Why do people deslab CGC graded books?

[lizards2]

I'm assuming most of the de-slabbers are bronze and later collectors? I collect silver and gold and would only de-slab if I wanted to press. I do, however, buy raw, b/c as has been mentioned, I want to hold, read and smell that book...

 

I would think it's opposite of that. Probably more GA/SA de-slabbers than Bronze/Modern.

 

Why?

 

I assume that most of the de-slabbers are buying mid-grade books. People buing slabbed moderns are mostly buying the uber-grades. Who is cracking 9.8's? Why would anybody pay that HG premium just to crack it out. Nobody is buying mid-grade moderns.

 

For GA/SA books, mid-grades tend to be priced near the same if it's slabbed or raw (keys excluded). So, you buy a graded book from unkown seller for the resto-check/grade verification and crack it out.

 

+1

I collect SA in the 9.0 to 9.6 range - never thought that was considered mid-grade. :shrug:

 

You crack SA 9.6 books?

 

Yes - However, I only get 9.6s when they are cheap.

[chrisco37]

I'm assuming most of the de-slabbers are bronze and later collectors? I collect silver and gold and would only de-slab if I wanted to press. I do, however, buy raw, b/c as has been mentioned, I want to hold, read and smell that book...

 

I would think it's opposite of that. Probably more GA/SA de-slabbers than Bronze/Modern.

 

Why?

 

I assume that most of the de-slabbers are buying mid-grade books. People buing slabbed moderns are mostly buying the uber-grades. Who is cracking 9.8's? Why would anybody pay that HG premium just to crack it out. Nobody is buying mid-grade moderns.

 

For GA/SA books, mid-grades tend to be priced near the same if it's slabbed or raw (keys excluded). So, you buy a graded book from unkown seller for the resto-check/grade verification and crack it out.

 

+1

I collect SA in the 9.0 to 9.6 range - never thought that was considered mid-grade. :shrug:

 

You crack SA 9.6 books?

 

Yes - However, I only get 9.6s when they are cheap.

 

You like to live dangerously, eh?

 

I would guess that you are in the minority.

[AtlasFan]

Yup, forgot about that one...although I believe that CGC put 7 years as a recommended time frame based on the limit of their testing (the 7 year period).

 

I don't think anyone should worry that their books are going to self destruct after the 7 year period of a book doesn't get reholdered. At least I personally wouldn't.

 

You are correct sir.... a response I gave in an older thread about this issue.....

 

I use Egerber boards and Egerber mylars for all my books. 5 sheets of microchamber interleaved in each book to deal with acidity. Someone earlier discussed the longevity of microchamber paper and how 7 years was conservative. Well I spoke with a gentlemen that was involved in the testing and creation of conservation resources microchamber paper. I talked to him when I placed my last order with CRI. I told him what CGC said about the 7 years inert thing. He laughed, and told me that microchamber paper was designed to protect valuable ephemera collections in the most polluted environments in the US... like the library's in our biggest cities. ie: New York, Washington DC etc.....

 

He told me the amount of pollutants and acids they pushed thru these papers during testing was staggering, and that realistically it could be 50 years before a sheet loses its acid nuetralization qualities.... If he wanted to sell paper he could have told me somthing different, so I tend to believe him. Real nice guy, and passionate about conservation. He told me that CRI loves comic collectors, they are quirky and different from the usual conversations they have with library archivest's.

 

Interesting info.

 

I've never heard of using 5 sheets of microchamber paper though. Why 5?

 

Good question....

 

When I did the initial research into this area of storage I followed threads here closely and learned a lot. On my own though I decided to go directly to the source when purchasing my microchamber paper and see if I could pick the brains of the people at CRI. I was hoping that the salesperson could connect me with someone who knew the molecular trap business inside and out….. Sure enough they were able to!

 

Anyway the acid byproduct that the newsprint creates migrates….. when CGC puts sheets of microchamber paper between both covers it does protect the covers from acid migration and in so doing discoloration. It also protects a good quantity of the paper near the covers… I asked the guy at CRI if this was suffiecnt in his view? He said that in order to ultimately protect all the paper to the ravages of time and itself you would need to interleave this paper between all pages similar to what archivist’s do with very important documents. But he agreed with me that this wasn’t really possible with comic book collections because of cost and time.

 

The pages most at risk of damage are the ones furthest from the microchamber paper, so I asked him what he thought a good compromise would be? He said maybe every 10 to 15 pages or so should be enough in his opinion to adequately protect all the pages of my books. So I told him my idea….

