I really don't know why the entire community hasn't switched to CBCS. I understand CGC has better market prices, but if you're someone who wants to preserve your books, CBCS is the way to go. They offer better cases, better quality control, better customer support, and lower prices. The only reason CGC is still the main grader is that most people's collections are CGC, so they want to keep the slabs consistent throughout their collection. This, in turn, makes the value of CGC-slabbed books worth more than CBCS-slabbed books. CBCS also has more consistent grading. I believe a 9.8 from CBCS is always a 9.8 book, while some 9.8 CGCs can look like 9.4s.
I like the CBCS slabs better. The crimp from the inner sleeve to the label to help prevent tampering is a far better design. CBCS needs to run a promotion or something, 1/2 off converting CGC slabs to CBCS? 1/2 off shipping of books to “convert?” Something, anything, should have been done yesterday.
@@fuzzy8593 I think what would be cool is a promotion where if you send your 9.8 CGC slab to CBCS they guarantee the same grade. I don't think a lot of people crack and send to CBCS because they are afraid of getting a lower grade. CBCS grades tougher.
You were saying exactly what I am thinking and experiencing I think I am going to switch to cbcs. I also submit trading cards think I'm going to make the move set my last book to cgc 2 weeks ago
@@murrayc9615 That’s a good one. 👍 I replied to video discussing this issue by saying that someone should make a variant cover of that image of the banana with the yellow background - and then send all of the copies to CGC for a 9.9 prescreen.
@@murrayc9615 That’s a good one. 👍 I replied to video discussing this issue by saying that someone should make a variant cover of the image of the banana with the yellow background and then send all of the copies to CGC for a 9.9 prescreen.
100% agree with what your suggesting. I know for customer service when replying to email I talked to the same person. When calling in I got 3 different people. 2 where really good and 1 was not good at all.
Some people never learn!!! PSA is now being spoken about like the second coming. If you give to much power to one company(CGC) the outcome will still be the same, “power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely”. You guys use CGC for money and they use you guys for money. Bravo CGC keep taking their money and giving sub par service.
I agree, I'm skeptical about PSA as well and it's possible they flop. I do like that CGC has to worry about it though, which hopefully makes them get better. We'll see
One suggestion I've been making to both CGC and CBCS is to open offices in other countries like Canada and the UK. It's extremely frustrating for us here in Canada to ship our property to the US and get dinged with customs and duties and fighting EVERY time to get those fees waived. I think by opening outlets in other countries, you'll make life easier for non US customers, and, it'll alleviate backlogs for the grading companies in the US
I have maybe 60 - 80 books that I'd like to get graded. But, after my last submission where 33% of the books came back damaged and in bend "banana" inner wells, I just cant and wont submit to CGC again at least until this is all fixed. I've also contacted them and so far they refuse to make things good. Their best option for me is to send in the books again for a press/reholder and HOPE that they come back with the same grade they already gave them. But considering that one of the 9.8s they sent me back has a 1/4" spine tick/bend that was not there when I sent the book in... there's zero chance they will give it a 9.8 again. So I'm screwed if I do nothing, and screwed if I send it in to them again. Such terrible customer service.
I've never sent a book in to CGC to get graded. Frankly, I've seen too many nightmare videos where people are horrified to find their prized books come back with damage. I'd be heartbroken.
2 most important- 1. Quality Control.. how do messed up books keep getting out the door. They either miss them or hope the submitter doesn't do anything about it. Both are big problems. 2. Transparency- they seem too corporate and political. The service reps just cite the policies. I get it though. They are a massive massive company. So far I like CGC quite a bit, but want to see improvements.
Thank you for this video, It is the best I've seen on this topic honestly cgc needs to listen and the funny thing is all of this is should be common sense especially when it comes to the comic book collecting community we understand the value whether it be an expensive or inexpensive book we take care of our books and add value beyond only money whether it be the book itself or a time and place or The Craft and pressing and cleaning preserving and archiving and these values cgc should also have
Great video Jim. I am sure the vast majority of us that own graded books have mostly CGC. That's just kind of been the obvious trend. I won't turn my head to a PGX graded book and most certainly not to a CBCS graded book. I'd guesstimate that 95+ % of my books are CGC. I do have a small handful of CBCS, and some of them are signature series. I have at least one PGX. When I started collecting slabs(as I have yet to submit my own raw books) I leaned towards CGC. I would read online about how CGC was the top tier and more respected and valuable than CBCS and for sure PGX. I'm no longer worried about the stereotype of books need to be CGC to be more guaranteed on their given grade and so on. I actually like CBCS slabs. My PGX one or two slabs look good as well. The old saying about buy the book not the grade still stands true. I'm now of the mindset that I'll buy the slab not the grading company.
I hope everyone eventually gets to that place! My guess is the grading companies will all be very similar in how they grade books in the next couple of years so hopefully we can just choose the company that we like the look the best
CGC has been offering subpar service to customers for years. But with that being said PSA has major issues also. Both have been damaging, misgrading, losing customer products in alarming numbers.
PSA has insane volume like over 2 million submission per month. PSA Comics will be a new team of people and will not be drowning in submissions, hard to say what the service will be like.
