Economy Tier Turnaround Rates 11 11

[joeypost]

Finally had a chance to review the books I sent in 8/12/2021.

Out of 8 books 5 were on the money. 1 came back higher than I thought. 

2 came back .2 lower than expected. I believe one was dinged for distributor ink on the top edge of the book that ate some of the original color off. 

The second book, a Sub-Mariner 52 has no flaws and came back a 9.6. I went over it three times looking for anything external, but I couldn't find anything. 

[musicmeta]

My received date is 2/9/22 so looks like I have several more months before moving on from SFG.  
Next batch I send in, I'll just acknowledge CGC as just a long term storage facility and at some point after a very long time, you get your books back in some sort of plastic case with like a number on it on a nice pretty label.  
I guess that's what they mean by "long term storage".  They decide to send your books back to you in a plastic case to "store" them in.  ...hmmm.  Interesting. 

[joeypost]

On 7/2/2022 at 9:53 PM, joeypost said:

Finally had a chance to review the books I sent in 8/12/2021.

Out of 8 books 5 were on the money. 1 came back higher than I thought. 

2 came back .2 lower than expected. I believe one was dinged for distributor ink on the top edge of the book that ate some of the original color off. 

The second book, a Sub-Mariner 52 has no flaws and came back a 9.6. I went over it three times looking for anything external, but I couldn't find anything. 

Here are the notes on a 9.4 book that I cannot find anything wrong with, after looking it over a third time. 

light creasing to cover
light finger bends on cover
light spine stress lines to cover

[zzutak]

The ubiquitous "finger bends" making one of its numerous recent appearances.    On one of Joe's books?    Just spitballin' here, but I'd say there's a 99.999% chance these occurred after the book had been delivered to CGC. 

[telerites]

On 7/3/2022 at 2:12 PM, zzutak said:

The ubiquitous "finger bends" making one of its numerous recent appearances.    On one of Joe's books?    Just spitballin' here, but I'd say there's a 99.999% chance these occurred after the book had been delivered to CGC. 

Hey Jay.  

I am surprised this hasn't been seen before or maybe now that grader's notes are more accessible, we see it now.  As far behind as CGC is and as many books as they handle with I am assuming some modest turnover in graders - handling with care during grading may take a backseat to quantity.  Are books still seen by three separate graders?  And I assume the unpacking process means more hands touch books?

Not being accusatory but realistically, I can certainly see this happening and if there was damage after delivery to CGC, finger bends seems he most likely to happen.  

[zzutak]

Jeff!    Here's the evolution of the CGC guarantee (as stated by CGC):

Jun 2000: "CGC guarantees one pre-grader and two senior graders will review every comic book submitted for grading."
Jan 2022: "[CGC guarantees] the collectible has been inspected by at least two (2) professionals."

Is there a difference between a "grader" and a "professional"?  Is there a difference between "review" and "inspect"?  Are today's two "professionals" each assigning a numerical grade to the comic?  Or is one of them only counting pages (checking for completeness), performing a restoration check, or responsible for some other task (like Quality Control) that does not involve assigning a numerical grade to the comic?    I still remember the early days, when you could learn the the three grades that had been assigned to a book via a quick phone inquiry. 

Rapid growth may be good for a company's bottom line.  However, quality and/or consistency often suffers as a result of:

• The addition of inexperienced personnel.  Many different CGC staff (from receiving to encapsulation/shipping) will handle a single book.  I seriously doubt that every one of those employees have significant pre-CGC experience handling valuable ephemera (paper collectibles).
• Inadequate employee training.  Step #1: How to properly handle a comic book.  Not trivial!
• Inadequate employee supervision and feedback.
• Inadequate employee accountability.  Is the chain of custody known for each and every book?  Are employees terminated for continually making the same mistakes?
• Little or no "emotional" investment in the company.  In Borock's days, the CGC staff was relatively small -- all team players who had a real desire to see the company succeed.  Today, I suspect a number of the folks who actually handle our books think of their association with CGC as "just another job."

I have no inside knowledge of CGC, so this is all speculation on my part.  However, I have witnessed several rapid growth situations in my lifetime.  I don't think we'd be seeing the issues we see reported/shared on the Boards every single day if the things I've mentioned above are not each contributing factors. 

[joeypost]

On 7/3/2022 at 5:15 PM, zzutak said:

Jeff!    Here's the evolution of the CGC guarantee (as stated by CGC):

Jun 2000: "CGC guarantees one pre-grader and two senior graders will review every comic book submitted for grading."
Jan 2022: "[CGC guarantees] the collectible has been inspected by at least two (2) professionals."

Is there a difference between a "grader" and a "professional"?  Is there a difference between "review" and "inspect"?  Are today's two "professionals" each assigning a numerical grade to the comic?  Or is one of them only counting pages (checking for completeness), performing a restoration check, or responsible for some other task (like Quality Control) that does not involve assigning a numerical grade to the comic?    I still remember the early days, when you could learn the the three grades that had been assigned to a book via a quick phone inquiry. 

Rapid growth may be good for a company's bottom line.  However, quality and/or consistency often suffers as a result of:

• The addition of inexperienced personnel.  Many different CGC staff (from receiving to encapsulation/shipping) will handle a single book.  I seriously doubt that every one of those employees have significant pre-CGC experience handling valuable ephemera (paper collectibles).
• Inadequate employee training.  Step #1: How to properly handle a comic book.  Not trivial!
• Inadequate employee supervision and feedback.
• Inadequate employee accountability.  Is the chain of custody known for each and every book?  Are employees terminated for continually making the same mistakes?
• Little or no "emotional" investment in the company.  In Borock's days, the CGC staff was relatively small -- all team players who had a real desire to see the company succeed.  Today, I suspect a number of the folks who actually handle our books think of their association with CGC as "just another job."

