pgbeckstrom

If a $5 handling fee is what it takes to get you members to act; then great! CGC is standing alone in this business of third party grading. They are in bed with all the major comic companies and dealers. Thy charge a $5 handling fee because they know as comic collectors we will pay it. Until a better company comes along CGC will continue to exploit the consumer to make more money. CGC's first business is to make money and they have proven that time and again. There are some of you who are brand loyal to them. It is understandable, given that no other third party grading company can compare to CGC. It is for that reason that CGC will keep nickel and diming us. None can meet the standards set by CGC currently. I have talked with Daniel from PGX personally and I believe he is on the right track. He knows what needs to be done, but has yet to do it. As collectors we have everything to gain from PGX, and other third party grading companies, that meet the proper standards and challenge CGC. CGC does not have a definitive monopoly right now, but they essentially have one. When CGC is given equal competition we all stand to gain. CGC's business model is a reflection of what Americans are standing up against across the United States. Truly take a step back and look through an objective lens at the facts. I am done with CGC. I will no longer be adding to my registry account and will no longer post. I am done with grading for now and will proverbially "put my money where my mouth is". I was up for renewal on 12/6 and refused to do it. This journal is undoubtedly going to upset some of you. I hope so. For others I hope this journal is impetus enough to stand up and defend your hobby from injustice and greed. Make a stand; put what needs to be done above your own desires. Shake off any apathy you may carry. Be responsible. Be accountable. Just be something.

Just read it...you know you want to. My intention was to stir the pot on this subject and boy it worked! I cannot recall the last time a journal entry incited so many responses and discourse, but that was my intention. Writing "Occupy" in a journal heading, given the current clime, is a surefire way to bring out a person's passion. Those of you who have taken the time to put your voice out there I thank you, whether it is agreeing with me or not! Still though I await an official or unofficial response from CGC to my previous question... To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Members are speaking out! I have posted a few journals relating to CGC's poor turn-around times in the economy track. Currently I have been seeing more people also complain about this. As customers we are asking for better service, but at the same time still giving you our service. CGC should have some 'foresight' into improving this before losing customers. My guess though is that CGC believes they have a solid grip on the third-party grading industry and they can continue on their present course with no negative ramifications. Why should they improve service when we keep using them? I may not be a member spending several thousands a year on grading my books, but as a customer doesn't my opinion and others in consensus count for something? We have asked, complained and griped over these poor turn-around times. CGC don't you think its time you at the very least responded to these complaints? To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

My primary collecting goal. I thought it was time for me to write a journal relating to my collecting aspirations, and not a journal remarking on my ire and indignation at turnaround times. When I began seriously collecting comics my focus was first appearances. That seems like a rather commonplace goal for most, because those are some of the most sought after issues in the collecting community. My focus is not only on the more widely recognized characters, but the obscure ones as well (who remembers the Spider-Villain Chance? or the Jack O' Lantern? Or how about Black Lightning?!). Currently 41% of my CGC collection is dedicated to first appearances. That number reflects only the first appearances for characters and not: items, costumes, revivals, et cetera. A few of those issues even have first appearances by more than one character, such as: New Mutants 98, Batman 357, and Avengers Annual 10 to name a few. My raw collection also consists of many first appearances. At a conservative guess, I have nearly quadrupled the amount raw first appearances as I do slabbed. It is interesting to note that CGC does give recognition to most of the first appearance on each slab, but not all. Some first appearances are so obscure that CGC does not even recognize them (see New Avengers 4, first appearance of Maria Hill or Web of Spider-Man 15 for Chance!). In honor of my collecting niche I am going to begin updating the descriptions for each first appearance issue I have. I will add background for each character for starters and take pictures of each slab. My other collecting goals are: -Completing my Incredible Hulk run raw. I am about forty issues from completing that goal. -Completing Dale Keown's run on Incredible Hulk in all 9.8's. -Completing raw the original Marvel Conan run and the What If? series. -Completing my Justice League (1987) CGC series in all 9.8. That?s about all I am tackling for now. It is a realistic goal that I enjoy working at. Thanks for reading and collecting!

