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I have never understood how CGC charges 1% of the value of older Golden Age Books when they are being paid to grade them, not sell them for you and collect a commission....They are not their property....that's like taking your car to be detailed and being told they will also charge you 1% of the resale value.
Actually the majority of grading costs for many grading tiers is insurance and liability and they are pretty upfront and honest about that. Your declared value when you submit the book is the maximum value you are eligible to receive if there is a fire or disaster or it gets lost or damaged in anyway. Plus grading a hundred thousand dollar book obviously requires significantly more attention and care than a modern book, especially detecting the many variety of restoration (pieces added, tear seals, married pages, wet cleaning, etc) that is typical of old books.
@@benjackson1506 everything you said might be true but there just grading books and want a way to make a little extra on the rare and older comics in my opinion, there in it for the money, unlike you they could care less if they get to hold a 9.8 fantastic four #1 as long as they make a commission there happy, to them its all about the money
they figure they are making it worth more by giving it an official grade, so they take a percentage for their fee. right or wrong, this is probably their thinking. all about the money.....
they charge 1 % because they know the grade THEY put on that comic is going to make it worth more money than if it was a raw copy. Their service is going to make you more money than with out their service. Being that golden age comics are so insanely expensive, they want a piece of that too. So they charge for their service and they charge 1% of the value they just increased on your book for you. Its business. that's how you make money. If you don't like it, you can sell your book raw......but you won't get as much money for it.
Yo this video helped me a lot since I wanted to get a few comic books graded and I was thinking about sending them to CGC because I always see CGC books at display and posts about graded comics and never see the other two but since I am only 15.5 it turns out really expensive for me and that would take a lot of work for me but now thanks to you I know about the other two better I now understand better on grading so if you ask me I'm going to go with PGX since I don't really wanna sell my comic books and I enjoy collecting them so much so thx for letting us all know better about these grading companies and for helping out the community
Thanks a ton for this video Sir! I have several signed comics and am really turned off by CGC’s signature policy but I have been a Brand loyalist as you mentioned. Going to look into PGX to send my Romita Sr., Campbell, Stan Lee back in the day before slabbing existed comics into for verification. Love CGC but they can shove their green label where the Sun doesn’t shine. Super informative video. You are a treasure trove of knowledge Sir!
Glad to see this video was helpful and informative to you. Check out my descriptions of my videos because if you send 10 books to PGX and use the code WELOVECOMICSFREEPRESS, you can get one book pressed free... :). Thank you for taking the time to comment, hope you can share this video to help others :).
Very good. Bravo sir. this was the best first explanation I have ever heard. I am new to comics even though I'm 38 years old. Thank you I have learned a lot. I like you also am not a fanboy and I also drink both Coke and Pepsi I also eat both Burger King and McDonald's I also had PlayStation and Xbox. I applaud you for your honesty once again bravo sir
Thanks for this informative video Chris. I buy most of my graded books via Ebay and some from area Comic Shows. I think that the present CGC case 'presents' much better than the CBCS or PGX cases. One thing that you didn't mention is that CBCS offers 'graders notes' on any of their slabbed books. This comes in handy when I'm making a purchase on EBay. Regarding CGC books I always ask the seller if they can send me the Grader notes before I make the purchase and they are rarely available. This doesn't matter much with lower value books but would come in handy prior to buying 🔑silver or Bronze Age books.
I was not aware of that, so thank you for letting me know. PGX offers graders notes as well, you just have to request them on their website... One would think with the prices we pay for them to grade them, they would all include the graders notes on the back of the slabs
That would be great if the 'graders' notes were on the back of the slab. That would make it easier to identify slabs that were tampered by a shady seller who swaps in a lower grade of the same book.
I go with PGX for one simple reason: I live an hour south of their headquarters, and they let me personally hand off my submissions to a representative. It's been a couple years since I submitted anything, but I have to assume that's still the case. Plus, their customer service is excellent. I don't always get the grade I want, but that's the business.
Absolutely unbiase and fair as are you!, which is one of the Hundreds of reasons why I personally come here to this channel! Insightful and Informative as usual my friend! You alone have helped many, MANY comic collectors, old and new to make a smart and sound decision!👍 Thank you for your service Chris!!😁
Oh boy sure Love the "End Sayings" at each and everyone of your videos! They are SO Original and very funny!😄 The ending of this one goes like; "and WHAT the he'll is that?!?" then you zoom in to the picture that's on those comics cover(s)! Classic!!, just cracks me up! Ha-ha-ha!
Great stuff and I love the breakdown. I’m new to collecting comics and learning as I go. I would say that 95% of my comics are for my own personal enjoyment. As such, I’ll likely not want to send them in for grading. One suggestion that I got as far as adding more protection is to get some 42 pt clear backing boards from Comic Pro Line. If you put one on the front and back, it makes it very difficult to bend. I’ll be trying that out soon. I recently purchased an X-Men #1 (1982) Storm/Beast variant that is signed on the inside by Joe Rosas (Colorist). I don’t think the comic shop knew this as I didn’t pay much for it! At some point, I may send it off to CBCS to get graded and validated.😊
@@WeLoveComics No problem bro! I had a typo--the clear backing boards are actually 80 pt and are really sturdy. I had the opportunity to try this configuration out and I'm really impressed! For my more important comics, I place one on top and place a 42-Mil E. Gerber Full Back Board on the back (7" x 10 1/2"). If the comic is a full wrap-around, I use two of the clear boards! That makes it feel like it's a freaking tank man! :-) IMO: these don't impede the visibility at all! I was initially using Silver age Mylar bags, (7 1/4 x 10 1/5), but for the thicker comics, that makes it too tight of a fit. I have some wider bags on the way and I think that will solve the problem. For a non-permanent, yet very protective option, I highly recommend this as a viable alternative.
Just awesome. We don't get trophies from our comic shops. But now we get to have our own comic book trophies. A slabbed book is a trophy no matter what company grades it. Keep the videos coming.
If I worked with any of the grading companies, I would be looking at reviews on the internet to get ideas on how to improve what we were doing. This is an excellent video for just that. I feel the same for CBCS as you do, as I was disappointed in the overall way it looked.
Great honest video about grading comics and companies. Very much appreciate the no fluff honest truth. Very informative and liked the pros and cons. A big help for a beginning collector.
Thank you. When I do any review, I base it on experience and facts and NOT any personal bias. Anyone who cannot review something honestly, is misleading their viewers. I prefer to give my honest feedback and not carry some agenda or customer brand loyalty. Thank you for commenting and I hope you check out more of my videos :).
Thank you for this video. Bought a huge lot of Ultimate Spider-Man and am going to to go PGX. I don't care about reselling, but I want to protect them and just look at how amazing the art is. We need more comic people like you.
Thank you Sam, that was nice of you to say. If you do send 10 books to PGX, they have agreed to give 1 free pressing if you use the code WeLoveComicsFREEPRESS :). Hope it helps.
@@WeLoveComics There's some books I want to be cleaned and others idk if I want cleaned or not. Is there something they do to check before hand, so they don't waste a cleaning on a book that doesn't need it?
Well the good thing is if it doesn't need a cleaning they will not charge you for something they didn't do :). PGX is good that way. At least in my experience. I cannot speak for anyone else.
It is my pleasure, Chris, glad to help. Check out my tip videos on my playlist and you may find other helpful videos :). Thank you for taking the time to comment.
Hit the nail on the head. I collect(ed) both to keep a book 'forever' and to sell to re-invest in the hobby. If I was to slab for myself, i'd have no problem using any of the 3 companies. BUT, for those times that I am looking to make the ultimate return on investment, I would stick with CGC - atleast for the forseeble future. Times, opinions may change down the line - u never know. One thing I don't know if you touched on and maybe you know this. Do they all offer ANY sun/light protection. I stupidly displayed some of my books in top loaders where light (not direct sun) could reach them, and it did affect the cover color somewhat. Wondering if they put in a filter to protect the inner book from this issue. thanks, and keep on bookin!!
From my understanding CBCS uses PETG for their slab while the other companies do not. I use PETG in my tubing for my computer, and I must say it's darn near unbreakable, and very light, so it's actually very secure for the comic regardless of weight. My question is what materials do CGC and PGX use?
CBCS Comics does have Pressing & Cleaninng. I have used the Pressing & Cleaning services of CBCS & CGC. CBCS Pressing & Cleaning is better. I am yet to use PGX Pressing Cleaning though. I will be using PGX Pressing & Cleaning soon.
Is that even mentioned on their website because I have never seen it... Is it in house? Because remember, if it is not in house, that means they have to ship the package to the presser and that could increase the chances of a book getting damaged. I have used the PGX pressing and cleaning service and I was nothing but happy with it. Let me know what you think when you use it.
CGC grades other collectibles besides comics such as coins, and cards albeit under a different brand name like NGC which is why they have a better grasp on making their holders more professional looking and pleasing to the eye.
They may look nicer (Which I agree) but they are not very study and crack very easy so be careful. I appreciate you sharing your thoughts and thank you for watching :).
Also, BTW, if CGC pressing service is not in house, its driving distance as I think I know who does it for them. He MAY come in to do it there, but if not, the books are driven - not mailed and then back again.
No matter what they have, they do not advertise it on their website so how would someone who is just starting out, even know how to utilize it? If they made it just as easy as PGX, more people would use it. PGX is the only company that actually talks about their pressing/dry cleaning service, has a price, and tells you how to use it with your order. Neither CGC nor CBCS do any of that on their sites.
I am glad to help. Do as much research as you can so you can make the best decisions on hat company works best for your needs. :). Have fun with it :).
Hey Chris, since I've been commenting half the afternoon and now into the morning I'm looking for a little advice. I've never slabbed a book and I only have 2 raws. One of which is a recent purchase. My other is a copy of Moon Knight 1 from 2006 black and white cover variant that was signed by David Finch and has the whole yellow label get up for being a verified signature and has a 9.6 score. Anyways I kept that comic on a book shelf and when I was moving a family member had it in a stack of books and I don't know what they did to it but the case got pretty cracked at the top and bottom but there doesn't appear to be any visible damage to the comic itself. Can I send it back into CGC to get it reholdered and maintain the yellow tag? I just have no experience with slabbing and signatures.
As long as you don't crack it open to where the comic is exposed and can be removed, you will still be able to get the yellow label when reslabbing it. Of course, they do charge a fee. You should be fine :).
Pgx seems to be a good company. Grader notes so you know how they got to your grade :). Pgx with all its extras in house, and you pay so much more for the other two and time frame on wait 🤔. As a collector who want to start to grade comics it's a no contest PGX if it all on the way a person seems the grade to be. Thanks for the clarification on the grading process 👍
My pleasure, glad you checked this out. I do a PGX unboxing almost every single month for the past 5 years. I do the unboxings live so people can make judgements for themselves. Hope you check some out and see that they are not a bad company at all :). Thanks for your comment.
My pleasure. There is definitely a lack of non bias reviews these days. People get paid to do them or get free stuff, & it tends to help get more positive reviews. I tell anyone that may be interested in me giving a review, that no matter what they give me, I will always give my honest review & if they don't accept that, I pass. I have done other reviews in the past so I hope you check them out. Thank you for your comment.
