CGC Dropped My Comics and Cost Me $1,000 (Unboxing)

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Happy collecting!

[@DavidClark-vu3dw]

I bought a cgc 9.4 Justice League of America #90 off eBay last week. Got the book and both staples looked like they were almost pulled through the cover. Seller didn't offer returns but I asked for one anyway because that book was over graded and I wasn't happy with it! They allowed me to return it.

[@shawnconvey7323]

This happened to me on my very first and very large submission... as I had the presser submit the order there was never any resolution with CGC... I am amazed that CGC simply won't be grown ups in cases like this. good luck with your experience.

[@DPCcollector]

they dropped 6 of my Signature series books. Supper PO'd. Also, I've sent books that i thought were 9.9-10 and came back 9.8. I'm with you brotha!

[@rangerscott1997]

Beautiful returns Wishing you the best on getting the industry standard company to do anything about it.

[@mythirdlife101]

I didn't know they lowered the number of books required for prescreen. That's great info, Thanks.

[@guycorp1325]

Unbelievable! Heartbreaking. So sad. I think I had a similar thing happen on a huge 30 book 9.6 prescreen. “Luckily” for me only a handful of the books were damaged. Hope you make headway with CGC.

[@eljeffe7472]

Aw man! So sorry to hear about that!! I hope you have better luck with CGC than I did with my ASM 300. I got nowhere with Derrick in their customer service department. I've been told he is a D-*-c-k and very unhelpful.

[@mrorange00]

Im sorry to hear about your experience. I’m a new collector so I guess it’s something that I need to watch out for.

[@EveryDayAStoryCollects]

Sorry to see that happen to you. It does look like they were dropped at CGC pre-grading (as they are in new bags and boards). This is why I scan every book going out to CGC pre submission so that I have a record of the original condition, I hope you have done that. In my experience, the CGC team will help out when you reach out and make this good. They'll likely give you a credit for the books damaged.

[@comicbookchris3509]

Wow, that's a tough one with the drop. It willl be interesting what CGC tells you. My guess is that in the legalese, we check box when submitting , we take the risk of books being dropped. That corner crease brought up something. I actually stupidly just did that small corner break on color to a Punisher 1 1986 limited news putting it in the bag.. That probably dropped the book $100! Hopefully you can disguise that crease!

[@mythirdlife101]

I've also experienced mysterious defects that weren't there when I submitted the books but this one seems like obvious damage by cgc. Good Luck.

[@RightInTheNards]

This happened to me last year... They damaged 3 of my books. Some were dropped and others CGC said could've happened during encapsulation - crinkled corners and one suffered a tear inside the slab! Can you believe this passed through QC?? I had pictures of the books beforehand so I sent the comparisons to CGC and filed for mechanical error. They repressed my books and regraded them for free. 2/3 got a grade bump from the original grade. Could've been a worse ending, but still sucks sort of seeing the defects even after being pressed out. Hope it gets sorted out for you! Sorry to see it happen to you too.

[@clelandwarrenjr850]

They did the same thing to a nyx #3 I had in a 9.2 cracked it out pressed and cleaned signed by joe quesada in person with a cgc witness and still played cgc for pressing just to be safe and got it back a 8.5 and bottom corner is like the tops of your books definitely droped

[@thomaseller5715]

I often worry about this kind of thing when I submit books. Sorry about the damages, hope they make things right for you.

[@evstites794]

CGC has issues. I recently watched another video (speed metal comics?) where he submitted a hulk 181 I think and he got someone else’s book! Sorry you had this happen, those are great books. Good luck. Hopefully you can do a follow up video.

[@Coffee_And_Comics]

Nice 9.8s, but WOW on the dropped books. You think they would have something in place for something like that, besides the "oh well, we'll just send them back to the customer and not worry about it." I mean anything versus nothing at all, like a CGC credit of some sort and if it happens that often, they can come back to their graders for observation or fix what is wrong in the process. This is the type of thing that would make people use a different grading company if the issue is just "oh well." That, or less people getting books graded which would be less company profit for them either way. Maybe you can fix them up as there is always hope.

