@@jayhays8267 C Gc for UN me eventually c Gc will get direct together. You will have a 100 point rating scale that I created and copyrighted. And that will make grading a lot more exact. So numbers will be calculated and not assigned as in a bikini contest.
This. A comic book is for reading. You can certainly argue that some of the older, rarer books should be preserved behind glass, but not nearly every book. The comic experience is the whole of the book. The comics fan values books for the whole experience of the comic. It is speculators who see comics as an "asset", and I'm old enough to remember how that went in the 90s. These speculators may like comics - I won't gatekeep their tastes - but the reason to slab is to inherently change the reason for the value, IMO. Slabbing is a fad that I'm glad to see die.
Grading ruined the Collecting Hobby for Coins, Baseball Cards, and Comics. It's a pure investment mentality now. I was selling comics at an indoor garage sale for $1 each. Guy comes up to me, and says, "this isn't a 9+ Grade book, can you do better". I said, "dude, it's a freakin dollar". Ridiculous.
This has happened to toy collectors years ago. Too many ppl get into it purely for the money and they oversaturated the market. The grading companies rush to meet demand and are inconsistent and lost some trust. The reason something becomes valuable is because it’s rare, when everyone is hanging on to them, it’s not that valuable. I remember long time ago, I was at Frank & Sons and was surprised at how expensive Richie Rich comics were selling for and the vendor explained that everyone was hanging on to their Batman and Spider-Man comics but no one expected these to be valuable. It’s simple supply and demand I guess
@@eddiemin4312 It’s mainly demand though. I can take a shit and that’s the only shit that I made that day. That shit is rare and one of a kind. Does anybody want to buy my shit?
The only people that are panicking are the people that are in it for the money and flippers. I buy comics for the story, or the art…I can read any comic I buy digitally if it’s slabbed. The comics I have that are currently graded…the case helps keep them in great condition while I display them. I don’t sell my books. If they go up in value great, if not….oh well!
Speculators are ruining the hobby. Collectors slab their books to protect them or to display them, speculators only want to turn a profit… although I do think the CGC cases are cheap. They don’t do well with water and don’t have UV protection.
Speculating is destroying every aspect of collecting. They wanna get rich off comics and toys. Most end up losing everything cause they don’t know what they are doing.
Pretty much my attitude. I recently decoded to send my STAR WARS #1 in for grading because I have a reprint I can read if I want. It is a 9.4 or higher and unlike my ASM and BATMAN books - I will likely sell the STAR WARS comics within the next few years, before Disney completely destroys the legacy of STAR WARS altogether and the prices for them crash.
The entire grading industry was severely discredited by the video game overpricing bubble a couple of years ago, plus the original comic book collectors are literally dying out
Exactly. Anyone saying the price for everyday goods and groceries is living in a fantasy world. Too many people are having a hard time affording actual needs to spend money on things that are not needed. That's why so many businesses are crashing down or reporting harshly lowered sales. Don't listen to those obviously supporting the ones killing the economy.
I was just talking to my friends about this, the economy is in shambles and few people with families and priorities can afford the extra hobbies they enjoy, from Warhammer to collecting comics.
Damn true. Part of those high prices are just us trying to relieve the moment or excitement. Gotta pair high prices with emotion. Rarity doesn't always mean high value. I'm more into sports memorabilia. One day a guy tried to sell me a vintage autograph jersey for $3K. Yeah it's mint and rare, but bruh, he plays for a different team and I never saw him play. That thing has no value to me. Swear to God, these guys are just begging people to move their stuff 😂
I know a guy who runs an antique shop. He always gave me words of wisdom, if you’re going to collect something as an asset, buy the most coveted or best you can get. Better to have one high grade sealed Fantastic Four number 1 than 100 random early issues. The Holy Grail of anything is all that will ever bring real life changing value.
I have my 2 favorite covers of my 2 favorite comic book series graded for display art. They were cheap to get. And I can read them anytime TPB form. I wouldn’t do anything more than own these for preserved cover art.
I’ve always called slabs “plastic coffins” because the comic book effectively dies in the case. Reading books is a fundamental part of the experience. Thanks Daniel!
I said this on a comic book group on facebook, and got piled on like I was an idiot! lol I'm a reader first, collector second. I'm not hating or saying you shouldn't grade books if you want, but I personally agree... the book is effectively dead.
I heard once that there is a thing that has a screen and connects to another weird thing called interwebs....and I also heard a rumor that comic books I'll call them as you all most likely do funny books.....that incredibly some way you can "view" won't say read.....you can view funny books on this incredible wonder machine......I also heard that you can use fiat to purchase these funny books for a whopping few fiat credits......hmmmmmm maybe one could trade digital funny books for purity sake....
I remember as a kid my dad always told me to keep my Star Wars figures in their boxes because they’d probably be worth lots one day. I didn’t listen because I wanted to play with them and low and behold they’d not be worth shit, it wasn’t 1977 it was 1999.
@@ImmaculateComics it's worse than that....the plastic yellows and when the light hits the book at a certain angle and degree it will automatically combust and burst into flames
New generation can't afford to care. A hobby that used to costs cents or maybe a couple of thousand dollars for extremely rare old books has been eaten up by companies like cgc and killed by grifters like comictom who like using the word 'community' a lot.
It's not just comic's. I recently took a PCGS graded set of Walker Half dollars to several coin shops in the central Florida Tampa area. No one wanted to buy them. The dealers told me that no one is buying collectable coins any more.
…that experience does not exist anymore. And back then, you’d bag and board your books. Why? To keep them in mint condition. That’s why. That’s why we grade books.
@@Graphicxtras1 I used to keep mine that way and stored them in empty anti-freeze boxes . They started turning brown and were giving off a strong odor . I made it a project to bag and board them all and store them in a dry closet on shelves . I also placed dryer sheets in the boxes to absorb the odors . I'm a 65 year old man and turned an eyesore into something I could be proud of .
@@eaglerider1826 Had my comics from the 70s (and have comics from the 30s and 40s) and I haven't got any of them in slabbed or bags, they are all fine and still regularly read. Each to their own in their storage and collecting techniques !
My thoughts exactly... I saw a bunch of amazing spidermans that were filler issues all graded, and I said "Why!?". This was at a card shop who took them in and the owner though "gee.. wow, graded.. must be worth somthing"... Told him they weren't worth the grading fee...
Been collecting comics for 30 odd years, for years I stayed away from graded books and finally started slabbing some of my better older bronze and silver age keys. And will certainly agree there are far too many graded books out there. Newer stuff I just stay away from, for the most part if maybe one to two percent of all modern books will ever really be worth anything. My thought is enjoy the hobby, actually take the time to read some books, there are really some great stories out there. Just my two cents for the day…
thtas half reason comic collecting when grading if its not cgc cbcs pgx egs they sell for less cgc sells for more they should same equal value yes cgc sent me email buy book not compnay name logo for book be worth value comic collecotrs are ripping of collecotrs if its cgc sell for high but anything not cgc sell for less thats not fiar
I still like my favourite covers in a slab, preferably none keys at a reasonable price. I have 14 slabs total. J Scott, Artgerm & Hughes mainly. Raw I've got thousands. Everything in life is a balance. I've been unloading stuff recently that I dont actually enjoy. Bought way to many books during the boom because of fomo, luckily in the 10's of dollars rather than hundreds.
When I was buying a house, I sold of my most valuable comics. My best friend told me to get them graded first. I completely ignored his advice and used my own grading, based on Over street's definitions, and they sold for pretty good cash. After watching your video, I'm glad I didn't get them graded!
I KNEW THIS WOULD HAPPEN! As a long time sports card and TCG collector and grader, the market knew there was no negatives to grading them. Whereas with comics, the magic is inside the covers! If you've never read the comic, buying slabbed you never get to experience that magic in the story and art that captivates the reader. Sports cards are just a flat item, you can grade them and you still see and appreciate every part of it!!
Hell, it’s the letter to editor that I love and the bullpen updates and old advertisements inside. Digital comics don’t have any of the good stuff inside.
The real irony is that the rarest covers of 2024 in 10 years time in a majority of titles will be the standard A covers. The ones nobody bothered to speculate on.
@@brianoneal2547I know right. It’s always greed when someone ELSE wants top dollar for something. You never see the people blaming greed selling their things for a song and a prayer.
@@bd2864 ya and? It's a comic book not a bar of gold, or a basket of groceries.....supply and demand.....if you want certainties sir go to work for the criminal governent and become a thief
Ya thats the market for alot of collectibles right now. Like sneakers and retro video games. Everyone saw the covid craze and wants to make an easy buck. I dont blame them, i did really small flipping during covid and it just made enough money to buy video games here or there that i wanted to play, never turned it into a business. I think all this flipping ruins the hobby too.
When it becomes an honest question, "Are you paying for the book, or are you paying for the plastic with a number attached to it", that then has always been a problem for me. About 4-5 years ago I started saying slab grading was a blight on the comic book collecting world, and I still feel that way today.
My father was a stamp collector, building up a nice collection over seventy years. Few years before he passed, he showed me a set of four Edwardian stamps which were originally valued at around £1,500 but had crashed down to £300........ Stanley Gibbons stamp books confirmed this. Similarly, the rest of his collection dropped rapidly as we found out on selling up. One similar item he bought were laminated sealed pages containing stamps with a history on the back which cost £15 to £20 a piece. Stamp shops weren't interested at all and two folders full of them sold for £120 at auction. A Penny Black stamp with authentication which cost him £190 many years ago went under the hammer at £35......
Exactly. When I was a boy every comic had ads for stamp approvals where they sent you stamps in the post and you bought the ones which you wanted to keep. You can see these ads in 70s comics. But the people of my generation who collected stamps are dying off now and you get people, many of whom have never licked a stamp just aren’t interested. For “key books” of characters who have been in recent blockbuster films the cycle of popularity is going g to be even shorter. I have seen people paying ridiculous prices for Shazam comics that would have been in a bargain bin a few years ago and will be back in a bargain bin in a couple of years from now. If you invest in stocks and shares you are investing in something real - whether that be oil, construction or office buildings. These have genuine value. The value of collectibles is subject to whims and fads. The only reason to buy a collectible comic for a large price is if you are going to get pleasure from owning it. If you do that then you will never lose.
I sent my strange tales 110 to be graded and they destroyed it. I got it from a fellow collector and it was in really good condition, it had some yellowing, small creases in the cover and a tiny tare in the 5th page. When I got it back it wasn't graded it was in pieces the cover was slashed, the pages were ripped and I looked like it was soaked in water. I called the customer service number and sent them an email with images of the comic before I sent it and after I got it with all the paper work I got, well come to find out the grader spilt the pop on it and then destroyed it then told his boss it arrived like that and boss believed him until I gave them the proof. They offered $600 for the comic that was worth $1000+ and was told I would get 75% all future gradings. I told them to suck me and had my insurance company deal with the claim. After 6months I got $1200 and an apology.
I read "spilt the pop on it" as "SPLIT the pop on it" and then racked my brain trying to figure out what the pop of a comic book is and how do you split it open. Then I remembered that half the country says "pop" for "soda" and THEN realized it said "spilt". Did I mention that it is late? I am glad you got reimbursement, what an ugly situation.