Interesting video, thanks for all the info. I got a slabbed comic a few years ago of Gambit's first full appearance by CGC, (my only slabbed comic) as the years went by, I really wanted to read the comic... so I had to get an 'raw' copy! If I have some cash to splash, I'll try the other companies. Didn't really know much about the other 2 before watching your video. Cheers.
I am glad my video helped you. Always do as much research as you can so you can make the best decision. Watch channels that give fair reviews and not just bashing videos. You will never get real information from anyone that does that.... Great book to have 2 of btw :).
We Love Comics Very true! Objectivity is always better than a biased emotional response. Yeah at least I've got 2 copies of it out of the way, I've got a feeling that comic will dramatically rise in value some time in the near future as did New Mutants #98 and #87.
It is just a matter of time with that comic. The good thing is that it still as of now is relatively affordable.... Once he is again in a movie, that may not be the case. Sadly, most people wait until the price rises before they buy something.
We Love Comics It's in human nature to want things that are desirable by others. It's a very primal instinct that'll probably live as long as mankind itself. It's very satisfying to snatch a comic cheap(er) before the trends and hype start.
That is exactly what businesses count on ;) lol.... They love the people who cannot wait and are willing to spend whatever amount to get something right away. Me, I don't mind waiting to get a better deal :). Buy low sell high, many seem to forget that :).
Just one thing about the the CGC SS series, I agree if it’s already signed and you want it graded and slabbed send it to the other 2(the CGC pretty much has listed a Stan Lee or Todd McFarlane signature to be a flaw for godsakes) However, from a buyer’s point of view, there is a zero chance that the CGC verified a counterfeit signature, where there is a chance these could be forged and verified by the others. I collect signed keys and will in fact pay more for a high grade CGC yellow label. Oddly I always try to find a raw version of everything in my collection that’s intact but poor quality, so I can read them. I know I can read any of these books online but it’s just not the same, so I keep 2 collections. There’s a great feeling to reading the actual book, while there’s a high graded, slabbed, and sometimes Signature Series version sitting on my desk right next to it. Loved your video, you made some very good points. God bless!🐕👍
Getting some great information on all these grading companies. Thank you, Chris! I am learning to avoid brand loyalty on a lot of this. A maybe a big Marvel fan. But I absolutely enjoy DC too.
I am glad my content helps you expand your ability to use all brands that can help you. Companies love brand loyalists because then they know they will get your money no matter how average or bad their products get. Once we let go of that and go with what is best for our needs at that moment, companies will no longer have a strangle hold on people. That is when the people will realize that WE are in charge and not THEM. If they don't change to what we are willing to pay for then they go out of business. No company wants that. But if all people do is stick by a company no matter what they do, they will never change.... It is time we thought differently :). Thanks Torri for your great comment.
We Love Comics Anytime, Chris. What I also like about your videos are also the belief that there is always a chance you can get the book you want. One day my goal is to get a low or mid-grade copy of X-Men #1.
If you are determined and put in the effort it takes and you do it with a positive attitude, it is not a question of IF, but a question of WHEN you will find it... Let me know when you do :).
I crack out my PGX slabs, because they sometimes sell for less than the raw books in the same condition. This is due to a reputation PGX has earned for missed restoration/trimming and overgrading. In cracking them out, I agree with their grade most of the time. But sometimes they are WAY off. I bought a 9.8 in a PGX slab that was about a 9.2 due to a glaring flaw they missed. Either they missed it, or they caused the damage and did not want to return a 9.2 to a customer who sent in a 9.6-9.8 book.
Always remember that goes for ALL 3 companies, not just PGX. I have seen MANY videos where CGC over or under graded a book. It happens.... But you should always do what you feel is best. But the one issue I have with many that talk about this is that they always point out the PGX issues and never CGC or CBCS which do it as well. We must be equally fair and equally critical otherwise we are not being honest. Thank you for your comment.
@@WeLoveComics Agreed. I have a CGC slab where they put the wrong cover artist on the label for a fairly valuable variant. The difference is that in cracking open a CGC slab, you are knocking down your resale value (unless you press it and reslab it, etc). PGX books get devalued right off the bat, fairly or unfairly. Great video. Thanks for your channel; really enjoy it and I appreciate a man who is kind to animals.
I appreciate that very much and thank you for responding in a respectful way. Seems many kill me just because I have nothing really bad to say about PGX and heaven forbid I call out CGC when they do wrong when most won't ;).
Having truthful options is the best way to make a decision that works for you, sadly too many channels use their own personal bias and that is not helpful for those seeking answers. I am glad that you found my review to be helpful :).
I just got my first 2 comics back from cgc back in November. It took over a year to get them back and they were in both the same condition but got drastically different grades so I'm never using cgc again. I sent the rest of the books I wanted to grade to cbcs so we'll see how that goes. Also about the cbcs cases being flexible: I read that they were designed that way to prevent breaking the case incase you drop it. It's sturdy enough to do it's job while made of a softer plastic to prevent breaking.
Wow, over a year, that really is unfair they did that to you. I would complain to their "Customer service" and see if they give you at least a free grading or two. Sadly I doubt it because they really don't do much regarding customer service... But these are the things that I talk about that do matter that so many seem to just dismiss because of brand loyalty. If you cannot find fault in something then that is definite bias and not fair to your viewers who count of us for fair reviews. Let me know what happens to your CBCS books. And I thank you for talking about the CBCS cases, that is good to know and that does make sense. I appreciate that. Great post.
We Love Comics I called customer service before about what was taking my books so long and the woman I talked to was a total bitch about it and no help at all. It's just better for me to wash my hands of them.
Sadly, I have not heard many good things about their "customer service". that is why I always put it in quotes... These are the stories people should be sharing because when most do not talk about them, the newer people never know and then they trust everything is OK with a company.
Thank you, I try to be as honest as I can and do not factor in any brand loyalties or bias when it comes to reviews... All 3 companies have their strengths and weaknesses. Thank you for taking the time to comment, hope to hear from you again.
I go to pgx have signed grade books they require witness all others Non signed I may go cbcs or cgc if they have paypal option to pay that’s what I said in 1 video different companies grade differently
No.. It doesn't matter if you have a COA directly from the artist and it is video taped. If CGC is not there to witness it, it will get a Qualified green label.
We Love Comics That sucks. So with CBCS and PGX, if you give them that info, would it make their job that much easier? I kind of wonder with financial difficulties going on in our nation if there will be a noticeable shift to PGX.
So cgc sells better? So if someone is looking for a specific comic and it’s graded by cbcs/pgx with a grade of 8 or higher priced for $100 and then there’s a graded cgc one with a grade lower than 8 but selling for $150-$200 people are gonna buy the cgc graded one simply because of the name?
For the most part, yes. It just seems that most people are stuck on cgc no matter what they do and a lot of people have been programmed to think PGX is bad. But I always say is Go by what you think is best and not what the masses think. Remember, the masses all thought that the world was flat at some point so what do they really know? Lol :-).
That is what it should be but there are so many in this "Community" that never think logically, they just go by what others say.... Glad to hear you are not one of those people. Probably why you are getting such great deals :).
This is a really good video, I think I may try out PGX after watching for some signatures I would like authenticated. I normally prefer comics raw but would like authenticated signatures.
If you do go with PGX, I have some codes that can be used in my description. If you submit 10 books you can get one fo the pressed for free... Also, there is a new feature that only PGX does. If you would like to add graders notes to the back on your slab they have a $5 charge per comic. The codes are in the description should you need them. Glad you watched and I hope you check out more of my content :).
I have bought a couple of CGC books and I have seen a lot of horror stories from them. I honestly don't care about selling my books I just want a case that will protect my books the best. CGC I have books with no inner well and some with out. Books that are not centered, have newton rings, and some that the top of the comic book is touching the top inner well and I'm so afraid its going to damage the book. Is it worth reholdering them and going to CBCS?
If you think it is worth it then I say go for it. It is never really a good practice to tell others what is best for them. Research all you can and then go with what you feel is best for your own needs. That is the best advice I can give you.
Seems to me that if you wanted to sell a PGX, cracked it and sent it to CGC, the cost of them grading it would exceed the greater profit you hope to gain. Using your example of a $2000 CGC or a $1800 PGX, you'll spend way more than $200 to have it regraded by CGC.
I guess the only way would be when I decide to make one ;) lol. I don't do live shows very often. Hit the bell icon so if I do one you will be notified :).
WHAT IS DRIVING ME CRAZY RIGHT NOW IS I KEEP LOOKING AT THAT HULK 181 GRADED 8.0 IS THERE MARKER ON THE COVER OR IS THAT ON THE PLASTIC IF IT'S ON THE COMIC HOW DID IT GET THAT GRADE, YES THEY ARE CHEAPER BUT ALSO A LOT OF TIME JUST DON'T HIT THE RIGHT GRADE FOR A BOOK
It's not any restoration or anything so you can get writing on marks and still get fairly high grades. I have seen CGC books with some writing get these grades as well. As long as there is not really large amounts, grades can still be high. I appreciate your comment.
Thanks for the vid. Decided to use PGX to preserve some of my books and just crack and slab them with CGC if I ever want to sell them. Do you have video on how to properly box your comics to ship them to any of these graders?
Very informative and didn't go off-topic, I learned 'volumes'! ....and I love my Coke & MickeyD's- but will drink Pepsi (at least once weekly) and have lunch in the BK lounge any day!! You ROCK SIR, ☆POW☆, I've immediately found reason to Subscribe, as I am enjoying your opinion/fact finding×1000%!! Oh yeah, almost forgot- I'm such an 80's WEBHEAD! VIP Lastly, and most definitely NOT LEAST of importance, a friendly neighborhood shout out to the GREATEST SUPER HERO of my youth, INFINITE THANKS & RESPECT 4 nurturing INTELLIGENT imagination, and now in my 'adult-hood' for having taught me (and no doubt countless others) civil, yet stainless-STEEL (or as Native Americans would say 'IRON'-CLAD) character and morals, to combat the ever-degrading ethics of a must-have-money material-centered world ☆☆☆u were one of my greatest Teachers: the INCREDIBLE.....the UNCANNY....the AMAZING.....(the MAN$ that created heroes & REAL FANs) STAN MARTIN LEE ♧ keep R.I.P.
So glad to hear that my video helped you. I tried to be as non biased as possible and share what people should hear and not what so many think others want to hear. Glad you subscribed and I hope you find other videos of mine useful :). Thanks for the great comment.
Love the video. I did same video about a month ago check it out. I also like all 3 companies and have books graded from all 3. A few things. CBCS has a newer label , the one showed got a lot of bad feedback so they changed it again. Personally I hated it, I thought there 1st label was the best. They also now have pressing service. CGC'S pressing and cleaning service is in house it's just under a different name but all under the same roof. All 3 companies have 3 graders that grade each comic then the average of all 3 grades is the final grade.Thanks for sharing.
