Matt1982 Posted September 28, 2023 Share Posted September 28, 2023 (edited) Have others seen grades getting a lot more harsh on ss books? I’m seeing a LOT of 9.8s go in for sigs and coming back as 9.6s. I recently sent in a big batch of 20 books for sigs. 6 of them that went in as slabbed 9.8s came back as 9.6s. Is this a thing or am I horrifically unlucky? Edited September 28, 2023 by Matt1982 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cman429 Posted September 28, 2023 Share Posted September 28, 2023 Yeah, you have your post title backwards. It’s a running joke on IG, FB Comic groups, etc that 9.6 is the new 9,8 since absolutely flawless books are coming back 9.6 for no discernible reason. Ever since CGC expanded it seems the difference between them is a coin flip now so if you’re someone obsessive about 9.8s best leave one be when you get it. Tedsaid and D2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt1982 Posted September 28, 2023 Author Share Posted September 28, 2023 Yes. Sometimes I can look at a 9.8 and know it’ll never get a 9.8 today, but it’s getting more and more common that books that really should get one don’t. A 9.8 is supposed to allow 1-2 minor handling/manufacturing defects, like a tiny spine tick that doesn’t break, and they really seem like they don’t anymore. Tedsaid and Gator Guru 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Chaz G. Posted September 28, 2023 Popular Post Share Posted September 28, 2023 On 9/28/2023 at 9:13 AM, Matt1982 said: A 9.8 is supposed to allow 1-2 minor handling/manufacturing defects, like a tiny spine tick that doesn’t break, and they really seem like they don’t anymore. Unfortunately, the current graders forget this and think of a 9.8 as a perfect book, forgetting that there are 2 grades above it. D2, waynemel, Tedsaid and 2 others 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt1982 Posted September 28, 2023 Author Share Posted September 28, 2023 It’s so unlike CGC to pass on revenue opportunities. Wouldn’t they rather grade books twice than once? It’s really going to hurt the signature program’s revenues if people stop cracking 9.8s because they’re going to drop. Chew on it Matt Nelson! D2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gator Guru Posted September 28, 2023 Share Posted September 28, 2023 On 9/28/2023 at 12:58 AM, Matt1982 said: Have others seen grades getting a lot more harsh on ss books? I’m seeing a LOT of 9.8s go in for sigs and coming back as 9.6s. I recently sent in a big batch of 20 books for sigs. 6 of them that went in as slabbed 9.8s came back as 9.6s. Is this a thing or am I horrifically unlucky? Yes its a thing. Im seeing about 50% of my slabbed 9.8s come back as 9.6. No grader notes or obvious signs of issues to knock them down. Tedsaid 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roach04 Posted September 29, 2023 Share Posted September 29, 2023 On 9/28/2023 at 4:44 AM, Cman429 said: Yeah, you have your post title backwards. It’s a running joke on IG, FB Comic groups, etc that 9.6 is the new 9,8 since absolutely flawless books are coming back 9.6 for no discernible reason. Ever since CGC expanded it seems the difference between them is a coin flip now so if you’re someone obsessive about 9.8s best leave one be when you get it. To be fair - it was always kind of a coin flip. I've lost about a dozen 9.8s down to 9.6s on Sig Series subs. So I started sending in 9.6s. None of them have dropped in grade - and I can recall at least 4 that have come back 9.8 (with no press.) I'm with you - no more existing 9.8s going in for SS - gamble is no longer worth it. Chaz G., MAR1979, RockMyAmadeus and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Remyvt Posted September 29, 2023 Share Posted September 29, 2023 I’ve had about 3/4 of my SS subs drop from 9.8 to 9.6 this year. I just started getting really into celebrity signatures and was sending 9.8 cgc slabs as a hope for a “guarantee” and had been adding a press as well for insurance but I’ve stopped with that and just send 9.6 also. I did send a 9.6 with pressing added through SWAU for Chris Evans hoping for a bump or at least keep the 9.6 but got back a 9.2 with a ton of new spine ticks. If I know I’ve got no shot for 9.8 I’ll probably just start sending clean looking raws instead. roach04, Gator Guru, maz25 and 1 other 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AbsoluteCarnage Posted September 29, 2023 Share Posted September 29, 2023 I'm insanely picky on what i send into CGC when doing this as it is a definite possibility in any scenario. Much more