HIRE GRADERS! My Captain America 110 SS by Steranko finally has been scheduled for grading after 6 months. Hey CGC instead of maximizing profits why not try maximizing customer satisfaction. I sound like a broken record... To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

...that price is after inflation. I have been following David Swan, clouded 9 and Ipersky's discourse. With that being said I have felt compelled to give my unsolicited opinion. CGC is notorious for their slow turn around times. I have openly complained over the message boards before about this. At the end of the day CGC is in the business of making money first, that is the unfortunate end state for us waiting six months for a book to return. They will not take the resources to find and train new graders when we just continue to flood them with books regardless of when they are returned to us. Their delivery times are a joke, just read the fine print below it," Grading turnaround times are estimates only. Actual turnaround times could be longer." Which basically says to us, "you will get your book when we are done with it". When CGC cannot meet their "estimated delivery time", for the folks that pay extra with fast track, should not they refund that cost? Yes they should, but do they? Alas, no. $$$ Ipersky makes an excellent point from the suppliers perspective. They want our money. If we want comics they will get us comics. If we want rocks then we shall have ROCKS! If we want cake then they will force feed us CAKE! A good seller supplies according to the demand and they make as much as they possibly can in that process. I collect an obscene amount of comics like every other member of the registry I am sure. My collection is for my own personal enjoyment, but someday maybe comics won't be as widespread and available as they are now. Then my collection becomes truly worth something. Not for the extrinsic monetary value, but for posterity. A little slice of history that can be kept and enjoyed by another generation. When I die all the comics in the world will do me no good. I am a collector, this is my vice. I will end with an excellent, albeit, coarse adage: I gotta do more coke, so I can work harder, so I can make more money, SO I CAN DO MORE COKE, SO I CAN WORK HARDER AND MAKE MORE MONEY AND HAVE MORE COMICS!!! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Do they offer a degree in comic grading?! I have had my Batman 232 in CGC's possesion for 129 days. I wanted it signed by Neal Adams. It has only recently become VERIFIED. Not scheduled for grading, but verified. I know someone in that office reads these posts, so take note. Take a small hit in your profits and hire some more graders. Just because CGC is the number one third party grading service is it right they make their customers wait so long?

CGC's stranglehold on third party grading I do 90% of my comic book shopping on ebay. More often than not I will see an individual issue go for more money when it is graded by CGC versus any other third party grading service. What makes CGC so much better than the others? Apart from being the first to offer third party grading and encapsulation, why are they on top? Something that bothers me about CGC is they refuse to recognize certificate of authenticities for comics and they will not recognize a signature that they were not there to witness. What a convenient ploy you money grubbing capitalists. CGC can make that much more money charging for their signature series service. CGC is not satisified enough with having the third party grading market covered and reaping the spoils, they want more money by nickel and diming us with signature series. It won't be long before they start increasing the prices on all their grading services either I bet. This entry reminds me of a comment I posted at comicvine.com in regards to trade paperbacks. I said forget TPB's and download comics from reputable torrent sites like demonoid.me free. Comicvine censored everything I said. I really do not feel bad about downloading comics free when I spend in excess of 5k a year on them. If you truly believe the BS big business tells you that people like me are pirates and threaten the industry your naive. Companies like Marvel,DC and CGC will get along just fine regardless. I am so sick and tired of the state of our nation. Capitalism combined with democracy have created avarice so legendary that it is unparalleled in the entire history of the world. Now lets see how long this post will last... 99 to .5 and 1 to 99.5 Capitalist democracy strikes again!

Amazing Spider-Man Mcfarlane run I recently completed my first set within the registry, Amazing Spider-Man 298-328. This was Todd Mcfarlane's run in the late 80's through early 90's that was so popular Marvel decided to give him his own Spider-Man title. It took me about a year to purchase each issue. It started with me selling the entire run raw on ebay. I am currently ranked 18 in the registry for this run. All issues are 9.4 or higher. Completion feels good! The picture below is of the entire run I had sold raw on ebay a year prior. They were all near mint or better. Thanks for reading and may you all achieve your completion desires!

Confused... I need help making a request to add a new set. I know you do it through the chat board, but to whom and how? Any help would be appreciated!

