Here you go. Have at it!
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I’ll start.
Why can I consistently sell a raw comic in an approximate grade for the same dollar amount of a graded counterpart?
I’m all for not overpaying for slabs where one can barely even trust the grades anymore, but c’mon hobbyists.
CGC is at least as bad/good as any of us schlubs who claim we can’t grade, but actually can.
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I think the overall problem comes back as… “buy the comic, not the slab”… once you get past that mentality, it all make sense in your approach to comics in slabs.
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Funny. We’re talking about how dead slabs are, but I bought one today at a local show. Oblivion Song 1 for $30 (CGC 9.8). I just really like this story and am optimistic that it’ll see the big screen some day.
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Sabs arent dead.
The useless books that people think are worth money that they then decide to slab are.
Sell when the hype is high.
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I keep telling vendor buddies that slabs can still sell, but a massive price correction needs to happen. Probably means people will not make the killing on these they hoped for.
“Slabs are dead when they’re priced at 2022 prices.”
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Okay. Modern book slabs are dead. It’s still a large portion of the slabbing world.
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pre-order slabs are dead. that needs to stop.
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True this. I scan eBay a lot. The crap people slab mind boggles me. People are either idiots, or just slab anything that looks like a comic for their personal collection.
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Spent time with that acquaintance I described in another thread at a con for the last two days. He has about 250 slabs there and has sold one thus far.
Now…I will say this, he prices his stuff too high, doesn’t listen, & most of it is obsolete stuff, OR is actually very desirable but in grades that are a bit too low given the cost.
By that I mean…I feel like if I’m going to over pay for a Hulk #181… I’m not going to over pay for a 4.0. I’m going to do my research & spend that sort of money on a higher grade priced more fairly. Same with Amazing Spidey #129 in the 4.5 and 5.5 grade range.
People love looking and talking about those books…but they just aren’t buying.
There are very few exceptions I would consider sending to grading
High grade bronze age horror is something worth grading as the ROI is through the roof as long as you’re pretty confident in getting a 9.0 or higher.
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I be scooping up cheap slabs these days if they’re not way over the price of a raw book. If there’s a higher price involved, only Silver–Bronze Age stuff is what I’m willing to dish out the cash for. I wonder how all this is affecting CGC’s workload.
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Or, if he has his priced at what others are pricing 5.0s and higher, just buy the higher grade.
But be sure to bring your 5.0 or higher book back to his table and show it off…
I think the problem is two-fold:
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People graded a lot of books during the pandemic, that were never going to be worth grading. In addition, some spec books that were reasonable contenders e.g. Department of Truth #1 were so widely bought that there is no market left for them to grow their value.
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People also paid way over the odds for decent books during that period and are trying to get their investment back. That results in tons of slabbed books on eBay that are now 50-100% (some even more) overpriced.
The hangover is that people are now very reticent to deal with slabbed moderns. They are licking their wounds, finding their disposable income levels diminished, and scpectical of CGC after the stream of mis-steps and quality control issues.
After all of that, raws are cheaper (often) and less stressy to purchase. I think the market for slabs will recover, but only for books that were worth slabbing in the first place.
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You’re right about all of this. The problem comes in when we start throwing around books that “should be” graded vs books that “shouldn’t be”. Books that should be graded (let’s be honest, we’re talking about a subset of books that are mostly older than 1990) are getting fewer by the day because spec is slowly dying. Movies don’t drive spec anymore. Maybe they will again 25 years from now, but that time is effectively over. Prices continue to drop and grading costs are going up so the squeeze is getting tighter. Even in a good economy I think it would be the same. The game is changing like everything else in society.
Not to mention the fact that slabable books really appeal to an ever shrinking market.
I say all this as someone who slabbed with CGC.
I feel for those with large slab collections holding onto books that “made sense to grade” because at some point, 70% of those books aren’t going to make sense anymore.
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Of all the books I’ve slabbed, or bought slabbed, Probably 90% were originally for my PC. I even slabbed a few books that probably didn’t “deserve” to be in a slab, but I just wanted it in one for myself.
But in the past year or so the pendulum has started to swing the other way for me…I’ve gained the experience to know what a 9.6 or higher should look like…and for some older keys I just want a copy that’s complete without any major flaws (subscription crease, faded cover, significant fixing or stains, etc.).
Basically, I’m secure enough in my grading skills and not someone who needs a book to be 9.8 (forget higher) to be happy with it.
I’ve actually started looking ay my PC slabs and said “why do I need this 9.8, when I have this well presenting copy that I can actually read?” So for some of those situations I’ve sold my slab 9.4 or higher slab being more than happy with my VF/NM raw reader PC copy. Especially for non-key books. Putting that money towards a book I don’t have.
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I agree and really appreciate all of the perspectives. Slabs don’t appeal to all but have a place. When there is a legit rare comic that people want, like a first Conan, He-man, Brother Voodoo, Iron Fist, White Tiger, Miles, even off characters etc. there is a different market at 9.8. It becomes a census tracking situation. Not everybody can afford to play at that level and grading/slabbing is required. Just like in sports cards. Any situation where the printer or artist manufactured the 9.9/9.8s they completely diminished those slabs. These modern slab scams are always pretty obvious and some can be legitimized through demand- but it really NEEDS to be attached to some IP or new character to matter longer term. I buy tons.
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Just as an update…three day con complete…after all is said and done…one slab sold. Some random Poison Ivy cover variant for $80 bucks. Honestly don’t even know what it was. The guy wanted Poison Ivy slabbed comics & we had one…so he bought it.
As mentioned… about 250 slabs for sale this weekend…and he moved one.
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Would love to know a general breakdown of modern vs bronze vs etc for those 250 slabs. Are they mostly random cover only books or 1st appearances or what?
@MrComo
I honestly think the big issue here was poor pricing and lack of any flexibility at all. The assortment was pretty good imo.
No golden age at all
Large chunk of silver age ASM, X-Men, and Journey into Mystery but nearly all lower grades…I think everything was under a 6.0 but some very nice keys. 1st Kingpin, 1st Scorpion, FF #49, FF #52, Early number X-Men (about 100 issues of this type)
4 ASM #129 all under a 6.0.
Hulk #181 4.0
Big chunk of books from the late 80s and early 90s…lots of 1st Cable, Wolverine #1, Hulk #340, AsM 298, 299. ASM 300, Wolverine #8, Infinity Gauntlet #1. TMNT #1 5th prints x3. Batman Animated #12 9.6. (75 books in this range)
Lots of oddball newer exclusive Venom or sexy girl type variants books in 9.8. Quite a few Clayton Crain graded variants to round it out. (The rest here).
This guy isn’t a spec guy, doesn’t really listen, and doesn’t take advice, won’t budge on price. His knowledge is based on his experience running a shop in the mid eighties till mid nineties. Sort of a time capsule mentality.