Answer from CGC.........

[comicwiz]

Well...after a night of sleeping on it, I decided the whole CGC pressing fiasco was it as far as I was concerned. I cannot with a clear mind support a company that doesn't have the best interest of the hobby in it's sights.

 

As a result, today at the Stuttgart Comic Show I sold off approximately 20 slabs at 20 Euros a piece. Didn't matter the title, grade, or age. That's about half of my slabs. The remaining slabs will either be sold or broken out over the next month (at the next show). I took a major monetary hit on these today but you know...I feel much better about it.

 

Call me a FDQ all you want...this CGC pressing business, whether it goes through or not, is the worst thing to happen in this hobby since Marvel decided to start up Heroes World. I sure as hell am not going to support them until they get their priorities straight.

 

Jim

 

Jim's view is understandable, and in many ways, is the whisper ringing in our ears after this most disappointing announcement. I wish I could say that this was a surprise to me, but it wasn't. Knowing about it beforehand however does absolutely nothing to minimize the amount of frustration I'm feeling towards this most ludicrous business initiative. I'm speaking in a predetermined way because from the announcement made, it appears as though some effort was made to legitimate CGC's place in this hobby, and entitlement as an independent arbiter of grading. Almost as if to prepare us for much worse news still to come.

 

As I've said before, comic certification, as with any other certification system for material goods, are grading reports that are meant to provide extensive information about the quality and characteristics of the item being analysed. The relevancy of certification comes form the mere fact that it instills consumer confidence, and the main reason for cerfitication is to promote consumer protection. If these two tenets are ever compromised in any way, shape or form, then one needs to consider the relevancy of certification.

 

Perhaps from the controversy this announcement will invoke, the arguments from both sides will assist in formulating compelling needs to either legislate or self regulate collectibles certification through and independent agency or regulatory body. From the viewpoint of this consumer, there isn't enough in spoken or written word to instill the level of confidence to support comic certification in its present state.

 

Like Jim, I have been forced to make some very difficult choices over the last year, and they are decisions informed somewhat by my own need to take a stand against the hipocrisy, the shameful decision making by its leaders, and the uneasy feeling with the future of this hobby. Regrettably, and from where I'm standing, the hobby is being driven to the ground by the organized few, while the prevailing theme amongst the masses is either apathy or acceptance. Perhaps I read the collecting community all wrong -- perhaps there is nothing in this hobby worth fighting for after all.

[awe4one]

Cmon bro.. even if you do not like what you see going on, was that really a wise, or necessary move? Be mad, but dont take it out on your poor comics.

Free then from the slab in protest if you want.

 

I gave them all a good look this morning and decided to grab those that I really wouldn't miss. The ones I didn't take with me I haven't made the decision whether they're unslabbed keepers or not yet.

 

And yes, I'm mad. Pissed off as much with the hypocracy of CGC's apparent lack of concern for this hobby as with pressing in general. I've never been a great CGC supporter but over the last couple of years I've grown to appreciate their role in comics collecting and actually truly thought Steve and Co. cared about this hobby.

 

It all turns out to be smoke and mirrors with the almighty dollar the final goal. I feel like a chump for getting sucked into this whole slabbing business even though I knew better beforehand. Well I've quickly sobered up again and am going to do what I can to make sure I don't support this [#@$%!!!] again...

 

Jim

[lou_fine]

Just how profitable does CGC think comics restoration is?

 

Seems the only surefire way to mnake $$$s in resto is to press 9.2s into higher grades. Because other than that, its all color touch, deacidification, adding pieces etc. I havent seen her bank statements, but somehow I dont think Susan is pulling down 100,000s a year working on books.... is she? So -- If CGC/Chris presses upgrades for customers, just how much can he charge? Can he get a percentage of the increased value? If so THAT would be a real moneymaker - - AND a severe breach of trust for CGC for obvious reasons. They would get a piece of the cation for Chris' company AND a piece for the increased slabbing fees!! Can CGC REALLY be greedy and stupid enough to think this will NOT affect their trust level in the industry???

 

When will they learn to NOT seek out business in these ethically questionable areas???