Broke it! Need I say more... To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Batman 181 I just bought Batman 181 CGC 8.5 on ebay. I paid much more than I originally intended, but I have desired this book for a long time. I collect first appearances primarily and have this particular issue raw at low grade, so a higher grade CGC copy was a gimme. It is nice when ebay sellers put up such sought after key issues on auction style. Usually you see them at 'buy it now' prices that are exorbitant. Thank you to kristofstack for the beautiful key. My only regret would be if Lee K was bidding on this issue... To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Surprises all around! So after about 3 months I finally had my second round submissions graded! Here are the results(my predictions will be in parantheses and the actual grade will follow): Action Comics 340---(8.0) 7.5 Amazing Adventures 11---(6.5) 8.5 Amazing Spider-Man 46---(7.0) 7.0 Detective Comics 411---(8.5) 9.0 Iron Man 55---(7.5) 6.0 Marvel Premiere 15---(8.5) 9.0 Marvel Super Heroes 12---(7.5) 8.0 Restored SA X-Men 94---(5.5) 8.0 X-Men101---(8.5) 8.5 What can I say? Wow! I was all over the board, some went high some went low. All in all it was pretty good, I am especially happy with X-Men 94! My grading needs serious help I suppose. Iron Man 55 really surprised me, I was sure it would at least be in the 7 range?! Marvel Super Heroes got the purple label of death! I did not see that coming. I will no longer be using that ebay seller who bought it from, whose ID I will not expose...The rest are great, first appearances at high grades, these may just push me over the 10,000 point range! Thanks for reading and keep on collecting! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

I can't use the forum so I am addressing this question here. I recently received back a my third round of submissions. Green Lantern Corps 201 says it is not valid for registration, because it is the wrong book. This is the issue that is the first appearance of Kilowog and it also was the first issue from the originally 1960's Green Lantern series that changed its name, with this same issue, to Green Lantern Corps. I know I have the right set so what is going on? To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

I am quite happy... Here are the issues( the first grade is my guess and the second is what the issue graded at): Amazing Spider-Man 238====9.2====9.2 Battle Chasers 1 (Red Monika Variant)====9.4===9.6 Dark Horse Presents Annual 1998====9.6====9.6 Green Lantern 201====9.2====9.6 Incredible Hulk 340====9.4====9.6 Iron Man 282====9.8====9.8 New Mutants 98====9.4====9.6 All the issues graded at or higher than expected. I wish my Iron Man 282 graded 9.9 but I have no problem with a 9.8 with white pages! These comics were a good pick to send in. A lot of first appearances at high grades. Thanks for reading and happy collecting! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Submitting for Steranko The issue in question is Captain America 110, a beautiful example of classic Steranko. Near Hulk's hand on the cover is a bit of a black smudge. If it wasn't there the issue would probably grade 7.0 to 7.5 possibly. How bad will that smudge effect the grade? What do you think this issue will grade at(pretend the back and interior are in great shape[cream to off-white pages])? To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Kinda exciting... Neal Adams is signing for CGC sometime in March or April(all submissions due by March 18). My one and only submission is an already certified copy of Batman 232 graded 9.0. This should definitely increase the value of this already sought after ish. I would have submitted my high grade Detective Comics 411, but it is already at CGC being graded. I called and they said they couldn't pull at this part of the process. My second copy of Detective 411 is only a mid grade...as I am writing this a bug is crawling up me to have that one graded...NO! Since I already have a graded issue of 411 coming I cannot justify having the lower one graded also. Whew! Thanks rationality for stepping in... To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Modern age books So I have my third round of submissions packaged and ready to ship out tomorrow. I decided to save a little money and just send a few modern age books. They are as follows: Book====My grade Amazing Spider-Man 238====9.2 Battle Chasers(Red Monika Variant)====9.4 Dark Horse Presents Annual 1998====9.6 Green Lantern 201(first Kilowog)====9.2 Incredible Hulk 340====9.4 Iron Man 282====9.8 New Mutants 98====9.4 All in all a nice set of good looking keys. There are not many graded copies of Green Lantern 201 and DHP Annual 1998. With the new GL movie coming I thought Kilowog's first app. may be more sought after. My Iron Man 282 is beautiful! Part of me really hopes that it would grade 9.9 because I really cannot see a single flaw in it. Not a stress or a tear even by the staples. Corners are so sharp they could cut you! The ASM 238 still has the tattoo inside, not that it matters. OPG says the tattoo no longer affects the grade because people were swapping it out with a similar one found in a FF issue from the same month. The Battle Chasers ish is just a guilty pleasure of mine. I love Joe Mad art and the cover is just plain sexy! My last round of submissions still has not even been graded. Once they have I will post the results along with my grades and see how they stack up! Thanks for reading and happy collecting! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

