New Grading Company! CGG!!

[joe_collector]

>>The one point you made about CGG being a better alternative to Moderns sounds plausible and beneficial to everyone, but without a product that does not appear to offer any other advantages... I don't get it.

 

Here's a quick lesson in economics:

 

CGC Modern Price: $19

 

CGG Modern Price: $8

 

With CGC margins shrinking (or non-existent) on Modern books, this is quite a significant advantage. It also opens up the market to collectors who may want to fill in runs of encapsulated comics, that would be outlandishly expensive in CGC form.

 

Once again, I'm not promoting this CGG entity, only the ideals of competition, which they seem to represent at this time. If they're bogus, it only means CGC has a longer reprieve, but someone will enter in the near future.

[BronzeBruce13]

Like I said.. I think it will add confusion... and the timing seems unfavorable too. It would have been better for all if they showed up much earlier in the game or maybe during the growing periods. While we're in a weaker market I have concerns that it will be harmful, not helpful all around (except maybe for moderns as you pointed out).

 

I won't pretend not to have ANY concerns from a speculative position, I do. Maybe not from what I'm seeing here, but if a real challenge emerges that offers a better product all around and becomes the preferred company... who wouldn't if they owned a hundred or so slabs?

 

I suspect you think all my objections are coming from that perspective as that's what you seem to be subtly driving at. Whether you believe it or not... I collect primarily for my love of acquiring near perfect examples of the books I grew up with. I'm also compelled (and admittedly obsessed in certain instances) with trying to get the best books I can... sometimes at considerable expense. I also most certainly have investment and value as a motivation as I enjoy playing that gambling aspect of it too. I don't carry many filler/non-keys issues any longer and have cleared most out of my collection. I have focused on bigger keys and settled for having ungraded readables for the fillers in most cases...not all. I'm not saying this makes me immune to whatever market turn may occur should a better company emerge eventually, but I feel I would have some time to react... so I'm concerned about that possibility, but not terrified either. Actually I'm far more concerned if I really HAVE to send in all my books every 7 years to keep them preserved.. if that's the case... watch me get out on everything but maybe 25-35 ultra favorites.

[BronzeBruce13]

Good Point... I'm all for a reduction in grading costs... but I also hear CGC is not really profiting much or at all presently. Can they even afford to drop prices (assuming they even had to consider doing so) without changing the service to compensate?... They would have to do something, like cease counting pages and just review the inside pages for instance to reduce grading time per issue.

 

I still think it will confuse many and maybe cause reluctance for some to enter a undefined, unsure climate... and we need new blood to keep everything strong.

 

I did not experience first hand, the emergence of competitive grading companies in cards and coins like you did. When the 2nd showed up in each... what happened to the market short-term and long-term?

[BronzeBruce13]

.. I meant advantages beyond the obvious modern fee difference... I'm not completely daft with economics sir

[g-man]

does this mean we should start selling off our cgc gems? oh no. should we continue to bid up cgc books on ebay that we don't really want but we own them to maintain their value and sales history?

 

oh wait this is being done........my b.

[yertle]

I know the address below is the same as the website but here is a second phone number and an email if anybody wishes to call them up.

 

WhoIs results follow:

 

Start of registration- 09/25/02 00:00:00

Registered through- 09/25/03 00:00:00

 

Registrant Contact-

Comic Grading Group

Daniel Patterson (thecomicguys@aol.com)

541-342-1539

FAX- none

P.O. Box 22912

Eugene, OR 97402

US

[joe_collector]

The main advantage was to provide greater seller profits due to the lower prices, allow previously-ungradeable cards and coins to become available (in this case, the Simonson Thors would be a great example), and bring more buyers and sellers onboard.

 

Competition helped the expand market immensely, and I doubt if grading would still be around with only one sportscard and coin grading firm. Monopolistic, high prices would have killed the beast long ago.

 

Now there was a downside, and that was the previously high-grade PSA cards got knocked down significantly (coinees can also relate similar tales) and some became virtually worthless.

 

Centering and production quality became important, more information (like edge, corner and centering ratings, full disclosure of non-production defects, etc.) were noted on the label, and it basically became a much tighter game. Off-center and off-cut PSA 9-10 graded cards were DOA, gum-stains, writing, ink or other defaced "qualifiers" turned the cards to compost, and the new companies really helped separate the wheat from the chaffe.