They kept your good comic and sent back a worthless copy they had laying around. Blamed a make believe employee and lowballed the offer. Glad you saw through it but your comic lives on in some vault somewhere triple the value.... Auction items are similar. Get a good deal on a gamegear or such with a low bidding and you recieve a worthless non working gamegear that totally does not resemble the pictured product. Seller offers a refund. It is a scam because he holds onto the product if the bid was to low and sends you a "mistake" that most people agree to return for a refund. Seller then resells hoping to get higher offer later. Buyer believes it is a simple error. Rinse and repeat. Ive been collecting close to half a century now....
I collected comics for 37 years. About 40 long boxes. All raw. I never understood the reason to grade comics and seal them away. The sooner grading disappears the better. In my humble opinion.
Over 55 000 comic books and I definitely agree with you. I only put them in bags, no boards and I have them in book cases. I touch them, read them and f-ing don't care.....ooh ooh, that's a key issue or this that.....ffs. 🤣
Agreed. Slabs are a waste of money and take up way too much space when you’re collection gets into the tens of thousands!! I can use the money I’d pay to get something graded to buy more comics lol
My dad had 2 stores on the side when I was a kid (Gettysburg and Hanover PA - DynamiteComics, one of my favorite memories of growing up was gettimg to help bag & board books on the weekend). All in all, he had 440 short boxes and 350 long boxes. Lol it filled our 2 car garage and basement when he decided to offload them to a collector. Comicons back in the day were awesome too
This is nonsense, selling graded comics is easy, just lower the price. The market has fallen for now and at some point it may go back up. Just like any market.
The slab naysayers are of course coming around and yeah perhaps for bronze and modern age books slabs don't make sense, but many keys have fallen in price for the past three years. These are buying prices all around. If people want to crack their slab a lose money that's on them, but I definitely don't think it's an indicator for the future.
Honestly. If something isnt selling its because the product is A terrible and no one wants it or B too expensive. Id say 90 percent of the time its the price. Lower the price, youll sell it.
The one thing I could never figure out was people getting comics graded, that were less in value, than the grading process. I'm not paying 100.00 for a good quality 15.00 book just because the dealer paid to have it graded. Crazy. I've had one comic graded, Forever People #1 signed by Jack Kirby. It sat in my collection for 25 years. Not a high priced book, I paid more to have it graded because I always wondered if the signature was legit (his secretary signed a lot of his books for him). Came back as legit signature at a 5.5 (not pressed). Paid more than the value of the book, but the authentication was worth the price to me for my personal collection (and made me happy to own a book signed by the King), Not as a resale investment.
Wasn't the reason to slab comics that comic books started to be sold on Ebay by ordinary people and as a buyer you didn't want to pay a VG prize of $1000 for a book that you couldn't lay your hands on and that might only be a G worth $700? With third party grading you could rely more on the grading being correct. I agree it makes no sense with a cheaper book that might be worth $70 in G and $100 in VG as the potential loss of a book that has the wrong grade is less than the cost of slabbing it.
I've only sent 2 in to be graded, and one was a McFarlane signed Spiderman #1 that I got back in 1990. Back then, there was no COA with it. I wanted to make sure the signature was real. I paid $10 for it back then. The other was Spiderman 100, but when the LCS tried to jack up the grading cost on me after we already agreed on a price, I decided not to send anymore in. Luckily, he had texted me the price, so he couldn't deny the price we agreed on.
I hear ya. I have one stabbed book. It is a crowd funded book, Prey for the Sinner because it was one of the last covers George Perez did & its signed by him. Otherwise have always been unsure.
If you love comics don’t let this video discourage you. Graded or not buy what you want. Don’t buy with the intentions of flipping for a profit unless you have mad money to waste.
This video wouldn't discourage anyone who is a fan. In fact it would be encouraging. Insane prices are coming down and will continue to come down. Almost everything will become more affordable. Especially when more "investors" throw in the towel upon realizing the market aint coming back.
I’m currently trying to buy all the last 12 invincible comics graded. I have the compendiums if I want to read the comics, but I just want them all because I think they are super cool items to own.
I agree. Better off putting them in a UV protected case. That allows you to take it out. CGC hurt itself with all their issues. It's not even worth it anymore.
I'm glad you mentioned the UV thing. I am shocked how many people toss these rare comics around, expose them to sunlight, and put them on display like any other random comic. I remember there was this one comic store I used to go to that put rare comics in their windows! They all faded, obviously. How crazy is that?
I've really wondered about this grading thing. I've collected comics up until the late 90's. I got into collecting them because I liked to read them. I got out of collecting when the industry was catering to collectors and people were afraid to even open them incase they did some slight damage to them. That was enough for me, I was out.
Nah, it's the collectables market in its entirety that is a reflection of the economy. High inflation = less available funds for collecting. The collectables market moves in cycles along with the economy. Buy low, sell high, but that takes 1) timing and 2) patience.
Kind of hit the nail on the head. People don’t have the disposable income right now to justify buying collectibles. I’m sure there will be an upswing and the talking heads will make videos on “why didn’t I buy when the market was so low”
@@jakeys2457 Thank you, and yeah, I'm buying slabbed silver and bronze where the price is right, and for my PC so I'm not worried about turning a profit for a long time.
This is ture! I have seen it before and was able to grab some great stuff before the next run up as i am doing now. Once the economy gets better all collectables rise fast.
I purchased ASM 129 raw ( and actually got a good deal) cause I wanted the feel of the book , smell of the pages, and to actually read the official version.
my dad and uncles used to keep all their comics next to the toilet and they’d read them while taking a dump. A lot of people did way back when. 30 years later people are buying those same comics and fawning over how good they smell
Nice man, I personally believe ASM 6 Sinister Six 1960's comic is massively undervalued. Was only 1 print run and in my opinion seems so undervalued right now on market.
In the real estate biz they call it house flipping. So this slab jazz would be book flipping. Owners never considered keeping them, since it was all just a cash grab. This is not true comic book collecting, where you mainly aim to KEEP the treasure you've found, after years of searching. Screw the stupid slab biz. After 50 years of collecting, I've never had even one single comic put behind any "graded" hunk of plastic.
You're right. It seems like "everything is falling" but it was simply just overly inflated by people pumping up prices and trying to sell to another reseller. It's all just going down to normal
I totally agree with your comment on slabs,,I myself am a collector but only golden age Marvels . especially Incredible Hulk! you think I would slab my #180 or #181 Hulk?? NO WAY!!
Hi, I found your video so insightful and is what my husband and I, who love collecting antiques and vintage items including comics, have been feeling about comic books. As you mention, one of the greatest feelings is reading a story plus seeing all the advertisement from decades back. You learn so much about the way things were. And the stories and artwork are so nice to see. So while there are benefits of preserving the condition of a comic by slabbing it, you lose a lot too. Plus all the economics as you mentioned are worth seriously considering. Thanks again for putting this video.
I work in a comic Shop that has been around over 40 years. We don’t mess with graded books at all. There are a lot of reasons why but one of the biggest is that the people who slab the books always believe that the slabbing has made their book worth 10 times it’s actual value and they refuse to believe otherwise. It’s now become a little alternate world where the slabbed books are sold back and forth between these “collectors” trying to prove they are right. To each other. Because they are in denial. Once a human gets the dollar signs in their eyes, they become unbearable and blind to reality. Card hobbies has suffered the most from this. Sports cards especially.
You are spot on here and welcome to or back to what comic collecting is really all about. I'm 67 and have been reading and collecting comics for over 60 years and - like Don Rosa - I will NEVER slab a comic - I will READ IT! People who buy and slab comics are in it for the money and not the love of comics. Take your money and buy and read as many comics as you can. You will some encounter some crap along the way but you will also discover the joy of finding an author or artist or character you really like. Lay them on the floor and sort through them and enjoy! - THAT'S what comics are about. And you will then pass on your love to your children or grandchildren and then comics will still be around for generations - NOT if they're slabbed!
I felt the way you did about 12-15 years ago but now I’m back and I throughly enjoy going through my books and like to display them. I’ve already read them personally and have them in lower grade copies or omnibuses to engage with and read. I think you can have a balance
This is interesting content for me. I'm moving, and have uncovered my old collection (about 4 boxes - mostly 80's books with some 70's stuff and early 90's). I'd like to start selling some off - but the whole idea and process and expense involved in 'slabbing' these books - doesn't appeal to me at all. So i'm very glad to hear that there's an actual market for my 'raw' books.
You missed the boat and should have sold them raw during the end of COVID. Now they are worth less and take forever to sell. You would be better off waiting until the next bubble or just give them away to a young kid who can enjoy them.
Slabs are selling, they just need to be priced correct, and if somebody slabbed a book that has no financial reason being slabbed...well now they're eating S**t. The hobby needs to learn what is actually worthy of being graded.
@@DanSchawbel nothing is “worth being graded” only reason is to flip or line CGCs pockets with money if your collecting for yourself and no monetary gain a protector works just fine and often works better actually
@@jimmyhayes6017 so Hypothetical question. You have $10k for a comic of your liking. Theres a 5.0 graded by CGC and theres a 5.0 in a plastic holder graded by JoBlo Comic dealer at booth #203… Which do you choose?
Yeah, the euphoria of the comic book boom has passed. Now, you can't just grade anything at anytime and make profit. Now you have to research market trends and what books are actually moving. Even popular youtube dealers have graded moderns for sale that make me ask why in the hell would you ever grade that book?
I'm not going to buy Golden Age books for thousands of dollars from a stranger unless I have some sort of comfort in knowing it's not trimmed, color touched, etc. I've been burned before. I will only buy high value books that have been graded. I think it's silly not to
That is why CCG was founded in 1987 they started off with bills, stamps & coins so you know it's not a forgery. It's a valuable service. People been crying about CGC & PSA and grading collectibles forever. It is what it is.
@Mountainrock70 I agree. I've learned how to spot color touch, but trimmed pages, married pages, etc, I really have no idea. Still, it's nice to have a second opinion
@@richardolney1822 It only makes sense for books from before that time, IMO. For such older books I can see the need, but it has become more than it was originally intended to be I think with people doing it with Modern Age books.
It’s not just comic books losing value. We’re in an everything bubble and everything is and will be coming back down to reality over the next 2-3 years (Real estate, cars, comics, trading cards, etc)
I collect comics - for years now. I do get some graded, but only if it's a signature series. I have no intention of selling them. MY comics are MY comics. I have no intention of flipping a comic.
People want a fortune for graded books. Plus CGC moving the goalpost eroded the graded market. It became clear that any integrity in their process vanished and they have fully committed themselves to marketing gimmicks to fatten their own margins.
that’s the biggest issue in my opinion. Handing out 9.9s like they’re candy now really left a bad taste in peoples mouths. I have about 10 graded books and i was going to get quite a few more graded but i’m so disgusted with them i refuse to give them any more of my money. And now i’m starting to realize over the past 6 months that i like the books much better raw, even for display purposes.