[@CharlesThomas-vs8ir]

Man... That sucks. They damaged my Marvel Age 114 which was a 9.8 and I ended up with a 8.5.

[@dlewand691]

Damn that sucks. I had the same thing happen to me a few submissions ago. Hope they do right by you!

[@faithfamilyseller2991]

Heartbreaking. Wish you the best in getting this resolved my friend

[@gordonmilne4323]

That seriously sucks. I hate it when people mistreat collectibles. It's seem to be an ignorance with some people. I've never submitted to CGC before, but I own quite a few CGC books. I definitely have an issue with their grading system though. I bought a New Gods #1 that states white pages, only to notice the back cover and tops of all the pages are cream, if not brown. I did own a CGC 10 of Marvel Knights Spider-Man #1. I paid £100 for it in 2010 and sold it for £100 in 2012 - gutted I let that one go.

[@rodnicker]

I am sorry to see this, this is a very unfortunate situation. I have always wondered what CGC will do if anything to make things right when there is an error made on their side. They make you sign that waiver, so I hope that isn't a get-out of jail free for them. I wonder if this wasn't a "pre-screen" submission if they would have graded the books they damaged and sent them to you with the crappy grades. Hopefully, they make good somehow.

[@tensixtythreecomics]

Wow! Hopefully they will own up to it. Not sure how.

[@stephendaly9986]

Awe man that sucks, and that is one of the reasons im afraid to send books in, the main reason is im in ireland so theyd have a long way to travel there and back safely,,, i hope you get sorted, everyone knows you wouldnt send them in unless they were pristine

[@eggplantcomics8336]

I’m sorry this happened to you but at least we can prove your human now. Lol Given a long enough time frame CGC gonna get ya!

[@danceswithcomicbooks7733]

Yeah ive heard if this stuff happening. Its not uncommon. I dont have much faith in CGC compensating you. They are pretty tough to deal with and are cheap. Good luck though. I hope im wrong and you get something out of them

[@Stickygoose]

Expect an email from Patel today

[@purecomiccollector]

Oh man. So sorry about the damage. After watching your videos, it's a given that you are meticulous with your books and submission. Hopefully they take care of you somehow.

[@ImproveCollectingComics]

I talked to them today, and they are letting me return the books as a mechanical error so they can (hopefully) pay me the insured value. I'll mention it in this Sunday's video

[@purecomiccollector]

@@ImproveCollectingComics That's great news! Now I guess you gotta find some other copies and try again!

[@christiandannunzio4387]

My sympathy to you, dear Jim. Keep smiling. Sticky Goose recently had CGC make things right when they ruined his ASM 300. I hope they do right by you.

[@andrewb-e8l]

If I remember they ruined his newsstand but gave him a direct . So they did not make him whole completely .

[@eggplantcomics8336]

Do not follow the Stickygoose model

[@KillerTacos54]

Man I'm so sorry to hear that man

[@biglioncat646]

🦁awsome books and grades congrats🦁

[@nixknacks-comics]

I don't know why we all refer to the tough and easy graders when we know darned well GCG has THREE different graders look at each and every book. /sarcasmoff. The damaged books are ridiculous. I'd post on the CGC forums and see what kind of response you can get from the top. The ONLY place that damage *could* have happened was at CGC. You have three 9.8s as evidence. It's obvious that they don't have a process in place to acknowledge damage they incur. SHIT HAPPENS. That's one reason why they have different tiers - INSURANCE. "We apologize that Scotty bumped the table causing your comics to fall and crunch your corners. While we have processes in place to minimize these occurrences, occasional accidents do occur. Enclosed please find your damaged books, a check for the insured amount, and a 10% off coupon for your next CGC submission. (Hand signed by somebody)." (All shipped back at their expense.) That's how it *should * be done. Sending them back to you like this is just shady.