 

One sheet behind both covers…. One right in the middle of the book, and one sheet in the average middle of that….. that creates this……

 

 

 

 

He said yea, that could work…… I also in cutting the sheets down have leftover scraps.. these go into the bottoms and sides of my comic boxes and enclosures…. The paper doesn’t have to touch stuff to be effective…. It handles off gassing from all kinds of pollutants so I don’t waste the scraps that come out of the process of cutting sheets to fit books…. Any nasty compounds in the air around my precious books have to tackle the high volume of microchamber paper that exists in my comic boxes and enclosures…

 

I’m anal I know, its what I do…..

 

And of course I cant afford to do this with all my books…. Just my valuable books, bronze age and older stuff…..

 

I also keep a spreadsheet of my collection and highlight with a color all books that have been given the microchamber treatment…. Depending on the year it gets a different color. This way I can be sure what year any given book has been microchambered…. This project is ongoing, when I am bored or have a moment to myself and no family around I throw some music on, pull out my cutter, put on my white archivist gloves, get my Overstreet page quality card(OWL), and my microchamber paper and go to work. Any excuse to pull my books out of their EGerber mylar and full backs is a good enough excuse for me. While I am there my database is updated with page quality info and microchamber notification.

 

Why do I spend so much time keeping this data? That way in the future when I go back and change microchmaber paper to new sheets in like 10 or 15 years cuz I am bored.... I will know if there has been a change in page quality....

 

About 60 % of my old books have been “microchamberd” in the past 3 years. When I get done maybe I will do the moderns or I will find some other anal thing to do….

 

My wife says I should have been a archivist because I love the science of this.... I would love to do this or work on objects in a museum... Did you know there is a microchamber emulsion that can be painted on enclosures? but alas I am a graphic designer....

 

 

One day I plan on putting a blog post on my site on the two different storage plans I use to protect my books….

 

 

A study by the journal SCIENCE showed that micorchamber paper can cause cancer in rats.

[lizards2]

A study by the journal SCIENCE showed that micorchamber paper can cause cancer in rats.

Good - I don't want any rats around my collection.

[lizards2]

 

You crack SA 9.6 books?

 

Yes - However, I only get 9.6s when they are cheap.

 

You like to live dangerously, eh?

 

I would guess that you are in the minority.

 

I don't actively seek 9.6s. Needless to say, by the time I do buy one, I've set a new GPA all time low, so cracking it out makes no diff :shrug:

[Kenners]

I think I'm a one-of-a-kind here ..

 

This is how I collect comics:

 

I buy Modern floppies and then get them made into Bound Volumes (I enjoy the fact that I can read them whenever I want, enjoy them, and they're on my bookshelf).

 

I "have" bound SA books ( .. as above).

 

I buy Marvel Masterworks hardcovers (.. because those are awesome runs, for not a lot of bucks. Same rules apply as above).

 

I buy some slabbed books (.. because I treat them as "pedestal" books. Ok .. I can't read them, but .. they sure do look nice in their freestanding stands). I wouldn't dream of cracking those cases open.

 

Yes, I have weird tastes in my philosophy of comics.

 

I love coming here

 

 

[Define999]

A study by the journal SCIENCE showed that micorchamber paper can cause cancer in rats.

Good - I don't want any rats around my collection.

 

I agree.... if killing vermin is part of its usefullness than right on! Im guessing your being facetious...

[jbud73]

My strongest reason to De-slab books is for consistency. For example I just bought a Thor 146 in CGC 9.4 however all the other Thor books I own from 130 and up (except a few Pedigrees) are all raw. So I De-slabbed the 146 and put it in a Mylar and slipped it into a box between Thor 145 and Thor 147. I have also De-slabbed a few of the Pedigree Thor books for the same reason, however I left the Boston and Winnipeg in the slab as they don't have provenance certificates and the label then acts as their authentication and therefore serves a purpose.

 

On the other side of the fence I purposely slabbed my DD 7 and my usual practice has ONLY been to slab a book if I intend to SELL it, or if I'm curious about how CGC interprets certain defects. In the case of the DD 7, my 5, 6, 8, 9, 10 were all purchased slabbed so it made sense to slab the 7 for consistency.

 

As others have said De-slabbing to actually enjoy a HG book is a strong motivation as well. I did this with my first Curator just to see how white the pages were - answer blinding, better than almost any other SA book I've ever seen. It was cool to see that and worth the De-slab.

[dupont2005]

About comic binding. I thought I heard of a technique where the comic was not split down the middle and sewn or glued in by the center like that. I think some places remove the staples and sew through the staple holes, so the comic has no risk of losing pages or experiencing gutter loss and it will be able to lay flat. Anyone know what I'm talking about?

