Basement X

How do you guys feel about Comic Grading (CGC)? I myself am not a really a fan of it. I realize that many people do want their ultra-valuable books protected, like 1st appearances of famous characters or milestone books like (the original) UXM 1, Amazing Fantasy 15, Walking Dead 1, Chew 1, etc… However, it’s approaching the point where it’s difficult to find any reasonably popular back issue that hasn’t been CGC’d. While looking online for a 1st printing of Brian Wood’s Star Wars #1, I saw the vast majority of them had been CGC’d and were priced in the neighborhood of $100.00. SW #1 was a critical and commercial success for both Wood & Darkhorse and I do believe that merits an increased price of the first issue but I don’t believe it catapults SW into the $100.00 range.

That leads to my second gripe: I see people CGCing books purely for a resale value that I don’t believe is accurate or reasonable; it’s just artificially pumping up the price to make a quick buck. It smacks of the 90s when everything was a gimmick designed to make the collector rich.

I don’t begrudge people who CGC their own books because they’re valuable and they want to protect themfor the long term or even if they want to sell it down the line. But the assholes who buy 10 copies of a title, only to CGC them, and resell it online for quadruple the price really infuriate me. And, lastly, on a more practical matter: I’d actually like to read the f’ing book, which is made impossible by the tombstone it’s encased in.

I hope this CGC thing is just a phase…

It is not. I can get into a huge spiel on this. I spent a ton of time on the CGC boards.

But long story short.

Modern CGC's are only worth anything if they are 9.8, and I feel it is a false market. The grading also differs over time. 9.6-9.8's etc and purely subjective at CGC. It's brutal. The differences in the book are negligable., but have a vastly different price.


However, for old stuff I like it. They provide a resto and trimming check, which I am not good at.

The signature series is also a good thing.

However, the cost, pricing and turnaround times are stupid.

I have perhaps 10-12 CGC books, including all my $800+ books, just so I have a paper trail and proof of ownership for insurance.

Side note - Want me to look for a SW 1 first print?

I found the first 7 issues of SW (first printings) on eBay but thanks for the offer. I see what you're saying about CGCing a book for insurance purposes and for reasons like that, don't have a problem with. It's just the people scoping up multiple copies and reselling them -or trying to resell them- at an outrageous price.

No joke, I saw one auction where a guy was selling 5 CGC's copies of SW #1 for $600. I truly cannot imagine who would go for that...

By speculators for speculators!