CGC is now grading Digests and Paperbacks 1 1

[Surfing Alien]

Ok, I deliberately made that a provocative statement to generate a look see, but it's actually true, and been true for a while. It has been brought up a bit in the paperbacks thread, and just recently in the "Thrilling, Amazing etc. Pulps" thread, so, instead of continuing to bomb those threads, I figured a I'd make a separate one where anyone could drop their in without judgment, or bombing other threads.

This copy of RSG that was recently auctioned at Heritage was a factor in the discussion:

 

So I'll submit these to you here, for your perusal, to declare that CGC does, indeed slab Digests and PB's, and would likely slab any paper mag or novel and grade it to the comic standards. just like they have done with pulps.  A lot of room for bargains in the mid to higher grades considering the vast majority of pbs and digests are listed for sale in the useless G-VG-Fine "Old Book-man" grading system that kind of mirrors where comic books were in the early 1970's.

 

 

My caveat to all that is, and has been, that the cases are waaaay to big for the format and downright silly looking at the pb level. That said, I still would go for grading if they tooled up a nice unisex slab size that would work for both digests and paperbacks, with the outside dimensions about the size of a modern comic book. Then they would fit in a regular comic storage box and have lots of other storage cost savings attached, to make it more cost friendly and useful to us poor PB collectors

[Get Marwood & I]

On 5/18/2024 at 10:56 PM, Surfing Alien said:

My caveat to all that is, and has been, that the cases are waaaay to big for the format and downright silly looking at the pb level

I agree. That Green Lantern is a beauty but looks completely lost in that ugly great holder. All I see is oceans of skew-whiff, empty plastic. CGC would be better holding off until they have suitable cases to match the dimensions of the collectibles they seek to add to their ever growing portfolio. 

[Surfing Alien]

On 5/18/2024 at 6:08 PM, Get Marwood & I said:

I agree. That Green Lantern is a beauty but looks completely lost in that ugly great holder. All I see is oceans of skew-whiff, empty plastic. CGC would be better holding off until they have suitable cases to match the dimensions of the collectibles they seek to add to their ever growing portfolio. 

That one is particularly offensive, as they put it in a magazine holder  The others look like comic book holders and a little less crazy but if they made the whole thing the size of a modern or silver sized comic book, I could see them looking pretty snazzy.

[Get Marwood & I]

On 5/18/2024 at 11:17 PM, Surfing Alien said:

That one is particularly offensive, as they put it in a magazine holder  The others look like comic book holders and a little less crazy but if they made the whole thing the size of a modern or silver sized comic book, I could see them looking pretty snazzy.

Indeed. Trading cards look good in their little cases. This just smacks of wanting to get into the market quickly before being ready with a product specific holder. 

[Surfing Alien]

On 5/18/2024 at 6:20 PM, Get Marwood & I said:

Indeed. Trading cards look good in their little cases. This just smacks of wanting to get into the market quickly before being ready with a product specific holder. 

To be fair, these are kind of one-offs. There has been no announcement or directive, but rather, I'm just showing that, short of offering a pb/digest "service", they will grade anything that fits the description if you pay for it.

And it should end speculation as to whether they would grade pb's like the "Old Book-man" G-Vg-F standard. It's obvious from both pulps and these examples that, if they were to offer a "pb/digest" service, they would employ the same grading standard they use for all other paper.

[Darwination]

As a collector of everything from mini-joke books, mini comics, pocket mags, paperbacks of varying size, digests of varying size, pulps of all thickness and dimensions, comics from all ages, magazines, slightly taller magazines, oversized magazines of various dimensions, various tabloids and newspapers - I can testify to the complications of collecting pubs of various size.  That said, I'm cutting custom boards and using a wide variety of bags (and folding over bags on the back of a board when too big) so my books look just right.  Not squeezed too tight.  Not flopping about.  The appropriate frame. 

That Mansion of Evil is hella cool, btw, saw it on Ebay a couple days ago (I think when I was looking at Millard's The Gods Hate Kansas) and was thrilled to learn there's a scan.

 

 

[Get Marwood & I]

On 5/19/2024 at 12:19 AM, Surfing Alien said:

To be fair, these are kind of one-offs. There has been no announcement or directive, but rather, I'm just showing that, short of offering a pb/digest "service", they will grade anything that fits the description if you pay for it.

Oh right, I take that back then. Still, I'd prefer they didn't grade these until they have a suitable holder. They look awful. 

[Surfing Alien]

On 5/18/2024 at 7:31 PM, Darwination said:

The appropriate frame. 

This.

[Surfing Alien]

On 5/18/2024 at 7:31 PM, Darwination said:

That Mansion of Evil is hella cool, btw

👍 Considered a cornerstone book in any vintage pb collection since collecting them began...

[grebal]

On 5/18/2024 at 5:17 PM, Surfing Alien said:

That one is particularly offensive, as they put it in a magazine holder  The others look like comic book holders and a little less crazy but if they made the whole thing the size of a modern or silver sized comic book, I could see them looking pretty snazzy.

Agree w you, but likely because of thickness of PBs.

