CGC or Raw

[CDaBruce]

I have been collecting comics, off and on, for over 20 years now. I started collecting CGCs (mostly ASM) about 2 1/2 years ago, basically when I discovered this board.

 

I recently bought some high grade raw comics, a 9.4 ASM 124 and a 9.6 ASM 238 off the boards and realized something when they arrived: I enjoy raw comics much more than slabs. There is something about being able to hold the comic and I prefer the way they look in a mylar or mylite with a full-back. There is something much more tangible about it. When I receive a book that has been CGCed, I admire it and then stick it in the box. There is less of a connection with it (even when it is my own book that I have slabbed). I am much more likely to go through a box of my raw comics than I am to go through my slabbed collection.

 

However, I like the officialness of having CGC books and the biggest thing for me is knowing that they will always be in their stated condition. Which probably comes from the fact that my entire UXM run went from NM to F+/VF- because of leaving too much space in the long box. As I move more and more into high grade silvers, the restoration check is also a comfort.

 

I bought the ASM 124 and 238 to be slabbed and yet I hesitate in sending them off. It is probably the reason why I seem to be putting together two runs of Amazing Spider-Man: One graded and one raw.

 

What about you? CGC vs. Raw...

[djpinkpanther67]

I too think a raw book in a mylar looks SO much sweeter.

But with little kids and a cat in the house accidents happen and I am more comfortable with knowing there is a little more protection in case of a mishap.

Yeah it sucks you just can't takea book out of a slab to hold it and read it, but thats what reader copies or TPBs are for.

It may seem the books have less "personality" when slabbed but I think the overall protection of the book outweighs this inconvenience

[Fedoraman]

This is the whole reason I bought the coverless copies and started making covers - to be able to take a book out that looks NM, read it and not be afraid of wrecking it.

 

Slabbed copies are great for cover admiration and keeping it in the same condition, but that's about it.

[nik]

Everytime people would come to visit and see my comics in boxes, they would feel the urge to pull them out of the box, pull it from the mylar and read them because if would bring them fond memories when they bought them as kids.

 

Well, I put an end to all that nonsense and stuck them in slabs

[MutantKeys]

Everytime people would come to visit and see my comics in boxes, they would feel the urge to pull them out of the box, pull it from the mylar and read them because if would bring them fond memories when they bought them as kids.

 

Well, I put an end to all that nonsense and stuck them in slabs

[MutantKeys]

No one touches my books

[nik]

Everytime people would come to visit and see my comics in boxes, they would feel the urge to pull them out of the box, pull it from the mylar and read them because if would bring them fond memories when they bought them as kids.

 

Well, I put an end to all that nonsense and stuck them in slabs

 

[Raphael]

I have been collecting comics, off and on, for over 20 years now. I started collecting CGCs (mostly ASM) about 2 1/2 years ago, basically when I discovered this board.

 

I recently bought some high grade raw comics, a 9.4 ASM 124 and a 9.6 ASM 238 off the boards and realized something when they arrived: I enjoy raw comics much more than slabs. There is something about being able to hold the comic and I prefer the way they look in a mylar or mylite with a full-back. There is something much more tangible about it. When I receive a book that has been CGCed, I admire it and then stick it in the box. There is less of a connection with it (even when it is my own book that I have slabbed). I am much more likely to go through a box of my raw comics than I am to go through my slabbed collection.

 

However, I like the officialness of having CGC books and the biggest thing for me is knowing that they will always be in their stated condition. Which probably comes from the fact that my entire UXM run went from NM to F+/VF- because of too leaving too much space in the long box. As I move more and more into high grade silvers, the restoration check is also a comfort.

 

I bought the ASM 124 and 238 to be slabbed and yet I hesitate in sending them off. It is probably the reason why I seem to be putting together two runs of Amazing Spider-Man: One graded and one raw.

 

What about you? CGC vs. Raw...

 

I definately understand what is being said there. I think in a way, it boils down to the reasons why you would purchase a slab in the first place, right?

