Is anyone else getting books back with warped inner wells? 23 23

[electricprune]

On 8/6/2024 at 8:20 AM, electricprune said:

I just received a very small modern sub back. It was 5 books but only one was mine. The inner well is essentially a bowl and there are at least seven bends on the top of the spine, some color breaking. I wish it was easier to get good pictures of the bends.

I didn’t look at the other four books I submitted for a friend. I wish I did, but I’m not sure there’s any recourse if CGC is saying this is the new normal.

I sent an email to customer service last Thursday. They were very friendly, and said they'd submit my pictures for review. I received my answer today:

"They looked over your pictures and the picture that shows the book bowed in the case is how the book is supposed to be sitting inside of the slab and is not warped. "

I guess this is the new CGC 9.4. I just wish I could get a picture to represent how bad the book actually looks in hand. Mostly it's the spine and the top of the front and back cover. 

[MAY1979]

Received this as part of 2024 Award package

"Protect" ?,  seriously...

Edited August 16 by MAR1979

[WernerVonDoom]

If this is a result of trying to make the case more more secure, I feel for CGC. But unfortunately, the cure is worse than the disease.

Whatever is causing this needs to be stopped immediately, and something else needs to tried.  As soon as they do, I will send in my curved books for re-holder.

@MattM CS

[electricprune]

When CGC told me the books are now supposed to be “bowed” in the slab, they weren’t joking. My friend gave me the four books I sent in for him as well.

Sure enough, CGC was right! All of them are bowed.

[MAY1979]

^ IMHO this has potential to be a huge foot in door for Newport Beach / Santa Ana folks. They simply need to market their slabs won't curve or bow Comics and that they will lay flat and actually protected.

Those CA folks may very well be salivating at these/your pictures and the absurd response from CS,  it could easily translate, to $$$ for them. 

Edited August 16 by MAR1979

[MAY1979]

BTW this morning 4 9.8 Bronze comics in my eBay searches popped up in my email notifications, all want list books for me. Saw they were all 443 and 444 series and I deleted the emails. This is now the NEW normal for me.

Will be using my what was my monthly comics "budget" this month like last on Original Art or a Slabbed T206 Hall of Famer Baseball Card. 

[Axelrod]

On 8/15/2024 at 8:12 PM, WernerVonDoom said:

If this is a result of trying to make the case more more secure, I feel for CGC. But unfortunately, the cure is worse than the disease.

Whatever is causing this needs to be stopped immediately, and something else needs to tried.  As soon as they do, I will send in my curved books for re-holder.

@MattM CS

They have to be scrambling behind the scenes to correct this, right?

Regardless if they ever admit there was a problem (for liability reasons) they know it's bad, and they have to be trying to fix it?  Experimenting with different ways to "secure" the case that don't result in warping of the inner sleeve?

This is what I'm going to believe anyway. 

Still won't send anything until it's fixed. And, of course, that doesn't help the 1000s who have already sent and have this issue.

[DanJD]

On 8/16/2024 at 7:35 AM, Axelrod said:

They have to be scrambling behind the scenes to correct this, right?

Regardless if they ever admit there was a problem (for liability reasons) they know it's bad, and they have to be trying to fix it?  Experimenting with different ways to "secure" the case that don't result in warping of the inner sleeve?

This is what I'm going to believe anyway. 

Still won't send anything until it's fixed. And, of course, that doesn't help the 1000s who have already sent and have this issue.

Also doesn’t help buyers/collectors when volume sellers ignore the problem and keep slabbing just to flip them then try to make scientific arguments of why this isn’t as bad as it really is.  Social media CGC fan pages immediately shoot this down and keep convincing people to stay on the money train.  

[electricprune]

On 8/16/2024 at 8:31 AM, MAR1979 said:

BTW this morning 4 9.8 Bronze comics in my eBay searches popped up in my email notifications, all want list books for me. Saw they were all 443 and 444 series and I deleted the emails. This is now the NEW normal for me.

Will be using my what was my monthly comics "budget" this month like last on Original Art or a Slabbed T206 Hall of Famer Baseball Card. 

I had one pop up yesterday for a run I’ve been putting together in 9.8. It was listed by a trusted dealer that posts here semi regularly. I checked the number and sure enough it started with 44. I won’t even consider asking for a picture of the spine. It’s just an automatic pass.

[DanJD]

On 8/16/2024 at 8:09 AM, electricprune said:

I had one pop up yesterday for a run I’ve been putting together in 9.8. It was listed by a trusted dealer that posts here semi regularly. I checked the number and sure enough it started with 44. I won’t even consider asking for a picture of the spine. It’s just an automatic pass.

I am in the same boat for anything high grade.  I was trying to avoid older slabs due to my OCD and the different labels not matching, but I am now looking at those.  But if I am open to older slabs, I guess I am also now open to different grading companies slabs too!