Not a rant Jim, these all good points you made. CGC has never been transparent and it’s concerning. This is a big QC issue that should have been addressed. To your other point, we know grading will always be subjective regardless of the grading service. It’s the consistency that’s an issue and CGC has failed here too in my opinion. I always liked what I see with PSA and will likely holdup submitting books until they start their own process. As usual, thanks for sharing!
@@Ghostrider1717x early 2025 I think I heard from MJ Comix channel. 9.9 Newstand was talking about it on a livestream. I can’t remember what month in 2025.
I recently picked up 6 graded books at auction, 5 CGC and 1 CBCS, all graded within the last 9 months. 4 out of the 5 CGC had significant bend, and although they don't seem to cause any damage i can see them 5+ years down the road if cracked open they wouldn't lay flat any more. The CBCS case however was flawless and perfectly flat. And it had their new label, the first I've purchased of that, and i really liked it. I thought it was a huge improvement and eye pleasing label. So CGC doesn't break down any info on their pressing service? So they could be putting your books between a toilet seat and you'd never know it lol! I don't understand why anyone would pay for that service then if you don't know exactly what you're getting.
If PSA can do comics like they do cards. CGC is in trouble. Beckett and PSA are the card kings. I’m hoping this put cgc on a warning and they get better.
Great video Jim; hope your suggestions reach the ears of an influencer within CGC. In future videos, would you mind providing thoughts on other grading companies like EGS? Is there any hope of redemption for PGX?
The different pricing tiers has always been a bit of a mystery for me. I'm not sure if it's right or wrong and would love to hear both sides of the argument. We pay a fee to have a book inspected, authenticated, graded, and then encapsulated. Why should it matter if it's a dollar-bin book or a $10,000 book? What business is it of CGC's? It's my book, my property. Why do they get to make a premium off me for owning a valuable book when the work they perform (again, authenticating, grading, and encapsulating) is the same? I'm not trying to be a griper; I'm honestly asking and would be open to an honest answer. Like you said, if the additional cost is related to insurance, then fine. That makes sense. But if it's more than that, I guess I just don't get it.
THERE IS NO WAY CGC DOES NOT WATCH VIDEOS LIKE THIS.. IF I WERE IN CHARGE THERE WOULD BE AN EMERGENCY MEETING WE WOULD WATCH THE VIDEO AND THEN BEGIN TO CORRECT THE PROBLEMS AND BE TOTALLY TRANSPARENT WITH THE PEOPLE THAT PAY US TO DO A JOB RIGHT.. THE COMPANY I WORK FOR WE BUILD HOSPITALS. IF OUR INSPECTIONS FAIL WE ALL GET CALLED TO THE BIG ROOM FIND OUT WHY AND SIT DOWN WITH THE INSPECTORS AND DISCUSS A RESOLVE ON HOW WE CAN DO BETTER.. WE HAVE NO CHOICE...CGC SHOULD BE DOING THE SAME THING
CGC customer service is good. However you have a good point and i think a personal - named rep for books above a value of 1k would be good. Or someone like you and others that consistently submit a certain amount of books per year on average. If i submit 3 books a year each worth 50-200 bucks each, i wouldn't expect a named-rep.
They recently changed their packaging - much thicker bubble wrap BUT no cardboard between books…all scuffed from rubbing against each other. All of them - last two boxes of 20+ each. First box has been sitting at CGC ME for almost a month now. Thicker bubble wrap might prevent breaking slabs but not scuffing…huge failure rate.
Controversial but I have always preferred the cases of CBCS. The only things for me was the label. They had the QR code and Signature verification first the 2 lacking is resale value and custom labels.
I had just recently made the decision to not use CGC anymore and bananagate just reinforced my decision completely. I've only done maybe 20 submissions or so and out of those I had 2 expensive books lost and at least 4 different times that I had to do a re-holder for damaged slabs and one for getting the wrong book which also had a wrong label. If anything, I trusted them WAY longer than I should have already 😡. Luckily I really like the new CBCS labels (I already loved their cases) so I'll be moving completely to CBCS going forward.
@@erikvonzipper4124 They did. It took a long time for them to try to find the book on the first one so sadly the book went up in value during that time and the insurance didn't cover a replacement (I did get a replacement eventually though). I got pickier about the insurance amount after that so the 2nd time it covered the actual replacement cost. It was still a lot of time and aggravation despite CGC customer service being good. Between that and all the other QC BS over the years I just can't trust them and am finally moving on.
Got back into comics after a 20 year hiatus and learning about CGC now and all the shenanigans going on I will not be submitting anything to them, especially after seeing that video of their grader walking around showing their process. Looked like a bunch of college kids grading comics sitting at a computer looking at books over their keyboards. No special tables and care taken in grading the books. Now i see why stuff is getting damaged or stuff spilled on books, not very professional looking. Need to follow how PCGS grades coins imo. Then with bendgate how people are being told different stories on why it is happening, bad inner wells that we got rid of, it's within tolerances, and offering one guy $15 for ripping up his book during encapsulation etc. etc. I will be sending some stuff in to CBCS while waiting for PSA to get going, I think they will be a lot more professional and transparent to a degree way above what CGC does. Not to mention that eventually people will be turned off on buying anything slabbed CGC eventually for not believing the grade or if its bent. Love the videos Jim keep them coming.
