How does CGC determine which newsstand editions to recognize? 0

[DanPugsley]

Recently submitted several newsstand Spawn and Angela comics - submitted as newsstand where available and created own line submission where not.

Upon being checked in, they did not recognize all the editions as newsstand despite my line entry creation and the UPC being plainly visible on the cover.

 

How does CGC choose which books to recognize as newsstand editions vs ignoring such?

[revat]

its seemingly not consistent.  There's an ASK CGC section, I'd suggest asking them there and getting the official answer.

[theCapraAegagrus]

They assign each comic book a number, write those numbers on small pieces of paper, and play darts with them.

[Lazyboy]

On 6/7/2022 at 12:10 PM, theCapraAegagrus said:

They assign each comic book a number, write those numbers on small pieces of paper, and play darts with them.

That's way too much work. They just flip a coin. Or they might as well, given how ridiculously arbitrarily they choose to use proper classifications.

On 6/7/2022 at 10:45 AM, DanPugsley said:

How does CGC choose which books to recognize as newsstand editions vs ignoring such?

In theory, they separate the editions when there is a difference beyond the bar code (which is absurd, but whatever). In practice... what, do you think they're gonna be more consistent on this than they are on anything else?

[Topnotchman]

Spawn 9 newsstand is absent of the centerfold poster, so it’s been designated years ago because it has different content, missing four pages.  Otherwise just the newsstand version on the cover doesn’t get the notation.   Everything subject to change 

[Qalyar]

In principle, they notate newsstand printings if something other than the bar code box is different between the NS and DM printings. In principle.

There have been NS books that received separate entries because of: differing page counts, differing paper quality (and/or cover paper stock), cover price, and so on. But I'm fairly sure that there are also several books with distinguishable features (especially different advertisements) where they have not deemed the differences sufficiently significant.

If you're trying to get an NS notation on a book where they aren't already breaking them out, you probably want to make your case in Ask CGC, explaining the distinguishing feature (and then 50/50 whether they allow the breakout anyway).

[Qalyar]

On 6/13/2022 at 5:35 PM, The Bomber said:

If the UPC is plainly visible why do you need it noted on the label? 

My opinion has always been "because there is something that makes the book different".

There are lots of things publishers and printers do that make some books different from others. Variant covers, newsstand editions, alternative-distribution editions (like Whitmans or DC Universe books), first-party foreign market printings (CPVs / UK / AUS), or miscellaneous stuff like MJ inserts. Sometimes the differences are really minor. There's at least one book ... which one is escaping me at the moment ... that exists with two different back-cover advertisements on otherwise identical books. Spawn has a run of issues where they had two different printers producing newsstand copies; the resulting books both have a UPC but different UPC numbers. And so forth.

Here's the thing. Maybe you don't care about newsstand editions, but you might still have an opinion about variant covers, or you want to avoid reprints. CGC usually labels books with different covers individually (although there are exceptions there, too), and at least tries to ensure that all subsequent printings are clearly identified. And that's all fine. People should collect whatever and however they want. But that's exactly why I think CGC should break out distinguishable books whenever possible. You don't want to chase the direct market / newsstand divide, but having them labeled separately doesn't change anything for you. But if I do want to dig deep into all the variations -- not just the "variants" in the cover sense -- CGC doesn't really do a great job of supporting me there. Sure, I can get newsstand copies slabbed just like direct editions, but they aren't listed as different books for census purposes (and, yes, I know all about the problems inherent in the census). And they aren't distinct books for fun stuff like the Registry, if you're into that.

I know, this isn't a new fight, and it doesn't seem like one that's likely to change soon. Although if CGC ever clears the backlog and improves their TAT, they could probably make a big pile of money offering to break out and relabel NS books. Offer it as a service that's cheaper than normal grading but not free, and I bet they'd get to print (more) money. I know I have books that would go in... I absolutely have books on my collection shelves where I own both DM and NS copies in CGC slabs; it's just sort of a shame that they don't "count" as anything different.

 

[Stronguy]

On 6/7/2022 at 8:47 PM, Topnotchman said:

Spawn 9 newsstand is absent of the centerfold poster, so it’s been designated years ago because it has different content, missing four pages.  Otherwise just the newsstand version on the cover doesn’t get the notation.   Everything subject to change 

Exactly.  They note it when the newsstand differs in content or construction from the direct edition.
Spawn #4 newsstand does not have the Image 0 coupon.
Spawn #100 newsstand is printed on pulp pages and direct is on slick pages.

[Get Marwood & I]

If you fast forward to the 1:28:42 mark, Matt tells the 'Foreigns' group of CGC's plans for Newsstands: