Old Slabs vs New Slabs // Which Can we TRUST?

[@300baud]

I would only consider CGC a victim if the scammers were doing something they were unaware was possible. However, there is another KZbinr (famous for showing how easy it is to crack their slabs) that stated he told CGC about how easily their slabs could be compromised YEARS before the scandal broke. Therefore, I don't consider CGC a victim at all.

[@MintHunterComics]

Oof - the proof is in the pudding!

[@johnnydropkicks]

I agree with you 100%. I would like to add that the reholder scam only came to light because of internet comic book sleuths. CGC is not, nor have they ever been transparent whatsoever - and they almost allowed that reholder scam to happen due to negligence. The only victims are CGC customers.

[@Additional-duty-dirtbag]

Won’t the old ones be collectible at some point, like newsstands vs directs? 😂

[@patfrat666]

Which KZbinr?

[@johnnydropkicks]

@@patfrat666 The channel is “Immaculate Comics” and the videos regarding CGC slabs and the reholder scam are from about five to six months ago. How this helps. 👍

[@buraddorun3043]

I'm no slab expert, but I've heard the opposite regarding grade assignments. The old slabs had higher grading standards. I mean, now we're getting a lot more 9.9s...

[@MintHunterComics]

It's the same amount - watch out for bad rhetoric floating around rn - there's a lot of fake reporting. 9.9s were always very rare but possible.

[@richhistory4124]

I can confirm the first gen slabs are not only under graded more often than any other generation slab, but the best thing is most of them were never pressed. Very early on it was still being debated if pressing was restoration. I have had big grade jumps from a simple press, you can easily spot these books with basic dents or wrinkles but they are hard to find now.

[@ddougherty8266]

I have about 200 slabs, but I no longer buy slabs. Take up too much room, don't fit in my file cabinets, weigh a pound a piece, I think that the grades are subjective (and inconsistent over time, as you've pointed out) and I'd rather use those CGC fees to buy more actual comics. That's why I won't buy more slabs. As to getting raw books that I have, slabbed... there are too many stories of CGC damaging customer's comics. Accidents happen, but when they damage comics, they know they've done it, but they slab'em, mail them back and act like nothing was wrong, which makes it their customer's job to prove that they did it. There are too many youtube videos detailing this subject for me to trust sending any of my raw books to them. But, it's a good video - good information.

[@T-RexSuplex1]

That's a good point. 👍

[@davidrenfrew111]

Nice presentation..always enjoy your comments on grading..

[@MintHunterComics]

I appreciate that!

[@RealTimePogo]

I have never got a graded comic.

[@thegamersgalaxy2855]

I personally own 278 original (first two years) blue label slabs. I always look for these slabs as a preference. No mass pressing or tweaking of books. I also completely disagree regarding grading. These were the Steve Borock days. I have personally found overall the grading was tighter in the early days. I have 11 books that ALL were resubmitted and came back higher grades. Guess it just depends.

[@michaelslattery3736]

I'm wondering if a 9 is a 9 regardless of how much dirt you get off it. Typically (not always) there are going to be un-pressable flaws on 9.4s or lower. Particularly any kind of barely perceptible scuffing to cover finish.

[@BrianCenti-j4d]

Now that is a lot of Slabs Props to you 😊

[@thegamersgalaxy2855]

@@BrianCenti-j4d Well thanks. Yeah, in general I'm an early adopter type personality. When CGC first started out I lived in NYC and would actually drive my books across the bridge to Parsippany, NJ where they were originally located. The slabbing injection into the hobby was a big thing for the long time, serious collectors in late 1999 early 2000 as it started growing quickly. I'm a weirdo that LOVES the old, original, boring label. It was just straight to the point. Offered more descriptive details about the book, and had a simple business like appeal to me. To this day i hunt them down as a priority👍

[@BrianCenti-j4d]

@thegamersgalaxy2855 you sound a lot like me. 👍 I've been buying / collecting since 1969. Grandparents lived in NY and stated buying while living in NJ. The English town auction was the place to get NM comics back in the day. And mean all Silver Age Marvel and DC. Most expensive book was 50 cents! Imagine buying a complete Silver Surfer collection, all 18 issues in NM for under 10 bucks. 😛. You did the right thing getting an early start on it.😉

[@bronzevillecomics2581]

One of the advantages of the newest slabs is that now all those books have high res scans on the verification section of the CGC website. I like to insert pictures of those scans in a bag & board in the run of raw books in my short boxes.

[@MintHunterComics]

Im a BIG fan of the high res scans. Makes for posting to eBay much easier as I always thought slabs were difficult to take pictures of

[@leejohnson5745]

I do not have a slab comic yet. I want to try it out. Thank you so much for this video. I learned a lot.

[@MintHunterComics]

Glad it was helpful!

