Can CGC Cases be Tampered with?

[Joe Kim]

A friend of mine just purchased a 9.8 secret wars #8, and he showed it to me claiming he thinks it was tampered with. The top sticker was misaligned as if it had been removed, and the case itself did seem a bit crooked.

 

Is it even possible for CGC case to be cracked and resealed? I assured him that the book looked like it was in top condition, but he's still overly anxious about the possibility of someone having taken a 9.8 case and slipped in a sub-9.8 book.

[fantastic_four]

A friend of mine just purchased a 9.8 secret wars #8, and he showed it to me claiming he thinks it was tampered with. The top sticker was misaligned as if it had been removed, and the case itself did seem a bit crooked.

 

Is it even possible for CGC case to be cracked and resealed? I assured him that the book looked like it was in top condition, but he's still overly anxious about the possibility of someone having taken a 9.8 case and slipped in a sub-9.8 book.

 

The answer to your thread question is yes, but it's extremely difficult and extremely rare. Certainly all of the evidence your friend noticed isn't any indication at all of tampering--tons of slabs have crooked labels, crooked inner wells, and misaligned or partially-cracked outer casings.

[Flaming_Telepath]

Yes, it's possible.

 

From what you've told me of your friend's slab, I'd say it hasn't happened in this case.

[ChicksCosmiComics]

Your can get the outer case apart and put it back together and slide in another slabbed book in a different inner well and just change the label. But getting the book out of the inner well seems damn near impossible.

 

Check the slab # on CGC look up if it doesn't correspond then you might be on to something

[VintageComics]

Your can get the outer case apart and put it back together and slide in another slabbed book in a different inner well and just change the label. But getting the book out of the inner well seems damn near impossible.

 

Check the slab # on CGC look up if it doesn't correspond then you might be on to something

 

You actually can't remove the inner well from the outer well without breaking one of the corner posts of which all 4 are "welded" solid, so yeah, if your outer well has been broken at the corners there is a chance of tampering, but it would have to have this tell tale sign at the very least.

 

Also, the likelihood is slim that someone would do it for a $50 or $100 book.

 

 

 

 

[joe_collector]

On the older CGC design, easily and without too much effort.

 

On the newer CGC design, yes, but it's much tougher to accomplish and would only be attempted with higher-end books.

[kidcolt]

Seems like a lot of work for a book that wouldn't make you much more money.

[miraclemet]

--tons of slabs have crooked labels, crooked inner wells, and misaligned or partially-cracked outer casings.

 

what he said...

[Mephisto]

It's easier to do the switching game with older CGC books before the labels were sealed in the inner well. You could just slide the label from the inner well on books. Now they are sealed in and tend to show rips or paper loss on the label if removed from the inner well. It was always easiest to have two of the same CGC issues and carefully cracked open the outer well and glue it back together and merely switch the labels on the inner well.

[comicwiz]

On the older CGC design, easily and without too much effort.

 

+1

 

When liberating books from older slabs, I've been able to wedge a finger from one side and slide it carefully to the bottom post. In most cases, the post comes clean off with no sign of cracking or wear.

 

The inner well on older slabs come apart almost as easily as two sheets of paper clinging by static alone.

 

If it's an older slab, I'd carefully inspect the posts under magnification.

 

If it's a newer slab, none of the above really applies.

[shadroch]

Seems like a lot of work for a book that wouldn't make you much more money.

 

 

Unless one was practicing and perfecting his technique. Older slabs appear to be very susceptible to potential fraud. If one had a book with a 9.0 PLOd and another with a Blue 9.0, it wouldn't be difficult to crack them, switch the labels and then resubmit the book with the original blue label.

For a long time, CGCs idea of fraud prevention seemed to be eradicating threads that brought up the subject. Hopefully, this has changed.

[fantastic_four]

Did CGC do that redesign after Dupcak posted his (now yanked) thread here with screenshots illustrating how to crack a slab without destroying the posts? What'd they do to the posts to make them harder to separate without cracking?

[AGGIEZ]

Hypothetical...what's to keep someone from doing this...besides integrity:

 

Taking a slabbed Secret Wars #8 CGC 9.8

Removing the CGC 9.8 label

Cracking open a Secret Wars #8 CGC 9.2 just enough to swap the label

Sending the a fake Secret Wars #8 CGC 9.2 (w/ 9.8 label) in to CGC for a reholder

Resubbing the Secret Wars #8 CGC 9.8 as a raw book

 

Inner well on the fake is still intact, slab is mostly intact, label is swapped...

 

 

 

[shadroch]

On the newer slabs, the label is sealed and can't be swapped nearly as easy.

i'm still waiting for some factory in China to start copying CGC slabs. You have to know someone is trying, at the very least. If I can buy a knock-off Honda motorcycle in Macau,Ii'm sure you will someday be able to find knock off slabs.

How many people would knowingly buy a fake slabbed AF 15 ,if only to display it in their mancave.

[AGGIEZ]

I didn't realize the new slabs had the labels sealed in...problem averted...