Anyone collect both OA and high-grade slabs?

[Spider-Variant]

I only buy Slabbed Original Comic Art, I don't have a lot, but the market will be booming sure.

 

But seriously, I've bought more OA than high grade slabs.

[SuperBird]

I buy low-grade GA. Only a small percentage of what I have is slabbed and avoid buying them if possible.

 

low grade GA for the win! Best bang for your buck by a mile.

[Lebowski]

Since this is a CGC board, I was wondering about the extent of any cross-pollination between the OA and CGC comics hobbies. I used to be a heavy high-grade slab collector before I transitioned over to OA several years ago. How many of you had a similar experience at some point?

 

I'm actually making the transition right now.

[CollectingFool]

I only buy Slabbed Original Comic Art, I don't have a lot, but the market will be booming sure.

 

It was tried. Didn't take off. Most collectors just laughed at the idea.

 

 

[wormboy]

I collect both, but I buy more comics than art.

 

The slabs I buy - I buy for the covers (Adams covers, Miller covers etc.). I have hardcovers of almost every comic I have slabbed, so I can read the stories if I want. I also buy several TPBs a week (Walking Dead, Goon, Scalped, Criminal, Chew, etc.).

 

Because many of the artists I like are also the most expensive, I'm happy buying modern OA that isn't worth much, but looks good framed on it's own, without having to explain the backstory. I haven't spent over $1K on a single piece of comic art yet.

[otherworldsj33]

I did collect both, until recently. A combination of pressing, inconsistent grading by CGC, stupid ridiculous prices, wanting to time the market for selling my HG slabs (I think the market on HG comics is going to see a serious decline soon), a routiness to so much of the comic stuff, even high grade in some cases (having collected comics for almost 45 years), dealer and fellow collector selfishness, and maybe even boredom, not being able to display like I can with OA, and that was it for me with high grade slabs. I think probably the pressing may have been the single biggest factor, although the others were certainly all big factors. I still have some mid grade vintage comics, most not worth much more then about $40-$75 each, mostly reading copies. Many I even had bound. I still enjoy the hobby, and the art form, just not with all the other factors I mentioned. I do martial arts, and they say if you wear your black blet long enough, you will come full circle as the belt turn's white again (assuming your a earth guy like me and never wash it,). I think that is what happened with me. I actually enjoy the comic end of it again in a way I haven't in years.

[tth2]

I did collect both, until recently. A combination of pressing, inconsistent grading by CGC, stupid ridiculous prices, wanting to time the market for selling my HG slabs (I think the market on HG comics is going to see a serious decline soon), a routiness to so much of the comic stuff, even high grade in some cases (having collected comics for almost 45 years), dealer and fellow collector selfishness, and maybe even boredom, not being able to display like I can with OA, and that was it for me with high grade slabs. I think probably the pressing may have been the single biggest factor

(thumbs u

[Mighty Hal]

If I had more money, I'd collect high-grade slabs.

 

No, no, I wouldn't. I'd buy more OA....

[jjonahjameson1]

Since this is a CGC board, I was wondering about the extent of any cross-pollination between the OA and CGC comics hobbies. I used to be a heavy high-grade slab collector before I transitioned over to OA several years ago. How many of you had a similar experience at some point? Or in reverse (from OA to comics)? From my observation, it really appears to be one or the other for most collectors. Do any of you collect both?

 

I'll have more to add about why I made the switch, but for now, just curious what other people have to say.

 

HI, Felix:

 

This is a really interesting question with some varied responses here in the OA board. I wonder what sort of responses you'd get if you posed the same question in one of the General Comics threads?

[adamstrange]

I've been collecting high grade comics since 1986 and original art since 1989. My primary focus over that time has been comics, mostly, I think because I love color and was deeply, deeply disillusioned when I learned the original art was b&w. I think if I had spent more time looking at art over the years that I would have purchased more. Instead I let my impression of the art be shaped too much by how I saw it reproduced in reduced size in the comic. Since the advent of CGC many of the comics I want are only available slabbed so I do purchase them but usually de-slab them within a few weeks or months. Sometimes it's the same day. I'm pretty happy with how I collect and don't see any need to change.

 

(Side note: My brother is a comics fan, though not a collector, and thinks I'm crazy for buying OA because it's not in color.)

