a cornerstone of comic book collecting is the rating that the cgc, or certified guarantee company, assigns to a book. Despite the importance of CGC to modern collectors, many still don’t understand what it means to grade a comic. By understanding the CGC process, aspiring collectors will better understand why this grading process is so important.
but first, what is cgc?
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Headquartered in Sarasota, Florida, the CGC was founded in 2000 and quickly became a worldwide standard for determining the physical condition of a comic. Prior to CGC, the standard was the Overstreet Guide’s 10-point rating scale, ranging from 0.5 (Poor) to 10 (Gem Mint). cgc built on the overstreet classification by developing a more standardized process and incorporating new elements.
how do you know if your comic is worth submitting for review?
While it may be tempting to submit every comic you purchase for cgc grading, this process must be paid for. The qualifying fee varies depending on the age and value of the comic, ranging from $22 to $120 for most books. however, comics with a fair market value greater than $3,000 are charged on a sliding scale of 3% of book value ($150 minimum).
Given these costs, as well as shipping costs, you should only seriously consider submitting a comic for grading if you already know it’s valuable or think it will be in the future. A general rule of thumb followed by many collectors is that the expected value of a book should be around $200 before it makes sense to rate the book from a financial perspective.
Also note that the qualification process usually takes some time. cgc states that qualification can take between 106 and 133 days. a fee of $75 can reduce this time to 44 days and an express fee of $120 can reduce this time to 17 days. books valued over $3,000 are delivered within an expected 10-day window.
what are the benefits of submitting your comic for rating?
A rated comic often has much more value than an unrated version, as a rated comic has been authenticated by a respected organization in the industry. In addition, collectors are much more willing to pay the highest price for books in elevated condition, if CGC has verified and quantified that condition. finally, with a cgc certification number, a qualifying comic has a provenance, which means this book’s ownership history will now be documented for future owners to appreciate.
another benefit of grading is that your comic will be encapsulated in a crystal clear mount. In addition to the fact that the item is better preserved thanks to this casing, the support helps protect it against counterfeiting and tampering.
beyond conservation, the cgc slabs themselves have a positive aesthetic quality that fans and collectors have come to appreciate. These containers make it easy to handle collectibles and display them. Instead of keeping a comic book hidden in a box, they can be displayed as the works of art that they are. one drawback is that encapsulated books cannot be read.
what are cgc tags?
each comic receives a numerical rating from 0.5 to 10, as well as a designation related to the quality of the comic page. it’s worth noting that for many books (except the very latest) the highest rating out there is often a 9.8, with 9.9 and 10 for the oldest extremely rare books. In addition to the numerical rating and page quality designation, each submission will have a color-coded label. there are 12 colors, and of these, there are 5 main colors: universal label (blue), cgc signature series label (yellow), qualified label (green), restored label (purple), and pedigree label (gold).
The Universal Blue Label is awarded to comics that are classified as marked without qualifiers. It has no autographs, no evidence of restoration, and not much is missing.
the series of yellow signatures is for a presentation that has the autograph of an important person, which has been authenticated. although one might assume that signed books are more valuable (and although this is often the case), in certain cases, especially with older comics, unsigned books can sometimes command a higher price.
The qualified green tag is for any collection item that has a significant defect. the green label communicates that something is substantially wrong with the book despite being rated. this could be a missing page or an unauthenticated signature or missing staples. According to Midtown Comics, the green label allows a damaged book to be graded on a curve; “For example, a book with missing staples might receive a 0.5 blue tag rating (poor rating), but would receive a 6,8, or 7 through rated green label.”
The purple restored tag is for any comic that has been repaired. In general, restoration significantly damages a comic’s value, and some have dubbed this cgc designation plod, or “the purple label of death.”
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the pedigree gold label is applied to any item that is part of a collection that cgc recognizes as being of exceptional quality. A pedigree label not only verifies the quality of a book, it highlights the quality of the collection it came from. as gocollect.com writes, “a pedigree is an exceptional collection that they are willing to recognize with unique labeling.”
To date, there are only 61 cgc recognized gold pedigree collections. their pedigree statuses not only signify quality, this label also increases a book’s value. a pedigree will increase a comic’s value as a collectible because it adds to the story of the item. after all, it’s not just any book found in an attic. instead, it was part of a collection that was preserved for future generations.
As comicbookpedigree.com explains, when it comes to pedigree collections, “all the owners had one thing in common; they were aware of the state of their comics. By luck or design, each of the collections featured here has survived many tests of time; paper collection campaigns, puberty and, especially, mom, who never understood why her son would keep those things.
how does cgc rate comics?
While one might think this rating process would be a company secret, cgc is completely transparent about how the quality of a comic is determined.
In 2020, Matt Nelson, then CGC Chief Rater and current CGC President, appeared in a video explaining how raters inspect shipments. This inspection follows a checklist:
(1) first impressions
first impressions are usually reserved for finding major problems; such as stains or holes in the cover, as well as missing pieces and creases.
(2) identify variants or pedigree the pedigree of a consignment is determined by the collection from which it comes. While different organizations have various criteria for pedigree, there are three nearly universal standards:
a) the quality of a collection in general: do you already have high-value items?
b) the origin of the collection: were they collected by the same person or persons and stored in a similar space at the same time? this is valuable because it means that all items will be in a similar condition; and
c) the integrity of the collection: is it just a collection of random books or does it contain entire series?