I agree, there 1st label was indeed the best, and these companies change their labels so much it is hard to keep track now a days ;). And as far as CBCS and their pressing, the fact that they don't list it on their main site will make many people not know about it and not use it. If they want people to know about it, they should post it on the site everyone goes to... Not the best way to get customers to use a product if they do not know it exists ;).
Summary for anyone interested: CBCS has clearest case more lenient grading from 0.5 to 7.5. After that, they get very stingy in the higher grades. No Newton Oil rings like CGC, and yes, expect lower market prices compared to CGC by around 10/15%. I personally advise to grade personal comics with CBCS as the owner of the company seems to really care about comic health vs CGC with thier disregard to improve the newton oil rings that some argue create stress and preasure areas. Some argue it does not, I personally don't want to risk. CBCS has new cases that are better looking than one in video. CBCS will also verify unwitnessed signatures. CGC: Beautifully presenting case. Feels very strong and premium. CGC is reciprocal of CBCS grading wise. They seem to hand out 9.8s quite liberally, whereas CBCS is stingy. 7.5 and up is the area where CGC grades more lenient. The lower grades they are more stingy compared to CBCS. As mentioned above, the Newton Oil rings are not ideal and they have decided to ignore consumers request to rectify. CGC is best for flipping books. PGX is best for personal books that likely aren't worth much. They tend to overgrade and miss many restoration and trimmed edges. A big factor to me is is the difference between CGCs use of Green and Purple labels compared to CBCS which uses all blue labels. I prefer CBCS blue label with notes then the scarlet letter colors of CGC. Pressing doesn't matter. There are plenty of 3rd party pressers that do a better job that CCS with lower rates and many of them have dealer licenses and get discounts on grading.
I got a Iron man 55 graded by cgc he's right I had to go to my local comic book shop but it was 75 dollers to grade it came back 6.0 I recommend getting cgc grade at a comic shop well worth it
Great video. Here are some fun facts to enhance the debate. Cgc does bring the highest price grade for grade of the three companies. They are the widely accepted standard because of 2 reasons.. One PGX was involved in a scandal.. Two, CGC is more strict at grading. Let's dig in.. CGC actually complicit in the largest scandal of all (see Jason Ewert trimming scandal ). Cgc may also be strict, but are the most wildly inconsistent of the 3. PGX is too lax on grading, but the consistency is there. CBCS most well rounded in my opinion, but bring PGX prices for a more scutinized grade. At the end of the day, buy PGX knowing in advance, they are probably half to a full point below grade in actuality. Buy CGC for acceptance of the broadest buyer market, but realize they blue labeled nearly a thousand books that were restored and eventually ended up all over. Buy CBCS for accuracy and pricepoint.
Thank you for the input. I tend to disagree with the grading. If you watch all my life PGX unboxings their grades have been spot on and I find CGC tends to over grade, especially with 9.8 grades. I have seen many videos where CGC graded a book a 9.8 and even the person making the video is shocked.... But each person has their own personal preferences. Thank you for sharing yours.
Not saying I don't like PGX... If you go by overstreet, PGX grades more to the letter of the law than anyone. By my standards, and current trends, they are just so lax. If you have an email, or a way to contact you, I can send you a picture of my Tales of Suspense 39 in PGX 5.0 that will have going, huh? I also have a CGC Green Lantern 87 that should be a 9.6 that came back 8.0. I just think PGX over grades and CGC undergrades. All of my cbcs books are spot on. Just my experience. I value your opinions as highly as my own and respect your knowledge. Keep knocking out these cool videos. Not enough of the responsible investing videos available in the community!!! I can be reached @ Cardick3@gmail.com Always looking to meet more collector/conversators, trade partners, and like minded individuals. Cheers.
I guess it all boils down to personal experience, I have watched so many videos over the years with people loving and hating all 3 companies it is really hard to tell unless you use them all yourself. And anytime any company gives you a horrible experience people tend to shy away from them no matter what they do in the future... I respect your opinions and appreciate them. Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts on this topic :).
Awesome Video! PGX sounds like the better business! Especially the in-house pressing and cleaning. I like how PGX called you about your Walking Dead #. I have a lot of books that I want to have in cased. Leaning toward PGX.....Please! Let me have your input! Thank you, Chris
Well to be fair, they have had some issues in the past but I have never myself had any issues with them and I find their customer service is top notch. I would recommend learning all you can about all 3 services and then make a choice from there. You may even want to try all 3 to see which ones suit your needs.... For fastest turn around, PGX is best, for higher resale value CGC is best.. So it really boils down to why you are getting them slabbed and what you intend to do with them after you grade them. Hope that helps :).
It was filmed last week. It's the Justice league of America #1-116. I talk about how great it is that you give the good, the bad and the ugly stories about buying comics and more!
Good analysis. Viewers should be made aware that all three labels you show -- CGC, CBCS and PGX -- were replaced with new-look labels last year. And next time take the slabs out of the mylars. Also, CGC has really improved their turn-around schedule over the last 3 months. It is night-and-day from the last several years. It is CBCS that is now running irritatingly late.
As a collector of toys, comics, cards, and everything in-between, the thing I think about most every day is PROTECTION. I've never slabbed a comic due to living in the UK, and the cost involved, but I must admit I LOVE the idea of it. It's pure protection, for something valuable that is WORTH protecting and preserving. The protection these provide makes my OCD VERY happy ...
Thank you very much, I try to give the most honest opinions I can, and without having brand loyalty I can talk about the strengths & weaknesses of all 3 companies. So many people tend to be bias and will either never say anything good about a product, company or person they don't like or never say anything bad about the things they do like....
I have dealt with all three companies too, and I have found PGX to be the one that I'm going to stay with. The horror stories of waiting months and months on end for books to come back from cgc is no joke. I waited eight months once for a set of books to come back. and because I called to complain several times they were purposely grated lower than what they should have been. I crack them open and set them to CBCS and every book came back a full grade higher
I dont plan on ever selling my comics, I plan on handing them down to my sons. I was planning on getting my iron man #10 and #15 graded, along with my avengers #87. They are all pre 1975. Who should I use and what do you think it will cost me?
As far as who to use, that is something you have to decide. Cost will depend on who you go with, how fast you want them back, how valuable they are etc. The cheapest is PGX, the most recognized is CGC.
also have Swamp thing 1-10 original series by wein and wrightson have mulling over getting those slabbed .they are in pretty good condition but not sure ...thoughts?? and even in great shape do you believe things like crisis on infinite earths, infinity gauntlet, watchmen and miracle man original run 1-12 are worth getting graded in this day and age. as i have all 5 in very good condition
🙂 good explanation Chris.You really helping me out with a choice.You see,here in Serbia I am having problems to grade my comics and protect them cuz we have no this companies,not even in whole europe.Is there any info how can do it ..I'll wait,I dont care as long as they are safe.It will be good to sent on your adress and wait until they are done 😂😂 Please,let me know....Thats how much I trust you,following you on youtube.😂 Greetings from Serbia
I really appreciate that trust, and because of that I would have to decline. Because if something were to go wrong in the mail and your comics got lost or damaged I would feel awful. I did hear that there are grading companies in Europe so you may want to research that more :).
One never knows where something can be found unexpected that can be within reach so never give up searching. besides, half the fun is the hunt :). Hope you find a super deal on that comic and when you do, let me know :).
Cbcs does have in-house cleaning and pressing. They told me that it was gonna take a long time to received my books when I submitted them. It took 6 months and 1 week to receive my books considering the fact that it was during the hurricane maria.
I went to their site, there is no mention of it. Not saying you are not telling the truth, I am just stating that they don't even mention it so how would people know about it?
We Love Comics. I did a walk in submission when I was on vacation last summer and the employee who works there offer me dry cleaning and pressing. I received my books last week. If it's not offered online,then call the office and ask them. I'm surprised that they don't offer pressing on their website. Love your channel and keep up the good work. I'm glad you came back
Yes but many do not use the walk thru service so if anyone new went to their site, they would have no idea about their pressing service. It is not the best way to get people to use them. If I had known that, I would have used them more often.
@@dragonball3166 They could have changed it, I have not used CBCS in years. But when I did, I sent in two already signed comics from my childhood and they verified the signatures...
Collecting comics in the early 1960's was wonderful. No extra payment for key issues, no slabbing because basically it was just a simple collecting hobby and swapping with your mates. Yes the comics you owned never really became worth much and became a bit dog eared but then of course none of them cost you very much either. Mind boggling now. Great informative video though.
@@WeLoveComics Yes it was. I'm sure that, for example, the same number of Amazing Fantasy number 15 was printed as numbers 14 and 16. Just because number 15 happened to have 1st appearance Spider-Man it was to Marvel just another great story. They were not thinking of 60 odd years forward saying "hey" this will be a key issue lets only print 10% in number of the other issues to make it super rare and expensive. So that the same number(give or take some unfortunately wasted) of number 15 are out there it's just that people are now conditioned to knowing what an investment they have and don't sell them or simply pass them on for others to read and it only pops up at an incredible price. I'm English and have lived in England all my life and in the early 1960's a trader had a small market stall in my local High Street and we could buy virtually any edition of any comic for exactly the same 2nd hand cover price. In the 1960's this was 6 pence(pre-decimalisation for us in the UK) which is roughly equivalent to 3 cents for you at current exchange rates. Madness Huh! I sold my first collection of about 600 silver age comics, in the mid 1970's, to help pay for central heating in my first house. The dealer gave me £300 based on the offer of equivalent now of 50 pence each across the whole collection. I was happy to accept and never questioned the value of individual comics and there would have been a number of what is now considered key silver age comics. Sorry for the long reply and good luck with your collecting.
@@WeLoveComics - Yeah. The problem with CBCS is that they don't have as much retail value like CGC like you mentioned. I think it's all to do with the aesthetics of the case myself. I have a stunning copy of The Spectacular Spider-Man no.1. But I'm scared CGC might under-grade it
Hard to know what to say on that one. It is all speculative so it really depends on how busy they are, or who grades them. All I can say is trust your instincts and then go from there.
I have that hulk wolverine book. I bought when I was a kid. I liked hulk and wolverine wanted to see who would win a fight.never knew it was that great and expensive. I really like getting cool covers of characters I like.
good vid thx. great job & very informative ,I am a long time collector but have never had a book slabbed ,bought books that were graded but never sent one in to get done myself. Have been thinking about getting some slabbed that i bought raw like some early fantastic fours and x-men and a captain america 100 and the 2 preceding issues that were tales of suspense 98 & 99, i bought like in the late 90's, as well as justice league of america vol. 1# 55 , along with spiderman 129(1st punisher) ,238(1st hobogoblin) 252(1st black suit),i have 3 copies of this from aquiring entire collections wholesale from people some old hulk comicsfrom late 60's early 70's including a very nice copy of king size hulk from 68 and first appearance of werewolf by night (lol). i have a lot of silver age, bronze and even maybe some copper age that are probably worth more than some of these but you have to start somewhere. Thx again for the great vids
The one thing I can tell you is once you send in a batch to get slabbed, you will be hooked and you will want more. It is not for everyone so if you like reading them then slabbing may not be for you. But you can always get a reader or digital copy if you anted to as ell... You got some great books to get slabbed though. Try maybe slabbing like 3 or 4 and see what you think then go from there.
