Morphing the Hobby by Tnerb

[CSJournals-migration]

Or Losing Signature Authentication

 

Third party grading changed the comic book industry. It allowed people to purchase a comic book, secure in what they were buying. Let's forget for a moment that grading is a subjective art and pretend that every book cracked for a signature would retain its previous grade.

 

Third party grading was supposed to be about the buyer getting what he was paying for. There was no more paying near mint prices for very fine product. Of course prices have escalated, the higher the grade. Once the book was in the buyers hands, the slab could be cracked and the comic could be used for what it was intended, to be read.

 

But what if the book was signed? Imagine paying a premium for a book you always wanted to read, slipped it out of its confinement and immersed yourself into the imaginary world of four color comic books. What happens next?

 

After reading the book, it could be placed into a simple bag and then boarded for protection. But if that isn't enough, the book could be sent back to CGC for grading again, but even if the grade was guaranteed (remember we are still pretending) the signature is not. There is no way, even with the label, for the comic to retain its authenticity of its signature unless opened in front of a witness. The investment of the book dropped from signed by "whoever" and given a different kind of label.

 

Does CGC need another label? Is the green outmoded when so many yellow signature labels are out there? Dare I count how many I have? And what would happen to the value of my collection if I wanted to read them all?

 

Thanks for Reading

 

Tnerb

 

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[Ogami]

A fascinating what if, but no one in their right mind would crack out yellow label books to read.

 

I DO agree CGC needs a new label for unwitnessed sigs. I've suggested an orange label cause I think it would stand out and look great alongside yellow labels.

 

I am very, very, very much in the minority on this issue, as would you be.

 

 

[mattn792]

The cynic in me says no to another label, solely because I think a practiced counterfeiter could start forging signatures with a decent amount of rehearsing. It's why I would never trust the CBCS or PGX "authenticated" signatures.

 

Consider Stan Lee's signature these days and how wildly it can vary from show to show. The argument could be made that any imperfections in an unwitnessed Stan signature could be explained by his advancing age, and a person would be hard pressed to convincingly argue otherwise. But for all we know, a batch of unwitnessed Stan signatures were just produced by some guy in his basement who'd been practicing the signature for three days and managed to slip the ruse past the authenticator.

[Ogami]

A differing label would be no guarantee of veracity of signature. Only an acknowledgment of a signature. It's an additional product, not a replacement or similar product to the current witnessing program.

 

Edited to add: in other words, the new label would simply be CGC performing a service to slab books that accounts for the way books have been signed for thousands of years, which is to say, buyer beware. Signature verification has ALWAYS been a subjective art. With that in mind, it still has my support.

[Comix4Sale]

I like the current setup. Which leads me to a question... Can a third party signature authenticator verify a sig that is already encapsulated or does it need to be cracked to be an accurate check? This way the authenticator could put the slab number in his documentation. There would still be a green label but then the documentation would be for a specific book.

 

Now my head hurts.

James