In short, two of the same comics in similar condition can be worth different amounts if one comes from a verified and trusted collection.
(3) count pages
self-explanatory: every page in a book is counted to make sure none are missing.
(4) determine the condition of the page
When it comes to a specific condition, raters will look for tears, stains, and wrinkles.
A major problem in page quality is deception. Foxing is typically a degradation of paper that comes from inside the paper as it ages. Foxing is typically found on books that have not been properly protected from the environment.
another source of damage can come from the staples in the book. staples rust if exposed to moist air, and that rust can spread to the paper. staples can also cause tears.
In addition to keeping comics away from moisture, it’s also important to keep them out of direct sunlight. Sunlight can whiten an image and dull the vibrancy of colors on a cover.
Ultimately, with so many comics including banners or other features that encourage readers to cut them out, the raters will determine if these additional materials are still present.
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Examples of such materials include advertisements that encourage readers to clip stamps and coupons to mail, or posters to pull out and display. One of the many reasons X-Men #1 sold so many copies was due to the variant covers, one of these variants being a cover that doubled as a pull-out poster. similarly to playboy, dozens of different titles were published with posters in the center pages of a comic that were designed to be removed from the book and hung on walls; doing so would unfortunately significantly damage the value of the specific edition.
To make sure that pages or covers weren’t swapped out, graders will also examine a book’s staples to make sure they weren’t opened and closed again.
A surprising source of comic book imperfections is the plastic bag and the cardstock it can be sealed in. for example, the back cover can be adhered to the cardboard with which it is sealed. this means that the back cover could be damaged due to ink transferring to the whiteboard or the page itself could be damaged due to parts permanently adhering to the whiteboard. comic book poly bags are incredibly common because they are so affordable. however, they offer less protection than mylar bags. And while mylar bags are more expensive, they offer superior protection against moisture, bugs, mold, and other chemicals.
(5) search for restorations
To save/improve the appearance of a comic, some collectors will attempt to restore it. cgc currently identifies 11 types of restorations that can be done on comics: touch-up, part fill, torn seals, split spine seals, reinforcement, part reinsertion, cleaning, staple replacement or cleaning, re-polishing, gluing, and clipping.
Because of the complexities surrounding restorations, CGC has a separate scale for grading restored books. And while it’s tempting to want someone to restore books to mint condition in the hope that their new value will be considerably higher, restorers can often do more harm than good to a book’s value depending on the specific situation.
Two restoration details to keep in mind are the slight differences between restoration and conservation. For example, CGC defines restoration as “the act of adding extraneous material to a comic through certain techniques to return its appearance to an ideal or original state.” rather, “the goal of preservation is to preserve the structural integrity of the comic while removing all the things that are detrimental to its longevity.”
once a rater has documented and considered all of a book’s imperfections, they will determine a grade. Similar flaws do not always have a similar impact on a book’s final grade. for example, a crease that is severe enough to break color will have a greater negative impact than a crease that does not break colors on a page.
(6) Evaluate all defects and determine a final grade.
To ensure that a book’s quality is properly assessed, grading is done by a team and each item is reviewed by multiple cgc professionals as a means of ensuring consistency and accuracy. this multi-rater process concludes once a consensus is reached for a final rating.
how does cgc authenticate comics?
Before doing the intensive grading work, the book is authenticated. with some comic books so highly valued, there are many attempts to pass off fakes as the real thing. stephen fishler, CEO and co-founder of metropolis collectibles and comicconnect.com, discusses some of these attempts in fraud magazine:
“We have seen two notable attempts to fake modern or bronze age comics: cerebus no. 1 (1977) and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles no. 1 (1984). why did the counterfeiters choose them? both were printed with unusual black-and-white interiors, which the scammers assumed would be easier to reproduce. after all, 99% of the comics produced in the last 80 years have full color interiors,” fishler said.
“Regardless, counterfeits were quickly spotted by industry professionals,” fishler continued, “and no one profited from them. case closed.”
alternatives to cgc: cbcs and pgx
While CGC is undoubtedly the gold standard in the comic book rating industry, there are other players in the space, most notably CBCs, which is owned by Beckett Media. CBCs is generally considered a reputable player in the space and some collectors choose to use the company due to its slightly lower fees and often much quicker turnaround times. The rating scales used by CBCs are almost identical to those of CGC; however, it’s worth noting that cgc comics of the same grade generally command a slight premium compared to cbcs graded ones on the resale market.
pgx is another comic book rating company; however, many collectors claim its grading quality is suspect and steer clear of grading their books themselves or buying pgx graded books. For this reason, until something changes reputation-wise, you may want to avoid pgx rating as an option.
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With the comic book collectors market increasing each year, the importance of rating will continue to grow. and this importance is not a hyperbolic statement. Qualification has become so common that CGC and similar companies have needed to hire more people. As Jim McLauchlin wrote for Gamesradar.com, “Collectible markets are on the rise, and as vintage comics become more expensive, collectors and dealers are turning to third-party services to ensure authenticity and quality. the phenomenon has led to a strange problem in the job market: rating services and high-end auction houses are desperate to hire raters, even paying cash bonuses to attract people.”
As it becomes more common for comics to be graded, it’s important that collectors, fans, and others interested in comics understand what it means to purchase a cgc (or cbcs) graded collectible.
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