Great video, I could not have agree with you more. I have never dealt with CGC and I think I never will .But I have Wil both CBCS AND PGX, I really like PGX more for just stabbing my books, cheap and so much faster. Thanks for this video. .
I bought a #3 ( first appearance of mephisto) silver surfer 6.0 Canadian slabbed I love it got it for a steal. ive seen 7.o that done look this good no tears no missing pages off white pages. when I was a kid in the 90s I took such care of my comics they are without a doubt pieces of art work and far more nostalgic and visceral than a piece of art one could walk into an art gallery and pay for on a random day
Glad to help Jason. Either CBCS or PGX will help so it basically boils down to cost, time and preference. No matter ho you use, I hope it comes back high grade for you :).
I think an interesting question is what is the perceived "cash benefit" from each. For example assuming the same comic was slabbed by each company...what exactly is the price mark up for each due to the perceived value gained? Getting confused about comics like lady death that you can order with signatures...but CGC needs to witness it....or they slab it green....seems like pure greed that they need to be there when the artist himself is selling with signatures....at the very least they should accept the invoice for the signature given by the artist? (dan mandoza and similar too....)....hmm...totally noob here...maybe a bad question. Just something I was pondering on.
I used to buy CGC grading books because they were more accurate in their grading criteria. However, lately I have received CGC grading books with errors that I didn't think it justified for the grades that they get. Therefore, CGC books condition are not the same as their labels. You paid a lot more money to get CGC 9.8, but their comics look like a 9.4. Same goes for 9.6.
I've heard things like that on a few videos. Sadly many will not speak out because heaven forbid you say anything bad about CGC, you get ganged up on....
Nice honest video. I agree about not having brand loyalty. Why have loyalty to any brand when they don't have any loyalty to you? Somehow people warp their thinking to believe that their favorite company somehow favors them in any way... Wrong! My 2 cents.
They use peoples brand loyalty as a way to get all of your money just to them. So of course, companies will play up the whole brand loyalty thing. So I totally agree that companies don't care about you, they just care about your money. The best way to tell is AFTER a sale has been made... And that is why I don't mind PGX at all, their customer service is by far the best... Doesn't mean I won't use the others because I will but I use each for a specific reason and brand loyalty is a way for companies to fool people into only giving their money to them. We should ALL be smarter then that. Thank you for your comment, it is appreciated.
Brand loyalty is a way to fool people into taking more of your money exclusively, I agree. Don't get me wrong, companies doing a service should be profitable or they won't be around to provide the service we want. Just saying that people are needlessly blinded by their own bias and in turn thumb their nose up on anyone with a different opinion. (Bullies) Great topic. I'm planning on doing a video on this topic as well (with a twist) with my own views. I invite you to stay tuned for it and give me your two cents worth. Your sub would be appreciated. Put me up on your shout out too when you can. Thanks
cgc is a taking advantage of people charging what they do..they have nothing to do with the comics other than grading them. and even at that as you pointed out they don't care about anyone but themselves. never knew you had to take them to a comic store to ship them to them. another scam.I agree with your video and think is spot on and excellent. great job.
I am wondering about filling out pgx forms. When you fill out the interactive PDF form and it asks you to add it all up, how can you do this? As with pressings they have an option to only do them when needed. So do you add this to the price and they will deduct the pressing cost if not needed? Also it do not ask what signatures are on a comic. I have one with 5 signatures I want to send in but not sure if I should add this to a different sheet listing the signatures. It would be nice if you could do a quick video on a few weird options so people can get a feel for how to do it. I know I can get all my signatures done with pgx for about the same as 1 comic from cbcs. They are very expensive. I would also like to know how to send in original art with signatures as that is not listed on the site.
Add it if you were going to have them pressed and if they don't need pressings they will deduct that from the total :). If you want, you can add a slip of paper and write a list of any signed comic, that will help :). As far as the original art, I am not sure how that one works so you may want to call them and ask personally. Their customer service is top notch and they can answer that question easily for you :). Hope that helps you.
That's not the newest CBCS label. It's the second generation label known as the "rivet" label. Also, when you spoke about the CGC cases damaging comics about 1.5 years ago, it was because those CGC cases lacked an inner well for the comics to sit in causing the comic to warp.
Kristian Tzokanov Good to know. I plan on seeing them this year an NYCCC. Do they grade them right there on spot or take them back to their offices, wherever that may be? Thanks.
That is the right way to do things :). GO with what company works best for your specific need. Never go by what others say is the "Only way".. They show their bias that way.
To get the best perspective on what works best, trying all companies is the best way to go. I base my opinions on my own personal experience and not what others say.
Really helpful. I'm about to go down this route. Not to makey comics worth more but to preserve them. I'm learning toward PGX bc I have a few that need pressing/cleaning and a lot that need signature verification. I may grab a CGC guy @ECCC to follow me to Claremont, Art Adams, and Adi Granov
We Love Comics I have a question. Say I have a PGX signature comic and I crack it open to get another signature with CGC present, how would CGC rate the first signature? Would it affect the CGC grading in anyway cause PGX authenticated the signature?
Since CGC did not witness it, they will give you a green label that says writing on the front cover. So I would not recommend you do that. CGC does not do signature verification. If you are going to crack it open I would suggest using CBCS.
Thank you for the video about comic book help me alot understanding more. I stop collect then in mide 90s. Now just got back on it and so confuse and too over price.it seem like comic company are getting too greedy and lost touch the way it should be for kid and adult like back then. A comic not graded can cost only 5 and it graded they chargering it like for 100 wth lol. Yes I collect to read and then put it always for investment for my kids like everyother person on here.
Yeah, there is definite greed in the industry, no doubt about that. Back in the 80's and further back, it was all about the art and the stories.. Ever since the 90's it has been mainly about variant covers, more advertisements, less comic and higher prices. So it can be confusing and very frustrating in the beginning. I have a playlist on my channel about tip/advice. Check those out and get as much info as you can. Be careful who you watch though because there are a few bad apples who will not be honest with you, so make sure you do your own research. It will take you a few months but you will get back into the swing of things and it will become much easier.... Till then, I will try to answer any questions to the best of my ability :). Thank you for another great comment and welcome back to the world of comics :).
With so many label changes over the past few years it is hard to keep up. But I do appreciate you mentioning that. As far as the PGX label, I actually stated that in this video, you may have missed hearing me say that.
live2collect 247 CBCS cases has only been changed once early in the company's existence because they didn't use virgin plastics and the cases were cracking. That has been fixed a long time ago. The label in this video is the second generation label but not the oldest label.
Thank you William, I appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts. I made a 2nd video today, hope you check it out and tell me your thoughts on that one.
I want to grade a few of my comics but to me, there isn't a company I like really. I would consider cbcs basically just because they authenticate signatures and there the best company in my opinion but I just really don't like the idea of sending it out, if they ever decide to open brick and mortar shops that I could walk into have it graded, slabbed and handed back to me same day id definitely do it but until then I don't see myself doing it
I have heard rumors that another grading company might be coming into the fight. SO if that happens, maybe they will have what it is you are looking for..
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I have never understood how CGC charges 1% of the value of older Golden Age Books when they are being paid to grade them, not sell them for you and collect a commission....They are not their property....that's like taking your car to be detailed and being told they will also charge you 1% of the resale value.
Sadly sometimes it is just plain greed.
Actually the majority of grading costs for many grading tiers is insurance and liability and they are pretty upfront and honest about that. Your declared value when you submit the book is the maximum value you are eligible to receive if there is a fire or disaster or it gets lost or damaged in anyway. Plus grading a hundred thousand dollar book obviously requires significantly more attention and care than a modern book, especially detecting the many variety of restoration (pieces added, tear seals, married pages, wet cleaning, etc) that is typical of old books.
@@benjackson1506 everything you said might be true but there just grading books and want a way to make a little extra on the rare and older comics in my opinion, there in it for the money, unlike you they could care less if they get to hold a 9.8 fantastic four #1 as long as they make a commission there happy, to them its all about the money
they figure they are making it worth more by giving it an official grade, so they take a percentage for their fee. right or wrong, this is probably their thinking. all about the money.....
they charge 1 % because they know the grade THEY put on that comic is going to make it worth more money than if it was a raw copy. Their service is going to make you more money than with out their service. Being that golden age comics are so insanely expensive, they want a piece of that too. So they charge for their service and they charge 1% of the value they just increased on your book for you. Its business. that's how you make money. If you don't like it, you can sell your book raw......but you won't get as much money for it.
Yo this video helped me a lot since I wanted to get a few comic books graded and I was thinking about sending them to CGC because I always see CGC books at display and posts about graded comics and never see the other two but since I am only 15.5 it turns out really expensive for me and that would take a lot of work for me but now thanks to you I know about the other two better I now understand better on grading so if you ask me I'm going to go with PGX since I don't really wanna sell my comic books and I enjoy collecting them so much so thx for letting us all know better about these grading companies and for helping out the community
Thanks a ton for this video Sir! I have several signed comics and am really turned off by CGC’s signature policy but I have been a Brand loyalist as you mentioned. Going to look into PGX to send my Romita Sr., Campbell, Stan Lee back in the day before slabbing existed comics into for verification. Love CGC but they can shove their green label where the Sun doesn’t shine. Super informative video. You are a treasure trove of knowledge Sir!
Glad to see this video was helpful and informative to you. Check out my descriptions of my videos because if you send 10 books to PGX and use the code WELOVECOMICSFREEPRESS, you can get one book pressed free... :). Thank you for taking the time to comment, hope you can share this video to help others :).
Very good. Bravo sir. this was the best first explanation I have ever heard. I am new to comics even though I'm 38 years old. Thank you I have learned a lot. I like you also am not a fanboy and I also drink both Coke and Pepsi I also eat both Burger King and McDonald's I also had PlayStation and Xbox. I applaud you for your honesty once again bravo sir
Useful info on some of the differences between the various grading companies. Thanks for taking the time to share this.
Thanks for this informative video Chris. I buy most of my graded books via Ebay and some from area Comic Shows. I think that the present CGC case 'presents' much better than the CBCS or PGX cases. One thing that you didn't mention is that CBCS offers 'graders notes' on any of their slabbed books. This comes in handy when I'm making a purchase on EBay. Regarding CGC books I always ask the seller if they can send me the Grader notes before I make the purchase and they are rarely available. This doesn't matter much with lower value books but would come in handy prior to buying 🔑silver or Bronze Age books.
I was not aware of that, so thank you for letting me know. PGX offers graders notes as well, you just have to request them on their website... One would think with the prices we pay for them to grade them, they would all include the graders notes on the back of the slabs
That would be great if the 'graders' notes were on the back of the slab. That would make it easier to identify slabs that were tampered by a shady seller who swaps in a lower grade of the same book.
I wish they would do that. We pay for them to grade it so shouldn't we know WHY they graded it the way they did?
