Do you turn in labels when you crack out a book?

[oakman29]

Yeah crack em and throw away the label along with the tomb in was encased in.

Let's talk census #'s now.

[Supa-Bad-Mofo]

While we're on the topic, why do people crack CGC books? I see absolutely no point in it! (Except for resubmission after a press, a cleaning or something similar.) Why pay a premium for a graded book and then crack it out and lose at least 20% of the value? Why not just buy a high grade raw book if you want it in your collection. If you want to read it, why not just buy a reader copy you can throw around? Man...I just don't get it! MAKES NO SENSE!

 

Because I'm making the purchase to acquire the comic, not the plastic holder.

 

Yea, I buy the book, too. But, I'm also buying the book in said grade. If I remove it, said grade no longer applies.

 

Because the CGC inner well isn't of the archival quality of Mylar and I'm not going to pay CGC every few years to re-holder the book.

 

Right, CGC recommends re-holder every 7 or so years. But, why waste your money on the slab if you don't want to maintain it's integrity? It's like buying a car and never changing the oil...

 

Because I like keeping all my comics together, not separating the CGC from the non-CGC and buying all the peraphanalia that goes along with storing CGC slabs.

 

Personal choice, I guess. But, to use the car analogy again, why buy the car if you don't want to put it in a garage, or at least under a cover?

 

Because I don't buy nose-bleed grades, über-keys, pedigrees or movie-hype books so I don't pay premiums for the CGC books I buy.

 

I don't either. I have only one 9.9, the rest are 9.6-8.0. I do have pedigrees. As far as a premium, I'm sure you pay something for the slab. People don't give them away at raw prices, it just isn't done...or at least I haven't seen it except on slabbed drek.

 

I appreciate CGC's opinion on the grade and restoration status but I don't care to drink their kool-aid.

 

You appreciate the CGC opinion, but you don't want to? Yet, you still buy slabbed books?

[slym2none]

Yea, I buy the book, too. But, I'm also buying the book in said grade. If I remove it, said grade no longer applies.

 

Sure it does! Unless you damage the book cracking it out, it is the same grade.

 

 

 

-slym

[Supa-Bad-Mofo]

Yea, I buy the book, too. But, I'm also buying the book in said grade. If I remove it, said grade no longer applies.

 

Sure it does! Unless you damage the book cracking it out, it is the same grade.

 

 

 

-slym

 

Theoretically, yes. But if you round a corner or put a small bend in the book while placing it in a bag, while storing it or even holding it, the book's grade has changed and the grade no longer applies. If you handle the book and "scuff" it up or put a reading bend in it...the book's grade has changed and the grade no longer applies. You could package the book up WITH the label and send it back to CGC and they will regrade it...send it back through the whole process with no guarantee of the same grade. We all know you could crack a book and send it directly back to CGC and get a lower grade (assuming it was already high grade) simply due to subjectivity. Of course, with lower grade books, a higher grade is also possible. But as I said in my original post, I understand the logic in cracking and resubmitting for a bump.

[slym2none]

OK, let me change my above statement - unless you damage the book, the grade stays the same! IOW, just because you crack it out, doesn't mean a 9.2 goes to a 7.5

 

 

 

 

-slym

[Number 6]

While we're on the topic, why do people crack CGC books? I see absolutely no point in it! (Except for resubmission after a press, a cleaning or something similar.) Why pay a premium for a graded book and then crack it out and lose at least 20% of the value? Why not just buy a high grade raw book if you want it in your collection. If you want to read it, why not just buy a reader copy you can throw around? Man...I just don't get it! MAKES NO SENSE!

 

Because I'm making the purchase to acquire the comic, not the plastic holder.

 

Yea, I buy the book, too. But, I'm also buying the book in said grade. If I remove it, said grade no longer applies.

 

So if it's no longer a, say, 9.4, then what is it? Why does removing the comic from the holder suddenly make the condition of the comic a mystery? In order for CGC to grade it 9.4, didn't the raw comic have to be in 9.4 condition before CGC received it? If yes, then why can't the comic continue to be in 9.4 condition after it's removed from the holder?

 

Because the CGC inner well isn't of the archival quality of Mylar and I'm not going to pay CGC every few years to re-holder the book.

 

Right, CGC recommends re-holder every 7 or so years. But, why waste your money on the slab if you don't want to maintain it's integrity? It's like buying a car and never changing the oil...

 

Your example is not analogous. Oil is an integral part of the proper function of the car's engine. A CGC slab is not an integral part of the function of a comic. I'm not "wasting money on the slab" because, again, I'm not purchasing the CGC for the slab, I'm purchasing it because I do value their opinion - to a degree - on the grade and their restoration check.

 

Because I like keeping all my comics together, not separating the CGC from the non-CGC and buying all the peraphanalia that goes along with storing CGC slabs.

 

Personal choice, I guess. But, to use the car analogy again, why buy the car if you don't want to put it in a garage, or at least under a cover?

