The more I learn about the grading and the "collectible" industries in general, the more glad I am that I don't have whatever it is that gives people the desire to collect (and not read or use) things. I'm lucky.
CGC = Conmen Gotta Con...follow the money indeed! Superb content, sir. Really appreciate you breaking down the big corporate vested interests in maximising the profits from a provably erratic grading process. The more I see, the more glad I am to be a reader who collects as opposed to a collector who won't read. Speculating on the monetary value of graded comics has become a massive gamble, and in gambling, only the House wins.
Thank God, I'm glad you're saying what I understand to be true about the market distortion and worse that results from hedge funds, the money center banks, and other galactically greedy monopoly bankers. The investment in perfectly good businesses, ending in disaster for an industry or individual enterprise is dramatically portrayed in WALL STREET by Michael Douglas. If you can recall the slogan by dealers and CGC that comic books as an investment portfolio have a better ROI than the stock market. Ergo, comics appreciate ever upward at a rate better than the Dow Jones, que the graph of the arrow going parabolic.
@@HavenForHeroes I'm looking forward to it! Watching your content has the feel of having a good old natter with a like-minded friend who genuinely cares about the medium. It doesn't hurt that you're surrounded by such cool stuff too!
It's a good thing that you continue to ask the questions that need to be asked about CGC and their practices. With so many scandals coming to light many people have just continued to use CGC with no trepidation at all. I'm not advocating for the third party grading companies to go the way of the Dodo but they need to be kept at a higher rate of scrutiny. CGC is the most popular comic book grading company and they should be held accountable. A lot of money is exchanged so keep asking those questions. Knowledge is the best weapon to keep collectors safe and the hobby safe as well.
Interesting perspective. We collectors should always make informed choices before considering services such as CGC/CBCS, both in the short and long term scheme of things. Have yourself a great week Emmett!
So here is the thing, the comic community DEFINATELY needed an independent 3rd party grader. Not because people didnt trust comic dealers but because reasonable minds can differ and we have all seen examples. In a perfect world CGC or CBCS or whoever graded books is a NEUTRAL unbiased 3rd party. I think the comic community benefited greatly from 3rd party grading and it was bound to happen sooner or later. So the only real question is do we trust CGC to be that NEUTRAL UNBIASED 3rd party?
I would say none of the third party graders are consistent. That's why there's so much cracking and regrading which they love cuz it's just more profits. If you know a client is constantly re-cracking and regrading why not downgrade him? I would say they would be neutral if they were doing it for free cuz there's money involved and a vast amount of money no one can be trusted. One of the things which would be a step forward in transparency is greater notes on every single book without charge. I don't think any one of our UA-cam channels are actually hurting CGC. Only a small amount of the community actually pay very close attention to the minutia of the industry. I appreciate you being part of the conversation. We need all voices and opinions. Thank you
I haven't had any of my comics yet.I did by one graded comic to fill a run.Outside of that I'm not interested in grading any of my collection at this time.Great content.Keep informing the collectors
Emmet, thank you for bringing this information to light. More people need to know about this scam which, admittedly, I have drank their Kool aid in the past. I've told you my issue that I'm still having with them. Keep up the excellent work!
Good breakdown of the CGC owners. I've always felt that the CGC were opportunists who found ways to give themselves value in the comic industry by setting themselves up as the 'only authority with a name brand that matters.' But you are correct that an Overstreet guide certainly does lay out the components of grading for anyone who wants to learn. This was a particularly insightful video, Emmet. Thank you. But yeah, don't even get me started on the cover variant racket. Unbelievable.
CGC and CBCS provide an invaluable service to the comic book community by providing non-biased comic grading, which has facilitated the rise of online auctions and comic book trading. Imagine where online sales would be if only raw books were available. I would be very hesitant to pay big money for a book while relying solely on the word of the seller. While grading companies are not perfect and have been rightly criticized at times, they still are essential to the buying and selling of comics.
