CGC Reholder Scam! Two More Comics and a New Scam!

#cgc #mcu #ComicMarket
I've got an update on this recent CGC Reholder scam. Also what looks like a different scam from the reholder one we had seen before. We discuss two more books in this video.
Hope you enjoy and make sure to subscribe for more content in the future.
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[@300baud]

This is 100% on CGC. If a customer sends in a slab to be re-holdered and states "hey this is a Mark Jeweler's, you missed that". Then CGC MUST remove the book from the inner well and re-evaluate it. The fact they have not and are not doing that completely destroys the authentication and certification portion of their business. And without that, what are they? NOTHING!

[@gearmonger8616]

CORRECT! It's like going to the bank and getting a stack of $100 that are all counterfeit and the bank telling you "that's how they came to us, we just count them and put a new band on them." The "G" in CGC indicates responsibility. In fact, the clown sending these books in has MORE reasonable deniability than CGC. Another problem here is that CGC is not a recognized or guaranteed entity. Unless there is a written agreement of indemnity expressly signed by all parties involved, it's a non-starter. As far as I can tell the cases and the labels are the SOLE property of the book owner. eBay may get involved, but we have to see.

[@lburwell99]

That's not exactly what he's saying. The suggestion is that they put an actual mark jeweler's raw book into a case with a non MJ label. He's not saying they put a regular non-MJ book into a regular non-MJ case/label and they sent it in stating it's MJ and got back a label saying so. Where they made money is the actual MJ book they slipped in is of a lower grade, so through the re-holder process it kept the higher grade on the label, but now also says MJ reflecting the book inside. I don't think it's new that people generally have learned to expect to receive back re-holders in the same grade and suspect there's not as much grading scrutiny there unless there's something egregious. On paper CGC says there's no guarantee that the grade will hold and there's always risk when anyone breaks it out of the case. I can appreciate some credence to respecting the original grade and opinion though. If I send a book in to get the new updated case/label, it's pretty disappointing to get it back at a lower grade in that process. I think CGC should make the scans a standard thing for all books and for any re-holder they could then go back and compare to the pictures. I think right now it's an optional additional charge for the high def scans? I'm sure they're cracking down on the re-holder quality control, always looking to make the cases more tamper proof, but not much you can do about the millions of books already out there.

[@gearmonger8616]

You're sure of this QC improvement - why? IF ANY of these were reholdered, CGC owns all the blame. They certified a fraudulent book - wait "several hundred" fraudulent books. Sounds like someone might have an uncle Jerry at CGC.@@lburwell99

[@spaceknight793]

On a side note, I can’t fathom why anyone would want a comic with those intrusive, bulky inserts. I hated them. I recall gently taking them out of my comics. Thick Jewelry ads in a comic book that made it harde to flip through? Blech.

[@jarrettreynolds4560]

Here is some advice…QUIT using cgc!!!!

[@Mikey_Gee]

I remember when the biggest news was CBCS got a new label, and so many KZbinrs made videos of the label. People in the comments only talked about how they didn’t like the label. To those people, “How you liking that label now?”

[@ObsessedCollector]

If CGC dosen't publicly address this and take steps to REINSPECT/GRADE books sent in for reholdering, they will lose TONS of credibility and users. Hopefully CBCS and other graders see whats happening as well.

[@Teardehawkee]

Has the one who done this get punished for this?

[@DawnofComics]

Always felt like CGC was a scam. Now I’m glad I stayed clear

[@newcompasscollectibles]

The time you're spending uncovering this evidence is a great help to the community. Thanks so much for making these videos. I hope CGC has some answers soon.

[@reisende76]

God I hate scammers. Not only do they directly screw over the people who bought from them, they potentially screw over ALL of us collectors who have a big part of the value of our collections wrapped up in trusting the grades.

