Long Term Risk of Re-Slabbing wrt Page Quality?

[14 of spades]

hey folks,

 

re-slabbing. it's something most of our slabbed comics will eventually undergo for whatever reasons - cracked slab, scratched slab, hoping to get a higher grade, new labels, 7-yr "expiry" etc.

 

issue: we all know CGC will re-grade (downgrade) some books sent in PURELY for re-slabbing (not re-grading) purposes e.g. comics damaged while inside the well.

 

what implications does this have for older comics having very good (e.g. WHITE) page quality that are submitted for new slabs?

 

i ask this question because i have a few early bronzes that are clinging onto highest-census status because of their page quality (e.g. 9.6 WHITE).

 

say in a few years, if i go to re-slab the books, will i be subjecting them to a possible re-assessment (and downgrade) on page-quality? for any HCGC WHITE which is tied numerically with some other books, a downgrade from W to OW could be significant.

 

if CGC re-assesses books on PQ when they are submit for re-slabbing purposes, wouldn't that seriously discourage people from re-slabbing their prized W and OW comics?

[OldGuy]

I have yet to see any good reason for re-slabbing other then a severely damaged slab needing to be replaced. Even in that case I would only do it if I wanted to sell the book, otherwise I'd just crack the slab and put the book in a Mylar.

[fantastic_four]

if CGC re-assesses books on PQ when they are submit for re-slabbing purposes, wouldn't that seriously discourage people from re-slabbing their prized W and OW comics?

 

For some people, yes. If you've owned the book yourself all that time and you've stored it well, then no, the concern should be minimal...but if you buy one of the old-style labels in 10-15 years, who knows how it was kept before you owned it.

[blowout]

If you are worried then don't get them re-slabbed. I really can't see the need to anyway, they should be good for a lifetime if properly stored.

[garthgantu]

Blowout: why would CGC advocate re-slabbing every ~7 years then? (Of course there's the obvious answer of "to get more money from the same book.") But my understanding is that they replace the protective paper insert during the re-slabbing. There is also possibility that acids and other potentially harmful elements may be building up inside the CGC case (despite the protective insert), and that opening the slab is important to get rid of those elements.

[Fan4Fan]

Would that be from degradation of the paper or outgassing of the plastic in the slab itself?

 

Thanks,

Fan4Fan