@@thomaspalmer6453 - I don't doubt the need for unbiased grading. But I also don't see the practicality of having slabbed books that you can't (or aren't supposed to) touch, open and read. I understand that some collectors desire them only as collectibles to display, and maybe for those collectors, the CGC services are worth every penny. But for collectors like me who enjoy touching and rereading comics or just flipping through them to admire old school pencil art and such, CGC doesn't have much of a place on our needs list. They could just as easily grade and sell the comics raw, which would be more practical, but then they wouldn't be raking in the $$$$$$ that they are raking in now by branding their services as something exclusive and, therefore, of much higher value than grading/selling raw. And they've convinced many in the collecting community that having their products will definitely boost the value of one's collection. That may be true monetarily, but for those of us for whom the value lies in reading and browsing page-by-page story and art, CGC services are largely unnecessary for us and, therefore, not worth the exaggerated value. So it all depends on WHY we collect. If one collects solely for value, then maybe CGC (and others like them) are the right move for you.
AwesoMe video Emmet. Great breakdown of the whose who Cgc vipers and great breakdown on how to grade your own books. You are Obi Wan teaching us young Jedis great knowledge. Be safe brother.
Buy raw and negotiate with a seller if the price doesn’t fit the condition. Or walk away. It’s that simple. My first comic I got in 1973. My last one yesterday. I own zero graded books encased in a tomb. My collection is well loved and I carefully look and read my books and show them to youngsters.
When they say that CGC and CBCS slabs are worth the same. I might believe in grading and slabbing. I'll never buy the slabbing thing. Funny they all say but "Grading is subjective" but then in the same breathe say "But CGC is KING" Huh?
@@HavenForHeroes I didn’t realize that CGC was that big of a business. It’s actually even more insane how fly by night they operate when you realize they have that much money coming in
People use the phrase "waiting for the other show to drop." Well CGC's entire boot collection plummeted. And, for me, just in time. I've been cataloging my collection, determining what should be graded. I was already suspicious of CGC and their practices, and (from my outsider's view) their stranglehold on the pricing market... A position I view with a side-eye, by trade. IF I grade any of my books, it will be through CBCS. IF. I'm not a Raw or Die kind of guy. My collection is for my kids to benefit from down the road. Grading would change things dramatically, and I know it. But if im going to spend that kind of money to get things pressed, cleaned, and graded... I also don't want to give my money to a troglodytic agency like CGC. They're clearly not here for the collector in anything other than the percentage they can sell the hype to and the percentage of the market they can command. I'm all for a business making money but in a business like this, the people must be considered a priority and maximizing profits to the outer limits has to take a step back to make this so. Greed, in this case, isn't good. And CGC will never get my business. They've earned their decline. PS: I'm late to your channel (sorry about that), only just finding you last year... You are appreciated, over here!
The more I learn about the grading and the "collectible" industries in general, the more glad I am that I don't have whatever it is that gives people the desire to collect (and not read or use) things. I'm lucky.
Welcome to the club. Nice to have you
Your channel is certainly a haven for comic book enthusiasts!
Wow! That's so nice to say. Thank you very much. I appreciate you watching.
@@HavenForHeroes No problem! Keep up the good work.
We will try
CGC = Conmen Gotta Con...follow the money indeed!
Superb content, sir. Really appreciate you breaking down the big corporate vested interests in maximising the profits from a provably erratic grading process. The more I see, the more glad I am to be a reader who collects as opposed to a collector who won't read. Speculating on the monetary value of graded comics has become a massive gamble, and in gambling, only the House wins.
Thank you there's a part two coming.
Thank God, I'm glad you're saying what I understand to be true about the market distortion and worse that results from hedge funds, the money center banks, and other galactically greedy monopoly bankers.
The investment in perfectly good businesses, ending in disaster for an industry or individual enterprise is dramatically portrayed in WALL STREET by Michael Douglas.