[@eljefe09]

The problem is that the serial number is only on the paper strip with the grade on it. So once you crack the slab then the book is still in a holder just with no serial number on it. Ive always wanted CGC to heat stamp or put some sort of magnetic reader strip on the inner plastic holder that actually encapsulates the comic book so that it is identifiable. That way when a book gets sent back to cgc to get a new holder the serial number is on the inner case and will be treated accordingly. The way things are now cgc has no way of knowing what sealed book is going into that new slab

[@jcomer1982]

Earlier this year I got scammed locally by a guy as part of a trade. He had a super low grade book in a 9.6 slab, which I didn’t notice until long after the fact. The pessimist in me thinks this stuff is much more common than we resize…

[@grimygrime]

What’s crazy is that they probably wouldn’t have gotten caught if they weren’t so greedy. Posting all of those 9.8 jewelers raises alarm bells.

[@bradcsuka5054]

Exactly. If they had spaced them out, listing one at a time only, they likely would never have been caught.

[@AutomaticComics]

Yeah. That played a role I’m sure. It was crazy seeing those all pop up on Instagram. They were asking like 80-90k or something.

[@sayantinju]

@@AutomaticComics who are the ebay/instagram sellers? Apologies if this has been addressed here already

[@Mightyant-tp3ko]

​@@AutomaticComicswho's the seller

[@Keep_It_THORO]

cgc is going to get crushed by all this, aint no coming back cuz you dont know how many books are legit. This can also lead to other greater scams happening if they tried to correct this major flaw. I see a lot of graded books going down in value cuz of this scam,to include making it tough for folks to sell slabs

[@klubberzvonhatzenbuhl563]

I imagine the folks at CGC are running around with their hair on fire today. Meetings galore - combined with a buncha finger-pointing.

[@kenmason1461]

So crazy sad

[@gregorychiasson7739]

True as unfortunate as this is

[@erinmothe5562]

They should not allow reholdering. Just make all submissions have grading. Just like every company they start to grow and get greedy and want to get you through micro transactions and they start up a new cheaper reholdering service that leads to shenanigans

[@Mikey_Gee]

I’d be good with the money makers leaving completely, and only collectors be left here.

[@funkinmintcorey]

That same scam seller just canceled an uncanny x-men 266 mark jewelers on ebay after all the heat on him. I had a bid on the book, so I got a message from ebay about the bid cancelation. He canceled all the bids with 2 days left

[@sabersaw5611]

Cbcs coming in hot

[@300baud]

This is definitely a case of CGC not seeing the forest from the trees. Their job is to evaluate, authenticate and certify comic books. They are trained to look for fakes and signs of tampering. However, the whole time they were allowing scammers to go around their entire authentication process through a "back door" that THEY left wide open.

[@bayouboyentertainment2106]

Not really a backdoor, it's just them being lazy and not doing what their literal job is to grade and inspect books for authenticity. If someone resubmits a book for reholdering and says oh you missed this and you as CGC just go oh okay random stranger and don't actually inspect the book for tampering that's just laziness. Like the video states alot of these are obvious and should have been caught because of the tampering and identical marks on the books.

[@MichaelHollen]

Ryan, this is crushing. What can the community do when there is fraud like this out there. I own maybe 30 slabs, and now I have to wonder if they were tampered with. This is terrible for the hobby.

[@sabersaw5611]

All of your slabs were tampered with

[@tiesthatbind5056]

All of your slabs are belong to us

[@Geoffreydarcy-pv4mq]

Lol. 😆 cut it out.

[@Geoffreydarcy-pv4mq]

@MicealHollen - I only own 16 slabs, and I don't intend on selling any of them. I'm a basic, old school collector, but , like all collectors, I rely on honest sellers to get my fix. This mess here, with cgc slabs is going to screw some of my favorite sellers eventually.

[@darthrooster1]

This is going to be a moment where CGC will either take control of the situation or try and brush it off as a few bad apples and completely destroy the trust of the community. Their corporate life literally hangs in the balance right now.

[@MrGooseman19]

Thank you for bringing this to everyone’s attention. Keep up the good work.

[@Vexer-rl9fq]

This is a nightmare. I don't play with these big books, but who knows what this guys was doing with smaller books for "practice." Thanks for looking into this. Might start having to raw dog it lol.

[@Dewfanatic]

I'm glad you made this video. Really opens the mind to the countless instances of fraud that have slid by the eyes of the grading services.

[@davidsalaski9095]

Looks like CGC went on the wrong crusade when they aggressively decided to go after cleaned comics mark them as restored.

