Keeping Them Slabbed?

[Zonker]

Good observations on the fundamental paradox of slabbed books.

 

For myself, I've purchased exactly 3 CGC books and popped em open first chance I got! Two were S&K Star Spangled Comics issues, 1 was an Action Comics WWII cover. The grades were in the G/VG range, and I bought them off ebay because they were on my want list and just happened to be slabbed. I paid no premium for the books, but was happier about bidding on a book I had idea of what the grade really was.

 

If I get around to selling some Golden Age books I'm tired of, I might slab any that are in Fine or better condition, just to grab a higher price. I figure I'm buying "grading insurance" for the potential buyer, and would expect to pass the cost of that insurance on to him/her.

 

I could see if I had ultra-expensive high grade books I was keeping in a safety deposit box somewhere, I might want to slab them. But that's *not* me!

 

Would have to say, with no offense intended to anyone, that for the comics collector-- not investor/speculator-- to buy a bunch of slabbed comics and never open them up is a little whacked!

[FlComicFan]

Interesting topic what are some of the golden age books which seem to have been found in large quantites? I know of the Thing 16 and Warrior Comics 1 Major Inapak etc Does anyone know some more? I suspect All Star 23 is one of them it seems to turn up constantly on Ebay. Chet

[FlComicFan]

I agree to never look at the books is a damned shame. However that is the breed of buyer that CGC had brought into the market. These are the same people who buy other collectibles which dont really need to be out of the holder like coins, stamps and cards. I try and buy unslabbed but will buy golden age books slabbed as long as I dont have to pay a premium. Chet

[PovertyRow]

Fuelman is saying to me on the phone right now "Just just just just BUMP it. Just BUMP it. Just BUMP the "danged" thing. For the love of god!"

 

This bump's for you, Fuelie!

[PovertyRow]

Fuelman is saying to me on the phone right now "Just just just just BUMP it. Just BUMP it. Just BUMP the "danged" thing. For the love of god!"

 

This bump's for you, Fuelie!

 

Hey Fuelie!

[Larryw7]

What a blast from the past!

[Straw-Man]

what do y'all think about pressing?

[AnkurJ]

I just saw the date of the first post!

 

Personally I collect lower to mid grade books, and find CGC slabs a pain to store. They take up so much more space than a simple bag and board. So I crack out the book and keep the insert. Big deal.

[Ze-man]

What a blast from the past!

 

When people signed their posts.

 

 

 

Ze-

[PovertyRow]

What a blast from the past!

 

When people signed their posts.

 

 

 

Ze-

 

It was my very first post on the forum.

 

Michael

[Larryw7]

I actually posted full sentences back then.

[AmazingSaul]

I keep everything I might sell later slabbed. My personal collection I crack open and read them. I also keep slabbed anything over 1k because I feel I don't want to mess with the grade accidentally. Also I buy reading copies for my slabbed copies that I don't want to crack open due to high grade.

[Larryw7]

what do y'all think about pressing?

 

I was against it before I was for it.

[Silver Surfer]

Hi folks. This is my first time here - just registered and mighty glad to find a place to talk the older books!

 

Anyway - one thing that always struck me about the slabbed books is just that - they are slabbed and they are books. I do a bit of coin collecting but, aside from the edge, everything is visible. A few years when I was living in Boston I attended Dave Cummings' (Primate Productions) regular comic show that was held every other month. A great show: lots of old stuff (Dave? you out here somewhere?). I remember a CGC was there doing a "ramp up" and getting samples from dealers and quesitons immediately started forming in my brain.

 

1) Do you always keep your book slabbed? Rarely, very few slabs in comparison to raw. If so, do you seek reading copies or, in the case of something like a key GA superhero book, a modern age reprint? Not really, the books that I keep slabbed are typically 9.8 BA books that I grew up with.

 

2) Do you view slabbing more as a buying tool to insure some measure of condition and then remove it from the slab once the deal is made? Yes for resto and grade confirmation. I usually remove books from the slab as as I get them. Just removed a Thor #146 Pacific Coast copy from its tomb last night

 

3) In cases of hard to find genre books (say, precode horror) where a lot of the books are NOT available in reprint and where reading copies are very hard to find - what are you inclined to do with your slabbed book? Makes me want to remove it from the slab even more. Those books typically will always have buyers seeking them out so not having them in a slab doesn't have that much down side IMO.

 

4) Do you own slabbed copies of books that you have never read before? I would find this to be extremely frustrating! But also a very real possibility. In the past but at the moment, no.