Edited August 16 by DanJD

[MAY1979]

On 8/16/2024 at 9:20 AM, DanJD said:

I am also now open to different grading companies slabs too!

That is a truly key point!

For collectors; Buy the book not the label/flip. 

As you can see by my sig I am a fan of the CGC registry, but I will not allow that to dictate what I purchase! I will be glad to pickup slabs from the NJ folks and CA folks as long as the book meets my criteria. As for the CGC registry, the "All Good Things" saying applies.

[lostboys]

So...are there any examples of the bend going backward instead of forward?

 

Its kInda like how Newton Rings are always on the front of the slab.

Edited August 16 by lostboys

[DanJD]

Keep seeing people post their “Mail Calls” on social media, and just looking at the spines of these new “9.8s” with all the color breaks, you can tell the inner wells are warped.  Either that or the graders have lost their minds.  People are just excited about the grade. I guess a real fear becomes that CGC starts accepting all these color breaks as 9.8s to save face on these warped inner wells and to avoid paying out on damages.  At least 8 full months and counting of this going on.  I guess 9.0-9.4s are the new 9.8s.

In the mean time, I bought my first 9.8 older label CGC slab today… 

[DanJD]

On 8/16/2024 at 11:36 AM, lostboys said:

So...are there any examples of the bend going backward instead of forward?

 

Its kInda like how Newton Rings are always on the front of the slab.

I believe there have been a few warped back that have been posted, but the vast majority appear to have been warped forward.

[Yorick]

Another thought; perhaps the manufacturer of the inner wells did not cut the heights to the correct dimension.  There is so little tolerance inside the outer case, that just a millimeter of extra length would cause the squeeze that we are seeing.  

But as stated before, our musings don't matter unless CGC feels it matters.  And what does CGC care about?

[electricprune]

On 8/16/2024 at 1:42 PM, Yorick said:

Another thought; perhaps the manufacturer of the inner wells did not cut the heights to the correct dimension.  There is so little tolerance inside the outer case, that just a millimeter of extra length would cause the squeeze that we are seeing.  

But as stated before, our musings don't matter unless CGC feels it matters.  And what does CGC care about?

I wondered about this too. If anyone breaks out a warped inner well, please see if you can flatten it, measure it, and see how the measurements compare to the well size in the slab.

Honestly though, I would hope CGC would have done that already.

[ADAMANTIUM]

On 8/16/2024 at 1:05 PM, electricprune said:

I wondered about this too. If anyone breaks out a warped inner well, please see if you can flatten it, measure it, and see how the measurements compare to the well size in the slab.

Honestly though, I would hope CGC would have done that already.

some one cracked it and put in a bag and board it laid flat again after a couple of hours, I'm not suggesting this but replying that someone DID, so ask him? @Stefan_W

[MAY1979]

On 8/16/2024 at 2:16 PM, ADAMANTIUM said:

some one cracked it and put in a bag and board it laid flat again after a couple of hours, I'm not suggesting this but replying that someone DID, so ask him? @Stefan_W

This post is in general, not a shot in any way shape or form at you my friend and i genuinely mean the friend part.

Even if that is somehow the true situation for a subset of books that were in a slab for less than 4 weeks my opinion is SO FRIGGIN WHAT! 

Why bother to submit if you need to crack the book out immediately to protect it?

Edited August 16 by MAR1979

[ADAMANTIUM]

On 8/16/2024 at 1:34 PM, MAR1979 said:

This post is in general, not a shot in any way shape or form at you my friend and i genuinely mean the friend part.

Even if that is somehow the true situation for some books that were in a slab for less than 4 weeks my opinion is SO FRIGGIN WHAT! 

Why bother to submit if you need to crack the book out immediately to protect it?

Ya but he was asking the dimensions to where the knowledge could help fix the problem? Of anyone who cracked out a warped well?

Further than that I have no explanation other than he's asking in general when he could be asking specifically, figured it would be a waisted opportunity.

Sounds like a lot of people have just come to the thread and haven't been reading back pages. Not looking to make resolution other than stating the same old, it would be nice to be somewhat fruitful

 

Edited August 16 by ADAMANTIUM
grammar clarity

[DanJD]

On 8/16/2024 at 1:34 PM, MAR1979 said:

This post is in general, not a shot in any way shape or form at you my friend and i genuinely mean the friend part.

Even if that is somehow the true situation for some books that were in a slab for less than 4 weeks my opinion is SO FRIGGIN WHAT! 

Why bother to submit if you need to crack the book out immediately to protect it?

I think the original poster was more asking about whether the inner well (not the book) laid flat out of the slab and then if so, what was the measurement to see if it’s larger than the outer slab can fit.