With all the “CGC scandals” over the past 2 years or so, they’ve taken the fun out of the hobby for me. I’ve got 4 books remaining waiting to get graded at CGC and that’s it for me. My last 2 books that came back (Detective Comics 880 from the Jock signing) both suffered from “bend-gate”
@@amitbodalia6180 That so disappointing to hear. Jock’s DKIII cover is probably my favorite cover ever, as simple as it is, it’s just cool. Really am sorry to hear.
i sent 3 magazines on 05-10-24 and still have not received them. i used their clean/press service on another mag and it did not look cleaned. arrived as sent.
A funny thing I noticed on the image of the PSA slabbed Incredible Hulk #181 that’s been floating around (and is used in the thumbnail for this video) is that, on the label, it states it as a “Newsstand" edition. First off, the distinction between Direct and Newsstand editions of Marvel comics was not made until 1979. Secondly, there weren’t even barcodes on books before 1975. If they pay that little attention to detail on their main image promoting their upcoming product, it already has me thinking twice.
@@300baud I agree with you 100%. I don’t use CGC and very, very rarely have I purchased a CGC graded book. No banana books for this guy. 👈 🙂 The PSA label was just something I found to be funny when I looked at that image up close. I would be like publishing a book without having anyone proofread it.
I guess all copies of Hulk 181 are newsstand editions. Seems a little tedious to label them all that way but maybe that's the route they are going. That means every book before 1979 will be automatically labeled a "newsstand"?
@@richardolney1822There weren’t any newsstand editions before 1979 and barcodes were not put on books until 1975. Hulk #181 doesn’t even have a barcode and has a cover date of Nov. 1974. Then, when barcodes were put on covers, all of the books that were printed were still identical (except for British pence copies) no matter where they were sold until the direct market was created in 1979. A barcode does not mean “Newsstand Edition.” A book with barcode that has a Direct Edition counterpart means that it is a Newsstand Edition - that is, up until around July 1993 when every comic printed sported a barcode. Then, the Direct Editions had “Direct Edition” printed on them in the barcode box until Newsstand Editions eventually faded away around the mid 2010s.
CGC started hiring blind people or people with the intellect of a 10 year old. I sent in a 9.8 candidate grader notes “very small, multiple bindery tear spine” knocks it to a 9.4? I don’t think so. Not to mention 4 others that got 9.4’s & 9.6’s with no visible flaws, no notes… 9.8 is now improbable.
I’m so sick of their inconsistent grading. VERY loose standards, and that’s not how you perform a professional service. Won’t be long before CGC becomes the same as PGX… buh bye CGC!
Honestly, yes i go with CGC for their label and their higher worth... CBCS definitely has the better quality in their slabs. CGC "clean/press" is COMPLETE garbage! Im really excited for PSA to jump in the game, they def gotta change their labels tho, it would restrict me from sending as many as i would like.
what about a 1/8 inch clear plastic backing board in the inner well .. sort of a bag /board idea .. seems to have worked for millions of comics before that would prevent bending and sliding
One way to get them to change, switch to CBCS or PSA (when they get it together) until they get the point... Don't need seven. We vote with our dollars.
I don't usually get books graded. But if CGC has all of these problems, why the hell are people still using them? Resale value? If people were not so blinded with loyalty to a company giving sub-par quality, they could go to maybe CBCS who has better quality. Labels aren't as "pretty" and customer service lack sometimes? So what? Product quality is better.
dont know if its a good idea to have direct contact with the person grading the comic and being able to maintan that same person. Thst would be nice but couldnt it open the door to shady stuff?
Consumers should boycott CGC and move over to CBCS. It is all about quality at the end of the day. If people do not trust CGC, then the books being sold by CGC in theory lose value as well. People will stop investing in CGC because their organization has taken the position that Quantity is better than Quality. CBCS or bust !!!!
8:09 "...you should be treating a one dollar book exactly the same as a million dollar book..." Imagine you sent a million dollar book to CGC. Would you want them to be more careful with your million dollar comic than they would with a dollar book? Would it be acceptable to you if they handed it to a new hire who just went through training last week?
@@ImproveCollectingComics That's an admirable stance to take. Guess I'm wired a bit differently. If I entrust a company with something of substantial value, I certainly don't want them handing it off to the most junior person at the firm.
Thats not fair to get a special CS the more books you send in, that means someone new to the hobby and or someone who can only do 5 books a year would get screwed over with help and then they may lose a future customer who would be sending in hundreds a month. This is the same with youtube, those who are low subs get screwed over all the time while the top earners get special treatment with copy strikes and take downs all the time. Every customer should be treated with respect and help no matter what.
PSA is PRIMED to take over. All they need to do is line-up signings with popular artists and they will enter as #1. UV protection too.... fuggetaboudit.
Unless people start paying more for psa graded or cbcs graded books cgc isnt going anywhere its all about the resale value and cgc is sadly still king in that area.
I personally did not like the introduction of the 9.9 pre screen. When most of us attain a 9.8 in a Bronze Age or Silver age book we assume we have gotten the highest grade possible and in many instances paid up for the 9.8, what will 9.9’s do to the value of the 9.8’s as more start to appear. They should leave well enough alone and not change the game at this point.