 

While some of these quesitons MAY sound like I am trying to bait people - I genuinely am not. It is just that slabbing something that has an interior designed to be read is something of a paradox.

 

Well, may all your wants be filled and all your keys fit the lock!

 

Michael

[frozentundraguy]

OK - am replying to me but this is interesting.

 

My THING 16 CGC 9.2 OW - well - the case got a large crack in it. Not sure how. Did not have the crack when I received it. Always kept it safe. But ANYWAY - I decided - "what the heck?"

 

I removed it from the case. I tell you, this was a revelation. A real revelation. The only defect saw (which I could not see through the case) was a 1/4" bottom right corner fold that slightly broke the ink. When the book emerged from the case the gloss was absolutely UNREAL. It has that kind of 3-dimensional look when you angle it to the light which I also could not see in the case.

 

It is now in a fresh mylar with a buffered backing board. One thing that hit me immediately when I removed it was the smell. A smell of "fresh water" is the best way I can describe it. I am one of those weird guys who, anytime they are handed a book being considered as a sale candiadte to buy, immediately opens it and smells it. If it smells like vinegar it will be automatically rejected regardless of how it looks. But that fresh water smell is a wonderous thing. (Do others here smell their books and look for that fresh water scent?).

 

Anyway, I was going to send it back to CGC for re-slabbing but decided it is SO pretty that I really cannot bear to have it encpsulated again.

 

Here is a scan of it http://home.pacbell.net/realart/thing16.jpg

 

I thini it is pretty nice for a 1954 book and it realy is a joy to touch.

 

PS - not sure what is going on in the top left corner. It is sqaure and deep black. But my scanner persists in making it look a bit smudgy.

 

POV,

 

Do you still have any of your books? I seem to recall reading somewhere on one of the threads in the Water Cooler that you stopped collecting about 5 years ago.

 

It must have been pretty quiet here 10 years back.

[PovertyRow]

 

POV,

 

Do you still have any of your books? I seem to recall reading somewhere on one of the threads in the Water Cooler that you stopped collecting about 5 years ago.

 

It must have been pretty quiet here 10 years back.

 

10 years ago it was still very active. I have no pre-codes left except 3 strays that I can recall (one being a lower grade THING! 16. I still have my high grade BA horror. I keep meaning to do something with them but will probably just hold on to them for the foreseeable future.

[Hepcat]

It is just that slabbing something that has an interior designed to be read is something of a paradox.

 

It's more than something of a paradox.

 

1) Do you always keep your book slabbed?

 

No. I only buy slabbed comics if no alternative is available, and I then immediately break them out of their plastic prisons. I'm in it for the comics, not the labels.

 

Especially on the restoration end of things. I remember the old days in some of the early Overstreets when restorations ad would actually say "edges trimmed and covers reglossed for the near-mint look!"!!!

 

What years would this have been? The earliest Overstreet I have lying around is a #9 from 1979.

 

[PovertyRow]

It is just that slabbing something that has an interior designed to be read is something of a paradox.

 

It's more than something of a paradox.

 

1) Do you always keep your book slabbed?

 

No. I only buy slabbed comics if no alternative is available, and I then immediately break them out of their plastic prisons. I'm in it for the comics, not the labels.

 

Especially on the restoration end of things. I remember the old days in some of the early Overstreets when restorations ad would actually say "edges trimmed and covers reglossed for the near-mint look!"!!!

 

What years would this have been? The earliest Overstreet I have lying around is a #9 from 1979.

 

 

I no longer have my Overstreets but they went back to #3. So could be among #3-#8.

[scooter99]

 

POV,

 

Do you still have any of your books? I seem to recall reading somewhere on one of the threads in the Water Cooler that you stopped collecting about 5 years ago.

 

It must have been pretty quiet here 10 years back.

 

10 years ago it was still very active. I have no pre-codes left except 3 strays that I can recall (one being a lower grade THING! 16. I still have my high grade BA horror. I keep meaning to do something with them but will probably just hold on to them for the foreseeable future.

 

I know of at least a half dozen BA horror fans on the boards if you ever decide to sell. .

[Arkadin]

It becomes really strange with books whose only interest comes from what's inside the covers.

 

Why would you buy a high grade slabbed Personal Love with Frazetta art, for instance, only to keep it slabbed and never actually see what you've just paid for?

 

Unless you're a big Fernando Lamas fan, I guess.