Grading Comic Books Does NOT Increase Their Value

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[TheRobertSalazarComics]

I’m scared to have them graded. I just don’t want my comics to leave me and possibly become lost or damaged. Separation anxiety for me 😂

[comicjourney]

Their reason for slabbing should never be value increase. It should be a neutral party mediating a Grade, after that the value should fall in place based on that grade. The biggest problem with raw books is dealers and sellers grossly over grading which is the reason we have third party graders on the first place

[johnnydropkicks]

There are two reasons as to why I’ve personally had comics slabbed (around 30 total books):

1. For key books that I want to sell that are in good enough condition that I will make more money from their sale.

2. To preserve key, high price, high grade books in my collection that I never plan on selling that will go to my nieces and nephews when I am removed from this mortal coil. I figure those books will be a lot easier for them to sell at a good price even if they know nothing about comics.

This is only what I have done. It is not a suggestion of how you should handle your books. To each, their own. 🤘

[WangSung-emzj]

Amazing video!👍👏 I just began my comic book collection and found Toon Haven. They have an incredible range of digital comics for every genre, including the hard to find ones. Lifetime updates too!😁

[COMICBOOKCOLLECTORKING]

This is my dream come through. A world where we can actually enjoy the book we bought and not entombing it in plastic because it makes you more money. Agree with your points about it keeping it raw. It takes so long sometimes for humans to realize they are being duped from their hard earned money doing things like slabbing or chasing 9.8's with endless re-submissions for a grader to lower the grade making you frustrated and less likely to enjoy this great hobby.

[SuperMoleRetro]

I like having my valuable books slabbed for the protection, but you are right. This new 9.9 and 10.0 grading crap really puts me off.

[mandofoe]

You ain’t wrong. This is gonna sound funny but I’ve always loved the smell of old comics

[AdamHoutman-qjfy]

It's more fun to collect books rather than pieces of plastic. Also, 9.9 killed the slab market:(

[billlewis]

I never have been big on graded books. Even my keys, my Batman 181 and Batman 232. I’ve always loved being able to look at them and smell them. There’s nothing better.

[C.Simm]

The only time I find value in graded books is buying online for golden age, where pages or cutouts are often enough that severely hinder my commitment to buying anything of value raw. I'm not worried about buying lower grade unless it's a grail with significant value/risk.

[derekrice]

I gotta say, where your content is today vs last year is like night and day. Keep up the great content.

[sassysteveartist]

The books are there to be enjoyed for the stories and the art. The creators deserve that respect, and there are some incredible comic book stories out there. Glad to see you're getting into yours, sir.

[Gumba]

Never slabbed for all the reasons you mentioned. Cgc is a business for those who can't grade comics. Perfect for those who are liquidating when they have no idea what they have

[jackrapier]

I use top loaders to protect valuable raw books. They are cheap and you still have access to the book. CGC isn’t doing anything in their grading process that anyone reading this comment couldn’t do at home. Take the power back!

[SeanCooke-ct]

Well said. My own view is that only the really high-end grails need to be slabbed (mainly to check for signs of restoration). Everything else is just a waste, and, as you say, robs you of the full experience of the book. Even if I don't read the comic, I still love reading the ads and the letters, and enjoy just being able to hold a piece of history in my hands.

[TT-fqpl]

I will not buy an expensive comic online unless it has been graded. Period. Too much risk of being ripped off. That's why third-party grading started in the first place (because of the online market). In person, of course, is different. But even then, in today's world more than ever, the buyer had better beware, as there are plenty of crooks around.

[fdawg]

I have a collection of nearly 10 000 books and in my entire collection, I only have 1 CGC book. It's an Aipha Flight #51 SS Jim Lee CGC 9.8. I love that book. But to not be able to open, read or see the art, I find that ridiculous, in my opinion. I personally never understood the appeal

[simongarth]

I’ve stopped selling raw keys on eBay because of so many scammy buyers are using you to upgrade their beat to hell book, file for a refund as item not described and get their money back. Meanwhile you’re stuck with their beat copy and a net loss. At least slabs put an end to the switcheroo.

[fuzzy]

So many people forget about or do not mention the size difference between raw books and graded books. There is QUITE a difference.

[TheJohno]

I don't want to be that "I told you so" guy. So I won't be. I've bought a few slabs myself. But you just pointed out yet another reason not to bother. You think you've got a nice old book, some teenager sitting bored at a table pops a lower grade on it because they want to get back to their phone, and BAM! Your book just ended up being worth way less than you paid for it. On top of that, you're out the fees and postage! And that postage isn't cheap or safe anymore. Thanks, Postmaster General! Don't get me started on that...

Being an old school collector, I remember the days when we would just trade comics at school and we didn't care if they even had a cover or not as long as it was a book we wanted. In the 90's, condition definitely started being a more important factor to collectors. Just having something wasn't good enough. It had to be pretty. Then grading came along and it had to be perfect. Now, it has to be key issues. Screw a regular run of a book.

I'm glad to see more people getting interested in comics for comics. Reading them is fun! Yeah, you can get the story in an omnibus, but it's kind of cool to open a book and know when it came from just by the particular smell! It's like drinking a fine wine...Letting it breathe...Smelling the newsprint...Feeling the different textures...Reading the book and getting a feel for time period it came out. Seeing ads from a time long gone to see what companies thought kids would be into. Slabbing...Is like buying a bottle of MD 2020 and chugging it. It gets the job done, but you're not really enjoying it. And the hangover the next day...

If someone really loves slabbing, that is fine. I've gotten over fighting about how it's killing the hobby. The comic industry is doing a fine job of that all by itself. But it's nice to see people get into the spirit of collecting by opening and enjoying their books. Now, if you have something like that Wrightson signed Swamp Thing, I could totally see getting that slabbed, since it's a book you love and it would be nice to have as a show piece. But the people getting random crap slabbed....I won't mention any names, but a good instance is a Youtuber who had like fifty issues of a book slabbed and most came back 9.8's. Like I told him..."Good on single-handedly killing the value on that book!" One thing slabbing is doing is proving that a lot of "rare" books are not nearly as rare as we thought they were. I wouldn't say Incredible Hulk #181 would ever tank, but is it really worth thousands of dollars if there are as many of them floating around as there is? I mean, some modern books are WAY more rare than that! Probably be the collecting boom of the future: Comics from 2016-2025! Prints runs of under 20, 000! Wow!

Ok, anyway, great video! From what I've seen of your channel lately, you're definitely one of the more sane comic tubers! Keep up the great work. And...To slab or not to slab. The best answer is probably somewhere in the middle. Everyone should do what they want. But I'm always happy to see someone enjoying their comics fully.