The Seven Year 'PLOD'

[The_End_At_Last]

Reading in the Comic Grading forum, I came across the problem with CGC slabbed books that have been encased for 7 years. I believe CGC have stated that in 'average' conditions a comic needs to be re-slabbed because the the Micro-Paper inside will no longer be operating at the required efficiency (if at all).

 

Thus leaving a comic for over 7 years inside its slab means that its condition will start to deteriorate, presumably faster than a raw comic because it is sealed i.e. a raw comic is often placed in a non-airtight bag allowing gases to escape.

 

So lets fast forward 3 years from now... that's 7 years after CGC started.

 

Are buyers going to view slabbed comics over 7 years old in the same way as PLOD? Because, certainly for speculators, and to a lesser extent investors, they will say to themselves, if I buy this for $X today, I'll never be able to sell it at a later date for $X or more, because the next buyer would be worried for the very same reason ! Thus he would have to buy it, get it re-slabbed himself with the risk that the deterioration due to time has made the grade lower.

 

In other words, CGC slabs are a time-bomb. You're going to have to re-slab them before the 7 years up or else they will become effectively PLOD material.

 

Nice for CGC though - they are 'guaranteed' repeat business every 7 years.

[osborn_fr]

At last ! A real explanation of the soon coming crash

[comicmankev]

The comics are not 'guaranteed' to deteriorate after 7 years, it's just a recomendation. And as for the '7 year itch', who's gonna know, maybe they should state when it was graded on the label.

 

But then again saying that, probably gives them another chance to make more moeny. I'll shut-up now

[Red Hook]

You can always plug in the serial number and get the grading date. That will be of more concern at time goes on. I keep a list of my cgc books serial numbers and the grading date.

[comicmankev]

I suppose that would be a more used function in the years to come.

[OldGuy]

Thus leaving a comic for over 7 years inside its slab means that its condition will start to deteriorate, presumably faster than a raw comic because it is sealed i.e. a raw comic is often placed in a non-airtight bag allowing gases to escape.

 

The CGC case is air tight? Go drop one of your CGC slabs into the toilet and let me know.

[HighVoltage]

Honestly now.

 

How many owners of CGC books will get them re-slabbed at the 7-year mark?

 

Show of hands...?

[ablue]

leaving a comic for over 7 years inside its slab means that its condition will start to deteriorate, presumably faster than a raw comic because it is sealed i.e. a raw comic is often placed in a non-airtight bag allowing gases to escape.

 

 

If you were to seal a comic (air tight) no gasses can form as there is no oxygen.

A comic can be preserved for years in an air tight bag as long as all the oxygen is removed.

[Illiterati-migration]

leaving a comic for over 7 years inside its slab means that its condition will start to deteriorate, presumably faster than a raw comic because it is sealed i.e. a raw comic is often placed in a non-airtight bag allowing gases to escape.

 

 

If you were to seal a comic (air tight) no gasses can form as there is no oxygen.

A comic can be preserved for years in an air tight bag as long as all the oxygen is removed.

 

 

...speaking of escaping gas...

[fantastic_four]

The CGC case is air tight? Go drop one of your CGC slabs into the toilet and let me know.

 

Some are, some aren't; Borock said once before in the forums that it's not something they try to do. Greg Manning auctions had a flood and a bunch of CGC books were underwater for some length of time. Some of the slabs ended up being airtight and were totally undamaged; others leaked water into the inner well and damaged (ruined, I would imagine) the books.

[fantastic_four]

If you were to seal a comic (air tight) no gasses can form as there is no oxygen.

A comic can be preserved for years in an air tight bag as long as all the oxygen is removed.

 

The researchers and professional conservationists at the United States Library of Congress disagree with you.

[Freiherr]

“After grading, every comic is placed inside what’s called “The Well”- a plastic sleeve that’s sealed with light heat. It’s really tight, but it’s not airtight.” – Wizard Magazine

[awe4one]

It appears this scenario has already started with the old and new label. When two identical issues in the old and new label show up on eBay, the new label generally seems to close for more....

 

Jim

[Mr. Zipper]

It appears this scenario has already started with the old and new label. When two identical issues in the old and new label show up on eBay, the new label generally seems to close for more....

 

Jim

 

Or the new labels are just prettier.... but that would mean that people are "buying the label"

 

BTW, I think just the opposite..... I prefer red labels because I think in many cases they are undergraded compared to their newer, prettier BIG NUMBER counterparts.

[garthgantu]

It appears this scenario has already started with the old and new label. When two identical issues in the old and new label show up on eBay, the new label generally seems to close for more....

Jim

 

That's just the horrible alpha grade scaring people off

[ablue]

If you were to seal a comic (air tight) no gasses can form as there is no oxygen.

A comic can be preserved for years in an air tight bag as long as all the oxygen is removed.

 

The researchers and professional conservationists at the United States Library of Congress disagree with you.

The reason why the Church books were in such good shape, most of them were at the bottom of the stack where very little oxygen was able to get to the books.Resulting in "white pages"

[BachelorOfComix]

[Freiherr]

 

So who here use one of those food savers to vacuum seal their books?

 

[fantastic_four]

The reason why the Church books were in such good shape, most of them were at the bottom of the stack where very little oxygen was able to get to the books.Resulting in "white pages"

 

Out of all the environmental variables the Church books were stored under, how were you able to isolate this single storage variable as the primary factor in their preservation? Why did other pedigreed collections that didn't consist of huge piles have similar or better (Tom Reilly) preservation as compared to the Church books? And if your observation is true, why is it that we're not seeing museums preserve old historical documents by placing them in some sort of vacuum sealed environment, or vice-like device to exert permanent pressure on the item?

 

I've heard the hypothesis you're offering before, but I haven't been able to find any research at all from professional conservationists to back it up.

[garthgantu]

The reason why the Church books were in such good shape, most of them were at the bottom of the stack where very little oxygen was able to get to the books.Resulting in "white pages"

 

See, now that's just weird... I heard that ALL of the Church books were at the bottom of the stack...?!?