Grading THEN cracking...anybody do this?

[Soft-Serve]

Hello all,

 

I am one of those who buys the book and not the slab. While I do buy slabs, I always instantly crack out the book so I can enjoy it in-hand, regardless of grade or rarity. That's an important aspect to this hobby for me. I find slabs, at least in my collection, a lot like speed bumps. The get in the way of the flow of my raw collection. Also, aesthetically de-saturate the colors of the covers, and most importantly, keep me from getting inside. I, of course, realize there are folks who wouldn't dream about cracking a slab, and this thread is probably not for you.

 

Of course, even though I crack the slab, I'll keep the label as it does still have value to me (and a potential buyer in the future). It helps prove that the book is a certain grade and is - or isn't - unrestored. (of course, this is obviously a little naive as a label can be put with another book quite easily, or things could happen to the book post cracking that would negate the label). At any rate, it still adds something to the book to know a professional has looked at it, slab or no.

My questions is this: Does anybody slab books in their personal collection only to have the professional grade label, and not the slab itself? I know this sounds a bit silly, but I have quite a few books that I will likely *never* sell, but are of high grade and I think it would be gratifying to have a label to prove it - if only to myself . Also, if I were to sell it (presumably because of something awful happening in my life), that label might help said sale.

 

I'm curious to hear your thoughts about this....

 

P.S. For what it's worth, I collect GA almost exclusively, and certainly no moderns....

 

[JazzMan]

Seems like a monumental waste of money, in my opinion.

[Silver Surfer]

Yes.

[Iceman399]

I bought a small collection a few years ago and the guy was exactly this. He bought them slabbed and deslabbed them all and put them into nice mylars with fullbacks.

[jcjames]

Hello all,

 

I am one of those who buys the book and not the slab. While I do buy slabs, I always instantly crack out the book so I can enjoy it in-hand, regardless of grade or rarity. That's an important aspect to this hobby for me. I find slabs, at least in my collection, a lot like speed bumps. The get in the way of the flow of my raw collection. Also, aesthetically de-saturate the colors of the covers, and most importantly, keep me from getting inside. I, of course, realize there are folks who wouldn't dream about cracking a slab, and this thread is probably not for you.

 

Of course, even though I crack the slab, I'll keep the label as it does still have value to me (and a potential buyer in the future). It helps prove that the book is a certain grade and is - or isn't - unrestored. (of course, this is obviously a little naive as a label can be put with another book quite easily, or things could happen to the book post cracking that would negate the label). At any rate, it still adds something to the book to know a professional has looked at it, slab or no.

My questions is this: Does anybody slab books in their personal collection only to have the professional grade label, and not the slab itself? I know this sounds a bit silly, but I have quite a few books that I will likely *never* sell, but are of high grade and I think it would be gratifying to have a label to prove it - if only to myself . Also, if I were to sell it (presumably because of something awful happening in my life), that label might help said sale.

 

I'm curious to hear your thoughts about this....

 

P.S. For what it's worth, I collect GA almost exclusively, and certainly no moderns....

 

That part in red is the sticky part. Once cracked, the label means NOTHING, nada, zero, zip, zilch - it is garbage. But I guess if it's purely for your own PC, hey - collect what you enjoy and enjoy what you collect!

 

Nearly all of my slabs are SS because that's really the only/best way to authenticate signatures - but I also get and agree with what you're saying about having a book that you know isn't restored.

 

Buying a slabbed book just to crack and read is not something I would usually ever consider though. Unless you can get them for very little over the cost of the same book/grade raw.

 

ETA: Plus if it's really high-grade, then the slab protects that grade (up to a point) and then just get a mid/upper reader raw copy of the book for enjoyment. I don't like to pull out really high-grade (anything over 9.4 to me) for reading - higher chance it will ding it down to NM or below by reading once in while.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Dark Prime 0]

i'd say don't grade until your willing to sell it in your case

 

this way you can get top dollar and you don't waste any money with the grade/crack as was stated already soon as you crack it the label is now just a peice of paper of no worth

[Logan510]

I've bought slabs to crack out for my collection and I've also bought slabs to keep slabbed for my collection. I've also submitted a few raw books to have slabbed for my collection, but I've never had anything slabbed that I planned on cracking out immediately after receiving it.

