I Paid $1,200 for a 9.6 in a 9.8 Slab =( 3 3

[PovertyRow]

On 7/23/2021 at 2:28 PM, Drake Dragoon said:

It's basically a $400 comic that's been slabbed as a 9.8. And as a serious collector, I feel like I just got ripped off BIG TIME!

...

And if having a spine crease can still pass as a 9.8. then I have a LOT more un-slabbed 9.8's in my collection than I thought.

 

Saying "spine crease" means nothing unless you define the crease, and I will not explain that further. Since you are trying to sound like an authority, I assume you understand that point.

I would definitely encourage you to submit all of those 9.8 candidates right away!

But as things stand now you sound like a drive by shooter. 

[Jeffro.]

You gotta love these one post wonders with their drive-by compalints.  

[revat]

Yo if you call yourself a 'serious collector' and can buy at $1200 comic without looking carefully at the pics and aren't thrown off by a "no return policy"...its gonna be tough to garner sympathy.  

Try hard to return it.

[ImageMask]

Hummm.  And it's only Monday. 

[James J Johnson]

On 7/28/2021 at 12:36 PM, greggy said:

Damn young kids

That's what she said.  

[comicdiablo]

On 7/28/2021 at 11:55 AM, Funnybooks said:

If this is indeed the copy you purchased, I can see the “defects” along the spine to which you refer. They “seem” non color breaking and by definition, a 9.8 can display up to 2 very minor imperfections, which this copy appears to display. The picture quality is quite good. 

I have that same issue of TMNT (my only early TMNT comic that is graded) in CGC 9.4, and it has about twice as many non-color-breaking tiny indentations on the spine; but it still overall looks nice (as a NM comic should). I occasionally strongly disagree with a grade assigned by CGC in the 9-point range, but there's much variation even among 9.8 copies in terms of their imperfections; and I agree that this one does appear to be a 9.8 despite the minor spine flaws.

Edited August 6, 2021 by comicdiablo

[Dr. A]

For whatever my 2 cents is worth, one can see the tick in the photo. However, it is actually irrelevant because a third party certified the comic and deemed it what it is--and that is what the buyer is paying for: the graded comic they want certified by CGC--not certified by the seller.

 

 

Edited August 9, 2021 by Dr. A

[MAR1979]

Sorry this happened to you, similar happened to me twice before I completely changed my purchasing paradigm.

A saying that is now uttered to the point of cliche "Buy the Comic, not the Label"  is something for last 10 years I try to apply to all my purchases. Even if it means many times letting books elude me if I'm not 100% confident they are in the condition I want.  I may be wrong but I believe most speculators and the "social media #1 and 1st app crowd" simply buy the label?

 

Edited February 20, 2022 by MAR1979

[Drake Dragoon]

But what about this '9.8' folks??? Look at the pics on this eBay listing LOL!

Who TF graded this thing!?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/165208802517?hash=item26773644d5:g:OCQAAOSwGeFhpWtX

 

[MAR1979]

On 2/19/2022 at 8:48 PM, Drake Dragoon said:

But what about this '9.8' folks??? Look at the pics on this eBay listing LOL!

Who TF graded this thing!?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/165208802517?hash=item26773644d5:g:OCQAAOSwGeFhpWtX

 

Image of some dude with a cell phone on both front and back covers, I don't recall seeing that on any other copies of the book. Is it a rare Variant or a Counterfeit?

P.S. its called humor people

 

Edited February 20, 2022 by MAR1979

[MAR1979]

On 2/19/2022 at 11:02 PM, AhsokaTano Jedi Apprentice said:

 I've really enjoyed reading all your comments here....It's very eye-opening.....I'll have to say to me it seems that there is a fair amount of comics these days that get a 9.8 that sometimes would have received a 9.6 not that long ago. 

I have books in 1st and 2nd gen CGC slabs that I feel are 9.6's at best.  I have books graded in 2021 I'm positive should have been 9.8's and others I only expected 9.6 and received 9.8s

Not defending CGC in this post as I do feel standards are lower now for 9.8's based on my personal grading. Yet others think it's too strict now. I feel what changes over time is how CGC penalizes certain defects. Since we are not privy to the internal working it seems arbitrary.  Currently color breaking seems to be more important than sharpness and spine ticks for example. At one time imperfect corners were harshly treated now they seem ok-ish. All depends on what the hot defect of the moment is to CGC and the graders. IMHO grading standards should be immutable but they are not.

Bottom line when purchasing, the cliched "buy the book, not the label" applies. When submitting results can at times be puzzling and have been in the 21 years I've been sending stuff in.

P.S. What concerns me most with CGC, outside of absurd TAT's due to tiny staff, is careless Handling and lack of QC.  Wreaks of low rent Corporate penny pinching to me.

 

Edited February 20, 2022 by MAR1979

[Drake Dragoon]

On 2/19/2022 at 7:49 PM, MAR1979 said:

Image of some dude with a cell phone on both front and back covers, I don't recall seeing that on any other copies of the book. Is it a rare Variant or a Counterfeit?

P.S. its called humor people

 

It's the 5th print (1988) of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 and it had a very low print run. A 9.8 of the 5th print is worth $1,500 now. But the comic in that 9.8 slab is no better than copies I sell for $50-$100 (raw) - the ones that aren't worth slabbing.

Notice that comic has a BAD creased corner on the upper back-spine, several spine ticks/creases, a smashed corner on the upper front-spine, all other corners are blunted/worn, and the guy in the reflection looks like a dweeb =P

8.5-9.0 at best imo.

Maybe now is a good time to send in all my damaged books???

[MAR1979]

On 2/19/2022 at 10:49 PM, MAR1979 said:

Image of some dude with a cell phone on both front and back covers, I don't recall seeing that on any other copies of the book. Is it a rare Variant or a Counterfeit?