likely if you are buying 9.8s and just sending them in without doing major inspections on the books prior to sending them in after buying them though. There was a time when CGC was too lenient it seems and some of the blue label 9.8s were just not 9.8s by any standards imo. Best thing you can do is cherry pick your best looking 9.8s and re-sell the others that you think might not come back after being handled yet again by multiple hands and signed. It's a pain in the behind as we'd all like to think that a 9.8 should come back as a 9.8 after being signed but not every 9.8 is a nice 9.8 and not every 9.8 is even a 9.8 in some cases. Be careful on what you submit and if CGC handles the books well the vast majority of good looking 9.8s should come back as 9.8s. That being said anything is possible once the book is cracked and being handled by multiple ppl once again so there's always a possibility of problems but going back to cherry picking the best books cuts the odds of that drastically down at any rate. Best of luck to all in future submissions! Gator Guru 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gator Guru Posted September 30, 2023 Share Posted September 30, 2023 On 9/28/2023 at 8:47 PM, roach04 said: To be fair - it was always kind of a coin flip. I've lost about a dozen 9.8s down to 9.6s on Sig Series subs. So I started sending in 9.6s. None of them have dropped in grade - and I can recall at least 4 that have come back 9.8 (with no press.) I'm with you - no more existing 9.8s going in for SS - gamble is no longer worth it. Agree the gamble is no longer worth it. It is what it is right? Probably not a bad thing CGC is “more consistent” with their grading now but there is going to be an adjustment period. Im curious what % you have lost to 9.6 as you only mentioned a number. For me it was only a 6% loss but now its closer to 50%. I have actually started sending in multiple 9.8s in an effort to hope one at least comes back a 9.8. This would only be on lower $ books or ones I just really want signed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rexinnih Posted September 30, 2023 Share Posted September 30, 2023 I'm glad I got most of my Sig Series during COVID and was very happy with the grades coming back including a few slabbed 9.8's that came back the same. Now, I'm hesitant to even send 9.8s in for reholdering for fear of a drop. I'll quit while I'm ahead. MAR1979, Gator Guru and D2 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WDBill Posted October 1, 2023 Share Posted October 1, 2023 Same here. Several came back a 9.6 that I was sure would be a 9.8 and I even did a press to make sure. Maybe that was the problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gator Guru Posted October 1, 2023 Share Posted October 1, 2023 On 9/30/2023 at 2:24 PM, rexinnih said: I'm glad I got most of my Sig Series during COVID and was very happy with the grades coming back including a few slabbed 9.8's that came back the same. Now, I'm hesitant to even send 9.8s in for reholdering for fear of a drop. I'll quit while I'm ahead. Lots of unhappy people from the McFarlane signing that didnt get the 9.8s they thought were a lock. I have seen it basically all go downhill from there. What is funny is how someone posted their Spider-man 1 platinum and asked for opinions. The consensus was a 9.2 -9.4..somehow came back a 9.8. He put that one up on ebay asap and sold it for $6,500. So whats the lesson? Submit raw and pray or buy what you want from ebay or other. D2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D2 Posted October 5, 2023 Share Posted October 5, 2023 Sad in a way that this is where it has gone. I echo a lot of the comments here. I love getting custom color signatures on books, and most of the time I’d buy a blue label 9.8 to lock in a returned 9.8 signature series. I’ve also been burned by the submission returns in the past year, nothing radical, but I definitely won’t submit a few blue labels I still have, and expected to submit for signatures anymore. I don’t know how others feel, but I don’t keep 9.6s and below, outside of, 2 books in my collection that I’ll keep for sentimental reasons. So if I can’t risk getting 9.6s, I’ll stop trying. I also can’t afford to keep trying for 9.8s. I’m not that rich. It’s a hobby at the end of the day. Gator Guru 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WDBill Posted October 5, 2023 Share Posted October 5, 2023 Just got one back that I thought for sure would be a 9.8 or higher. Nope, 9.6 after they ruined the back or they may have graded lower. The back was