@@katabellioniguess If you're talking about an actual corner ding and and not the common frayed corners that come from every publisher I don't even think it should make a 9.6.
@@Marcus-ru1ht I swear if you send them high grade comics that are 9.8 or tens maybe , they have other comics available that are 9.7 or 9.6 and tell just take yours , grade it at 9.8 or something more and then send you the lower comic . How would you ever know ?
@@KTMGUNNER They wouldn't do that Lol. Every company in the world has p*****d of an employee, so if what you say was true then someone would have reviled that they do that by now.
This video explains the mystery fingerprints that appeared on the cover of my Ultimate Fallout 4 when I got it back CGC graded. Damn fingerprints got it knocked down a couple grades.....thanks CGC
You busted a common myth that gloves are worn during grading, but nothing about how you protect the books from transferring oils or dirt from your own hands?!? How often do you wash and how do you prevent your own fingerprints from negatively affecting the grade?
@@CrackingCody I mean, you’re not that bright if you think they wash their hands after they handle every comic. It takes all of one minute or less to grade a high grade modern. It would take more time to get up and wash then sit than it’s worth. I’m sure you don’t think things through before insulting people but I wouldn’t expect you to, it’s not in your nature to be smart.
@@CrackingCody my question wasn’t “Do you wash your hands?” Of course they do that - the question was “how often do you wash your hands and what measures do you take to prevent dirt from transferring?” ALL WORDS MATTER.
Great video, i’d like to see much more about the internal operations and how you do things. I think that that brings CGC closer to fans as well as being informative and educational. In particular it would be nice to know: 1 how you grade between 9.4-9.6-9.8 2 how you press and clean books 3 if you have a colour chart to determine page colour 4 an example rationale of graders giving a grade for 1 book and then what the master grader determines the final grade to be 5 old case cracking and updated case procedure 6 and just a look at the CGC offices.
In no fan of cgc there customer sucks I sent them email four months still waiting pgx and cbcs get back to me in days and week what respectable company doesn’t have paypal account every company online and in person have paypal account except for cgc
It would be nice for your graders to clean their hand between books. There's tons of people who are getting grades dinged for finger prints that weren't on the comics when submitted after professional press & cleans.
CGC, Lot's of questions here! Appreciate the videos, but part of that appreciation is the engagement with the community by responding to questions. It is also a good way to create good-will and loyalty towards your brand. Thanks
I've noticed there are instances in my submissions where grader notes might not be available for 9.6 all way down to 9.2 grades. What determines when grader notes are entered or not?
I appreciate that you did this video. I do have 2 comments that can be taken however you would like. 1) I noticed when you said that the corner piece missing takes it to a 6.0. I thought for sure lower but I apparently grade to strict. 2) I think it was interesting how slow you counted pages in this video compared to the superman 1 that you looked at in the convention video at 4 times the speed. That being said I like that you are counting pages slow now and more careful. And thank you for this video.
If you visit Heritage Auctions website there is an Amazing Spiderman 1 graded 9.0 with a corner piece missing on the front cover. Its a Bethlehem Pedigree copy. How can this be a 9.0?
Thanks for de-mystifying the grading process. I would be interested to understand how you determine between the highest grades, i.e. the differences between a 9.8, 9.9 and 10.0. Also, as pointed out in many comments, why do you not wear gloves for the majority of the grading process?
I'd love to see a future video tell how you can determine if a book has been trimmed. Glad you're doing this series! Wasn't aware of the ink smear on Hulk 181s. That's good to know!
Repent and trust in Jesus. He's the only way. We deserve Hell because we've sinned. Lied, lusted stolen, etc. But God sent his son to die on the cross and rise out of the grave. We can receive forgiveness from Jesus. Repent and put your trust in him. John 3:16 Romans 3:23❤😊❤
This was a very informative video. Honestly, I had always presumed that the restoration check was much more involved than that, including the use of UV light and/or whatever the appropriate technology is in such a setting.
Would like to understand how you put the comic INSIDE the mold. - Can't you damage the comic just by handling it and putting it into a sleeve / plastic slab? Does that happen?
I appreciate this series, it's helping me decide if I want to get my books graded or not. I'd love to see a few more videos with the same issue, but varying grades. I'm not a pro-grader, but still that seems like a low grade to me in terms of how old the book is. I'd be ecstatic with a copy that nice, and you guys are like "meh, it's a 3.5". What does a 5.0 look like? A 6.0? A 7.0? Would be super cool to see the same book from Silver Age graded out, like a 9.8 all the way down to a 1.0. That would be super helpful. Also, how would you prevent pages from going off-white? I mean, I have an ASM 300 that's been bagged/slabbed since the day I bought it, and the pages are not exactly white anymore. Does it need to be hermetically sealed without oxygen able to enter?
Usually, one of the corners of the book isn't perfect (very minor blunting) whereas on a 9.8, all four corners are razor sharp. In my experience, as being one with both 9.6 and 9.8 books in my collection, that's what I've deduced.
Transparency in any business or corporate entity goes a long way in creating confidence in the consumer in that business or corporate entity. Personally, I currently lack confidence in CGCs business practices and for that reason, will not utilize their services in getting any of my books graded and slabbed. That lack of confidence comes from the stories I've seen, heard and read about on RUclips, Instagram and other social media outlets. Stories of books being damaged or lost, improperly graded, handled roughly, and CGC's unprofessional response to criticism. This video is a step in the right direction, but unless I see an improvement in CGCs customer service relations, I'm holding my books back from submission at this time.