P.S. its called humor people

 

On 2/20/2022 at 2:42 AM, Drake Dragoon said:

It's the 5th print (1988) of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 and it had a very low print run. A 9.8 of the 5th print is worth $1,500 now. But the comic in that 9.8 slab is no better than copies I sell for $50-$100 (raw) - the ones that aren't worth slabbing.

Notice that comic has a BAD creased corner on the upper back-spine, several spine ticks/creases, a smashed corner on the upper front-spine, all other corners are blunted/worn, and the guy in the reflection looks like a dweeb =P

8.5-9.0 at best imo.

Maybe now is a good time to send in all my damaged books???

 

Are you saying all copies have an image of some dude holding a cell phone

Yeah it's not a 9.8, 'cept it is.  It does suck!  Mistakes happen when humans are involved in any process.

Edited February 20, 2022 by MAR1979

[Roger66]

My lousy 2 cents:  I now don't generally collect-buy comics after 1974 as a rule.  So when I see complaints about these newer books being really a 9.6 vs a 9.8 in addition to folks willing to pay a significant sum more for a book because it happens to have less spine ticks then another very similar copy - I just role my eyes . This hobby has become rotten if not delusional the closer you get to modern and variant books so far as the desire to own and pay large chunks of money for books that are relatively new, not scarce and often have 1000s in high grade is a huge sad expensive joke that no one who buys these books now gets but one day will when this house of cards or castle of sand collapses . To sustain this type of artificial market you need a large group of gullible individuals or followers all willing to disconnect from the reality that they just paid perhaps $1,000 for a really-truly insignificant if not common thing (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulip_mania) instead of paying their credit card debt down or rent or saving the money for a rainy day - and these irrational self-indulgent values they place on these types of comics are so easily manipulated by some semi-shrewd collectors on top - that it it like stealing candy from a baby when someone pays said prices - thus I say welcome to the rabbit-hole of this hobby.  

“A committee is the only known form of life with a hundred bellies and no brain.”
― Robert A. Heinlein

Edited February 20, 2022 by Roger66

[Gaard]

It's A CGC 9.8, that's a fact. It's not a Drake Dragoon 9.8, also a fact.

[Paul © ® ⚽️💙™]

This Dragoon guy is obviously a double agent for the Dark Lord.  

Seriously though, someone mentioned Buy the book not the label....if you stick to this you shouldn't go far wrong.

It's amazing to think people actually chase labels. If they do they must have more money than sense or be a complete buffoon.....or both.  

[Drake Dragoon]

On 2/20/2022 at 9:24 AM, Gaard said:

It's A CGC 9.8, that's a fact. It's not a Drake Dragoon 9.8, also a fact.

Maybe Drake Dragoon has a keener eye than CGC

[rjpb]

On 2/20/2022 at 8:23 AM, Roger66 said:

My lousy 2 cents:  I now don't generally collect-buy comics after 1974 as a rule.  So when I see complaints about these newer books being really a 9.6 vs a 9.8 in addition to folks willing to pay a significant sum more for a book because it happens to have less spine ticks then another very similar copy - I just role my eyes . This hobby has become rotten if not delusional the closer you get to modern and variant books so far as the desire to own and pay large chunks of money for books that are relatively new, not scarce and often have 1000s in high grade is a huge sad expensive joke that no one who buys these books now gets but one day will when this house of cards or castle of sand collapses . To sustain this type of artificial market you need a large group of gullible individuals or followers all willing to disconnect from the reality that they just paid perhaps $1,000 for a really-truly insignificant if not common thing (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulip_mania) instead of paying their credit card debt down or rent or saving the money for a rainy day - and these irrational self-indulgent values they place on these types of comics are so easily manipulated by some semi-shrewd collectors on top - that it it like stealing candy from a baby when someone pays said prices - thus I say welcome to the rabbit-hole of this hobby.  

“A committee is the only known form of life with a hundred bellies and no brain.”
― Robert A. Heinlein

Yeah, I can see paying some sort of premium for a high grade slabbed over a raw, as it may make it more liquid, and even if the grade is subjective, most of the time a CGC 9.8 is going to be a little nicer than the average "NM" raw, and it's already been slabbed (so one won't have to wait months to get it back), and there is a market for slabbed books over raw. So if someone pays $300 for a 9.8 modern when they could pick up a raw "NM" for $100 or so, I don't find that completely crazy (though not something I would do), but when they pay $1000 for something they could buy in raw NM for $100, it seems like a lot of extra money for a piece of plastic and a label, especially when even the $100 price is due to temporary excitement over a hot variant, that probably has less than a 50% chance of sustaining value over the next couple of years.

[JollyComics]

On 2/20/2022 at 3:32 PM, Drake Dragoon said:

Maybe Drake Dragoon has a keener eye than CGC

Let's rephrase it.

We asked you to provide the pictures 7 months and 17 days ago.

Maybe Drake Dragoon needs speculates.

[Drake Dragoon]

On 2/20/2022 at 3:00 PM, JollyComics said:

Let's rephrase it.

We asked you to provide the pictures 7 months and 17 days ago.

Maybe Drake Dragoon needs speculates.

Ahh I read that people found the listing that contained the CGC number back then, which ofc is not listed on eBay anymore.

I've since learned that CGC isn't very consistent these days and I've seen way worse examples than mine that got a CGC 9.8 slab - so it does happen often.

As others have stated in this thread: just because it's CGC 9.8 doesn't actually mean it's a worthy copy, and I should still inspect the comic inside before I buy the slab. I shouldn't have to do that, which is why I pay for comics that have already been professionally graded. But apparently I do. 

L@@k at this '9.8' slab that I mentioned earlier

Lessons learned. TY Thread People!