@UGADavid , two questions for ya before I provide you with my 5 years experience with grading companies.
1.) Do you have a limited amount of funds? Basically are you only sending a few in and how many?
2.) Are you aware of the Newton Ring issues with CGC slabs?
@D-Rog
I was going to start with sending 3 in at first. My LCS suggested starting with 3 - they said it was the best way to make it worth it. I wouldn’t say I have limited funds but not interested in going nuts either. And I have no clue, nor heard of, Newton rings…what are they?
When it comes to third-party pressers I always use thecomicbookpresser.com. The guy behind it is named Chris and he does awesome work. I send my stuff to him, get it pressed, then have him ship it to CGC under my account.
One of the interesting things about pressing that I tend to think about.
Good pressers build their reputation on great work and good turn around times, which in turn, creates demand, which then leads to crazy wait times, and increased pressure for them to work harder, faster.
It worries me a bit as I think good pressing is a bit of an art. I have some very good pressers I have used in the past. Because of that, they have become very popular and their wait times are through the roof.
I suppose it is not fair of me to think that there will be a negative result in the overall quality of their work because of these factors…but I do.
I recommend www.comicbookpressingservice.com. I have been sending most of my books to them Great turnaround time and he also provides before and after pictures. $15 a book.
CGC also a solid choice however turn around time would be 3 to 4 months and probably get the book back in 6 months.
Can I send (for example) a silver age, a modern and a magazine size (Last Ronin) in one submission? Or is that several submissions? I have a bunch of things to get graded, buts it’s a diverse lot.
I was going to wait until NYCC and do in person. I think there is a CGC location. But who knows when there will be a NYCC…
I was a little nervous the first time I sent books in, but when you get them back (and they are high grades) its so exciting!
Just put this lot together to send off…some personal and some to resell… Looking forward in 6 months when I get them back, lol. Good luck and as long as you are having fun, you can’t go wrong!
No those would all need to be different submissions.
@MisfitNJ
As @Zeropepp said…I absolutely don’t recommend doing that. You end up paying through the nose for all separate shipping, fees, etc.
https://www.cgccomics.com/news/article/8324/shipping-collectibles-cgc/
This has the shipping rates for them so you want to submit the right number of books also to get the best rates.
I submit in groups of 10 because they fit nicely in a flat rate priority mail box and 10 books cost the same as 6 for shipping.
Sometimes I will do 25 and prescreen them.
My 1st submission is currently at CGC waiting to be graded. I sent in 25 so I could prescreen for 9.8 since they were all modern books. I didn’t have any pressed so I’m anxious to get them back and see how I did lol. My plan is to look at what I get back and start to form my own opinions of what CGC is looking for. I consider it something that will be a fun learning experience for me and hopefully I’ll get to a point where I won’t have to prescreen anymore.
I prescreened 81 books for 9.8 over the last 6 months and only 5 missed the mark. My last submission I just did 10 books because I feel pretty comfortable with it now. I should get those grades this week hopefully.
That’s the kind of percentage I’m hoping for lol. With current TAT I should have my first submission back at the end of April.
Prescreen also adds 10 days to your turnaround time, so if you don’t need it it’s quicker.
Definitely get them pressed before grading, preferably not CCS. Google comic book pressing, there may be a local guy that you can hand the books off to in person.
Most pressers will forward your submission, to save on shipping back n forth if you don’t go local.
And definitely sign up at CGC and submit them yourself. It costs $150, but you get $150 in grading fee credit, so it’s essentially free, so to speak. You will also receive 10% off all grading fees, as a member.
It is nerve racking, but well worth it, and honestly it’s easy. And just as easy to do it yourself. M2c.
Also if you do it yourself you can see all your submissions on the website so you don’t have to bug your LCS about when your books are coming back.
If you submit 25 or more books you can choose the grade you want encapsulated. So if you pick 9.8 only the books that are that grade or better will be slabbed and you pay the normal price for them. If it’s below the prescreen grade it gets rejected and they charge you $5.
My plan is to eventually get all my keys graded for easier resale when I die and the family has to sell off the collection. I’m generally not a fan of graded books but that’s where the hobby is at right now so I’m not even worried about what grades I get back.
I definitely plan to press but my question is - if you press color breaking tics, yes the book is flatter than before, but now you’ve got a bunch of white marks on a cover. How is that graded?
You would be dinged for the color breaks themselves. Nothing pressing can do about that. It would depend on the number of them and the severity of them.
