How Common is Slab Damage due to shipping?

[DawgPhan]

good thing is was only a DC,then,eh?

 

Sorry to hear that, Weird. I would contact CGC about it.

 

 

You act like the cgc slab has never caused staple pulls...I think that it was clear to everyone that the new design on moderns would do exactly that...and it has...on atleast several occassions...

[Norrin_Radd]

When I was a kid, my Mom always left out a six pack for the Garbage Men

 

Are you sure that had anything to do with the performance of their duties?

 

 

On topic, I've bought over 30 slabs online and have only received two that were cracked. I haven't seen any SCS (except for on this board).

 

However, when I submitted my first batch of 20 comics to CGC they came back with 7 cracked slabs. I had to send them back for reholdering.

[burntboy]

Unfortunately, I think what happens is the vast majority of SCS books are sold . . . over and over and over again . . . As they are no longer anywhere near their label grade.

 

I have to admit that I've never encountered the problem on the 75-100 books that I have had slabbed and returned to me by CGC.

 

Ditto for me - with over 200 slabbings of my own, i've NEVER had a book damaged.

 

BUT, as someone else said, all of my books were only mailed in the slab once back to me and excellently packaged by CGC.

 

i've also never had anyone complain about SCS on the 125 slabs or so that i've sold and some of them got shipped to Pedigree, back to me after months sitting on the listings without selling and then back to Pedigree and off to a new customer..................

 

i really believe that SCS is a product of rough handling, less than stellar packaging and fate.................

[Mr. Zipper]

i really believe that SCS is a product of rough handling, less than stellar packaging and fate.................

 

These factors probably contribute, but I also think the TYPE of books factors greatly into the equation.

 

In my experience, I have seen a high percentage of slab damage on Giant-Size Marvels from the 70s. These books tend to have cover overhang and they have more mass.... so I think they can slam into the well rails with more force resulting in slab damage.

[Mr. Zipper]

PGX holders can lead to cover rips and staple tears in some comics? Have you got any examples of this? That sounds worse than SCS.

 

I have personally never heard of covers detaching from the interiors on PGX books, but this was the reason CGC gave as to why they would not adopt the PGX inner-well design. (before adopting it on Moderns).

 

I have a PGX 9.8 Conan #0 with a loose cover.

 

Lightly shake the slab and the insides will shift up or down but the cover does not move. There are no staple tears, but the staple holes are somewhat enlarged. I can only imagine that this is a result of the cover being pinched tightly by the well, but the interior paperstock is slick enough to slide around and pull against the staples.

[OldGuy]

I just got a box from CGC and one of the slabs has a small crack that could not have happened in shipping. It didn't even make out of CGC's hands before getting a crack.

[Ze-man]

but this was the reason CGC gave as to why they would not adopt the PGX inner-well design. (before adopting it on Moderns).

 

 

In a nutshell , yes.

 

Steve was very emphatic about this point. Back in the day when I was on my SCS crusade it was explained to me that a tapered edge heat welded innerwell would eventually cause the cover to to tear away from the staples due to friction caused by pressure inside the well. Especially in older books.

Moderns on a whole are thinner and the paperstock is different, making them less prone to staple pulls while inside the well.

 

Best way to avoid SCS is to request from the seller to add extra(big bubble) bubblewrap to help cushion the slab during sudden jarring type impacts(like dropping, or slamming the box) But even then it is still a fragile comic inside a hard edged plastic well.

 

With all the pressing talk lately, and people leaning towards buying old label CGC books because they have a better chance of not being pressed, means they also have a better chance at having SCS due to being..well... old label books, bought, sold and mailed numerous times.

 

Ze-

[Stronguy]

I sent in 12 Economy books once and 9 of them came back from CGC with at least some amount of SCS -- nothing major. I don't know if it was just that batch of wells they were using but shortly thereafter they began using wedges.

[Comicdey]

 

 

The modern CGC well and PGX style holder is all fine and dandy, but I've had instances where the seam sealing is too close to the edges of the book, and it curls the paper inward and creates stress lines, and on less flexible paper, actually creates micro vertical creases from the book outwards.

 

Has anyone else had this experience?