[@rodneyjones6358]

I think we are past due to receive an explanation from CGC. The whole community is talking about how bad this is for collecting and we haven't heard anything from them? The longer this goes with them being silent, the worse it looks for them. Now it looks as though there were a number of ways to slip books past CGC through resubmission, so clearly there are some shortcomings at CGC that need to be addressed. I know I will not be submitting any of my books for quite some time, as they need to update their entire process. Shame on them for allowing this to happen, as they definitely should have had precautionary measures in place for resubmissions.

[@buckysbooks4093]

This leads me to believe that these scams are coming from someone that’s been around comics for a very long time. Someone who knows the ins and outs of CGC AND knows how to choose the kinds of books that the grading company and people would overlook. An old, sketchy dealer…..that’s most of them…..

[@michaelwoswald5204]

If CGC wants to protect the integrity of their reputation then they should care a lot more about this happening and take the steps needed to ensure this doesn’t happen or else it puts every book they have graded into question. Even if it’s not necessarily their fault this is happening, it is still their name attached to these books and 1 bad apple can have the effect of destroying the entire bunch. They need to care and do better

[@Supertomscustoms]

They tossed their integrity out the window long ago when they told everyone that “three graders look at every book”. It’s been a sham from the start. Scam artists have simply found a way use their obvious shortcomings to take advantage of the brainwashed masses who have been convinced that CGC is the end all be all for collectibles.

[@Justin-cv3ck]

The thing is, it is CGC's fault this is happening. If you design a case and system that can "easily" be beat and they can't even tell the difference on these books then they are 100% at fault. If you offer a service like this then you need a bullet proof system in place so this doesn't happen. Who knows how deep thos really goes. This is the one seller that got caught.

[@jessepearson557]

Great work thanks for the continuing investigation - couple thoughts: Law enforcement involvement will be key to furthering investigation. If one of the buyers of a fraudulent book can be identified and they file a police report then the crime is classified as a felony due to the magnitude of the theft. Multiple felonies and mail fraud add up to a significant law enforcement investigation that mandates CGC cooperation. So we should try to contact any buyers to recommend they file police reports.

[@dailycomicsfix]

CBCS used to heat seal the inner well to the label. This way you can not seperate the book in the inner well from the label. I don't think they do this anymore with their new labels but they might want to re-introduce this and CGC should adopt something similar.

[@TK_junction]

Oh damn, this is nuts. I thought these cases were tamper proof? This is nuts, and now I'm sure so many people are going to have doubts over what they have bought or have trouble selling some of what they have had graded. When I sent you that MSHSW8 the other day, I had no idea about this whole thing and that it was part of it. Great work once again, and for sure we wil have to hear from CGC as you say. They of course have all the records of their submissions, who graded or worked on them internally, all that detail they will have and will hopefully report back to us with some information to reassure the community. Dang.

[@gregorychiasson7739]

This is becoming crazy as it unfolds makes purchasing a book a gamble. I hope CGC fixes this quickly.

[@Geoffreydarcy-pv4mq]

At this point, realistically all they could do to erase any doubt in your slab/book being legit, is to regrade every book out there into yet another new label slab, with added built in protections. FOR FREE, and we know that ain't happening. I'm sure they'll come up with a somewhat acceptable solution. I won't be holding my breath, while waiting for it.

[@virtualrealityfitness283]

I hate slabs

[@The9.9Newsstand]

Man the depth of this thing is very unfortunate. Let’s see where we go from here. Thank you for a great video! And thank you for the love!!

[@JBill]

Good stuff Ryan. Hiding in the volume and looking at what else was in that particular submission are some great concepts to consider here. I remember in one of your previous unboxing videos that you noticed a recent change to the label where they drop diagonal 'CGC' watermarks within the white grade box. If this is a label swap scam, I wonder if there's a way they can use that to detect when an older slab comes in with this new label?

[@artyman72]

Thanks for doing all this work for the hobby!

[@dahur]

All mine are raw. I'm so glad I've never sent any in.