I agree, PSA will be giving out 10's when they start, saying that if a comic is perfect it should be graded that way and any issues on a comic the grade will go down from there...what is being said out there anyway. 🤷♂
Until the market starts to shift and people by non cgc expect the same. Unfortunately. I have a couple hundred books ready to go. I’m holding out to see what psa does
I have a stack of 50 keys (pretty big ones) that I am afraid to send now.. but I need to turn them around to pay bills.. a lot of people are dealing with this right now I think
@@ImproveCollectingComics I feel ya, maybe send some in as small of a batch as you can to minimize any issues, you know instead of 10-20 or more at a time send 5-10? IDK
Where are the CGC whistleblowers , that's what i want to know. I want to hear from former employees what is really going on. I know they are out there, they grade millions of items
Totally agree. They should treat every book with the highest of care. Any deviation just means inconsistency, and that is terrible for a grading company, as well as the customer.
From what has been put out on the web is that the red line on white background will not be changing...part of PSA's branding etc. But they are revamping the font and lettering sizes and are changing the slab sizing to be inline with everyone else but also may offer the beefier larger prototype slab as a premium for those who want more protection for pricier books.
I don't get all the fuss about labels. They shouldn't be god awful ugly, but the emphasis should be on the book and quality of grading, not how esthetically pleasing the label is.
@@ImproveCollectingComics Yes the slabs at the convention were prototypes and not the final versions. They have been listening to the community and actually trying to make improvements on it, just not the white and red line look to stay in line with their brand.
Wasn't there a recent video from a CGC grader showing how they grade at speed a big pile of comics? A 30 second look over each comic at max to grade? There is no way it is 10 minutes a book.
And CGC claims, or at least they used to claim, that three different people look at the book to arrive at an accurate grade. Do they think we are idiots?
You’re talking about a case of books straight from the printer, where it’s all the same book. They were scanning for 9.9s and 10s. Big difference than what you mean
I honestly believe CGC will be purchased by PSA in 2026 or earlier. CGC is ruining their name on a bi monthly basis. With PSA around the corner its only a matter of time before the monster needs to be fed.
I don't think PSA would want to waste any money on buying a failing business unless it was to open an east coast location to make submitting and delivery times shorter to control shipped damage etc. Probably be cheaper just to buy a building and start one maybe in the mid to lower south to stay out of the humid Florida weather.
That's funny you showed the video the Instagram one I really lost a lot of respect watching that girl I thought it was a joke and then I found out that's really what they're doing their cgc is becoming a joke
They do not lose money on re-holder customer pays for that. If they had to fix all their mistakes for free Quality Control would have been fixed a long time ago.
I really don't know why the entire community hasn't switched to CBCS. I understand CGC has better market prices, but if you're someone who wants to preserve your books, CBCS is the way to go. They offer better cases, better quality control, better customer support, and lower prices. The only reason CGC is still the main grader is that most people's collections are CGC, so they want to keep the slabs consistent throughout their collection. This, in turn, makes the value of CGC-slabbed books worth more than CBCS-slabbed books. CBCS also has more consistent grading. I believe a 9.8 from CBCS is always a 9.8 book, while some 9.8 CGCs can look like 9.4s.
I like the CBCS slabs better. The crimp from the inner sleeve to the label to help prevent tampering is a far better design. CBCS needs to run a promotion or something, 1/2 off converting CGC slabs to CBCS? 1/2 off shipping of books to “convert?” Something, anything, should have been done yesterday.
I agree. I won't touch a cgc book anymore. Not worth dealing with cgc or the people who own them
You never know when you need to flip that slab lol. I sell all my 9.8s and keep the lower grades
@@WadeNslade That's a fair point.
@@fuzzy8593 I think what would be cool is a promotion where if you send your 9.8 CGC slab to CBCS they guarantee the same grade. I don't think a lot of people crack and send to CBCS because they are afraid of getting a lower grade. CBCS grades tougher.
You were saying exactly what I am thinking and experiencing I think I am going to switch to cbcs. I also submit trading cards think I'm going to make the move set my last book to cgc 2 weeks ago
"CGC took a beating" -> *ALL* self-inflicted wounds imho.
Has anybody seen the video that CBCS put out mocking CGC by slabbing a banana peel? It’s quite hilarious.
I jokingly replied to the video by saying "Really?! Are you serious? That banana has a huge split and it got a 9.8?"
@@murrayc9615 That’s a good one. 👍
I replied to video discussing this issue by saying that someone should make a variant cover of that image of the banana with the yellow background - and then send all of the copies to CGC for a 9.9 prescreen.
@@murrayc9615 That’s a good one. 👍
I replied to video discussing this issue by saying that someone should make a variant cover of the image of the banana with the yellow background and then send all of the copies to CGC for a 9.9 prescreen.
Fullback, mylar and toploader. Done.
Yup, I totally agree about upcharge. Plus, it gives CGC incentive to bump grade to make way more money.
CGC won’t change until the resale market makes them. They know CGC slabs fetch higher prices. They know flippers will continue to use them.
