CGC Comics, What’s all the Hubbub?

CGC comics authentication, to slab or not to slab! Is this the question? It appears to me that there has been an onslaught of controversy over the whole concept of slabbing comic books by Comics Guarantee Corporation. CGC has been in operation now since 1999 and has developed quite a position for themselves in the comic book industry.

Although I don’t personally own any CGC comics yet, there are definitely pros and cons to the entire concept. Comics Guarantee will take your priceless gems and give them close scrutiny. They will then give them a grade and enclose each comic in a hard protective case with a seal on it. Of course this is done for a fee.

Many consider that CGC comics authentication may increase the market value of your comic book by two to three times the estimated value in the Overstreet Guide. And thus comes part of the controversy. One major drawback is now you can’t read your comic without breaking the seal. Once the seal is broken, re-certification is needed.

One very positive factor is if you decide to purchase a CGC graded comic book, you know exactly what you are getting. So this will give you a strong piece of mind when bidding at an auction or dealing with others selling you comics.

According to CGC, certification offers many benefits for comic book collectors, dealers and retailers:

• CGC Graded Comics Establish a Grading Standard: Their expert grading team has been able to establish a consistent market standard that can be widely trusted.
• Expert Restoration Check: Part of the CGC expert grading team's review of your comic book is to perform a thorough restoration check.
• Increase Confidence Among Buyers and Sellers: With a CGC comics graded book, buyers will know what they're getting and may become more confident and aggressive bidders. Sellers can be more confident they're getting paid a fair price for their book's condition.
• Holder Can Be Safely Opened: Their holder is designed to allow optimal visibility of the comic book and can be safely opened for comic book removal. The comic will then need re-certification at a reduced price.
• Better Protection for Comic Books: The CGC comics holder is made of state-of-the-art materials and is designed to meet the needs and demands of comic book collectors.
Now there is a new kid on the block

Well, it appears there is another third-party comic book grading company trying to establish credibility in the comic book industry. PGX Comics currently provides the same services as CGC, but their slabbing and grading prices and turn around times are advertised to be better.

PGX was created to meet the ever-growing demand for professional comic book grading. They advertise providing the best value available for comic book enthusiasts eager to have their comics graded and certified. Comics can be bought and sold with far greater confidence than comics that are not certified. This makes it far easier to buy and sell comics over the Internet, at conventions, in comic book stores, and so on. If you are looking to have your comics certified by an experienced grading company, then PGX may be worthwhile to consider.

The following figures will give a side by side comparison of fees and turn around time of both CGC Comics and PGX (boy acronyms sure abound don’t they):








Quite probably, many comic book collectors have yet to hear of PGX Comics. They are not yet the household word CGC Comics is. It may be worth your time to consider them for your slabbing and grading needs. PGX may become a force to reckon with in the future. Only time will tell.
And Now, CGC Comics at eBay!

Wow! Look what I figured out how to do for you. You may or may not be familiar with all that is available on eBay. But now, I have figured out how to display some of the CGC certified merchandise available there. The table below gives you some of the items available or you can click on through with the link in the bottom left hand corner to see all items available.

If you have never registered at eBay, you may want to take a minute to do that so you can participate in all the auctions that may interest you. Good luck and have fun at eBay!

To Certify or Not to Certify!

Well for those of you who think CGC Comics is not worth the price or is a scam, I have found some excerpts of an article by Michael Berlowe who tends to agree with you. The article was entitled “Infinte Comic Crisis”:

“Currently, there is a very sad, malevolent presence in the comic collecting world, and once again, the comic collector will pay the price. To get right to the point, it is this writer’s opinion that the C.G.C. is a S.C.A.M.!

I always believed that half of the fun in comic collecting is evaluating and grading your comics, and the other half was reading them. When the CGC slabs a comic you can no longer do either…

…I refuse to send books or even buy books that have been slabbed. I recently saw a copy of Spawn #1 with a CGC grade of 10.0 get a winning bid on an ebay auction of $900. I just don’t get it. I envision a bidder at home who has had one too many beers, thinking.... "what can I waste my money on today?”…

I truly understand that the market is supply and demand, and in an auction, the market determines the price. But the fundamental problem here is, who is the winner and who is the loser? Obviously the CGC is making some good money from this service (and I am not faulting them for that, they are being paid for a legitimate service that does take skill and time). The loser however, is definitely the consumer. They are paying way too much money for books that are not worth the value (an over inflated market). Did we not learn anything from the Valiant era? Remember that? A bunch of books that were "Hot" and everybody wanted them, and the price was so over inflated, that when the market dropped, you could here the thud in the arctic regions of the planet. With CGC graded books, we are no longer comic collectors, just investors in wall art!”

Toons and Beyond Comic store http://myweb.cableone.net/tbeyond/cgc.html Michael Berlowe

Final Thoughts

Regardless of the controversy of CCG comics, it appears that they are here to stay. I would recommend that every serious comic book collector have at least a few in their collection. I guess I will have to look into acquiring a few myself. I may then have to go down to my local bank and check into the possibility of getting a security box. Ha ha, I can only dream. If you want to keep up on the varied and interesting activities going on in the world of comic books, then feel free to sign up for my newsletter “Comics Galore” in the form below. And by all means, I would love to hear your comments and opinions on CGC comics. You can sure leave them for me at my contact page in the menu at the left. I may even be able to include them in my newsletter. I thank you ahead of time.

Dave Gieber Back to the top of CGC Comics





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