[@ImproveCollectingComics]

Man, you gave a really good example of how customer service is supposed to work.. unfortunately, CGC doesn't live up to your standard

[@wonderworldcomics2020]

10 years later and Cgc is doing the same thing, they wrecked 4 case fresh next men 21 dead mint copies by dropping the submission box and blamed me for not seeing it when their rep accepted it at the con and said they were 9.9 candidates I stopped using them then… cbcs is my only grading company

[@ImproveCollectingComics]

Oh man.. I'm not sure I could survive what you went through, it makes my piddily 4 little books look like a stubbed toe in comparison

[@wonderworldcomics2020]

@@ImproveCollectingComics just learn the lesson and try cbcs the only way Cgc learns is to be punished with the loss of our money

[@Comicbookyoutubersrock]

Dead mint, yeah right lol.

[@danceswithcomicbooks7733]

​@@Comicbookyoutubersrocklol. Yeah 9.9 is so rare we probably have a better chance of finding a 4 leaf clover. They were probably 9.8s. Dead mint. Lol

[@Comicbookyoutubersrock]

@@danceswithcomicbooks7733 Without a doubt. Anytime I hear someone say they have books that are mint, it denotes experience to me and that they are amateurs.

[@miguelh4750]

Hey mna, great channel. I have a question did cgc change their slabs ? I can open them like before. Also no newton rings !!! Any idea how to open the new CGC slabs ? thanks

[@ImproveCollectingComics]

Not that I know of. They seem to be the same, the last major change was several years ago from what I understand. I did a video showing how I open them: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bKa2imijjd2Gos0si=MYW2hvXR_CN6hCUn

[@miguelh4750]

@@ImproveCollectingComics I just got a new batch. Never seen those slabs before. Maybe CGC is still testing on some comics. In any case its hard to open

[@300baud]

It's stuff like this that continually makes me wonder why CGC is the market leader in comic book grading. They hold zero responsibility for their own actions. They dropped a book? Oh well, not THEIR problem. This is what happens when we (the comic book collectors) put all our eggs in one grading company basket -- mediocrity. I truly hope that CBCS or another company starts to gain market share. I believe that, and only that, will force companies like CGC to strive to be better. Because right now, they really don't care, and it shows.

[@CjE-d4s]

CBCS is just as bad, maybe worse. They stole a year and $250 from me, then damaged my books. They dont respond to messages or answer their phones either.

[@pbales8951]

Preaching to the choir, brother!

[@Comicbookyoutubersrock]

It’s a company run by humans. Any company in the entire world makes mistakes at times. To expect perfection is just stupid. And you’re wrong, they do make up for issues most of the time and will take responsibility.

[@jbbrolic]

As long as the market/people decide that CGC slabs are worth SUBSTANTIALLY more than other grading companies (which seems irrational, but it is what it is) they can get away with some really bad behavior and maintain most of the comic grading business.

[@Comicbookyoutubersrock]

@@jbbrolic I don’t think CBCS will ever catch up, but I agree competition is always best. CGC is the gold standard though and I don’t think that will change. I think what’s tiring are KZbinrs like this guy who constantly have to rush to make videos without trying to have a problem fixed first. This generation of “look at me look at me” and “I need to show you every part of my life” is extremely tiring. And I don’t mean an era of people like millennial or Gen Z, I mean everyone no matter the age. Social media has created the most narcissistic society where everyone thinks they are the most important thing in the world. It would be nice if this KZbinr wouldn’t rush to post another negative CGC video when an issue happens like they all do, and at least try to have it corrected first. Companies make mistakes, nature of the beast. Doesn’t mean everyone has to be whiny babies about it. And ultimately, the bulk percentage of books come out better than expected and everyone does well with sales. So booo fucking hooo you have an issue once in a blue moon. Jesus Christ cry me a river. But I guess if you need that content for likes it is what it is.

