Lightning55

+1 on that. Even moisture content of the paper could change the weight, especially if weighed in Florida, humidity capital of the world. If they could tell anything by weighing, they would have been able to detect trimming from day 1.

Congrats on the grade bumps. Definitely worth the investment. A stacking bend should be a routine ground ball for any presser. And probably shouldn't be present in a 9.8, since that grade is supposed to be the equivalent of an fresh comic, right out of the box. Like a new comic on the shelf, before anyone manhandled it. New comics haven't had an opportunity to form a stacking bend.

Grader notes on a 9.8, the rarest of the rare. I'm curious as to what the Notes said???

Unless he can be brought up on racketeering charges, I don't see the FBI ever getting involved. Probably never even know of its existence, as in "What comic scandal?"

Yes, it was previously suggested, a couple of times during this long journey. They could add a few things to the lookup page - maybe a History tab with all known movement (sales history, reholder history, photos of each time it was processed in any way, etc. Sort of like a vehicle title history. Maybe someday we will be saying "Show me the SlabFax".

As in the thread links that @flchris kindly provided, and various similar threads, the CGC response has generally been that the grader notes are internal tools, not all-inclusive. I think they have been purposely vague, so collectors aren't picking apart the comments, calling to argue specific judgments. Regarding the notes being from grader to grader, and I'm just spitballing here, but maybe there's a light stain that the first grader sees that could easily be missed, so he notes it. The stain figured into his preliminary grade. If the final grader doesn't see it, the early grade might seem "off". But the note brings it to his attention, making sense of the preliminary grade. Or maybe that big white subscription crease isn't noted at all, because it is so obvious no one would miss it. I just know that we have been told that the graders' job is to assign a grade. If they make notes, it is for operational purposes, and not all comics will have notes. I personally believe that all comics should have notes. If templated into the system, it might add a few seconds, big deal. Even a 9.8, with one click of a mouse, could say "meets the standard of a new comic, no added defects". Although I see that today's new comics, with the thinner cover paper, are more like 9.4 out of the gate.

Looks like it might be SCS. The condition of the case just above the comic corner (back view) doesn't look great, either. But it could just be my perception of the photo.

Maybe, for the suspected greens to blue on the list, they are just presuming it has been swapped, and immediately compensate the owner. They then keep it untouched, open it later in view of authorities to see what is actually in there.

Set of 6 at $32

Set of 4 at $20

GPA already made a statement, the one you were directed toward. Seemed to cover all aspects of the situation. I would think that their system of collecting data is very automated. So bad data is going to enter their database from time to time. Invalid sales data would have to be sorted out and removed. Only they know how efficiently and expeditiously that can be accomplished. I'm sure there's a lot of maintenance to keep it as pure as possible. The data is their product, so protecting it is Job 1.

CGC is not compelled in any way to provide any answers to the many questions we all may have. If they do address any concerns, well, good on them. There is no regulatory agency overseeing the comic collecting industry/hobby. CGC is not a financial institution, subject to SEC rules and regulations. It is a private company, owned by a public company. CGC has not done anything criminal. A bit negligent or incompetent maybe, on the reholder process, but poor performance is not a crime. There is probably fraud taking place, maybe unwittingly aided by CGC. But CGC is not the source of the fraud, so not the subject of an investigation. The person, or people, swapping out books are the criminals. On that criminal level, the parties affected (collectors who lost money due to slab tempering), would be the ones to press charges, to get law enforcement involved, since something tangible was stolen from them - money. Multiple affected parties would have to band together to seek justice and compensation. But....has anyone to date lost money?? Those who potentially could have lost money are supposedly being made whole by CGC, so no longer victims. No victims = no crime = no prosecution. And as long as CGC keeps up with current compensation, as well as funding new, previously-unknown instances of swapping, this whole affair slowly loses traction, fading away. Could be the entire strategy.

The CGC Guarantee states that each book is evaluated by at least 2 graders. Used to be 3.

How to poke a bear... Bear poking back, with restraint.

I have had about 400-500 9.8's, from Bronze, Copper, and Modern submissions. I never got notes, to my knowledge, on even a single 9.8. Maybe not even a single 9.6. I have heard of people getting notes on 9.8's. Very rarely, though. To get a large percentage of notes on 9.8's via multiple submissions is an anomaly. It certainly could suggest some type of inside collusion. Will we ever know? No, not a chance. In my opinion, with no hope of ever knowing, it becomes a moot point. Interesting, maybe troubling, but fruitless.

Same notes on dozens of my books, verbatim. But not on any 9.8's, so there's that....

Yours is possibly not trimmed either. That determination was made at the time of grading, an "opinion". It's an important opinion, but not the end all be all. On a different day, you might not get the same determination. If you could find a few blue label very similar examples, you might be able to send that evidence in to get yours released from purple label prison.

+1 Saved me sooooo much typing. We will have full transparency from CGC right after treasure is found at Oak Island. As in never.

The scans are not of the ungraded book, but of the graded, encapsulated book.

Yes, apparently I did have my facts wrong, but the dates on the announcement were wrong. Plus I was punch drunk from reading dozens of posts by 2 loonies going back and forth about the YouTube videos, at the expense of the other 10,000 of us who really don't care about that one way or the other.

My error, then. It says Updated in the title, posted 1/3, then under that in bold Updated January 3, 2024. Maybe threw me off with the dates.

So the answers to your questions have been public knowledge since Jan. 3rd, by way of a CGC announcement. And you have been asking the questions for 5 pages (or what seems like 20). Is this like Jeopardy, where they give you the answer and you have to come up with the question??

It's the same statement that was issued 1/3/24. Now you're happy with it??

That is foxing, a common affliction of old paper. It is an aging effect, from humidity or insect activity, or both. Irreversible, I believe, and takes a big hit on grading.