 

Aman;

 

I was talking to a restorer with respect to ordering a book for next year. Somehow, the topic got to restoration work such as cleaning and pressing which he thought would really add to the value of any collection. He categorically stated that he would be able to do this type of work without detection by CGC in virtually all cases. The fee he charged WAS based upon a percentage of the increase in value for the book, and it was a very sizeable percentage. It is even worse than CGC which has a maximum cap on their grading fees. The restorers do not have a maximum cap and can make tens on thousands if the right book comes along. The point he tried to make was that if I didn't do it, I was simply leaving a ton of money on the table since the next guy that purchases my books would be more than happy to pick up the money.

 

It should also be pointed out that although the big dollars on a individual book basis comes from the GA books, the real dollars are coming from the SA and BA books due to the sheer volume and ease of doing the work on the thinner books. No difference from CGC here where grading should really be meant for the older GA and early SA books, yet most of the volume of business actually comes from the newer books.

 

And yes, these are indeed very questionable and unethical areas that CGC is planning to moved into. You may as well put Comic-Keys as the new head honcho in charge of CGC since he has the proper background and experience in this aspect of the industry. Now we know the real reason why Comic-Keys was banned from doing business with CGC and participating on these boards: CGC was planning to gain a monopoly situation in the "restoration without detection" part of the market and didn't want Comic-Keys to impinge on their share of this VERY LUCRATIVE market.

[Mr. Zipper]

the real dollars are coming from the SA and BA books due to the sheer volume and ease of doing the work on the thinner books.

 

Just one small nit to pick.

 

Golden Age books are actually the easiest to work on. Silver and Bronze are more difficult due to the thinner paper stock covers. The thinner paper is more fragile. The thicker paper which composes GA covers is much easier to color touch, piece fill, graft, mend, etc.

 

[Darthdiesel]

Well...after a night of sleeping on it, I decided the whole CGC pressing fiasco was it as far as I was concerned. I cannot with a clear mind support a company that doesn't have the best interest of the hobby in it's sights.

 

As a result, today at the Stuttgart Comic Show I sold off approximately 20 slabs at 20 Euros a piece. Didn't matter the title, grade, or age. That's about half of my slabs. The remaining slabs will either be sold or broken out over the next month (at the next show). I took a major monetary hit on these today but you know...I feel much better about it.

 

Call me a FDQ all you want...this CGC pressing business, whether it goes through or not, is the worst thing to happen in this hobby since Marvel decided to buy Heroes World. I sure as hell am not going to support them until they get their priorities straight.

 

Jim

 

I'm sorry you felt that way since your opinion is one I do respect on here. But at least you backed up the FDQ'ing with the proper action and ACTUALLY sold off some slabs -so technically you are not qualified for FDQ status anymore.

 

But really, 20 euros for modern slabs seems like a pretty good deal, in light of today's market

 

The rest of you books will probably sell better still in a slab than not Why break them out if you are still planning on selling? The scandal has not reached the public yet nor might it anytime soon.

[BassGMan]

 

Bottom line the scernio in question has CGC not disclosing certain alteration tactics as resotration and then having a sister company set up specifically to perform those particular alterations to books.

 

HOW IS THAT NOT CONFLICT OF INTEREST -

 

 

Well, you can look at it another way, maybe the way THEY are looking at it. If CGC feels that pressing is not restoration, then what is wrong with having a sister company press? It is just another service being offered and I personally cannot see how it is a conflict of interest KNOWING that pressing is not restoration (in their opinion). Who even said pressing is bad? That is a matter of opinion. So WHY NOT offer a pressing service for those that want to have their books pressed? Some people think the idea of putting a comic in a slab at all is bad, and say that this is bad for the hobby.

 

Regarding not notating the pressing on the label? If Chris is really good at pressing, it will not be noticable anyway, just like with other pros. And in most cases CGC will not even know if the book they are receiving has been pressed by Chris even if it has. There will be some key books that they might have referred to Chris (upon being asked) that they may recognize post pressing, but why treat that small number of books any differently, especially when they cannot see the pressing on these books anyway?

 

Knowing full well that CGC does not consider pressing as restoration, knowing that this is a policy of theirs I JUST DO NOT SEE ANY CONFLICT OF INTEREST HERE. There are no secrets here. CGC really is innocent in the matter as they admit that they cannot confirm professional pressing. It is the dealers that some of us have a problem with, NOT CGC. And again, not everybody agrees that pressing is a bad thing for comics, so CCG offering this service is also not a bad thing.

[drbanner]

the real dollars are coming from the SA and BA books due to the sheer volume and ease of doing the work on the thinner books.

 

Just one small nit to pick.

