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What A Bargain...

Started by awe4one,

322 posts in this topic

awe4one

awe4one

Posted
Posted

From Scoop...

 

Classics Incorporated Updates Rates

 

Scoop has just learned that Classics Incorporated has updated their rates for conservation services effective this week. In addition to lowering the cost of pressing 1970s comics to $25 per book, they have added a new tier for modern comics. For only $15, any comic published after 1979 (and valued under $250) will receive a free proscreen and pressing. There are also additional discounts for bulk submissions.

 

"We feel that a large number of collectors are trying to achieve 9.6 or 9.8 runs of their favorite titles from the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, and they may be having a hard time, considering the high cost of multiple submissions needed to achieve their desired grades. Our proscreen and conservation service takes all of the guesswork out of submitting, and produces an extremely high percentage of desired grades for our clients. Even the comics that are already CGC graded can be proscreened for upgrade potential," said Classics Incorporated President Matt Nelson.

 

Nelson says he's noticed an upward trend towards building sets of bronze and modern comics, but a stumbling block is the uncertainty a collector faces when submitting their books to CGC in regards to grades. Prior to Classics Incorporated's new rates pressing was relegated to mostly Golden and Silver Age comics because their higher values could easily absorb the cost of conservation.

 

"Following on the heels of CGC's announcement last week that they are closing PCS, Classics Incorporated is stepping up its dedication to accuracy, safety, and prompt service. Directly competing with PCS has caused us to refine our process to impeccable standards, and we have no intention of letting up now. Our ongoing research and development allows us to continually improve our process, which benefits our clients through lower rates. Our #1 goal will always be customer satisfaction with emphasis on long term safety for the comics," said Nelson.

 

In Nelson's opinion there has never been a better, safer, and more fruitful time to collect or invest in comics than now. "We commend CGC for their decision to put the collectors' best interests first. CGC will continue to be our first and only choice for third party certification. They have set the standard for everyone to follow, and their dedication to professionalism and consistency over the past six years has been nothing short of remarkable. Together, I think CGC and Classics Incorporated are capable of bringing an unbeatable combination of service and product to the collecting community in the coming years," commented Nelson.

 

For more information on Classics Incorporated's pressing service, as well as their other services, submissions, projects and articles, please visit classicsincorporated.com. Matt Nelson can be reached directly at comics@classicsincoporated.com, or by calling 972-980-8040.

 

Classics Incorporated New Rates for Pressing:

 

1980 to present: $15.00

1970 to 1979: $25.00

$250 or less: $35.00

$250-$1,000: $50.00

$1,000 - $4,000: $75.00

$4,000 - $10,000: $125.00

$10,000 - $25,000: $250.00

$25,000 and up: $500.00

Magazines: $25.00

 

At least there's no question about what he's doing...

 

Makes me wonder how well the pressing game is going if rates are reduced after a competitor (PCS) folds... 893scratchchin-thumb.gif

 

Jim

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Scheradon

Scheradon

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That, is absolutely nauseating.

 

How true, I want to barf. For anyone who claimed newer books were safe or non-keys, well, isn't it comforting that he's lowered prices.

 

Glad to know he's got a third party grading company to give all his manipulated books a clean bill of health, so they can be pawned to the unsuspecting public. Seriously, if CGC saw that PCS was a bad idea, shouldn't they not support this service?

 

Knowing that books can be basically "made to order" takes the fun out of the hobby for me. What's the point of building a HG set by carefully selecting flawless, well taken care of books, when 50 other sets of pressed, cleaned, manipulated books are bound to show up. Every time one of these manufactured beauties hits the market, it devalues all the other non-manipulated books out there.

 

I wish CGC or another grading company (if need be) would step up to the plate and take a swing to protect the good of the hobby.

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Scheradon

Scheradon

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What it boils down to is that everyone has alot of pressed books in their collection.

 

Probaby so true! Think about all the people who have herded their books through one of these service before taking them to the slaughter, so we can buy the pressed meat on eBay, CL, Pedigree, etc.

 

I guarantee it's much more than the big BSDs doing this.

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Harvey Dude

Harvey Dude

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What's the point of building a HG set by carefully selecting flawless, well taken care of books, when 50 other sets of pressed, cleaned, manipulated books are bound to show up. Every time one of these manufactured beauties hits the market, it devalues all the other non-manipulated books out there.

 

It really does put a stigma on the virgin high grade books. My buying patterns have already changed in that I now must assume that other books will eventually be upgraded to compete against the truly untampered books. I now put my emphasis on old label books. Not a guarantee that they were not pressed but the likelihood is that the pressing game was not as rampant in years gone by. gossip.gif

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awe4one

awe4one

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Makes you wonder how CGC feels about the resounding seal of approval Nelson gives them in the article...

 

As well as mentioning them in the pressing/submission process to get the HG collection of your dreams...

 

Should we start calling newly graded HG Bronze slabs "Nelsons" now? smirk.gif

 

Jim

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delekkerste

delekkerste

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What happened to all the people (you know who you are) who were so adamant that pressing was not rampant and that the cost of doing so was prohibitive except in very limited circumstances? Looks like you can get a book pressed by the best in the business for as low as $15 retail for an individual copy, and that's not even the bulk submission or friends & family rate. I recall being roundly criticized a year or two ago for suggesting that pressing was already a widespread phenomenon with the cost already very low and only going lower as more providers of this service got into the game; I'll be shocked if I hear even one mea culpa on this thread, though.

 

Sadly, the pressing genie is out of the bottle and there's really no way to put it back in. The purists among us can hope that people will cease this practice, but there is really no incentive for an owner or seller to do that, as the powers-that-be are not willing to call it restoration and it cannot always be reliably detected. Of course, that isn't even taking into account the thousands of pressed books already out there; their current owners are surely not going to support any action that would jeopardize their investment, especially since we know that some of the most expensive, highest-graded books out there have been upgraded.

 

Anyway, the fact that such naked greed isn't even being disguised anymore really turns my stomach. If I was still collecting high grade slabs, this would be enough to make me quit; as it is, I don't ever see myself getting back into this segment of the hobby ever again.

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shadroch

shadroch

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Perhaps I'm reading too much into this,but between his Scoop publication giving Nelson what amounts to free advertising and Overstreet changing the definition of retoration,I'm thinking that Geppi is seemingly giving pressing his seal of approval.

Has he ever made his views on pressed books public? 893scratchchin-thumb.gif

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divad

divad

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Perhaps I'm reading too much into this,but between his Scoop publication giving Nelson what amounts to free advertising and Overstreet changing the definition of retoration,I'm thinking that Geppi is seemingly giving pressing his seal of approval.

Has he ever made his views on pressed books public? 893scratchchin-thumb.gif

 

 

I dunno . . . but did you see his pic between Miss USA and the Queer Eye? 27_laughing.gif

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divad

divad

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I wonder what he charges for a neat micro-trim? Would anyone be surprised to find out if this [embarrassing lack of self control] was JE's partner in crime?

 

893scratchchin-thumb.gif

 

Not in the least . . . 893scratchchin-thumb.gif

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