[r1982rhoads]

I was a hardcore comic collector that went to OA and haven't looked back. I've actually been slabbing books to sell, in order to buy more OA!

 

Other than slabbing what I have to sell (in small quantities, mind you), I won't touch CGC books. The grading is all over the map. I've seen books that in no way, shape or form deserved their assigned grades. Further, I've always wondered if keys were given higher grades because they were keys or part of a mass submission. That is a topic for another discussion.

 

 

[Nexus]

Thanks to everyone for their responses.

 

I'm more or less transitioning out of slabbed books because of my disgust with the hobby, but am not moving into OA as a result. Quite frankly, the quality of comic art, when assessed on a stand-alone artistic basis and divorced from nostalgia, doesn't merit even a fraction of the huge prices being charged.

 

OA isn't for everyone, obviously. And I'm sure to my non-comics collector friends, OA and slabs are ALL a stupid waste of money. So I won't try defending it. OK...maybe just to say I find OA to be less stupid than high-dollar high-grade slabs. $12K for a NEW MUTANTS #98 CGC 9.9 still boggles the mind and for all the craziness in OA, I can't think of an equivalent example to match that.

 

I felt a great deal of freedom when I sold my comic collection 15 years ago. Never had to think about condition ever again.

 

I've posted about this before-- the OA side of the hobby liberated me from mint OCD.

 

I've recently re-bought a bunch of cheap bronze age low grade (non-slabbed) comics from ebay to fill a retro spinner rack. Love the smell of old comics!

 

If I buy any more vintage comics, they'll be mid-grade with nice eye appeal, just for the fun of owning them. I definitely won't be sinking big $$ into vintage comics again.

 

HI, Felix:

 

This is a really interesting question with some varied responses here in the OA board. I wonder what sort of responses you'd get if you posed the same question in one of the General Comics threads?

 

I'm guessing that most posters in the General section care very little about OA and know even less about it. The question was really for people who are currently collecting OA, so this seemed like the right forum for it.

[Nexus]

I did collect both, until recently. A combination of pressing, inconsistent grading by CGC, stupid ridiculous prices, wanting to time the market for selling my HG slabs (I think the market on HG comics is going to see a serious decline soon), a routiness to so much of the comic stuff, even high grade in some cases (having collected comics for almost 45 years), dealer and fellow collector selfishness, and maybe even boredom, not being able to display like I can with OA, and that was it for me with high grade slabs. I think probably the pressing may have been the single biggest factor, although the others were certainly all big factors. I still have some mid grade vintage comics, most not worth much more then about $40-$75 each, mostly reading copies. Many I even had bound. I still enjoy the hobby, and the art form, just not with all the other factors I mentioned. I do martial arts, and they say if you wear your black blet long enough, you will come full circle as the belt turn's white again (assuming your a earth guy like me and never wash it,). I think that is what happened with me. I actually enjoy the comic end of it again in a way I haven't in years.

 

Well, this pretty much sums up my own experience. I was an early fan of CGC and thought they provided a needed service in the age of online commerce. I never bought the "it's encased in plastic, you can't read it" argument since that's what reader copies and reprints/tpb's are for. I always liked and collected mint condition comics, and the slab, in addition to the grade, also provided some extra protection (SCS aside).

 

I was only interested in ultra high-grades (9.4 and up, depending on the era). But it wasn't strictly about the grade...my main concern was eye appeal. No miswraps, miscuts, etc. AND I was a stickler for page quality. I was definitely in the "buy the book, not the label" camp.

 

I collected like a madman for a quite a while. Mostly late SA/early BA keys. Multiple copies, too. The turning point came in 2005. That's when the Ewert scandal broke. I finally realized that CGC was not infallible and I had placed way too much faith in them. At the same time, I had issues with grading on some of my submissions. Mostly having to do with consistency. Despite my emphasis on eye appeal, in the end, I was still paying for the grade...and the grades didn't always make sense. Finally, collecting ultra high-grade means collecting the fewest microscopic defects possible. After all those years of being so single-minded about "mint condition", I just stopped caring.

 

I sold off the vast majority of my valuable slabs. I still have over 100, mostly my own submissions of comics I bought directly throughout the years, for sentimental reasons. I still might buy the occasional slab, but only if it's cheap. I'm not spending big $$ on them anymore. Those days are over. Especially with crack-press-resub being the accepted and expected practice for high-grade.