 

Golden Age books are actually the easiest to work on. Silver and Bronze are more difficult due to the thinner paper stock covers. The thinner paper is more fragile. The thicker paper which composes GA covers is much easier to color touch, piece fill, graft, mend, etc.

 

 

Also, don't forget that "non-color breaking" creases occur more frequently on the thicker GA covers than the thin SA/BA covers. You're not going to be able to press an Silver or Bronze Age book into a 9.4 or better if there are color breaking creases...

[Ze-man]

And those dealers that might prostest this move by CGC at first.. will more then likely give a few books to Chris to see if they can continue to work the system.

And if the books return in a spiffy blue label.. then no harm done.

They will send their books to be pressed to the lowest resto bidder, with the shortest TAT.

A year from now, no one will know who pressed what, Susan, Chris, Mat, or others..What does it matter who pressed them, the result is still the same. down the pike..all we will have are a very large amount of flat, slabbed books.

If CGC were to start putting a NDP "pressed label on some books , and not Chris's .. then I could see a conflict of interest.

But all it would take is 1 person to come foward and say they had Susan C. press 25 books, and CGC gave them all a NDP label..and they also had Chris F. press 25 books, and CGC let them through as Blue Label.

So no...... I dont see CGC playing favorites.. they will just let the pressies come through... no matter who sends them in.

 

And THAT is what bothers me.

The pressing trend itself is the devil.. not CGC, all they want to do is make money from it....just like everybody else.

 

Ze-

[JiveTurkeyMoFo]

You know, after reading 18 pages of this thread, I think I could use a little 'Restoration'.

 

However, I prefer to contract the work out to my girlfriend over Chris F.

[awe4one]

But really, 20 euros for modern slabs seems like a pretty good deal, in light of today's market

 

Germans don't embrace CGC, and slabs in general, like collectors in the US. Mostly they are looked at with curiousity and, when they realize you can't read them, are laughed at. The ones I sold today were priced to move. If I priced them higher, I'd most likely still have a majority of them.

 

The copies I sold were mostly common slab fodder and nothing higher than 9.6. I would have gotten on eBay at least $40 for most and some maybe $75-100. But I wanted to get rid of them quickly, didn't want to be bothered with eBay right now, and was already going to the Show, so it was the perfect opportunity.

 

The rest of you books will probably sell better still in a slab than not Why break them out if you are still planning on selling? The scandal has not reached the public yet nor might it anytime soon.

 

That would hypocritical of me now wouldn't it? More than likely I'm going to unslab the rest and keep them.

 

The fact of the pressing issue isn't the overriding problem I have, to be honest. CGC could come out tomorrow and say this was all a bad idea and I would still feel the same. It's Steve's blanket approval of Chris' pressing business (and let's just do away with Steve never said that, it's been made clear exactly what Chris is doing) that has me pissed above all else. People in Steve's position should be more careful on what they say. And a company in CGC position should be doing what it can to support a healthy and vibrant hobby.

 

I also realized another thing when selling the slabs today. Most all of the slabs I own were bought from fellow Forum members either on eBay or direct. Well I guess I can't be depended on to bid on their slabbed books in the future. Nothing against those members (and you know who you are) but I'm done buying CGC slabs at this time.

 

Jim

[COI]

Now we know the real reason why Comic-Keys was banned from doing business with CGC and participating on these boards: CGC was planning to gain a monopoly situation in the "restoration without detection" part of the market and didn't want Comic-Keys to impinge on their share of this VERY LUCRATIVE market.

 

Oh God.

[comicwiz]

And those dealers that might prostest this move by CGC at first.. will more then likely give a few books to Chris to see if they can continue to work the system.

And if the books return in a spiffy blue label.. then no harm done.

They will send their books to be pressed to the lowest resto bidder, with the shortest TAT.

A year from now, no one will know who pressed what, Susan, Chris, Mat, or others..What does it matter who pressed them, the result is still the same. down the pike..all we will have are a very large amount of flat, slabbed books.

If CGC were to start putting a NDP "pressed label on some books , and not Chris's .. then I could see a conflict of interest.

But all it would take is 1 person to come foward and say they had Susan C. press 25 books, and CGC gave them all a NDP label..and they also had Chris F. press 25 books, and CGC let them through as Blue Label.

So no...... I dont see CGC playing favorites.. they will just let the pressies come through... no matter who sends them in.

 

And THAT is what bothers me.