[thehumantorch]

I think I'm a one-of-a-kind here ..

 

This is how I collect comics:

 

I buy Modern floppies and then get them made into Bound Volumes (I enjoy the fact that I can read them whenever I want, enjoy them, and they're on my bookshelf).

 

I "have" bound SA books ( .. as above).

 

I buy Marvel Masterworks hardcovers (.. because those are awesome runs, for not a lot of bucks. Same rules apply as above).

 

I buy some slabbed books (.. because I treat them as "pedestal" books. Ok .. I can't read them, but .. they sure do look nice in their freestanding stands). I wouldn't dream of cracking those cases open.

 

Yes, I have weird tastes in my philosophy of comics.

 

I love coming here

 

Interesting collecting methodology Ken and an interesting web site.

[lizards2]

A study by the journal SCIENCE showed that micorchamber paper can cause cancer in rats.

Good - I don't want any rats around my collection.

 

I agree.... if killing vermin is part of its usefullness than right on! Im guessing your being facetious...

Nope - I am totally serious.

[Racer-X]

I'm assuming most of the de-slabbers are bronze and later collectors? I collect silver and gold and would only de-slab if I wanted to press. I do, however, buy raw, b/c as has been mentioned, I want to hold, read and smell that book...

 

I would think it's opposite of that. Probably more GA/SA de-slabbers than Bronze/Modern.

 

Why?

 

I assume that most of the de-slabbers are buying mid-grade books. People buing slabbed moderns are mostly buying the uber-grades. Who is cracking 9.8's? Why would anybody pay that HG premium just to crack it out. Nobody is buying mid-grade moderns.

 

For GA/SA books, mid-grades tend to be priced near the same if it's slabbed or raw (keys excluded). So, you buy a graded book from unkown seller for the resto-check/grade verification and crack it out.

 

 

so then - back to my comment about an inaccurate census...

 

[solm4st3r]

I've only deslabbed 3 books. A PGX book that I felt the label grade was too high and misleading, and two CGCs which I thought were better off being in bags and boards.

[Jeffro.]

Yup, forgot about that one...although I believe that CGC put 7 years as a recommended time frame based on the limit of their testing (the 7 year period).

 

I don't think anyone should worry that their books are going to self destruct after the 7 year period of a book doesn't get reholdered. At least I personally wouldn't.

 

You are correct sir.... a response I gave in an older thread about this issue.....

 

I use Egerber boards and Egerber mylars for all my books. 5 sheets of microchamber interleaved in each book to deal with acidity. Someone earlier discussed the longevity of microchamber paper and how 7 years was conservative. Well I spoke with a gentlemen that was involved in the testing and creation of conservation resources microchamber paper. I talked to him when I placed my last order with CRI. I told him what CGC said about the 7 years inert thing. He laughed, and told me that microchamber paper was designed to protect valuable ephemera collections in the most polluted environments in the US... like the library's in our biggest cities. ie: New York, Washington DC etc.....

 

He told me the amount of pollutants and acids they pushed thru these papers during testing was staggering, and that realistically it could be 50 years before a sheet loses its acid nuetralization qualities.... If he wanted to sell paper he could have told me somthing different, so I tend to believe him. Real nice guy, and passionate about conservation. He told me that CRI loves comic collectors, they are quirky and different from the usual conversations they have with library archivest's.

 

Interesting info.

 

I've never heard of using 5 sheets of microchamber paper though. Why 5?

 

Good question....

 

When I did the initial research into this area of storage I followed threads here closely and learned a lot. On my own though I decided to go directly to the source when purchasing my microchamber paper and see if I could pick the brains of the people at CRI. I was hoping that the salesperson could connect me with someone who knew the molecular trap business inside and out….. Sure enough they were able to!

 

Anyway the acid byproduct that the newsprint creates migrates….. when CGC puts sheets of microchamber paper between both covers it does protect the covers from acid migration and in so doing discoloration. It also protects a good quantity of the paper near the covers… I asked the guy at CRI if this was suffiecnt in his view? He said that in order to ultimately protect all the paper to the ravages of time and itself you would need to interleave this paper between all pages similar to what archivist’s do with very important documents. But he agreed with me that this wasn’t really possible with comic book collections because of cost and time.

 

The pages most at risk of damage are the ones furthest from the microchamber paper, so I asked him what he thought a good compromise would be? He said maybe every 10 to 15 pages or so should be enough in his opinion to adequately protect all the pages of my books. So I told him my idea….