Except, they won't answer any of the questions here. Why do a video? Actually makes me lose more faith that they won't be transparent by answering the questions.
Would love to see more videos like this especially of the actual grading process in the warehouse and not a mock-grading. I would like to see the actual space the comics are graded in, how do the graders receive the books, how do the graders remove the books from the bags/boards because you guys at CGC have thumbed up the top of a very important book I recently sent in for grading and signature, I then would like to see how the books are handled after grading do they go back in the same bag/board do they go to a holding area, and then I would like to see the actual encapsulation process of the book. We need to see step by step! We need to understand why you guys are causing so much damage in the warehouse while grading.
This is great! You could make 100 of these and I'd watch all of them. Here are some questions that came to mind. How long did it take to grade this book? Is there another grader that grades it as well for consistency? If so, what happens if a grade is different? Is there a database for every comic book that says there are a certain amount of pages, this book is likely to be missing a stamp, and ink smear is a common issue? The missing part of the cover seemed like the biggest issue, as he said bringing it down to a 6.0. The other issues were shown, but is there a specific amount they drop the book or was it subjective based on this particular book? How do graders know that a particular color is white as opposed to off-white, cream, etc.? This got an off-white rating because there was a shift in color from the middle to the edge, but how did the grader know the middle was white in the first place?
@@dandixon7 We can hope they'd cover these kind of questions, but I think the reality is they don't want to disclose those type of specifics. If they dare get too specific about what means what, they'd be subject to more scrutiny. That's why they lean on the "it's a subjective artform" argument. If they keep things vague then we can't argue what should be what. Which is sad because if one grader says a book is a 9.6, and another says it's a 9.8, their differing opinions significantly impact the value of the comic and under their "standards" neither one of them can be considered right or wrong.
I have been waiting for this video for years. Thanks, Matt for your transparency and the interviews you have done with Reggie. I hope CGC is here to stay for the long term.
I grabbed an 8.5 of this issue a little over a couple of years ago, and it has tripled in price since. I submit a lot of books but not so much this year since it is taking 7 to 8 months to get anything back! I would never bother buying or submitting a book that bad. I press and clean my own books and get 9.8s all the time. A video I would have loved to see as a newbie is what separates the top grades from each other straight from CGC. Plenty of third party videos out there based on collectors' personal experience that I find are right on, but insight into the secret sauce at CGC would probably build customer confidence this year when turn around times are making things super difficult for everyone.
Matt this video was fantastic. The transparency is wonderful. Video suggestion of grading: Severity of defects. I’ve heard you say before there are different severities of defects. Example of what I am looking for is: three spine ticks on a book might be less degrading than on small corner crunch that doesn’t break color. You guys do a fantastic job!
I would like you visit Comic cons at Mexico to facilitate the graduation of comic books. At this conventions the most of the artist signs comic books but at the end there in not way to probe the signing and for the collectors is a lost opportunity ,Great video!
While I appreciate this kinda insider view on the grading process, I chuckled when he said, "in the spirit of transparency". Next time you see them at a convention (if we ever have conventions again) ask them how many graders they have on site and let's see how transparent they are. Also, CGC's "published standards and procedures" are vague one sentence descriptions that they cut down from the traditional Overstreet grading guidelines. They do this so they don't have to justify mistakes in their grading. I'd be interested to see how they grade books 8.5 and up. I'd love to know why they graded my friends copy of X-Men #129 a 9.4 despite it having 5 color breaking spine ticks. I think maybe the grader did the "first impression" step, and then skipped past the rest cause they had 800 more books to grade. Like in this video, the missing pieces dropped it to a 6.0. Wear to the cover dropped it another 1.5. The stain knocked it down another full point. How does that apply to super high grade books? How many flaws are allowed in a 9.8, 9.6, etc? Seems like it should be easy to decipher but I've seen many inconsistencies in books of that grade. I'm sure most of you have too. Oh and pro tip. Don't say these kind of "slanderous" things on their forums. Rather than allowing a discussion that may or may not shed some light on questionable practices, they'll simply ban you for life.
Can you please do a video on how to ship a already graded book for signature series? There’s no video on it and I continue to guess every time I do it.
So I just submitted 23 books but one mysteriously disappeared! I was told the security cameras didn't find any theft had taken place, but that doesn't explain my lost book?? What are the next steps I can take? This book was without a doubt in the shipment sent to you guys.
You would think they would use more definitive techniques rather than a guy eyeballing it. No checklist, no uv light, NO GLOVES!!! WTF is this company doing.
@@Kaiesis Yes, and I always assumed that at least 2-3 people graded the same book, then the book was given the consensus grade. One person giving their 5 minute opinion on a book, and this is what this community is holding up as the standard?
@@Kaiesis No one grades with a checklist, either you know how to grade, or you don't. I agree with no gloves: if your hands are clean and dry, it's fine. You need to feel the pages
@@jsuperflyc The Overstreet guide to grading comes with a sort of checklist which shows the total number of defects within each grade. But like most things today, people/companies believe they are smarter than the founders. The Overstreet method makes sense and removes some of the conjecture in grading. Also, about gloves... why not just use the Michael Jackson method of one glove? Gloved hand holds the book, bare hand turns the pages. Easy!