[@bkr8932]

Your channel, personality, presentation and topics are top notch 👌

[@BuckeyeByBirth]

Even if you get an old slab cracked, cleaned, and pressed, and it stays the same grade, the book looks a lot better in presentation, AND you have the new slab, so I think it's still worth it in the end.

[@MintHunterComics]

Agreed

[@michaelslattery3736]

assuming there aren't Newton's rings all over it, or it's not a slab from during the "creep" era.

[@Kirok2005]

I had always heard that the old grading standards were more strict, but you've seen a lot more slabbed books than me! My main frustration right now with CGC is the period earlier this year where there was a patch of SERIOUS quality control problems with warped inner wells. I submitted 18 books this spring, and three books came back with inner wells that were so warped, they damaged my comics. Sure, they came back 9.8s, but the books within had to have been damaged after grading, during encapsulation, because books I am positive were 100% free of spine tics came back with horrendous spine tics, and yes a few even broke color. And holding the slab from the left side, you can clearly see how warped the inner well is (like a banana!), putting devastating pressure on the spine that no book could withstand. I was really heartbroken. They weren't huge keys or anything (ASM Annual #16, X-Men #177, and Dazzler #1), but they were my own comics purchased new off the shelf in the early 1980's with my own hands, so they were special to me. It's hard to look at them now, and when it comes time to sell, it'll be hard to sell those books in good conscience regardless of the grade.

[@pbales8951]

You are close on the label history for CGC... but not quite correct. The old blue boxy label is actually the first label. The red label was only for "modern" comics--comics published after 1974. The blue boxy label and red boxy label existed at the same time--they were just used to denote the age of the comic. I would also add that the CGC grading standards have gone up and down over it's history. They are not necessarily tougher now than in the early days of CGC--in fact, some of the toughest grading was in the early days with the blue boxy label. However, there have definitely been some times that it was very lax. I generally stay away from CGC graded comics with a certification number beginning with 02... For some reason, they had many books graded 9.2 and 9.4 with those cert numbers that would probably not get an 8.5 now (or earlier).

[@BrokeBoyComics]

I think what they’ve adjusted now with regrading every book that comes in is a good quality control standard. Nice video!

[@T-RexSuplex1]

CbCS slabs are currently my favorite but im thinking of trying EGS due to your vid on them. The idea of customizable labels sounds awesome

[@austmick]

Keep up the good work!

[@jortega1381]

I got out of the hobby 22 years ago, and we didn't have any of those terms. Cleaning? Pressing? slabs? We would just find nice looking copies of our favorite comic books, keep them safe, wait for the next SDCC, stop by the CGC booth and place an order to get them graded (It was very expensive to mail comics to CGC). Graded comics we called them. All of mine are either the original red label, or the first generation blue label. Getting a 9.9 was one of the hardest achievements. I was able to achieve this four times: Spider-Man #1 (color), Spider-Man #1 (Silver), Amazing Spider-Man vol.2 #36 and Dark Night Strikes Again #1. I also remember the ones with the green label; I think they were the certified signed ones, usually sold by Dynamic Forces. It's sad to hear that they didn't pay as much attention to detail to the grading process as they do nowadays. I was thinking about upgrading to the newest labels, but keeping in mind what you said, it might be a bad idea, since I'll be likely getting a lower grade.

[@koschei1975]

Bought a PGX 9.4 Iron Man 128 back in ‘20 for a great price of $75. Clean & press & had CGC grade; came back a 9.6. My only experience doing such a thing. Now I’m scared to do again cause I think I’ll have too high expectations. 😂

[@curtiscamron]

Disagree on cgc getting stricter, any slab with a QR code is one you need to really examine closely.

[@huffhouseart3377]

I'm not into the whole slab thing, but maybe a fourth grading service is needed to watch the third grading service for honesty and integrity!

[@GrungeMadman]

It's made me hesitant to send a few of my old slabbed 9.8's in for re-slabbing.

[@kellywilson7585]

Just laser etch the serial number onto the inner well. Shouldn't be TOO hard. Keep it small enough that one needs a magnifying glass to see it, so that it doesn't detract from the appearance, and it should be good.

[@Criner05]

That's not gonna help at all. It's not like the scammers were losing the paper labels and reslabbing the comics. They just but the paper labels back into the slabs when reholding them.

[@michaeltakayama8415]

If I were just trying to make $$$ on flipping comic books, I might go with the newer CGC slabs. But, for my personal collection, I would want the current CBCS slabs.

[@horvathsogranfume658]

the slab scam is probably still happening, just not being sent to cgc to reholder, since cgc slabs arent tamper evident.

[@Criner05]

Exactly. The scammers were reslabbing the comics themselves.

[@Vp-jt3vl]

Cool vid dude!

[@DocReasonable]

The mere existence of CGC (and its various scandals) has put me off collecting comics forever.