[@doctorshawn3461]

Good pick up! this needs to get fixed asap or else people will lose faith in this hobby. I suppose a quick fix for the reholder part is that CGC should fully re-grade every book even if it is just for a reholder...

[@bat2275]

You want to reholder a 9.8 and maybe they regrade it a 9.6 next time? Huge risk.

[@jimhoustoncomicbookblog7212]

Reslab question in Ask CGC forums is now closed. They posted the agreement you sign when you send in books to get reslabbed.

[@ObsessedCollector]

@@bat2275 It would stop the scammers

[@petew1]

@bat2275 there should be a big review and documentation process to require regrading but also to address what happens if the grading needs to be changed up or down. Grading has an element of judgment so it is correct to expect some changes. Perhaps a high hurdle to grade up or down but a requirement of regrading.

[@delstewart7003]

Yeah, but if I send a book in and it comes back a 9.8 with a mistake and I immediately send it back to be fixed. If it comes back to me a 9.6 or a 9.4 I'm going to be passed off. Anyone would. The problem is they are supposed to be meticulously grading them by more than 1 person so there is no excuses for them to make these mistakes in the first place. If they can miss an insert how can I trust them to not miss a spine tic?

[@sassysteveartist]

This will ruin CGC unless they act swiftly and comprehensively. Why the hell would anyone buy a slabbed book now?

[@shepherdsknoll]

You can imagine this hasn’t taken place in the average slab that is less than $1000 but CGC should be evaluating their system and it looks like there maybe a shift to CBCS

[@jpl484]

CGC'S been ruined a dozen times over at this point, between the massive QC issues, scams and questionable leadership, you would think people would have learned thier lesson by now, but no. people just keep on buying.

[@pkp941]

Will say though I submitted a GSX 1 to CGC for grading. Book I have had since early 90’s. Was missing a coupon or something on inside of book that had been cut out. Fully expected a green label. Received back from CGC a blue universal label. So I’m sure a mistake was made, but since I don’t plan on selling, I won’t bother with it.

[@randolm7698]

You know how Apple has that $1Million challenge/reward to any programmer that can break their iOS kernel code. It's a simple way to sell integrity AND find the perfect person for their team if a failure point is found ... This is that moment for CGC to reward you on some level. If not cash - a dream, well deserved, job!!!

[@AutomaticComics]

I’m guessing they don’t like these videos lol. I don’t expect any kind of reward for them.

[@randolm7698]

@@AutomaticComics If the right people are leading the company - the kind of people you want to trust your books/ratings with - they will love this video. Full stop. Without checks on failures grading means nothing.

[@Whodis2]

​@@randolm7698Unfortunately the corruption at CCG is deep and the people running the company are horrible. Which is why you haven't heard about any of this from them, even though CCG has known about this for months.

[@jamesross824]

Thank you Rayan This makes me sick.People are always trying to scam others.I love collecting Marvel stuff.

[@tracyduchienjr5945]

Hope people understand that if the case is too damaged the book will get regraded and I would LOVE to see someone get a book out of a sonically welded case without destoying the case and/or the book. A label swap may be likely, and CGC isn't at fault for these scams. NOW that they know, they SHOULD implement the same rule with the label in that if the damaged case also could bring the legitimacy of the label into question then the book will also be regraded, and if a book is claiming to be a book with an internal error, or a MJ variant, then the book is automatically taken out of the inner well and at least examined.

[@versewonderstrikes5353]

This was CSI CGC! This was like another type of comic show. Hella informative!

[@gregparks1785]

Good video and great investigation! What a scumbag, I hate thieves so much. Hopefully eBay will get wind of this and at least shut down their seller page.

[@jamesz4872]

People have been marrying in mark jewelers inserts for years. They buy tons of junk $2 mark jewelers, and unfold the staples. I knew a guy that had a few hundred mark jeweler inserts, waiting to marry them into bigger key books.

[@AutomaticComics]

Yes, I wouldn’t be surprised if this person was also doing that.

[@dailycomicsfix]

CBCS used to heat seal the label to the inner well thereby eliminating the seperation of the label from the book. This was changed when they introduced their new labels. Maybe they should bring it back and CGC should adopt something similar.