 

One of the reasons I started getting books graded in the first place was because of the same reason of "knowing that they will always be in their stated condition" in the slab. Pretty much every slab that I own, I also have a reading copy as well.

[Pitboss]

No one touches my books

 

Thats it right there! (thumbs u

[CDaBruce]

Everytime people would come to visit and see my comics in boxes, they would feel the urge to pull them out of the box, pull it from the mylar and read them because if would bring them fond memories when they bought them as kids.

 

Well, I put an end to all that nonsense and stuck them in slabs

 

 

It is true, though, I can actually hand a slabbed comic to my Dad. He likes comic book art but I hated letting him look at my comics because a NM copy became a FN- by the time he was done crunching it up. I swear he would do it on purpose.

[NewWorldOrder]

I actually like the CGC case better because it looks more professional.

 

I do understand where you are coming from though CDBruce.

 

I do like seeing them in my Mylites2 and fullbacks, but I love knowing that my ASM and John Byrne X-men's are well protected, un-restored, and 100% the grade I am looking for.

 

I actually enjoy reading TPB now than holding each book individually anyway.

 

I actually like keeping a while run of raw books then sending them to get graded, and seeing the fruit of my labor.

 

Next I am sending all my issues of ASM 200-297 to get graded, and they will prob come back all 9.6 or 9.8. I hand picked them over the last 3-5 years.

 

 

[Count]

Everytime people would come to visit and see my comics in boxes, they would feel the urge to pull them out of the box, pull it from the mylar and read them because if would bring them fond memories when they bought them as kids.

 

Well, I put an end to all that nonsense and stuck them in slabs

 

 

My girl always tries to act...um...interested and now and then she will pick a book up and act interested. Shortly after I run up to her and rip it out of her hand...

 

She then shakes her head and says: "It's a book. You're supposed to read it". Of course the book she always picks up is never a reader

 

And no one touches my books

Amyway I like both raw and CGC :shrug:

[cd4ever]

Generally speaking, I prefer to buy and own raw. There are 3 instances where I will buy a slabbed book..

 

1) If it's a book I consider to be one of my favorites, a childhood book, a sweet Supergirl cover, etc. That finite list of books I do try to acquire in very high grade slabbed copies.

 

2) If I can get a slab for a reasonable price, i.e. not much more than an unslabbed price. This works well for 9.0's and 9.2's, and, increasingly, 9.4's. It's worth paying a little extra for the resto check and increased confidence in the grade as well as the protection.

 

3) Flipping...if I have a book that I think may grade 9.6 and it has some value in that grade range and I can fairly easily get a 9.4 of that same book for much less than the sale price of the 9.6, then I'll slab it and flip it. But this can be risky as the book can come back an 8.5.

[october]

I have zero slabs in my collection. Every CGC book I get is immediately cracked out. Most of them are golden age though, so no real value loss associated with it...

 

I do slab books for resale though.

[valiantman]

Amyway I like both raw and CGC :shrug:

 

Amy? Your gal's name is Amy?

[TonyStarkFan]

I prefer RAW books because I like to read EVERY comic that I buy. I have bought a few slabs recently with the intent to keep them in the slab, but these are comics that I have already read at one time or another.

 

I could never be the type of person only to buy only slabbed comics and never read one. What's the point of having comics then?

[valiantman]

Readers don't belong in slabs, they belong in your hands.

 

That being said, well-preserved copies of books that have survived this long don't deserve

the fate of being damaged when there are always reader copies available.

(Put them in a slab and then tour your own museum.)

 

(High grade, nearly pristine) "comics are meant to be read" doesn't work for me.

 

That makes as much sense to me as saying

"100 steel WWII pennies are meant to be

saved, rolled, and cashed in for a $1 bill".

 

Sure, you could do that. Why would you?

 

[DrWatson]

No one touches my books

Communicable?

 

I don't even touch my own books unless I have gloves on.

[cd4ever]

 

I could never be the type of person only to buy only slabbed comics and never read one. What's the point of having comics then?

 

Chicks with large hooters on the cover??

[greggy]

No one touches my books

Communicable?

 

I don't even touch my own books unless I have gloves on.

Freak