@@donaldvonglitchenberger4108 Its exactly this... They killed their business ( at least temporarliy) with introducing the 10.0 for most books after establishing the market where 9.8 was the standard highest grade... Now people are either pissed ( especially if they have a lot of high grade books that just lost value), or they want to see where the dust settles...
If you really want to sell this stuff right now you just have to eat your feelings and auction it off at whatever price you can get an opening bid! Everyone thought that easy $$$ would just continue forever! Best thing to do is put them in storage or decorate your wall and forget about the value for a few years until it works itself out!
I'm just passing on to my kids ,they can see what a 100 year old comic will bring,right now from 100 to 300 ,some slabbed some not,if I get a slab anymore it's the signature series for authentication
When it shifted from "buy the best version of your favorite books" to "investments"... whenever that happens to anything in any industry, know that scammers have taken total control and you should fall back until it all implodes.
You raise some valid points. If you have to buy them graded, then it's usually an indication that you are a speculator, and not necessarily a collector.
How well can you spot restoration? Color touch? Archival paper tear seals? When you start collecting Golden Age or Silver Age keys...you will change your mind. With all older books, its not about speculation, its about authentication.
@@christopherferguson7201 I've seen books that look trimmed with a blue label, I believe it. PGX also has a history of not counting pages and checking for restoration so this is just regarding CGC/CBCS
Exactly. There are many cases in which grading, and buying graded, comics is preferable. Many of the books in slabs right now weren't worth grading to begin with.
I want this. I don't collect to sell. Maybe in 20 years if they are really worth something and I've moved onto other needs or wants. Right now, I'm loving these low prices. If you buy for personal enjoyment or looking to sell years in the future. Now is the time to buy.
I never understood the appeal of slabbing comics. It effectively turns a comic book into a trading card. When I was into buying older comics, I graded comics in three ways... unacceptably bad condition, okay condition but I wouldn't mind having a better copy, and an ideal copy. Looking at and grading comics at a microscopic level never appealed to me. I want a thing I can read and flip through. It's not a coin or a trading card.
I think the biggest change has been eBay and other sites offering authentication for free. One of the points of slabbing was to authenticate rare and hard to find books.
I came across this information at just the right moment. I have boxes of books from when I was collecting in the 90s that I've been mulling over selling for the last couple of years but I've put off because of the long and costly process of grading. Every thing I was seeing online and the few people I talked to made it seem like the only way to sell anything was to have it graded. It's good to know that the market may be swinging back to some common sense. The "grading" industry has become such a racket with every goofball collector encasing every book, toy, VHS tape, etc in a plastic box.
Yea but the flip side of selling raw is buyers expecting 9.9 or better grades out of the raw books they buy at a discount and then filing returns, not as described claims etc. The original reason for grading was not to inflate the value of the book, but to serve as a neutral thrid party opinion to mediate such disputes.
The reason you see raw books also moving easier is because some of the people buying it want to get the books graded THEMSELVES. If someone has already done that part, there is no "meat on the bone" at the back end (possibly). By getting it graded before hand and selling it like that, you're effectively removing the potential buyers who'd wanna do just that, (and putting a finite price amount on the book so it isn't as exciting).
For big keys I prefer having them graded as I know what I’m getting and it’s safer to buy knowing the book hasn’t been trimmed or color touched or missing pages. The minor keys and run fillers I wouldn’t buy graded and prefer them raw. I don’t ever see graded books ever going away. It’s riskier buying raw books online and not everyone has access to a comic shop near them but I can understand how people would get tired of the premium pricing that’s involved with slabs.
That use to be a pro argument for buying slabs until the CGC slabbing scandal happened (and you know they ain't wasting time on tiny books). Only solution I heard from people was "trust your dealer and do your due diligence before buying" which is what you do for raw books. If you can't blindly rely on the number on the case anymore and have to research like a raw, then might as well just buy the raw and save money.
I only want raw books. Comics are to read. As far as I'm concerned, if you can't read the book, you don't have it in your collection. You just own an unopenable plastic safe.
This has been an informative video. I have some slabs and have moved some slabs and you 're right. If you can't read them are the in your collection? Age old question, why do you collect? Thanks.
Collecting meant something different to me over 30 years ago. I would go to the comic book store every week to pick up my comics, read them, then store them in the sleeve with the cardboard backing. I would take them to comicbook conventions to get signed and have a lot of fun with friends. Two great memories: 1) my daughters looking through and thinking my collection was cool 2) meeting Stan Lee in Pittsburgh in the mid 1990s. I never had my comics graded.
My man! Your video is a pleasure to experience and has hit the proverbial nail on the head! I've collected comics starting in the early 70s thru the early 80s and have a pretty extensive collection. I took a break during the 80s (college and job seeking years). I started collecting again in the early 90s when I first became aware of this CGC grading system. I thought ... what the Hell happened since I left? I couldn't believe that someone created a comic book grading business and collectors were falling right into it (convincing collectors that their collection was worth more than what it was). And it looked like it worked for many years! Unfortunately, I thought it was the most asinine thing I had ever heard of. Overstreet's price guide (which was the standard from what I remembered) was virtually useless! Although I have purchased a few CGC books in the past (only because I either couldn't find them or they were a good deal), I've always preferred raw, un-slabbed comic books that were un-graded. The reading, viewing internal art panels, touching and turning pages is the most important part of comic book collecting experience. It infuriated me that there were people exploiting this experience strictly for monetary and personal gain. I figured it would not last long. Unfortunately, it lasted longer that I ever anticipated. I'm hoping these collectors will wake up and realize that these books will be difficult to get rid of if you can't actually see or physically touch them. Unbelievable! Besides, real hobby collectors are not 'necessarily' collecting to turn a profit (although still nice if you can).
What a lot of collectors are realizing is that it becomes a storing issue try storing a complete run of spiderman in your home especially if you are married and have kids good luck. I have always preferred raw books.
I strongly disagree with this the only reason people can’t sell their slabs is because they are asking way too much or the grade is super low so they “crack and sell raw” and advertise their 3.0 as a 5.0 graded comics sell well people just have to stop asking crazy prices anything will realistically sell if your book is not a wack new exclusive
As much as I dislike graded comics, I think it is more that the bubble as a whole is bursting. I have been around to see the speculation bubbles burst in the past and we're in it big time right now. If you bought comics as an investment and they're not selling, you need to cut your losses now. Undercut everyone and get out while you can. Comic books have 10x'd in the last 4-5 years and it was never going to last. I would not be surprised at all if the market over corrects and prices on a lot of non-grail level books hit rock bottom over the next year or so. Anyone who was around in the late 90s should know what is coming. It amazes me what people think is normal for comic prices right now. $3-5 bargain bins for filler issues? Really? I've only been away for a few years but went to a local show and saw that. Quite dumbfounded. Never thought I'd be happy to find a few $1 bins of books with no bag or board so I didn't walk away completely empty handed... but prices are out of hand top to bottom. As far as graded comics go... I can kind of understand mega keys being slabbed or maybe signed books for authentication purposes. But when I say 'mega keys' I mean like... 50 books in existence should be given that treatment. Slabbing a book from the 80s or 90s with a million+ print run is just crazy to me, I don't care what event took place. And people paying hundreds of dollars for a 0.2 grade difference, especially when that difference is almost always subjective grading standard margin of error... just amazing how crazy people are. It just isn't going to last. People in it for money will get out. Prices will plummet. And I can't wait. Sucks my collection's value will go down with it but I'd rather be able to buy more.
Do you have an opinion on where the best place is to sell your books online? is the multiple listings approached the way to go? i’ve got some stuff I need to get rid of for space and financial considerations, and I’ve never tried to sell anything. Everything’s in good condition and nothing is graded.
I am glad you are rediscovering the joy of reading comics. I have watched you for a long time because during the comic boom I felt like I had to “play the game” to get a copy of the issues I love. But at the end of the day, ASM 129 is just an issue in my ASM run. I bought it because I like ASM and I read it. And when the paper disintegrates and the money is long gone my love for ASM will still be there.
So true... half of the non-key 9.0-9.6 books on eBay right now are selling for about the same price as it cost to get them graded in the first place. I genuinely enjoy the way graded books look and I'm not an investor or flipper, so it's all great news for me because I no longer have to buy raw and submit to CGC. Most everything I buy is selling for less than the cost of doing that.
Because you pay for better condition of comic. It all comes down to preservation. Grading tells you how well preserved the comic is, and keeping it in the slab keeps it in such a condition.
I’m a new collector not an investor, I collect CGC signature series books because I know the stories already and they are books I love but also because they are written and drawn by some incredibly talented people. It’s true what they say! Collect what appeals to you!
Definetly connected with your post. I do the same, I’m a comic book autograph collector. I do it cause I’m a fan of the creators and artists. Apart from slabbing major keys, an autographed slab displays great! Like you said, collect and slab what makes you happy! I like this youtuber’s content, but too much poopoing on this post, 😬.
@@henryhernandezsrgpatriot8560Thanks for sharing! 🙏 it’s great to know that there are still collectors out there who like to collect the material to preserve it, preserve the artists who made it, but above all keep the soul of comics together. It’s gotten too money and speculation driven!.
I currently have no slabbed books in my collection. The main reason is that I like to pull some out once in a while and read them again. I'm not a speculator, I'm just a collector. I'll probably keep all my books 'till I die and my kids can decide what to do with them after I'm gone.
The major problem currently is CGC hurt themselves with internal problems, which cause people to doubt the authenticity of the grade. What hurt the market was people buying for investment, versus enjoyment. Because more people were buying graded comics as an investment, more people were grading. Now we see too much supply versus too little demand. Prices are dropping, stagnating, or there is no real value. This is called a market adjustment. Hold onto your grade comics, because once PSA starts up, there will be a price war and adjustment in confidence. Anyone not grading right now because raws move, will see those comics slabbed by PSA, and jump in price. People buying raw right now are buying to slab next year. Once people get a baring on whom is better or if both are the same, the market will adjust again. Don't panic and remove your comics from slabs to sell. I have been collecting comics for over 40 years, seen all this happen before. Be patient and adjust to the market dictates. Enjoy your comics, slabbed or not. There will be value returning at some point.
It's like any market. There's supply and demand. Right now there is an oversupply of graded books because everyone and their brother the past 5 years has slabbed everything under the sun. For long term collectors, it's a buyer's market on whatever you're looking for if you have the cash. If you're a seller and need cash, it's tough times. Prices are continuing to fall because there is little demand overall. Collectibles are one of the first indicators of overall economic conditions.
Thank God I collect for fun. Once I buy any collectible for my game room… Statues, art work, comic books- in slab or not … just beautiful art. I never , not once , do I think I will get a dime for any of it.
It's like every other collectable out there from movies, snapbacks, to t shirts. I mean its super rare that I go to a thrift store and genuinely find a score like a great ballcap, or cool t-shirt anymore. And you're right, you have people that actually love reading, re-reading, and collecting comics that don't necessarily want it sealed and/or to pay premiums prices.
