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Comic Guaranty LLC, also known as CGC, is a Sarasota, Florida comic book grading service. CGC is an independent member of the Certified Collectibles Group of companies. It is the first independent and impartial third party grading service for comic books. The company was launched in early 2000 and has since gone on to become an important yet controversial part of the comic book collecting community. The company has been described as "extremely important" to the comic book collection market by Robert Overstreet, author of the Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide. CGC's President, Steve Borock, is also the company's primary grader.

Process

Comic books and comic-related magazines can be submitted to CGC for grading and encapsulation either through an authorized dealer or directly by the owner through CGC's Internet partners (at a 10% discount). They may also be submitted to the company by paying an annual membership fee. The company also sends representatives to several comic book conventions. The comic books are graded on a scale from 0.5 to 10.

In addition to the numeric grade, CGC also uses color-coded labels to categorize comics:

After grading, the comics are placed in an inner well (a sealed Barex sleeve, similar to Mylar), then sonically sealed in a hard plastic, tamper-evident holder. This process is often referred in slang as "slabbing". A label is affixed at the top indicating the title, date, grade, page quality, and any notes, such as notable creators. Books which would be damaged by encapsulation are returned without this process. Examples of this include books with cover overhang (i.e., the cover protrudes beyond the interior book), some European variants, and Museum Editions of modern comics. In such cases, the grading fees are refunded and the book is returned ungraded. Although ashcans are graded, CGC will not grade certain black-and-white books (e.g., Eerie # 1) as these books may easily be counterfeited.

Criticism

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Not all experts agree with CGC's grades. The comic book store chain Mile High Comics offers their customers a refund if a comic book which they evaluated as "Near Mint" is given a lower grade by CGC. There has also been controversy regarding CGC's policies on conservation, restoration, and trimming, as well as concern about its impartiality.

Potentialization

• There is disagreement in the Comic Book community on the definition of restoration. Some collectors feel that any work done to improve the quality of a book should be defined as restoration. CGC defines it as "treatment that returns the comic book to a known or assumed state through the addition of non-original material for aesthetic enhancement". This includes changes in chemical composition and trimming.
• CGC does NOT consider the following to be Restoration, and may receive a Blue (Universal) label: tape removal, dry cleaning (erasing pencil writing or surface grime with an eraser or other object), tucking loose wraps back under a staple ,disassembly and reassembly of a comic , certain staple replacement, and pressing .

• Pressing is one the most controversial topics today. Some collectors feel this should be called "enhancements" or "manipulation". some dealers refuse to proactively disclose pressing for fear of falling sales. Their argument is that most collectors don't care about pressing, so revealing this information is trivial, and shouldn't affect sales. CGC's president, Steve Borock, expressed his views on this:

"Q: What is your personal opinion about pressing a comic book prior to grading submittal?

Steve Borock: Who cares? Really, when you get down to it, dealers and smart hobbyists have been doing it for years and years. So the Certified Collectible's Group helps let the cat out of the bag, wants to keep Friesen under their umbrella because they feel his company would be a good fit (see PCS entry below), and the biggest complainers are the guys who don't want the collectors to have a level playing field. Taking a bend or fold that does not break color out of a comic book is not a bad thing. It is not like you are adding glue and/or color touch, using something artificial, to bring paper closer back to LOOK like it's original state. You ARE bringing it back closer to its original state. I and many of the top collector's and dealers have never seen a problem with this".

• If it meets CGC's approval, disassembly and reassembly of a comic may not be counted as restoration. In one case, a book which had previously received a low CGC grade (4.0) was given a much higher rating by CGC when re-submited (9.0). .

• CGC has deemed Matt Nelson (Classics Incorporated) a "featured partner", and mentions him (and only him) specifically in the CGC Restoration FAQ: . Comments about this include: "What I do take issue with is that CGC is openly choosing sides, which I do not feel is impartial, in promoting Matt's (Nelson) services in its FAQ. I can't imagine that CGC would so brazenly promote a particular comic book dealer simply because CGC staff personally believed that dealer's prices, grades or inventory were better than the rest.I have expressed my concern with what I feel is a demonstration of improper bias and I would encourage others to do the same. This has nothing to do with Matt, pressing or restoration. It has to do with CGC not only remaining independent and impartial but also ensuring the public perception of both exists."

Steve Borock has posted the reasons for only listing Nelson: and the reason CGC will not list Tracy Heft's name in the Glossary:

Grading

• CGC does not reveal their grading standards. However, CGC does consult with Overstreet for their Grading Guides, and most, if not all, of the Senior Graders at CGC are Overstreet Advisors, including Steve Borock (President of CGC), Mark Haspel (Vice-President of CGC), Paul Litch (Modern Age Specialist), among others. At one point Steve Borock announced that CGC was going to fully adopt Overstreet standards , but then 3 weeks later backpedaled from that assertion .