I have no inside knowledge of CGC, so this is all speculation on my part.  However, I have witnessed several rapid growth situations in my lifetime.  I don't think we'd be seeing the issues we see reported/shared on the Boards every single day if the things I've mentioned above are not each contributing factors. 

I don’t think you are too far off. 

[Axe Elf]

On 7/3/2022 at 4:15 PM, zzutak said:

Is there a difference between a "grader" and a "professional"?

I'm a grader (see my participation in the spring grading contest as evidence).

If I got paid for it, I'd be a professional.

[telerites]

On 7/3/2022 at 4:15 PM, zzutak said:

I still remember the early days, when you could learn the the three grades that had been assigned to a book via a quick phone inquiry. 

Geez, I had forgotten that.  

[Gaard]

On 7/3/2022 at 2:11 PM, joeypost said:

Here are the notes on a 9.4 book that I cannot find anything wrong with, after looking it over a third time. 

light creasing to cover
light finger bends on cover
light spine stress lines to cover

The dreaded Phantom Flaws rear their ugly head again!

 

On 7/3/2022 at 5:15 PM, zzutak said:

Is there a difference between a "grader" and a "professional"?  Is there a difference between "review" and "inspect"? 

The employee who cleans CGC's toilets is a 'professional'. If he glanced at a comic to make sure it wasn't torn in half, he 'inspected' it.

[Iceman399]

Aug 12 shipped Friday.

[gadzukes]

USPS left sticker on my door.  3 registered boxes for me to pick up.

I knew that 1 was a small modern submission, and the other 2 were my Slow Economies FINALLY getting back to me from over a year ago.

I just went to the PO.  They had the modern & 1 of the Slow Economies, but they can't find my 25 book submission.

OK.... this shipping mishap is not CGC's fault, but when you wait over a year and then the delivery gets screwed up!!!!! 

Fingers crossed they just misplaced it.

 

Edited July 7, 2022 by gadzukes

[jokiing]

On 7/7/2022 at 12:56 PM, gadzukes said:

USPS left sticker on my door.  3 registered boxes for me to pick up.

I knew that 1 was a small modern submission, and the other 2 were my Slow Economies FINALLY getting back to me from over a year ago.

I just went to the PO.  They had the modern & 1 of the Slow Economies, but they can't find my 25 book submission.

OK.... this shipping mishap is not CGC's fault, but when you wait over a year and then the delivery gets screwed up!!!!! 

Fingers crossed they just misplaced it.

 

I hate when that happens. Did they look in the vault at the PO? I've had packages end up there because they were either Registered or required a signature.... or they attempt to redeliver which pisses me off because they never deliver packages to my house because it's a 1/10 mile from my mailbox.

[littledoom]

On 6/2/2022 at 2:46 PM, eastriver400 said:

Can anyone who received an Economy ST recently post when it was submitted to CGC?

 

Thanks 

Sent in 2 books at Wondercon April 1st weekend and got them back July 1st weekend. So only 3 months!  

[gadzukes]

On 7/7/2022 at 5:47 PM, jokiing said:

I hate when that happens. Did they look in the vault at the PO? I've had packages end up there because they were either Registered or required a signature.... or they attempt to redeliver which pisses me off because they never deliver packages to my house because it's a 1/10 mile from my mailbox.

Like I said.... all 3 registered boxes were together.  Yes, I always tell them to look in the vault (and it seems like some of them don't know anything about the vault).

She took my phone number down and gave me a call right before they closed to say they had found the box (sitting on a desk in the back).  She said it was a substitute carrier who screwed it up (it always is).  I was able to go down and nab the box right as they were closing.

Phew.... crisis averted.

[ADAMANTIUM]

On 7/7/2022 at 5:37 PM, gadzukes said:

Like I said.... all 3 registered boxes were together.  Yes, I always tell them to look in the vault (and it seems like some of them don't know anything about the vault).

She took my phone number down and gave me a call right before they closed to say they had found the box (sitting on a desk in the back).  She said it was a substitute carrier who screwed it up (it always is).  I was able to go down and nab the box right as they were closing.

Phew.... crisis averted.

Pics pics pics! Of slabs slabs slabs!

Or at least...... whew congrats and thank God

 

[Beastfeast]

On 7/7/2022 at 6:25 PM, littledoom said:

Sent in 2 books at Wondercon April 1st weekend and got them back July 1st weekend. So only 3 months!  

Nevermind, I'm dumb.  

Edited July 8, 2022 by Beastfeast

[gadzukes]

OK..... Here's a Silver lining to these Slow Economy comics taking so long.

This Tec 400 was selling for around $400 when I submitted.  The last one that sold went for $750.

CGC helped me out by taking so long! 

[THE_BEYONDER]

On 7/8/2022 at 11:51 AM, gadzukes said:

OK..... Here's a Silver lining to these Slow Economy comics taking so long.

This Tec 400 was selling for around $400 when I submitted.  The last one that sold went for $750.

CGC helped me out by taking so long! 

[Wall-Crawler]

Is economy fast track "on time"?