Too Many Agendas

[lighthouse]

I am certainly no CGC apologist although I freely admit that the existence of CGC has generated additional wealth for me. Despite the fact that I have submitted 545 books in the last 30 days, there are plenty of things that I think could be improved on...

 

What galls me is that the same people who counsel against trusting CGC are the ones who praise the services offered by CGG and the like. I am all for a free market, and I do look forward to the day when CGC has legitimate competition, because competition is good for the marketplace. Every single "sin" that CGC commits is committed to a far greater degree by companies like CGG every day, and the boys from Eugene are also guilty of many things CGC is not...

 

Folks here complain about CGC for:[*]Grading Irregularities[*]Special Treatment for Big Customers[*]Imperfect Holders[*]Contributing to a speculative marketplace[*]Concealing their grading standards

 

If CGC is such a great evil for doing these things and destroying the comic collecting community in the process, then isn't what companies like CGG do ten times worse???

 

Because in addition to all the complaints above, they are also guilty of:[*]Failing to disclose the identity of the graders[*]Failing to take steps to ensure that the members of the company do not grade books they sell[*]Failing to provide and delineate safeguards for the books in their care

 

Both companies are guilty of the five sins listed for CGC... but the boys from Eugene go one step further. In addition to the built-in concerns about whether they offer a product that truly adds value, there are also concerns about whether the company itself will disappear overnight leaving all their customers hanging. Run a D&B check on CGC and see whether the company is trustworthy. Then try to do the same on CGG. You won't be able to. They don't have one. If the company disappeared today and took off with all your books, what recourse would you have? Do you really want to go wait outside a Post Office Box hoping someone comes by?

 

Won't you feel bad if you recommend to a buddy that he submit to CGG and the company disappears overnight? They have done absolutely nothing to assure the public that won't happen. Nothing.

 

So forgive me if I sound like a CGC apologist at times, but I think it's ridiculous that the same people who rake CGC over the coals for its various sins are so quick to praise CGG, a company that is guilty of all the same sins and much, much more.

 

I look forward to the day when Beckett or PSA joins the comic grading game. But I also look forward to the day when CGG is dead and buried. Because until they are, I have to worry about the friends of mine who choose to submit to them. The boys at CGG make me embarrassed to admit that I grew up in Eugene.

[JLA_ALL_THE_WAY]

Because there are some intelligent people on here, who do offer information and meaningful conversation.

 

 

Other than Gene (of course), who do you consider intelligent & informative? Who have you had a "meaningful conversation" with on these boards? And the word 'some' has a conottation of more than 2.

 

And please don't respond with "Well, certainly not you...chump!"

That's just too...predictable.

 

Rick

[Illiterati-migration]

'House, while I understand what you're saying, I think you're oversimplifying... I don't side with anyone. I don't like the idea of "professionally graded" comic books no matter who is doing the grading. It's always going to be an extremely inexact "science" and the fact that ONLY covers are being graded cheapens the entire concept in my eyes. I'm not strictly anti-CGC... I dislike them all equally.

 

That's the tip of my personal iceberg, anyway.

[RS]

I am certainly no CGC apologist although I freely admit that the existence of CGC has generated additional wealth for me. Despite the fact that I have submitted 545 books in the last 30 days, there are plenty of things that I think could be improved on...

 

What galls me is that the same people who counsel against trusting CGC are the ones who praise the services offered by CGG and the like. I am all for a free market, and I do look forward to the day when CGC has legitimate competition, because competition is good for the marketplace. Every single "sin" that CGC commits is committed to a far greater degree by companies like CGG every day, and the boys from Eugene are also guilty of many things CGC is not...

 

Folks here complain about CGC for:[*]Grading Irregularities (Humans) [*]Special Treatment for Big Customers (You don't bite the hand that feeds you) )[*]Imperfect Holders not nuke proof [*]Contributing to a speculative marketplace[*]Concealing their grading standards Most companies don't. Like Microsoft no opened code KFC secret recipe and others

 

If CGC is such a great evil for doing these things and destroying the comic collecting community in the process, then isn't what companies like CGG do ten times worse???

 

Because in addition to all the complaints above, they are also guilty of:[*]Failing to disclose the identity of the graders E-mail CGG and ask them [*]Failing to take steps to ensure that the members of the company do not grade books they sell Addressed that here [*]Failing to provide and delineate safeguards for the books in their care

When your books arrive at CGGroup, they are carefully unpacked, inspected, digitally imaged, given a tracking number, entered into the computer and delivered to the grading team for the grading process.

