I am confused! Why do people crack open their CGC graded comics? 2 2

[miraclemet]

my thing is liquidity, I know (more often than not) I can sell a CGCed book faster, and for more money with fewer post-sale problems (arguments about grade, questions about restoration) than a raw book. Most of my collection are books that fall in the $100-$500 range, and Im always selling something to buy something else, which is important to me (use my collection to fund my collection) so I leave my books slabbed.

 

If I ever had a book that i KNEW I was never going to sell and I didnt have a reprint of it or a reader of it (we're talking GA books here), then sure I'd crack it out.

[porcupine48]

Yep,to read them.

I also find they look better in mylar.I save the label and chamber paper,storing the label behind the backing board.Also easier to store.My pedigrees and way hg are the only ones I keep encoffinated really.Oh,and SS.

[porcupine48]

Everytime someone opens a slabbed comic, a kitten gets punched.....

 

 

Lulz, guess I've punched a lot of kittens. I suspect the powerful attachment to slabs is from a newer generation of collectors, ones too young to have bought books off the rack that turned out to be valuable after many decades, and who haven't bought back issues in the unslabbed or cracked out state so they could build runs to be read and re-read. Even putting aside the chance to access the entire comic rather than just the covers, to me comics are much more beautiful in mylars rather than slabs, and most beautiful of all in hand.

 

For me, comics are for collecting, slabs are for selling.

Well said sir!

[Amadeus Arkham]

It's all personal preference. I happen to like the look of a nice shiny slab (although they're a pain to take pictures of) and like seeing it on my wall or in the closet with that big "9.8" in the upper corner. Some books like my American Air Forces #1 I keep slabbed for conservation reasons, some for resale but by and large I keep them slabbed for the aesthetics of the case itself. Looks good in a frame.

 

[Supa-Bad-Mofo]

If I want to read the slabs I have purchased, I usually just get a digital copy and read it on my iPad.

 

Same goes with most of my raw copies…I really do not want to handle the comic itself and risk damaging it.

 

This is the most intelligent response yet...

[lizards2]

If I want to read the slabs I have purchased, I usually just get a digital copy and read it on my iPad.

 

Same goes with most of my raw copies…I really do not want to handle the comic itself and risk damaging it.

 

This is the most intelligent response yet...

I don't know why you feel compelled to insult people who use the service for different things. I also don't know why you would be in the hobby if you were afraid of the product.

[VintageComics]

If I want to read the slabs I have purchased, I usually just get a digital copy and read it on my iPad.

 

Same goes with most of my raw copies…I really do not want to handle the comic itself and risk damaging it.

 

This is the most intelligent response yet...

 

and

 

So judgemental. Almost like what you collect rocks and what others like sucks.

 

This might sound surprising to you, but comics were made for reading and handling, not for collecting in plastic cases. And you can damage a comic in a holder. They are not insufficiently_thoughtful_person proof.

 

Plenty of board members here collect rare, high grade and pedigree comics and they love to handle them in hand without 'protection' and are not afraid of damaging them. All you have to know is how to handle them properly.

 

 

[EC ed]

And you can damage a comic in a holder. They are not insufficiently_thoughtful_person proof.

 

Plenty of board members here collect rare, high grade and pedigree comics and they love to handle them in hand without 'protection' and are not afraid of damaging them. All you have to know is how to handle them properly.

 

+2

 

Let me show something that illustrates the point in the first paragraph...this damage would not have happened had the book been in mylar:

 

 

 

[media_junkie]

It's all personal preference. I happen to like the look of a nice shiny slab (although they're a pain to take pictures of) and like seeing it on my wall or in the closet with that big "9.8" in the upper corner. Some books like my American Air Forces #1 I keep slabbed for conservation reasons, some for resale but by and large I keep them slabbed for the aesthetics of the case itself. Looks good in a frame.

 

 

Amadeus,

 

Where did you get that frame from?

 

 

[Amadeus Arkham]

I got it from thecollectorsresource.com. They're good frames, and shipping is pretty fast.

 

[EC ed]

Comics were made for reading and handling, not for collecting in plastic cases.

 

Although I'm a slab-cracker and agree with this, I actually can't +1 this notion generally. I agree because I'm from the era where the actual books are the object of the collecting activity, not plastic cases. But, that's my preference. We're dealing with a new era of collectors who actually do consider the plastic cases themselves (with the "pretty" number) to be part of the collectible object...Amadeus Arkham's post there illustrates this...he gets aesthetic enjoyment from having the plastic case itself.