I'm not a comic guy but I'm a sneaker collector and have the same sentiment. It's a lot of baggage. I don't need every colorway, every classic shoe, everything I wanted as a kid, etc etc. I've really had to declutter my home and I recently found a Mos Def song called Travelling Man and he starts it off with saying, "Memories don't live like people do.They always remember you. Whether things are good or bad, its just the memories"
The Goose is having an existential crisis concerning his own relationship to comic collecting, and projecting that onto the entire hobby. Some of his points are valid, but many of them have more to do with where his head is at, at the moment.
Plain and simple comics are dying because the market that wants them is dying . Try and tell anyone under 40 about how great some Superhero comic is. Games are what they buy. Comics are. Dead money . My rule is ask a 6 year old And 60 year old if they have heard of something , If they both say yes then yiu can consider buying it . Emotional attachment is one of the primary drivers for a collectible so many younger people have never even held a comic let alone read one so therefor no emotion =no sale
You are right. There is no reason it had to be like that, but comic books have been stuck in the ghetto of obscure comic shops for 30 years and now the direct market only chickens are coming home to roost. They should have been putting cheap options in Walmarts and grocery checkouts this whole time, and the few times the companies have acknowledged this (DC 100 page Walmart books for example) they half ass and quickly abandon it.
i have 9 nieces and nephews between the ages of 5-14. They’ve never even seen a comic book. Anyone that says this stuff will hold value in 20-30 years are out of their minds.
Tell me you new to this without telling me 😂😂😂😂 i bet you think trans are the majority too😂😂. You for sure are a disney marvel person with pronouns in your bio 🤡
By the way question to the comic book collectors, are there comic book cases or holders that you can open put your comic for safety and open them to read again, do those exist?
If I ever bought a graded comic I would immediately crack it open. I want a comic book, not a poster. I want to open it, smell it... you know like a comic book
Everyone is struggling, car sells are dropping, house sells are dropping. Everything is super expensive right now and people have to prioritize feeding their families. It's really as simple as that. Collectors like myself that had to dump collections to stay afloat are going to be reluctant to buy anything big for a few years. That's just what it is. Its like a very emotional draining thing when you have to sell things that we emotionaly connect to. ... Likely we will all move to buying 1 slab a summer ... in time, and build back some of our favorites that we miss. ... but also once you've owned something once, there's not as much excitement or urgency in owning it again ... so it will be a very very long decade or so trickle of the market coming back. We've lived through it once, we will live through it again.
There is a difference between the collecting hobby and the reseller hobby. Collectors main interest is not selling. Reading and appreciating the books is collecting. Flipping is not collecting.
I applaud your resolve to never sell a single item from your collection. Tastes may change and you may downsize your home, but the collection will only ever be allowed to grow or remain the same size. When you die, the collection will be donated to another collector [with stipulations that the items can never be sold] or your collection will be buried with you. You know, correctly so, that the second that you list a single item (for pathetic reasons such as: large medical bills; education tuition of a family member; loss of enjoyment for the hobby; divorce), you have become a disgusting, non-collecting reseller.
@tedsmiles8145 Damn Dude!! Yeah, these are all facts if you don't focus your collection. It's not like reselling is forbidden. There is a big difference from a collector to a flipper.
i was in the same spot where i was collecting and not for things i really love but for the sake of collecting. it started to become stressful. so i’ve stripped back my collection to what i love only and ive a renewed passion now
a friend was showing me graded comic book. it made sense cause it's protected but what about the story line? What if there is a certain issue that you want to read, read but now you need two issues?!
A little off topic, but why have we let these grading companies decide what a characters first appearance is? These people now get to engineer which issues are keys?
I came to the same conclusion. I collect vintage everything cards. it was fun to speculate which card might go up in value, but very quickly, it became annoying to have that be the only measure of how fun it was to buy new cards. I just learned to enjoy the collection I have been putting together. My collection is worthless because I'm not sure I'd ever sell.
There is a few factors on the decline of slabbed sales. 1. Economy (worst in years) 2. Scammers 3. Grading Controversy It'd hard to justify spending a lot of money on these type of books when there is so much smoke surrounding them.
He should have mentioned what prices he was asking for those CGC-graded comics. When he says "lowball", were those prices they normally sell at? I have seen many CGC-graded comics not selling due to prices that were 2022 high. I need more details to his story.
This was my same thought. What I’m really hearing is he over paid during the hype of the comic book and now he has lost a good bit of money due to the market dropping as it should since Covid prices were way over inflated. While I agree prices are still dropping and they will for a good bit. Buying graded isn’t that bad now and you might loose some money even buying now. But i buy books I want in my collection that are graded that are keys.
Thanks for posting. I’ve been collecting for 20 years and this is a direct response and result to how social media has changed the hobby. All of the people that are being affected by this are collecting for the wrong reason. The only reason to collect is love. Just like anything else, problems like this are what happens when you do it for the anything other than the love. ❤
Anyone who has a bunch of modern 9.6 and 9.8 slabs - who thinks they're worth between $40 and $400, depending on the comic... who's even thinking about buying any more graded comics... should randomly select about 25 of their best slabs, add up what they think they're worth - and then take them to an LCS and ask for an offer - they won't get 15 cents on the dollar for them. Then, try to sell them on ebay, where they have to sell them far below the fake market values in order to get them to sell, and then only get 85% of the sale price because of the ebay fees. Sooo many problems with slabs and modern comics in general, that it's not funny.
@@Talking_Comics Likely true. I wasn't clear - Trying to say - it you take a raw comic that grades around NMT (+ or minus, depending on opinion) that it is "worth" $10, retail... you might get $2 or $3 from an LCS. That's always been the case. Take that same book, spend the $25 it costs to get it graded and have it come back as anything other than 9.8 - and the LCS will only give you $5 for it (the LCS will only be able to sell it for $20). So, you will have taken a comic that was "worth" $3, then spent $25 for CGC fees and shipping, so you'd have $28 "invested"... and you'd only get $5. Problem is that that the vast majority of modern books aren't worth grading - there's very little demand for 98% of modern comics graded between 8.5 and 9.4.
@@ddougherty8266 can you share your LCS? I would love to get some $20 slabs? I know there isn't one cheaper than $50 at my LCS and that one has a cracked case.
I have NO slabbed comic books. A slabbed comic book is no longer a comic book, it's just a large trading card!
@@jayhays8267 C Gc for UN me eventually c Gc will get direct together. You will have a 100 point rating scale that I created and copyrighted. And that will make grading a lot more exact. So numbers will be calculated and not assigned as in a bikini contest.
So basically just buy an extra and get the other graded to put on the wall like an art piece.
This. A comic book is for reading. You can certainly argue that some of the older, rarer books should be preserved behind glass, but not nearly every book. The comic experience is the whole of the book. The comics fan values books for the whole experience of the comic. It is speculators who see comics as an "asset", and I'm old enough to remember how that went in the 90s. These speculators may like comics - I won't gatekeep their tastes - but the reason to slab is to inherently change the reason for the value, IMO. Slabbing is a fad that I'm glad to see die.
Good one, I'm gonna steal this.
At the very least I would want to read the damn thing.
Grading ruined the Collecting Hobby for Coins, Baseball Cards, and Comics. It's a pure investment mentality now. I was selling comics at an indoor garage sale for $1 each. Guy comes up to me, and says, "this isn't a 9+ Grade book, can you do better". I said, "dude, it's a freakin dollar". Ridiculous.
Lol. I wish this was just a story, but so many flippers try to lowball you to sell the whole box for like 20 dollars
Basketball card too
Wow! Insane
You should've said, "Okay, $2 then." LoL
*sports cards in general
As my old dad used to say, the value of something is only what someone will pay for it.
Yep. I think the guy in this video has misjudged the value he thought he would get for his graded comics, and now is bitter.
My Dad said the same thing. He also called straws sissy pumps lol
I say that too.. People see a price online and take it as gospil.
This has happened to toy collectors years ago. Too many ppl get into it purely for the money and they oversaturated the market. The grading companies rush to meet demand and are inconsistent and lost some trust. The reason something becomes valuable is because it’s rare, when everyone is hanging on to them, it’s not that valuable. I remember long time ago, I was at Frank & Sons and was surprised at how expensive Richie Rich comics were selling for and the vendor explained that everyone was hanging on to their Batman and Spider-Man comics but no one expected these to be valuable. It’s simple supply and demand I guess
@@eddiemin4312 It’s mainly demand though. I can take a shit and that’s the only shit that I made that day. That shit is rare and one of a kind. Does anybody want to buy my shit?
The only people that are panicking are the people that are in it for the money and flippers. I buy comics for the story, or the art…I can read any comic I buy digitally if it’s slabbed. The comics I have that are currently graded…the case helps keep them in great condition while I display them. I don’t sell my books. If they go up in value great, if not….oh well!
This is the true general consensus! I will always buy raw and cbcs graded books. I collect for myself not the market or anyone else.
Speculators are ruining the hobby. Collectors slab their books to protect them or to display them, speculators only want to turn a profit… although I do think the CGC cases are cheap. They don’t do well with water and don’t have UV protection.
Speculating is destroying every aspect of collecting. They wanna get rich off comics and toys. Most end up losing everything cause they don’t know what they are doing.
Pretty much my attitude. I recently decoded to send my STAR WARS #1 in for grading because I have a reprint I can read if I want. It is a 9.4 or higher and unlike my ASM and BATMAN books - I will likely sell the STAR WARS comics within the next few years, before Disney completely destroys the legacy of STAR WARS altogether and the prices for them crash.
@@michaelfisher1311I switched to CBCS as well. There is another big player entering the grading game soon as well. Watch for it.
The entire grading industry was severely discredited by the video game overpricing bubble a couple of years ago, plus the original comic book collectors are literally dying out
Grading something and try selling it for trouble the price is dirty
I think new Kids spend all their money to " sneaker " collections from 50 $ to 25 000 $ price price difference .
Reverse that. Comic book overpricing was going on way before video games.
!st thing I was thinking while watching this was WATA.
When you can barely afford groceries and gas, this is the last thought on anyone's mind, buying priced comics
What a weird comment? How'd you find this video? Who are you talking about? Obviously not yourself.
If your buying graded and got no food.. u need to look at your life.. the economy is fine ... Your pay check or savings is off.
Exactly. Anyone saying the price for everyday goods and groceries is living in a fantasy world. Too many people are having a hard time affording actual needs to spend money on things that are not needed. That's why so many businesses are crashing down or reporting harshly lowered sales. Don't listen to those obviously supporting the ones killing the economy.
@@scorpian3 haha people do that with trading cards! I know em
I was just talking to my friends about this, the economy is in shambles and few people with families and priorities can afford the extra hobbies they enjoy, from Warhammer to collecting comics.
As a collector, never buy anything graded unless it has meaning to you
Damn true. Part of those high prices are just us trying to relieve the moment or excitement. Gotta pair high prices with emotion. Rarity doesn't always mean high value.
I'm more into sports memorabilia. One day a guy tried to sell me a vintage autograph jersey for $3K. Yeah it's mint and rare, but bruh, he plays for a different team and I never saw him play. That thing has no value to me. Swear to God, these guys are just begging people to move their stuff 😂
I know a guy who runs an antique shop. He always gave me words of wisdom, if you’re going to collect something as an asset, buy the most coveted or best you can get. Better to have one high grade sealed Fantastic Four number 1 than 100 random early issues. The Holy Grail of anything is all that will ever bring real life changing value.