 

Both companies are guilty of the five sins listed for CGC... but the boys from Eugene go one step further. In addition to the built-in concerns about whether they offer a product that truly adds value, there are also concerns about whether the company itself will disappear overnight leaving all their customers hanging. Run a D&B check on CGC and see whether the company is trustworthy. Then try to do the same on CGG. CGG is only in Business less then one year You won't be able to. They don't have one. If the company disappeared today and took off with all your books, what recourse would you have? Tell that to all the stock holders of Enron what recourse do they have Do you really want to go wait outside a Post Office Box hoping someone comes by?

 

Won't you feel bad if you recommend to a buddy that he submit to CGG and the company disappears overnight? They have done absolutely nothing to assure the public that won't happen. Nothing.

 

So forgive me if I sound like a CGC apologist at times, but I think it's ridiculous that the same people who rake CGC over the coals for its various sins are so quick to praise CGG, a company that is guilty of all the same sins and much, much more.

 

I look forward to the day when Beckett or PSA joins the comic grading game. But I also look forward to the day when CGG is dead and buried. Because until they are, I have to worry about the friends of mine who choose to submit to them. The boys at CGG make me embarrassed to admit that I grew up in Eugene.

 

 

Lighthouse tell me how you feel about CGG. I bet alot of people said the same thing about CGC in the early days of CGC. Until they saw the $$$ CGC was getting then they fell in love with them. You cant failt CGC on how they take care of their big customers every company does this CGG included. That is the way things run.

[PUNYHUMAN]

I've only bought 3 CGC comics so far in all my years of collecting"1965-1974" & 1987 to the present & do I agree with their grading ? Yes ,on books I have seen ! Not all the time ,But if I was going to buy off someone I didn't know ,CGC would be the way to go ,because you would have a professinal opinion,I strictly stay with reputable dealers Harley Yee, Metropolis,ETC. Even they make mistakes,but I look for consistency,it's all subjective!!

[Mephisto]

CGC could release toxic gas through their microchamber paper, resulting in the deaths of thousands, and banner & rob-react would counter with "Kudos to CGC! There's too many people in the world anyway!!!"

 

 

Oh that would be very cool. They should use the Joker's venom. It could be just like the story in Batman 1. Steve Borock could interupt radio broadcasts and say he is going to steal a valuable CGC comic from a very rich collector at exactly midnight. Then the collector will have police guarding him and the book. At exactly midnight the CGC slab will release the Joker venom leaving all in the area dead with a hideaous grin on their faces. Then Borock can waltz in, steal the book, and laugh triumphantly "Another satisfied CGC customer!, HAHAHA." Then he can return to an abandoned mansion, and continue this game night after night. He can use the other CGC graders as his disposable hench men.

[BachelorOfComix]

Amen brother.

[lighthouse]

Because in addition to all the complaints above, they are also guilty of:[*]Failing to disclose the identity of the graders E-mail CGG and ask them [*]Failing to take steps to ensure that the members of the company do not grade books they sell Addressed that here [*]Failing to provide and delineate safeguards for the books in their care

When your books arrive at CGGroup, they are carefully unpacked, inspected, digitally imaged, given a tracking number, entered into the computer and delivered to the grading team for the grading process.

 

You know... I shouldn't have to call them to find out who is grading my books. If the company took any pride in their grading team they would be shouting the names of their graders to anyone who would listen. The mere fact that they keep their graders as secret as the leather-bound-gimp in the back room is warning enough...

 

And while I appreciate your quote about their process, the steps you just outlined are the same ones stckwizard uses when prepping his books for sale. Nothing in that quote tells me I can trust them.

 

 

Both companies are guilty of the five sins listed for CGC... but the boys from Eugene go one step further. In addition to the built-in concerns about whether they offer a product that truly adds value, there are also concerns about whether the company itself will disappear overnight leaving all their customers hanging. Run a D&B check on CGC and see whether the company is trustworthy. Then try to do the same on CGG. CGG is only in Business less then one year You won't be able to. They don't have one.

 

The fact that they haven't been around for very long is reason to give them extra slack about their security? Do you think a bank is allowed to have lower standards for security and ethics just because it is new? A third-party grading company is entrusted with goods just as valuable as currency, perhaps more valuable because they are harder to replace. If I wouldn't trust the company to hang on to my money, I certainly won't trust them to hang on to my prized collectibles.