[vheflin]

Wonder when they'll start grading phone books

[Dr. Love]

The pulp holders have the increased depth the digests and paperbacks need. Specifically the 1" deep holder - the same depth as the magazine holder but with the reduced "regular" comic slab footprint.  These would hold the 128-164 pg books.  Thicker books would jump up to the 1 1/2" deep slab.  I believe they're working on developing an inner well alternative to the 3 wedge system of placement that you see utilized in all the examples above. 

I'm fairly confident in speculating that a smaller unique holder/well just for the pb/digest market isn't in the cards.  

[cgcsketcherz]

A couple years ago, tried a Goosebumps book for signature series. The dimensions fit but came back ineligible/not slabbed.

[Bookery]

On 5/18/2024 at 9:34 PM, Dr. Love said:

I'm fairly confident in speculating that a smaller unique holder/well just for the pb/digest market isn't in the cards.  

You're probably right... but it's kind of a shame.  They need a case that is squarish but could actually fit on a bookcase and be displayed spine outward.  The book, with the added dimension of the upper description label, might combined be about the size of a standard hardback book in height.  If they did do it, I'm guessing it might be easier to adapt off of their video game model rather than a comic book one.  From a profit perspective, there are far more vintage paperbacks out there than pulps, and they are still being published.  We've seen from people sending in last week's comics to be graded, that fans of a particular series or author will send in even modern paperbacks to have a graded collection of their favorites, be it Stephen King or James Patterson.  The argument is that paperbacks aren't all that valuable, but does anyone really think that copies of vintage stuff currently valued as $10 wouldn't soar to $100 if in a slab if graded 9.4 or above?  How valuable would those Jim Thompson books suddenly become?  

The drawback... you'd need at least one true paperback expert on staff... one who knows which books have their lamination missing and which don't, which Gold Medal is the 1st printing and which is a later.  Notations that indicate that even though pb X is a 3rd printing... it's the 1st with Frazetta art, etc.  Putting together a comprehensive database would be tricky (though I'm working on it with a 1500-page start so far... caveat... it will never be finished in my lifetime, so don't expect it will turn up soon wherever fine books are sold!).

[Surfing Alien]

On 5/19/2024 at 8:07 AM, Bookery said:

The argument is that paperbacks aren't all that valuable, but does anyone really think that copies of vintage stuff currently valued as $10 wouldn't soar to $100 if in a slab if graded 9.4 or above?  How valuable would those Jim Thompson books suddenly become?  

Beyond that, as a very active buyer in today's market, there are already hundreds of vintage paperbacks that top $100 in high grade. It's a way different market than when the last guides came out 20-30 years ago.

[Surfing Alien]

On 5/19/2024 at 8:07 AM, Bookery said:

(though I'm working on it with a 1500-page start so far... caveat... it will never be finished in my lifetime, so don't expect it will turn up soon wherever fine books are sold!).

You could lease out your work in progress to CGC for zillions of dollars

[Darwination]

I don't keep up with it very well, but there's an io group working on a huge, huge database full of lifelong collectors.  Not sure if it's going to end up at Fictionmags or what.  SO MUCH DATA.  Look at how thick Warren's is, and it just has minimal info. 

Ofc, to me, a big cover image is very important in such a database but that's a big ask.

[Ryan.]

[GACollectibles]

On 5/19/2024 at 8:07 AM, Bookery said:

he drawback... you'd need at least one true paperback expert on staff... one who knows which books have their lamination missing and which don't, which Gold Medal is the 1st printing and which is a later.  Notations that indicate that even though pb X is a 3rd printing... it's the 1st with Frazetta art, etc.  Putting together a comprehensive database would be tricky (though I'm working on it with a 1500-page start so far... caveat... it will never be finished in my lifetime, so don't expect it will turn up soon wherever fine books are sold!).

Soooo, you!

I 2nd the motion!

[jimjum12]

On 5/18/2024 at 5:56 PM, Surfing Alien said:

Ok, I deliberately made that a provocative statement to generate a look see, but it's actually true, and been true for a while. It has been brought up a bit in the paperbacks thread, and just recently in the "Thrilling, Amazing etc. Pulps" thread, so, instead of continuing to bomb those threads, I figured a I'd make a separate one where anyone could drop their in without judgment, or bombing other threads.

This copy of RSG that was recently auctioned at Heritage was a factor in the discussion:

 

So I'll submit these to you here, for your perusal, to declare that CGC does, indeed slab Digests and PB's, and would likely slab any paper mag or novel and grade it to the comic standards. just like they have done with pulps.  A lot of room for bargains in the mid to higher grades considering the vast majority of pbs and digests are listed for sale in the useless G-VG-Fine "Old Book-man" grading system that kind of mirrors where comic books were in the early 1970's.

 

 

My caveat to all that is, and has been, that the cases are waaaay to big for the format and downright silly looking at the pb level. That said, I still would go for grading if they tooled up a nice unisex slab size that would work for both digests and paperbacks, with the outside dimensions about the size of a modern comic book. Then they would fit in a regular comic storage box and have lots of other storage cost savings attached, to make it more cost friendly and useful to us poor PB collectors

Word!, ...yo. GOD BLESS ...

-jimbo(friend of jesus)