• CGC used to put some grading notes on the label, but hasn't done this since 2001, when, dealers asked for the notes to be removed from the label. The argument was that dealers were saying that it was confusing for customers, and customers were complaining. These customers thought that the grade given was not the final grade, that it was before you subtracted the grading notes from the stated grade. Why anyone would think CGC would operate in this manner is unknown, but apparently it occurred so frequently that CGC did what the dealers asked. Grading notes are available by calling CGC. Members of the Collector's Society ($100 a year) can look up the date graded online.

• CGC does not put the traditional alphabetical grade on the label anymore, the alphabetic descriptive grade (NM = near mint, VG = very good, etc.) was dropped when they revised their labels in 2004 to emphasize the numeric grade and make it clearly readable from a distance - a beneficial look for those buying and selling graded books. Here's Steve Borock's explanation for the change: "The quick answer and bottom line here is that the grade needed to be bigger so people could see it from far away. It was a pain, at conventions, to see the grade on the label on a sellers wall from in front of their table. Also, Nomenclature was removed, not only to make the grade bigger but it was fast becoming obsolete to many buyers of certified comics. When we give out grades over the phone we don't say 3.5 VG minus, we just say 3.5. It is very rare that I hear a customer talking to me about a grade and saying very fine to near mint, they just say 9.0. Finally, and you may not believe this, but we have gotten calls from people who are new to comics and hate anything with a minus next to it. One guy did not care that his book was a 3.5, he just did not understand why he had a minus sign, what he called a negative, on his book."

Some argue that this was a way for CGC to "brand" their service, while CGC argued that the numeric grade is easier to explain and understand and that four years of the company's presence in the marketplace had shifted the emphasis away from the alpha descriptive to the numeric point scale. Nevertheless, this was a controversial move to seen by some as a calculated break from Overstreet. Overstreet now lists both the numeric point grade and the alpha descriptive grade in their annual price guide and their official grading guide.

• CGC does not subtract for several errors that occurred during the manufacture of the comic book. A book can have a large spine miswrap or the book can be miscut, and it can still get a 9.4 or higher. CGC does not take these manufacturing flaws into consideration when grading a comic, but they are still considered flaws by most collectors. Eye appeal used to be very important, but CGC has made that somewhat obsolete. For these reasons alone, one 9.4 can vary drastically from another 9.4, and you should never book a book without a scan, thinking "it's a 9.4, they're all alike..."

• CGC does not put the date the book was graded on the label. However, this can be obtained by calling CGC directly.

• CGC does not put both grades (the apparent grade and the actual grade) for Qualified (Green) books.

• After the discovery of a micro-trimmed issue of Fantastic Four #3 which CGC did not detect, other undetected restorations were found and CGC posted an official announcement, banning the restorer, Jason Ewert, from doing business with CGC.. CGC also announced on their message board that they would recheck any and all Ewert books for free.

Paper Conservation Services

• In October 2005, CGC's parent company, the Certified Collectibles Group, announced the launch of a new separate company called Paper Conservation Service (PCS) with CGC's main restoration expert Chris Friesen as its President. The company's stated purpose was to "perform conservation to prolong the life of a comic book". PCS defined conservation to include deacidification, structural repair, reinforcement, pressing, and dry cleaning. The announcement also differentiated between conservation and restoration, saying that the company would not perform services which it defined as restoration. PCS also planned to offer consulting services regarding comic book conservation. However, the Certified Collectibles Group announced PCS's dissolution in April 2006, two months after the company's planned incorporation. Steven Eichenbaum, CEO of the Certified Collectibles Group cited the perceived conflict of interest between CGC and PCS as the reason for the decision. One concern was that comics with restoration could be "unrestored" to the point where they would receive the blue Universal label and could then be sold as if the comic had never been restored. Steve Borock confirmed this possibility in an interview. and also on CGC,s chat board

Jason Ewert

• The Jason Ewert scandal. After the discovery of a micro-trimmed Fantastic Four #3 that CGC did not detect, , others were discovered and CGC posted an official announcement, banning Ewert from CGC in toto..
• CGC also released an official announcement that they would recheck any and all Ewert books for free, but this information was only available on their threaded board (here )- not on their website, and not reported to any trade magazines (CBG, Wizard, etc).

• After (and/or because of?) the Ewert scandal, CGC curtailed the usability of their CGC serial number search on their website. The serial number search was used to identify other books submitted by Jason Ewert, and several other trimmed books came to light which wouldn't have if the search engine was then like it is now. People have questioned CGC's motivation for this hindering change.