Great video. Thanks Matt !! I just now read a bunch of the comments. Hard to make some people happy. I'll comment on a few just for fun. CGC staff probably makes sure their hands are clean. You probably missed the fingerprints on your books. That said, they can't grade the books without touching them. Matt explains why no gloves. And no... they probably don't use UV lights. UV lights give newbies a false sense of security. Use a magnifying glass your eyes and your fingers to catch restoration. Yes, grading is ultimately subjective. Even professional grading. Think of it like Umpires and professional baseball. Are the umpires "right" 100% of the time? No. But they are better at balls, strikes, safe and out of bounds than the vast majority of us. But most importantly you can't play the game professionally without someone that makes the calls. The lack of an accepted final authority is far worse than an occasional missed call. A number of people have asked for examples of the same book in a variety of grades - particularly the NM range grades. This is a good idea. Give people examples of the small defects they should look for. A future video on the why's and what's of Universal (Blue) Qualified (Green) and Restored (Purple) labels would probably be informative to many.
You said that the cover chip dips the book down to 6.0 and then the other defects take the book down lower etc etc Do you have a fixed table of defects and how they impact the grade? Something like a norm lets say..That all graders follow and take into consideration.. Or one grader can say.."that defect drops down the grade to 6.0" but the other will say.."that defect drops down the book to 5.0" What i mean is that..do you have specific rules that everyone follows? Or its only the individuals interpretation. Thank you for trying to explain this topic because its highly speculated on..(speculation on what you guys are doing i mean..)
At a cursory glance of the book I came up with about the same grade. I would love to see a video of an actual step by step grading of a book understanding of course that grading is subjective. It would still be great to see and hear exactly what one of your graders thinks as they grade a book.
Great video! Perfect for me because I actually only own 1 comic book and it is a Hulk 181! I purchased from a friend back in 1983 for $25 put it behind a picture frame in my parents house and FORGOT about it for 30 years! I rediscovered it after hurricane Katrina and was BLOWN AWAY how much this thing is worth. It has some flaws but is certainly in better shape than the one in this video. Could you please send me some info on how to get you to grade my comic? Again, I’m not a collector but would love to have your professional grade on this thing when I sell it.
I like that you guys are getting on board with transparency. It will be good overall for the company. As for future ideas, comparing 9.2, 9.4, 9.6 and 9.8 books would be interesting. Maybe even on the same book but in different grades. Personally, I have seen 9.6 books that look better than some 9.8 books and just wonder how much more challenging those are to grade.
I have a CGC 9.8 book with 10 rather large spine ticks, and a CGC 9.6 copy of the same book with zero spine ticks. I would buy the 9.6 copy every time. Talk about baffling.
My question is if there is a printing error .... such as the ink smear .. I personally would have thought it wouldn’t affect the grade because that’s how it was sold....
If it is minor and not distracting, printing defects and ink smears from production are not supposed to affect the grade ... according to Overstreet. CGC though will reduce the grade.
I always use latex gloves myself when it comes to reading my Golden Age comics, simply because I’m always studying the stories and the art. I always handle them carefully with kid gloves though, and would never send them to be slabbed in holders, Mylar and acid free boards and boxes do well enough for me.
1. When you start grading a comic book, do you start at a 10, and bring yhe grade down based on all defects you see? I notice you said that the missing corner automatically brought the grade down to a 6. So would that mean the grade fell from 10 to 6 just based on the missing corner? 2. How do you put a grade value on certain defect, like determine whether a stain on the cover is worth a deduction of 2 grades or 1.5 grades?
This explains a lot. I submitted Saga 1 (first print) and it came back 8.8 saying there was fingerprints on the cover. I made sure that it didn't have anything before I shipped. I looked at an angle and could clearly see fingerprints. Those were not there when I shipped it. Your grader put fingerprints on there, and docked me for it. I always wondered how fingerprints got on there when there was none when I shipped it. I always thought your company wore hand protection. I wonder how many customers got lower grades because of grader accidents. How does it feel to have ZERO accountability for worker mistakes. Only your customers suffer.
I got Thor 1960's books and they seem to be in this condition. is it worth going through the process to clean it up to get as clean as I can? or is it still gonna be a super low grade? considering its over 50 yrs old I would like to think its worth preserving but not sure
I have a really nice Batman Adventures 12 but I was thinking about having braided. This is all new for me and was totally set to use the service but this video on the comments make me pretty nervous about sending it out.
Hey CGC - I sent you a G.I. Joe #1 (9.4) to be signed by Larry Hama. Thank you for damaging the book and getting it back to me as a 9.0. Also thank you for turning my G.I. Joe #63 (9.8) into a 9.4. You guys are amazing.
I am curious, when grading Marvel Giant Size books, for instance, Giant Size X-Men #1, would a full-length reading crease on the very left edge on an otherwise High Grade (8.0 - 9.0) keep it in mid-grade? Meaning would the book be graded at around 4.5-5.5 with the regular deduction of a full-length crease? Or is this reading creases an exception, and the book is still High grade, but like a 7.0 - 8.0?
Great video, thanks for sharing!!! Does more than one person grade each comic book? Is the grade an average of multiple grader's opinions? Also, like many others I'd love to see the process and details about grading a high-grade (9.6-9.8) comic book.
So, you're looking for fingerprints while handling the book with bare hands. Hmm. I was waiting for explanation about the process that was used to remove all the dirt and oils from his hands before handling everyone's comics.
Wouldn’t physically touching the comic, degrade it in some ways since oils and other human bodily fluids that are in the surface area of our fingers can leak onto the comic?
I have a sealed 1999 pokemon duelist magazine with the gold w foil stamp promo 1st edition pikachu that comes inside it. Still in prime condition but wondering if I can encapsulate it? Or should I rip it and encapsulate the card and magazine seperate, the card probably come out to a 9 from the centering.