[@joe3019772008]

sure CGC is starting to really make more of a difference. but, the damage was already done. so, it would take a lot for everyone to trust them ever again. #ROADTO40K #IWANTCAPTAINCARROTPLEASE

[@richardwaddington2038]

Ive sold red old red label (not the wierd 9.5 red) and 1st blue label , and they have always gone for much more than they should . I really cant figure out what other collecters spend their money on .

[@jonbeckstein8044]

I got a Powers 1 in the Red label from a grab bag. Should i reslab or should i press and regrade a book worth maybe $60.

[@PIZZATHYME]

Recently I had a copy of Daredevil 158 that was an 8.0 it said there was a slight bend it was graded last year so I cracked it I had it pressed and cleaned and sent off to be signed by Frank Miller to my surprise it came back a 7.5 I was expecting an 8.5 or a 9.0 but the graders note still said there was a slight bend on the right side of the cover meanwhile my wolverine 1 that was 9.4 that I also sent off to be signed by Frank Miller which was supposed to be guaranteed to come back as a 9.4 came back at 9.6 I used the third party comic book shop I asked what happened and he said he thought he had opened up and pressed my wolverine 1 not sure if I should keep going through this local comic book shop that offers pressing and CGC submissions

[@BladeRunner90]

Another one ☝️

[@jesseduran7353]

As far as the construction of the slab itself, are the newer slabs improved? They seem thicker and sturdier. I got my ASM 39 signed by Stan Lee in 2014 and the slab itself has like air gaps. Want to get a reslab but I don't want to lose a point or two.

[@BuckeyeByBirth]

I have a few slabs that have gaps in the top. I sent them back to CGC explaining the concern, and they came back the same way.

[@terryhrach9450]

Cbcs label yes please …

[@randybrown2270]

I've watched enough of your CGC unboxing videos and the answer is neither. From you unable to get hardly any 9.8s to getting almost everyone back a 9.8 after the previous video of you complaining about their process. Just a scam to keep buying the same back issues over and over but for more money. No thanks.

[@The_Oak_Boat]

i dont trust any of them

[@MintHunterComics]

was waiting for this comment lol

[@koschei1975]

I disagree with the idea CGC is ‘stricter’ now than before. I believe they have obviously hired personnel that are NOT very good at grading. There have been many examples of the Quality Assurance not working in regard to some issues being given too high of grades & even a few where they have been way too harsh. The current modern book graders seem to be the more inexperienced and it shows.

[@MintHunterComics]

I quite disagree and argue the opposite is true, and that’s from the stance of someone who’s sent in probably a thousand books between 23 and 24

[@BillStrait]

Now that 9.9 and 10 slabs exist, I'm more comfortable with their grading. There's a ton of 9.8s that will get CPR'ed into 10s. Can you or I tell the difference between a 9.8 and a 10? Probably not. But collectors are spending money on them.

[@ProfessorEchoMedia]

Wasn’t CBCS the place that lost someone’s large submission of rare, old comics? Or was that fake news?

[@theobsessedcollector]

Regardless of what the "Grading Standatd" is, it all comes diwn subjective decisions made by the people themselves.

[@MintHunterComics]

YEs

[@KristopherDeschambeault]

Old slabs are more fragile alot of them cracks more often in the corners from age.

[@rambler1475]

Make a video by cracking some old slabs and sending them back in.

[@jeffstanley6013]

"Started with a red label ... soon after that, they had this blue label" - not accurate. The two were used at the same time when CGC began; the red label denoted a "Modern" book ('75 or newer) while the blue label denoted a pre-'75 book. Only lasted a couple of years before they moved the Moderns to be blue as well to avoid confusion. My GSX 1 is still in a red label slab. Been thinking about reholdering, but I kind of like the nostalgia of the red label.

[@MintHunterComics]

Now THAT I actually didn't know! thanks for the info! I think they're both ugly hahahaha

[@jeffstanley6013]

@@MintHunterComics Yeah, that's why every red label you'll see out there will say "CGC Modern Grade" across the top center rather than "Universal" grade. And yes, they are ugly; probably why they didn't last very long. LOL

[@CapitalDOOM]

I’d go CBCS but CGC still sells more

[@Criner05]

CGC comics will not sell as well as they used to because of the scandal.

[@ratfink702]

I surrender. Raw books only for now.

[@Criner05]

CGC is dead to me. I have an idea on how they can regain trust, but I'm not gonna share because they deserve what happened to them. They knew about the problem and did nothing to fix it. As far as I know they aren't even designing new slabs to be more secure after the scandal happened and prevent this from happening again.

[@wberry105]

I slab my slabs

[@charliedogg7683]

Which can we trust? None. CGC's aim is profit and they will manipulate their market to achieve that aim. The only good thing about sealing a comic in a plastic shell is to preserve it.