I may as well test the waters.
Itâd be funny if PSA sold better than cbcs out if the gate.
But yes. Done with CGC here as well. Iâm pretty much done with grading anywayâŠI may actually start buying already slabbed books to free them.
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Agree 100%
I like Jim. Heâs very knowledgeable with bronze and silver age history of characters. And even golden age. He does a lot of submissions to CGCâŠthis time they got him pretty good, though. I tend to believe they messed up this one.
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Jim took a beating from CGC ooof
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âThe cover was not cleanedâ followed by âI dry cleaned the book myselfâ
Yea⊠I heard that too a few times and kinda did a "huh?
Later on he clarified that the âwas not cleanedâ was pertaining to that wet cleaning and chemicals and purple light treatment that some devious folks still do.
(And CGC should catch)
Dry cleaning just involves cleaning the dirt off the comic with an eraser or absorene sponge. It sounds a lot more nefarious than it actually is. Done gently and carefully, it removes the dirt and soot without damaging your book and is virtually undetectable.
Jim cleans and presses his own comics but heâs not a professional presser. He wouldâve done this hundreds of times on smaller bronze and copper age keys and wouldâve never been dinged by CGC.
My guess on whatâs happening here is that with a high value high grade book like ASM 129, it gets scrutinized by CGC a lot more. They would have to check for restoration, color touch (using a blacklight), check for married covers, perhaps looking at the comic more carefully under magnification, whatever CGCâs process is (I realize I might be giving them too much credit 
)
Jim most likely got careless as heâs done drying cleaning so often and never really put a second thought into it. I have myself damaged some dollar bin books cleaning it and noticed I damaged the gloss on the cover. It doesnât look natural. On the video Jim mentioned he didnât even check for gloss loss and use a pad to buff it again after the cleaning. For a high grade book of this value I would be more stringent. Just my guess on whatâs happening.
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That is excellent insight.
My first thought is always to blame⊠ahhhh⊠you know who.
But maybe they actually DID do their job this time with a high value book and caught something that normally would not have been caught.
Of course, I would say to CGC why they donât do equal checks on books from the same era, but thatâs a whole different grenade to toss in their backyard.
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Cleaning from a conserved perspective means use of chemicals. Dry cleaning is basically wiped away foreign material without altering the original books.
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If one accidentally removed gloss on the cover from cleaning, thatâs just damaging the book. In no way is that conserving it. The grade should drop, of course, but CGC did not do their job if thatâs what this is.
Conservation is adding tape or replacing/adding staples in an effort to prevent further deterioration. Not necessarily enhance the book.
More likely they just made a quick assumption, called it conservation, and moved on.
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I was so so so trying hard to give CGC kudos.
I actually typed something good about them; and then another excellent perspective shoots it to hell
CGC graderâs notes:
Cover cleaned. Conserved 7.5
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Saw this on Reddit
Apparently a UK based graded. Possibly from the shop that sells them
Called Only Graded.
what grading company is that? Label looks sharp. The number needs to be a little larger but other than that looks good. That the new PSA label?
EDIT: I see itâs their own proprietary slab and grade. Interesting.
If you guys havenât checked up on the CGC forum thread lately about the warping inner wells, itâs quite entertaining. It looks like it has taken another turn as itâs still going on and people there are really pissed off. Especially since their members have called and sent pictures to CGC and theyâve been getting back responses that this is normal part of their grading process.
CGC has been deleting posts in the thread. Now I understand if CGC is deleting posts regarding their lawsuit, or posting pictures of their competition, fine. But why would you be deleting posts about your own customerâs frustrations with your own quality control?
Lots of members have stopped submitting waiting for CGC to fix the problem but some members there are calling CGC a pump and dump company and telling other members to dispute their charges with their credit card company and do a charge back 
(I imagine that post will be taken down too) Things are heating up.
I said it before I donât believe that CGC is like teflon. At some point people will hit their breaking point. It really feels like CGC is on its final days. I can see the other scandals not affecting CGC since they have no competition but this time it feels a lot different. If the cases are damaging your books thatâs a deal breaker for a lot of people. Word is getting around and a lot of places (youtube, social media etc) are picking up the story. The buyers are not going to want to buy slabs with warped books and by association the sellers wouldnât want them either as itâs a big giant headache for them. Also factor in the downturn in the market/economy and things are spiraling out of control for CGC.
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Iâve pretty much ceased submissions.
Combine their shenanigans with (what I feel) has impacted the value of their product and itâs like âwhy would I even do this game with them now?â
I can seemingly sell raw books in a perceived grade for more net profit than graded.
So why would a consumer utilize them, gain a stroke by using them, and settle for less $$$?
Itâs gotten to the point where, other than 9.8 on some books, it makes no financial sense anymore
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This is more of a PSA grading comment.
Iâve always watched that fellow who does the Comic Investment Videos on Youtubes (just here and there) as there are times he has decent insight. He has always talked about his father and clearly has dad was a big name in comics but I never/(and still donât) really know who he is.
But apparently it is his dad that is the head grading (or leading the entire grading department) for PSA. Not knowing a thing about him I donât know if that is good or bad.
I have seen a view other takes on this and comic dealers/big wigs in other media aspects stating itâs a bad thing and deal breaker because it is him leading the grading. Maybe that is just bad blood though.
Again, I know absolutely zero, just curious about the origins and background of the fellow who is clearly a big time player (or must have been) in the comic realm. Big enough to become PSAs big dog and lead the charge with their company.
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I donât regularly watch Swagglehaus, but I do generally watch his videos when he goes around a con floor and talks to dealers on their âstate of the unionâ. In his SDCC video from the floor, he asked everyone about PSA and got polar opposite answers from a couple.
Coupled with the anecdote that PSA felt they didnât need Steve Borockâs help, I donât think thatâs a positive.
The proof will be in the pudding as they say with PSA. It could go great and be impressive or be a complete mess.