 

One sheet behind both covers…. One right in the middle of the book, and one sheet in the average middle of that….. that creates this……

 

 

 

 

He said yea, that could work…… I also in cutting the sheets down have leftover scraps.. these go into the bottoms and sides of my comic boxes and enclosures…. The paper doesn’t have to touch stuff to be effective…. It handles off gassing from all kinds of pollutants so I don’t waste the scraps that come out of the process of cutting sheets to fit books…. Any nasty compounds in the air around my precious books have to tackle the high volume of microchamber paper that exists in my comic boxes and enclosures…

 

I’m anal I know, its what I do…..

 

And of course I cant afford to do this with all my books…. Just my valuable books, bronze age and older stuff…..

 

I also keep a spreadsheet of my collection and highlight with a color all books that have been given the microchamber treatment…. Depending on the year it gets a different color. This way I can be sure what year any given book has been microchambered…. This project is ongoing, when I am bored or have a moment to myself and no family around I throw some music on, pull out my cutter, put on my white archivist gloves, get my Overstreet page quality card(OWL), and my microchamber paper and go to work. Any excuse to pull my books out of their EGerber mylar and full backs is a good enough excuse for me. While I am there my database is updated with page quality info and microchamber notification.

 

Why do I spend so much time keeping this data? That way in the future when I go back and change microchmaber paper to new sheets in like 10 or 15 years cuz I am bored.... I will know if there has been a change in page quality....

 

About 60 % of my old books have been “microchamberd” in the past 3 years. When I get done maybe I will do the moderns or I will find some other anal thing to do….

 

My wife says I should have been a archivist because I love the science of this.... I would love to do this or work on objects in a museum... Did you know there is a microchamber emulsion that can be painted on enclosures? but alas I am a graphic designer....

 

 

One day I plan on putting a blog post on my site on the two different storage plans I use to protect my books….

 

 

(thumbs u Thanks for sharing

[Waylander]

Yup, forgot about that one...although I believe that CGC put 7 years as a recommended time frame based on the limit of their testing (the 7 year period).

 

I don't think anyone should worry that their books are going to self destruct after the 7 year period of a book doesn't get reholdered. At least I personally wouldn't.

 

You are correct sir.... a response I gave in an older thread about this issue.....

 

I use Egerber boards and Egerber mylars for all my books. 5 sheets of microchamber interleaved in each book to deal with acidity. Someone earlier discussed the longevity of microchamber paper and how 7 years was conservative. Well I spoke with a gentlemen that was involved in the testing and creation of conservation resources microchamber paper. I talked to him when I placed my last order with CRI. I told him what CGC said about the 7 years inert thing. He laughed, and told me that microchamber paper was designed to protect valuable ephemera collections in the most polluted environments in the US... like the library's in our biggest cities. ie: New York, Washington DC etc.....

 

He told me the amount of pollutants and acids they pushed thru these papers during testing was staggering, and that realistically it could be 50 years before a sheet loses its acid nuetralization qualities.... If he wanted to sell paper he could have told me somthing different, so I tend to believe him. Real nice guy, and passionate about conservation. He told me that CRI loves comic collectors, they are quirky and different from the usual conversations they have with library archivest's.

 

Interesting info.

 

I've never heard of using 5 sheets of microchamber paper though. Why 5?

 

Good question....

 

When I did the initial research into this area of storage I followed threads here closely and learned a lot. On my own though I decided to go directly to the source when purchasing my microchamber paper and see if I could pick the brains of the people at CRI. I was hoping that the salesperson could connect me with someone who knew the molecular trap business inside and out….. Sure enough they were able to!

 

Anyway the acid byproduct that the newsprint creates migrates….. when CGC puts sheets of microchamber paper between both covers it does protect the covers from acid migration and in so doing discoloration. It also protects a good quantity of the paper near the covers… I asked the guy at CRI if this was suffiecnt in his view? He said that in order to ultimately protect all the paper to the ravages of time and itself you would need to interleave this paper between all pages similar to what archivist’s do with very important documents. But he agreed with me that this wasn’t really possible with comic book collections because of cost and time.

 

The pages most at risk of damage are the ones furthest from the microchamber paper, so I asked him what he thought a good compromise would be? He said maybe every 10 to 15 pages or so should be enough in his opinion to adequately protect all the pages of my books. So I told him my idea….

 

One sheet behind both covers…. One right in the middle of the book, and one sheet in the average middle of that….. that creates this……

 

 

 

 

He said yea, that could work…… I also in cutting the sheets down have leftover scraps.. these go into the bottoms and sides of my comic boxes and enclosures…. The paper doesn’t have to touch stuff to be effective…. It handles off gassing from all kinds of pollutants so I don’t waste the scraps that come out of the process of cutting sheets to fit books…. Any nasty compounds in the air around my precious books have to tackle the high volume of microchamber paper that exists in my comic boxes and enclosures…

 

I’m anal I know, its what I do…..