[@leeniren3706]

They are always brutal on transformers number one. I have yet to get at 9.8 any that I have submitted.

[@ImproveCollectingComics]

I've got a couple coming back tomorrow.. fingers crossed...

[@barrysaide]

I've seen this happen with other KZbin content creators, and if their audience is big enough, CGC will actually reach out and make it right. I know you have enough subscribers, and it's a shame this occurred. Hopefully, they will do the right thing. (We know they should do the right thing for everyone, but that's not reality).

[@VidTubeWatch]

Jim, please follow up on the damaged books regarding CGC and how they handle this issue. This is absolutely deplorable. It really discourages me from sending any books into them. Not even a note or refund for the damaged books they sent back to you. It's not even a "Did I do that?" moment. It's like they just swept it under the rug and sent you back your raw books. On a positive note, congrats on the 9.8's.

[@tbray1772]

You would think they would own up to it before they sent your books back. Maybe they thought you wouldn’t notice 😵‍💫. Sorry about the loss. That really sucks.

[@corso_kid]

Not good, that grader not only dropped the books but tried to get away with it. Good that you have a great following and are an excellent grader and presser. The average Joe would have been out of luck.

[@ImproveCollectingComics]

They are letting me send the books in as a mechanical error and then we'll see what happens. I am not holding out hope that they pay out the insured value. I am guessing they might offer a small credit. I'll give an update once I know something

[@chrisrose3352]

Sorry about the damaged books. Anyone who submits regularly knows this is just part of the game. I've had a handful of books damaged at CGC over the years and it's no fun. Unfortunately I've never gotten any compensation from CGC regarding the damage. They use the "mailing damage" excuse to get out of pretty much anything

[@Kawnersaur]

Sorry to see this happen. New fear unlocked when I submit. 😢 hopefully they make things right!

[@davidfausel9029]

Shit Jim - so sorry to see that. Damn and those books were sweet. Again, sorry man.

[@fernandofernandez7731]

Dont try to repair any damages, leave it AS-IS. CGC's fault they gotta make it right.

[@nuctech99m]

Sorry this happened i hope CGC will work with you to correct this not sure if they will admit to dropping your books, but i hope it gets resolved

[@ImproveCollectingComics]

I talked to them today, and they are letting me return the books as a mechanical error so they can (hopefully) pay me the insured value

[@Fan4Collecting]

Very unfortunate, hopefully @thecgccomics will step up and make this right for you. Good luck!

[@kitescuriosities7717]

With the amount of money these companies expect us to pay for their grading services, there needs to be some kind of restitution, compensation, or accommodation. That’s just ridiculous and shoddy work.

[@thedrifter4467]

Man I really hate that happened. It’s one thing for books to get hit by a harsh grader but to have them damage a book that could otherwise be resubmitted is disappointing.

[@brentG1222]

Dang sorry to hear that!

[@michaeltan4204]

That happened to my books submitted to cgc. It is a shame this happened to your submission. Sometimes it is hard to prove accountability because they could claim it was damaged in the mail.

[@SplinkProductions]

Pretty sad they didn’t notify you. Poor business practices to say the least.

[@Sammmmmmmm617]

CGC fucked you over. Sorry to hear that 😞

[@bobbybigfoot1163]

More and more reasons why I don’t plan on using cgc. I get it can happen. But take responsibility especially the employee who did it

[@Cincinnatijames]

How does that even happen? They should have protocols in place to mitigate out the possibility of this happening.

[@kennythecomiccollector]

Ah man, that sucks bro! I hope CGC gives you adequate compensation for the damages to your comics. 🤨

[@davidwarren680]

I hope they make it right for you.

[@jeffradakovich9252]

The same thing happened to me earlier this year. They dropped and crunched the corners on 8 out of 10 of my books. After contacting them they said there was nothing they could do because I had no photos to prove that I didn't submit them that way.