Well said
As a collector never grade anything not even if it has meaning for you.....sentiment won't read a funny book.....
I have my 2 favorite covers of my 2 favorite comic book series graded for display art. They were cheap to get. And I can read them anytime TPB form. I wouldn’t do anything more than own these for preserved cover art.
I’ve always called slabs “plastic coffins” because the comic book effectively dies in the case. Reading books is a fundamental part of the experience. Thanks Daniel!
I said this on a comic book group on facebook, and got piled on like I was an idiot! lol I'm a reader first, collector second. I'm not hating or saying you shouldn't grade books if you want, but I personally agree... the book is effectively dead.
100% agree
I heard once that there is a thing that has a screen and connects to another weird thing called interwebs....and I also heard a rumor that comic books I'll call them as you all most likely do funny books.....that incredibly some way you can "view" won't say read.....you can view funny books on this incredible wonder machine......I also heard that you can use fiat to purchase these funny books for a whopping few fiat credits......hmmmmmm maybe one could trade digital funny books for purity sake....
I remember as a kid my dad always told me to keep my Star Wars figures in their boxes because they’d probably be worth lots one day.
I didn’t listen because I wanted to play with them and low and behold they’d not be worth shit, it wasn’t 1977 it was 1999.
@@ImmaculateComics it's worse than that....the plastic yellows and when the light hits the book at a certain angle and degree it will automatically combust and burst into flames
People that read them are getting older and already collected what they want. New generation doesn't care.
New generation can't afford to care. A hobby that used to costs cents or maybe a couple of thousand dollars for extremely rare old books has been eaten up by companies like cgc and killed by grifters like comictom who like using the word 'community' a lot.
The new generation cares more about sport cards, pokemon cards and Yu-Gi-O cards.
It's not just comic's. I recently took a PCGS graded set of Walker Half dollars to several coin shops in the central Florida Tampa area. No one wanted to buy them. The dealers told me that no one is buying collectable coins any more.
I'm old enough to remember going to the corner store, buying the comicbook, reading it and storing my collection in a brown paper grocery bag.
…that experience does not exist anymore. And back then, you’d bag and board your books. Why? To keep them in mint condition. That’s why. That’s why we grade books.
@@Backtothehat The main reason it no longer exists is because it's now an adult market .
Yes, I think most of mine are still stored that way
@@Graphicxtras1 I used to keep mine that way and stored them in empty anti-freeze boxes . They started turning brown and were giving off a strong odor . I made it a project to bag and board them all and store them in a dry closet on shelves . I also placed dryer sheets in the boxes to absorb the odors . I'm a 65 year old man and turned an eyesore into something I could be proud of .
@@eaglerider1826 Had my comics from the 70s (and have comics from the 30s and 40s) and I haven't got any of them in slabbed or bags, they are all fine and still regularly read. Each to their own in their storage and collecting techniques !
The only thing killing graded books is too many graded books. Most modern and filler run books have no business being in a slab.
My thoughts exactly... I saw a bunch of amazing spidermans that were filler issues all graded, and I said "Why!?".
This was at a card shop who took them in and the owner though "gee.. wow, graded.. must be worth somthing"...
Told him they weren't worth the grading fee...
Agreed. The later books are crash and burn
Been collecting comics for 30 odd years, for years I stayed away from graded books and finally started slabbing some of my better older bronze and silver age keys. And will certainly agree there are far too many graded books out there. Newer stuff I just stay away from, for the most part if maybe one to two percent of all modern books will ever really be worth anything. My thought is enjoy the hobby, actually take the time to read some books, there are really some great stories out there. Just my two cents for the day…
@@shaner743: pretty much the same as you. Do you intend to sell at somepoint ?. I plan to sell In retirement as a way of earning extra income
thtas half reason comic collecting when grading if its not cgc cbcs pgx egs they sell for less cgc sells for more they should same equal value yes cgc sent me email buy book not compnay name logo for book be worth value comic collecotrs are ripping of collecotrs if its cgc sell for high but anything not cgc sell for less thats not fiar
I haven’t bought graded comics in 10 years. The way I look at is books are made to be read.
Same here. Buying a brick would be like buying an album that you can't listen too or buy a painting that you can't see.
Right, grading is for old comics too fragile to be read
I wont have any of mine slabbed. Sell them raw. Plus I read them also
@@sp123 No, that's what mylars are for. Slabbing is stupid.
I still like my favourite covers in a slab, preferably none keys at a reasonable price. I have 14 slabs total. J Scott, Artgerm & Hughes mainly. Raw I've got thousands. Everything in life is a balance. I've been unloading stuff recently that I dont actually enjoy. Bought way to many books during the boom because of fomo, luckily in the 10's of dollars rather than hundreds.
When I was buying a house, I sold of my most valuable comics. My best friend told me to get them graded first. I completely ignored his advice and used my own grading, based on Over street's definitions, and they sold for pretty good cash. After watching your video, I'm glad I didn't get them graded!
I KNEW THIS WOULD HAPPEN! As a long time sports card and TCG collector and grader, the market knew there was no negatives to grading them. Whereas with comics, the magic is inside the covers! If you've never read the comic, buying slabbed you never get to experience that magic in the story and art that captivates the reader.
Sports cards are just a flat item, you can grade them and you still see and appreciate every part of it!!
Same with coins...also slabbed. No internal contents.
Hell, it’s the letter to editor that I love and the bullpen updates and old advertisements inside. Digital comics don’t have any of the good stuff inside.
Companies didn't learn a thing from that first comic crash in the late 90's. Comic store prices doubled and they still make variant covers.
Variants are stupid......
I buy one copy
PERIOD
Depends. I only read one series so i dont mind getting the cool covers. :)
I like variant covers. Especially when I find them in the discount back issue table.
The real irony is that the rarest covers of 2024 in 10 years time in a majority of titles will be the standard A covers. The ones nobody bothered to speculate on.
The comic book grading thing is about greed and a misguided sense of investment. Actually, the only ones making money are the graders.
Greed? Yea because nothing else is about greed
@@brianoneal2547I know right. It’s always greed when someone ELSE wants top dollar for something. You never see the people blaming greed selling their things for a song and a prayer.
@@WarumonoTube I disagree.....many flippers make money....but what's wrong with making money......communist or something?
@@brianoneal2547who the shiz is the end buyer for graded stuff? No one. Just speculators hoping for a greater fool.
@@bd2864 ya and? It's a comic book not a bar of gold, or a basket of groceries.....supply and demand.....if you want certainties sir go to work for the criminal governent and become a thief
Too many flippers, not enough collectors. I believe most comics are still thirty to forty percent over valued.
Makes sense, I believe you are right
Ya thats the market for alot of collectibles right now. Like sneakers and retro video games. Everyone saw the covid craze and wants to make an easy buck. I dont blame them, i did really small flipping during covid and it just made enough money to buy video games here or there that i wanted to play, never turned it into a business. I think all this flipping ruins the hobby too.
When it becomes an honest question, "Are you paying for the book, or are you paying for the plastic with a number attached to it", that then has always been a problem for me.
About 4-5 years ago I started saying slab grading was a blight on the comic book collecting world, and I still feel that way today.
My father was a stamp collector, building up a nice collection over seventy years.
Few years before he passed, he showed me a set of four Edwardian stamps which were originally valued at around £1,500 but had crashed down to £300........ Stanley Gibbons stamp books confirmed this.
Similarly, the rest of his collection dropped rapidly as we found out on selling up.
One similar item he bought were laminated sealed pages containing stamps with a history on the back which cost £15 to £20 a piece. Stamp shops weren't interested at all and two folders full of them sold for £120 at auction.
A Penny Black stamp with authentication which cost him £190 many years ago went under the hammer at £35......
Exactly. When I was a boy every comic had ads for stamp approvals where they sent you stamps in the post and you bought the ones which you wanted to keep. You can see these ads in 70s comics. But the people of my generation who collected stamps are dying off now and you get people, many of whom have never licked a stamp just aren’t interested. For “key books” of characters who have been in recent blockbuster films the cycle of popularity is going g to be even shorter. I have seen people paying ridiculous prices for Shazam comics that would have been in a bargain bin a few years ago and will be back in a bargain bin in a couple of years from now. If you invest in stocks and shares you are investing in something real - whether that be oil, construction or office buildings. These have genuine value. The value of collectibles is subject to whims and fads. The only reason to buy a collectible comic for a large price is if you are going to get pleasure from owning it. If you do that then you will never lose.
I sent my strange tales 110 to be graded and they destroyed it. I got it from a fellow collector and it was in really good condition, it had some yellowing, small creases in the cover and a tiny tare in the 5th page. When I got it back it wasn't graded it was in pieces the cover was slashed, the pages were ripped and I looked like it was soaked in water. I called the customer service number and sent them an email with images of the comic before I sent it and after I got it with all the paper work I got, well come to find out the grader spilt the pop on it and then destroyed it then told his boss it arrived like that and boss believed him until I gave them the proof. They offered $600 for the comic that was worth $1000+ and was told I would get 75% all future gradings. I told them to suck me and had my insurance company deal with the claim. After 6months I got $1200 and an apology.
I read "spilt the pop on it" as "SPLIT the pop on it" and then racked my brain trying to figure out what the pop of a comic book is and how do you split it open. Then I remembered that half the country says "pop" for "soda" and THEN realized it said "spilt". Did I mention that it is late? I am glad you got reimbursement, what an ugly situation.
They kept your good comic and sent back a worthless copy they had laying around. Blamed a make believe employee and lowballed the offer. Glad you saw through it but your comic lives on in some vault somewhere triple the value....
Auction items are similar. Get a good deal on a gamegear or such with a low bidding and you recieve a worthless non working gamegear that totally does not resemble the pictured product. Seller offers a refund. It is a scam because he holds onto the product if the bid was to low and sends you a "mistake" that most people agree to return for a refund. Seller then resells hoping to get higher offer later. Buyer believes it is a simple error. Rinse and repeat.
Ive been collecting close to half a century now....
@mexcavazos your most likely right.
I collected comics for 37 years. About 40 long boxes. All raw. I never understood the reason to grade comics and seal them away. The sooner grading disappears the better. In my humble opinion.
Over 55 000 comic books and I definitely agree with you. I only put them in bags, no boards and I have them in book cases. I touch them, read them and f-ing don't care.....ooh ooh, that's a key issue or this that.....ffs. 🤣
Agreed. Slabs are a waste of money and take up way too much space when you’re collection gets into the tens of thousands!! I can use the money I’d pay to get something graded to buy more comics lol
My dad had 2 stores on the side when I was a kid (Gettysburg and Hanover PA - DynamiteComics, one of my favorite memories of growing up was gettimg to help bag & board books on the weekend). All in all, he had 440 short boxes and 350 long boxes. Lol it filled our 2 car garage and basement when he decided to offload them to a collector.
Comicons back in the day were awesome too
Worth it for minty fresh comics you love. They look cool too.
I bag my comics to keep them safely but I don’t so much these days now.
