances. 

For sure, do whatever you want. I'm just letting you know CGC isn't going to be faster than the other guys. They will be slower. If it were up to me I would just hold off on getting any comics graded from either company. But I mean, once times get better and CGC fixes their QC nightmare, I'll be sending them a batch of books myself.

On 1/19/2022 at 7:51 AM, Ninja0215 said:

When I looked at the turnaround time there I had a heart attack! Granted, times here aren't that great but they seem to be moving at an average pace.

I'm not quite sure what you looked at, but their turnaround times are still indeed mostly better than CGC's at least what is advertised. Keep in mind CGC's times are in business days and the other guys' are in weeks. CGC's turnaround times only beat the other guys in one category, modern and its only by 7 business days (118 v 125). CGC's time for economy is over 36 weeks where as the other guys is 25 (about 2.5 months difference). And Standard, Express, and Walk-through all have longer turnaround times than their respective counterparts.

Just got this book back from CGC. I was hoping for a 9.8 to sell for some quick $, I sadly got a 9.6. But regardless the book as is now is certainly not a 9.6 or anywhere close. I don't know how they managed to do this but the book itself got pulled upward from the cover about a millimeter or 2. Again, the book is certainly not a 9.6, and I can't imagine how lose the cover is from the staples now.

I will be contacting CGC shortly. Even after a lot of their QC issues, I've still been getting minor books graded by CGC to sell, but stuff like this is the exact reason why I've never sent any high dollar or personal books. Thank goodness this book doesn't amount to much, because it is ruined.

Adventure Comics 260. A super important Aquaman book, but sadly a let down of a cover. It's a really shame Aquaman never got a cover appearance until 1960.

Anybody else get this email:

I found it a little humorous considering the absolute abomination that is QC at CGC currently, especially since they will now be "updating" their fees. Surely not raising, just updating. *wink wink*

On 1/4/2022 at 3:43 PM, universal soldier said:

I am working on a run of FF so that book is important to me.

Far enough. I have found myself willing to drop more $$ on issues if I need them for a run. The Hawkman collector in me didn't care too much about the first app. of Zatanna, but I definitely needed it for my run when I bought it

On 1/4/2022 at 12:51 AM, AGGIEZ said:

I thought about this just yesterday as I was sorting through some of my comics, getting ready to sell a few. Thought to myself, “my boys aren’t interested in this stuff”. Then thought about when I was growing up and how I felt about dying hobbies like stamp collecting and train sets (zero interest).

It’ll happen eventually to our hobby, but this movie business has bought the comics hobby decades!

I agree with this somewhat. But I don't think equating comics to stamps or trains is really all that accurate even excluding the MCU's impact. Kid's love superheroes, and they did before the MCU was popular. I know I loved them as kid, but I didn't read any comics then. Superman is an American icon and is a part of American culture far more than stamps and train sets are. So while comic books as a medium might be declining, I think the sheer popularity of superheroes regardless of movies will keep the hobby afloat.

If people do share a similar concern with OP, I would maybe consider having different purchasing habits. If you feel a book is overrated or overvalued, don't buy it. There are a lot of comics, and they don't all need your money. I know there are a handful of DC books I'd like to purchase that I just can't justify spending the money on, because I don't think they're worth it. It's a bummer that I won't get these books save stumbling upon a deal. But I sure feel a lot better when I spend my money on books that I feel are actually worth it, whether cheaper or more expensive.

Should anyone really drop $200+ on the first appearance of Agatha Harkness? I would argue no, your collection can probably do without such a minor character. However, dropping $100 on the first appearance of Nova? Seems like a far better deal considering Nova's importance and popularity (pre MCU).

The MCU collector would probably choose FF94 over Nova1, but I think it's pretty fair to say (excluding you die hard Agatha fans) most comic collectors would go with Nova.

On 12/28/2021 at 11:34 PM, William-James88 said:

DC simply does not act the same way. Maybe it's time you jumped ship

+1

Considering all the reasons the OP has stated, that's why I never buy a Marvel book, unless I'll be flipping it. I stopped collecting Marvel ~7 years ago, unloaded most of my keys, and haven't looked back. More time to focus on SA DC and GA Fawcett & Fiction House, which I find way more enjoyable. But then again I was never a fan of Stan Lee's writing, so 60's Marvel was never my thing.

On 1/1/2022 at 1:25 PM, MrPcfixer said:

If not is there ANY other workaround for this? I dread sending my business off to CBCS....but I fear my Stan Lee and John Beatty books may have to go there just to get authenticated and slabbed. Thanks in advance everyone happy new year ;-)

Yeah CGC does not verify signatures. If you're trying to sell the books than CBCS is your best option. But if you're just keeping the books for your personal collection and don't want them in a CBCS slab, I would just just keep them raw 

On 12/27/2021 at 4:38 PM, HuddyBee said:

First published Matt Baker art (if I'm not mistaken). Just picked it up!

Quick question for everyone. With this book that I recently posted above (Jumbo 69) do you guys think it would be worth pressing before grading? I always get my modern books pressed, but considering this book is pushing 80 and isn't super high grade, I'm not sure. Also the only really pressable defect is some pretty minor creasing that you can see in the photos. Thanks.

After seeing a the $4k+ sale for the 7.0 promise collection copy of this book, I'm interested to see what some would think my copy would grade at.

Everything is attached and complete. Thanks for the help!

Location might also be of note. Here in the mid-west I rarely run into other people looking for comics, at least at flea markets. I've frequented the same locations for the past 3 years or so, and rarely run into any competition. I don't know if there are less collectors in my area or if they just don't know where to look. I'm sure it's a different story out east or west especially in more populated regions.

On 12/21/2021 at 11:50 AM, William-James88 said:

depends what you collect, it's not all equal. I finally found a Master Comics 95 at guide price and jumped on it. Was surprised it was still available on ebay.

100% agree, GA Fawcett along with SA DC, are still really affordable. For the past 5 years I haven't wanted to touch a marvel book with a 10 foot pole. But I've had a lot of fun collecting DC and Fawcett. Recently started collecting Fiction House as well, if you know where to look you can find some great deals. Just recently picked up a couple of books ~7.0 range for a great price.

Another note: Because of an uptick in prices, flea markets have honestly been my best place to find good deals. Finding a book that usually hits $50+ for only $1 still feels as good as ever!

11 hours ago, Mike_1 said:

I’ve decided to abandon the mission here unless prices drop substantially.  I should have bought it 10 years ago and I missed the boat.  No grade is worth asking to me for the grade that it is.  I’ll collect something else.  

Makes sense, though I would recommend keeping an eye on the book still, you never know a nice cheap copy might just pop up. Also don't rule out finding this book in the wild at flea markets, antique malls, used books stores etc. Though you probably won't find a 9.8, this comic is an anniversary issue and a lot of copies were printed. So I don't think it's out of the range of possibility to find one at some of the aforementioned locations.

8 hours ago, KCOComics said:

This hobby does have allot to offer and while prices seem to be going up everywhere, there are still affordable options. I'm focusing on high grade BA DC Horror. 

Great art and I really enjoy it.

I figured based on your profile photo. And I agree BA DC horror has some real great stuff, and you can generally find real nice copies for around $5-10 easily. I wouldn't be surprised if there's a spike in these books once E.C.'s become out of reach, but I doubt it'll happen for a while.

P.S. A little off topic, but I've always felt House Of Secrets 118 was a criminally underrated cover, probably my favorite of the run.