 

If the company disappeared today and took off with all your books, what recourse would you have? Tell that to all the stock holders of Enron what recourse do they have Do you really want to go wait outside a Post Office Box hoping someone comes by?

 

Even though I have long suspected that "RS" stood for Rocket Surgeon, I have always given you more credit than this statement deserves. Investing in a company and delivering goods to a company for a value-added service are two very different things. I would never invest in my auto mechanic's business because he is doomed to fail in this market, but I take my car to him for any repairs because he is one of the most trustworthy people I have ever met and he does outstanding work.

 

Lighthouse tell me how you feel about CGG. I bet alot of people said the same thing about CGC in the early days of CGC. Until they saw the $$$ CGC was getting then they fell in love with them. You cant failt CGC on how they take care of their big customers every company does this CGG included. That is the way things run.

 

People were scared to death of CGC in the beginning. And the rank and file comic collectors still don't trust their product to this day. But not trusting a company's product and not trusting the company itself are two very different things. I've met Steve, I've met Paul, I've met Gemma. Steve had a stellar reputation before joining CGC which no one, not even the harshest CGC critics, will deny. He's the first to admit he isn't necessarily a better grader than the people on this board. When you pay to have CGC grade your book, you are not buying "better" grading or "more accurate" grading. You are buying impartial grading. The buyer and the seller can both disagree with the CGC grade, but they know that CGC grade was not given to favor one side or the other. CGG has done very little to assure the public that their grading is in fact impartial. And when that's really the only product you have to offer, it's the one product that better be there.

[texasknight]

The mere fact that they keep their graders as secret as the leather-bound-gimp in the back room is warning enough...

 

Pulp Fiction reference?

[lighthouse]

The mere fact that they keep their graders as secret as the leather-bound-gimp in the back room is warning enough...

 

Pulp Fiction reference?

 

You had to ask?

[greggy]

The mere fact that they keep their graders as secret as the leather-bound-gimp in the back room is warning enough...

 

Pulp Fiction reference?

 

You had to ask?

[texasknight]

The mere fact that they keep their graders as secret as the leather-bound-gimp in the back room is warning enough...

 

Pulp Fiction reference?

 

You had to ask?

Remember Bruce and Vin in the pawn shop Greggy... That leather bound gimp..

(in response to your )

[drbanner]

CGC could release toxic gas through their microchamber paper, resulting in the deaths of thousands, and banner & rob-react would counter with "Kudos to CGC! There's too many people in the world anyway!!!"

 

 

Oh that would be very cool. They should use the Joker's venom. It could be just like the story in Batman 1. Steve Borock could interupt radio broadcasts and say he is going to steal a valuable CGC comic from a very rich collector at exactly midnight. Then the collector will have police guarding him and the book. At exactly midnight the CGC slab will release the Joker venom leaving all in the area dead with a hideaous grin on their faces. Then Borock can waltz in, steal the book, and laugh triumphantly "Another satisfied CGC customer!, HAHAHA." Then he can return to an abandoned mansion, and continue this game night after night. He can use the other CGC graders as his disposable hench men.

 

Where are rob and I in this -script?? Are we good guys, or bad guys?? I can see you haven't thought this all the way thru yet...

[greggy]

The mere fact that they keep their graders as secret as the leather-bound-gimp in the back room is warning enough...

 

Pulp Fiction reference?

 

You had to ask?

Remember Bruce and Vin in the pawn shop Greggy... That leather bound gimp..

(in response to your )

Never watched the movie but I did hear about the gimp!

[BachelorOfComix]

Never watched the movie

[greggy]

Never watched the movie

[BachelorOfComix]

Rent it, it's a good movie but you're squeamish so you won't like all the blood.

[garthgantu]

Never watched the movie

 

Yes, you should shamble out in shame! Pulp Fiction is one of the best movies of the past 20 years, period. I'd rave further, but don't want to set expectations too high...

 

All I'll say is this: if you figure out what a "Bonnie Situation" is a reference to, please enlighten me! I've seen the film 5 times and still haven't figured that one out... But I think I know what's in the briefcase!!

[OldGuy]

Never watched the movie

 

Yes, you should shamble out in shame! Pulp Fiction is one of the best movies of the past 20 years, period. I'd rave further, but don't want to set expectations too high...

 

All I'll say is this: if you figure out what a "Bonnie Situation" is a reference to, please enlighten me! I've seen the film 5 times and still haven't figured that one out... But I think I know what's in the briefcase!!

 

"Is there a sign on my lawn!?"

[Red Hook]