1st books ever back from CGC. Well, that was a disaster. Lesson learned hard way

[90sChild]

I can understand the appeal of feeling like you are going to make a ton of money on graded books, when I got back into collecting my mind was a bit blown by how much more a graded 9.4 would sell for compared to say like a 8.5. There is a massive curve of diminishing returns, most prices double with every .2 grade increase at the higher levels. I'm finally starting to get it now, though. I think the biggest advantage of CGC is 1. guaranteeing you don't have any restoration from decades of unknown owners before you 2. A very clear picture of what you will pay for a book in various grades. Buying raw books can of course score you far better grades for the dollar, but there is no guarantee. The increased cost for that guarantee can sometimes be more valuable than getting a slightly better book, depending on how much you are spending. Currently I only own one book over $200 that ISN'T graded, just because I don't want to gamble on such a large investment. Thanks cheese the FF48 looks great by the way.

 

As for your X-men collection I wouldn't worry too much about it, sure it was a learning mistake, but you will now have a whole different perspective on why people pay those crazy prices for 9.2-9,8 grades and a better idea of how to curb your offers on raw books. Sometimes you just need to walk away from a dealer that isn't pricing realistically. If you can buy a graded book for the same price as a raw book in matching condition, it's a no brainer. Some dealers don't care about price breaks on raw books, so it's up to you to figure out what a graded one really sells for.

 

Funny enough, my mistake when getting back into collecting was buying a bunch of horribly trimmed ASM books with venom covers I got from my local shop. I didn't notice until months later when rebagging them that corner to corner they weren't even a 90 degree angle. It was only $20 but enough of a lesson to scare me off heavily investing into raw books until I really knew what I was doing. About a year in, I feel a bit more confident but I still have a lot to learn about detecting restoration and telling the difference between 9.2's and 8.5s,

 

[Omegadepot]

 

Ok, here's the deal:

 

new back into hobby after 28 years + new to CGC and excited about getting books slabbed + severely inexperienced grader + mesmerized by books on wall at Big City LCS =

 

Man, now I've got a pile of mid grade X-men to low grade and lousy Defenders #1. I don't even want to say what they cost from the Big City LCS wall and then to add in CGC fees (although I did get the $150.00 sign up credit), it just equals a big learning lesson. The X men 100 is so low (3.5) I'm actually thinking of cracking it open just to learn about how CGC books are encapsulated. Here's the run down:

 

Defenders 1 - 6.5

X Men 100 - 3.5

X Men 102 - 8.0

X Men 103 - 7.5

X Men 104 - 8.0

X Men 105 - 8.0

X Men 106 - 8.0

X Men 107 - 7.5

X Men 108 - 8.0

 

Here is the original prices LCS had on books:

 

#100 - $100.00

#102 - $150.00

#103 - $125.00

#104 - $125.00

#105 - $125.00

#106 - $125.00

#107 - $125.00

#108 - $150.00

 

I paid $750 for all the x men books, coming to $93.00 a book. I talked the LCS into a lower price for buying the group.

 

 

paid $160 for Defenders 1, talking down LCS from $200.

 

 

Perhaps my posts are too reveling least you all think I'm an insufficiently_thoughtful_person, however, if there is anyone here newer then me (I've been here 3 months) and getting back into collection, please learn from my mistakes.

 

Good God Damn, just going through the GPA on these books:

 

learn from the mistakes and make friends....time will pas and then the next thing you know you will be a pro at this CGC thing. Good luck, this hobby can be quite expensive, as you can see already.

[lizards2]

I haven't.

 

Never submit, you biatches.

 

Well, I already paid for the membership, so I gotta submit something, right?

 

If you want to lose more $, go right ahead! Operators are standing by....,

[lizards2]

One of the hardest things for me to do is evaluate high-grade books. It's easy to grade books from 2.0 to 8.0 or so.

I'm the complete opposite. I can grade high grade books, but can't grade anything below 9.0 worth a damn.

 

Plus, at least they didn't come back in purple holders!

That is so true. That was my hard lesson on my early submissions.

 

My cap of confidence is about in the 7.5 up grades. I just never collected stuff that wasn't really nice, so never really learned those lower grades.

[lizards2]

One thing here is that a CGC book is only sort of guaranteed if it remains in the holder. I crack out most of my keepers, and the grading is so random. I've been in the hobby 40+ years, and have kept up with trends in grading, but geez - the lack of consistency is appalling.

