Why is a Blue label better than a Purple?

[Mr. Zipper]

Now, clear away the empty egg cartons, milk shake cups and coffee cake boxes, heave yourself from the chair, and go take the medication that is the last firewall between you and the cold embrace of the grave.

 

I think you're the one in need of medication.

 

Witty.

[action1kid]

Full disclosure...I own unrestored books only and am not in favor of the drop of the plod since i bought my books based on the current implemented system.

I had faith in it and the rules are constantly changing and that is why i wont buy restored books.The rules are always changing.Todays blue lable with slight color touch is tomorrows restored plod.The rules are always changing.You can only be safe with totally unrestored books.They should be CLEARLY distinguished from all other books.[restored of all kinds.

[PovertyRow]

Hey Pov - - how the helll are ya buddy!?

 

I dont understand a word you were saying, but I defend to the death your right to say it, doggoneit!

 

Thanks aman! You always were one of the good ones. Just have another couple of glasses of wine and my post will make increasing sense!

[nearmint]

4) If restoration is detailed on a blue label, with sufficient (as I believe there will be) LARGE text in the grade indicating a restored book, how does this take peoples time scanning a display of CGCd books? It only takes a very short time of "practice" for the eye to pick up those labels.

 

I agree, but I hope CGC will also note the presence of resto on the sticker on the top edge of the slab, so if a dealer has boxes of slabs at a con, you'll be able to tell visually which are restored, without having to rifle through them. A simple "restored" would do, with the details on the label.

[action1kid]

It is clearly easier to distinguish it with a purple lable than large letters.I cannot read those letters at a convention when the books are on a wall and im 6feet away from them around the counter.The dealer will have to hand them to me for me to see if its restored.I can see the purple lables from 30 feet away easily and wont have to have the books handed to me....With a purple lable i will know in an instant what percentage of inventory is restored and what is not as opposed the the all blue for everything were ill have to carefully look to see whats restored and what is not.

[THE_BEYONDER]

I only said "for more than they paid". meaning as collectors they know they are paying a lot, but feel confident they will get AT LEAST what they paid out when they sell.

 

 

When?

[Hobo]

It is clearly easier to distinguish it with a purple lable than large letters.I cannot read those letters at a convention when the books are on a wall and im 6feet away from them around the counter.The dealer will have to hand them to me for me to see if its restored.I can see the purple lables from 30 feet away easily and wont have to have the books handed to me....With a purple lable i will know in an instant what percentage of inventory is restored and what is not as opposed the the all blue for everything were ill have to carefully look to see whats restored and what is not.

 

I can see that: The need for the fact that restoration has occurred should be up front and easy to see. What I'm really looking for is a distinction in the amount and type of resto. (Rehashing what a few have already pointed out earlier), it's a travesty, IMO, that a book with a few dots of CT are lumped in with frankenbooks. I don't think that anyone at CGC started out intending to cause this phenomenom, but it does seem to have evolved into this "Restoration of any kind = worthless book." I disagree with that. I think restoration gets a bad name not because of what it actually is but because of the frauds in the marketplace that have passed off restored books as unrestored at a premium (which is exactly why they did it).

 

Maybe if all labels where to denote an accepted standard scale of resto, "0" being unrestored, "1" being light CT up to "9" being a frankenbook, then the color of the label becomes moot? Is there room on the label for another large number so it can be easy to note from a distance? If a restoration check is being done on all books why not make note of it in a more standardized fashion?

 

Sorry if I sound like a ranting noob, but you guy's got me thinking so someone's gotta suffer.

[RedSkull]

No better answer than why CGC is in business, to promote an equal playing field between buyers and sellers.Does the term disclosure comes to mind? You can ridicule, mock, or hate CGC but there is no denying their presence and acceptence in the market place, it was a like a breath of fresh air.

[burntboy]

I can see that: The need for the fact that restoration has occurred should be up front and easy to see. What I'm really looking for is a distinction in the amount and type of resto. (Rehashing what a few have already pointed out earlier), it's a travesty, IMO, that a book with a few dots of CT are lumped in with frankenbooks. I don't think that anyone at CGC started out intending to cause this phenomenom, but it does seem to have evolved into this "Restoration of any kind = worthless book." I disagree with that. I think restoration gets a bad name not because of what it actually is but because of the frauds in the marketplace that have passed off restored books as unrestored at a premium (which is exactly why they did it).

 

 

Sorry if I sound like a ranting noob, but you guy's got me thinking so someone's gotta suffer.

 

you may be a noob, but your thoughts on the matter are well-articulated. i really agree with your points regarding; "that a book with a few dots of CT are lumped in with frankenbooks".

 

it seems to me that the Color of the label has immediate and catastrophic impact on many collectors, regardless of the degree of restoration.

 

i think that's the issue that needs addressing and that a change to Blue labels will go a way in addressing that concern. Collectors can now look at the book more OBJECTIVELY and decide if the degree of resto fits their collecting habits as opposed to simply rejecting the book out-of-hand because of the PLOD.

 

and yes, i have a half dozen beautiful PLODS of great old books that i bought fully realizing what they were (all were slabbed). i don't expect a switch to Blue will necessarily increase their value at all, but it might broaden the potential pool of interested collectors.....................

[Aman619]

I dont see any evidence of "speculators" callously getting in and out to make a fast buck in a collecting field they kno wnothing about or have any interest in.... except for Parrino.

 

Who cares if you have an interest or knowledge of said hobby? Did it really matter that the sportscard speculators might have liked baseball or if a coinee submitter used to collect Buffalo nickels as a kid?

 

Here's a standard definition for a speculator:

 

One who attempts to anticipate price changes and, through buying and selling, intends to make profits.