100% agree with what your suggesting. I know for customer service when replying to email I talked to the same person. When calling in I got 3 different people. 2 where really good and 1 was not good at all.
Some people never learn!!! PSA is now being spoken about like the second coming. If you give to much power to one company(CGC) the outcome will still be the same, “power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely”. You guys use CGC for money and they use you guys for money. Bravo CGC keep taking their money and giving sub par service.
I agree, I'm skeptical about PSA as well and it's possible they flop. I do like that CGC has to worry about it though, which hopefully makes them get better. We'll see
One suggestion I've been making to both CGC and CBCS is to open offices in other countries like Canada and the UK.
It's extremely frustrating for us here in Canada to ship our property to the US and get dinged with customs and duties and fighting EVERY time to get those fees waived.
I think by opening outlets in other countries, you'll make life easier for non US customers, and, it'll alleviate backlogs for the grading companies in the US
Great points and suggestions! Time for the shenanigans to end.
Great video! Jim, you are a positive force in comic collecting. I think your expectation that CGC should be a positive force is not asking too much!
CBCS has even finally fired a shot across the CGC bow. This is now serious.
I’m a CBCS guy, too.
I have maybe 60 - 80 books that I'd like to get graded. But, after my last submission where 33% of the books came back damaged and in bend "banana" inner wells, I just cant and wont submit to CGC again at least until this is all fixed. I've also contacted them and so far they refuse to make things good. Their best option for me is to send in the books again for a press/reholder and HOPE that they come back with the same grade they already gave them. But considering that one of the 9.8s they sent me back has a 1/4" spine tick/bend that was not there when I sent the book in... there's zero chance they will give it a 9.8 again. So I'm screwed if I do nothing, and screwed if I send it in to them again. Such terrible customer service.
I've never sent a book in to CGC to get graded. Frankly, I've seen too many nightmare videos where people are horrified to find their prized books come back with damage. I'd be heartbroken.
2 most important-
1. Quality Control.. how do messed up books keep getting out the door. They either miss them or hope the submitter doesn't do anything about it. Both are big problems.
2. Transparency- they seem too corporate and political. The service reps just cite the policies. I get it though. They are a massive massive company. So far I like CGC quite a bit, but want to see improvements.
Thank you for this video, It is the best I've seen on this topic honestly cgc needs to listen and the funny thing is all of this is should be common sense especially when it comes to the comic book collecting community we understand the value whether it be an expensive or inexpensive book we take care of our books and add value beyond only money whether it be the book itself or a time and place or The Craft and pressing and cleaning preserving and archiving and these values cgc should also have
Great video Jim. I am sure the vast majority of us that own graded books have mostly CGC. That's just kind of been the obvious trend. I won't turn my head to a PGX graded book and most certainly not to a CBCS graded book. I'd guesstimate that 95+ % of my books are CGC. I do have a small handful of CBCS, and some of them are signature series. I have at least one PGX. When I started collecting slabs(as I have yet to submit my own raw books) I leaned towards CGC. I would read online about how CGC was the top tier and more respected and valuable than CBCS and for sure PGX. I'm no longer worried about the stereotype of books need to be CGC to be more guaranteed on their given grade and so on. I actually like CBCS slabs. My PGX one or two slabs look good as well. The old saying about buy the book not the grade still stands true. I'm now of the mindset that I'll buy the slab not the grading company.
I hope everyone eventually gets to that place! My guess is the grading companies will all be very similar in how they grade books in the next couple of years so hopefully we can just choose the company that we like the look the best
CGC has been offering subpar service to customers for years. But with that being said PSA has major issues also. Both have been damaging, misgrading, losing customer products in alarming numbers.
PSA has insane volume like over 2 million submission per month. PSA Comics will be a new team of people and will not be drowning in submissions, hard to say what the service will be like.
A hundred percent agree! 😊😉😉👌👌👌👌
Not a rant Jim, these all good points you made. CGC has never been transparent and it’s concerning. This is a big QC issue that should have been addressed.
To your other point, we know grading will always be subjective regardless of the grading service. It’s the consistency that’s an issue and CGC has failed here too in my opinion.
I always liked what I see with PSA and will likely holdup submitting books until they start their own process.
As usual, thanks for sharing!
I call the CGC situation "Banana Gate."
"Bend Gate" sounds like a topical ointment.
@@johnnydropkicks 😂
Oh ya I’m getting pissed at CGC . I live like 20 minutes from CBCS I don’t really care if I lose a bit in resell going with them
I feel that everything should have grader notes. 9.6 shouldn’t be blank. Hell even rejects should have notes on why they failed.
Agree 200%!
Great video.
Does anyone know when PSA will actually start taking comic book submissions?
Just curious
@@Ghostrider1717x early 2025 I think I heard from MJ Comix channel. 9.9 Newstand was talking about it on a livestream. I can’t remember what month in 2025.
Looks like my reply was deleted, probably because I mentioned another channel. Weird, sorry Ghostrider.
I recently picked up 6 graded books at auction, 5 CGC and 1 CBCS, all graded within the last 9 months. 4 out of the 5 CGC had significant bend, and although they don't seem to cause any damage i can see them 5+ years down the road if cracked open they wouldn't lay flat any more. The CBCS case however was flawless and perfectly flat. And it had their new label, the first I've purchased of that, and i really liked it. I thought it was a huge improvement and eye pleasing label.