Pedigree and "From the Collection Of" designations

• CGC did not reveal their Pedigree requirements/standards for the first 7 years of business. In late 2006 some wondered "Has CGC changed their pedigree criteria?" and later CGC did publish the requirements when they upgraded their website. . Mark Haspel (Vice-President of CGC) is considered an expert on Pedigree detection and has contributed to a book about Pedigrees that will be published in 2007.

• CGC will put "From the collection of" on the label if there is an arguable reason for it, or if you submit a monetary minimum (confirmed by Steve Borock, but the minimum amount of money is unknown at this time). Such as when the book comes from a collection assembled by a well known comic book creator like Stan Lee or Don Rosa or a celebrity such as Nicholas Cage. However, this is defined as a provenance, not a pedigree. Some collectors feel that this is misleading other collectors into thinking these are pedigrees as the only way you tell the difference is where this info is located on the label. Any person can receive the "From the collection of" notation if a minimum amount of books are submitted (see Dallas Stephens and the Mile High II collection).

Public relations

• Jim Halperin, co-chairman of collectibles auctioneer Heritage Auction, owns stock in CGC, which has led to accusations of Heritage Auction giving preferential treatment to auction items graded by CGC. Although the stock ownership has been confirmed by both Halperin and Steve Borock, they deny any favoritism.

• CGC's relationship with Wizard Magazine is also watched by critics. Their relationship extends past running ads and having a special "CGC Price Guide" section. CGC teamed up with Wizard to create "Wizard First", Here is the official announcement of the program and what it does and does not entail and here is an (example ) where Wizard would send bulk comics to CGC to have graded, and then Wizard would sell them at a hefty mark-up. CGC created a special label for Wizard, and also a special new grade: 9.5. This is the only time CGC uses 9.5. CGC originally wanted to call the Red labeled books "Wizard Age".

• CGC has started to accept advertising on their website/chatboard from comic dealers (January 2007). "Doesn't CGC have a duty to not only maintain impartiality in fact, but also maintain the appearance of impartiality and avoid situations where impartiality could be reasonably questioned? The acceptance of ad revenue from big submitters just further deepens the perception that CGC **could** be indebted to certain parties and that they may strive harder to assure that the "customer remains satisfied."

Submissions and determining costs

• CGC charges books by Tier. The tiers are determined by 2 things, "Fair Market Value" and these value the submitter supplied on the submission form. The comic may be bumped by CGC graders to a higher tier if they feel that the book was not properly valued or that value is inconsistent with GPA. It is placed in the correct Grading Tier to reflect the value of the comic in the marketplace. Graders do have access to sales data and sites where comics are sold and sites where sales figures are tracked. Gemma, a CGC Moderator, has also confirmed that CGC uses GPAnalysis to determine what tier you book is submitted as. This is understandable, as GPA only reports slabbed book sales.

Others feel a company that is grading books should not be determining the values of those books too. The more valuable the book, the higher the grading cost and the faster the turnaround time as CGC does not want to hold onto books worth thousands of dollars for long periods of time. The Overstreet Price Guide does not catalogue prices of slabbed books, and this is the reason the guide's top grade is now 9.2 - books that grade 9.4 and higher mostly sell for a price higher than the Guide's reported 9.2 price. Overstreet had a short-lived publication called Overstreet's Comic Price Review that tracked sales on slabbed comics, but it is no longer published.

• In March 2007 CGC created a new tier of service: "CGC is offering a new comic books submission tier, called the Value Tier, for books of any comic ages valued under $100 each. This service is priced at just $21 per book, making it the lowest priced submission option for comics issued prior to 1975. A minimum of 30 comic books is required per submission, and no pre-screen service is available. Books will be graded within an estimated 40 business days, the same turnaround time as our Economy Tier. Submitting comics using the Value Tier is the same as with any other service level. List at least 30 books with a fair market value of $100 or less (per book) on a CGC submission invoice. This service is not meant to be a discount on Economy Tier, and therefore CGC reserves the right to charge appropriate tier fees for all comic books with a fair market value significantly above $100."

• CGC recommends you get your books re-slabbed every 7 years because the microchamber paper (a small sheet of paper that is inserted between the inside covers and the interior of the comic to protect the comic from any paper off-gassing) becomes inert.

References

1. Herman, Eric (2004-08-17). "Comic Value". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2007-12-01.
2. www.cgccomics.com About the Graders
3. www.cgccomics.com FAQ, Question 2
4. www.cgccomics.com Grading
5. www.cgccomics.com Label Description
6. boards.collectors-society.com Jim Halperin responds to Forbes Magazine and other critics
7. Iron Slab interview with Steve Borock

External links

• CGC's official site

• Misplaced Pages neutral point of view disputes from December 2007
• Comic book collecting