 

Despite the disillusionment with high-grade, I still loved the art form, so moving on to OA was a natural evolution. I'm glad I did, it's been a lot more fun for me. It's a hobby that requires networking/socialization and I've met a lot of folks as a result, most I would consider friends. As for the actual collectible, I find OA way more substantial and satisfying than owning a copy of a comic that happens to have the fewest microscopic defects. (None of this is to say that OA is some perfect hobby, or without its pitfalls...as always, do your homework.)

 

Just wish I had figured it out earlier!

[TheWatcher]

I don't collect HG slabs, but I do buy slabbed & raw books. Since I only focus on GA books now, I tend to focus on comics in the 4.0 - 7.0 zone as it's what I can afford. Unfortunately, the OA I covet the most is way too expensive (3K+), so I stick to comics. But one of these days I'll pick something up by Eisner, Kane, Kirby, or Fine (thumbs u

[Dano]

"But one of these days I'll pick something up by Eisner, Kane, Kirby, or Fine"

 

That's EXACTLY what I told myself about two years ago, (my big names are slightly different!) and so I decided to concentrate on it and let go of my comics. I'm still waiting to spend the really big $ I have saved, because it's a little scary to settle on one piece. It's a different kind of patience. It's fun.

 

Dan

[Bunky Brian]

I'm more or less transitioning out of slabbed books because of my disgust with the hobby, but am not moving into OA as a result. Quite frankly, the quality of comic art, when assessed on a stand-alone artistic basis and divorced from nostalgia, doesn't merit even a fraction of the huge prices being charged.

 

Wow, I concur 1000%, (thumbs u

 

 

 

I do not collect slabs of any grade (I do appreciate the resto check, if any}

 

Sorry for getting off track, I do collect some OA.

 

Bunky

[stinkininkin]

I did collect both, until recently. A combination of pressing, inconsistent grading by CGC, stupid ridiculous prices, wanting to time the market for selling my HG slabs (I think the market on HG comics is going to see a serious decline soon), a routiness to so much of the comic stuff, even high grade in some cases (having collected comics for almost 45 years), dealer and fellow collector selfishness, and maybe even boredom, not being able to display like I can with OA, and that was it for me with high grade slabs. I think probably the pressing may have been the single biggest factor, although the others were certainly all big factors. I still have some mid grade vintage comics, most not worth much more then about $40-$75 each, mostly reading copies. Many I even had bound. I still enjoy the hobby, and the art form, just not with all the other factors I mentioned. I do martial arts, and they say if you wear your black blet long enough, you will come full circle as the belt turn's white again (assuming your a earth guy like me and never wash it,). I think that is what happened with me. I actually enjoy the comic end of it again in a way I haven't in years.

 

Well, this pretty much sums up my own experience. I was an early fan of CGC and thought they provided a needed service in the age of online commerce. I never bought the "it's encased in plastic, you can't read it" argument since that's what reader copies and reprints/tpb's are for. I always liked and collected mint condition comics, and the slab, in addition to the grade, also provided some extra protection (SCS aside).

 

I was only interested in ultra high-grades (9.4 and up, depending on the era). But it wasn't strictly about the grade...my main concern was eye appeal. No miswraps, miscuts, etc. AND I was a stickler for page quality. I was definitely in the "buy the book, not the label" camp.

 

I collected like a madman for a quite a while. Mostly late SA/early BA keys. Multiple copies, too. The turning point came in 2005. That's when the Ewert scandal broke. I finally realized that CGC was not infallible and I had placed way too much faith in them. At the same time, I had issues with grading on some of my submissions. Mostly having to do with consistency. Despite my emphasis on eye appeal, in the end, I was still paying for the grade...and the grades didn't always make sense. Finally, collecting ultra high-grade means collecting the fewest microscopic defects possible. After all those years of being so single-minded about "mint condition", I just stopped caring.

 

I sold off the vast majority of my valuable slabs. I still have over 100, mostly my own submissions of comics I bought directly throughout the years, for sentimental reasons. I still might buy the occasional slab, but only if it's cheap. I'm not spending big $$ on them anymore. Those days are over. Especially with crack-press-resub being the accepted and expected practice for high-grade.