The pressing trend itself is the devil.. not CGC, all they want to do is make money from it....just like everybody else.

 

I think your underestimating the implications of a resto service headed by CGC's (former) resident resto expert. No doubt, pressing, as pointed out in lou_fine's post, is a very lucractive venture. However, consider the arguments once used to describe how Heritage insiders were on a different level playing field when they were bidding on Nic Cages books, and having real-time access to those books. With the aspect of real-time access, comes the benefit of handling, examining, and analysing not only the "improvable" defects, but with an in-house resto expert, exactly what those improvements would fetch by both grade improvement, and premium. This was a level of access to information which stretched beyond the kind of information any member of the public had access to.

 

Why couldn't this same situation occur now with a former CGC restorations person working outside of the so-called certification maze? The immediate benefits I can see are not only access to graders notes (which any person can access by telephone), but a level of understanding about certain inscribed details in those notes that no average person could attain in an unequivocal way. A keen memory could also go a long way, and outside of a tracking system through the labels barcode, could allow someone like Chris to see a book on eBay, Heritage, ComicLink, wherever, and know not only that the colour touch on the book can be removed, but exactly how much of a drop in grade will occur from the work.

 

This is a degree of entitlement and market advantage that is not achieved by any restorations person without somehow having an in. The rules of attainment by hook or crook seem to have also been applied in this case. This is not a question of whether CGC can prevent this from happening. It's not even a question of whether this is going to occur, because it has already been occuring. The concern for most is minimized by a "lets wait and see attitude", and to reserve such calls for "conflict of interest" when anyone of us catches wind of this type of chicanery. I say, bury the initiative now, and lets not even go there.

[shrunkenhead]

If all of this comes to pass, and it does indeed seem like it will, here's my take on the ensuing effects on the big-dollar market:

 

1) Golden age will be minorly affected, as there are so few of this books to go around in grade anyways. There just aren't going to be as many cases, proportionally speaking, of guys trying to squeeze a 9.2 into a 9.6 or what-have-you. Keys in the $5,000+ zone will be eyed with a bit more scrutiny, but aside from that I see minimal windfall here.

 

2) Bronze age keys in the $1000+ zone will be affected and prices will start to drop. However,the vast majority of the bronze market won't be bothered much by a pressing factory as the increase in sale-value won't justify the cost of pressing the book in the first place.

 

3) HG Silver (Marvels in particular)---This will without a doubt be THE BIGGEST LOSER in a CGC-sanctioned pressing game. The census numbers will jump up and up, and prices will go ker-plunk. It looks to me like the biggest boom of '04 will also be the biggest bust of '05. How quickly the mighty hath fallen...

[garthgantu]

 

My opinion is this. You go Steve and CGC.

 

Whatever CGC and co. end up doing, their customers will vote with their dollars, and that is the one and only thing that will matter. Is money everything? Of course not. But IF they prosper under this new arrangement, then that will mean that their clients do not find what they are doing as unethical, and will be supporting their business practices, or at least most of them.

 

If business flounders and CGC flops, then that's fine too. Live and learn. They'll kick themselves for this move, but it is their move to make.

 

So I'll end this with a statement of support for CGC and gang and wish them luck in this venture. From what I have been reading here, they'll need it. But if I was an investor and owned stock in CGC, I would not try to stop them from making this bold move.

 

Remember, slabbing comics is still fairly new to the industry. Check back in ten years and see how everything is doing. THAT is what matters, the long run, not this month, next month or even next year.

 

Good luck SB ----------Sid

 

 

Sid, I think you were wearing your 'dealer' hat when you wrote this... The part of the equation that you seem to be overlooking is that CGC has set itself up as the industry arbiter of what is and isn't restoration. Or perhaps "set itself up" is too harsh/presumptive. Let's assume they never really intended to become the judge/jury of comic book grading and restoration. Regardless, they have become that. Now people will say "oh, only 20% of the comic buying public even KNOWS that CGC exists! Okay, fair point. But it's the most influential and high spending 20% of the market, and there is a trickle-down effect over time that I think is already occurring.