I'm afraid to send my copy. I may get damaged in the mail. I have Hulk 181 so it's nice to know what to check for. I don't have any of those issues but I don't have a magnifying glass so I'll have to get one.
Wonder if 1/ not wearing gloves could introduce oil stains from the grader that will hurt the grade and 2/ if counting all the pages could slightly impact the near perfection of a 9.8
What do you guys think of the grade? I thought a 3.5 was pretty harsh but I guess age isn't a consideration. At first glance I figured that would've deserved about a 5.
Just based on what I see, I would have given this book a 4.5. It's not in bad shape, but not in great shape either. It's middle of the road to me. Giving it a 3.5 just seems a little too low of a grade. I've seen worse looking books get a 3.5 or a 4. This is why I don't trust grading companies. Different graders might give it a higher or lower grade than a 3.5, and then your book can lose tons of value. I just don't like the way they grade things, and for some reason, their personal books are always grade super high even with multiple flaws. People who work at CGC shouldn't be allowed to own CGC graded comics. I'm sure some of them have graded their own books from time to time, and that's not fair to everyone else who pay tons of money and risk mailing their stuff out to get graded.
I have been thinking on starting to get my comics graded,here is the question. Should I get my comics pressed before sending them to CGC,I know this will help the grade or can you at the company do it before grading ?
What about a book that was missing a staple from the printer? One silver age book I have is in fantastic condition but has no upper staple, no staple holes, no indentations from a staple. It's clear there just has never had one. How does something like that impact grading?
I have a ASM #44 in a lower grade mabye like a 3.0/3.5 in it's condition going to give it a press but i do have a small question how does CGC grade when there is some writing on the inside of the book ?
I have comic skin and on there website you can make your custom label and Gave it any Grade you want to I Graded my Star Wars #10 from 2015 first appearance of Game master later known as sergeant kreel leader of scar squadron i Gave it a 9.4 since it’s a Star Wars comic I Gave it a Black Label with Yellow letters and put a picture of the Rebel logo on the Far Right it was fun and looks Great if i Don’t like the Grade I can always make a new label loved the video keep up the Good work and happy collecting
Why are date stamps allowed for blue label, but store stamps are not allowed? I'm thinking of FCBD and similar promo books with store stamps. Perhaps a blue label with 'Store stamp' note on the label would be more consistent and better for the collector.
Id use this to grade my comics before I sell them, but i doubt they are worth as much as you'd charge. Most are mint condition, Marvel comics, 1970s and up.
Good video, but when doing the final grade you didn't seem to take anything inside the book or the back cover into your assessment and grade. You only mentioned the piece missing from the bottom right corner, the spine ticks and the stain, which are all on the cover.
I like how you picked a super safe comic to grade. I could look at it and eye ball it as a 3.5. How about you show the difference with a 9.6 and 9.8. I bet the difference is how close it is to your lunch.
![Grading Comic Books | No. 02 [Restoration]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Sn4SYj7URWU/mqdefault.jpg)
![Grading Comic Books | No. 02 [Restoration]](/img/tr.png)
I'd like to see the difference between a 9.6 and a 9.8
Me too.
bribe money.
The corners of a comics
Meet my little friend called corner dings
@@katabellioniguess If you're talking about an actual corner ding and and not the common frayed corners that come from every publisher I don't even think it should make a 9.6.
Would love to see you guys grade a high grade book.
Yes.
Nah they keep them for themselves.
@@Marcus-ru1ht I swear if you send them high grade comics that are 9.8 or tens maybe , they have other comics available that are 9.7 or 9.6 and tell just take yours , grade it at 9.8 or something more and then send you the lower comic . How would you ever know ?
YES, better yet I'd like to see them grade the same issue with varying grades.
@@KTMGUNNER They wouldn't do that Lol. Every company in the world has p*****d of an employee, so if what you say was true then someone would have reviled that they do that by now.
This video explains the mystery fingerprints that appeared on the cover of my Ultimate Fallout 4 when I got it back CGC graded. Damn fingerprints got it knocked down a couple grades.....thanks CGC
dang dude
They should address this head on because fingerprints can really hurt the high grades
They look for fingerprints before they touch the comic
how much do you pay them? Is it worth it? You have to sell the comics after...
did you learn your lesson and start using CBCS or are you still paying CGC to burn you?
Always wonder about Black covers....i submitted 9 ASM 194's and 5 got hit for fingerprints.... how often do you wash hands?
I have the same experience. Got docked for "fingerprints on cover" when there was none when i shipped it.
Fingerprints are cool
@@fingerprints2983 Yeah, especially you can track and hunt them down
@@Kaiesis then find the print and if it doesn’t match yours tell them fuck you
Look how this CGC grader touches the book without gloves on. How many of them handle it before grading it?
You busted a common myth that gloves are worn during grading, but nothing about how you protect the books from transferring oils or dirt from your own hands?!? How often do you wash and how do you prevent your own fingerprints from negatively affecting the grade?
Yeah.. I've never graded a comic book before but I have tons. This makes me not want to use their service
I mean, you're not the brightest if you think they don't wash their hands before handling books, bud.
@@CrackingCody I mean, you’re not that bright if you think they wash their hands after they handle every comic. It takes all of one minute or less to grade a high grade modern. It would take more time to get up and wash then sit than it’s worth. I’m sure you don’t think things through before insulting people but I wouldn’t expect you to, it’s not in your nature to be smart.
