Will CGC offer UV-Light Protecting Slabs in the Future? 2 2

[PokemanDude90]

Seems like the next logical step in the evolution of card grading. It's wild that no grading company has been able to put something like this to market. If it's a cost thing, just pass it on to the Customer as a premium service marketed towards the upper-echelon of the TCG world. 

Idk about everyone else but I want to safely display my slabs on my walls/desk/etc. without worrying about light ruining them over time. 

If CGC can figure this out they'll win the Slab War. Defense wins championships! 

 

[Oreos]

Would be really cool - even if it was only for high-end cards (like an extra fee). 

[theCapraAegagrus]

UV-protective film/plastic is expensive. People have been complaining about price increases all year. I don't think that it's feasible anytime soon.

[HomeGrownPoke1]

7 minutes ago, Oreos said:

Would be really cool - even if it was only for high-end cards (like an extra fee). 

Make it optional for every card. Just like you pay extra for subgrades or imaging.

Or maybe someone can "invent" a fitted UV filter sticker that you can stick on your case yourself, kind of like a scratch protector for phones. Million dollar idea

Edited June 24, 2021 by HomeGrownPoke1
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[Keys_Collector]

On 6/22/2021 at 5:58 PM, PokemanDude90 said:

Idk about everyone else but I want to safely display my slabs on my walls/desk/etc. without worrying about light ruining them over time. 

some shades and black out curtains can help you there

[Yeahiwasder4dat]

14 minutes ago, Keys_Collector said:

some shades and black out curtains can help you there

Not many people want to live in a dungeon just so they can display some collectibles.

[ExNihilo]

33 minutes ago, Yeahiwasder4dat said:

Not many people want to live in a dungeon just so they can display some collectibles.

[theCapraAegagrus]

1 hour ago, Yeahiwasder4dat said:

Not many people want to live in a dungeon just so they can display some collectibles.

Consumers can purchase their own UV-protective film.

[Keys_Collector]

1 hour ago, Yeahiwasder4dat said:

Not many people want to live in a dungeon just so they can display some collectibles.

I've had my comics on the wall for years.  No dungeon here.  Just 1 room that is properly set up so that no direct light is on them.  There are solutions out there and thinking that CGC will magically start doing UV slabs isn't the solution, at least not now.  Just wrap your slab in saran wrap and you'll be fine.

[PokemanDude90]

UV protecting plastic/film is expensive, so a luxury service offering such as card grading shouldn't even explore the option to offer it, and instead people can just use Saran Wrap or I can steal the blackout curtains from my son's room to provide protection. Thanks Comic guys for always driving the conversation productively here in the Trading Card section of this forum! 

Video showing how damaging UV light is, and he experiments on both raw/graded cards. 

 

[Yeahiwasder4dat]

41 minutes ago, theCapraAegagrus said:

Consumers can purchase their own UV-protective film.

I'm aware. He simply suggested they incorporate it into the slabs which isn't a bad idea.

35 minutes ago, Keys_Collector said:

I've had my comics on the wall for years.  No dungeon here.  Just 1 room that is properly set up so that no direct light is on them.  There are solutions out there and thinking that CGC will magically start doing UV slabs isn't the solution, at least not now.  Just wrap your slab in saran wrap and you'll be fine.

I have cards on my desk in UV sleeves. I'm not the one giving someone some sarcastic response on curtains when they had a valid idea.

Edited June 24, 2021 by Yeahiwasder4dat

[theCapraAegagrus]

3 minutes ago, Yeahiwasder4dat said:

I'm aware. He simply suggested they incorporate it into the slabs which isn't a bad idea.

Most UV-stable plastics change color when exposed to UV light. So, they would protect the card(s), but their clarity would suffer. I think it's too expensive and impractical for CGC to consider.

[Keys_Collector]

32 minutes ago, Yeahiwasder4dat said:

I'm not the one giving someone some sarcastic response on curtains when they had a valid idea.

My suggestion on curtains wasn't at all meant to be sarcastic.  It's literally what I use in my collectibles room and I recommend it to everyone who's worried about light exposure to their comics/cards.

[vheflin]

I would only use this film to protect from ambient light and low levels at that.

Direct sunlight is going to bleach your stuff no matter what.

[Yeahiwasder4dat]

55 minutes ago, Keys_Collector said:

My suggestion on curtains wasn't at all meant to be sarcastic.  It's literally what I use in my collectibles room and I recommend it to everyone who's worried about light exposure to their comics/cards.

I apologize then, the way I read that I thought you were insinuating that he should cover all the windows instead of getting UV protection on his slabs.

In all seriousness I don't think UV film on the cases or the aftermarket sleeves are a bad idea. I keep everything out of direct sunlight regardless of what it's in and I can't tell that any of it has faded. I'm can't distinguish where any of the UV sleeves have changed color but I don't think it would ever be a good idea to keep anything in direct sunlight regardless of what you have on it. I don't cover the windows but I have them in places where direct sunlight isn't an issue.

[ExNihilo]

2 hours ago, PokemanDude90 said:

UV protecting plastic/film is expensive, so a luxury service offering such as card grading shouldn't even explore the option to offer it, and instead people can just use Saran Wrap or I can steal the blackout curtains from my son's room to provide protection. Thanks Comic guys for always driving the conversation productively here in the Trading Card section of this forum! 