 

I think CGC has an obligation to consider these types of decisions from something other than a strictly monetary point of view. Money certainly factors into it, and there are areas of CGC's business that, if they decided to make drastic changes for the sake of the revenue stream, I'd understand completely - for instance, tripling the number of graders (I realize the training takes time, but it could be done) in order to expedite the apparently massive number of submissions that are bogging down the system. On the other hand, things like the Wizard First project, clearly intended to make money, and not to "benefit" the buying community (what are those 9.5s going for now? how much $ would you have lost at this point if you'd purchased a dozen of them?), have the potential to be truly harmful in some indirect and subtle ways - if they succeed.

 

At the point where CGC's success in a particular tactic or venture seems diametrically opposed to the "benefit" of the buying community, things are out of whack. I see people on these boards who are strongly opposed to "institutionalized pressing" and I see people who aren't opposed to it, or don't care either way. But I don't see a lot of people jumping up and down saying "open that new service tomorrow - I'm sending 50 books in immediately!" Where are the people who WANT this kind of service? I presume they're all dealers, 'cause collectors don't seem to be clamoring for this. But somehow, once the book is in that blue-labeled slab, with a 9.4 or 9.6 etc. on it, collectors will be clamoring for that .

 

Seriously, who among us will be sending their books off to be pressed, in any kind of quantity? Don't be bashful - CGC says it's okay

[SpideySense-migration]

After reading the bulk of the posts and then re-reading Steve's first post I came to the following conclusions. I don't think Chris "new" business should fall under the CCG umbrella due to conflict of interest (or perceived conflict of interest). Other than that, if people want to press comics and submit them to CGC for grading I don't care ( I am sure many have already had comics pressed and then graded by CGC). For the sake of good business practice it just isn't credible to have restoration and/or "pressing" done by the same company that will be doing the grading (even if everyone is honest and full of integrity). Perception is everything to us perspective customers out here. That's my 2 cents.

[garthgantu]

Okay, just had to say, this was a masterful post. I didn't want to quote the whole thing, but the whole thing was nigh-unto-perfect. Kudos, Bradley

[lou_fine]

Now we know the real reason why Comic-Keys was banned from doing business with CGC and participating on these boards: CGC was planning to gain a monopoly situation in the "restoration without detection" part of the market and didn't want Comic-Keys to impinge on their share of this VERY LUCRATIVE market.

 

Oh God.

 

COI;

 

I think you missed my point here. This last sentence of my blurb was to be taken with a sense of humour and meant to lighten up the issue a bit.

 

Forgot to add on some additional buttons.

[comicwiz]

If all of this comes to pass, and it does indeed seem like it will, here's my take on the ensuing effects on the big-dollar market:

 

1) Golden age will be minorly affected, as there are so few of this books to go around in grade anyways. There just aren't going to be as many cases, proportionally speaking, of guys trying to squeeze a 9.2 into a 9.6 or what-have-you. Keys in the $5,000+ zone will be eyed with a bit more scrutiny, but aside from that I see minimal windfall here.

 

2) Bronze age keys in the $1000+ zone will be affected and prices will start to drop. However,the vast majority of the bronze market won't be bothered much by a pressing factory as the increase in sale-value won't justify the cost of pressing the book in the first place.

 

3) HG Silver (Marvels in particular)---This will without a doubt be THE BIGGEST LOSER in a CGC-sanctioned pressing game. The census numbers will jump up and up, and prices will go ker-plunk. It looks to me like the biggest boom of '04 will also be the biggest bust of '05. How quickly the mighty hath fallen...

 

I think you need to reconsider these points, especially 1), because that is going to be one of the target era's of focus from the standpoint of servicable assignments, specifically when one looks at the amount of work for resto removal on PLOD'ed GA books, and the monetary gains for converting a purple label to a blue one.

[BassGMan]

 

My opinion is this. You go Steve and CGC.

 

Whatever CGC and co. end up doing, their customers will vote with their dollars, and that is the one and only thing that will matter. Is money everything? Of course not. But IF they prosper under this new arrangement, then that will mean that their clients do not find what they are doing as unethical, and will be supporting their business practices, or at least most of them.

 

If business flounders and CGC flops, then that's fine too. Live and learn. They'll kick themselves for this move, but it is their move to make.

 

So I'll end this with a statement of support for CGC and gang and wish them luck in this venture. From what I have been reading here, they'll need it. But if I was an investor and owned stock in CGC, I would not try to stop them from making this bold move.

 

Remember, slabbing comics is still fairly new to the industry. Check back in ten years and see how everything is doing. THAT is what matters, the long run, not this month, next month or even next year.

