General Category > Comic Related Discussion

COMIC BOOK COLLECTING, the influence of the CGC and PGX (slabbing) on collecting

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bminor:
Some of us love to read them.
Some of us love to invest in them.
Some want to make big bucks off of them.
Some of us think that "slabbing" has ruined our hobby (read "obsession")!

I have read that their are some controversies concerning the CGC and PGX. In particular concerning books that have been sent in to be graded, when returned to the original owner, are not the same book that has been sent in!!!

Does anyone out their in DCM land have any stories concerning these issues?

I look on my collection as something to read, that (a few books at least) may be worth some money.

Any thoughts?

Yoc:
I'd never heard about switched books before B.
I have heard about the odd book being Damaged by them though and they offer no insurance against it!

Geo (RIP):
I too haven't heard anything about "switching" books.

But I've read lots about 'slabbing' and most has not been positive on the subject. Some dealers don't like them as they think it actually lowers the value of the book in the process by damaging the book. They are 'over valued' has been stated by most dealers. One dealer stated he would not sell a slabbed book and when he got/received one, would actually remove the slabbed book to 'free' it.
I, myself would not buy or have a book slabbed, I agree with you, they are for reading, (touching), not just to look at like a painting, (see but not touch behind a roped or glassed area).

This whole thing seemed to come out of/from the sports card thing of "slabbing" sports cards.
 
Geo

narfstar:
I have no problem with someone slabbing a f to mint GA book and think it is a good idea. A book in that condition has not been handled in over 60 years so why handle it now. Those books a re meant to be set aside like gold as an investment and collectible. The practice of slabbing lower grade books does not make sense at all. The companies that sell brand new books slabbed deserve to make money, if they are, from people stupid enough to pay for those books. They will never get the cost of the slabbing back.

John C:
The problem (thanks to Geo's card analogy) is that, unlike a card, a slab can't show you the overwhelming majority of your property.  Unless you really, really love the cover, you basically own a box with a picture of a (presumably) famous comic on it.

Plus...I haven't seen a slab up close, so I'm going out on a limb here, but I'd guess that they're not exactly "archive quality."  For a sixty-year old comic to continue to be in mint condition, you basically need to keep it from oxygen, moisture, anything that might contain any acidic traces, and...oh, a whole bunch of things your local librarian will be happy to lecture you on if you ask sincerely.

They do claim it has been "tested for archival quality," but I don't actually know what that means (the engineer in me points out that testing doesn't suggest success, and a grading company should know enough to tell us who conducted the tests), and doesn't sound like something that costs in the neighborhood of a hundred bucks or weigh three quarters of a pound.  Their FAQ points out that they're easy to open, too, which definitely doesn't suggest much security.

Of course, that's not their business, so I wouldn't expect it.  Their business is in securing transactions:  If you want to buy a book and can't inspect it, you have presumably-impartial third-party eyes on it.  And the slab itself guarantees that it's the same comic that was inspected...well, except that the slabs are easy for greasy fingers to pop open and re-close (again, according to the FAQ), which...I don't know where that puts the value.

If you're not trying to make that kind of sale, though, I don't see the value, and there are far more effective ways of preserving the paper that, again, your local librarian can probably either explain or point you to a professional archivist who can.

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