@@CrackingCody my question wasn’t “Do you wash your hands?” Of course they do that - the question was “how often do you wash your hands and what measures do you take to prevent dirt from transferring?” ALL WORDS MATTER.
@@TimMcMahon310 noob boob
Great video, i’d like to see much more about the internal operations and how you do things. I think that that brings CGC closer to fans as well as being informative and educational.
In particular it would be nice to know:
1 how you grade between 9.4-9.6-9.8
2 how you press and clean books
3 if you have a colour chart to determine page colour
4 an example rationale of graders giving a grade for 1 book and then what the master grader determines the final grade to be
5 old case cracking and updated case procedure
6 and just a look at the CGC offices.
In no fan of cgc there customer sucks I sent them email four months still waiting pgx and cbcs get back to me in days and week what respectable company doesn’t have paypal account every company online and in person have paypal account except for cgc
Great video guys.
Would love to learn more about the staples, and how u can detect if the staples have been replaced, is it the color or placement?
Ohhh, that's a good one! We will pass that along for a future video idea. Thanks!
It would be nice for your graders to clean their hand between books. There's tons of people who are getting grades dinged for finger prints that weren't on the comics when submitted after professional press & cleans.
CGC, Lot's of questions here! Appreciate the videos, but part of that appreciation is the engagement with the community by responding to questions. It is also a good way to create good-will and loyalty towards your brand. Thanks
Good video! You should do more grading videos
I am so damn sick and tired of CGC's delays, misplacing and damaging my submission! CGC: Step up your f-cking game!
I've noticed there are instances in my submissions where grader notes might not be available for 9.6 all way down to 9.2 grades. What determines when grader notes are entered or not?
How lazy they feel like being.
Dear Matt, HURRY TF UP GRADING OUR COMICS!!
I appreciate that you did this video. I do have 2 comments that can be taken however you would like.
1) I noticed when you said that the corner piece missing takes it to a 6.0. I thought for sure lower but I apparently grade to strict.
2) I think it was interesting how slow you counted pages in this video compared to the superman 1 that you looked at in the convention video at 4 times the speed.
That being said I like that you are counting pages slow now and more careful. And thank you for this video.
One interesting thing is I would have given it a 3.0 so I was close!! Sweet
If you visit Heritage Auctions website there is an Amazing Spiderman 1 graded 9.0 with a corner piece missing on the front cover. Its a Bethlehem Pedigree copy. How can this be a 9.0?
Wow the colour on the comic presents well for a 3.5! 👍🏻
Thanks for de-mystifying the grading process. I would be interested to understand how you determine between the highest grades, i.e. the differences between a 9.8, 9.9 and 10.0.
Also, as pointed out in many comments, why do you not wear gloves for the majority of the grading process?
Loved this video! Would also really enjoy a video on a modern 9.8 candidate.
I'd love to see a future video tell how you can determine if a book has been trimmed. Glad you're doing this series! Wasn't aware of the ink smear on Hulk 181s. That's good to know!
Repent and trust in Jesus. He's the only way. We deserve Hell because we've sinned. Lied, lusted stolen, etc. But God sent his son to die on the cross and rise out of the grave. We can receive forgiveness from Jesus. Repent and put your trust in him.
John 3:16
Romans 3:23❤😊❤
Agreed!
How do you prevent finger prints on the book if you do not use gloves?
This was a very informative video. Honestly, I had always presumed that the restoration check was much more involved than that, including the use of UV light and/or whatever the appropriate technology is in such a setting.
Would like to understand how you put the comic INSIDE the mold. - Can't you damage the comic just by handling it and putting it into a sleeve / plastic slab? Does that happen?
Press that out. Get the grade bump
I'd love to see more of these. This is great! Honestly, just looking at that book I would of graded it much higher. This is so informative.
Awesome tutorial on the grading process of comic books!!! 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👍🏾
I appreciate this series, it's helping me decide if I want to get my books graded or not. I'd love to see a few more videos with the same issue, but varying grades.
I'm not a pro-grader, but still that seems like a low grade to me in terms of how old the book is. I'd be ecstatic with a copy that nice, and you guys are like "meh, it's a 3.5".
What does a 5.0 look like? A 6.0? A 7.0?
Would be super cool to see the same book from Silver Age graded out, like a 9.8 all the way down to a 1.0. That would be super helpful.
Also, how would you prevent pages from going off-white? I mean, I have an ASM 300 that's been bagged/slabbed since the day I bought it, and the pages are not exactly white anymore. Does it need to be hermetically sealed without oxygen able to enter?
nice. Id love to see the most significant differences between a 9.6 and 9.8
Usually, one of the corners of the book isn't perfect (very minor blunting) whereas on a 9.8, all four corners are razor sharp. In my experience, as being one with both 9.6 and 9.8 books in my collection, that's what I've deduced.
I agree 100%. Awesome video. And they picked the perfect book for the job
@@vinceguaglione5524 I should show you my 9.8 copy of Harley Quinn #1 Adam Hughes variant.
Thynqikan sometimes cgc doesnt get it right. I have a 9.8 that looks like a 9.2:)
@@vinceguaglione5524 Do you know anything about spine ticks? How much of a grade will it lose if a comic has one spine tick?
Transparency in any business or corporate entity goes a long way in creating confidence in the consumer in that business or corporate entity. Personally, I currently lack confidence in CGCs business practices and for that reason, will not utilize their services in getting any of my books graded and slabbed. That lack of confidence comes from the stories I've seen, heard and read about on RUclips, Instagram and other social media outlets. Stories of books being damaged or lost, improperly graded, handled roughly, and CGC's unprofessional response to criticism. This video is a step in the right direction, but unless I see an improvement in CGCs customer service relations, I'm holding my books back from submission at this time.