 

Good luck SB ----------Sid

 

 

Sid, I think you were wearing your 'dealer' hat when you wrote this... The part of the equation that you seem to be overlooking is that CGC has set itself up as the industry arbiter of what is and isn't restoration. Or perhaps "set itself up" is too harsh/presumptive. Let's assume they never really intended to become the judge/jury of comic book grading and restoration. Regardless, they have become that. Now people will say "oh, only 20% of the comic buying public even KNOWS that CGC exists! Okay, fair point. But it's the most influential and high spending 20% of the market, and there is a trickle-down effect over time that I think is already occurring.

 

I think CGC has an obligation to consider these types of decisions from something other than a strictly monetary point of view. Money certainly factors into it, and there are areas of CGC's business that, if they decided to make drastic changes for the sake of the revenue stream, I'd understand completely - for instance, tripling the number of graders (I realize the training takes time, but it could be done) in order to expedite the apparently massive number of submissions that are bogging down the system. On the other hand, things like the Wizard First project, clearly intended to make money, and not to "benefit" the buying community (what are those 9.5s going for now? how much $ would you have lost at this point if you'd purchased a dozen of them?), have the potential to be truly harmful in some indirect and subtle ways - if they succeed.

 

At the point where CGC's success in a particular tactic or venture seems diametrically opposed to the "benefit" of the buying community, things are out of whack. I see people on these boards who are strongly opposed to "institutionalized pressing" and I see people who aren't opposed to it, or don't care either way. But I don't see a lot of people jumping up and down saying "open that new service tomorrow - I'm sending 50 books in immediately!" Where are the people who WANT this kind of service? I presume they're all dealers, 'cause collectors don't seem to be clamoring for this. But somehow, once the book is in that blue-labeled slab, with a 9.4 or 9.6 etc. on it, collectors will be clamoring for that .

 

Seriously, who among us will be sending their books off to be pressed, in any kind of quantity? Don't be bashful - CGC says it's okay

 

Garth, no I'm not wearing my "dealer's hat" because I have no inclination to ever have a book pressed. I wouldn't even know where to go, I don't really care, and the books I deal in ($300 and less usually) are not worth bothering with anyway. So, no, this is not a "dealer's point of view" that I have presented.

 

However, I DO try to stay neutral. I hate biases. I try to NEVER have a bias, no matter how much one side may favor me. Deathlok has accused me of always being in the middle on many topics. I flatly denied this at the time. But he is right, I often am neutral. It's because of this lack of bias that I try to maintain.

 

I notice that most of the comments made here are VERY biased. A bias in favor of the collector and against CGC. Forget how it may affect me personally. That is not fair to have an opinion swayed by how it affects me. If I was in business, trying to be successful and continue to grow, I'd experiment with all kinds of new areas and ideas. Not everyone will agree with these new ideas and ventures, but if I did not think that it had a fair chance of succeeding, then I would not go forward. CGC must have some inclination that this will be a successful and proofitable venture, otherwise it would not move forward.

 

But let's not forget. Money is important, and I think we need to respect other people and companies for trying to increase revenue. But at the expense of the comic book industry? Again, THAT is a matter of opinion. And if CGC can be more profitable at the expense of the individual collector, by catering to the big dealers with unpopular offerings (to some), then more power to them.

 

If I had a company with ten large clients and 2,000 small ones, and the ten largest provided me with 75% of my sales, YOU BET I'd cater to the whims of those ten. If the 2,000 don't like my style, they can go elsewhere.

 

But, as a hobbyist that likes to collect comics and do a little selling on the side, then sure, I'd rather know everything about every book, but that's not realistic. Business is business. I respect that, no matter how it may affect me personally. ----Sid

[COI]

The census numbers will jump up and up, and prices will go ker-plunk. It looks to me like the biggest boom of '04 will also be the biggest bust of '05. How quickly the mighty hath fallen...

 

 

I keep seeing this same argument, and I don't follow. How many possible raw 9.2 to 9.6 pressing candidates can there possibly be? And if books are being re-submitted, which is already happening, the census will artificially swell. So what? I'm still baffled at how much weight buyers put into the census when deciding what to buy. The artificial swelling of re-subs does not affect the amount of books on the market that are actually available.

 

IMO, the most affected books will be the top graded 9.6/9.8 Silver and bronze, because I feel it is much more likely that a 9.6 can be pressed into a 9.8. But a 9.0/9.2 to a 9.6 seems a little far fetched to me.