[vaillant]

I would never dream to keep a book slabbed, so I am exactly like you.

Although I tend to buy raw, if I buy a book graded and it's for my collection, here it goes deslabbed. Or if I decide to have a book graded, it’s just because it’s valuable and I have to sell it, and so the professional grade is reassuring for the buyer.

 

And I do not agree with jcjames: if you are buying from a complete stranger, maybe, but the label is still important: I know when I am buying a deslabbed book with its label, and buying it from a guy I know, that the book is almost surely in the same grade as it was when it was slabbed.

It even happened me to buy deslabbed books that look better than the stated grade, like the one below. I was "reassured" by the label, but in hand the book was even better.

 

 

 

[entalmighty1]

I would never dream to keep a book slabbed, so I am exactly like you.

Although I tend to buy raw, if I buy a book graded and it's for my collection, here it goes deslabbed. Or if I decide to have a book graded, it’s just because it’s valuable and I have to sell it, and so the professional grade is reassuring for the buyer.

 

And I do not agree with jcjames: if you are buying from a complete stranger, maybe, but the label is still important: I know when I am buying a deslabbed book with its label, and buying it from a guy I know, that the book is almost surely in the same grade as it was when it was slabbed.

It even happened me to buy deslabbed books that look better than the stated grade, like the one below. I was "reassured" by the label, but in hand the book was even better.

 

 

 

That's a beauty Claudio! Just out of curiosity, what was the given grade?

 

I'm in agreement with you too. The value of the label depends on who you're buying from. If it's a deslabbed book from ebay, I don't even want the label.

[Soft-Serve]

I can certainly see how grading-just-to-be-cracked could be considered by some to be a waste of money, but I think lots of folks waste money in various ways on their comic collections that have no return value later-on. I've had a number of my books pressed just because I want them to look nicer, and not necessarily increase their value and I'm sure some folks get extensive restoration done to a book just to have it restored and looking nice. (very subjective topic, I know)

 

For me, as a buyer, the label is important as valliant says - for reassurance. But, it's also nice to have a book raw with a professional grade (even if the removal from the "stasis chamber" has made the book's grade null and void. It's specifically for a certain type of collector...like me.

 

For me, I have several books I'm considering getting graded just to have the label. They aren't high-dollar books, but are high-grade goldens that I would be gratified to have label to brag about. Like this one here over in PGM. As I have about 20 former-CGC books in my collection, they woudn't be out of place and I would re-define the slabbing costs as grading costs.

 

[PhoKing]

I've bought slabs to crack out for my collection and I've also bought slabs to keep slabbed for my collection. I've also submitted a few raw books to have slabbed for my collection, but I've never had anything slabbed that I planned on cracking out immediately after receiving it.

 

I too do this. I mainly buy slabs for either the front cover art, SS, and/or Key issue while I also have the raw in that issue as well. I tend to always have a raw and slab copy in my collection and sometimes duplicates

[marvelcollector]

I would never dream to keep a book slabbed, so I am exactly like you.

Although I tend to buy raw, if I buy a book graded and it's for my collection, here it goes deslabbed. Or if I decide to have a book graded, it’s just because it’s valuable and I have to sell it, and so the professional grade is reassuring for the buyer.

 

And I do not agree with jcjames: if you are buying from a complete stranger, maybe, but the label is still important: I know when I am buying a deslabbed book with its label, and buying it from a guy I know, that the book is almost surely in the same grade as it was when it was slabbed.

It even happened me to buy deslabbed books that look better than the stated grade, like the one below. I was "reassured" by the label, but in hand the book was even better.

 

 

 

Really nice book Claudio (thumbs u

[towards2112]

I only have one slabbed book left, and will be giving it away at Christmas time.