 

To each his/her own. The beauty of the hobby is that it's flexible. We slab-crackers have given plenty of answers to the OP's original question as to "why crack." Others have answered "why not crack"...the difference ultimately stems in part from how we each define and parameterize the item that is the collectible.

[media_junkie]

I got it from thecollectorsresource.com. They're good frames, and shipping is pretty fast.

 

Thank you!

[lizards2]

And you can damage a comic in a holder. They are not insufficiently_thoughtful_person proof.

 

Plenty of board members here collect rare, high grade and pedigree comics and they love to handle them in hand without 'protection' and are not afraid of damaging them. All you have to know is how to handle them properly.

 

+2

 

Let me show something that illustrates the point in the first paragraph...this damage would not have happened had the book been in mylar:

 

 

 

Nice!

 

I believe I also got a book once where the slab had detached a staple. Either that, or CGC thought that was an OK defect in a 7.5.

[awakeintheashes]

I see no logical reason at all to open up a slabbed comic.... you payed to have it graded, or you bought it already slabbed, sooo why open it ?

 

the handful of comics i have graded and slabbed up are going to stay that way with whatever grade i have. if i decide i'd like to read that issue i'll just search for a digital copy and read it here at work..

 

Everytime someone opens a slabbed comic, a kitten gets punched.....

 

 

 

 

You buy it slabbed because it's been graded and checked for restoration by a neutral 3rd party.

He's been making uninformed generalizations and comically hyperbolic statements since he joined. I'd facepalm along with you, but it doesn't surprise me anymore. Maybe someday I'll find the charm in his approach to posting.

[chromium]

Comics in mylars are better. There are weirdos out there who buy comics for reasons other than what they can sell them for.

 

This !

[chromium]

If I want to read the slabs I have purchased, I usually just get a digital copy and read it on my iPad.

 

Same goes with most of my raw copies…I really do not want to handle the comic itself and risk damaging it.

 

This is the most intelligent response yet...

I don't know why you feel compelled to insult people who use the service for different things. I also don't know why you would be in the hobby if you were afraid of the product.

 

Because he's a supa-bad-mofo.

[Gunnz]

I like the slabs for display. I own either a reader copy or the trade of all books I have graded. All my copper/silver books I read before slabbing.

[KDUK]

Just my two 2p's worth...

 

I buy slabbed books and crack them open:

 

1) to read and love the books for it what they were meant for

2) to make sure there is no risk of restoration

3) to practise my grading

4) I buy restored books to see if I can detect restoration to improve my knowledge of buying raw books at conventions etc.

 

 

Each to their own

[CongoBill]

I buy mostly raw books because I like to read them and flip through them. I have a about 20 slabbed Golden Age and PCH books and I'm hesitant to crack them out of the slabs because I know I'll likely get a better price if I have to resell a book if it's in the slab. But I really want to take them out and look at them!

 

Also, there are some folks out there who swear that books sitting in an air-tight slab are going to age worse than a book that is allowed to "breathe" stored in a mylar with an acid-free board. I think there could be some legitimacy to this. Especially if you think about books that are pressed prior to going into the slab. I wonder if there are any experiments going on to test this. Yes, it'd take years to really get a good read on the situation (slabbed vs. raw) in terms of what holds up better, but it'd be interesting to know.

[CongoBill]

Comics were made for reading and handling, not for collecting in plastic cases.

 

Although I'm a slab-cracker and agree with this, I actually can't +1 this notion generally. I agree because I'm from the era where the actual books are the object of the collecting activity, not plastic cases. But, that's my preference. We're dealing with a new era of collectors who actually do consider the plastic cases themselves (with the "pretty" number) to be part of the collectible object...Amadeus Arkham's post there illustrates this...he gets aesthetic enjoyment from having the plastic case itself.

 

To each his/her own. The beauty of the hobby is that it's flexible. We slab-crackers have given plenty of answers to the OP's original question as to "why crack." Others have answered "why not crack"...the difference ultimately stems in part from how we each define and parameterize the item that is the collectible.

 

 

I've seen slabbed books for sale where the seller states that the slab itself is in mint condition. That is just nuts to me. So a slab that is slightly scuffed or has a scratch on it is worth less than a "mint" slab? Wow. But to each his own, I guess.