CGC Insider: Publisher Defects

Putting Modern books under the microscope would be Vice President of comics grading, Shawn Caffrey, who goes over some detailed printing defects of current issues available on shelves out there.

Please note: The white coloration in the sky is a cloud that's part of this cover's artwork.

[TheCGCComics]

Please note: The white coloration in the sky is a cloud that's part of this cover's artwork.

[RPRsChannel]

*_Wait a sec....you didn't flip the pages, how do you know they are all there and printed correctly?_*

[bigsspec]

So they don't even open the books ?

[MintHunterComics]

I think the MOST overlooked thing here is that these were all cardstock heavier paper books.
Brand new card stock stuff can get 9.9s but standard comics almost can get above 9.8.
I've submitted 7, 000 books (or more honestly) and I've only ever gotten 2 9.9s.
Both of which were brand new card stock moderns.

[DJTLaRoss]

Is this how all pre-screens are completed? If I send in 25 books to be pre-screened and the submissions include multiple customers' books and some of them are duplicates, are they all just mixed up like this? So customer A's copy of book x could be mixed up with customer B's copy and then the wrong one is rejected?

[AwesomeKeyComics]

Do not start undermine 20 years of grading to now start handing out more 9.9 and 10.0s.

[scribble]

still won't renew. should of made a video of changes they are going to implement to the slabs.

[ScubaDiverPicker]

The way you’re handling the books is crazy. Also none of those books looked liked 9.8’s let alone 9.9’s or 10’s.

[natecurtis]

Thank you for this video CGC. It got a lot of good comments that you guys should respond to in a follow up video.

I have seen a lot of comments all over comics YouTube about people's books getting mysterious damage that wasn't there before they sent it to you to be graded. So how about:

1) Customer takes photos of their books before submission.
2) CGC takes photos of the books when they receive them.
3) CGC takes photos of the books once the grading process is complete, before being encased.
4) CGC takes photos of the books after being encased.
5) Each grader/grading session is recorded.
6) Graders notes included for every book.

This way there is total transparency about the condition of the book. Just some ideas!

Thank you!!

[eyes]

As someone who has bought cgc slabs and submitted myself over the last 15 years I think I'm officially done with cgc. Between them not bothering to update there case and this new screening they do for 9.9s it's just too much. 9.9s and 10s were once incredibly rare. Anyone who has bought or received modern 9.8s over the last 20 years should be passed because I'm sure half of them would be 9.9s by today's cgc standards. 9.9s are the new 9.8s and all your 9.is will be decreasing in price soon.

[RPRsChannel]

*_You gotta be kidding me...._*
*_ALL those 9.9's look worse than ALL my
*_You can NOT have any paper wear/white on corners and still get a 9.9..._*
*_I could re-submit 1, 000 books tomorrow that look better than those 9.9's, and half would come back lower than the 9.8 grades they have-because it's all random, based on who grades the book._*
*_I TRULY hope ALL who grade books at CGC HAS TO watch this video before they ever grade a single book again...._*

[primecollector]

what about the oils on your fingers/hands... do you generally use gloves when grading?

[BallisticSniper]

I think you guys have made a mistake grading my 9.8”s at 9.8… clearly after seeing this video Im confident I should be at a 9.9 with a majority, will you pay for shipping and regrading in this case? Or is this just another way of getting customers you have lost recently to come back and hand them out 9.9 and 10 for all the bullshit?

[MasterDiesel]

Umm. So you handle the 10.0 3x longer than a 9.8? Do you not think you may damage one of the 10s by flipping it around the way you are?

[tough_book]

The entire 9.9 thing is ridiculous. 9.8 was the gold standard…now they moved the goal post even further and lessened the criteria to achieve a 9.9. Matt even said there’s 9.8s out there that should be 9.9s lol. Idk I think this is a cash grab for more books being sent or resent to try for the 9.9…very very few people can tell the difference between a 9.8 and 9.9. Those minor difference idk why collectors care about…just ridiculous.

They’ll keep moving the goal post though…yesterday’s 9.8 gold standard will now be 9.9 (more 9.9s will show up on the census)….then a few years later…the 10.0 will be gold standard and the 9.9 will be old news. Then they’ll do a black label 10.0 and so on lol. Just gets ridiculous at the end of the day. Like give me an older book that’s a 9.6/9.8 vs a modern 9.9/10.0 any day.

Not to mention the scandals CGC recently went through. Let’s not gloss over that. And those stacks of 9.9s didn’t look great. I have 9.8s that look flawless but some reason it’s a 9.8 lol.

I believe every book under a 10 should have graders notes even on the minor defects on why a book got a 9.8 and not a 10.0. But they don’t do it…and dude was flipping through books so fast and says “I’m looking at the same book so I can go fast”….uhhhh no…going fast you can miss something. If I’m spending my money on grading a book…I want each book to have the time taken and due diligence to look over everything. Can’t just go fast. I just shake my head at CGC sometimes lol.

[corbinowens]

I don’t understand how it can be a 10.0 if it’s never been opened..?
I’ve gotten so many comics with pages in wrong order, typos, messed up staples, etc. That’s all on the inside.

[MartianManhunterDC]

I have a question, why has my comic been in pressing for 2 and a half weeks? It doesnt take that long to press a comic. I just dont understand why the grading and pressing process has to take so long.

[Templarswordxx]

MY BOOK DISSAPPEARED?!? So I just submitted 23 books but one mysteriously disappeared! I was told the security cameras didn't find any theft had taken place, but that doesn't explain my lost book?? What are the next steps I can take? This book was without a doubt in the shipment sent to you guys.

[padbearj]

Thanks for deleting my comment. 👍 Will say it again though. So only one grader looks at books then. Definitely not what your website says.... "Grading is a team effort, multiple people check each submission" How are we supposed to trust you when your own videos go against what you say your specified grading process is. 😡

[jamielee]

This is only a brief breakdown. Everyone should ask CGC if they could explain the full process. I will admit I don't know the full process myself (I am a CGC SS witness) and have worked with Shawn when he first started with CGC. You should all also consider how many books that go through the grading process and that for the fraction that have problems a significant number have been successfully returned. If information was comparable and open you might want to compare with Amazon product delivery (which only accounts for the returns of course and would not be comparable to the delivery to Sarasota).