 

And of course I cant afford to do this with all my books…. Just my valuable books, bronze age and older stuff…..

 

I also keep a spreadsheet of my collection and highlight with a color all books that have been given the microchamber treatment…. Depending on the year it gets a different color. This way I can be sure what year any given book has been microchambered…. This project is ongoing, when I am bored or have a moment to myself and no family around I throw some music on, pull out my cutter, put on my white archivist gloves, get my Overstreet page quality card(OWL), and my microchamber paper and go to work. Any excuse to pull my books out of their EGerber mylar and full backs is a good enough excuse for me. While I am there my database is updated with page quality info and microchamber notification.

 

Why do I spend so much time keeping this data? That way in the future when I go back and change microchmaber paper to new sheets in like 10 or 15 years cuz I am bored.... I will know if there has been a change in page quality....

 

About 60 % of my old books have been “microchamberd” in the past 3 years. When I get done maybe I will do the moderns or I will find some other anal thing to do….

 

My wife says I should have been a archivist because I love the science of this.... I would love to do this or work on objects in a museum... Did you know there is a microchamber emulsion that can be painted on enclosures? but alas I am a graphic designer....

 

 

One day I plan on putting a blog post on my site on the two different storage plans I use to protect my books….

 

 

(thumbs u Thanks for sharing

 

+1

 

[Kenners]

I think I'm a one-of-a-kind here ..

 

This is how I collect comics:

 

I buy Modern floppies and then get them made into Bound Volumes (I enjoy the fact that I can read them whenever I want, enjoy them, and they're on my bookshelf).

 

I "have" bound SA books ( .. as above).

 

I buy Marvel Masterworks hardcovers (.. because those are awesome runs, for not a lot of bucks. Same rules apply as above).

 

I buy some slabbed books (.. because I treat them as "pedestal" books. Ok .. I can't read them, but .. they sure do look nice in their freestanding stands). I wouldn't dream of cracking those cases open.

 

Yes, I have weird tastes in my philosophy of comics.

 

I love coming here

 

Interesting collecting methodology Ken and an interesting web site.

 

Cheers, and thanks very much for visiting my site (still heavily under construction)

[jimjum12]

I tried searching and couldn't find anything on this so I apologize if it's been asked before.

 

Over the past few months I've seen a number of comics in the sales forums that have been deslabbed after being graded by CGC and I was wondering what the purpose of it is? I can understand someone deslabbing a CGC book if they want to press it or (or restore it if it's lower grade) and resubmit for a higher grade but it seems like quite a few people deslab the comic and then sell it raw, sometimes with the label.

 

Are people just taking it out of the slab to read it? With all the reader copies and digital files out there it doesn't make sense to me to break it out of a slab just to read it. Are there any other reasons why a seller would take it out of the CGC slab?

 

Any opinions are appreciated, please educate me. I can't see ever doing it myself after going to the trouble of having a book graded by CGC so I was wondering what other reasons you guys would have for taking a comic out after having it graded.

 

 

I do it because I like the "feel" of the actual comic in my hands.....to smell the newsprint, to see the old ads, sometimes if a book has never been reprinted or if reprinted versions are not faithful to the original....I'll deslab. A good example of the last reason is Thunda #1. It was reprinted with a new coloring job (which is fine, by the way). The original....as Frazetta intended it, is quite different. GOD BLESS...

 

-jimbo(a friend of jesus) (thumbs u

[Calamerica]

I'm assuming most of the de-slabbers are bronze and later collectors? I collect silver and gold and would only de-slab if I wanted to press. I do, however, buy raw, b/c as has been mentioned, I want to hold, read and smell that book...

 

I would think it's opposite of that. Probably more GA/SA de-slabbers than Bronze/Modern.

 

Why?

 

I assume that most of the de-slabbers are buying mid-grade books. People buing slabbed moderns are mostly buying the uber-grades. Who is cracking 9.8's? Why would anybody pay that HG premium just to crack it out. Nobody is buying mid-grade moderns.

 

For GA/SA books, mid-grades tend to be priced near the same if it's slabbed or raw (keys excluded). So, you buy a graded book from unkown seller for the resto-check/grade verification and crack it out.

 

+1

I collect SA in the 9.0 to 9.6 range - never thought that was considered mid-grade. :shrug:

 

You crack SA 9.6 books?

 

 

NEVER crack out 9.6 books... NEVER!!!

 

CAL who cringes at the mere thought that someone would crack out a 9.6er...