Has anyone thought about?

[Scheradon]

I have two relevant (perhaps) comments in this topic: (the thread that is not the hijack..)

 

1) if you are worried that the crack'n press crowd is swelling the census, youd have to look up the actual numbers and see just exactly which comics have swelled over the past year, year and a half. Maybe their eeffect is negligible.. maybe its pretty scary.

 

(I personally feel that just ONE book improved by such methods is one too many, so dont read the previous as an apology or support for the practice.)

 

But, this next comment might be read that way:

 

2) As a realist, just what difference does it make that books have been grade pumped and passed CGC undetected. As we have all realized, the chances are pretty good that we all have a book or two or more sitting in blue slabs in our collections! And...welll, so what? If CGC and their grading standards remain the standard in the hobby, all comics encased in blue labels are safe...pressed or even trimmed. And if we can only 'catch' them, or find out the truth about our slabs by chancing on the comics in ther former unrestored lives...which aint that easy.....then 99% of the "fakes" will be uncaught and be sold and traded forever just the same as true unrestored books.

 

Unless we can stop them, that is. yeah, easier said than done.

 

 

Interesting points. I think you're right on issue #2 for the moment. The key is if CGC remains the standard in the hobby. If enough buyer confidence is eroded and sales of slabs start to hurt, thus causing sales brought in by submissions to curtail just enough for another third party grading company to come in, who sees a golden opportunity to re-define the "independent" grading standard.

 

Believe me, this is a great window of opportunity going on here for a new company to hit the hobby. They have to have credibility, though, along with extremely high standards, and always keep the consumers in the hobby in mind. PGX has done nothing to seperate itself from CGC, hence why they won't become this next standard in the industry. The new company would have to have experts in grading and restoration work and the ability to detect pressing and cleaning and divulge it for the consumer when it's been done to a book.

 

This would alter your second point as people would perhaps choose to re-slab with a new " standard" company to increase their current investment value. And this new company would be able to catch all the blue label restored books that all of us unaware buyers bought.

[Aman619]

...which woud be IMO a serious deterrent to a new company getting business. If the reason to start a new grading company is to go back and correct CGCs errors or omission (or commission) - -- who's really going to be brave or bold enough to risk their safe blue labels? CGC rep would have to have shrunk to nothing, and the collector base willing to just start over... and will CGC let things get so out of hand that we all become THAT disgusted?

 

I sound like an echo from inside CGC board meetings, huh?

 

"Dont worry, if it gets out of hand we'll take some kind of action!"

[Scheradon]

...which woud be IMO a serious deterrent to a new company getting business. If the reason to start a new grading company is to go back and correct CGCs errors or omission (or commission) - -- who's really going to be brave or bold enough to risk their safe blue labels? CGC rep would have to have shrunk to nothing, and the collector base willing to just start over... and will CGC let things get so out of hand that we all become THAT disgusted?

 

I sound like an echo from inside CGC board meetings, huh?

 

"Dont worry, if it gets out of hand we'll take some kind of action!"

 

May be a longshot and it wouldn't be easy. A new company would definately need a good financial backer for the venture (and not an auctiion house either), and would need some sort of service that sets themselves above and beyond what CGC or PGX offers. And hey, if that gets CGCs attention and forces them to be better, then that would be great too.

 

Yes, for the new company to work it has to become the new credible grading party and become so trusted that buyers will only want books encapsulated by them, possibly garnering some resubbing of CGC holders. Remember, CGC recommends reslabbing your book about every 7 years to replace the micro-chamber paper. A lot of books will be comming due for this in the near future. Great time to go with a different company, if one would emerge.

[Aman619]

THATS an interesting thought! The timing just might precipitate a switch..

[lou_fine]

...which woud be IMO a serious deterrent to a new company getting business. If the reason to start a new grading company is to go back and correct CGCs errors or omission (or commission) - -- who's really going to be brave or bold enough to risk their safe blue labels? CGC rep would have to have shrunk to nothing, and the collector base willing to just start over... and will CGC let things get so out of hand that we all become THAT disgusted?

 

 

Aman;

 

Gotta agree with you here!

 

Well, it's obvious you don't believe in the CGC business model.

 

I can tell that you've never sent in a book to CGC for grading. After all, why would you want to find out that your raw NM book is possibly only VF and also coming back with a PLOD label.

 

Bottom-line: If a new company can perform both grading and more accurate restoration detection (including pressing and trimming), you'll see a marketplace whereby a raw book seels for X dollars, a CGC graded book sells for say 2X dollars, and a graded and resto identified book by the new company sell for say 3X or 4X dollars.