Since CGC inseption, I bought and stored slabs, even bought quite a few

slabbed pedigree books, only to find that while it was nice to have a recognized

name, the funny book itself was not quite what I thought it would be.

Since about 2009, I have liberated and read almost 200 comics from their

plastic shells. And I don't use mylar after cutting a rather expensive book.

Just plain old poly backs, but I do use a whopping amount of backing boards.

[KDUK]

I like to de-slab books.

 

Personally I'd buy a slabbed book for the assurance that it isn't a PLOD, because I'm not skilled enough to tell.

 

I have also bought slabbed books which are cracked or damaged with the intention to crack them open. You seem to get a great price on those rare beasts.

 

For me it is entirely dependant upon the book.

[vaillant]

For me, as a buyer, the label is important as valliant says - for reassurance. But, it's also nice to have a book raw with a professional grade (even if the removal from the "stasis chamber" has made the book's grade null and void. It's specifically for a certain type of collector...like me.

Yes, and also, even if technically the grade is "void", if I am buying it from a respectable dealer or fellow collector I know I am bound to trust the grade is either the same, or very close.

 

The #36 was graded as a VF, hammered because of a slight dust shadow on the back cover, but to me it was harsh. There are cases in which, when I received the deslabbed book, I agreed with the grade or thought he was a bit less (but not more), but in general it appears that who deslabs makes it very carefully, and even if he reads the book it’s for his collection and takes great care with it. I still consider it a "potentially valid grade. Thanks Wayne and entalmighty.

 

 

And no, no waste of money. Grading moderns to get 9.9 and 10 is a waste of money IMO, since by eye you can’t even see the imperfections.

[joe_collector]

Remember guys, he is NOT asking whether you buy a slab and then crack it out (as a lot of people d) but if you send one of your own raw books to CGC, and then immediately crack it out just to have the label and the grade certification.

 

To me, that's a huge waste of time and money, and I have cracked out slabs, but to each his own.

[vaillant]

Remember guys, he is NOT asking whether you buy a slab and then crack it out (as a lot of people d) but if you send one of your own raw books to CGC, and then immediately crack it out just to have the label and the grade certification.

 

To me, that's a huge waste of time and money, and I have cracked out slabs, but to each his own.

You’re right, the precise question was that: if so, I’d say that I would grade only if I have to sell, so yes, not to deslab.

But if I want to know the grade on a costly book that I have – better than my grading skills – I might just try to ask someone who knows how to grade better than me, although at a distance it’s a pain and not entirely reliable.

 

So I rely on my tentative grading skills…

[Conan_Aficionado]

Forget cracking them out of the slabs, I don't even slide them out of the mylars after I bag them.

 

Comics are not for reading, they're for collecting. You want to read, read it in trade paper back format.

 

 

 

[Sqeggs]

I can certainly see how grading-just-to-be-cracked could be considered by some to be a waste of money, but I think lots of folks waste money in various ways on their comic collections that have no return value later-on. I've had a number of my books pressed just because I want them to look nicer, and not necessarily increase their value and I'm sure some folks get extensive restoration done to a book just to have it restored and looking nice. (very subjective topic, I know)

 

For me, as a buyer, the label is important as valliant says - for reassurance. But, it's also nice to have a book raw with a professional grade (even if the removal from the "stasis chamber" has made the book's grade null and void. It's specifically for a certain type of collector...like me.

 

For me, I have several books I'm considering getting graded just to have the label. They aren't high-dollar books, but are high-grade goldens that I would be gratified to have label to brag about. Like this one here over in PGM. As I have about 20 former-CGC books in my collection, they woudn't be out of place and I would re-define the slabbing costs as grading costs.

 

Not something I would do, but I can see where it might be interesting to know CGC's opinion on the grade of a book, even if your intention is to crack the book back out.

 

Interesting book you link to in the PGM thread. What otherwise seems like sun fading at the top of the book may just be a printing error, given that the title appears unfaded.

[joe_collector]

Comics are not for reading, they're for collecting. You want to read, read it in trade paper back format.

 

I really hope this is a joke.