They have been verified received! So I recently sent in 9 books that I am really excited to see slabbed. I will write them with what I believe they are graded at: Amazing Spider-Man 46=7.0 Action Comics 340(Lee K would like this one)=8.0 Amazing Adventures 11=6.5 Detective Comics 411=8.5 Iron Man 55=7.5 Marvel Premiere 15=8.5 Marvel Super Heroes 12=7.5 X-Men 94=5.5 X-Men101=8.5 I felt those are conservative predictions. After last round I learned to be a bit more objective! Anyhow I am just excited to see them slabbed. There is something about buying a book raw and having it slabbed versus buying an issue already slabbed. Maybe it's because I was a part of that book's history in a small sense. Thanks for reading and happy collecting! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Submit is the Key word I am going to attempt to refrain from buying a lot of comics this year. Instead I will decide to focus on submitting comics to CGC. Since I am a new member, and new to submitting, I have a lot to submit. I am going to concentrate on slabbing all my bronze and silver keys. Prior to SDCC kicking off I want to do a 30 book submission for the discount. There is a lot of copper-modern age books in my collection I would like slabbed such as: New Mutants 98, Kick 1 sketch variant, Nemesis 1-4, Hulk 340, Batman Harley Quinn, Batman Vengence of Bane, Battle Chasers ( I love Joe Mad covers!), Daredevil the Frank Miller run and so many more! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

...inquire here How can you make a recommendation for a set? I would like to see a Dale Keown set for his Incredible Hulk run(similar to how Mcfarlane has his own set for ASM). Keown's run was 367-400, excluding 368, 378 and 380. Any advice is appreciated, thanks! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

I hope George Lucas doesn't have that line copyrighted... So the day finally came. I received back my first three submitted CGC comics. The issues were: Green Lantern 59 (first Guy Gardner), Hawkman 4 (first Zatanna) and Amazing Spider-Man 39 (first Romita on title and Norman Osborn revealed as Green Goblin). GL 59 I put at 9.0 and was graded 8.5. Hawkman 4 I put at 8.0 and was graded at 7.0. That issue grade disappointed me the most. Finally ASM 39 I put at 6.5 and was graded 6.0. All in all I learned a lot. I need to be more objective in my grading! I must admit my grading needs much improvement, but with the help of CGC I am learning. The three issues I chose were good picks I thought. Each one was Silver Age. This made the most fiscal sense. My next round will be: Iron Man 55, ASM 46, Detective Comics 411, Marvel Premiere 15, X-Men 94 and 101. Wish me high grading! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

For those unsatisfied with their 9.2's let me know your bottom line! I have looked at a few members sets over the past few days and notice that some members will only be satisfied with extremely high grades. This I believe can be attributed to perhaps an abundance of funds to do so. If I did have an overabundance (if such a thing exists!) of funds I still would like to think I would be satisfied with 9.2 for most any book. Here is an experiment to test a theory I have: Get with a friend that also collects and have him place two slabbed copies of differing high grades ( for example a 9.2 and a 9.6) in front of you with the labels covered. Once this is done give each issue a cursory glance and see if you can tell what grade is for each. The point I am trying to make is that most any comic, that falls into a 9-9.2, cannot be distinguished from a higher grade of 9.4-10! Maybe its just seasoned collectors who wish to challenge themselves with finding the diamonds in the rough! I am not passing judgement because God knows one day I will probably do the same thing! Thanks for reading! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

New collector wants to network! I just recently became a member of CGC and wanted to let everyone know how excited I am to be a part of the community! My love for comics extends back to my childhood. Since 2008 I have become a serious collector. The amount of comic info I have learned and absorbed in the past 2 years astounds me. I am excited to know I will learn much more. Any sage advice offered will be welcomed to this novice collector! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.