So CGC doesn't break down any info on their pressing service? So they could be putting your books between a toilet seat and you'd never know it lol! I don't understand why anyone would pay for that service then if you don't know exactly what you're getting.
Fantastic video 🙌
If PSA can do comics like they do cards. CGC is in trouble. Beckett and PSA are the card kings. I’m hoping this put cgc on a warning and they get better.
I graded 3 copies of Batgirl 23 and they all came back cgc 9.8 they all had a big scratch inside the case. Totally unacceptable
Great video Jim; hope your suggestions reach the ears of an influencer within CGC. In future videos, would you mind providing thoughts on other grading companies like EGS? Is there any hope of redemption for PGX?
The different pricing tiers has always been a bit of a mystery for me. I'm not sure if it's right or wrong and would love to hear both sides of the argument. We pay a fee to have a book inspected, authenticated, graded, and then encapsulated. Why should it matter if it's a dollar-bin book or a $10,000 book? What business is it of CGC's? It's my book, my property. Why do they get to make a premium off me for owning a valuable book when the work they perform (again, authenticating, grading, and encapsulating) is the same? I'm not trying to be a griper; I'm honestly asking and would be open to an honest answer. Like you said, if the additional cost is related to insurance, then fine. That makes sense. But if it's more than that, I guess I just don't get it.
Buy a good raw book, send to improve comics for cleaning and pressing. Then send over to CBCS. 💪🏾
THERE IS NO WAY CGC DOES NOT WATCH VIDEOS LIKE THIS.. IF I WERE IN CHARGE THERE WOULD BE AN EMERGENCY MEETING WE WOULD WATCH THE VIDEO AND THEN BEGIN TO CORRECT THE PROBLEMS AND BE TOTALLY TRANSPARENT WITH THE PEOPLE THAT PAY US TO DO A JOB RIGHT.. THE COMPANY I WORK FOR WE BUILD HOSPITALS. IF OUR INSPECTIONS FAIL WE ALL GET CALLED TO THE BIG ROOM FIND OUT WHY AND SIT DOWN WITH THE INSPECTORS AND DISCUSS A RESOLVE ON HOW WE CAN DO BETTER.. WE HAVE NO CHOICE...CGC SHOULD BE DOING THE SAME THING
I have a Rob Liefeld signature series book that went "missing". I may start going with CBCS.
CGC customer service is good. However you have a good point and i think a personal - named rep for books above a value of 1k would be good. Or someone like you and others that consistently submit a certain amount of books per year on average. If i submit 3 books a year each worth 50-200 bucks each, i wouldn't expect a named-rep.
Solid advice
Every point you made is reasonable.
They recently changed their packaging - much thicker bubble wrap BUT no cardboard between books…all scuffed from rubbing against each other. All of them - last two boxes of 20+ each. First box has been sitting at CGC ME for almost a month now. Thicker bubble wrap might prevent breaking slabs but not scuffing…huge failure rate.
Preach!
Controversial but I have always preferred the cases of CBCS. The only things for me was the label. They had the QR code and Signature verification first the 2 lacking is resale value and custom labels.
I had just recently made the decision to not use CGC anymore and bananagate just reinforced my decision completely. I've only done maybe 20 submissions or so and out of those I had 2 expensive books lost and at least 4 different times that I had to do a re-holder for damaged slabs and one for getting the wrong book which also had a wrong label. If anything, I trusted them WAY longer than I should have already 😡. Luckily I really like the new CBCS labels (I already loved their cases) so I'll be moving completely to CBCS going forward.
Hope they compensated you for the lost books or did they say that losing your books was within tolerance of their operation? 🤣
@@erikvonzipper4124 They did. It took a long time for them to try to find the book on the first one so sadly the book went up in value during that time and the insurance didn't cover a replacement (I did get a replacement eventually though). I got pickier about the insurance amount after that so the 2nd time it covered the actual replacement cost. It was still a lot of time and aggravation despite CGC customer service being good. Between that and all the other QC BS over the years I just can't trust them and am finally moving on.
@@average_geeky_guy good to hear, i can only imagine having to deal with getting the value you deserve and getting insurance to agree
Got back into comics after a 20 year hiatus and learning about CGC now and all the shenanigans going on I will not be submitting anything to them, especially after seeing that video of their grader walking around showing their process. Looked like a bunch of college kids grading comics sitting at a computer looking at books over their keyboards. No special tables and care taken in grading the books. Now i see why stuff is getting damaged or stuff spilled on books, not very professional looking. Need to follow how PCGS grades coins imo. Then with bendgate how people are being told different stories on why it is happening, bad inner wells that we got rid of, it's within tolerances, and offering one guy $15 for ripping up his book during encapsulation etc. etc. I will be sending some stuff in to CBCS while waiting for PSA to get going, I think they will be a lot more professional and transparent to a degree way above what CGC does. Not to mention that eventually people will be turned off on buying anything slabbed CGC eventually for not believing the grade or if its bent. Love the videos Jim keep them coming.