I go with PGX for one simple reason: I live an hour south of their headquarters, and they let me personally hand off my submissions to a representative. It's been a couple years since I submitted anything, but I have to assume that's still the case. Plus, their customer service is excellent. I don't always get the grade I want, but that's the business.
That's awesome that you live so close. And yeah, they're very accommodating there :-).
Absolutely unbiase and fair as are you!, which is one of the Hundreds of reasons why I personally come here to this channel! Insightful and Informative as usual my friend! You alone have helped many, MANY comic collectors, old and new to make a smart and sound decision!👍 Thank you for your service Chris!!😁
Oh boy sure Love the "End Sayings" at each and everyone of your videos! They are SO Original and very funny!😄 The ending of this one goes like; "and WHAT the he'll is that?!?" then you zoom in to the picture that's on those comics cover(s)! Classic!!, just cracks me up! Ha-ha-ha!
Great stuff and I love the breakdown. I’m new to collecting comics and learning as I go. I would say that 95% of my comics are for my own personal enjoyment. As such, I’ll likely not want to send them in for grading. One suggestion that I got as far as adding more protection is to get some 42 pt clear backing boards from Comic Pro Line. If you put one on the front and back, it makes it very difficult to bend. I’ll be trying that out soon. I recently purchased an X-Men #1 (1982) Storm/Beast variant that is signed on the inside by Joe Rosas (Colorist). I don’t think the comic shop knew this as I didn’t pay much for it! At some point, I may send it off to CBCS to get graded and validated.😊
Good tip from you as well, thank you for sharing that :)
@@WeLoveComics No problem bro! I had a typo--the clear backing boards are actually 80 pt and are really sturdy. I had the opportunity to try this configuration out and I'm really impressed! For my more important comics, I place one on top and place a 42-Mil E. Gerber Full Back Board on the back (7" x 10 1/2"). If the comic is a full wrap-around, I use two of the clear boards! That makes it feel like it's a freaking tank man! :-) IMO: these don't impede the visibility at all! I was initially using Silver age Mylar bags, (7 1/4 x 10 1/5), but for the thicker comics, that makes it too tight of a fit. I have some wider bags on the way and I think that will solve the problem. For a non-permanent, yet very protective option, I highly recommend this as a viable alternative.
Just awesome. We don't get trophies from our comic shops. But now we get to have our own comic book trophies. A slabbed book is a trophy no matter what company grades it. Keep the videos coming.
Well said, I totally agree. Thank you for taking the time to comment. Many videos to come, hope to hear from you more often :).
If I worked with any of the grading companies, I would be looking at reviews on the internet to get ideas on how to improve what we were doing. This is an excellent video for just that. I feel the same for CBCS as you do, as I was disappointed in the overall way it looked.
That would be a really smart thing to do and it is surprising that they don't.
Great honest video about grading comics and companies. Very much appreciate the no fluff honest truth. Very informative and liked the pros and cons. A big help for a beginning collector.
Thank you. When I do any review, I base it on experience and facts and NOT any personal bias. Anyone who cannot review something honestly, is misleading their viewers. I prefer to give my honest feedback and not carry some agenda or customer brand loyalty. Thank you for commenting and I hope you check out more of my videos :).
I appreciate your honest and equal opinion! Definitely way easier and cheaper than the trial and error route lol!
Thank you for this video. Bought a huge lot of Ultimate Spider-Man and am going to to go PGX. I don't care about reselling, but I want to protect them and just look at how amazing the art is. We need more comic people like you.
Thank you Sam, that was nice of you to say. If you do send 10 books to PGX, they have agreed to give 1 free pressing if you use the code WeLoveComicsFREEPRESS :). Hope it helps.
@@WeLoveComics There's some books I want to be cleaned and others idk if I want cleaned or not. Is there something they do to check before hand, so they don't waste a cleaning on a book that doesn't need it?
Well the good thing is if it doesn't need a cleaning they will not charge you for something they didn't do :). PGX is good that way. At least in my experience. I cannot speak for anyone else.
@@WeLoveComics even if I mark the form as cleaning?
Thank you so much from a newbie to the collecting of comics pursuit.
It is my pleasure, Chris, glad to help. Check out my tip videos on my playlist and you may find other helpful videos :). Thank you for taking the time to comment.
Hit the nail on the head. I collect(ed) both to keep a book 'forever' and to sell to re-invest in the hobby. If I was to slab for myself, i'd have no problem using any of the 3 companies. BUT, for those times that I am looking to make the ultimate return on investment, I would stick with CGC - atleast for the forseeble future. Times, opinions may change down the line - u never know.
One thing I don't know if you touched on and maybe you know this. Do they all offer ANY sun/light protection. I stupidly displayed some of my books in top loaders where light (not direct sun) could reach them, and it did affect the cover color somewhat. Wondering if they put in a filter to protect the inner book from this issue. thanks, and keep on bookin!!
Keep your comics away from sun light. I will do a video on that some day.
From my understanding CBCS uses PETG for their slab while the other companies do not. I use PETG in my tubing for my computer, and I must say it's darn near unbreakable, and very light, so it's actually very secure for the comic regardless of weight. My question is what materials do CGC and PGX use?
CBCS Comics does have Pressing & Cleaninng. I have used the Pressing & Cleaning services of CBCS & CGC. CBCS Pressing & Cleaning is better. I am yet to use PGX Pressing Cleaning though. I will be using PGX Pressing & Cleaning soon.
Is that even mentioned on their website because I have never seen it... Is it in house? Because remember, if it is not in house, that means they have to ship the package to the presser and that could increase the chances of a book getting damaged. I have used the PGX pressing and cleaning service and I was nothing but happy with it. Let me know what you think when you use it.
Went to their website, they don't even mention it. That will definitely make it hard for people to know about it.
How was the PGX pressing and cleaning?
CGC grades other collectibles besides comics such as coins, and cards albeit under a different brand name like NGC which is why they have a better grasp on making their holders more professional looking and pleasing to the eye.
They may look nicer (Which I agree) but they are not very study and crack very easy so be careful. I appreciate you sharing your thoughts and thank you for watching :).
Those clear backboards are amazing. Thats all I have been buying lately.
Yeah, they are definitely cool. If they were around the price of regular boards, I would be buying those all the time.
They are pricey but not every cover is a wrap around. I buy them just for my wraps cover.
Also, BTW, if CGC pressing service is not in house, its driving distance as I think I know who does it for them. He MAY come in to do it there, but if not, the books are driven - not mailed and then back again.
No matter what they have, they do not advertise it on their website so how would someone who is just starting out, even know how to utilize it? If they made it just as easy as PGX, more people would use it. PGX is the only company that actually talks about their pressing/dry cleaning service, has a price, and tells you how to use it with your order. Neither CGC nor CBCS do any of that on their sites.
great video and very informative. I'm a collector and have been wanting to start getting my books slabbed so I can enjoy viewing them.
I am glad to help. Do as much research as you can so you can make the best decisions on hat company works best for your needs. :). Have fun with it :).
I know there's reasons to get one or the other but honestly I grade with CGC because it looks cleanest, and, I grade them to be displayed
Always go with what makes you happy and you'll never be wrong :-).
Hey Chris, since I've been commenting half the afternoon and now into the morning I'm looking for a little advice. I've never slabbed a book and I only have 2 raws. One of which is a recent purchase.
My other is a copy of Moon Knight 1 from 2006 black and white cover variant that was signed by David Finch and has the whole yellow label get up for being a verified signature and has a 9.6 score. Anyways I kept that comic on a book shelf and when I was moving a family member had it in a stack of books and I don't know what they did to it but the case got pretty cracked at the top and bottom but there doesn't appear to be any visible damage to the comic itself. Can I send it back into CGC to get it reholdered and maintain the yellow tag? I just have no experience with slabbing and signatures.
As long as you don't crack it open to where the comic is exposed and can be removed, you will still be able to get the yellow label when reslabbing it. Of course, they do charge a fee. You should be fine :).
Pgx seems to be a good company. Grader notes so you know how they got to your grade :). Pgx with all its extras in house, and you pay so much more for the other two and time frame on wait 🤔. As a collector who want to start to grade comics it's a no contest PGX if it all on the way a person seems the grade to be. Thanks for the clarification on the grading process 👍
My pleasure, glad you checked this out. I do a PGX unboxing almost every single month for the past 5 years. I do the unboxings live so people can make judgements for themselves. Hope you check some out and see that they are not a bad company at all :). Thanks for your comment.
Thank you for the honest review as a new collector that's getting into grading the information was invaluable
My pleasure. There is definitely a lack of non bias reviews these days. People get paid to do them or get free stuff, & it tends to help get more positive reviews. I tell anyone that may be interested in me giving a review, that no matter what they give me, I will always give my honest review & if they don't accept that, I pass. I have done other reviews in the past so I hope you check them out. Thank you for your comment.
Interesting video, thanks for all the info. I got a slabbed comic a few years ago of Gambit's first full appearance by CGC, (my only slabbed comic) as the years went by, I really wanted to read the comic... so I had to get an 'raw' copy! If I have some cash to splash, I'll try the other companies. Didn't really know much about the other 2 before watching your video. Cheers.
I am glad my video helped you. Always do as much research as you can so you can make the best decision. Watch channels that give fair reviews and not just bashing videos. You will never get real information from anyone that does that.... Great book to have 2 of btw :).
We Love Comics Very true! Objectivity is always better than a biased emotional response. Yeah at least I've got 2 copies of it out of the way, I've got a feeling that comic will dramatically rise in value some time in the near future as did New Mutants #98 and #87.
It is just a matter of time with that comic. The good thing is that it still as of now is relatively affordable.... Once he is again in a movie, that may not be the case. Sadly, most people wait until the price rises before they buy something.
We Love Comics It's in human nature to want things that are desirable by others. It's a very primal instinct that'll probably live as long as mankind itself. It's very satisfying to snatch a comic cheap(er) before the trends and hype start.
That is exactly what businesses count on ;) lol.... They love the people who cannot wait and are willing to spend whatever amount to get something right away. Me, I don't mind waiting to get a better deal :). Buy low sell high, many seem to forget that :).
Just one thing about the the CGC SS series, I agree if it’s already signed and you want it graded and slabbed send it to the other 2(the CGC pretty much has listed a Stan Lee or Todd McFarlane signature to be a flaw for godsakes) However, from a buyer’s point of view, there is a zero chance that the CGC verified a counterfeit signature, where there is a chance these could be forged and verified by the others. I collect signed keys and will in fact pay more for a high grade CGC yellow label. Oddly I always try to find a raw version of everything in my collection that’s intact but poor quality, so I can read them. I know I can read any of these books online but it’s just not the same, so I keep 2 collections. There’s a great feeling to reading the actual book, while there’s a high graded, slabbed, and sometimes Signature Series version sitting on my desk right next to it. Loved your video, you made some very good points. God bless!🐕👍
Getting some great information on all these grading companies. Thank you, Chris! I am learning to avoid brand loyalty on a lot of this. A maybe a big Marvel fan. But I absolutely enjoy DC too.