My new motto for collecting ANYTHING is:
Don't COLLECT too much/ dont don't EXPECT too much.
then dont cry about it when 20 years passes and something you though was trash; sells for thousands
@@ChickenMcThiccken So be it.
Learned this the hard way with my Funko pops. Good motto. Applies to anything we collect 👍
Face it, comics are ridiculously overpriced, whether they're graded or otherwise.
Almost all new books are absolute garbage.
This is nonsense, selling graded comics is easy, just lower the price. The market has fallen for now and at some point it may go back up. Just like any market.
The slab naysayers are of course coming around and yeah perhaps for bronze and modern age books slabs don't make sense, but many keys have fallen in price for the past three years. These are buying prices all around. If people want to crack their slab a lose money that's on them, but I definitely don't think it's an indicator for the future.
I agree. I have been buying slabs on eBay lately and if it’s a key or in demand it’s hard to win less than FMV.
Spot on. Simple supply & demand at play here
This. It’s simple economics.
Honestly. If something isnt selling its because the product is A terrible and no one wants it or B too expensive. Id say 90 percent of the time its the price. Lower the price, youll sell it.
The one thing I could never figure out was people getting comics graded, that were less in value, than the grading process. I'm not paying 100.00 for a good quality 15.00 book just because the dealer paid to have it graded. Crazy. I've had one comic graded, Forever People #1 signed by Jack Kirby. It sat in my collection for 25 years. Not a high priced book, I paid more to have it graded because I always wondered if the signature was legit (his secretary signed a lot of his books for him). Came back as legit signature at a 5.5 (not pressed). Paid more than the value of the book, but the authentication was worth the price to me for my personal collection (and made me happy to own a book signed by the King), Not as a resale investment.
Wasn't the reason to slab comics that comic books started to be sold on Ebay by ordinary people and as a buyer you didn't want to pay a VG prize of $1000 for a book that you couldn't lay your hands on and that might only be a G worth $700? With third party grading you could rely more on the grading being correct. I agree it makes no sense with a cheaper book that might be worth $70 in G and $100 in VG as the potential loss of a book that has the wrong grade is less than the cost of slabbing it.
Where did you hear Kirby’s secretary signed books? I don’t think he ever had a personal secretary unless you mean his wife.
I've only sent 2 in to be graded, and one was a McFarlane signed Spiderman #1 that I got back in 1990. Back then, there was no COA with it. I wanted to make sure the signature was real. I paid $10 for it back then. The other was Spiderman 100, but when the LCS tried to jack up the grading cost on me after we already agreed on a price, I decided not to send anymore in. Luckily, he had texted me the price, so he couldn't deny the price we agreed on.
I hear ya. I have one stabbed book. It is a crowd funded book, Prey for the Sinner because it was one of the last covers George Perez did & its signed by him. Otherwise have always been unsure.
@jimsteinmanfan80 You can grade it yourself based on the photos. If the photos are crap then all the better as nobody else is going to bid for it.
If you love comics don’t let this video discourage you. Graded or not buy what you want. Don’t buy with the intentions of flipping for a profit unless you have mad money to waste.
This video wouldn't discourage anyone who is a fan.
In fact it would be encouraging.
Insane prices are coming down and will continue to come down. Almost everything will become more affordable. Especially when more "investors" throw in the towel upon realizing the market aint coming back.
It's a great time to buy graded comic books.
I’m currently trying to buy all the last 12 invincible comics graded. I have the compendiums if I want to read the comics, but I just want them all because I think they are super cool items to own.
@@johnmoyer9259 well said.
Yeah I've just been buying what I want. Watch them first for what they go for then wait til I see a good price.
I agree. Better off putting them in a UV protected case. That allows you to take it out.
CGC hurt itself with all their issues. It's not even worth it anymore.
💯
I'm glad you mentioned the UV thing. I am shocked how many people toss these rare comics around, expose them to sunlight, and put them on display like any other random comic. I remember there was this one comic store I used to go to that put rare comics in their windows! They all faded, obviously. How crazy is that?
I need to get UV covers so I can take them out.
I've really wondered about this grading thing. I've collected comics up until the late 90's. I got into collecting them because I liked to read them. I got out of collecting when the industry was catering to collectors and people were afraid to even open them incase they did some slight damage to them. That was enough for me, I was out.
People run everything, EVERYTHING into the ground
Nah, it's the collectables market in its entirety that is a reflection of the economy. High inflation = less available funds for collecting. The collectables market moves in cycles along with the economy. Buy low, sell high, but that takes 1) timing and 2) patience.
💯
Kind of hit the nail on the head. People don’t have the disposable income right now to justify buying collectibles. I’m sure there will be an upswing and the talking heads will make videos on “why didn’t I buy when the market was so low”
@@jakeys2457 Thank you, and yeah, I'm buying slabbed silver and bronze where the price is right, and for my PC so I'm not worried about turning a profit for a long time.
Exactly !!!
This is ture! I have seen it before and was able to grab some great stuff before the next run up as i am doing now. Once the economy gets better all collectables rise fast.
I purchased ASM 129 raw ( and actually got a good deal) cause I wanted the feel of the book , smell of the pages, and to actually read the official version.
I agree! Can't do that with slabs, LoL!!
my dad and uncles used to keep all their comics next to the toilet and they’d read them while taking a dump. A lot of people did way back when. 30 years later people are buying those same comics and fawning over how good they smell
@@donaldvonglitchenberger4108Well then, I guess I love the smell of old poop paper
Nice man, I personally believe ASM 6 Sinister Six 1960's comic is massively undervalued. Was only 1 print run and in my opinion seems so undervalued right now on market.
In the real estate biz they call it house flipping. So this slab jazz would be book flipping. Owners never considered keeping them, since it was all just a cash grab. This is not true comic book collecting, where you mainly aim to KEEP the treasure you've found, after years of searching. Screw the stupid slab biz. After 50 years of collecting, I've never had even one single comic put behind any "graded" hunk of plastic.
You're right. It seems like "everything is falling" but it was simply just overly inflated by people pumping up prices and trying to sell to another reseller. It's all just going down to normal
I totally agree with your comment on slabs,,I myself am a collector but only golden age Marvels . especially Incredible Hulk!
you think I would slab my #180 or #181 Hulk?? NO WAY!!
@rucrzy05 lol you read my mind precisely
Yes a real collector not many of us left i wont sell out enjoy the books
I have a few slabs for covers I specifically like, I see them as art at this point
Hi, I found your video so insightful and is what my husband and I, who love collecting antiques and vintage items including comics, have been feeling about comic books. As you mention, one of the greatest feelings is reading a story plus seeing all the advertisement from decades back. You learn so much about the way things were. And the stories and artwork are so nice to see. So while there are benefits of preserving the condition of a comic by slabbing it, you lose a lot too. Plus all the economics as you mentioned are worth seriously considering. Thanks again for putting this video.
I work in a comic Shop that has been around over 40 years. We don’t mess with graded books at all. There are a lot of reasons why but one of the biggest is that the people who slab the books always believe that the slabbing has made their book worth 10 times it’s actual value and they refuse to believe otherwise.
It’s now become a little alternate world where the slabbed books are sold back and forth between these “collectors” trying to prove they are right. To each other. Because they are in denial.
Once a human gets the dollar signs in their eyes, they become unbearable and blind to reality.
Card hobbies has suffered the most from this. Sports cards especially.
You are spot on here and welcome to or back to what comic collecting is really all about. I'm 67 and have been reading and collecting comics for over 60 years and - like Don Rosa - I will NEVER slab a comic - I will READ IT! People who buy and slab comics are in it for the money and not the love of comics. Take your money and buy and read as many comics as you can. You will some encounter some crap along the way but you will also discover the joy of finding an author or artist or character you really like. Lay them on the floor and sort through them and enjoy!
- THAT'S what comics are about. And you will then pass on your love to your children or grandchildren and then comics will still be around for generations - NOT if they're slabbed!
I felt the way you did about 12-15 years ago but now I’m back and I throughly enjoy going through my books and like to display them. I’ve already read them personally and have them in lower grade copies or omnibuses to engage with and read. I think you can have a balance
Comics much like baseball cards are a dead market now. But the nostalgia of your childhood and just having them is still worth it!
It's been like this for 25 years for sports cards and comics, right?
This is interesting content for me. I'm moving, and have uncovered my old collection (about 4 boxes - mostly 80's books with some 70's stuff and early 90's). I'd like to start selling some off - but the whole idea and process and expense involved in 'slabbing' these books - doesn't appeal to me at all. So i'm very glad to hear that there's an actual market for my 'raw' books.
You missed the boat and should have sold them raw during the end of COVID. Now they are worth less and take forever to sell. You would be better off waiting until the next bubble or just give them away to a young kid who can enjoy them.
Slabs are selling, they just need to be priced correct, and if somebody slabbed a book that has no financial reason being slabbed...well now they're eating S**t. The hobby needs to learn what is actually worthy of being graded.
The answer is nothing, nothing needs to be graded do not line CGCs pockets just capsule it
Bingo. This video is gaslighting ppl.
@@DanSchawbel nothing is “worth being graded” only reason is to flip or line CGCs pockets with money if your collecting for yourself and no monetary gain a protector works just fine and often works better actually
@@jimmyhayes6017 so Hypothetical question. You have $10k for a comic of your liking. Theres a 5.0 graded by CGC and theres a 5.0 in a plastic holder graded by JoBlo Comic dealer at booth #203…
Which do you choose?
Yeah, the euphoria of the comic book boom has passed. Now, you can't just grade anything at anytime and make profit. Now you have to research market trends and what books are actually moving. Even popular youtube dealers have graded moderns for sale that make me ask why in the hell would you ever grade that book?
I'm not going to buy Golden Age books for thousands of dollars from a stranger unless I have some sort of comfort in knowing it's not trimmed, color touched, etc. I've been burned before. I will only buy high value books that have been graded. I think it's silly not to
That is why CCG was founded in 1987 they started off with bills, stamps & coins so you know it's not a forgery. It's a valuable service. People been crying about CGC & PSA and grading collectibles forever. It is what it is.
Anyone can learn what they know and do themselves. They are not Super human.
@Mountainrock70 I agree. I've learned how to spot color touch, but trimmed pages, married pages, etc, I really have no idea. Still, it's nice to have a second opinion
100% agree!!
@@richardolney1822 It only makes sense for books from before that time, IMO. For such older books I can see the need, but it has become more than it was originally intended to be I think with people doing it with Modern Age books.
It’s not just comic books losing value. We’re in an everything bubble and everything is and will be coming back down to reality over the next 2-3 years (Real estate, cars, comics, trading cards, etc)
I don't think trading cards will ever come down. Especially new packs. That is a crazy industry that has stayed inflated since 1990!
Depends on how stupid the voters are.
We could be stuck with the same garbage for the next 4 years
Seemingly. In fact, if Kamala wins, people will be using these books for kindling, light, and heat.
Not vinyl records though.