If you can recall the slogan by dealers and CGC that comic books as an investment portfolio have a better ROI than the stock market. Ergo, comics appreciate ever upward at a rate better than the Dow Jones, que the graph of the arrow going parabolic.
@@HavenForHeroes I'm looking forward to it! Watching your content has the feel of having a good old natter with a like-minded friend who genuinely cares about the medium. It doesn't hurt that you're surrounded by such cool stuff too!
It's a good thing that you continue to ask the questions that need to be asked about CGC and their practices. With so many scandals coming to light many people have just continued to use CGC with no trepidation at all. I'm not advocating for the third party grading companies to go the way of the Dodo but they need to be kept at a higher rate of scrutiny. CGC is the most popular comic book grading company and they should be held accountable. A lot of money is exchanged so keep asking those questions. Knowledge is the best weapon to keep collectors safe and the hobby safe as well.
In the second part of this, I'm going to be touching on the possibility of them infringing on the antitrust laws possibly.
Whenever I walk into a comic book store that have bins of CGC comics and all over the walls, I walk out. I want to read comics ---- not look at slabs.
Hell yeah thank you
So Im not the only one ha!
Interesting perspective. We collectors should always make informed choices before considering services such as CGC/CBCS, both in the short and long term scheme of things. Have yourself a great week Emmett!
Thanks so much! Appreciate your perspective and being part of the conversation
Can't tell you how much I'm enjoying your channel you have taught me so many new things! Keep knocking them out!
Thanks, will do!
So here is the thing, the comic community DEFINATELY needed an independent 3rd party grader. Not because people didnt trust comic dealers but because reasonable minds can differ and we have all seen examples. In a perfect world CGC or CBCS or whoever graded books is a NEUTRAL unbiased 3rd party. I think the comic community benefited greatly from 3rd party grading and it was bound to happen sooner or later. So the only real question is do we trust CGC to be that NEUTRAL UNBIASED 3rd party?
I would say none of the third party graders are consistent. That's why there's so much cracking and regrading which they love cuz it's just more profits. If you know a client is constantly re-cracking and regrading why not downgrade him? I would say they would be neutral if they were doing it for free cuz there's money involved and a vast amount of money no one can be trusted. One of the things which would be a step forward in transparency is greater notes on every single book without charge. I don't think any one of our UA-cam channels are actually hurting CGC. Only a small amount of the community actually pay very close attention to the minutia of the industry. I appreciate you being part of the conversation. We need all voices and opinions. Thank you
I haven't had any of my comics yet.I did by one graded comic to fill a run.Outside of that I'm not interested in grading any of my collection at this time.Great content.Keep informing the collectors
Thank you. We have the final point to cgc coming up and then we'll be moving on
Emmet, thank you for bringing this information to light. More people need to know about this scam which, admittedly, I have drank their Kool aid in the past. I've told you my issue that I'm still having with them. Keep up the excellent work!
Thank you for watching and encouraging us to keep making videos.
Good breakdown of the CGC owners. I've always felt that the CGC were opportunists who found ways to give themselves value in the comic industry by setting themselves up as the 'only authority with a name brand that matters.' But you are correct that an Overstreet guide certainly does lay out the components of grading for anyone who wants to learn. This was a particularly insightful video, Emmet. Thank you. But yeah, don't even get me started on the cover variant racket. Unbelievable.
CGC and CBCS provide an invaluable service to the comic book community by providing non-biased comic grading, which has facilitated the rise of online auctions and comic book trading. Imagine where online sales would be if only raw books were available. I would be very hesitant to pay big money for a book while relying solely on the word of the seller. While grading companies are not perfect and have been rightly criticized at times, they still are essential to the buying and selling of comics.
Oh I'm so with you on that variant game it's probably my next rant coming up
@@HavenForHeroes - CAN'T WAIT!!!