 

Despite the disillusionment with high-grade, I still loved the art form, so moving on to OA was a natural evolution. I'm glad I did, it's been a lot more fun for me. It's a hobby that requires networking/socialization and I've met a lot of folks as a result, most I would consider friends. As for the actual collectible, I find OA way more substantial and satisfying than owning a copy of a comic that happens to have the fewest microscopic defects. (None of this is to say that OA is some perfect hobby, or without its pitfalls...as always, do your homework.)

 

Just wish I had figured it out earlier!

 

OK, I admit my ignorance. What does it mean when a book is pressed? Is it just a flattening out process? And does it really affect the grade if a book is super flat? Just curious.

 

Scott (never owned a slab)Williams

[Nexus]

 

OK, I admit my ignorance. What does it mean when a book is pressed? Is it just a flattening out process? And does it really affect the grade if a book is super flat? Just curious.

 

Scott (never owned a slab)Williams

 

"Pressing" is just that-- a comic is flattened in a dry mount press. Heat (and moisture, I believe) are also employed in some cases (techniques vary). The most extensive work may include completely disassembling the book to press out the pages and cover separately. The goal is to flatten out tiny imperfections to achieve the highest CGC grade possible. In the high-grade realm, a single incremental grade bump can mean a multiple increase in value.

 

Since CGC claims such work in undetectable, they do not notate it anywhere in the grade (unlike other restorative procedures). Since there's no stigma then, collectors and dealers alike have been pressing high-grade books in hopes of hitting the lottery. A single grade bump can mean thousands, a multiple grade bump that much more. It's been akin to a gold rush.

 

A newer phenomenon has been to seek out already graded books that haven't been pressed, crack them out of the slabs, press them, and then resubmit them in hopes of a higher grade.

 

Many (most it seems) slab collectors don't care about pressing. To me and others, it's a total joke. A pressed comic's grade is artificial to me. I refuse to participate and I see it as a total distortion of what high-grade collecting used to be about. A big reason why I'm now collecting OA instead of high-grade comics.

[Nexus]

I'll also add that no one truly knows the long-term effects of pressing. Regardless, the procedure has nothing to do with conservation. It's strictly about improving cosmetic appearances, often for flaws that are invisible to the naked eye. It's all about $$$.

[comicartfan]

$12K for a NEW MUTANTS #98 CGC 9.9 still boggles the mind and for all the craziness in OA, I can't think of an equivalent example to match that.

 

Any, and I mean, ANY Adam Hughes sketch that sells for more than 300.00.....Just my opinion, but I felt this way when I was heavy into art, I feel this way now.

 

I think Joe brings up alot of good points. It was what got me into OA in the beginning. The whole Ewert thing had just come about, then the pressing scandal du jour, I just couldn't take the nonsense any more ! - I felt rejuvenated, but that wore off. Now I feel that again since I've gotten into comics again. While I wouldn't chase the highest grades, I do have a criteria that varies with each book and I always want the white pages whenever possible.

 

But, as I had said in my previous post, I really have been unhappy with the art aspect for some time too. I found the inability to "keep up" was really making me feel less and less involved in the hobby....and to focus on a piece, then realize the only way to get it was to either trade for it, or pay well above market price.....Since the seller wasn't really looking to move it, he'd listen and let me "make an offer"....That makes me

I would have to go through the collection to see what I could part with....I never "hoarded" like some other collectors are able to do. I had to make choices and some of them made me regretful. I sold pieces I shouldn't have, kept ones I wondered why and let things slip by that were always in the back of my mind. - Joe also talked about dealer/collector selfishness......Well, let's talk about artists greed, dealers over inflating prices on pieces for hundreds or thousands at cons when I know for a fact the "real price" that is listed on their website !!.....How about artists that take money for commissions that never deliver on them. I am not talking about a few months, I am talking about years !!.....Call it what you will, you take money for a service/product and don't deliver, that is theft......plain and simple.

Somehow this is tolerated by certain fanboys. I do not think that being talented and having the ability to draw men in tights (or cheesecake that is so popular) gives an artist the privilege to rip people off......

 

There are pros and cons to both parts of the hobby and neither would exist without the other...so to say one is "better" than the other is silly. I like to think it's more of personal preference.