@@allen-rp3gm people-need-to-wake-up-tho-with-autographs......James Dean-sgd-photo-is-valued-15k......so-why-on-earth-would-dealer-sell-for500$-or1500......obvious-fraud-is-obvious!.......or-Jobs-sig-for-299$,thats-a-5k-sig&sgd-l*tt*r-sold-12999$
I said this, what, a decade ago? Thank you for justifying my laziness. Comics are meant to be opened, read, and displayed. Not just resold.
I collect comics - for years now. I do get some graded, but only if it's a signature series. I have no intention of selling them. MY comics are MY comics. I have no intention of flipping a comic.
This is 100% how people should do it. I only have 4 graded comics, and all are sign. Though 1 is not a signature series...
People want a fortune for graded books. Plus CGC moving the goalpost eroded the graded market. It became clear that any integrity in their process vanished and they have fully committed themselves to marketing gimmicks to fatten their own margins.
that’s the biggest issue in my opinion. Handing out 9.9s like they’re candy now really left a bad taste in peoples mouths. I have about 10 graded books and i was going to get quite a few more graded but i’m so disgusted with them i refuse to give them any more of my money. And now
i’m starting to realize
over the past 6 months that i like the books much better raw, even for display purposes.
@@donaldvonglitchenberger4108 Its exactly this... They killed their business ( at least temporarliy) with introducing the 10.0 for most books after establishing the market where 9.8 was the standard highest grade... Now people are either pissed ( especially if they have a lot of high grade books that just lost value), or they want to see where the dust settles...
@@kellygoodine9944 as-they-say: you-dont-get-rich-by-being-nice.......
If you really want to sell this stuff right now you just have to eat your feelings and auction it off at whatever price you can get an opening bid! Everyone thought that easy $$$ would just continue forever! Best thing to do is put them in storage or decorate your wall and forget about the value for a few years until it works itself out!
I'm just passing on to my kids ,they can see what a 100 year old comic will bring,right now from 100 to 300 ,some slabbed some not,if I get a slab anymore it's the signature series for authentication
Working itself out is not going to happen for the majority of this stuff.
@@johnmoyer9259 "working itself out" doesn't necessarily mean something good! It'll just be whatever it is!
CGC changing their grading standards (9.9&10) is complete BS. And for that reason, im out!
cgc use to be strict nw there try buy customers with 9.9 cgc fans hated pgx for being to nice with grading what i read now cgc is doing same thing
Yup. Totally lost confidence in the future of slabs. They instantly devalued their 9.8s
When it shifted from "buy the best version of your favorite books" to "investments"... whenever that happens to anything in any industry, know that scammers have taken total control and you should fall back until it all implodes.
Agreed with you! No more grading Comic Books. Love to have them in my hands and immerse in the adventures.
You raise some valid points. If you have to buy them graded, then it's usually an indication that you are a speculator, and not necessarily a collector.
How well can you spot restoration? Color touch? Archival paper tear seals? When you start collecting Golden Age or Silver Age keys...you will change your mind. With all older books, its not about speculation, its about authentication.
Reminds me of 1987-1994 when the speculators ruled the comic book collecting roost. We saw what happened there. Complete flame out of the market.
I essentially stopped collecting comic books after that mess. Stacks of No1 Spawn, Stormwatch, Gen13, Cyberforce...most all thrown in the recycle bin.
I would still buy grails slabbed to verify there is no restoration
especially on golden age.
@@Mcdowells Absolutely, color touch was very popular back then
There are a lot of restored books that aren’t labeled that way in older cases. Especially Golden Age books. So I’d be careful.
@@christopherferguson7201 I've seen books that look trimmed with a blue label, I believe it. PGX also has a history of not counting pages and checking for restoration so this is just regarding CGC/CBCS
Exactly. There are many cases in which grading, and buying graded, comics is preferable. Many of the books in slabs right now weren't worth grading to begin with.
Question to StickyGooseComics or members of the forum, Is there any way to access a digital version of the comic books you buy in a slab?
Also how long does the plastic last?
As a novice, the idea of slabbing them makes no sense. Being able to read them is a huge chunk of its draw.
agreed, but as always with people, its about the money, sadly.
I want this. I don't collect to sell. Maybe in 20 years if they are really worth something and I've moved onto other needs or wants. Right now, I'm loving these low prices. If you buy for personal enjoyment or looking to sell years in the future. Now is the time to buy.
This is exactly how I feel. I don’t want books to be worth nothing but it’s a buyers market so load up now because the next wave is coming eventually.
Better deals ahead.
Slow your roll.
I never understood the appeal of slabbing comics. It effectively turns a comic book into a trading card. When I was into buying older comics, I graded comics in three ways... unacceptably bad condition, okay condition but I wouldn't mind having a better copy, and an ideal copy. Looking at and grading comics at a microscopic level never appealed to me. I want a thing I can read and flip through. It's not a coin or a trading card.
I think the biggest change has been eBay and other sites offering authentication for free. One of the points of slabbing was to authenticate rare and hard to find books.
I came across this information at just the right moment. I have boxes of books from when I was collecting in the 90s that I've been mulling over selling for the last couple of years but I've put off because of the long and costly process of grading. Every thing I was seeing online and the few people I talked to made it seem like the only way to sell anything was to have it graded. It's good to know that the market may be swinging back to some common sense. The "grading" industry has become such a racket with every goofball collector encasing every book, toy, VHS tape, etc in a plastic box.
I only collect and sell raw. Everyone is so picky with grades. I agree with you 100%
Yea but the flip side of selling raw is buyers expecting 9.9 or better grades out of the raw books they buy at a discount and then filing returns, not as described claims etc. The original reason for grading was not to inflate the value of the book, but to serve as a neutral thrid party opinion to mediate such disputes.
The reason you see raw books also moving easier is because some of the people buying it want to get the books graded THEMSELVES. If someone has already done that part, there is no "meat on the bone" at the back end (possibly). By getting it graded before hand and selling it like that, you're effectively removing the potential buyers who'd wanna do just that, (and putting a finite price amount on the book so it isn't as exciting).
For big keys I prefer having them graded as I know what I’m getting and it’s safer to buy knowing the book hasn’t been trimmed or color touched or missing pages. The minor keys and run fillers I wouldn’t buy graded and prefer them raw. I don’t ever see graded books ever going away. It’s riskier buying raw books online and not everyone has access to a comic shop near them but I can understand how people would get tired of the premium pricing that’s involved with slabs.
That use to be a pro argument for buying slabs until the CGC slabbing scandal happened (and you know they ain't wasting time on tiny books). Only solution I heard from people was "trust your dealer and do your due diligence before buying" which is what you do for raw books. If you can't blindly rely on the number on the case anymore and have to research like a raw, then might as well just buy the raw and save money.
I only want raw books. Comics are to read. As far as I'm concerned, if you can't read the book, you don't have it in your collection. You just own an unopenable plastic safe.
@@stephenmumford9995I’m good with that 😄. There’s other ways to read the book and yes I do read my books.
This has been an informative video. I have some slabs and have moved some slabs and you 're right. If you can't read them are the in your collection? Age old question, why do you collect? Thanks.
Collecting meant something different to me over 30 years ago. I would go to the comic book store every week to pick up my comics, read them, then store them in the sleeve with the cardboard backing. I would take them to comicbook conventions to get signed and have a lot of fun with friends. Two great memories: 1) my daughters looking through and thinking my collection was cool 2) meeting Stan Lee in Pittsburgh in the mid 1990s. I never had my comics graded.
My man! Your video is a pleasure to experience and has hit the proverbial nail on the head! I've collected comics starting in the early 70s thru the early 80s and have a pretty extensive collection. I took a break during the 80s (college and job seeking years). I started collecting again in the early 90s when I first became aware of this CGC grading system. I thought ... what the Hell happened since I left? I couldn't believe that someone created a comic book grading business and collectors were falling right into it (convincing collectors that their collection was worth more than what it was). And it looked like it worked for many years! Unfortunately, I thought it was the most asinine thing I had ever heard of. Overstreet's price guide (which was the standard from what I remembered) was virtually useless! Although I have purchased a few CGC books in the past (only because I either couldn't find them or they were a good deal), I've always preferred raw, un-slabbed comic books that were un-graded. The reading, viewing internal art panels, touching and turning pages is the most important part of comic book collecting experience. It infuriated me that there were people exploiting this experience strictly for monetary and personal gain. I figured it would not last long. Unfortunately, it lasted longer that I ever anticipated. I'm hoping these collectors will wake up and realize that these books will be difficult to get rid of if you can't actually see or physically touch them. Unbelievable! Besides, real hobby collectors are not 'necessarily' collecting to turn a profit (although still nice if you can).
What a lot of collectors are realizing is that it becomes a storing issue try storing a complete run of spiderman in your home especially if you are married and have kids good luck. I have always preferred raw books.
I strongly disagree with this the only reason people can’t sell their slabs is because they are asking way too much or the grade is super low so they “crack and sell raw” and advertise their 3.0 as a 5.0 graded comics sell well people just have to stop asking crazy prices anything will realistically sell if your book is not a wack new exclusive
Graded books sell all day, every day. I only keep up with golden age, through early bronze. I couldn't comment on modern.
Yes they ask too much
I have no problem selling high grade silver age comics. If you lose your patience and drop your prices, that's on you...😏
Bingo
@@Geoffreydarcy-pv4mqyrp
As much as I dislike graded comics, I think it is more that the bubble as a whole is bursting. I have been around to see the speculation bubbles burst in the past and we're in it big time right now. If you bought comics as an investment and they're not selling, you need to cut your losses now. Undercut everyone and get out while you can. Comic books have 10x'd in the last 4-5 years and it was never going to last. I would not be surprised at all if the market over corrects and prices on a lot of non-grail level books hit rock bottom over the next year or so. Anyone who was around in the late 90s should know what is coming.
It amazes me what people think is normal for comic prices right now. $3-5 bargain bins for filler issues? Really? I've only been away for a few years but went to a local show and saw that. Quite dumbfounded. Never thought I'd be happy to find a few $1 bins of books with no bag or board so I didn't walk away completely empty handed... but prices are out of hand top to bottom.
As far as graded comics go... I can kind of understand mega keys being slabbed or maybe signed books for authentication purposes. But when I say 'mega keys' I mean like... 50 books in existence should be given that treatment. Slabbing a book from the 80s or 90s with a million+ print run is just crazy to me, I don't care what event took place. And people paying hundreds of dollars for a 0.2 grade difference, especially when that difference is almost always subjective grading standard margin of error... just amazing how crazy people are.
It just isn't going to last. People in it for money will get out. Prices will plummet. And I can't wait. Sucks my collection's value will go down with it but I'd rather be able to buy more.
Do you have an opinion on where the best place is to sell your books online? is the multiple listings approached the way to go? i’ve got some stuff I need to get rid of for space and financial considerations, and I’ve never tried to sell anything. Everything’s in good condition and nothing is graded.
I am glad you are rediscovering the joy of reading comics. I have watched you for a long time because during the comic boom I felt like I had to “play the game” to get a copy of the issues I love. But at the end of the day, ASM 129 is just an issue in my ASM run. I bought it because I like ASM and I read it. And when the paper disintegrates and the money is long gone my love for ASM will still be there.
If it's not at least a 9.8, or a key book, or sentimental to the owner, it's probably not worth being slabbed. Basic knowledge.