With all the “CGC scandals” over the past 2 years or so, they’ve taken the fun out of the hobby for me. I’ve got 4 books remaining waiting to get graded at CGC and that’s it for me. My last 2 books that came back (Detective Comics 880 from the Jock signing) both suffered from “bend-gate”
@@amitbodalia6180 That so disappointing to hear. Jock’s DKIII cover is probably my favorite cover ever, as simple as it is, it’s just cool. Really am sorry to hear.
i sent 3 magazines on 05-10-24 and still have not received them. i used their clean/press service on another mag and it did not look cleaned. arrived as sent.
A funny thing I noticed on the image of the PSA slabbed Incredible Hulk #181 that’s been floating around (and is used in the thumbnail for this video) is that, on the label, it states it as a “Newsstand" edition.
First off, the distinction between Direct and Newsstand editions of Marvel comics was not made until 1979. Secondly, there weren’t even barcodes on books before 1975.
If they pay that little attention to detail on their main image promoting their upcoming product, it already has me thinking twice.
I'd rather have an editorial error, which can be fixed, versus a damaged book.
@@300baud I agree with you 100%. I don’t use CGC and very, very rarely have I purchased a CGC graded book. No banana books for this guy. 👈 🙂
The PSA label was just something I found to be funny when I looked at that image up close. I would be like publishing a book without having anyone proofread it.
I guess all copies of Hulk 181 are newsstand editions. Seems a little tedious to label them all that way but maybe that's the route they are going. That means every book before 1979 will be automatically labeled a "newsstand"?
@@richardolney1822There weren’t any newsstand editions before 1979 and barcodes were not put on books until 1975. Hulk #181 doesn’t even have a barcode and has a cover date of Nov. 1974. Then, when barcodes were put on covers, all of the books that were printed were still identical (except for British pence copies) no matter where they were sold until the direct market was created in 1979.
A barcode does not mean “Newsstand Edition.” A book with barcode that has a Direct Edition counterpart means that it is a Newsstand Edition - that is, up until around July 1993 when every comic printed sported a barcode. Then, the Direct Editions had “Direct Edition” printed on them in the barcode box until Newsstand Editions eventually faded away around the mid 2010s.
I think I'm gonna test PSA next year
CGC started hiring blind people or people with the intellect of a 10 year old. I sent in a 9.8 candidate grader notes “very small, multiple bindery tear spine” knocks it to a 9.4? I don’t think so. Not to mention 4 others that got 9.4’s & 9.6’s with no visible flaws, no notes… 9.8 is now improbable.
I’m so sick of their inconsistent grading. VERY loose standards, and that’s not how you perform a professional service. Won’t be long before CGC becomes the same as PGX… buh bye CGC!
Cgc needs to control the census so their big boy customers can get those higher grades
How do you hang your books on the wall?
The hanger I use is listed on my website improvecollecting.com
Got back into comics, Am going to wait for PSA to open up. CGC is not transparent at all.
Were doing them same. 100 books ready for grading with PSA.
Honestly, yes i go with CGC for their label and their higher worth... CBCS definitely has the better quality in their slabs. CGC "clean/press" is COMPLETE garbage! Im really excited for PSA to jump in the game, they def gotta change their labels tho, it would restrict me from sending as many as i would like.
Just the right amount of rant...do better cgc don't go out like blockbuster, Netflix is coming
what about a 1/8 inch clear plastic backing board in the inner well .. sort of a bag /board idea .. seems to have worked for millions of comics before
that would prevent bending and sliding
That’s not a bad idea.
One way to get them to change, switch to CBCS or PSA (when they get it together) until they get the point... Don't need seven. We vote with our dollars.
I don't usually get books graded. But if CGC has all of these problems, why the hell are people still using them? Resale value? If people were not so blinded with loyalty to a company giving sub-par quality, they could go to maybe CBCS who has better quality. Labels aren't as "pretty" and customer service lack sometimes? So what? Product quality is better.
dont know if its a good idea to have direct contact with the person grading the comic and being able to maintan that same person. Thst would be nice but couldnt it open the door to shady stuff?
@@whatdupdoh not the person grading.. the customer service rep
Consumers should boycott CGC and move over to CBCS. It is all about quality at the end of the day. If people do not trust CGC, then the books being sold by CGC in theory lose value as well. People will stop investing in CGC because their organization has taken the position that Quantity is better than Quality. CBCS or bust !!!!
8:09
"...you should be treating a one dollar book exactly the same as a million dollar book..."
Imagine you sent a million dollar book to CGC. Would you want them to be more careful with your million dollar comic than they would with a dollar book? Would it be acceptable to you if they handed it to a new hire who just went through training last week?
The process should be the same no matter the value. New hires should be competent to handle any book
@@ImproveCollectingComics
That's an admirable stance to take. Guess I'm wired a bit differently. If I entrust a company with something of substantial value, I certainly don't want them handing it off to the most junior person at the firm.
I just got a book back with smudges inside the case
CGC looking like Drake after NotLike Us came out 😂
Free grader notes on every book under 10.0
Yeah 100% notes on books under 10.0 is definitely something they should do
Thats not fair to get a special CS the more books you send in, that means someone new to the hobby and or someone who can only do 5 books a year would get screwed over with help and then they may lose a future customer who would be sending in hundreds a month. This is the same with youtube, those who are low subs get screwed over all the time while the top earners get special treatment with copy strikes and take downs all the time. Every customer should be treated with respect and help no matter what.