[@joenuyen6017]

Happy holidays Ryan

[@AutomaticComics]

Same to you 👍

[@stevenkuykendoll1884]

Didn’t the early slabs have the label encapsulated attached to the grade comic? It’s probably something they will have to do to eliminate this possibility

[@etrx87]

Great idea! And yes the inner well of older slab held both the book and the label, they should bring this back

[@whiskeygamesnerdstuff789]

Great Video, appreciate keeping attention on this.

[@wlnorris75]

They didn't swap covers and find some other book with an exact cover wrap. They opened the staples and married a new internal page 10 fold. I don't think that is the centerfold, so unless CGC removes the pages, they won't see any mismatched holes in the page 10 wrap.

[@KingLeno]

Isn't it more likely they also had an 8.5 Hulk 181 in the older case, and just swapped labels, or even if they had a newer 8.5, they could just swap inner wells. Thus having 2 "complete" 181s, the same as the ASM 252. He's left with 2 9.8 MJ. Whatever he's doing, it's the same method,. He isn't opening the inner well and altering the book. He's just passing one book off as another, then regrading the better one.

[@AutomaticComics]

I don’t think so. The reason is that this hulk 181 got a new serial number as part of a standard submission (like I showed that it was part of a 8 book submission). Meaning it went through actual grading, not just a reholder. This scam of swapping wraps on 181s is fairly well known. Unfortunately.

[@AutomaticComics]

Yes, that’s what I said, they married the wrap inside this book from another book. Definitely much harder to see the staple holes than a centerfold, but they should still be able to catch it if they don’t align. The page quality is the trickier part. A page that’s aged differently will stick out.

[@geoffn8963]

Thanks again for another video. When I first saw that 181 example I assumed the green label missing pg 10 was just the book that got swapped into a blue label and sent in to reholder which is why they had different #s. But when you showed the multiple books on that blue label submission and the grade dates all match up then that doesn't make sense. As we've seen with the other swaps, the grade date doesn't get updated when it is just a reholder. Great sleuthing. I think CGC could prevent the swapping trick by regrading reholders but nothing will stop a good marriage of a book like the 181 if the marriage is done well.

[@silver5liter]

CGC needs to make a statement and honestly they either need to add another non-tampering ticker, safety measure or they need to completely get rid of their re-holder service.

[@comicfanagain8405]

Bravo Ryan u deserve a Pulitzer. This needs to be brought up to NYT I am a modern age collector, I collect and love, the 9.8 newstands, especially from the 80s. This really makes me reconsider and question my entire collecting focus. Should I purge and move to silver?

[@surfcitycomics672]

Another great video. I said it it and a couple the other pages the guys have up. The seller is from Forest Hills New York, which is right next to Queens, I think people need to be looking into this because a certain other scammer is from queens that’s been high profile lately. Could be a coincidence or not, but it would be really interesting to find out who the seller is. I tried to see if they had anything for sale on eBay but nothing is for sale..

[@donaldvonglitchenberger4108]

this is a mafia operation. they’re raking in millions every year on fake collectibles. they have youtube and instagram frontmen

[@LivingAloha808]

Mahalo for doing all of this research.

[@SBAVoltronProdt]

Wowww they didn’t even try to hide it when they did the Uncanny 266. Sheesh. Great work once again. I’m curious what’s going to happen with this guy

[@miguelh4750]

Great video Ryan. Did anyone find the FF4 7.0 original slab ?

[@tonyzane4945]

Thanks Brian..good for you !!! Can you say who is doing this? They should be exposed and prosecuted.

[@donaldleblanc2162]

Great work much appreciated hopefully cgc does something

[@DawnofComics]

How many people added the poster from the facsimile Batman 181 to their Batman 181’s for a higher grand. It was printed on the same paper stock and had no markings that it was a reprint.

[@magusxxx]

Unfortunately, I can't find the Thor book I'm talking about. But it was from the 1970's. The inside cover was an advertisement for a military PX. Are these worth more than the regular books? And if so, do they have a special designation I should look for if I wanted to find other copies.

[@stevebradley4885]

Wow...Thanks Ryan for letting us know! I hope he/they get charged with some crimes. CGC should also re-evaluate their Re-slab procedures and make a public comment.