 

I've cracked out the few PGX books that had this starting so as not to worsen the condition, and put them back in mylars with fullbacks.

[Weird]

Sorry to hear that, Weird. I would contact CGC about it.

 

I probably should have raised a stink about it when I first got it back but was pretty naive about the whole CGC thing at the time. It was my first CS sub (like 3 years ago - time flies) and I was mainly doing it for the resto check and to check my grading anyhow.

 

It was one of my "never sell" books at the time, but things change. I don't think I want to take the chance of flattening out the bend myself if I bust it out however.

[Weird]

I sent in 12 Economy books once and 9 of them came back from CGC with at least some amount of SCS -- nothing major. I don't know if it was just that batch of wells they were using but shortly thereafter they began using wedges.

 

I have a Wonder Woman 199 with no wedges in it. You can shake the book and watch it bang against all four edges of the well. Luckily, the book is cut real solid and nothing gets bent. I should probably just liberate it anyhow. I wouldn't ship it any further with the way it is now. Too big of a risk of some real damage.

[Ze-man]

 

but I've had instances where the seam sealing is too close to the edges

 

Has anyone else had this experience?

 

 

 

No, I have no idea what you are talking about.

 

Ze-

 

 

Seriously , this might not be what you are talking about. In my case the heat welds seemed to have warped the plastic in such a manner as to possibly warp the book. I am cutting it out as we speak.

 

 

[Comicdey]

 

but I've had instances where the seam sealing is too close to the edges

 

Has anyone else had this experience?

 

 

 

No, I have no idea what you are talking about.

 

Ze-

 

 

Seriously , this might not be what you are talking about. In my case the heat welds seemed to have warped the plastic in such a manner as to possibly warp the book. I am cutting it out as we speak.

 

 

 

Basically the sealed well damages the overhang of the book by bending it over the interior pages

[Ze-man]

I got ya now In otherwords they are creating overhang SCS from the get go?Ouch.

 

Wonder if PGX refuses to slab a book based on how bad overhang is like CGC does.

 

Ze-

[HULKTOM]

I'm in the processing of sending all of my books that have the old CGC label reslabbed to the up to date version. Only once (knock on wood) did I send a CGC magazine for a reslab and the spine got damaged in shipping (SCS). CGC was cool about it and I they gave me credit for it. Even though it wasn't their fault. For me, it's about 1 out of 10 books I get have cracks and for my mags, it seems like every time. This is also true for the thicker comics that have that half inch thick slab. They always have a crack in it somewhere. And these are ones that were sent with very professional shipping and packaging. I'm pretty anal about my slabs so even if there is a small crack or dent, I'll send it in. Especially if's the old label.

[Paul_Maul]

The real irony in all of this is that with all of the SCS, trimming, etc. of

legitimately high grade books, high grade collecting has probably been

indirectly responsible for destroying or damaging as many high grade books

as the aggregate of kids stuffing books in their back pockets.

[Aman619]

right, but dont worry - - - every book that drops off due to SCS will be replaced with all the pressing that CGC looks the other way on,... All part of the master plan?? mmm

[sterlingcomics]

PGX holders can lead to cover rips and staple tears in some comics? Have you got any examples of this? That sounds worse than SCS.

 

It is worse, and those were the words out of Steve Borock himself when I posed this very question several weeks ago--although I am paraphrasing that conversation. I'm sure he'll set me straight if I said it incorrectly.

 

Oddly, I've never heard of any PGX book being damaged in such a way, so it is all theory at this point. It seems probable to the thicker books Borock added, since there would be more pressure applied to the book. I'd be interested with any feedback from those who have experienced this with PGX slabs. I remember (Ze-man?) doing the shake n' bake test, and in the PGX slabs they didn't move....AT ALL. It was a telling tale that was, in my mind, a shining moment of these boards doing something positive and productive in making CGC's product better.

 

A possible workaround would be to have slabs specifically tailored to these use cases, but it appears CGC deems it cost prohibitive and seems ok taking on the risk with SCS with the current holder design for non-Moderns. As I recall, they did go with the PGX design with moderns because the books are thinner and consistent AND because they are cheaper (in terms of cost if there are problems).