 

As your illustration suggests, there is more than one way to protect a car. Similarly, there is more than one way to protect comics. Just because I remove a book from the slab doesn't mean I've forgone protecting the comic altogether. I store my comics in standard Mylite 2s with Fullbacks, and for books published before 1973, I store them in gold/silver Mylite 2s with a Fullback board and bagged again in 4 mill Archive. In my opinion, this is a more protecting and permanent storage option, comparable to a "garage". To my thinking, CGC slabs are more like the "car cover" - it provides some protection, but isn't the best, most permanent solution, and like a car cover, will need to be changed periodically.

 

Because I don't buy nose-bleed grades, über-keys, pedigrees or movie-hype books so I don't pay premiums for the CGC books I buy.

 

I don't either. I have only one 9.9, the rest are 9.6-8.0. I do have pedigrees. As far as a premium, I'm sure you pay something for the slab. People don't give them away at raw prices, it just isn't done...or at least I haven't seen it except on slabbed drek.

 

From today back to 1/27/14 there have been 450 CGC slabs that have sold on eBay for $10 or less. 203 of them, 45%, were 9.6 or 9.8. And while some of them were "drek", many of them were not. 13 of them were CGC Signature Series books.

 

I saw one CGC SS with a William Shatner signature sell for under $20 - Shatner charges $50-$80 just for his signature. That doesn't even include CGC's grading fees.

 

Let me put this another way: Metropolis Comics, a trusted dealer on these boards, right now has a raw 9.4 copy of Swamp Thing #10 on sale for $72. Yet this same book in CGC 9.4 has sold on eBay and Comic-link for $40-$50.

 

Highgradecomics.com, another trusted dealer, has a raw 9.0 copy of Detective Comics #410 for $125. I just purchased a CGC 9.2 copy off eBay for about the same price.

 

Can you begin to understand why I might choose to purchase a CGC comic to crack out rather than purchase a raw copy?

 

There are clearly opportunities to purchase CGC copies at comparable prices to accurately graded raw counterparts. There are also opportunities to purchase attractive CGC copies at bargain prices because the copies in question aren't "high-grade enough" for other collectors. As a consumer, I chose to exercise my right to avail myself of these opportunities.

 

I appreciate CGC's opinion on the grade and restoration status but I don't care to drink their kool-aid.

 

You appreciate the CGC opinion, but you don't want to? Yet, you still buy slabbed books?

 

No, I appreciate CGC's opinion, that's why I at times purchase CGC graded copies.

 

The "I don't drink their kool-aid" comment refers to the fact that I am never going to value the slab or the label over the comic. I'm not going to repeatedly pay CGC over and over again - and repeatedly risk my comics being lost or damaged in the mail - simply to have them re-holdered every 7 years. While I appreciate CGC's opinion on grading, I don't think removing a book from the holder somehow makes the book's condition a mystery. I don't think 9.6 and 9.8 books only exist when CGC begets them. And while I acknowledge that CGC encapsulation can make a comic more liquid, and sometimes cause it to sell for a premium, I believe the true value of a CGC slab is the comic itself.

 

You asked for reasons why someone such as myself would remove a comic from the CGC slab. I gave you my reasons why I do so. It's clear that by repeatedly referring the views held by me and others of like mind as "bull :censored:" that you strongly disagree with those views.

 

As such, I certainly don't expect you understand those views, let alone change your mind. That wasn't my purpose. I was simply answering your question.

 

As you acknowledged in one of your comments above, it's a matter of personal choice.

[Mr Sneeze]

I always crack books out when they enter my collection. I keep the label in the back with the book so I don't see how this effects the census (the accuracy of the census is another topic altogether!).

 

Does it effect my resale value? Absolutely, especially in the short term. In the long term who can say?

 

There have been excellent responses as to why some collectors do this already so I will try not to repeat them. Holding a slabbed book is an empty experience for me. There is no connection to the comic anymore. Who cares about the page quality if I can't open the book. House ads, bull pen pages, letter pages, goofy ads - a huge part of the experience when I was younger - all gone. Maybe if I collected slabs when I was a kid it would make more sense to collect them in that state. I could get reading copies but it is a lot more fun going through a nicer comic.

 

There is more than one way to enjoy the hobby. Pick yours and enjoy it to the fullest.

[Jaylam]

Thanks to everyone for replying to this post. It has been very enlightening. I am rather surprised at the strong presence of people who buy slabbed books just to crack them out to have a nice raw copy. For myself, I try to have a high grade slabbed copy then a mid to lower grade reader copy. Most of my slabbed books probably fall into the $300-$1500 value range, so it's not too expensive to have a lower grade copy on hand for reading. For uber value books, that might be too cost prohibitive to do. Anyway, it's nice to see the varied responses.

[Supa-Bad-Mofo]

Thanks to everyone for replying to this post. It has been very enlightening. I am rather surprised at the strong presence of people who buy slabbed books just to crack them out to have a nice raw copy. For myself, I try to have a high grade slabbed copy then a mid to lower grade reader copy. Most of my slabbed books probably fall into the $300-$1500 value range, so it's not too expensive to have a lower grade copy on hand for reading. For uber value books, that might be too cost prohibitive to do. Anyway, it's nice to see the varied responses.

 

Now this makes sense...both fiscally and as a collector of CGC books.