What percentage of your GA Collection is Raw/Slabbed?

[Forbush-Man]

Hi Guys & Gal(s?):

 

After reading "esquirecomics", or Mark's thread asking about scarcity as listed by Ernie Gerber and Overstreet, I wondered a few things:

 

1) I wonder how many books in Jon's, "JBComicbox", collection were slabbed, if even any at all were slabbed, if he has ever bought slabbed? Probably has & then liberated them.

 

2) What percentage of Ian Levine's massive DC collection is/was ever slabbed?

 

3) I have never, not even one time , submitted a book to be graded from my own collection. Wouldn't mind having them graded, just don't really need to & sometimes I likes ta reads em!

 

The point is this:There's probably a lot of Golden Age collectors who;

 

A) Like to read their books.

B) Don't feel a need to slab their books.

C) May not want to pay the expense to have gradded.

D) May not like the concept of third party grading.

E) Feel they already know the grade, what's the point.

........"Ecetera, ecetera, ecetera!" - Yule Brenner "The King & I"

 

If this is the case, there may be a lot of books out there that the CGC Census will not reflect for many years to come.

 

Let's here what you've got to say!

[Silver Surfer]

1/3rd slabbed. I only have 3 GA books. I'm old school man.

[Comicdey]

Only 4 or 5 slabbed Golden age out of thousands. Of the thousands, only a few hundred might be slab worthy anyway. Slab to sell, mylar to collect.

 

The real questions is how many of the big boys are going to be selling out in the next 5 years.

[batman_fan]

about 5% (I only have 30 slabbed golden age books and none of my high grade stuff is slabbed)

[reddog4063]

I am just getting into golden age...

 

I have 10 GA books....4 slabbed, 6 raw.

 

I have never submitted a comic book for slabbing, the ones i own i bought that way...

[sfilosa]

There is NO QUESTION that several of the nicest GA collections have VERY LITTLE books CGC'd.

 

All you have to do is look at all the beautiful Edgar Church books in the Gerber Guide. Most are not CGC'd.

[reddog4063]

but isnt that because CGC wasnt around yet? I own 4 of the actual copies that were photographed for the guides, all in slabs now...

[Forbush-Man]

That's my point: There're a lot of GA Collectors who have not slabbed, for one reason or another, and the Census will be useless for 1, 2 maybe 3 generations at least. JMHO.

[esquirecomics]

There is NO QUESTION that several of the nicest GA collections have VERY LITTLE books CGC'd.

 

All you have to do is look at all the beautiful Edgar Church books in the Gerber Guide. Most are not CGC'd.

 

Which Gerber book has any CGC books in it? Aren't the GA photo journals from around 1989 or so? Am I missing something?

 

Most of my GA books - around 100-125 or so - are slabbed. Perhaps 80%. I've slabbed about 5 myself. The rest were purchased slabbed. Although I collected between 1974-1986, 1990, 1997-present, I was mostly buying SA and modern books. I'm now able to buy the books I want so I pretty much only buy GA, and I typically only buy the books slabbed unless I can physically examine them myself. Everytime I buy unslabbed GA books on e-bay, they are seriously overgraded and, as we all know, the difference between a 6.5 and an 8.5 price can be quite hefty. I was tired of getting shafted.

[Forbush-Man]

There is NO QUESTION that several of the nicest GA collections have VERY LITTLE books CGC'd.

 

All you have to do is look at all the beautiful Edgar Church books in the Gerber Guide. Most are not CGC'd.

 

Which Gerber book has any CGC books in it? Aren't the GA photo journals from around 1989 or so? Am I missing something?

 

Most of my GA books - around 100-125 or so - are slabbed. Perhaps 80%. I've slabbed about 5 myself. The rest were purchased slabbed. Although I collected between 1974-1986, 1990, 1997-present, I was mostly buying SA and modern books. I'm now able to buy the books I want so I pretty much only buy GA, and I typically only buy the books slabbed unless I can physically examine them myself. Everytime I buy unslabbed GA books on e-bay, they are seriously overgraded and, as we all know, the difference between a 6.5 and an 8.5 price can be quite hefty. I was tired of getting shafted.

 

But I think you might note, as I am not trying to speak for you, that you intend to resell your books on your up-coming website & that is why you enjoy slabbed. At least that is what I got from a post you made on another thread. I'm just curious about the people who own & don't intend to let go anytime soon. In my case, my personal collection is about 10-15% slabbed (bought already slabbed) and 85-90% raw. I do intend to sell all of my books upon retirement. That's a good 17 years away. Will I ever get them slabbed?

[esquirecomics]

But I think you might note, as I am not trying to speak for you, that you intend to resell your books on your up-coming website & that is why you enjoy slabbed. At least that is what I got from a post you made on another thread. I'm just curious about the people who own & don't intend to let go anytime soon. In my case, my personal collection is about 10-15% slabbed (bought already slabbed) and 85-90% raw. I do intend to sell all of my books upon retirement. That's a good 17 years away. Will I ever get them slabbed? [/b]

 

Yes, that is true so I am probably not a good example then for this particular thread. Although, as I noted, aside from my resell intentions (though, quite frankly, I buy books more b/c I like them as a collector and want to at least own them once than simply for a quick turnaround like most dealers, and I decide to "deal" in order to allow me to continue collecting what I really want), I buy CGC books b/c it adds the third party aspect to grading so I don't get into a dispute with either the individual on the other side of the transaction, whether that person be buyer or seller.

