Don't grade another Comic until you watch this video. CGC AND GRADING COMICS

That's the best and most accurate quote I've ever heard. "When there's money to be made there's gonna be fuckery about " someone should encapsulate this quote

First time watching you sir. Ive been collecting off and on 50 years. Recently had a comic graded for first time. Dont believe i will be doing it again

1st off thank you for your honest perspective as a shop owner and not being scared of speaking the truth, many will dislike what you say, but I, for one, respect you 💯 for saying it how it is. You are extremely correct with the artificial pricing of comics and grading companies creating it. It's a great video, thanks again

You're so old school and I'm here for it. Everything you said about collecting is what made it fun. Encapsulation suffocates the hobby. I do like grading as a price setter and since it's subjective, it leaves the door open to negotiating. Encapsulation should only be used for the highest of grades of the rarest of comics. Or just to protect your personal favorites that are priceless to yourself.

When I first saw one of those plastic cases, my very first thought was "How do I read it"? I was surprised to find you can't open it.

I'm an OG myself and my comic jones led to to buy multiples of just about every book I have. I remember buying off the spinning comic rack at the Myrtle and Broadway stop of the J elevated train in Brooklyn when I was a kid in the 1960's. My childhood letter to the editor can be found in ASM #50, left page, bottom left. Stan called me Joey! While CGC started around 2000, I had not slabbed any of my books until last year. I wanted to protect and preserve some of my best books and that's what I did. I have only 44 slabbed books and they all have duplicates, triplicates, etc. For me it was never about money. Today, there is a spec market that has been insane since the boom during the pandemic. Now prices are being corrected as the market finds it's level and spec sellers are taking a bath much to my amusement. When I look at the plethora of new books that are nothing more than cover art by relatively unknow artists, I wonder how they became worth anything to begin with as there is no rarity to them. Back in the day Mothers across America would throw out dog eared comics. I also wondered if anyone was still actually reading these books. Still, the hobby continues and that is a good thing. The missing thing for me with new books is the aroma (the smell!) that Silver age books take on due to the materials used and the age that is upon them. I say, to each their own as long as the hobby is robust. Lastly, I say Make Mine Marvel...uh, Silver age, that is. Best to all.

I also remember the day before cgc when people got scammed by dealers selling restored books. Just ask Nick Cage.

Great thing about grading is it only cost around 30 dollars to have the trust of the market, extra protection and the ability to insure your investments. I do agree that grading books that are worth less than a certain amount . If you do have your books graded you can always buy a reader copy or crack it and regrade in the future. More options are better than less.

100% agree. You grade a comic and you are just turning it into an oversized trading card.

I very much prefer display cases that companies like Comic Capsule or Gator Guard make. You can store the book in the 'slab' for display/protection, but you can always open it and read the book. Plus, they're much cheaper.

ABSOLUTELY outstanding video. I owned a comic store in the 1990's and 2000's. I ran my shop and priced books just about the same way you describe you run yours. I did a tremendous business overall with Very satisfied customers. I can remember when just the IDEA of a grading service was proposed. It was a letter in an Overstreet update back in the 90's indicating how great it would be to have a Grading Service. I still remember this because I thought "This is NOT a good idea". My reputation was based on how accurate my grading and pricing was.... NOT on how some company graded my books. Also I could foresee how once Big Money was involved there would be...like in Any business...corruption and scammers. I REALLY loved the business while I was in it, but now I'm almost glad to be out of it. Best of luck to you, my Friend......

100% FACTS. CGC is one of the worst things that entered the hobby. To the point they are trying to decide which book is a first appearance, etc. But these new jack guys today still gonna do what they do. They live and die by CGC

That oil in the case that you were talking about sounds more like newton rings

Absolute wisdom - comics are for reading and enjoying. The art and the stories are the beating heart of the actual reading community! Speculation is for money markets.

Totally agree. Don’t get the comics graded. It’s a scam and we can agree between buyers and sellers a fair price.

You've made some excellent points I hadn't fully thought through. Thanks for making the video!

Excellent video, subbed. You are so right that comics are an art form. Sequential art, when done right, is amazing.

Good video! You bring up a lot of very good points. I got back into collecting last July and I liked getting graded copies of books I had as a teenager but I’ve really gone back towards raw copies recently. So much more fun to actually be able to read and smell them.

The only point that I will agree with you on is the conflict of interest with CGC having an in house pressing and cleaning service, I have never thought that was a good look. I will disagree on everything else. I am old enough to have been collecting before CGC was around and remember the wild wild west that the comic collecting hobby was. There was (and still is) many comic book dealers that like to oversell their books and give you a condition of books based on what they think it is. No matter what having a disinterested third party is always a plus. Are grading companies perfect, no, do they still have room to improve their services and slabs, yes. But the collecting hobby as a whole is better off today that it used to be. However, you are totally on point about all the people that are sending in the most random books without even doing a basic inspection of it to determine if it will even be worth it to send it to get graded. But that's not on CGC that is on us as the consumer to make those determinations.

You may be honest, but I have met many unscrupulous shop owners.