[@goldeneastgun]

I still think it's an inside job. I've opened those plastic cases and it's impossible to do so without damaging the case. I suspect the seller is a CGC employee or has help from a CGC employee who has access to the tools/equipment. Who knows how many eBay accounts this scammer has or had... not to mention local direct sales. He needs to be exposed so that his buyers can have their purchase verified... and only CGC can make this happen.

[@Whodis2]

Bingo! It involves multiple CGC employees.

[@user-mt3hd6ft7e]

I was trying to investigate if this seller is scamming on silver age books as well. I purchased an Avengers 57 9.4 from him on January 15th of this year and I’m trying to be a detective about determining whether or not it was a purple or green label previously. I haven’t found any obvious proof identifying fraud as of yet. But I think your point about hiding in the volume of the bronze and copper age books makes sense. If you have 15 mins would you consider digging in on this a little? Thank you man and GREAT work!

[@Lt.Mingus69]

Hold my beer...I have an Avengers 4 purchased off Ebay nearly 13 years ago I'm now looking closely at because of this news. At this point I'm quite concerned about it.

[@petew1]

This one hits home because I saw that very Hulk 181 9.0 listing and was tempted to buy it. I have had that book in that grade on my radar for quite some time. Now.... I don't know if I am going to buy it anytime soon. I suppose I can do some more research using the CGC #, but there is still a risk to buying. This is a huge problem for CGC and graded book collecting as a whole.

[@DaveTHouse]

Just thinking this through, it seems like this guy always has a reason to have the books reholdered - like getting a custom label or the notation is missing an insert or newstand.... BUT the person at cgc doesnt look at the books and simply complies. If the slabs were damaged the people might look at it twice but don't... I think that this guy is able to encapsulate his own books and sends in a perfectly encapsulated book and used the reholdering process to legitmize the scam. If they sent in broken cases i think it would of caused too much suspicion.

[@siriactuallysara]

I don’t understand what they did with the hulk? What does that mean swap in a wrap?

[@the90z]

Reminds me of the card trimming scandal with PSA. Different category and company, same incompetence.

[@SRayn-vh8eu]

Like you said, many comics have very identifiable flaws that make them unique. Could CGC use scans of comics to be graded and compare them to their database scans of those already graded to find resubmissions? In addition, maybe all reholders should go through a verification process similar to grading in order to verify it is the same book with the same flaws. I doubt CGC would take the action to do these types of things…unless large numbers of collectors got together and refused to use their services.

[@consumetheliving]

Is it a coincidence that CBCS just dropped a 15% grading coupon while all this is going on :)

[@primaryinstigator4022]

Wouldn't they keep the second book that was resubmitted and reuse it for the same scam again.

[@samkirkland5606]

Agree - CGC lack of consistency is the reason this is possible.

[@klubberzvonhatzenbuhl563]

I just got two boxes of silver age comics from my stepdad to sell for him this week. I know NOTHING about the comics industry or the grading systems - just started looking into all this stuff this week in order to help him maximize his selling prices. Then, I stumbled into this highly disconcerting issue with CGC. Fortunately, all the comics I have are ungraded and raw. Have found several ‘key’ issues in great condition and was starting to research whether or not I should have some of them graded…but now I don’t have much confidence in CGC and don’t know what to do at this point. Thanks for bringing all of this to my attention. At this point, I think CGC should hire you as a consultant.

[@AutomaticComics]

Depending on the book, honestly, grading still will get you more money for them. But some books may suffer from this shorter term. Especially the bronze to copper age keys this seller seemed to specialize in.

[@klubberzvonhatzenbuhl563]

@@AutomaticComics - When I popped open the first box, I randomly pulled out one book and it was a Fantastic Four #48 (Galactus). In what I would consider near mint condition. Dumb me thought “Maybe this is worth $20…?” Looked it up on eBay and saw an ungraded copy selling for $1000. That was the lowest priced one I found on eBay. So then I pick another one out at random. It turns out to be a Silver Surfer #4 in about the same condition as the FF. Lo and behold, I see a few videos about the top 5 or 10 best selling comics of 2023 and there it is.