Except, they won't answer any of the questions here. Why do a video? Actually makes me lose more faith that they won't be transparent by answering the questions.
good informative video...thanks Regie for sending me over to watch this
2nd wolverine appearance. 1st appearance was actually in #180 but #181 was wolverines first full story and cover.
Would love to see more videos like this especially of the actual grading process in the warehouse and not a mock-grading. I would like to see the actual space the comics are graded in, how do the graders receive the books, how do the graders remove the books from the bags/boards because you guys at CGC have thumbed up the top of a very important book I recently sent in for grading and signature, I then would like to see how the books are handled after grading do they go back in the same bag/board do they go to a holding area, and then I would like to see the actual encapsulation process of the book. We need to see step by step! We need to understand why you guys are causing so much damage in the warehouse while grading.
This is great! You could make 100 of these and I'd watch all of them. Here are some questions that came to mind.
How long did it take to grade this book?
Is there another grader that grades it as well for consistency? If so, what happens if a grade is different?
Is there a database for every comic book that says there are a certain amount of pages, this book is likely to be missing a stamp, and ink smear is a common issue?
The missing part of the cover seemed like the biggest issue, as he said bringing it down to a 6.0. The other issues were shown, but is there a specific amount they drop the book or was it subjective based on this particular book?
How do graders know that a particular color is white as opposed to off-white, cream, etc.? This got an off-white rating because there was a shift in color from the middle to the edge, but how did the grader know the middle was white in the first place?
This is great feedback! Thanks for spending the time and sharing your ideas with us.
@@TheCGCComics lol you didn't answer any of the person's questions at all.
@@rickyrick9328 It's OK. Sounds like they are making a series of videos so I think they are going to get to some of our questions in future videos.
@@dandixon7 We can hope they'd cover these kind of questions, but I think the reality is they don't want to disclose those type of specifics. If they dare get too specific about what means what, they'd be subject to more scrutiny. That's why they lean on the "it's a subjective artform" argument. If they keep things vague then we can't argue what should be what. Which is sad because if one grader says a book is a 9.6, and another says it's a 9.8, their differing opinions significantly impact the value of the comic and under their "standards" neither one of them can be considered right or wrong.
I can answer the page quality questions, they have a page quality chart called "the owl card" that has examples ranging from white to brown brittle.
I have been waiting for this video for years. Thanks, Matt for your transparency and the interviews you have done with Reggie. I hope CGC is here to stay for the long term.
Hotness. I'd love to see grading walk throughs for nearly every grade point.
Glad to see this. More videos please.
Killer tutorial thank you, wish they had a standard like this for vinyl records.
No matter how you do it, my hands would be trembling and screwing up analyzing like Detective Comics #27. 🤣
You guys Damaged my books! Multiple times!
How about showing us what you do when you are receiving a submission
I grabbed an 8.5 of this issue a little over a couple of years ago, and it has tripled in price since. I submit a lot of books but not so much this year since it is taking 7 to 8 months to get anything back! I would never bother buying or submitting a book that bad. I press and clean my own books and get 9.8s all the time. A video I would have loved to see as a newbie is what separates the top grades from each other straight from CGC. Plenty of third party videos out there based on collectors' personal experience that I find are right on, but insight into the secret sauce at CGC would probably build customer confidence this year when turn around times are making things super difficult for everyone.
Cool video and nice to have some insight into the grading process.
Fantastic video, would be great to see more like this
Matt this video was fantastic. The transparency is wonderful.
Video suggestion of grading: Severity of defects. I’ve heard you say before there are different severities of defects. Example of what I am looking for is: three spine ticks on a book might be less degrading than on small corner crunch that doesn’t break color.
You guys do a fantastic job!
Thanks Matt for the explanation very interesting video to watch 👌👌👌
Great Video.. Thank you for the info - time to get my collection appraised!!
I was wishing he would pull out the OWL card when he was checking page quality. Lol
I would like you visit Comic cons at Mexico to facilitate the graduation of comic books. At this conventions the most of the artist signs comic books but at the end there in not way to probe the signing and for the collectors is a lost opportunity ,Great video!
Definitely will look into you guys for my family collection
This was cool. Grading is interesting and is cool to discover some of the things that are considered when grading.
While I appreciate this kinda insider view on the grading process, I chuckled when he said, "in the spirit of transparency". Next time you see them at a convention (if we ever have conventions again) ask them how many graders they have on site and let's see how transparent they are. Also, CGC's "published standards and procedures" are vague one sentence descriptions that they cut down from the traditional Overstreet grading guidelines. They do this so they don't have to justify mistakes in their grading.
I'd be interested to see how they grade books 8.5 and up. I'd love to know why they graded my friends copy of X-Men #129 a 9.4 despite it having 5 color breaking spine ticks. I think maybe the grader did the "first impression" step, and then skipped past the rest cause they had 800 more books to grade. Like in this video, the missing pieces dropped it to a 6.0. Wear to the cover dropped it another 1.5. The stain knocked it down another full point. How does that apply to super high grade books? How many flaws are allowed in a 9.8, 9.6, etc? Seems like it should be easy to decipher but I've seen many inconsistencies in books of that grade. I'm sure most of you have too.
Oh and pro tip. Don't say these kind of "slanderous" things on their forums. Rather than allowing a discussion that may or may not shed some light on questionable practices, they'll simply ban you for life.
