I'm not a happy camper today.

[divad]

I am going to go out on a limb here, but I suspect this spine crease isn't the only thing keeping the book out of the 9.4 territory.

 

Uh, pretty short limb, I'd say

[eddly]

curses to those who collect marvel value stamps...

[sterlingcomics]

Welcome to the world of CGC grading...

 

hint--go out and buy a comic grading 8-ball...Brad--post that thing!

 

On a more serious note--we have all been there. It's taken me hundreds of submissions to even start to get consistent with CGC grading--and we all know how consistent THAT is...

[Aces]

Sell it raw on eBay inside a mystery comic box.

The fools will come running to bid.

[jimm94]

Hi Joel,

 

Sorry to hear about the book. As others have suggested, call CGC back and ask to speak with someone about the grader's notes. You probably missed a tear, back cover crease, or stain.

 

It's an expensive pill to swallow, but I would advise against buying such expensive books raw online unless they are from a nationally recognized dealer. And even if you're an experienced collector, if you desire a book in x.x CGC grade it's best to buy a book already slabbed. This is especially true when the price difference between grades is several hundred dollars or more.

[drsone]

The only cgc books I buy in high grade are copper age books, usually I buy cgc silver age stuff in lower grade, cause i enjoy owning certain "important" books and like to have a fair grade assigned.

 

I have noticed gaps in cgc's grading of 9.6-9.8 on 80s books. I own 9.6-9.8 grades of the same book now, and after purchasing a few 9.4's to verify my suspicions I must say that Copper Age books in 9.6 are a total [embarrasing lack of self control] shoot. Some look equal or better than 9.8's (and I've used a magnifying glass on these) while some 9.4's look the same as or better than some of the 9.6s I own.

 

I know It's subjective etc, but the standard at 9.6 seems pretty lenient.

 

Off topic, I know.

[the blob]

there's some randomness to it, but unless there's a defect that's missed by the next set of graders, i doubt it comes back even a 9.0 the second time around... 8.0 might become and 8.5, but not a 9.0 - 9.4.

 

as a seller of mostly raw books (albeit generally low and mid grade, most of my high grade books are rarely over $25), i hate to say it, but for $1400, i don't think you can take the chance unless there's a "CGC will grade this as a __ or better" guarantee like Heritage gives on some books (and, of course, they CAN guarantee it, wink wink, not that I've disagreed with their grading). something under $50 raw where the GPA on a slab is double or triple that, that's something else. and you just can't compare market prices for slabs to raw and pay in the same ballpark UNLESS you have the book in hand and the dealer is calling it a VF and you're comfortable with it being a 9.0 - 9.4... then maybe the CGC market price for a VF book would make sense.

 

it really pains me, but I doubt anything I own that guides for $150+ will be sold without encapsulation other than maybe some early GA beat to heck readers.

[Sal]

my MO on auctions like this is to ask myself "if I had pricey book x in question in what this seller grades 9.2, would i keep it raw or slab it?"

 

since the answer to this question is always "yes," - the guy is selling the book after all, and we all know that slabbing will get you top dollar 99% of the time - i then ask myself "so why is this book not in a slab?"

 

the answer to that question is invariably "either something must be wrong with it that's not immediately apparant, or the seller doesn't know what he's got, even though the auction description leads me to believe otherwise."

 

might try something like that thought process next time. sorry about your experience, hope it works out for you some how

[skybolt]

A lot of sellers that don't particpate in these forums tend to believe that they can get away with a lot of shady activity on Ebay (selling over-graded raw books, shilling, making up background stories, etc.). Most of them would be amazed at how we can spot their [embarrasing lack of self control].

 

One lesson I learned after joining these boards was to ask questions about certain sellers or auctions prior to making a big purchase. Thank goodness I got away from the mentality that if I mention a specifc auction on these boards then I may wind up with a lot more competition on a secret find (there is no such thing on Ebay).

 

If I sold my entire collection tomorrow, I'd probably break even on $100+ books that I purchased already slabbed (including selling fees), while losing about 25-30% on $100+ books that I purchased raw and had slabbed myself. This includes books that I've purchased from major dealers. It's just not worth the hassle, unless you've been looking very hard to find a certain GA book, and the only copy available is raw.

[Darthdiesel]

I've got some sweet "9.4" books to sell ya...

[sterlingcomics]

I've got some sweet "9.4" books to sell ya...

 

[Darthdiesel]

[Darthdiesel]

for Joel - how well did you pack and ship the book to CGC? was it mylared, packed between two hard carton boards, wrapped in bubble wrap, rendered immobile by strategic placement of packing styrofoam and double boxed?

[Joel109-migration]

I did get in contact with CGC today and asked them if they could explain to me why my Hulk #181 got such a low grade. The guy I talked to read off a list of 3 or 4 minor flaws that the book had, and that those flaws were enought to knock it down to an 8.0. I don't remember exactly what the flaws were but I remember him saying something about ink overspray or something of that nature which I'm sure is a printing flaw. He also said something about finger prints or something like that. All of the flaws he told me my book had, I had never noticed before. Everything he told me was a surprise because I had never noticed these flaws when I examined the book. To the naked eye, the book looks nearly perfect in everyway. I don't know if these guys got down on their hands and knee's with a magnifying glass or what, but they saw flaws in my book that I have never seen before. And yes, I packed the comic extremely well. There was no posibble way the book could have been damaged during shipment.

[PovertyRow]

The guy I talked to read off a list of 3 or 4 minor flaws that the book had, and that those flaws were enought to knock it down to an 8.0. I don't remember exactly what the flaws were but I remember him saying something about ink overspray or something of that nature which I'm sure is a printing flaw. He also said something about finger prints or something like that.

 

Even after calling CGC you are still vague on what they told you. Bottom line? You have to attend to details when grading.

[divad]

Give me the serial no., and I'll call on Monday . . . at least I'll ask him to read them slowly so I can take it all down

 

Hey Guys! Shall I post another scan of my 9.2 Hulk #181? How about my 6.5? My 8.5 (Q)? or my 9.8 raw copy??? Yowza

[Joel109-migration]

I got my Hulk 181 back from CGC yesterday. It really looks great, but I still can't understand why it got such a low grade.

[kahml]

I got my Hulk 181 back from CGC yesterday. It really looks great, but I still can't understand why it got such a low grade.

 

Time to post a hi-res scan so that everyone can take a look and comment...

[Flaming_Telepath]

I got my Hulk 181 back from CGC yesterday. It really looks great, but I still can't understand why it got such a low grade.

 

Joel, I hope you don't mind my asking, but how long have you been collecting Silver/Bronze age stuff? And how many books have you got approximately?

[Catalyst Comics]

Resend it.

 

I had a Comic Graded at 8.0 once. I know it was way higher then a 8.0, so sent it back in. Well suprise suprise it came back a 9.2.!!!

 

CGC is about as UN-trustworthy as you can get.