[@ImproveCollectingComics]

I do have photos of the books though, so hopefully that works in my favor

[@DavidClark-vu3dw]

I would like to know if the graders are smoking weed during their breaks and lunch time.

[@DXCZouk]

That sucks, you'd think they'd come clean and initiate it rather than having to have you react to it.

[@keithoneil9894]

Am I missing something? What service did you sign up for where they only send you back comics graded if they are 9.8s?

[@ImproveCollectingComics]

When you create a submission, there is an option to pre-screen

[@keithoneil9894]

@@ImproveCollectingComics Oh ok. I know some comic shops offer this service. I didn't know CGC did too.

[@BZackheim]

Please let us know what happens.

[@ddougherty8266]

Of course, they're human, so things happen - but this stuff happens far too often. Management fails to select and train people, as well as a failure to create a physical environment or process that would prevent these things from happening so often. But that's not the only failure - the other failure is worse - and it reveals the deplorable nature of their operation, is that they KNOW when they've destroyed or damaged books... they know exactly when it has happened, and yet they ship the books back and make their customers fight them. IF you can win the argument, they give credits, not reimbursements for damages. They destroyed a half-dozen of my early silver Marvels by pressing the covers off of the staples - books that ranged from 8.0 to 9.4 copies that are now encapsulated with detached covers - and b/c I couldn't prove that they did it, I took the loss. They're not the type of business one should entrust with your valuables.

[@ImproveCollectingComics]

Ug.. sorry to hear that you went through that

[@lifegood3322]

Its a Thundercats bondage cover! 😂

[@ImproveCollectingComics]

Maybe that's why someone paid so much lol

[@TheCollectorCrucible]

do you accept submissions to clean and press books?

[@ImproveCollectingComics]

No, sorry.. it's just a hobby for me

[@normansparks2099]

Maybe consider CBCS over CGC ?

[@ImproveCollectingComics]

The average sale rates of the books would likely far offset the benefit of not getting books dropped occasionally. I have no way of knowing, but I am assuming CBCS has a similar way of handling books. Maybe they drop books just as often, if anyone out there has experience submitting to both please comment.

[@robertgray1365]

Thousands in damage and no apology, notation or anything, they just send your books back like nothing happened. Raise hell. Call them out loudly and make it go viral. Otherwise they'll ignore you and pretend it wasn't their fault.

[@ImproveCollectingComics]

I talked to them today, and they are letting me return the books as a mechanical error so they can (hopefully) pay me the insured value

[@Utubesanarc]

Serves you right sending that many perfect books at once. You need to do multiple submissions as to not get a complete stack of wack. That electra one...man I'd be pissed😡🔥

[@DavidClark-vu3dw]

How the hell is that Thunder Cats worth that much?! Jesus!

[@ImproveCollectingComics]

I have no idea... but am glad lol

[@RobertWeir]

Reprehensible to just send them to you like that .. take some f**kin responsibility.. have some integrity CGC ..

[@drspidey4739]

Sorry this happened to you. As other people have noted, use CGC long enough and this will happen to you. As you mentioned you have been killing it so it was only a matter of time. Won't go into how many times CGC has damaged my books. Usually, they are good about it and making it right. The main thing is you need proof: pictures/scans of your books before sending them in. They don't tell the customer about this: CGC can and will damage your books. They have a high volume business and many people handing the books. The drop could have happened at any stage. Good luck with getting reimbursed. Please let us know how it works out. CGC needs to be held accountable.

