Wally's Comics Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 I cracked my first slab last night. Had to prep some books for SS at New Orleans. Batman 492 Platinum in 9.8 for my first crack was a bit of a heart attack waiting to happen. Everything went off great though. Cracking the book is a breeze, getting the book out of the seal is a whole different ball game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikenyc Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 I only crack Liefeld slabs, quite frankly because they are the only ones that deserve it. Giving Captain America stripper sized boobs, you should be ashamed of yourself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeffro. Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 I have a few slabs that are crack worthy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seanfingh Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 I cracked my first slab last night. Had to prep some books for SS at New Orleans. Batman 492 Platinum in 9.8 for my first crack was a bit of a heart attack waiting to happen. Everything went off great though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waylander Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 Release them books and enjoy the story Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whizzer Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 Crack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Balls Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 Release them books and enjoy the story This is the part of cracking a book out that I don't understand. For 1/4 the cost of slabbing, a person can obtain a reprint, can't they? (with the exception of GA books). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waylander Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 Release them books and enjoy the story This is the part of cracking a book out that I don't understand. For 1/4 the cost of slabbing, a person can obtain a reprint, can't they? (with the exception of GA books). I can quite understand your point - but I like and want to read the originals hence CRACK THEM SLABS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lizards2 Posted January 20, 2012 Author Share Posted January 20, 2012 Release them books and enjoy the story This is the part of cracking a book out that I don't understand. For 1/4 the cost of slabbing, a person can obtain a reprint, can't they? (with the exception of GA books). Reprints suck. Your comics are slowly dying as they stew in their own juices inside the CGC tomb. Set them free for max off-gassing, and replace the microchamber paper - you'll be amazed at the stench of old microchamber paper. A mylite2 and fullback take up much less space, as well. If your collection is predominantly raw, no point in leaving one book out of the box, isolated from its 100-120 brethern. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waylander Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 Release them books and enjoy the story This is the part of cracking a book out that I don't understand. For 1/4 the cost of slabbing, a person can obtain a reprint, can't they? (with the exception of GA books). Reprints suck. Your comics are slowly dying as they stew in their own juices inside the CGC tomb. Set them free for max off-gassing, and replace the microchamber paper - you'll be amazed at the stench of old microchamber paper. A mylite2 and fullback take up much less space, as well. If your collection is predominantly raw, no point in leaving one book out of the box, isolated from its 100-120 brethern. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lizards2 Posted January 20, 2012 Author Share Posted January 20, 2012 I cracked my first slab last night. Had to prep some books for SS at New Orleans. Batman 492 Platinum in 9.8 for my first crack was a bit of a heart attack waiting to happen. Everything went off great though. Cracking the book is a breeze, getting the book out of the seal is a whole different ball game. I tap the books down into the lower left corner of the inner well, and use a good heavy duty pair of old sewing scissors to cut first the top off, then the right side. With those two sides open, you can carefully and safely lift out the book. Never had a problem or damage. Also, I've recently discovered that the outer well is usually easier to remove by breaking the bottom two posts. Not always, but usually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wally's Comics Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 Release them books and enjoy the story This is the part of cracking a book out that I don't understand. For 1/4 the cost of slabbing, a person can obtain a reprint, can't they? (with the exception of GA books). I can quite understand your point - but I like and want to read the originals hence CRACK THEM SLABS I agree 100%... It's almost like if you had the chance to pick between Scarlett Johansson or someone that looks like her? Even if you gotta spend thousands more in dinning, roses and limos - You gotta go for the real mccoy if you have the chance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikenyc Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 I understand the concept of CGC being created to facilitate transactions between strangers. Resto check, 3rd party grading, and verification of print number were crucial, especially with the explosion of Internet commerce. I would think though, one would find it difficult to argue that the CGC grade has not become valuable in and of itself. If you buy a book that is slabbed you start paying a premium over it being raw, higher as the grade increases. Is it worth the premium to buy a CGC slab from a stranger or pay a reduced price from a reputable dealer? I personally think it would be the latter. I'm not saying one is right and one is wrong, it's just yet another factor to consider when making an investment into a book and how to treat the book once you own it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lizards2 Posted January 20, 2012 Author Share Posted January 20, 2012 I understand the concept of CGC being created to facilitate transactions between strangers. Resto check, 3rd party grading, and verification of print number were crucial, especially with the explosion of Internet commerce. I would think though, one would find it difficult to argue that the CGC grade has not become valuable in and of itself. If you buy a book that is slabbed you start paying a premium over it being raw, higher as the grade increases. Is it worth the premium to buy a CGC slab from a stranger or pay a reduced price from a reputable dealer? I personally think it would be the latter. I'm not saying one is right and one is wrong, it's just yet another factor to consider when making an investment into a book and how to treat the book once you own it. A lot of times you can buy the slab cheaper than the raw. It usually is grade dependent, but not always. If you shop around, you can find great deals on slabbed books......., usually because people predominantly slab them to sell them. I'm not sure how many reputable dealers are out there selling raw HG books. Many slab for resale. But, I don't go on the con circuit, so not sure about that venue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waylander Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 I understand the concept of CGC being created to facilitate transactions between strangers. Resto check, 3rd party grading, and verification of print number were crucial, especially with the explosion of Internet commerce. I would think though, one would find it difficult to argue that the CGC grade has not become valuable in and of itself. If you buy a book that is slabbed you start paying a premium over it being raw, higher as the grade increases. Is it worth the premium to buy a CGC slab from a stranger or pay a reduced price from a reputable dealer? I personally think it would be the latter. I'm not saying one is right and one is wrong, it's just yet another factor to consider when making an investment into a book and how to treat the book once you own it. For your high end comics - then yes CGC is ideal as an independent check and grader. But this has created a whole new breed of collector who likes covers (front and back) and decimal points 9.4, 9.6, 9.8, 9.9 or 10.0. I will buy slabbed comics for the security of buying from people I do not know - but then - CRACK THEM and READ THEM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PulpCultureComics Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 Been reading the thread with interest! I don't own any slabbed books and I'm kind of put of by the whole concept. However I've been tempted recently as I've seen quite a few slabbed books at reasonable prices...I'm then put off the idea again as I don't want to go through the trauma of breaking a relatively inexpensive comic (in the whole scheme of things) out of its plastic coffin. It's starting to bug me out...you dig? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gatsby77 Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 But...what if you know the books suck? The best part about most of those early Wonder Woman issues were the H.G. Peters covers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PulpCultureComics Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 But...what if you know the books suck? The best part about most of those early Wonder Woman issues were the H.G. Peters covers That my friend is a whole other ball game! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sterlingcomics Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 A lot of times you can buy the slab cheaper than the raw. Yes, some dealers are very proud of their raw books. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Balls Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 Release them books and enjoy the story This is the part of cracking a book out that I don't understand. For 1/4 the cost of slabbing, a person can obtain a reprint, can't they? (with the exception of GA books). Reprints suck. Your comics are slowly dying as they stew in their own juices inside the CGC tomb. Set them free for max off-gassing, and replace the microchamber paper - you'll be amazed at the stench of old microchamber paper. A mylite2 and fullback take up much less space, as well. If your collection is predominantly raw, no point in leaving one book out of the box, isolated from its 100-120 brethern. Ok, so question about "airing" out a comic. If you have your book in a mylite, backboard and two microchamber papers (front and back) - how often should you take the book out and replace the papers? Every five years? Less? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