I am glad my content helps you expand your ability to use all brands that can help you. Companies love brand loyalists because then they know they will get your money no matter how average or bad their products get. Once we let go of that and go with what is best for our needs at that moment, companies will no longer have a strangle hold on people. That is when the people will realize that WE are in charge and not THEM. If they don't change to what we are willing to pay for then they go out of business. No company wants that. But if all people do is stick by a company no matter what they do, they will never change.... It is time we thought differently :). Thanks Torri for your great comment.
We Love Comics Anytime, Chris. What I also like about your videos are also the belief that there is always a chance you can get the book you want. One day my goal is to get a low or mid-grade copy of X-Men #1.
If you are determined and put in the effort it takes and you do it with a positive attitude, it is not a question of IF, but a question of WHEN you will find it... Let me know when you do :).
We Love Comics I will most definitely. Thank you!👍
I crack out my PGX slabs, because they sometimes sell for less than the raw books in the same condition. This is due to a reputation PGX has earned for missed restoration/trimming and overgrading. In cracking them out, I agree with their grade most of the time. But sometimes they are WAY off. I bought a 9.8 in a PGX slab that was about a 9.2 due to a glaring flaw they missed. Either they missed it, or they caused the damage and did not want to return a 9.2 to a customer who sent in a 9.6-9.8 book.
Always remember that goes for ALL 3 companies, not just PGX. I have seen MANY videos where CGC over or under graded a book. It happens.... But you should always do what you feel is best. But the one issue I have with many that talk about this is that they always point out the PGX issues and never CGC or CBCS which do it as well. We must be equally fair and equally critical otherwise we are not being honest. Thank you for your comment.
@@WeLoveComics Agreed. I have a CGC slab where they put the wrong cover artist on the label for a fairly valuable variant. The difference is that in cracking open a CGC slab, you are knocking down your resale value (unless you press it and reslab it, etc). PGX books get devalued right off the bat, fairly or unfairly. Great video. Thanks for your channel; really enjoy it and I appreciate a man who is kind to animals.
I appreciate that very much and thank you for responding in a respectful way. Seems many kill me just because I have nothing really bad to say about PGX and heaven forbid I call out CGC when they do wrong when most won't ;).
Thanks for the review bro. Now I know what to consider when sending my books over.
Having truthful options is the best way to make a decision that works for you, sadly too many channels use their own personal bias and that is not helpful for those seeking answers. I am glad that you found my review to be helpful :).
I just got my first 2 comics back from cgc back in November. It took over a year to get them back and they were in both the same condition but got drastically different grades so I'm never using cgc again. I sent the rest of the books I wanted to grade to cbcs so we'll see how that goes.
Also about the cbcs cases being flexible: I read that they were designed that way to prevent breaking the case incase you drop it. It's sturdy enough to do it's job while made of a softer plastic to prevent breaking.
Wow, over a year, that really is unfair they did that to you. I would complain to their "Customer service" and see if they give you at least a free grading or two. Sadly I doubt it because they really don't do much regarding customer service... But these are the things that I talk about that do matter that so many seem to just dismiss because of brand loyalty. If you cannot find fault in something then that is definite bias and not fair to your viewers who count of us for fair reviews. Let me know what happens to your CBCS books. And I thank you for talking about the CBCS cases, that is good to know and that does make sense. I appreciate that. Great post.
We Love Comics I called customer service before about what was taking my books so long and the woman I talked to was a total bitch about it and no help at all. It's just better for me to wash my hands of them.
Sadly, I have not heard many good things about their "customer service". that is why I always put it in quotes... These are the stories people should be sharing because when most do not talk about them, the newer people never know and then they trust everything is OK with a company.
We Love Comics cgc thinks that they are the only comic grading company in the world and thus can get away with anything.
That is a great way to lose your top statues with them having that kind of attitude.... They would only have themselves to blame.
Absolutely best descriptive vid in regards for these companies !
Thank you, I try to be as honest as I can and do not factor in any brand loyalties or bias when it comes to reviews... All 3 companies have their strengths and weaknesses. Thank you for taking the time to comment, hope to hear from you again.
Cbcs does have a pressing service now, the services started its last year.
Is it in house?
Yes
I was not aware of this. Thank you for that.
I just went to their website and they don't even mention it. Not the best way to get people to use it ;).
I go to pgx have signed grade books they require witness all others Non signed I may go cbcs or cgc if they have paypal option to pay that’s what I said in 1 video different companies grade differently
Always goes with what works best for you.Thank you for your comment
With autographs, wouldn’t a Certificate of Authenticity be suffice with CGC?
No.. It doesn't matter if you have a COA directly from the artist and it is video taped. If CGC is not there to witness it, it will get a Qualified green label.
We Love Comics That sucks. So with CBCS and PGX, if you give them that info, would it make their job that much easier? I kind of wonder with financial difficulties going on in our nation if there will be a noticeable shift to PGX.
So cgc sells better? So if someone is looking for a specific comic and it’s graded by cbcs/pgx with a grade of 8 or higher priced for $100 and then there’s a graded cgc one with a grade lower than 8 but selling for $150-$200 people are gonna buy the cgc graded one simply because of the name?
For the most part, yes. It just seems that most people are stuck on cgc no matter what they do and a lot of people have been programmed to think PGX is bad. But I always say is Go by what you think is best and not what the masses think. Remember, the masses all thought that the world was flat at some point so what do they really know? Lol :-).
@@WeLoveComics that's weird. I'm buying the cheaper one with the higher grade. It's about the comic not who grades it.
That is what it should be but there are so many in this "Community" that never think logically, they just go by what others say.... Glad to hear you are not one of those people. Probably why you are getting such great deals :).
Great review, second time watching, I think I have a good idea now we’re to send my comics.
Glad you enjoyed it Ricky. Good luck with whatever grades you get. :).
I know this is an old video, but its still very informative... Do you feel that everything still stands true with all three brands?
I would say it is still pretty accurate :).
This is a really good video, I think I may try out PGX after watching for some signatures I would like authenticated. I normally prefer comics raw but would like authenticated signatures.
If you do go with PGX, I have some codes that can be used in my description. If you submit 10 books you can get one fo the pressed for free... Also, there is a new feature that only PGX does. If you would like to add graders notes to the back on your slab they have a $5 charge per comic. The codes are in the description should you need them. Glad you watched and I hope you check out more of my content :).
Loving these videos really incite full and helpful advice
Thank you, glad you enjoy them. I have many other helpful tip videos, hope you check them out under my playlists.
I have bought a couple of CGC books and I have seen a lot of horror stories from them. I honestly don't care about selling my books I just want a case that will protect my books the best. CGC I have books with no inner well and some with out. Books that are not centered, have newton rings, and some that the top of the comic book is touching the top inner well and I'm so afraid its going to damage the book. Is it worth reholdering them and going to CBCS?
If you think it is worth it then I say go for it. It is never really a good practice to tell others what is best for them. Research all you can and then go with what you feel is best for your own needs. That is the best advice I can give you.
Seems to me that if you wanted to sell a PGX, cracked it and sent it to CGC, the cost of them grading it would exceed the greater profit you hope to gain. Using your example of a $2000 CGC or a $1800 PGX, you'll spend way more than $200 to have it regraded by CGC.
This is true. But there are always exceptions to any rule :).
Thanks for the quick reply. How can I find out when you do live shows?
I guess the only way would be when I decide to make one ;) lol. I don't do live shows very often. Hit the bell icon so if I do one you will be notified :).
WHAT IS DRIVING ME CRAZY RIGHT NOW IS I KEEP LOOKING AT THAT HULK 181 GRADED 8.0 IS THERE MARKER ON THE COVER OR IS THAT ON THE PLASTIC IF IT'S ON THE COMIC HOW DID IT GET THAT GRADE, YES THEY ARE CHEAPER BUT ALSO A LOT OF TIME JUST DON'T HIT THE RIGHT GRADE FOR A BOOK
It's not any restoration or anything so you can get writing on marks and still get fairly high grades. I have seen CGC books with some writing get these grades as well. As long as there is not really large amounts, grades can still be high. I appreciate your comment.
And I also think this was a manufacturing ink and they do not take a lot of points off when that is the reason with any company. Hope that helps.
Thanks for the vid. Decided to use PGX to preserve some of my books and just crack and slab them with CGC if I ever want to sell them. Do you have video on how to properly box your comics to ship them to any of these graders?
I actually do, just go to my playlists and you will find it under the tips/advice or how to section :).
great video. lots of good points about all three companies that I didn't quite consider all the way. bravo!
Very informative and didn't go off-topic, I learned 'volumes'! ....and I love my Coke & MickeyD's- but will drink Pepsi (at least once weekly) and have lunch in the BK lounge any day!! You ROCK SIR, ☆POW☆, I've immediately found reason to Subscribe, as I am enjoying your opinion/fact finding×1000%!! Oh yeah, almost forgot- I'm such an 80's WEBHEAD! VIP Lastly, and most definitely NOT LEAST of importance, a friendly neighborhood shout out to the GREATEST SUPER HERO of my youth, INFINITE THANKS & RESPECT 4 nurturing INTELLIGENT imagination, and now in my 'adult-hood' for having taught me (and no doubt countless others) civil, yet stainless-STEEL (or as Native Americans would say 'IRON'-CLAD) character and morals, to combat the ever-degrading ethics of a must-have-money material-centered world ☆☆☆u were one of my greatest Teachers: the INCREDIBLE.....the UNCANNY....the AMAZING.....(the MAN$ that created heroes & REAL FANs) STAN MARTIN LEE ♧ keep R.I.P.
So glad to hear that my video helped you. I tried to be as non biased as possible and share what people should hear and not what so many think others want to hear. Glad you subscribed and I hope you find other videos of mine useful :). Thanks for the great comment.
Love the video. I did same video about a month ago check it out. I also like all 3 companies and have books graded from all 3. A few things. CBCS has a newer label , the one showed got a lot of bad feedback so they changed it again. Personally I hated it, I thought there 1st label was the best. They also now have pressing service. CGC'S pressing and cleaning service is in house it's just under a different name but all under the same roof. All 3 companies have 3 graders that grade each comic then the average of all 3 grades is the final grade.Thanks for sharing.
I agree, there 1st label was indeed the best, and these companies change their labels so much it is hard to keep track now a days ;). And as far as CBCS and their pressing, the fact that they don't list it on their main site will make many people not know about it and not use it. If they want people to know about it, they should post it on the site everyone goes to... Not the best way to get customers to use a product if they do not know it exists ;).
Summary for anyone interested:
CBCS has clearest case more lenient grading from 0.5 to 7.5. After that, they get very stingy in the higher grades. No Newton Oil rings like CGC, and yes, expect lower market prices compared to CGC by around 10/15%. I personally advise to grade personal comics with CBCS as the owner of the company seems to really care about comic health vs CGC with thier disregard to improve the newton oil rings that some argue create stress and preasure areas. Some argue it does not, I personally don't want to risk. CBCS has new cases that are better looking than one in video. CBCS will also verify unwitnessed signatures.