I didn't mean special really.. just deal with the same person every time
I'm switching to PSA once they start accepting comics to grade. But if they are very strict on grading I'll stick with CGC..
Well the head grader at PSA will be Mark Wilson he helped CGC & CBCS come up with their initial grading scales, I hope the grading is similar.
PSA is PRIMED to take over. All they need to do is line-up signings with popular artists and they will enter as #1. UV protection too.... fuggetaboudit.
I prefer raw books , especially the reholder scam
Unless people start paying more for psa graded or cbcs graded books cgc isnt going anywhere its all about the resale value and cgc is sadly still king in that area.
I personally did not like the introduction of the 9.9 pre screen. When most of us attain a 9.8 in a Bronze Age or Silver age book we assume we have gotten the highest grade possible and in many instances paid up for the 9.8, what will 9.9’s do to the value of the 9.8’s as more start to appear. They should leave well enough alone and not change the game at this point.
I agree, PSA will be giving out 10's when they start, saying that if a comic is perfect it should be graded that way and any issues on a comic the grade will go down from there...what is being said out there anyway. 🤷♂
Until the market starts to shift and people by non cgc expect the same. Unfortunately. I have a couple hundred books ready to go. I’m holding out to see what psa does
I have a stack of 50 keys (pretty big ones) that I am afraid to send now.. but I need to turn them around to pay bills.. a lot of people are dealing with this right now I think
@@ImproveCollectingComics I feel ya, maybe send some in as small of a batch as you can to minimize any issues, you know instead of 10-20 or more at a time send 5-10? IDK
I prefer Beckett over PSA for sports cards bcuz of looks/ presentation. How is it that CBCS who is owned by beckett have such a "blah" label.
Where are the CGC whistleblowers , that's what i want to know. I want to hear from former employees what is really going on. I know they are out there, they grade millions of items
Totally agree. They should treat every book with the highest of care. Any deviation just means inconsistency, and that is terrible for a grading company, as well as the customer.
There is also controversy with PSA grading cards.
Thanks for the info, I'll look into that
Good video. Unfortunately it will fall on deaf ears. The ego at that company is out of control. Perhaps PSA will knock them off the pedestal!
I don’t like the PSA labels unless they change. Reminds me of early labels.
From what has been put out on the web is that the red line on white background will not be changing...part of PSA's branding etc. But they are revamping the font and lettering sizes and are changing the slab sizing to be inline with everyone else but also may offer the beefier larger prototype slab as a premium for those who want more protection for pricier books.
Same here.. maybe those were a first draft and they will be better at launch?
I don't get all the fuss about labels. They shouldn't be god awful ugly, but the emphasis should be on the book and quality of grading, not how esthetically pleasing the label is.
@@ImproveCollectingComics Yes the slabs at the convention were prototypes and not the final versions. They have been listening to the community and actually trying to make improvements on it, just not the white and red line look to stay in line with their brand.
Maybe collectors need to re-think their toxic, co-dependent relationship with CGC.
no way does CGC use anything except a fast press. I bet they take them out after the press cools down - not even a 12-24 hour cold press.
Wasn't there a recent video from a CGC grader showing how they grade at speed a big pile of comics? A 30 second look over each comic at max to grade? There is no way it is 10 minutes a book.
And CGC claims, or at least they used to claim, that three different people look at the book to arrive at an accurate grade. Do they think we are idiots?
You’re talking about a case of books straight from the printer, where it’s all the same book. They were scanning for 9.9s and 10s. Big difference than what you mean
@@ShowMeTheMendozas I know the video that you’re referencing. If that is the same video the original poster is referring to, then you are 100% right.
Need a grading company for the grading company 😉
LOL , sounds like a new business plan...........Grading Companies Monthly Magazine
CGC is definitely not the gold standard anymore.
Tip #8 for Newbies?
I honestly believe CGC will be purchased by PSA in 2026 or earlier. CGC is ruining their name on a bi monthly basis. With PSA around the corner its only a matter of time before the monster needs to be fed.
I don't think PSA would want to waste any money on buying a failing business unless it was to open an east coast location to make submitting and delivery times shorter to control shipped damage etc. Probably be cheaper just to buy a building and start one maybe in the mid to lower south to stay out of the humid Florida weather.
What was the book that cost $600 😮
A giant size x-men #1 high grade
CCS only does a cold press
A cold press wouldn't do much though?
That's funny you showed the video the Instagram one I really lost a lot of respect watching that girl I thought it was a joke and then I found out that's really what they're doing their cgc is becoming a joke
Their pressing SUCKS. Their charges for grading high end books are BULLSHIT.
Stop using them. Simple. Keep books in the raw as they were intended.
im new to comics and i am waiting for psa. i do NOT trust cgc whatsoever
Encapsulation isn’t for me.
Grading a book doesn’t increase its value.
Too slow. I just got back 11 books from CGC and they had them more than 2 months. Ridiculous.
They do not lose money on re-holder customer pays for that. If they had to fix all their mistakes for free Quality Control would have been fixed a long time ago.