 

At the end of the day, it comes down to intent. Are you buying comics to own and enjoy them, or are you primarily interested in resale value, and potential profits? That's what separates a speculator from a collector.

 

Sounds good JC, but its just not that easy or simple to define... Not in a hobby situation. All of us (that me out on a limb) spend money on comics BOTH because we WANT them, AND because whatever we pay, we expect and/or hope to sell later for more money.

 

Sure plenty of guys here and elsewhere buy and sell intending to make profits... but they use those profits to buy more comics. Eventually these stick in their collections until such time that they are expendable in order to buy NEWER grails. That just a smart way to collect with a short piggyback. Not a get rich quick scheme, which, in MY book, is what speculating is all about.

 

I agree with you that there IS a profit motive going on behind many sales.... but its not totally about making money devoid of the collecting impulses we all know so well.

[joe_collector]

All of us (that me out on a limb) spend money on comics BOTH because we WANT them, AND because whatever we pay, we expect and/or hope to sell later for more money.

 

Not me. I buy what I like at a price I am comfortable with, and assume the money is flushed. I just like collecting books, and honestly have no idea exactly what's in my collection or what it's worth.

[Aman619]

yeah, well, I meant the REST of us normal people. Youre always trying so hard to prove youre different anyway.

[joe_collector]

yeah, well, I meant the REST of us normal people.

 

Gimme a break. Collecting comics is my HOBBY, and if you're all concerned about the "future value" of those collectibles, then I'd ask what your hobby is.

 

If being a money-hungry specu-lector is your idea of *normal* then I am very glad to exceed that definition.

[Aman619]

caring about the values of comics IS normal... especially so when buying high priced back issues. What hobby have YOU been taking part in for all these years? Mr comic Investor?

[joe_collector]

What hobby have YOU been taking part in for all these years?

 

If a hobby stops being about the collectible itself, and turns into one centered on the monetary, it is NO LONGER a hobby.

 

So I ask you again, what is your hobby?

[FFB]

What hobby have YOU been taking part in for all these years?

 

If a hobby stops being about the collectible itself, and turns into one centered on the monetary, it is NO LONGER a hobby.

 

So I ask you again, what is your hobby?

 

Who says?

[Samurai-Bill]

All of us (that me out on a limb) spend money on comics BOTH because we WANT them, AND because whatever we pay, we expect and/or hope to sell later for more money.

 

Not me. I buy what I like at a price I am comfortable with, and assume the money is flushed. I just like collecting books, and honestly have no idea exactly what's in my collection or what it's worth.

 

I'm with Joe on this , I collect comics and am a completist type collector .

 

I buy a comic put a tick in my book and that's it , on to the next issue missing .

 

Collectors like me have a big problem with speculators I have many missing " key" issues because I won't pay the inflated prices .

 

Investors protect their investment with shill bids etc ...it makes us regular guys pay over the odds for common comics because someone has decided they are " key "

 

[Aman619]

not someone, but th e'majority' decide which are the keys. The demand drives the prices. The manipulation sustains them, but it cant create the demand. If a dealer raised the price dramatically on a common book, and gave a reason as it was the first 'whatever', who would buy it? This is for back issues Im talking about, since we all know that Wizard had a powerful influence on raising hot books' prices.

[lou_fine]

Con: Makes it harder to differentiate between Restored and True Universal books, not only by scammers, but also newbs, knobs and slobs who only post small scans. CGC is *supposed* to make buying online easier, but it just got a lot more complicated.

 

It will create buyer confusion and potential distrust due to continued inconsistency. All it will take is to get burned once on an over-priced BLOD you thought was Universal, and new collectors will take off.

 

JC;

 

First time in the grading forum for me and it looks like there's a couple of interesting threads here with respect to the pending change in CGC's label system.

 

Reading over the first 12 pages, I basically agree with everything that FFB and Zonker is bringing up here. This should be of no surprise to anybody here since I had proposed that CGC adopt an one-colour label system along with a 10-point restoration rating system way back in 2003. And much to tth2's chagrin, I have also raised this same viewpoint over the years whenever this topic has come up.

 

With respect to your quote above, I have never understood why an one-colour label system in assoication with a 10-point restoration rating would bring nothing but chaos and confusion to the matketplace. From my point of view, CGC would be providing MORE information about the book, thereby allowing the potential buyer to make an more informed purchasing decision.

 

I am sure that buyers will be intelligent enough to distinguish the difference between a R-0 unrestored book, a R-1 slightly restored book, and a R-10 extensively restored book. Similarly, I don't hear complaints in the current marketplace that buyers are confused between a 2.0 low grade book, a 9.0 high grade book, and a 10.0 mint book when it comes to condition grades. The current marketplace seems to be very well aware of the difference between these various grades and are not confused at all.

 

Bottom-line: If an one-colour label system with a numerical rating complicates and adds confusion to the marketplace, then maybe CGC should instead revamp their current condition grading system to add a second stigmitizing colour label for all books deemed to be lower than near mint and grade all books only as either low grade, mid grade, or high grade in order to provide more clear information to the marketplace.

[joe_collector]

From my point of view, CGC would be providing MORE information about the book, thereby allowing the potential buyer to make an more informed purchasing decision.

 

Once again, exactly what does this have to do with changing the label color? I'm all for more info on the label, but is Blue the only color this "mystery ink" will show up on?

 

Also, you seem to be making some bizarre comparisons, and forgetting that CGC and the current grading/color scheme has been in place for over 5 years. A CGC 2.0 and 9.0 were here since the inception of comic slabbing, just as the Purple Restored label as... Not so for this new "Blue Restored with R-XX Resto Ratings" fiasco.

 

Due to CGC's popularity, the current format has become a industry standard and it will create buyer confusion when changed.