CGC: Beautifully presenting case. Feels very strong and premium. CGC is reciprocal of CBCS grading wise. They seem to hand out 9.8s quite liberally, whereas CBCS is stingy. 7.5 and up is the area where CGC grades more lenient. The lower grades they are more stingy compared to CBCS. As mentioned above, the Newton Oil rings are not ideal and they have decided to ignore consumers request to rectify. CGC is best for flipping books.
PGX is best for personal books that likely aren't worth much. They tend to overgrade and miss many restoration and trimmed edges.
A big factor to me is is the difference between CGCs use of Green and Purple labels compared to CBCS which uses all blue labels. I prefer CBCS blue label with notes then the scarlet letter colors of CGC.
Pressing doesn't matter. There are plenty of 3rd party pressers that do a better job that CCS with lower rates and many of them have dealer licenses and get discounts on grading.
Thank you for all your info :).
This helped and answered all my questions I had about grading comics
That is awesome, glad to hear it did. I have many other tip videos on my playlists, hope you check them out :).
I got a Iron man 55 graded by cgc he's right I had to go to my local comic book shop but it was 75 dollers to grade it came back 6.0 I recommend getting cgc grade at a comic shop well worth it
Thank you for sharing your experience :).
How long did it take to get your comic book back
Great video. Here are some fun facts to enhance the debate. Cgc does bring the highest price grade for grade of the three companies. They are the widely accepted standard because of 2 reasons.. One PGX was involved in a scandal.. Two, CGC is more strict at grading. Let's dig in.. CGC actually complicit in the largest scandal of all (see Jason Ewert trimming scandal ). Cgc may also be strict, but are the most wildly inconsistent of the 3. PGX is too lax on grading, but the consistency is there. CBCS most well rounded in my opinion, but bring PGX prices for a more scutinized grade. At the end of the day, buy PGX knowing in advance, they are probably half to a full point below grade in actuality. Buy CGC for acceptance of the broadest buyer market, but realize they blue labeled nearly a thousand books that were restored and eventually ended up all over. Buy CBCS for accuracy and pricepoint.
Thank you for the input. I tend to disagree with the grading. If you watch all my life PGX unboxings their grades have been spot on and I find CGC tends to over grade, especially with 9.8 grades. I have seen many videos where CGC graded a book a 9.8 and even the person making the video is shocked.... But each person has their own personal preferences. Thank you for sharing yours.
Not saying I don't like PGX... If you go by overstreet, PGX grades more to the letter of the law than anyone. By my standards, and current trends, they are just so lax. If you have an email, or a way to contact you, I can send you a picture of my Tales of Suspense 39 in PGX 5.0 that will have going, huh? I also have a CGC Green Lantern 87 that should be a 9.6 that came back 8.0. I just think PGX over grades and CGC undergrades. All of my cbcs books are spot on. Just my experience. I value your opinions as highly as my own and respect your knowledge. Keep knocking out these cool videos. Not enough of the responsible investing videos available in the community!!! I can be reached @ Cardick3@gmail.com Always looking to meet more collector/conversators, trade partners, and like minded individuals. Cheers.
I guess it all boils down to personal experience, I have watched so many videos over the years with people loving and hating all 3 companies it is really hard to tell unless you use them all yourself. And anytime any company gives you a horrible experience people tend to shy away from them no matter what they do in the future... I respect your opinions and appreciate them. Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts on this topic :).
Awesome Video! PGX sounds like the better business! Especially the in-house pressing and cleaning. I like how PGX called you about your Walking Dead #. I have a lot of books that I want to have in cased. Leaning toward PGX.....Please! Let me have your input! Thank you, Chris
Well to be fair, they have had some issues in the past but I have never myself had any issues with them and I find their customer service is top notch. I would recommend learning all you can about all 3 services and then make a choice from there. You may even want to try all 3 to see which ones suit your needs.... For fastest turn around, PGX is best, for higher resale value CGC is best.. So it really boils down to why you are getting them slabbed and what you intend to do with them after you grade them. Hope that helps :).
Just so you know: I've talked about you on a few of my recent videos as I enjoy your program a lot!
Thank you, that is very kind, I will have to check it out :).
I watched your latest video and did not hear any shout out but that is OK because I still enjoyed your video :).
It was filmed last week. It's the Justice league of America #1-116. I talk about how great it is that you give the good, the bad and the ugly stories about buying comics and more!
Ahh, I was just bout to watch that one, I have been watching a few :).
Seven minutes in, you just answered my question I just asked on your new live feed! lol, thanks!
:). Ask and you shall receive ;).
Good analysis. Viewers should be made aware that all three labels you show -- CGC, CBCS and PGX -- were replaced with new-look labels last year. And next time take the slabs out of the mylars.
Also, CGC has really improved their turn-around schedule over the last 3 months. It is night-and-day from the last several years. It is CBCS that is now running irritatingly late.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
I get messages all the time saying CGC still takes 3 to 4 months.
I also did show the New CGC label in this very video, you may have missed it.
As a collector of toys, comics, cards, and everything in-between, the thing I think about most every day is PROTECTION. I've never slabbed a comic due to living in the UK, and the cost involved, but I must admit I LOVE the idea of it. It's pure protection, for something valuable that is WORTH protecting and preserving.
The protection these provide makes my OCD VERY happy ...
Great review found it very informative.
Thank you very much, I try to give the most honest opinions I can, and without having brand loyalty I can talk about the strengths & weaknesses of all 3 companies. So many people tend to be bias and will either never say anything good about a product, company or person they don't like or never say anything bad about the things they do like....
Boom Boom Comics True
For a budget collector I’d Go with PGX
They are not only the cheapest, but the fastest too (Without having to pay extra for the "quicker" turnarounds like some others...
We Love Comics cough CGC Cough
I have dealt with all three companies too, and I have found PGX to be the one that I'm going to stay with. The horror stories of waiting months and months on end for books to come back from cgc is no joke. I waited eight months once for a set of books to come back. and because I called to complain several times they were purposely grated lower than what they should have been. I crack them open and set them to CBCS and every book came back a full grade higher
I dont plan on ever selling my comics, I plan on handing them down to my sons. I was planning on getting my iron man #10 and #15 graded, along with my avengers #87. They are all pre 1975. Who should I use and what do you think it will cost me?
As far as who to use, that is something you have to decide. Cost will depend on who you go with, how fast you want them back, how valuable they are etc. The cheapest is PGX, the most recognized is CGC.
@@WeLoveComics thanks bro
also have Swamp thing 1-10 original series by wein and wrightson have mulling over getting those slabbed .they are in pretty good condition but not sure ...thoughts?? and even in great shape do you believe things like crisis on infinite earths, infinity gauntlet, watchmen and miracle man original run 1-12 are worth getting graded in this day and age. as i have all 5 in very good condition
I always say if you think a book would make you happy getting it slabbed then I say GO FOR IT :).
Why does cbcs has signature verification and cgc doesn't?
I don't know, you would have to ask CGC that question.
🙂 good explanation Chris.You really helping me out with a choice.You see,here in Serbia I am having problems to grade my comics and protect them cuz we have no this companies,not even in whole europe.Is there any info how can do it ..I'll wait,I dont care as long as they are safe.It will be good to sent on your adress and wait until they are done 😂😂 Please,let me know....Thats how much I trust you,following you on youtube.😂 Greetings from Serbia
I really appreciate that trust, and because of that I would have to decline. Because if something were to go wrong in the mail and your comics got lost or damaged I would feel awful. I did hear that there are grading companies in Europe so you may want to research that more :).
Sadly owning a Hulk 181 on the income i'm personally on.. near impossible.. but one day i finally will.. but you've made some fair points
One never knows where something can be found unexpected that can be within reach so never give up searching. besides, half the fun is the hunt :). Hope you find a super deal on that comic and when you do, let me know :).
Well maybe one day me and someone willing to negotiate a fair deal, you'll be the first to know
Actually I would be the 3rd cuz you & the seller would be the 1st & 2nd ;)
haha fair enough point.. well the 1st 3rd person to know if i finally score a hulk 181 to my wall, it needs a grail
Super informative and insightful. Thank you for the education!
My pleasure, I am glad you found it helpful. Hope you check out more of my videos and they help you as well.
Cbcs does have in-house cleaning and pressing. They told me that it was gonna take a long time to received my books when I submitted them. It took 6 months and 1 week to receive my books considering the fact that it was during the hurricane maria.
Wow that is along time. But I guess having a hurricane would make things slow down so I am sure that is not their normal turn around time.
I went to their site, there is no mention of it. Not saying you are not telling the truth, I am just stating that they don't even mention it so how would people know about it?
We Love Comics. I did a walk in submission when I was on vacation last summer and the employee who works there offer me dry cleaning and pressing. I received my books last week. If it's not offered online,then call the office and ask them. I'm surprised that they don't offer pressing on their website. Love your channel and keep up the good work. I'm glad you came back
Yes but many do not use the walk thru service so if anyone new went to their site, they would have no idea about their pressing service. It is not the best way to get people to use them. If I had known that, I would have used them more often.
Cbcs does signature verification with not witness last I checked they need witness I need check there website again I sent 2 books to pgx yesterday
I have used CBCS before and they definitely do signature verification.
I check website cbcs need witness to verify signature, unless I missed it somewhere they can do it without witness
@@dragonball3166 They could have changed it, I have not used CBCS in years. But when I did, I sent in two already signed comics from my childhood and they verified the signatures...
We Love Comics that makes sense didn’t it was that long ago that sucks not big deal but I will still try them out for non signed comics
Might be time to upgrade this video, CGC is really slipping
Sad but true.
Collecting comics in the early 1960's was wonderful. No extra payment for key issues, no slabbing because basically it was just a simple collecting hobby and swapping with your mates. Yes the comics you owned never really became worth much and became a bit dog eared but then of course none of them cost you very much either. Mind boggling now. Great informative video though.
Sounds like a great time to have been able to collect comics, I am jealous :)
@@WeLoveComics Yes it was. I'm sure that, for example, the same number of Amazing Fantasy number 15 was printed as numbers 14 and 16. Just because number 15 happened to have 1st appearance Spider-Man it was to Marvel just another great story. They were not thinking of 60 odd years forward saying "hey" this will be a key issue lets only print 10% in number of the other issues to make it super rare and expensive. So that the same number(give or take some unfortunately wasted) of number 15 are out there it's just that people are now conditioned to knowing what an investment they have and don't sell them or simply pass them on for others to read and it only pops up at an incredible price. I'm English and have lived in England all my life and in the early 1960's a trader had a small market stall in my local High Street and we could buy virtually any edition of any comic for exactly the same 2nd hand cover price. In the 1960's this was 6 pence(pre-decimalisation for us in the UK) which is roughly equivalent to 3 cents for you at current exchange rates. Madness Huh! I sold my first collection of about 600 silver age comics, in the mid 1970's, to help pay for central heating in my first house. The dealer gave me £300 based on the offer of equivalent now of 50 pence each across the whole collection. I was happy to accept and never questioned the value of individual comics and there would have been a number of what is now considered key silver age comics. Sorry for the long reply and good luck with your collecting.
Does CBCS grade comics more harshly than CGC, or do they both grade fairly?