@@thomaspalmer6453 - I don't doubt the need for unbiased grading. But I also don't see the practicality of having slabbed books that you can't (or aren't supposed to) touch, open and read. I understand that some collectors desire them only as collectibles to display, and maybe for those collectors, the CGC services are worth every penny. But for collectors like me who enjoy touching and rereading comics or just flipping through them to admire old school pencil art and such, CGC doesn't have much of a place on our needs list. They could just as easily grade and sell the comics raw, which would be more practical, but then they wouldn't be raking in the $$$$$$ that they are raking in now by branding their services as something exclusive and, therefore, of much higher value than grading/selling raw. And they've convinced many in the collecting community that having their products will definitely boost the value of one's collection. That may be true monetarily, but for those of us for whom the value lies in reading and browsing page-by-page story and art, CGC services are largely unnecessary for us and, therefore, not worth the exaggerated value. So it all depends on WHY we collect. If one collects solely for value, then maybe CGC (and others like them) are the right move for you.
You're my kind of collector. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and opinions.
AwesoMe video Emmet. Great breakdown of the whose who Cgc vipers and great breakdown on how to grade your own books. You are Obi Wan teaching us young Jedis great knowledge. Be safe brother.
Thanks brother, appreciate you watching
Buy raw and negotiate with a seller if the price doesn’t fit the condition. Or walk away. It’s that simple. My first comic I got in 1973. My last one yesterday. I own zero graded books encased in a tomb. My collection is well loved and I carefully look and read my books and show them to youngsters.
You Sir are a comic purest as am I. It's a small club and you're in it. Thank you for your contributions to the conversation.
I'm in! Let's start this poop and gum grading company ASAP!
LOL
Hey Emmet thanks for another informative video, almost as gd as talking comics with you in person! Take care see you soon
Thanks Tony, much appreciated. I'll see you soon brother.
When they say that CGC and CBCS slabs are worth the same. I might believe in grading and slabbing. I'll never buy the slabbing thing. Funny they all say but "Grading is subjective" but then in the same breathe say "But CGC is KING" Huh?
Exactly exactly it is subjective to pay somebody to give their best guess is crazy
CGC is by far my least favorite grading company.
I automatically subtract 2 grades from what CGC lables it.
LOL love it sadly it's true
If I'm spending over 200$ on a book, I want it graded
Too many cheaters out there
It seems to be CGC included. Thanks for sharing being part of the conversation and watching.
Emmett knows what’s up. Good to know 3.33% lol
LOL thanks brother
@@HavenForHeroes I didn’t realize that CGC was that big of a business. It’s actually even more insane how fly by night they operate when you realize they have that much money coming in
Right? Crazy
Most would be surprised who owns their hobby.
Yes Sir
Emmet you’re a gem
Well thank you
🤘🔥🤘
Thanks
Who are they...THE BEST DAMN SCAM// CON ARTIST IN THE WORLD...I just laugh at all you that waste your money on this CON .... WAKE UP PEOPLE...
Absolutely
Lol
People use the phrase "waiting for the other show to drop." Well CGC's entire boot collection plummeted. And, for me, just in time. I've been cataloging my collection, determining what should be graded. I was already suspicious of CGC and their practices, and (from my outsider's view) their stranglehold on the pricing market... A position I view with a side-eye, by trade. IF I grade any of my books, it will be through CBCS. IF. I'm not a Raw or Die kind of guy. My collection is for my kids to benefit from down the road. Grading would change things dramatically, and I know it. But if im going to spend that kind of money to get things pressed, cleaned, and graded... I also don't want to give my money to a troglodytic agency like CGC. They're clearly not here for the collector in anything other than the percentage they can sell the hype to and the percentage of the market they can command. I'm all for a business making money but in a business like this, the people must be considered a priority and maximizing profits to the outer limits has to take a step back to make this so. Greed, in this case, isn't good. And CGC will never get my business. They've earned their decline. PS: I'm late to your channel (sorry about that), only just finding you last year... You are appreciated, over here!
Thank you so much for your take on CGC. I love it! And thank you for the kind words about our channel. Welcome aboard.