 

I don't buy slabs anymore unless there are some nice bright scans - even then, beware. The outer well seems to engineered to hide many, many flaws. Once you get that off, you are in come to Jesus territory. I don't know how many times I've gotten the outer well off and had an 'Oh mess!' moment.

 

I can understand the appeal of feeling like you are going to make a ton of money on graded books, when I got back into collecting my mind was a bit blown by how much more a graded 9.4 would sell for compared to say like a 8.5. There is a massive curve of diminishing returns, most prices double with every .2 grade increase at the higher levels. I'm finally starting to get it now, though. I think the biggest advantage of CGC is 1. guaranteeing you don't have any restoration from decades of unknown owners before you 2. A very clear picture of what you will pay for a book in various grades. Buying raw books can of course score you far better grades for the dollar, but there is no guarantee. The increased cost for that guarantee can sometimes be more valuable than getting a slightly better book, depending on how much you are spending. Currently I only own one book over $200 that ISN'T graded, just because I don't want to gamble on such a large investment. Thanks cheese the FF48 looks great by the way.

 

As for your X-men collection I wouldn't worry too much about it, sure it was a learning mistake, but you will now have a whole different perspective on why people pay those crazy prices for 9.2-9,8 grades and a better idea of how to curb your offers on raw books. Sometimes you just need to walk away from a dealer that isn't pricing realistically. If you can buy a graded book for the same price as a raw book in matching condition, it's a no brainer. Some dealers don't care about price breaks on raw books, so it's up to you to figure out what a graded one really sells for.

 

Funny enough, my mistake when getting back into collecting was buying a bunch of horribly trimmed ASM books with venom covers I got from my local shop. I didn't notice until months later when rebagging them that corner to corner they weren't even a 90 degree angle. It was only $20 but enough of a lesson to scare me off heavily investing into raw books until I really knew what I was doing. About a year in, I feel a bit more confident but I still have a lot to learn about detecting restoration and telling the difference between 9.2's and 8.5s,

[DarthBane]

Jimbo rocks!

 

+1

[DarthBane]

One of the hardest things for me to do is evaluate high-grade books. It's easy to grade books from 2.0 to 8.0 or so.

I'm the complete opposite. I can grade high grade books, but can't grade anything below 9.0 worth a damn.

 

Indeed much easier to grade > VF/NM range

[chrisco37]

One of the hardest things for me to do is evaluate high-grade books. It's easy to grade books from 2.0 to 8.0 or so.

I'm the complete opposite. I can grade high grade books, but can't grade anything below 9.0 worth a damn.

 

Indeed much easier to grade > VF/NM range

 

Yep. Same here. In the higher grades, you basically can expect them to look about the same (a 9.4 is going to look like the other 9.4's). When you get down into the lower grades, the looks of the books can be quite different. Two 4.0's can look like totally different books.

 

[DarthBane]

:The X men 100 is so low (3.5) I'm actually thinking of cracking it open just to learn about how CGC books are encapsulated. Here's the run down:

 

X Men 100 - 3.5

 

 

Here is the original prices LCS had on books:

 

#100 - $100.00

 

 

What raw grade was the 100 sold to you as?

[NoMan]

:The X men 100 is so low (3.5) I'm actually thinking of cracking it open just to learn about how CGC books are encapsulated. Here's the run down:

 

X Men 100 - 3.5

 

 

Here is the original prices LCS had on books:

 

#100 - $100.00

 

 

What raw grade was the 100 sold to you as?

 

I'm not sure. I seem to have misplaced bags comics came in and I seem not to have jotted grade down on notes. Big City comic shop (it actually wasn't a LCS in where I live in Los Angeles but another big city I was visiting) didn't use number scale but F, VG, etc.

[paperheart]

:The X men 100 is so low (3.5) I'm actually thinking of cracking it open just to learn about how CGC books are encapsulated. Here's the run down:

 

X Men 100 - 3.5

 

 

Here is the original prices LCS had on books:

 

#100 - $100.00

 

 

What raw grade was the 100 sold to you as?

 

I'm not sure. I seem to have misplaced bags comics came in and I seem not to have jotted grade down on notes. Big City comic shop (it actually wasn't a LCS in where I live in Los Angeles but another big city I was visiting) didn't use number scale but F, VG, etc.

 

Denver

[comicquant]

Jimbo rocks!

 

+1

 

+2

[NoMan]

Books were not bought at Mile High Comics. I'm simple but not that simple.

[1Cool]

Books were not bought at Mile High Comics. I'm simple but not that simple.

 

Does even Mile High have a mid grade Defenders 1 at $200?