Video showing how damaging UV light is, and he experiments on both raw/graded cards. 

 

Really informative look at things.  Results were pretty much to be expected, but glad someone out there is doing the leg work to see if 99% UV protected cases will have any noticeable month.  Will have to remember to check back his channel for the next round of tests.

[ronnieramone]

Speaking as a comic book collector, I too have been wondering why the industry leader, CGC, has not actually taken any true leadership position in offering UV protection in their slabs.  To me, it seems like the obvious place to do it, and kind of what we are paying for to protect the grade of the books.  Would not a slabbed 9.8 comic left in direct sunlight no longer be a 9.8 ?  Maybe with the new ownership, someone will catch on and invest in this badly needed improvement.  Think of all the re-holder submissions you'd get almost immediately!  No grading needed, just crack the old slab and drop it in a new UV-protected one!

I will tell you the lengths I have gone to protect my collectibles, and you can tell me if I am crazy or not.  First, I pulled all 3 south-facing windows (ugh) and replaced them with Renewals by Anderson to get 94% UV protected glass windows.  Not quite the museum grade 99%, but the best I could find.  There was one arched (rounded) window on the west side that they could not replace because of the arch, so I covered that with 99% UV reflective film, and used 2x 98% UV arch fans, doubled up on the rounded top.  I have blinds on all 4 of those windows, pretty much always closed.  Light still gets in through the cracks in the blinds, so it is not quite a dungeon, but filtered as best I can.

Then, every comic on display (mostly CGC with a smattering of other grading services mixed in) is separately protected from UV on the comic itself.  The really expensive books are in either the older Gweedo's frames with Tru Vue 99% museum glass or newer ECC frames with 99% museum quality UV-protection acrylic.  Gweedo's vanished one day a few years back and I started buying ECC instead.  There are one or two other frame brands, also with UV protection from companies that I tried but did not like as much as the ECC ones.

Finally, all graded, un-framed books have a 99% UV protection film that I stick over the slabs to protect them because CGC does not do this on their own.  I buy these from Comic Skin, even though they are not the original manufacturers.  They have a supplier who is frequently out of stock, so I try to buy a hundred or so at a time.  Older CGC frames look great with this UV "sticker" shield, but the newer frames with the depressed well cause the sticker to have disappointing bubbles along the edges.  In my opinion, the front of the slabbed book should always be flat, but the newer CGC frames have the label raised higher than the comic so they don't run flush.  This is a really frustrating problem for me and causes me to dislike the new CGC cases.

For this reason, I tend towards buying either older CGC frames or their competitors' slabs at auction, at least for cheaper books.  If I am going to buy a more expensive book, I am fine to buy a newer CGC slab because it will likely go in an ECC frame and the level change won't make much of a difference.  It also would not make a difference if the materials used were UV protected from the start.  It is a silly thing, maybe, but I am adamant that all of my comics receive UV protection and because the industry leader does not offer this on their own, I find my own ways of making it happen.  I have even tried purchasing UV shield plastic in rolls and cutting them to shape.  That didn't work out well, so I abandoned that idea.

The other thing I do a fair amount of is the slab-it-yourself method on raw books using the Comic Skin product.  I've seen some UV tests of that and the plastic they use does offer UV protection.  Even so, I still use additional UV shields on the DIY slabs.  I do this for raw books I want to display but have either not yet sent in to be graded or do not intend to send in for grading.

Oh, one more thing... there is an arched doorway leading from my kitchen into the comic room that allows ambient sunlight to bounce in from the north side of the house... I bought a 99% UV curtain (not blackout, but "sunsafe") that allows light into the room and used a tension shower rod to hold it up in the archway.

I am entirely with you that CGC should offer UV protection in their slabs.  WATA does that for video games and I love their product for it.  I do not need to purchase any additional protection when I get a game graded with them.  The very second that any comic grading service includes UV protection in their slabs, they will be the only service I go with. In my opinion, custom labels with characters on them are just cheap gimmicks.  Include UV protection instead.  Make the actual product better!

Edited July 11, 2021 by ronnieramone
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[shadroch]

I'd guess that 99% of slabs are kept in boxes so adding UV protection would just be an unneeded expense. 

[ronnieramone]

1 hour ago, shadroch said:

I'd guess that 99% of slabs are kept in boxes so adding UV protection would just be an unneeded expense. 

Take a look at Youtube and see all the videos of people with walls full of slabbed books on display.  Go to a convention and check out all of the slabbed books on display for sale at dealer booths.  Are those convention halls lit with LEDs or UV-producing fluorescent lights?

I think your guess about percentages kept in boxes is probably wrong.   I think there are many, many people who would appreciate an option to offer UV protection built into the slabs.

Investors and speculators may be content to hide their books in vaults, but many collectors (far more than 1%) would prefer to display their treasures and immerse themselves in their collection, if they felt it was reasonably safe to do so.

[shadroch]

No one said only 1% of collectors want to display their books, but even the ones who wish to  only display a fraction of their collections, hence the 99% of books are in boxes.

MCS, alone, has 27,000 plus slabs. I know a number of people with over 1,000 slabs. I stand by my statement that 99% of slabs are stored in boxes or other methods that uv coating would do nothing for. 

Until now, any changes in the slabs have been mostly cosmetic. Changing to an UV resistant slab would make older slabs obsolete and worth less. Why would a company off it's customers by doing something a small minority would take advantage of.