 

If I were not intending to sell my GA books, the majority would absolutely be unslabbed. I enjoy reading and holding them too much. Having a slabbed book is sort of like being able to take emotion out of owning stocks. It doesn't feel as painful when you sell it.

 

I forgot to note before that I do not slab books valued under $200, and I would not be surprised if I steadily increase that figure.

[Larryw7]

I own about two hundred GA books, and not one is slabbed right now(I did send my copy of WORLD'S FINEST # 3 to CGC recently to sell it easier, since I have a better copy now). I always crack the slabs and read my books. Some I may have re-slabbed, but I really don't have any intention of selling at this point. Plus, quite a few of my books are pretty low grade, so slabbing them probably would be a waste of money.

[sfilosa]

Quote:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

There is NO QUESTION that several of the nicest GA collections have VERY LITTLE books CGC'd.

 

All you have to do is look at all the beautiful Edgar Church books in the Gerber Guide. Most are not CGC'd.

 

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

 

Which Gerber book has any CGC books in it? Aren't the GA photo journals from around 1989 or so? Am I missing something?

 

Let me clarify.

 

I was not saying books in the Gerber guide were CGC'd at the time of publication. There was no CGC.

 

What I'm saying is that when I look through the guide, you can see an amazing amount of Edgar Church copies that appear to be very high grade, along with lots of other high grade books. Someone has a thread here about Edgar Church books and that less than 2,000 have been certified. There were over 18,000 in that collection. Most of the books in Gerber Guide, belong to a few HUGE GA COLLECTORS, and to my knowledge, NONE of them get their books CGC'd.

 

Steve Borock told me at MegaCon last year that many of the long time GA collectors have yet to embrace CGC.

[esquirecomics]

Quote:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

There is NO QUESTION that several of the nicest GA collections have VERY LITTLE books CGC'd.

 

All you have to do is look at all the beautiful Edgar Church books in the Gerber Guide. Most are not CGC'd.

 

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

 

Which Gerber book has any CGC books in it? Aren't the GA photo journals from around 1989 or so? Am I missing something?

 

Let me clarify.

 

I was not saying books in the Gerber guide were CGC'd at the time of publication. There was no CGC.

 

What I'm saying is that when I look through the guide, you can see an amazing amount of Edgar Church copies that appear to be very high grade, along with lots of other high grade books. Someone has a thread here about Edgar Church books and that less than 2,000 have been certified. There were over 18,000 in that collection. Most of the books in Gerber Guide, belong to a few HUGE GA COLLECTORS, and to my knowledge, NONE of them get their books CGC'd.

 

Steve Borock told me at MegaCon last year that many of the long time GA collectors have yet to embrace CGC.

 

Ah, yes, my understanding at what you wrote. You are absolutely right. That is why it is very helpful to know what books comprise pedigree collections so that we know what is out there when contemplating purchasing a book advertised as the highest graded by CGC merely b/c it happens to be at the top of the census.

 

It would be interesting to know the ages of these major collectors. I wonder if when they retire or die, will the books be sold by the heirs or "loved" as part of the family.

[Forbush-Man]

It would be interesting to know the ages of these major collectors. I wonder if when they retire or die, will the books be sold by the heirs or "loved" as part of the family.

 

 

......or if they stay in the family another generation or two?

[FlyingDonut]

I have about half of my Golden Age books slabbed. Pedigree books that were bought for bondage covers are slabbed, as I'm only buying them for the hot babe tied up on the cover anyway.

 

Several of my ECs are slabbed, as you can get 9.0 or lower slabbed ECs all day long on eBay for under Guide, INCLUDING the slabbing fee. My Haunt of Fear 15 (1), for example, is a 4.0 and I paid $400 for it - it Guides at $542.

[batman_fan]

Hey Donut,

 

Is that a picture of you? If it is, you look familiar, now where did I see you before...

 

[skybolt]

I own about 200 GA books. 100 slabbed, 50 sent to CGC to be slabbed, and 50 low to mid grade copies that aren't worth slabbing.

 

I do agree that most GA collectors aren't interested in slabbing their books, but most of the new generation of comic collectors are. I'm 33 years old and really love the feel and nostalgia of GA books. However, my collecting mentality is still based on my MA, BA and SA days (which is slab, slab, slab). I think that as more and more people from the younger generation start earning a good living, they may begin purchasing the expensive HG GA books from the original owners, and ultimately have them graded. I don't think this will take 2 or 3 generations.

[CW]

My GA books that are slabbed are either pedigree copies, hard to find, or high grade examples of their respective issue. I keep readers in low grade or if there is a collected edition I read those. In my opinion the book covers can be appreciated through the slabs while the enjoyment of the story can be reached through the collected ed. The only thing missing ( this is very important to me) is the feel and smell of the original which can be found in the reader copy which I prefer to the collected edition.

[Forbush-Man]

Hey Donut,

 

Is that a picture of you? If it is, you look familiar, now where did I see you before...

 

 

Here we go again! Someone que up the "porno-music"!

 

"Wonka-Wonka Doom, Wonka-Wonka Doom,...."