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Spotting a fake CGC case based on inconsistency - modern books
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66 posts in this topic

On 4/21/2021 at 4:03 PM, Never2old2brick said:

I have just started collecting and am buying raw and slabbed.  My most recent slab is a SIKTC #11 one per store virgin signed by Dell’Edera and Tynion.  The Cgc holographic silver sticker has a raised lip around it (I can feel the edges when running finger over) suggesting it is a sticker rather than embedded beneath the case shell and there is slight movement of the inner case and book when I flip the slab.  I have a total of 10 slabs and two are the same yet the other 8 have the hologram clearly inside (smooth across the plastic because the sticker is embedded) and there is zero movement of the book.  This SIKTC also has 4 spine ticks which don’t break colour and are individually negligible but noticeable when looking close up suggesting the grade can’t be right (it’s a 9.8).  Have had a look at the forums briefly and Cgc website but anyone able to help if this is a problem or it’s just how some slabs are.  Both of the 2 barcodes fully check out on the registers and their timing makes sense based on release dates and Cgc turn around times.  Photos  of SIKTC attached.  Thanks!

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Oh man, another fake CGC case, crazy how many there are around these days

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I collect readers so I don't know GCG cases but I've been on the boards long enough to see several people ask about fake cases and never have I seen one be deemed fake.

I suspect they do not exist. 

I imagine it would not be cost effective for a criminal to produce them.  Other comic book scams are simpler.  FleaBay is full of them. 

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Your case is not fake, but that 9.8 grade might be...  I do not agree with spine ticks on a 9.8.

I've seen the hologram sticker on the inside and the outside.  If you are worried about a particular CGC book, it is very easy to look-up the certification number and confirm the book's details.  If the cert doesn't match the book in the case, then you need to worry.

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When some comic books are "worth" more than a million dollars, don't you think that would create a powerful incentive to manufacture fakes? You're fooling yourself if you think it can't be done. And how would anyone know the difference? You can't examine the comic book! All you can see are the front and back covers, and the sides of the interior pages.

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On 4/21/2021 at 4:03 PM, Never2old2brick said:

I have just started collecting and am buying raw and slabbed.  My most recent slab is a SIKTC #11 one per store virgin signed by Dell’Edera and Tynion.  The Cgc holographic silver sticker has a raised lip around it (I can feel the edges when running finger over) suggesting it is a sticker rather than embedded beneath the case shell and there is slight movement of the inner case and book when I flip the slab.  I have a total of 10 slabs and two are the same yet the other 8 have the hologram clearly inside (smooth across the plastic because the sticker is embedded) and there is zero movement of the book.  This SIKTC also has 4 spine ticks which don’t break colour and are individually negligible but noticeable when looking close up suggesting the grade can’t be right (it’s a 9.8).  Have had a look at the forums briefly and Cgc website but anyone able to help if this is a problem or it’s just how some slabs are.  Both of the 2 barcodes fully check out on the registers and their timing makes sense based on release dates and Cgc turn around times.  Photos  of SIKTC attached.  Thanks!

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From what I can see, this doesn't appear to be a fake holder, and the book matches the information on the label, right? 

As long as that's the case, I don't see anything here that warrants contacting CGC, but if you really want to that's your call. 

I hope this helps, and have a happy holiday...  :hi:

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On 11/23/2022 at 2:41 PM, Big Brother said:

When some comic books are "worth" more than a million dollars, don't you think that would create a powerful incentive to manufacture fakes? You're fooling yourself if you think it can't be done. And how would anyone know the difference? You can't examine the comic book! All you can see are the front and back covers, and the sides of the interior pages.

You are on the right track but have the wrong thinking.

A scammer isn't going to manufacture a fake case/label from scratch it is not worth the investment in tooling, manufacturing, and risk. They are also not going to target the "million dollar books" that we have all seen and have pictures of. If they tried to take their fake copy of action #1 to heritage they would be laughed out of the building.

What you have to watch out for is the mid-grade four figure books, lets use X-Men #4 in CGC 6.0 a solid $2500 book.

A scammer on Ebay is going to buy an older CGC case and pop one of the corners to remove the inner well and switch the book and label with a 4.0 restored copy, glue the post back and touch up any cracks with glass repair. They will move the book at a convention, ebay, FB, or any place they can. This has happened before and no doubt is still going on to some extent.

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On 11/25/2022 at 1:22 AM, Big Brother said:

A million dollar item is "not worth the investment in tooling, manufacturing, and risk"? Really? OK, you go right on thinking that. When there's big money to be made, some people will do whatever it takes...

What would they do ,exactly? How would they create it, and how would they sell it? Who would they sell it to, and who would be foolish enough to buy it?

I think you'd be better off printing up a 1,000 She Hulk 1s than 1 AF 15, but I'm not a thief and don't think like one so what do I know?

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Think about it like this: the most commonly counterfeited currency in the US is the $20, because it's so common as to go without scrutiny.  The most commonly counterfeited dollar currency worldwide, outside the US, is the $100, because the people seeing it are less likely to know a fake and the return is better.

 https://www.marketplace.org/2017/03/28/most-counterfeit-currencies/

As far as slabs go, I once had a comic shop owner show me a tampered slab he'd made as a demonstration of how easy it was to do, so he could ridicule and disparage graded collectors.  He cracked a real slab, then put in a fake label for a Hulk 181 and a repro comic.  He thought it proved what suckers we all were, but I thought it was obviously a fake from 6 feet away.  It's just so hard to get the slab back together cleanly, and most of what attracts us to graded comics are the same attributes (detail-oriented, condition-conscious, etc) that make it hard to fake.   

 

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Again, how would anyone know it was fake? The whole point of creating a fake is to make people THINK it is real. If the book is sealed inside a CGC case, how can you examine it? Conceivably, you could take a genuine cover and wrap it around the guts of some worthless comic. How would you know? And forget about a million dollar comic book – it would be worthwhile to fake any book valued at thousands of dollars. If you think it would be impossible to create a convincing counterfeit, I have a bridge in Brooklyn that I'd be willing to part with...

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On 11/25/2022 at 12:39 PM, Big Brother said:

Again, how would anyone know it was fake? The whole point of creating a fake is to make people THINK it is real. If the book is sealed inside a CGC case, how can you examine it? Conceivably, you could take a genuine cover and wrap it around the guts of some worthless comic. How would you know? And forget about a million dollar comic book – it would be worthwhile to fake any book valued at thousands of dollars. If you think it would be impossible to create a convincing counterfeit, I have a bridge in Brooklyn that I'd be willing to part with...

Of course it's not impossible but it will take an investment to do so. 

Then you have the CGC DB how is the fake barcode/number going to get in there? This limits fakes to duplicating existing barcode numbers.  High ticket Comics - someone mentioned Action 1 earlier - will be a good way to get nabbed as due to press and $ involved will get the Fed involved.

This also will not fool those who buy the book and not the label - meaning those like myself who will only purchase slabbed comics they can examine first or return without issue. I've turned down plenty of CGC books over the years as they did not make my personal cut. Not arguing the grades just have defects that are no my cup o' tea

The more fakes that enter the hobby the easier it will be to identify them.  In this contraction phase of the hobby probably not the wisest time to start such an enterprise as the first to leave are the "suckers"

Bottom line if counterfeiting the higher ticket items (Action 1, AF15, Bats 1, Supes 1, A-SC8, 'tec 27, Showcase 4, Hulk 1, FF1, etc and so on) will only get the perpetrator caught and is the expense of the machinations involved worth it?

Edited by MAR1979
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