perfect and now has little smudge marks all over it. The front has a few tics on the spine that were not there but can't tell from my before pics. Done sending any more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gator Guru Posted October 6, 2023 Share Posted October 6, 2023 On 10/5/2023 at 11:37 AM, WDBill said: Just got one back that I thought for sure would be a 9.8 or higher. Nope, 9.6 after they ruined the back or they may have graded lower. The back was perfect and now has little smudge marks all over it. The front has a few tics on the spine that were not there but can't tell from my before pics. Done sending any more. Are you sure thats not just the case? I’ve gotten some with a solid foil cover and scuffing on the case makes it look like its on the comic but its not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WDBill Posted October 6, 2023 Share Posted October 6, 2023 I thought so also but took a cloth and cannot change any of them. May be on the inside of the case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobMadoo Posted October 19, 2023 Share Posted October 19, 2023 I will sometimes have 9.8s cracked and pressed before a signing if they have any minor pressable defects I think can help improve the appearance of the book and the chances it comes back a 9.8 again. Books jostle in the cases when they are shipped and sometimes the book is borderline anyways but happened to get a 9.8 rather than a 9.6 the first time. I sent 6 slabbed 9.8s to the McFarlane signing and had 3 of them cracked and pressed prior to sending. The books also get handled a lot from the time they leave your hands and finally get graded so I try to have them as minty as possible. Overall at the McFarlane signing I subbed 27 books, of which 18 I thought would probably come back 9.8. I actually got 20 books back that were 9.8s including 2 copies of Batman 423 1st prints. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gator Guru Posted October 19, 2023 Share Posted October 19, 2023 On 10/18/2023 at 10:48 PM, RobMadoo said: I will sometimes have 9.8s cracked and pressed before a signing if they have any minor pressable defects I think can help improve the appearance of the book and the chances it comes back a 9.8 again. Books jostle in the cases when they are shipped and sometimes the book is borderline anyways but happened to get a 9.8 rather than a 9.6 the first time. I sent 6 slabbed 9.8s to the McFarlane signing and had 3 of them cracked and pressed prior to sending. The books also get handled a lot from the time they leave your hands and finally get graded so I try to have them as minty as possible. Overall at the McFarlane signing I subbed 27 books, of which 18 I thought would probably come back 9.8. I actually got 20 books back that were 9.8s including 2 copies of Batman 423 1st prints. The issue is that it seems more like population control than graders grading better. I get a lot more 9.6 that were 9.8 before and they look the exact same. No grader notes to justify it not being a 9.8. A 9.8 based on grading standards is not really that hard to achieve. When I used to get 95% 9.8s back and now its more 50/50 without a single grader note or issue I can find, it seems more and more like arbitrary 9.6s are being given out. Matt1982 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gator Guru Posted October 19, 2023 Share Posted October 19, 2023 On 10/5/2023 at 9:54 AM, D2 said: Sad in a way that this is where it has gone. I echo a lot of the comments here. I love getting custom color signatures on books, and most of the time I’d buy a blue label 9.8 to lock in a returned 9.8 signature series. I’ve also been burned by the submission returns in the past year, nothing radical, but I definitely won’t submit a few blue labels I still have, and expected to submit for signatures anymore. I don’t know how others feel, but I don’t keep 9.6s and below, outside of, 2 books in my collection that I’ll keep for sentimental reasons. So if I can’t risk getting 9.6s, I’ll stop trying. I also can’t afford to keep trying for 9.8s. I’m not that rich. It’s a hobby at the end of the day. Same boat. I keep 9.6s only if they are signed super rare books that Im not certain ill ever get in in 9.8. Example would be a nabisco variant 145 signed. I rarely sub a raw book as technically a 9.8 should be your best 90% or greater chance of getting a 9.8 back. I cant afford to get a 9.6 as with the cost and fees im at a net negative and those are not just frustrating but add up to a lot of lost $$$ D2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