[@ImproveCollectingComics]

I stopped taking photos because it was such a bottleneck.. I need to at least do it on $200+ valued books. Of course I do have pictures of all books, from the e-bay sale or whatever. I told them that on the phone and that seemed to satisfy them. I am resending two of the books back, I re-pressed the other two damaged ones and I think they can get 9.8. I'd much rather have a book than store credit or whatever

[@pkeel7576]

Cgc could have pressed them for free and not said a word but with the color loss they would have automatically admitted fault

[@kapitolp7460]

That had to have been whoever was pre screening. That is a very messed up thing to do. The person showed zero accountability and no integrity whatsoever. They didn’t report it because I’m sure that would be a bad look come review time. At this point it’s beyond the money. This is about principles and being a moral person. We trust them to treat our books with care and for them to come back to us in the same condition they were sent out. Imagine if these were five or six figure books. Me personally I wouldn’t let this slide, I’m getting my books replaced or a credit at the value they were in when they were sent out. Don’t let them b.s. you and give you only credit for what they are currently worth.

[@ImproveCollectingComics]

What boggles my mind is that the grader actually included notes on the rejects. I think that actually might be a sign that he/she was trying to help me out. By noting it, they can't say that I caused the damage after it came back to me

[@gregparks1785]

Ugh that is awful! Do you have any recourse for that?

[@samuelcatoe1927]

Yes, don't use them anymore. That's your recourse.

[@gregparks1785]

@@samuelcatoe1927 well they’re the biggest grading company so that’s difficult to do, I imagine.

[@ImproveCollectingComics]

I'm not sure, I'll be calling this week

[@gregparks1785]

@@ImproveCollectingComics good luck! I hope there’s a good outcome

[@ScottTice1971]

Huge bummer.

[@rodneyjones6358]

That's horrible that happened to you. Hopefully they will make good somehow, but they should have acknowledged it without you having to complain about it. That's a bad way to ruin your hot streak with the grades!

[@ImproveCollectingComics]

I'll have an update in next Sunday's video

[@fernandofernandez7731]

Bro that is infuriating how they damaged your comics. Don't let this go so easily without a fight. I've watched a lot of your videos and you're meticulous when it comes to your comics. I thought you where crazy when I watched a video on how to bag your comics properly so I know you couldn't make that mistake. Reach out to Stickygoose Comics, he had CGC ruin his ASM 300.

[@ImproveCollectingComics]

When you create a submission, there is an option to pre-screen. And I'll look for the SG video

[@eligunthair11]

They switched your comic sir is very common CGC should not be trading period !

[@bronzevillecomics2581]

That sucks - seems to totally be their fault. Should reimburse you for the declared value of the book.

[@jcp4162]

That is pretty suckie! And they didn’t even leave a note of apology. As if you would submit those corner crunches for a pre-screen! They should offer to grade those books for free.

[@djmoonchild01]

Shouldnt it be their legal obligation to inform you that they dropped it?!!

[@ImproveCollectingComics]

I would think so. Alternatively, they could employ the "sweep it under the rug" policy

[@cybergrindin]

Sucks man ..I know the feeling

[@mikelitteris69]

How can cgc get away with this?

[@ImproveCollectingComics]

I talked to them today, and they are letting me return the books as a mechanical error so they can (hopefully) pay me the insured value

[@mikelitteris69]

I hope so

[@marcrobinson4907]

I’m frustrated and angry for you. I hope there’s something that they will do for you when it’s clearly their fault. You have had an unprecedented run of success with CGC. Unfortunately it’s incidents like yours that keep me from submitting. I hope they make it right.

[@michaelromanenko2207]

That stinks. Sorry this happened

[@dumpsterbaby3155]

sweet baby Jesus! Thats horrible

[@Comicbookyoutubersrock]

Dropping the books won’t cause a crunch like that. That looks more like an issue that happened in shipping.

[@CireWorrom]

The book-dropping expert has spoken everyone - case closed! Thank you for sharing your irrefutable knowledge on this matter!

[@Comicbookyoutubersrock]

@@CireWorrom No problem! The doosh responding expert has also replied. You’re experience in that was well worth it.

[@ImproveCollectingComics]

It can happen from any corner impact, whether in shipping or just a bag and board when it's dropped

[@kevinjameson7817]

That just stinks.

[@pleasurevid]

CGC should have owned up to that. No way a corner gets bent down like that in the mail.