[@klubberzvonhatzenbuhl563]

@@AutomaticComics - I’m kinda freaking out about this stuff right now. Also, thanks very much for your reply.

[@klubberzvonhatzenbuhl563]

@@AutomaticComics - What would be the fee to have one of these graded? I’ve looked at CGC’s pricing and don’t really understand their criteria.

[@malus911]

CBCS

[@47comcom]

Who's the deep-pocketed financial outfit that bought out CGC a couple years back? Blackrock? They have, or will employ a gaggle or two of legal professionals in this case. The fraud is clearly harming both CGC customers, and also CGC by doing reputational harm. This fraudster had best be organizing his affairs for a prolonged absence. Oh, and this stinks of inside help or blind eye within those Sarasota walls.

[@sp123]

Jay Z will send his goons to the submitters house

[@patwilliams7362]

This is just now being found out. God I hope a bunch of people haven't been ripped off by this scam. 😢

[@FernandoGon814]

Are you kidding of course they have the phrase tip of the iceberg comes too mind. Automatic comics just nuked CGC.

[@darthrooster1]

This is just like seeing a roach in your house. If you see one you know there are several you don’t see. I bet this is just the beginning of a huge scandal. You couldn’t pay me enough to buy an expensive slab at the moment.

[@Endraven_Prime]

Basically a comic book chop shop.

[@jasonhellens3657]

Hey, hoping that you can reply to this suggestion for everyone scammed by this seller. CGC has already given people a way out. I remember a video regarding a HULK 181 missing value stamp that was in an old CGC blue label. When the person cracked the book out and found the marvel value stamp missing he spoke with CGC about the issue. CGC said that if he had sent the book into them and they found the issue that they (CGC) would be on the hook. So that’s what buyers, who believe their book(s) have issues, need to do. Send these books back into CGC. If CGC finds any issues, within the blue label like restoration or missing pieces or pages, CGC should be giving that person the FMV of the book. Let me know if you think that it’s a good suggestion. Either way CGC has to do the right thing.

[@AutomaticComics]

Hi, yes, for the Hulk 181s I agree. I think that is likely their best option. But I don’t know if that would work for the other books that appear to have been swapped out.

[@jasonhellens3657]

Lower graded books swapped out really suck for the buyer. I agree. But sending back these books to CGC will give some peace of mind that at least there’s no missing pieces or pages and no restoration. Especially for high value books. CGC needs to get law enforcement involved to put the screws to this guy. We’re talking about thousands of dollars scammed. We need big voices to get CGC to do the right thing.

[@Dark_Vengeance]

Excellent work

[@davidpruitt517]

CGG will most likely come up with a new case where it can still be cracked, but the label will be destroyed in the process. That and change their reholder process.

[@Michigan_Wolverine]

This dude is the comic book sherlock holmes. As a collector, I appreciate this work

[@x.X.THEOREM.X.x]

I wonder how many people have swapped books in their cgc cases

[@ZOMb2010]

GRADING of any sort is the biggest scam going ...

[@TopComicsPressing]

Yeah pretty bad… I am not surprised… but pretty bad. It’s an easy fix. One of the old cbcs slab forms had the label sealed in the inner well. Smash the outside all you want, had to cut label out to swap em. CGC should steal the design.

[@TheComicsDen]

Great content.

[@billyuscategui]

Not sure if this has not been brought up, but I am wondering if eBay can flag or remove this Seller from their site. The fact that numerous frauds have been identified from this Seller, I would think it would be incumbent on eBay to put a halt to this Seller.

[@miguelh4750]

someone mentioned that briva3 also sold cards on PSA and elsewhere. Could he have done some fraud with those as well ?

[@mightycomicsandcollectibles]

This guy must be a pro to swap wraps. Scary shit. Great detective work

[@AutomaticComics]

Yeah, from the posts on the forums, it seems like they’ve likely been doing this a pretty long time. Unfortunately.

[@mightycomicsandcollectibles]

@@AutomaticComics can u see on CGC when those books were graded? All of them on that he sold. Just to get a time frame on this thing

[@prenticehammond2003]

I stated on the first video that perhaps the hologram in the upper right needs to wrap to the back across the seam of the two halves of the slab. Break the slab breaks the seal. Perhaps the hologram should have a number on it the same as used on the label.