Well done! Thank you and I look forward to the next video.
Great video, thanks Matt! You’re really good at this presenting lark!
hey, thank you for the transparency, I always wondered how you grade books.
Can you please do a video on how to ship a already graded book for signature series? There’s no video on it and I continue to guess every time I do it.
ya i learn my lesson on fingerprints on black and foil cover big time.
So I just submitted 23 books but one mysteriously disappeared! I was told the security cameras didn't find any theft had taken place, but that doesn't explain my lost book?? What are the next steps I can take? This book was without a doubt in the shipment sent to you guys.
Awesome video. Would love to see more, different grades, different examples.
Is a blue light ever used to find color touch restoration?
That was my question as well
You would think they would use more definitive techniques rather than a guy eyeballing it. No checklist, no uv light, NO GLOVES!!! WTF is this company doing.
@@Kaiesis Yes, and I always assumed that at least 2-3 people graded the same book, then the book was given the consensus grade. One person giving their 5 minute opinion on a book, and this is what this community is holding up as the standard?
@@Kaiesis No one grades with a checklist, either you know how to grade, or you don't. I agree with no gloves: if your hands are clean and dry, it's fine. You need to feel the pages
@@jsuperflyc The Overstreet guide to grading comes with a sort of checklist which shows the total number of defects within each grade. But like most things today, people/companies believe they are smarter than the founders. The Overstreet method makes sense and removes some of the conjecture in grading. Also, about gloves... why not just use the Michael Jackson method of one glove? Gloved hand holds the book, bare hand turns the pages. Easy!
Great video. Thanks Matt !!
I just now read a bunch of the comments. Hard to make some people happy. I'll comment on a few just for fun.
CGC staff probably makes sure their hands are clean. You probably missed the fingerprints on your books. That said, they can't grade the books without touching them. Matt explains why no gloves. And no... they probably don't use UV lights. UV lights give newbies a false sense of security. Use a magnifying glass your eyes and your fingers to catch restoration.
Yes, grading is ultimately subjective. Even professional grading. Think of it like Umpires and professional baseball. Are the umpires "right" 100% of the time? No. But they are better at balls, strikes, safe and out of bounds than the vast majority of us. But most importantly you can't play the game professionally without someone that makes the calls. The lack of an accepted final authority is far worse than an occasional missed call.
A number of people have asked for examples of the same book in a variety of grades - particularly the NM range grades. This is a good idea. Give people examples of the small defects they should look for.
A future video on the why's and what's of Universal (Blue) Qualified (Green) and Restored (Purple) labels would probably be informative to many.
Great job Matt. Super clear!!
You said that the cover chip dips the book down to 6.0 and then the other defects take the book down lower etc etc
Do you have a fixed table of defects and how they impact the grade? Something like a norm lets say..That all graders follow and take into consideration..
Or one grader can say.."that defect drops down the grade to 6.0" but the other will say.."that defect drops down the book to 5.0"
What i mean is that..do you have specific rules that everyone follows? Or its only the individuals interpretation.
Thank you for trying to explain this topic because its highly speculated on..(speculation on what you guys are doing i mean..)
I was waiting this video long time!
Thank you!
Thanks for watching!
This is what gets a response
At a cursory glance of the book I came up with about the same grade. I would love to see a video of an actual step by step grading of a book understanding of course that grading is subjective. It would still be great to see and hear exactly what one of your graders thinks as they grade a book.
Great video! Perfect for me because I actually only own 1 comic book and it is a Hulk 181! I purchased from a friend back in 1983 for $25 put it behind a picture frame in my parents house and FORGOT about it for 30 years! I rediscovered it after hurricane Katrina and was BLOWN AWAY how much this thing is worth.
It has some flaws but is certainly in better shape than the one in this video. Could you please send me some info on how to get you to grade my comic? Again, I’m not a collector but would love to have your professional grade on this thing when I sell it.
Would love to see one of these for your trading card process!
Very detailed and to the point. Thanks!
I like that you guys are getting on board with transparency. It will be good overall for the company. As for future ideas, comparing 9.2, 9.4, 9.6 and 9.8 books would be interesting. Maybe even on the same book but in different grades. Personally, I have seen 9.6 books that look better than some 9.8 books and just wonder how much more challenging those are to grade.
I have a CGC 9.8 book with 10 rather large spine ticks, and a CGC 9.6 copy of the same book with zero spine ticks. I would buy the 9.6 copy every time. Talk about baffling.
I would love to see a modern 9.8, 9.9, and 10.0 all the same book.
My question is if there is a printing error .... such as the ink smear .. I personally would have thought it wouldn’t affect the grade because that’s how it was sold....
If it is minor and not distracting, printing defects and ink smears from production are not supposed to affect the grade ... according to Overstreet. CGC though will reduce the grade.
I always use latex gloves myself when it comes to reading my Golden Age comics, simply because I’m always studying the stories and the art. I always handle them carefully with kid gloves though, and would never send them to be slabbed in holders, Mylar and acid free boards and boxes do well enough for me.
1. When you start grading a comic book, do you start at a 10, and bring yhe grade down based on all defects you see? I notice you said that the missing corner automatically brought the grade down to a 6. So would that mean the grade fell from 10 to 6 just based on the missing corner?
2. How do you put a grade value on certain defect, like determine whether a stain on the cover is worth a deduction of 2 grades or 1.5 grades?
