CGC vs CBCS

Discussion of all "slabbed comics" whether Valiant or not

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caxiotis
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CGC vs CBCS

Post by caxiotis »

I am trying to determine the pros and comics between CBCS and CGC. I am sure this topic has come up before, so any help pointing me to the thread would be appreciated.
Last edited by caxiotis on Tue Jun 16, 2020 6:08:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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greg
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Re: CGC be CBCS

Post by greg »

caxiotis wrote: Fri Jun 12, 2020 7:12:39 am I am trying to determine the pros and comics between CBCS and CGC. I am sure this topic has come up before, so any help pointing me to the thread would be appreciated.
Probably an older discussion at this point.

In the current industry view, I would say that CGC is still the leader, having so many years' head start and being established.
CBCS is clearly the #2 option, having pushed PGX/CGG/PGA (guy in his garage in Oregon) into last place easily because CBCS is the same founder as CGC (and now CBCS is part of Beckett).
CBCS offers the "red label" signature verification (opinion that an unwitnessed signature is authentic) where CGC automatically puts unwitnessed signed-on-the-cover books in a green label.
CBCS recognizes "newsstand" and "direct" editions from the 1970s until 2000. Not sure why they don't recognize newsstand for 2001 to (almost) present.
CGC only recognizes newsstand for price differences or sometimes for paper quality (or insert/coupon/poster) differences.

Otherwise, I guess a remaining factor could be "in person" differences such as attending a convention where a CBCS witness is available (for a CBCS yellow label) and no witnesses from CGC for CGC yellow, or vice versa.

Books graded separately by both companies tend to get very close grades - 6.0 to 6.0, or 6.0 to 6.5, etc. I haven't seen examples of vastly different grades. I'm sure there are some, but with millions of CGC slabs and hundreds of thousands of CBCS slabs, it isn't common.

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Re: CGC be CBCS

Post by DirtbagSailor »

People are creatures of habit.

When I go on eBay, I type in "Harbinger CGC 9.8" or "Spider-Man CGC 9.8" (for example) out of habit and instinct.

I generally DO NOT type in "Harbinger CBCS 9.8."

It is not that CBCS is an inferior product, it is that my mind (and most people I would guess) default to CGC.

Also, I want a FULL CGC set, and a random CBCS book will not help me much to that end.

As a result, CBCS books generally sell for LESS than CGC copies in the same grade. Not that this applies to a book like Action Comics #1, which will likely sell the same regardless of CBCS or CGC, but it DOES apply to many other books.

This is great if you want the CBCS 9.9 Divinity #1 (LaRosa) because it is a significant book in crazy high grade that you can feel good about owning. However, IF you are trying to collect every possible variant of Divinity in 9.8+, then a CBCS 9.9 copy will be "cool" but not really fit into the set.

OCD is a HUGE part of society, and make no mistake, many (most) mega comic collectors are VERY OCD.

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caxiotis
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Re: CGC be CBCS

Post by caxiotis »

DirtbagSailor wrote: Fri Jun 12, 2020 1:22:18 pm People are creatures of habit.

When I go on eBay, I type in "Harbinger CGC 9.8" or "Spider-Man CGC 9.8" (for example) out of habit and instinct.

I generally DO NOT type in "Harbinger CBCS 9.8."

It is not that CBCS is an inferior product, it is that my mind (and most people I would guess) default to CGC.

Also, I want a FULL CGC set, and a random CBCS book will not help me much to that end.

As a result, CBCS books generally sell for LESS than CGC copies in the same grade. Not that this applies to a book like Action Comics #1, which will likely sell the same regardless of CBCS or CGC, but it DOES apply to many other books.

This is great if you want the CBCS 9.9 Divinity #1 (LaRosa) because it is a significant book in crazy high grade that you can feel good about owning. However, IF you are trying to collect every possible variant of Divinity in 9.8+, then a CBCS 9.9 copy will be "cool" but not really fit into the set.

OCD is a HUGE part of society, and make no mistake, many (most) mega comic collectors are VERY OCD.
I never considered the OCD factor. Good insight. Thanks,
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