I have heard that CBCS tends to be the strictest and IMO CGC tends to undergrade on older books and is pretty decent at newer books.
@@WeLoveComics - Yeah. The problem with CBCS is that they don't have as much retail value like CGC like you mentioned. I think it's all to do with the aesthetics of the case myself. I have a stunning copy of The Spectacular Spider-Man no.1. But I'm scared CGC might under-grade it
Hard to know what to say on that one. It is all speculative so it really depends on how busy they are, or who grades them. All I can say is trust your instincts and then go from there.
I have that hulk wolverine book. I bought when I was a kid. I liked hulk and wolverine wanted to see who would win a fight.never knew it was that great and expensive. I really like getting cool covers of characters I like.
That is a great book to get as a child, good job on that one. And yeah, I totally love cool cover art as well.
good vid thx. great job & very informative ,I am a long time collector but have never had a book slabbed ,bought books that were graded but never sent one in to get done myself. Have been thinking about getting some slabbed that i bought raw like some early fantastic fours and x-men and a captain america 100 and the 2 preceding issues that were tales of suspense 98 & 99, i bought like in the late 90's, as well as justice league of america vol. 1# 55 , along with spiderman 129(1st punisher) ,238(1st hobogoblin) 252(1st black suit),i have 3 copies of this from aquiring entire collections wholesale from people some old hulk comicsfrom late 60's early 70's including a very nice copy of king size hulk from 68 and first appearance of werewolf by night (lol). i have a lot of silver age, bronze and even maybe some copper age that are probably worth more than some of these but you have to start somewhere. Thx again for the great vids
The one thing I can tell you is once you send in a batch to get slabbed, you will be hooked and you will want more. It is not for everyone so if you like reading them then slabbing may not be for you. But you can always get a reader or digital copy if you anted to as ell... You got some great books to get slabbed though. Try maybe slabbing like 3 or 4 and see what you think then go from there.
thanks for taking the time to answer and thx for the advice
My pleasure Jason I hope it helps.
Great video, I could not have agree with you more. I have never dealt with CGC and I think I never will .But I have Wil both CBCS AND PGX, I really like PGX more for just stabbing my books, cheap and so much faster. Thanks for this video. .
thank you Louie, I am glad you took the time to watch and comment on this video :).
I bought a #3 ( first appearance of mephisto) silver surfer 6.0 Canadian slabbed I love it got it for a steal. ive seen 7.o that done look this good no tears no missing pages off white pages. when I was a kid in the 90s I took such care of my comics they are without a doubt pieces of art work and far more nostalgic and visceral than a piece of art one could walk into an art gallery and pay for on a random day
I agree, many comic covers art amazing pieces of art worth showcasing and displaying. Slabbing them just makes them show off even more :).
great info on the signature verification as well i have x-men 141 signed by bryne and claremont and have always wanted to get it graded and verified
Glad to help Jason. Either CBCS or PGX will help so it basically boils down to cost, time and preference. No matter ho you use, I hope it comes back high grade for you :).
I think an interesting question is what is the perceived "cash benefit" from each. For example assuming the same comic was slabbed by each company...what exactly is the price mark up for each due to the perceived value gained? Getting confused about comics like lady death that you can order with signatures...but CGC needs to witness it....or they slab it green....seems like pure greed that they need to be there when the artist himself is selling with signatures....at the very least they should accept the invoice for the signature given by the artist? (dan mandoza and similar too....)....hmm...totally noob here...maybe a bad question. Just something I was pondering on.
I used to buy CGC grading books because they were more accurate in their grading criteria. However, lately I have received CGC grading books with errors that I didn't think it justified for the grades that they get. Therefore, CGC books condition are not the same as their labels. You paid a lot more money to get CGC 9.8, but their comics look like a 9.4. Same goes for 9.6.
I've heard things like that on a few videos. Sadly many will not speak out because heaven forbid you say anything bad about CGC, you get ganged up on....
Nice honest video. I agree about not having brand loyalty. Why have loyalty to any brand when they don't have any loyalty to you? Somehow people warp their thinking to believe that their favorite company somehow favors them in any way... Wrong! My 2 cents.
They use peoples brand loyalty as a way to get all of your money just to them. So of course, companies will play up the whole brand loyalty thing. So I totally agree that companies don't care about you, they just care about your money. The best way to tell is AFTER a sale has been made... And that is why I don't mind PGX at all, their customer service is by far the best... Doesn't mean I won't use the others because I will but I use each for a specific reason and brand loyalty is a way for companies to fool people into only giving their money to them. We should ALL be smarter then that. Thank you for your comment, it is appreciated.
Brand loyalty is a way to fool people into taking more of your money exclusively, I agree.
Don't get me wrong, companies doing a service should be profitable or they won't be around to provide the service we want. Just saying that people are needlessly blinded by their own bias and in turn thumb their nose up on anyone with a different opinion. (Bullies)
Great topic. I'm planning on doing a video on this topic as well (with a twist) with my own views. I invite you to stay tuned for it and give me your two cents worth. Your sub would be appreciated. Put me up on your shout out too when you can. Thanks
Post a link to the video on one of my newest videos once it uploads so people may see it :).
cgc is a taking advantage of people charging what they do..they have nothing to do with the comics other than grading them. and even at that as you pointed out they don't care about anyone but themselves. never knew you had to take them to a comic store to ship them to them. another scam.I agree with your video and think is spot on and excellent. great job.
I agree with your agreement :).
I am wondering about filling out pgx forms. When you fill out the interactive PDF form and it asks you to add it all up, how can you do this? As with pressings they have an option to only do them when needed. So do you add this to the price and they will deduct the pressing cost if not needed?
Also it do not ask what signatures are on a comic. I have one with 5 signatures I want to send in but not sure if I should add this to a different sheet listing the signatures.
It would be nice if you could do a quick video on a few weird options so people can get a feel for how to do it. I know I can get all my signatures done with pgx for about the same as 1 comic from cbcs. They are very expensive.
I would also like to know how to send in original art with signatures as that is not listed on the site.
Add it if you were going to have them pressed and if they don't need pressings they will deduct that from the total :). If you want, you can add a slip of paper and write a list of any signed comic, that will help :). As far as the original art, I am not sure how that one works so you may want to call them and ask personally. Their customer service is top notch and they can answer that question easily for you :). Hope that helps you.
I've heard that comics being paper etc trees etc are living and need to breath. Placing same in plastic coffin doesn't help
That's not the newest CBCS label. It's the second generation label known as the "rivet" label. Also, when you spoke about the CGC cases damaging comics about 1.5 years ago, it was because those CGC cases lacked an inner well for the comics to sit in causing the comic to warp.
Thank you for your input, it is appreciated.
This helped me understand the difference thank you
It is my pleasure, I am glad you got the chance to view this video. I have many other videos that may help as well, hope you check them out :).
@@WeLoveComics I deff will. I work and watch videos to get me up to speed
When CGC is at a Comic Con will they take your comics (for grading purposes ) without a membership? ?
Gregory Sharp Yes
Kristian Tzokanow thanks
That I did not know because I have not been to a comic con since the early 90's but it seems one of my commenters knew the answer :).
Kristian Tzokanov Good to know. I plan on seeing them this year an NYCCC. Do they grade them right there on spot or take them back to their offices, wherever that may be? Thanks.
We Love Comics Like everyone else has stated, great video, man. Appreciate the time you took to make it for us. Much love.
I must have watched this video 6-8 times. Just trying to learn why I should go with all companies.
That is the right way to do things :). GO with what company works best for your specific need. Never go by what others say is the "Only way".. They show their bias that way.
Anyway these young collectors have designed their own slabbs. It's the new thing in comics collecting
I'm Rethinking Now.Great Video yet again
To get the best perspective on what works best, trying all companies is the best way to go. I base my opinions on my own personal experience and not what others say.
Really helpful. I'm about to go down this route. Not to makey comics worth more but to preserve them. I'm learning toward PGX bc I have a few that need pressing/cleaning and a lot that need signature verification. I may grab a CGC guy @ECCC to follow me to Claremont, Art Adams, and Adi Granov
I hope no matter who you choose you get the highest grades possible :).
awesome vid. all information was very helpful to me!
I am glad to hear that. Thank you for watching and for taking the time to comment :).
We Love Comics I have a question. Say I have a PGX signature comic and I crack it open to get another signature with CGC present, how would CGC rate the first signature? Would it affect the CGC grading in anyway cause PGX authenticated the signature?
Since CGC did not witness it, they will give you a green label that says writing on the front cover. So I would not recommend you do that. CGC does not do signature verification. If you are going to crack it open I would suggest using CBCS.
thank you so much for the quick reply and information.
So which one is less of a crook?
By that I mean which one do you trust?
I trust all 3
Thank you for the video about comic book help me alot understanding more. I stop collect then in mide 90s. Now just got back on it and so confuse and too over price.it seem like comic company are getting too greedy and lost touch the way it should be for kid and adult like back then. A comic not graded can cost only 5 and it graded they chargering it like for 100 wth lol. Yes I collect to read and then put it always for investment for my kids like everyother person on here.
Yeah, there is definite greed in the industry, no doubt about that. Back in the 80's and further back, it was all about the art and the stories.. Ever since the 90's it has been mainly about variant covers, more advertisements, less comic and higher prices. So it can be confusing and very frustrating in the beginning. I have a playlist on my channel about tip/advice. Check those out and get as much info as you can. Be careful who you watch though because there are a few bad apples who will not be honest with you, so make sure you do your own research. It will take you a few months but you will get back into the swing of things and it will become much easier.... Till then, I will try to answer any questions to the best of my ability :). Thank you for another great comment and welcome back to the world of comics :).
that’s the oldest CBCS case, not the newest And PGX also has a new label.
With so many label changes over the past few years it is hard to keep up. But I do appreciate you mentioning that. As far as the PGX label, I actually stated that in this video, you may have missed hearing me say that.
live2collect 247 CBCS cases has only been changed once early in the company's existence because they didn't use virgin plastics and the cases were cracking. That has been fixed a long time ago. The label in this video is the second generation label but not the oldest label.
It seems to me that PGX is the better company.
Each one has its strengths and weaknesses so it always depends on the reason why you are slabbing a particular comic. Thanks for your thoughts.
Wow what a great video! Very informative.
Thank you William, I appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts. I made a 2nd video today, hope you check it out and tell me your thoughts on that one.
I want to grade a few of my comics but to me, there isn't a company I like really. I would consider cbcs basically just because they authenticate signatures and there the best company in my opinion but I just really don't like the idea of sending it out, if they ever decide to open brick and mortar shops that I could walk into have it graded, slabbed and handed back to me same day id definitely do it but until then I don't see myself doing it
I have heard rumors that another grading company might be coming into the fight. SO if that happens, maybe they will have what it is you are looking for..
Hey thanks Chris really great info.
I am glad you appreciate my information and opinions... Thank you for another great comment :).
I Agree Whith Your Segment.100% .All Grades Are Good & All Gradeded.Cgc CBCS ,PGX Are All Good...& Raw One's 2.