Marvel Spotlight Five Nightmare 2 2

[Bill Robinson]

This is a bit of a long story, so strap in. I'm going to try and only give facts, here, not supposition, but there are some real missing pieces to the story where supposition is all I have.

 

I've been pressing now for almost five years. I decided to "go pro" and hang out a shingle with my local comic shop, offering press and submission services to their customers.

 

My first customer from the LCS wants me to press and submit his Marvel Spotlight 5, the first appearance of Johnny Blaze Ghost Rider and possibly a very high grade copy. When I see it, I tell him it's got a shot at 9.0, which for a book with an all black border like that and a book fifty years old is no small thing.

I press it and it looks great. Easily an 8.5 and a shot at 9.0. We submit it under the walkthrough tier and overpay a little for the service based on the condition of the book.

CGC Grades it at 8.5 and returns it.

 

When it arrives in my hands, the bottom spine corner of the slab is completely broken. There is no damage to the shipping box whatsoever. Supposition time, but it SEEMS like because there is no damage to the box, someone at CGC dropped or was careless with it enough to break the slab, THEN SHIPPED IT ANYWAY.

 

When I call to find out how they are going to handle the issue, they don't ask for pictures, they just tell me to submit via the Mechanical Error tier. When I point out that we paid $300 to get the book graded and "walked through" the agent talks to a peer or manager and comes back on the line to tell me to not only put ME on the outside of the box in sharpie, but WK (for walkthrough) as well. She tells me to email her directly with tracking so she can make sure the book is handled under walkthrough.

I check the book for obvious damage from the slab break and there isn't any. The book looks great.

We resubmit.

 

Five business days after they have marked it as received it still says "scheduled for grading." When I call to find out why it's not being processed, I'm told by another agent that it's an ME submission and will be handled as such. When I give the name of the initial agent, I'm told she responds, "I would never tell a customer that I would help with walkthrough service on a mechanical error." So, She Lied.

 

Two more full weeks of business days pass and now the book is out for delivery. Twice, FedEx says they weren't able to deliver because nobody was home. We were here, the guy didn't ring either doorbell and certainly didn't knock very loudly. The third day, I clear my schedule to remain where I can keep an eye out for him and, of course, they don't even come to the door. Today, he came up, rang the bell twice and walked off, leaving the package without the required signature. Super.

When I open the book, thankfully, the grade of an 8.5 is still there, HOWEVER . . . that now looks like a gift grade. There are numerous dings and reading stress on the top edge of the book and numerous dings down the spine. This isn't reversion, those dings on the top were never there before and a few on the spine were not either.

 

What to do, dear reader? Do we call CGC, raise hell and see if they would consider pressing and re-holdering on their dime? Do I crack it, fix the press-able issues and *GULP* resbmit to CGC? Fix and submit CBCS and accept the 10% loss in value? Do we just crack it, fix it and leave it raw? Do we leave it as is and wash our hands of the whole thing?

I'm posting some pics of comparisons between post-press and the re-holder. I'll also post a pic of the cracked slab for nightmare fuel.

[theCapraAegagrus]

@CGC Mike, this is a total disaster.

[theCapraAegagrus]

On 1/18/2023 at 2:19 PM, Bill Robinson said:

What to do, dear reader? Do we call CGC, raise hell and see if they would consider pressing and re-holdering on their dime? Do I crack it, fix the press-able issues and *GULP* resbmit to CGC? Fix and submit CBCS and accept the 10% loss in value? Do we just crack it, fix it and leave it raw? Do we leave it as is and wash our hands of the whole thing?

I'm posting some pics of comparisons between post-press and the re-holder. I'll also post a pic of the cracked slab for nightmare fuel.

It seems like you're fully-confident in your own pressing abilities, so I wouldn't even consider CCS if I was you. I'm not sure what to say regarding CGC, CBCS, or keeping it raw. Maybe Mike will be able to better assist you.

[PJSandwich]

You have before pics(also take pics of the box that it arrived in originally).  You declared a value. Let insurance handle the rest (buy back).  It looks like color breaks on the spine.  Something a press will never fix.  Your 8.5 is a 7.5 now. Sending back re-slab? Folks like us will just say IMPOSSIBLE! You have a 7.0~7.5 in an 8.5 holder?  You go to sell or hang on your wall, which will just make you through up, will never = its potential.  QQ, we only see the outside.  A shock like that, did the interior get damaged?