This is the best comment in the thread. 💯 percent agree.
So true... half of the non-key 9.0-9.6 books on eBay right now are selling for about the same price as it cost to get them graded in the first place. I genuinely enjoy the way graded books look and I'm not an investor or flipper, so it's all great news for me because I no longer have to buy raw and submit to CGC. Most everything I buy is selling for less than the cost of doing that.
Agreed! Newer comics are crap, most are not worth getting slabbed.
The slabs should only be valued at the raw price + $50 or so for grading. Currently, they seem to be priced 2x or 3x more.
That’s what the 9.6 sell for. The 9.8s are like a 3 or 4bagger
Yup passing that debt is ridiculous really over price.
exactly!
Because you pay for better condition of comic. It all comes down to preservation. Grading tells you how well preserved the comic is, and keeping it in the slab keeps it in such a condition.
@eurostar0711 nah....no one values this
I’m a new collector not an investor, I collect CGC signature series books because I know the stories already and they are books I love but also because they are written and drawn by some incredibly talented people. It’s true what they say! Collect what appeals to you!
Definetly connected with your post. I do the same, I’m a comic book autograph collector. I do it cause I’m a fan of the creators and artists. Apart from slabbing major keys, an autographed slab displays great! Like you said, collect and slab what makes you happy! I like this youtuber’s content, but too much poopoing on this post, 😬.
@@henryhernandezsrgpatriot8560Thanks for sharing! 🙏 it’s great to know that there are still collectors out there who like to collect the material to preserve it, preserve the artists who made it, but above all keep the soul of comics together. It’s gotten too money and speculation driven!.
I currently have no slabbed books in my collection. The main reason is that I like to pull some out once in a while and read them again. I'm not a speculator, I'm just a collector. I'll probably keep all my books 'till I die and my kids can decide what to do with them after I'm gone.
Thank you for this video.
Excellent work
Steve Schanes
The major problem currently is CGC hurt themselves with internal problems, which cause people to doubt the authenticity of the grade. What hurt the market was people buying for investment, versus enjoyment. Because more people were buying graded comics as an investment, more people were grading. Now we see too much supply versus too little demand. Prices are dropping, stagnating, or there is no real value. This is called a market adjustment. Hold onto your grade comics, because once PSA starts up, there will be a price war and adjustment in confidence. Anyone not grading right now because raws move, will see those comics slabbed by PSA, and jump in price. People buying raw right now are buying to slab next year. Once people get a baring on whom is better or if both are the same, the market will adjust again. Don't panic and remove your comics from slabs to sell. I have been collecting comics for over 40 years, seen all this happen before. Be patient and adjust to the market dictates. Enjoy your comics, slabbed or not. There will be value returning at some point.
It's like any market. There's supply and demand. Right now there is an oversupply of graded books because everyone and their brother the past 5 years has slabbed everything under the sun. For long term collectors, it's a buyer's market on whatever you're looking for if you have the cash. If you're a seller and need cash, it's tough times. Prices are continuing to fall because there is little demand overall. Collectibles are one of the first indicators of overall economic conditions.
Thank God I collect for fun. Once I buy any collectible for my game room… Statues, art work, comic books- in slab or not … just beautiful art. I never , not once , do I think I will get a dime for any of it.
It's like every other collectable out there from movies, snapbacks, to t shirts. I mean its super rare that I go to a thrift store and genuinely find a score like a great ballcap, or cool t-shirt anymore. And you're right, you have people that actually love reading, re-reading, and collecting comics that don't necessarily want it sealed and/or to pay premiums prices.
I'm not a comic guy but I'm a sneaker collector and have the same sentiment. It's a lot of baggage. I don't need every colorway, every classic shoe, everything I wanted as a kid, etc etc. I've really had to declutter my home and I recently found a Mos Def song called Travelling Man and he starts it off with saying, "Memories don't live like people do.They always remember you.
Whether things are good or bad, its just the memories"
The Goose is having an existential crisis concerning his own relationship to comic collecting, and projecting that onto the entire hobby. Some of his points are valid, but many of them have more to do with where his head is at, at the moment.
Publishers sending bricks of 400 newly printed books directly to CGC, at a 20 Percent rate, for 9.9 and 10's KILLS the Modern grading market.
Plain and simple comics are dying because the market that wants them is dying . Try and tell anyone under 40 about how great some
Superhero comic is. Games are what they buy. Comics are. Dead money . My rule is ask a 6 year old
And 60 year old if they have heard of something , If they both say yes then yiu can consider buying it . Emotional attachment is one of the primary drivers for a collectible so many younger people have never even held a comic let alone read one so therefor no emotion =no sale
You are right. There is no reason it had to be like that, but comic books have been stuck in the ghetto of obscure comic shops for 30 years and now the direct market only chickens are coming home to roost. They should have been putting cheap options in Walmarts and grocery checkouts this whole time, and the few times the companies have acknowledged this (DC 100 page Walmart books for example) they half ass and quickly abandon it.
i have 9 nieces and nephews between the ages of 5-14. They’ve never even seen a comic book. Anyone that says this stuff will hold value in 20-30 years are out of their minds.
I bet your voting for kamala 🤡
Tell me you new to this without telling me 😂😂😂😂 i bet you think trans are the majority too😂😂. You for sure are a disney marvel person with pronouns in your bio 🤡
@@CjE-d4s Better than that bozo Trump lol
By the way question to the comic book collectors, are there comic book cases or holders that you can open put your comic for safety and open them to read again, do those exist?
This is so true. In fact, the grading service outlets are killing the hobby. Buy raw!
If I ever bought a graded comic I would immediately crack it open. I want a comic book, not a poster. I want to open it, smell it... you know like a comic book
Everyone is struggling, car sells are dropping, house sells are dropping. Everything is super expensive right now and people have to prioritize feeding their families. It's really as simple as that. Collectors like myself that had to dump collections to stay afloat are going to be reluctant to buy anything big for a few years. That's just what it is. Its like a very emotional draining thing when you have to sell things that we emotionaly connect to. ... Likely we will all move to buying 1 slab a summer ... in time, and build back some of our favorites that we miss. ... but also once you've owned something once, there's not as much excitement or urgency in owning it again ... so it will be a very very long decade or so trickle of the market coming back. We've lived through it once, we will live through it again.
if-only-th*y-stop-buying-forgd-autographs....sigh
There is a difference between the collecting hobby and the reseller hobby.
Collectors main interest is not selling. Reading and appreciating the books is collecting. Flipping is not collecting.
Selling anything is a business, by definition. However, all collectors need dealers and resellers , as well as vice versa.
I applaud your resolve to never sell a single item from your collection. Tastes may change and you may downsize your home, but the collection will only ever be allowed to grow or remain the same size. When you die, the collection will be donated to another collector [with stipulations that the items can never be sold] or your collection will be buried with you.
You know, correctly so, that the second that you list a single item (for pathetic reasons such as: large medical bills; education tuition of a family member; loss of enjoyment for the hobby; divorce), you have become a disgusting, non-collecting reseller.
@tedsmiles8145 Damn Dude!! Yeah, these are all facts if you don't focus your collection. It's not like reselling is forbidden. There is a big difference from a collector to a flipper.
i was in the same spot where i was collecting and not for things i really love but for the sake of collecting. it started to become stressful. so i’ve stripped back my collection to what i love only and ive a renewed passion now
a friend was showing me graded comic book. it made sense cause it's protected but what about the story line? What if there is a certain issue that you want to read, read but now you need two issues?!
I buy comics to read. If they are valuable financially, it's a bonus.
A little off topic, but why have we let these grading companies decide what a characters first appearance is? These people now get to engineer which issues are keys?
I came to the same conclusion. I collect vintage everything cards. it was fun to speculate which card might go up in value, but very quickly, it became annoying to have that be the only measure of how fun it was to buy new cards. I just learned to enjoy the collection I have been putting together. My collection is worthless because I'm not sure I'd ever sell.
Grading can authenticate as well as hopefully catch restoration that otherwise could not be seen unless held in hand.
There is a few factors on the decline of slabbed sales.
1. Economy (worst in years)
2. Scammers
3. Grading Controversy
It'd hard to justify spending a lot of money on these type of books when there is so much smoke surrounding them.
Economy worst in years??!!..lol..who told you that lie?
@@alberto-gj5oi economy on comic books. Covid over spending on Raw and Graded now all are hitting on the down slope.
The subject matter was the decline in Graded (Slabbed) Sales not the Country
@@johnpopeko ah ok..gotcha
Regarding scammers, are there people who do reprints and pass them off as originals in the slabs?
He should have mentioned what prices he was asking for those CGC-graded comics. When he says "lowball", were those prices they normally sell at? I have seen many CGC-graded comics not selling due to prices that were 2022 high. I need more details to his story.
Yeah, it depends on your investment. How much you paid for it makes a huge difference on what you think is a huge loss.
This was my same thought. What I’m really hearing is he over paid during the hype of the comic book and now he has lost a good bit of money due to the market dropping as it should since Covid prices were way over inflated.
While I agree prices are still dropping and they will for a good bit. Buying graded isn’t that bad now and you might loose some money even buying now. But i buy books I want in my collection that are graded that are keys.
My friend owns a comic book store. He said 90% of people buy raw comics not graded. Even he said graded comics are a scam.
Is there anything wrong with having a raw copy and a graded copy?
Thanks for posting.
I’ve been collecting for 20 years and this is a direct response and result to how social media has changed the hobby. All of the people that are being affected by this are collecting for the wrong reason. The only reason to collect is love. Just like anything else, problems like this are what happens when you do it for the anything other than the love. ❤
Anyone who has a bunch of modern 9.6 and 9.8 slabs - who thinks they're worth between $40 and $400, depending on the comic... who's even thinking about buying any more graded comics... should randomly select about 25 of their best slabs, add up what they think they're worth - and then take them to an LCS and ask for an offer - they won't get 15 cents on the dollar for them. Then, try to sell them on ebay, where they have to sell them far below the fake market values in order to get them to sell, and then only get 85% of the sale price because of the ebay fees. Sooo many problems with slabs and modern comics in general, that it's not funny.
Lcs, just like pawn shops always screw you over when buying your stuff. My local shop sells slabs all day long.
That's just as true if you take your best 25 raw books and get an offer from an LCS...
@@Talking_Comics Likely true. I wasn't clear - Trying to say - it you take a raw comic that grades around NMT (+ or minus, depending on opinion) that it is "worth" $10, retail... you might get $2 or $3 from an LCS. That's always been the case. Take that same book, spend the $25 it costs to get it graded and have it come back as anything other than 9.8 - and the LCS will only give you $5 for it (the LCS will only be able to sell it for $20). So, you will have taken a comic that was "worth" $3, then spent $25 for CGC fees and shipping, so you'd have $28 "invested"... and you'd only get $5. Problem is that that the vast majority of modern books aren't worth grading - there's very little demand for 98% of modern comics graded between 8.5 and 9.4.
@@ddougherty8266 can you share your LCS? I would love to get some $20 slabs? I know there isn't one cheaper than $50 at my LCS and that one has a cracked case.