Slabbing of Low-Grade, Non-Key Comic Books 0

[jimbo_7071]

On eBay, I often see very low grade copies of comic books that would barely be collectible in high grade. I was wondering who is slabbing these books and why they're doing it.

[Yorick]

On 7/6/2023 at 10:20 AM, jimbo_7071 said:

I was wondering who is slabbing these books and why they're doing it.

I was doing this with St John books.  They weren't worth as much as they are now (generally), but I wanted to show off some sets in the registry.

On 7/6/2023 at 10:20 AM, jimbo_7071 said:

barely be collectible in high grade

This other part may not pertain to the St John's, but "low-grade, non-key" applies to nearly every romance book I own.  I suppose a "key" romance book would be one with a desirable cover image.  There were not many reoccurring characters that would make for a "first appearance" issue.

[Beastfeast]

New collectors dipping their toes in slabbing, people who are very bad at grading, personal books that they don’t want anymore, and people who got caught up in the wildness that was 2020-2022. 
 

Edited July 6, 2023 by Beastfeast

[topofthetotem]

Some books could be test books to see how CGC is treating certain defects. 

I recently slabbed this because it’s my all time favourite cover.

Edited July 6, 2023 by topofthetotem

[ADAMANTIUM]

No press option?

For a book that is in the dollar bin, making it a new $26 all in slab sometimes seems viable. I don't pay for pressing though and it shows.

No niche within the niche of cgc slabs option?

I'll get newsstands or price variants from other countries slabbed, grade doesn't matter as much to me for those, idk why. 

 

[lizards2]

I'm guessing that slabbing books follows Sturgeon's Law, like everything else. At least 90% of stuff that is slabbed is carp.

 

[lizards2]

On 7/6/2023 at 10:44 AM, ADAMANTIUM said:

No press option?

For a book that is in the dollar bin, making it a new $26 all in slab sometimes seems viable. I don't pay for pressing though and it shows.

No niche within the niche of cgc slabs option?

I'll get newsstands or price variants from other countries slabbed, grade doesn't matter as much to me for those, idk why. 

 

I assisted a friend for a couple days recently who presses books, and I was blown away by the carp people send in for pressing. It definitely followed Sturgeon's Law to some degree, but I would estimate the carp factor was higher than 90%.  

I have never gotten any books pressed, but if I did, it would be a select few, and hard to find books where the expense of pressing in relation to the value increase would be warranted.

[Yorick]

On 7/6/2023 at 10:44 AM, ADAMANTIUM said:

from other countries slabbed

I plan on doing this soon...  but most of my "foreign" comics have interiors I want to continue to be able to flip through.

[Tec-Tac-Toe]

I slab carp and also walleye.

[jimbo_7071]

On 7/6/2023 at 1:39 PM, topofthetotem said:

Some books could be test books to see how CGC is treating certain defects. 

I recently slabbed this because it’s my all time favourite cover.

I have a copy of that one myself!

Even in 2.0 it has to be worth quite a bit more than some of the books on eBay. I'm so used to seeing dollar-bin books on eBay—slabbed and priced at $50, $100, and up—that I barely notice any more.

[darkstar]

Go browse the This Week Back From CGC thread. People love to slab garbage. 

[topofthetotem]

On 7/6/2023 at 2:12 PM, jimbo_7071 said:

I have a copy of that one myself!

Even in 2.0 it has to be worth quite a bit more than some of the books on eBay. I'm so used to seeing dollar-bin books on eBay—slabbed and priced at $50, $100, and up—that I barely notice any more.

Oh that’s a beauty! Congrats on that. 
I get the flea bay offerings critique. Lots of fodder with a few gems mixed in.

[Gonzimodo]

I don't understand why people slab even high-grade non-"key" stuff, but that seems to be CGC's bread and butter. 

I always just assumed that most of the low-grade stuff must have sentimental value to the person for one reason or another.  I was considering slabbing my GI Joe #7 since I consider it the first comic that started my collection, even though it's... considerably low-grade at this point.  Then I came to my senses and just stuck it in a Mylar to display in my toy room with all my GI Joe stuff.

And yes, Mylar is really overkill for this beaten dog of a book, but it's MY beaten dog of a book, darn it! 

[ttfitz]

On 7/6/2023 at 4:48 PM, Gonzimodo said:

And yes, Mylar is really overkill for this beaten dog of a book, but it's MY beaten dog of a book, darn it! 

The best part of a person's collection, IMO.

[aabruzzese]

I noticed that slabbed books are posted on Ebay at some wild price range gaps, some Raw books being sold for more than a Slabbed 9.2 or a 9.4 selling for less than a 9.0 of the very same book. 

I am thinking of slabbing some key issues of my Perer Parker Spectacular Spider-Man series but with an eye on long term retention. Maybe 3 to 5 years at least.