[MAR1979]

Sadly this is common with CGC since purchased by Blackstone. Firms like that will not spend a single dime on q/c and firmly demand speed speed spend from their employees. If business, in this case CGC,  takes a hit to the point it starts to affect some Exec's potential bonus they simply sell off the business unit (CGC)

 

Edited January 19, 2023 by MAR1979

[Sauce Dog]

Yup, that's a flaming mess

[KCOComics]

What a disaster. 

And so unfortunate for this to happen to a book that's so hard to find in high grade. 

[CGC Mike]

@Bill Robinson If you choose to contact CGC and would like my assistance, send me a PM and I would be glad to help.

Mike

[Bill Robinson]

On 1/18/2023 at 5:20 PM, PJSandwich said:

You have before pics(also take pics of the box that it arrived in originally).  You declared a value. Let insurance handle the rest (buy back).  It looks like color breaks on the spine.  Something a press will never fix.  Your 8.5 is a 7.5 now. Sending back re-slab? Folks like us will just say IMPOSSIBLE! You have a 7.0~7.5 in an 8.5 holder?  You go to sell or hang on your wall, which will just make you through up, will never = its potential.  QQ, we only see the outside.  A shock like that, did the interior get damaged?

None of the new damage breaks color to my eye. It all looks press-able. The interior didn't get damaged that I can see. It's just a ton of dings where there were none. It's an 8.5 that looks like a 7.5 instead of an 8.5 that looks like a 9.0. That difference - (buyers judging the book not the grade), could be worth a couple thousand dollars. 

[comicginger1789]

I’m just going to ask because it was the  first thing I noticed but….is it the same book? What caught my eye was the amount of white you can see along the spine, where the back cover oh so slightly can be seen on a frontal view. In some of your original pics it looks like it’s pretty nonexistent….but this could just be the angle. I’m just asking is all because that error has happened and, for the life of me, I don’t get how removing a slabbed book and re slabbing it could result in so many minor flaws. I mean I do get how it’s an extremely careless person working to do that that should be at the very least given a performance review.

[Bill Robinson]

On 1/18/2023 at 7:35 PM, comicginger1789 said:

I’m just going to ask because it was the  first thing I noticed but….is it the same book? What caught my eye was the amount of white you can see along the spine, where the back cover oh so slightly can be seen on a frontal view. In some of your original pics it looks like it’s pretty nonexistent….but this could just be the angle. I’m just asking is all because that error has happened and, for the life of me, I don’t get how removing a slabbed book and re slabbing it could result in so many minor flaws. I mean I do get how it’s an extremely careless person working to do that that should be at the very least given a performance review.

The white in the pictures of the slab is mostly reflection. There isn't a bunch of white tics on the spine now, just a bunch of dents that weren't there. It's definitely the same book. 

[Bill Robinson]

Shouts to theCapraAegagrus for bringing this to the attention of CGC Mike and shouts to Mike for taking it up the ladder. It looks like we'll get some help on this.

Thanks to the community and CGC for being willing to listen to these concerns and issues. 

[PJSandwich]

Hope it works out for you.  Curating a collection is time consuming.  This is a drag on that time and effort.  good luck.

[Bill Robinson]

And now, as Paul Harvey would say, is ... The Rest of the Story

We work with CGC Mike and Mr. Nelson, chief at CGC to get the book re-submitted for a press and re-holder.

It takes a while, and when it comes back . . . you guessed it, true believers; whoever put it in the holder "thumbed" the top edge on the back cover. See picture below, pre-submission on the right.

At this point are just shocked. How could something like this happen with the big man overseeing it. Well, he was shocked too. He apologized and offered to have it sent back again to be fixed. Now I wasn't so sure the book could get an 8.5 again with this new defect. He said he was pretty sure he could make it almost invisible.

We felt like we had no choice at this point but to try again. So off it went. 

He was good to his word; see picture below of the top edge of the back cover now in the current holder. 

HOWEVER . . . you knew that was coming, right?

There was a chunk of plastic floating between the outer shell and the mylar. Used a tiny screwdriver to get the plastic out, or at least down in the gutter. So all's well. 

You'll be glad to know that CGC was totally professional throughout and took full responsibility. 

 

 

Edited March 24, 2023 by Bill Robinson

[MattTheDuck]

Oh, man, what a crazy story.  Glad it "seems" to have worked out.

[thehumantorch]

ugh, CGC, you need to address problems in your processes.  This is just too many mistakes on one book

[Jeffro.]

On 3/31/2023 at 11:11 PM, thehumantorch said:

ugh, CGC, you need to address problems in your processes.  This is just too many mistakes on one book

This company is circling the drain. What a shame. Get your house in order CGC.