That was perfect more please
This explains a lot. I submitted Saga 1 (first print) and it came back 8.8 saying there was fingerprints on the cover. I made sure that it didn't have anything before I shipped. I looked at an angle and could clearly see fingerprints. Those were not there when I shipped it. Your grader put fingerprints on there, and docked me for it. I always wondered how fingerprints got on there when there was none when I shipped it. I always thought your company wore hand protection. I wonder how many customers got lower grades because of grader accidents. How does it feel to have ZERO accountability for worker mistakes. Only your customers suffer.
If you look, there have been multiple "fingerprints" based comments like yours. All have been ignored by cgc
I got Thor 1960's books and they seem to be in this condition. is it worth going through the process to clean it up to get as clean as I can? or is it still gonna be a super low grade? considering its over 50 yrs old I would like to think its worth preserving but not sure
I have a really nice Batman Adventures 12 but I was thinking about having braided. This is all new for me and was totally set to use the service but this video on the comments make me pretty nervous about sending it out.
Hey CGC - I sent you a G.I. Joe #1 (9.4) to be signed by Larry Hama. Thank you for damaging the book and getting it back to me as a 9.0. Also thank you for turning my G.I. Joe #63 (9.8) into a 9.4. You guys are amazing.
I am curious, when grading Marvel Giant Size books, for instance, Giant Size X-Men #1, would a full-length reading crease on the very left edge on an otherwise High Grade (8.0 - 9.0) keep it in mid-grade? Meaning would the book be graded at around 4.5-5.5 with the regular deduction of a full-length crease? Or is this reading creases an exception, and the book is still High grade, but like a 7.0 - 8.0?
Great video, Matt. Next time, reveal the grade at the very end.
We also want a video of the slabbing process please
Brutal.
Great video, thanks for sharing!!! Does more than one person grade each comic book? Is the grade an average of multiple grader's opinions? Also, like many others I'd love to see the process and details about grading a high-grade (9.6-9.8) comic book.
Thank you , Can you Show the re holder process?
Can you review a book that receives a 9.6 rating and explain why it did not get a 9.8
So, you're looking for fingerprints while handling the book with bare hands. Hmm. I was waiting for explanation about the process that was used to remove all the dirt and oils from his hands before handling everyone's comics.
Wouldn’t physically touching the comic, degrade it in some ways since oils and other human bodily fluids that are in the surface area of our fingers can leak onto the comic?
I have a sealed 1999 pokemon duelist magazine with the gold w foil stamp promo 1st edition pikachu that comes inside it. Still in prime condition but wondering if I can encapsulate it? Or should I rip it and encapsulate the card and magazine seperate, the card probably come out to a 9 from the centering.
I'm afraid to send my copy. I may get damaged in the mail. I have Hulk 181 so it's nice to know what to check for. I don't have any of those issues but I don't have a magnifying glass so I'll have to get one.
Wonder if 1/ not wearing gloves could introduce oil stains from the grader that will hurt the grade and 2/ if counting all the pages could slightly impact the near perfection of a 9.8
What do you guys think of the grade? I thought a 3.5 was pretty harsh but I guess age isn't a consideration. At first glance I figured that would've deserved about a 5.
Just based on what I see, I would have given this book a 4.5. It's not in bad shape, but not in great shape either. It's middle of the road to me. Giving it a 3.5 just seems a little too low of a grade. I've seen worse looking books get a 3.5 or a 4. This is why I don't trust grading companies. Different graders might give it a higher or lower grade than a 3.5, and then your book can lose tons of value. I just don't like the way they grade things, and for some reason, their personal books are always grade super high even with multiple flaws. People who work at CGC shouldn't be allowed to own CGC graded comics. I'm sure some of them have graded their own books from time to time, and that's not fair to everyone else who pay tons of money and risk mailing their stuff out to get graded.
Awesome! Thanks so much.
👍😉🇨🇦
I have been thinking on starting to get my comics graded,here is the question. Should I get my comics pressed before sending them to CGC,I know this will help the grade or can you at the company do it before grading ?
Really appreciate the info.
What about a book that was missing a staple from the printer? One silver age book I have is in fantastic condition but has no upper staple, no staple holes, no indentations from a staple. It's clear there just has never had one. How does something like that impact grading?
I have a ASM #44 in a lower grade mabye like a 3.0/3.5 in it's condition going to give it a press but i do have a small question how does CGC grade when there is some writing on the inside of the book ?
More videos like this please
I have comic skin and on there website you can make your custom label and Gave it any Grade you want to I Graded my Star Wars #10 from 2015 first appearance of Game master later known as sergeant kreel leader of scar squadron i Gave it a 9.4 since it’s a Star Wars comic I Gave it a Black Label with Yellow letters and put a picture of the Rebel logo on the Far Right it was fun and looks Great if i Don’t like the Grade I can always make a new label loved the video keep up the Good work and happy collecting
Why are date stamps allowed for blue label, but store stamps are not allowed? I'm thinking of FCBD and similar promo books with store stamps. Perhaps a blue label with 'Store stamp' note on the label would be more consistent and better for the collector.
Id use this to grade my comics before I sell them, but i doubt they are worth as much as you'd charge. Most are mint condition, Marvel comics, 1970s and up.
Good video, but when doing the final grade you didn't seem to take anything inside the book or the back cover into your assessment and grade. You only mentioned the piece missing from the bottom right corner, the spine ticks and the stain, which are all on the cover.
I like how you picked a super safe comic to grade. I could look at it and eye ball it as a 3.5. How about you show the difference with a 9.6 and 9.8. I bet the difference is how close it is to your lunch.