Need help cracking a CGC slab. (No, really!) 3 3

[Point Five]

OK, with the current slab-cracking scandal that's raging I'm well aware the timing of this question is kind of ridiculous. Nevertheless!

I've opened dozens and dozens of slabs before and never had any problem. Easy. But I bought a slab last week with the intent of cracking it, and I. Just. Cannot. Get. This. Thing. Open. With all the other slabs I've had before, there was at the very least a tiny gap on one side such that a flat-head screwdriver could be wiggled in and used to pry it open... but this slab is absolutely 100% every-single-millimeter-tightly-sealed on all four sides. (Honestly, I should send this case right back to CGC to study! If they were all like this there'd be no scandal!)   

I'm hopeful that someone here can talk me through how to break into this case without damaging the book (or, ideally, damaging myself). I don't have any use for the outer case; fine to break it any which way, though in a perfect world I'd like to keep the paper label unscathed as well. Please also note that I don't have a heat gun or special tools -- just the most basic of basics (screwdrivers, hammer, pliers, drill set etc). 

Any help is appreciated. Thanks guys!

 

(P.S. I have never lived in Kew Gardens, though I did once serve a particularly soul-crushing jury duty there.)

 

[Timmay]

Use the hammer to break the top edge by the label.

 

[ADAMANTIUM]

Or very carefully 🤪

Hod the screwdriver at the seam then hammer it between 

[Tnexus]

Throw it in a toaster oven for 6 minutes at 200F.

[Yorick]

Something is wrong with that holder if it's sealed all the way around.  It may have been super-glued along all edges.  Are you sure you're not dealing with a swap?

If you don't need it as evidence, I'd go with Timmay's advice and smash the top post corners with a hammer.

[AJD]

Admittedly I have a scale modellers toolbox, so you may not have one, but a fine razor saw does the job very neatly. In fact... never mind, it will get the slab open. Do you know any model builders?

[Dick Pontoon]

Once you get it open wide enough to slide your tool in, may I suggest a paint scraper like this. I find it a lot easier than a screwdriver and you'll have more leverage.

 

I have a 6-in1, but it's the same idea.

 

Edited February 1 by Dick Pontoon

[Point Five]

On 2/1/2024 at 3:11 AM, Yorick said:

Something is wrong with that holder if it's sealed all the way around.  It may have been super-glued along all edges.  Are you sure you're not dealing with a swap?

If you don't need it as evidence, I'd go with Timmay's advice and smash the top post corners with a hammer.

That's an interesting thought, but it's in a Restored slab and sold for $207 before I bought it on MCS. I guess I can't say it's impossible but the grade looks visually correct to me, which is why I bought it. 

 

[Funnybooks]

mail the slab back to yourself via UPS with the word very fragile on the box...should arrive as needed

[Point Five]

On 2/1/2024 at 3:11 AM, Yorick said:

Something is wrong with that holder if it's sealed all the way around.  It may have been super-glued along all edges.  Are you sure you're not dealing with a swap?

Thinking about what you said some more, people have shown up here on the boards from time to time asking about side gaps on a slab they just bought, fretting that it was some kind of major defect in the slab. Maybe someone thought that and tried to 'fix' all the gaps themselves with superglue, i.e. nothing nefarious but they just thought they were solving its production problem.

 

[Funnybooks]

but, seriously....take a hammer to the top left and right edges by the label...easily cracks the corners without harm to the book. Very east to pry the case apart thereafter with your hands.

place a towel underneath the slab between the floor and the slab

Edited February 1 by Funnybooks

[F For Fake]

On 2/1/2024 at 8:18 AM, Pontoon said:

Once you get it open wide enough to slide your tool in, may I suggest a paint scraper like this. I find it a lot easier than a screwdriver and you'll have more leverage.

 

I have a 6-in1, but it's the same idea.

 

Never tried it on a slab, but I will say, these things are handy for prying open just about anything you can think of! Great for painting tasks, obviously, but I can't count how many times I've pulled this thing out to wedge/crack/pry any number of situations.

[lizards2]

Go through the bottom. Use a thin standard screwdriver to pry the two pieces of outer well apart - leave screwdriver inserted.

Grab another standard screwdriver and insert it in the gap, then pull it towards a post. Repeat on other side.

Start breaking the sides down aways with a screwdriver. Pull the book out the bottom.

Continue breaking a side down until you can extract the label.

You might want to wear some thin gloves, as the well shards can sometimes cut you up real good.

Edited February 1 by lizards2
greggy

[lizards2]

On 2/1/2024 at 5:48 AM, Point Five said:

Thinking about what you said some more, people have shown up here on the boards from time to time asking about side gaps on a slab they just bought, fretting that it was some kind of major defect in the slab. Maybe someone thought that and tried to 'fix' all the gaps themselves with superglue, i.e. nothing nefarious but they just thought they were solving its production problem.

 

Some of the new version of outer wells are massively sealed tight on the side edges. For those, see above - go though the bottom of the well.

[Timmay]

On 2/1/2024 at 3:11 AM, Yorick said:

Something is wrong with that holder if it's sealed all the way around. 

I just got some books back from CGC and one had a piece of debris in it.

I could not slip a piece of paper in from the bottom to fish out the debris.

The top and bottom edges are now sealed like the sides.

[Point Five]

On 2/1/2024 at 12:55 PM, Timmay said:

I just got some books back from CGC and one had a piece of debris in it.

I could not slip a piece of paper in from the bottom to fish out the debris.

The top and bottom edges are now sealed like the sides.

Yes! That tracks. I just looked up my book and it was graded October 2023, so fairly recent.

 

[lizards2]

I've had some new ones that are just biatches. By the time you get everything out, the outer well is in shards.

[Point Five]

All good here, folks. I brought down the hammer  and it just took a few quick taps to smash the top left corner. From there the front and back pieces snapped apart very easily. It's kind of wild how secure, and yet how fragile, these cases are.

Thanks to all who responded!

 

[Ryan.]

On 2/1/2024 at 8:18 AM, Pontoon said:

Once you get it open wide enough to slide your tool in, may I suggest a paint scraper

That's next level kink.

[Timmay]

On 2/1/2024 at 1:25 PM, Ryan. said:

On 2/1/2024 at 8:18 AM, Pontoon said:

Once you get it open wide enough to slide your tool in, may I suggest a paint scraper

That's next level kink.

I like pie.