[@gearmonger8616]

Have you Swagglepuss talked to any lawyers about this? The owners of those books might be talking to their counsel. I appreciate your knowledge and your videos. This could get messy.

[@MJComix]

This is crazy now! Can’t believe they’re doing direct to newsstand. I know latest slabs with CGC have photos of the slabs on the website now. Did they not take photos for their own records for older books? 🤯

[@AutomaticComics]

I’d say it’s pretty safe to say they didn’t.

[@robertdeveau7445]

The solution to this is obvious but will be expensive for slabbed book collectors that resubmit for any reason at all. CGC does away with reholders and every book that is submitted, whether it's raw or slabbed, whether the case is cracked or not, if it's just to get the fancy label or upgrade the case, will be regraded again at the submitters expense. Will it work?

[@robbin8300]

12:18 Is it really that easy to find another copy with the exact same placement of staple holes?

[@SolveForX]

Are you still seeing their store? I’m seeing their store as being closed.

[@Michigan_Wolverine]

The FBI needs to be called on this guy

[@Phakaday]

Yup, I will be avoiding CGC buying for awhile.

[@jimrivett9926]

Shouldn't ebay also be made aware of these sales and be concernedd about what appears to be happening if in fact the books were sold on ebay?

[@rmr1967]

If I'm submitting a book for reslab, its because the case is cracked, correct? So if its cracked that means it was dropped, therefor, the book could have been damaged even if its still in the inner well. Why are they not reinspecting these books?

[@chrisbooth478]

Something seems weird with a lot of them having the custom label, maybe that is part of this scam in some way? I've been noticing more and more of those showing up on books , seems odd to me!

[@cwwheelz]

The custom label gives the scammer a reason for a reholder. If they were sending it in for a reholder for a damaged case, it probably gets scrutinized more.

[@gmajors2237]

Great video. What you have done for the industry can never be repaid. Thanks 100 times over for your dedication and service. U R D’man

[@mestizo3113]

If this is how the scammers are doing it, then couldn't the certification numbers be tracked back to that person?

[@AutomaticComics]

Definitely. That’s what should be done to identify all of the books that have been submitted by them. I touch on that at the end of the video.

[@tatobroth]

is it possible that they just got hold of some blank cases? forget cracking and slipping them in.

[@PunguinYoga]

Interesting idea.

[@pbales8951]

I've always said that if all of the scammers--and I'm not just talking comic books, but also those that prey on the young and elderly through various online scams--would spend as much effort doing work that actually benefited society, the world would be such a nicer place. True, they wouldn't make as much money--just like the rest of us hard-working people. My only hope is that they have just a little bit tougher time going to sleep at night--knowing what they've done.

[@tonydavies7637]

I was going to say the seller needs to be reported but I found him and it seems like his page no longer exists.

[@DavidClark-vu3dw]

Cgc might be able to pinpoint who is doing this by checking submissions with a lot of reholder requests by one individual.

[@aaron6674]

I'm new in getting comics graded. Can someone explain to me if there is a difference in the cost of grading comics that are mark jeweler?

[@geepoke5506]

This reminds me of what happened with CGC in the coining world Coins that would be in slabbed psa or CGC at high grade, but the coin itself didn’t have that grade you could see with your own eyes that the coin wasn’t as good as the grade indicated and it all came down to people more than one person, putting in fake or low-grade Coins and getting higher grades, which then begs the question how did they get that to happen, the actual cases themselves were fake cases now this isn’t the same as this Comics scam, but I would like to add that any time Comics go up in price to huge amounts like 15,000, $30,000 for Comics that were nowhere near that price even five years ago and probably will get picked out as possible ways to scam. The grading more people enter the unscrupulous world of fake grading because there’s money in it.

[@SM-dy6qz]

If graded books sent in for a signature are regraded before being re-slabbed. The same treatment should be given to the re-holder books to prevent this.

[@the_coolest_dude_on_youtube]

This wouldn't be possible if TAG were doing comics as well as cards.