[Dick Pontoon]

:The X men 100 is so low (3.5) I'm actually thinking of cracking it open just to learn about how CGC books are encapsulated. Here's the run down:

 

X Men 100 - 3.5

 

 

Here is the original prices LCS had on books:

 

#100 - $100.00

 

 

What raw grade was the 100 sold to you as?

 

I'm not sure. I seem to have misplaced bags comics came in and I seem not to have jotted grade down on notes. Big City comic shop (it actually wasn't a LCS in where I live in Los Angeles but another big city I was visiting) didn't use number scale but F, VG, etc.

 

Those grades have equivalent numbers. F = 6.0. VG = 4.0, etc.

[NoMan]

Books were not bought at Mile High Comics. I'm simple but not that simple.

 

Does even Mile High have a mid grade Defenders 1 at $200?

 

MHC has a F at $104, VF at $163 and a NM at $271. What is a 6.5? Fine?

 

I bought at. Comic shop with higher prices then MHC. This just keep getting better and better.

[DarthBane]

Books were not bought at Mile High Comics. I'm simple but not that simple.

 

Does even Mile High have a mid grade Defenders 1 at $200?

 

MHC has a F at $104, VF at $163 and a NM at $271. What is a 6.5? Fine?

 

I bought at. Comic shop with higher prices then MHC. This just keep getting better and better.

 

6.5 = FN+

 

FYI

 

10.0

Gem Mint

9.9

Mint

9.8

Near Mint/Mint

9.6

Near Mint +

9.4

Near Mint

9.2

Near Mint -

9.0

Very Fine/Near Mint

8.5

Very Fine +

8.0

Very Fine

7.5

Very Fine -

7.0

Fine/Very Fine

6.5

Fine +

6.0

Fine

5.5

Fine -

5.0

Very Good/Fine

4.5

Very Good +

4.0

Very Good

3.5

Very Good -

3.0

Good/Very Good

2.5

Good +

2.0

Good

1.8

Good -

1.5

Fair/Good

1.0

Fair

.5

Poor

[NoMan]

Books were not bought at Mile High Comics. I'm simple but not that simple.

 

Does even Mile High have a mid grade Defenders 1 at $200?

 

MHC has a F at $104, VF at $163 and a NM at $271. What is a 6.5? Fine?

 

I bought at. Comic shop with higher prices then MHC. This just keep getting better and better.

 

6.5 = FN+

 

FYI

 

10.0

Gem Mint

9.9

Mint

9.8

Near Mint/Mint

9.6

Near Mint +

9.4

Near Mint

9.2

Near Mint -

9.0

Very Fine/Near Mint

8.5

Very Fine +

8.0

Very Fine

7.5

Very Fine -

7.0

Fine/Very Fine

6.5

Fine +

6.0

Fine

5.5

Fine -

5.0

Very Good/Fine

4.5

Very Good +

4.0

Very Good

3.5

Very Good -

3.0

Good/Very Good

2.5

Good +

2.0

Good

1.8

Good -

1.5

Fair/Good

1.0

Fair

.5

Poor

 

 

Thank you

[MrBedrock]

I travel to Houston a lot and visit every Bedrock City shop (all 5) every time I'm there. The other batch of books came from Bedrock. They were all graded spot on by Bedrock with what came back from CGC and priced fairly against GPA, I think. Every single person I've met at Bedrock is friendly and helpful. I'm currently working with Chris Chomiak, back issue manager at Bedrock Westheimer store in putting a Miller/ Daredevil run together. So I guess I'm doing some of the things you have suggested

That is one helluva testimonial. Thank you so much!!!

[F For Fake]

One of the hardest things for me to do is evaluate high-grade books. It's easy to grade books from 2.0 to 8.0 or so.

I'm the complete opposite. I can grade high grade books, but can't grade anything below 9.0 worth a damn.

 

Plus, at least they didn't come back in purple holders!

That is so true. That was my hard lesson on my early submissions.

 

My cap of confidence is about in the 7.5 up grades. I just never collected stuff that wasn't really nice, so never really learned those lower grades.

 

I feel pretty strongly about 8.5 and up. I mean, sure, anything above 9.8 is a coin toss and practically impossible to predict (I've only had one come back before, which I'd pegged at 9.8) but otherwise I feel pretty solid.

 

I'm also pretty confident about 3.5 and below, as those grades tend to have the very obvious defects.

 

For me, the bugaboo is in the VG/F/VF- area. I get lost in the mid-grades. So that's why I tend to buy very high or very low grade stuff, because I can usually tell if I'm getting a deal. Raw mid-grades, I really don't have as much confidence.