 

Many PSA collectors who "bought the label and not the card" lost enormous sums of money, but on the whole, the market was healthier for the competition and the number of cards graded skyrocketed.

 

Every collector wants tighter, more accurate grading for their hard-earned dollar and the only way to achieve this is through competition and letting the market decide which company to buy from.

[joe_collector]

I almost forgot the most obvious benefit: disclosure of grading criteria.

 

Once one company does it, they all are forced to. It helps put sellers on even footing in terms of what is or isn't allowed in a certain grade, let's collectors "pick a zone" as per their own collecting requirements, and creates a more open grading environment.

[Rickdogg]

I saw this a few days ago, but didn't mention it because I thought it was posted before.

[murph0]

Anyone know why they keep calling their "restoration expert" Steve? Despite the fact that their bio on him calls him Derrick? Not to mention they refer to someone named David as well in this guys bio...

 

Brian

[joe_collector]

Yo Rick, why not do us a favor and send in some NM MTU books and then report on the expected vs. received grades?

 

I'd do it in a second, but the currency/shipping would be killer.

[joe_collector]

>>Anyone know why they keep calling their "restoration expert" Steve? Despite the fact that their bio on him calls him Derrick? Not to mention they refer to someone named David as well in this guys bio...

 

I have a feeling those are other pre-graders, and that this section is imcomplete/under-construction. They need to plug these holes if they're really online and ready for business.

[Mister_Comics]

This looks like the graded books I seen sold on the HOME SHOPPING channel a while back.

[thecomicsheet]

You got me interested. I put in a bid on that book to see what I get . I can afford a $3 hit if its not on the up and up. I might bid on a couple of the other 9.6 and 9.4 books to see if I can get a handful to compare to CGC books. If I win, I'll let you know what they look like and post some big scans. The auction is 10 days though with no BIN so it's going to take a while.

[joe_collector]

Join the club, I'm gonna bid on a couple of ASM McFarlane issues and see if I can nab them. I like those comics anyway, so it's no big financial risk.

[Crowzilla]

I'm not sure if this is a real company or not, but if it is, then I am pretty sure that there will be a third company showing up in the next couple of months.

One with high profile people running it, and there will be a lot of advertising it.

 

[Mister_Comics]

Having a new grader in the business might boost prices of CGC'ed books being sold. Only because CGC is looked apon as a tougher grader. I don't think people will see a new grading company as tougher.

 

BTW; I mentioned something about this new grader a while back. Didn't know the name back then. But got jumped all over about it so I dropped the subject.

[joe_collector]

CGC is far from being a tough grader. They're the same as PSA when they first appeared, and it's only when the standards are raised that will you see this.

 

And I'm not referring to the majority of books CGC grades, or their general standards, but we'll soon see an end to comics that are cut at an angle getting a 9.6, a book with a 1" white border receiving a 9.8, books with noticeable production flaws, date stamps, scribbled names, etc. getting crazy grades, and so on.....

 

In other words, the whacky "looks like it was cut with a butter knife / whose kid wrote on that / date stamp on Wolverine's face / white-border-beauty" head-shaker books we sometimes post on here with CGC 9.4-9.8 grades will become a thing of the past, at least in terms of high-grade.

 

Every new trend in comics has been towards separating the truly high-grade book from the pretenders, and I don't see that trend backing off, just moving to the next logical stage.

[Darthdiesel]

Interest is piqued - I bid on two CGG books from different sellers. From the looks of it, the graders are selling the books to keep the company afloat. Notice that they stay within the safe range of 9.2-9.6 nothing 9.8 or higher. when they post 9.8=10.0 then they'll com under much more scrutiny. I'm interested in comparing them to CGC 9.2-9.6's and also the quality of the plastic, the label notes and info (is it straight from Overstreet guide notes and won't they need permission to print it?), also wondering about the integrity of the grade as kept by any tamper evident seals on this CGG slab, and interested in how easy it would be to perpetrate fraud with this slab as opposed to CGC... a lot to consider...

 

I think it is a brilliant well times April fool's Day scam, but that is just a feeling on it...

[PovertyRow]

Well, according to their calendar they will be at Wondercon. I will be at Wondercon. So I'll check them out, scoop as much info and literature as i can, and report back.