comicdiablo

I was thinking the same thing. I think that Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, and then Spider-Man: No Way Home had comic sales at a boiling point, but since then the heat has been simmering. Others have mentioned a potential economic recession is brewing. However, I have seen a lot of debate about if and when this will happen soon, and how deep or shallow of a recession it will be.

I agree that the quality/popularity of the films thus far is a huge factor (as it is for other comic titles lately), especially the most recent one from 2015, which got so many things wrong. I enjoyed some aspects of the first two films (from 2005 and 2007), and at least they got a lot more right than the 2015 "reboot." I think that it will be interesting to have this conversation again in 2025, after the Fantastic Four debut within the MCU. Personally, I believe that the FF has great potential to have some modern coolness injected into them and to appeal more to younger audiences, no less potential than Guardians of the Galaxy or Ant-Man and the Wasp had prior to debuting in the MCU.

I haven't gotten any comics graded for over a year now, and thus upon returning to this site after quite a while, I was excited to see the 20-day turnaround relative to the previously (seemingly never ending) several-week delayed turnaround times. Then I read this post, which is concerning. I am thinking of getting some comics graded soon, so hopefully this issue will be addressed in terms of training and quality control (etc.), as it would be discouraging to receive an order with questionable grading after having taken a lengthy break from CGC due to another issue.

Yes, the covers are flat but have that non-color breaking crease running parallel to the spine across the back cover (more apparent when reflected under light). Because I've seen it on multiple copies of Daredevil #9 and #10, both in hand and on eBay, it seems like it was some sort of systematic occurrence.

As I'm sure many of you know, there's quite a craze right now over Echo (Maya Lopez) being portrayed in the Hawkeye series on Disney+, with an expected Echo spinoff series in the works. And btw, it's super cool that the character is being portrayed by an actual Native American who is deaf (and has a prosthetic leg and had no previous acting experience). Well, let me get to my inquiry now. I was looking through my ungraded copies of Daredevil #9-12 (the first story arc featuring Echo), and I noticed that Daredevil #9 and #10 each have this line on the back cover not far from the spine and parallel to it. Because I'm not feeling like taking photos right now, I found a few examples that are currently listed on eBay: This current listing has an example on the back cover of the Daredevil #9 (which is a Hulk advertisement for drinking milk); look at the top right where the light is glaring: https://www.ebay.com/itm/275069092598?epid=1002112263 This current listing has an example on the back cover of the Daredevil #10 (which is a Spider-Man advertisement for drinking milk); it mostly can be seen above the building on the right: https://www.ebay.com/itm/125056062337 Does anyone know if this is a manufacturing defect or a packaging/shipment or storage flaw of some sort? In addition to the two comics I have, I also noticed this defect on several other examples of these comics on eBay. Beyond wondering what caused this defect or flaw, I'm also wondering how much such a defect on its own would likely affect the grade of a comic (e.g., if there are sharp corners, no stress lines, otherwise flat covers, etc.).

Continue no longer actively collecting, as I began this past summer

I've had many people tell me that they are getting tired of comic movies/series. Personally speaking though, I continue to enjoy watching (some of) them and like the general increase in the quality of such movies during the past few decades. This happening to coincide with me collecting comics less over time (to where I effectively have stopped actively collecting) has also provided me with an alternative entertainment outlet, which can include inducing a warm fuzzy nostalgia as well as an appreciation for innovations based on the source material. Like any collector I suppose, I do have major qualms with some of the changes at times, but only if I feel it detracts too much from the original plot/character, not merely because it differs. I'm sure there's plenty of others who feel like the OP, but as for me, nope, keep 'em coming please. Though I don't want to watch comic-related movies or series all the time, I do want to continue having the option of doing so and thus welcome the development of new such movies/series.

Exactly what I was thinking

You have a lot more experience getting comics graded than I do, and I have no reason to doubt your estimate of about 10% of CGC-graded comics being received with some kind of issue related to encapsulation. Something this makes me curious about is what (approximate) percentage beyond that 10% go on to develop Newton rings that initially did not have Newton rings. One reason I am wondering about this is that I happened to look closely through my entire collection of graded comics earlier after not having done this for some time, and I noticed some CGC-graded comics that initially did not have Newton rings have gone on to develop some level of Newton rings. To their credit, I was told that CGC will offer a complementary reholder if photos are emailed to submissions@cgccomics.com, and it then is determined that the Newton rings are "excessive" (whatever that is subjectively determined to be). However, by the looks of the thread below, CGC has been trying to resolve this issue at the point of encapsulation for several years now. Some in the thread seem to have reported that this issue was resolved at various points, but it obviously has not been altogether resolved, as evidenced by both the current discussion and the most recent comments in the thread below (which report that Newton rings "have returned"...or perhaps never really went away?). Regardless, what a tiring nuisance, and I find it to be rather shocking that the company considered to be the standard in the industry has not adequately resolved this issue by now. I can imagine that some customers might increasingly consider other options over time. Yet business does seem to continue to be booming, at least for now...

I have that same issue of TMNT (my only early TMNT comic that is graded) in CGC 9.4, and it has about twice as many non-color-breaking tiny indentations on the spine; but it still overall looks nice (as a NM comic should). I occasionally strongly disagree with a grade assigned by CGC in the 9-point range, but there's much variation even among 9.8 copies in terms of their imperfections; and I agree that this one does appear to be a 9.8 despite the minor spine flaws.

I just used my $150 credit from upgrading to Premium membership in April. I was told that this credit would be automatically applied, but I did see some previous posts about including a note with the order. So just to be safe, I included a note with my invoice, stating that I would like to use my $150 credit. Though the wait times are quite extended right now, my $150 credit was used as desired, and I received my most recent order with no complaints. Now, was it necessary to include that note? Probably not, though I suppose it didn't hurt. By the way, the best forum to ask CGC about questions you may have is the "Ask CGC" forum. They often respond within a day's time, and you can find the answers to many questions previously asked in that forum as well. I have asked some specific questions there and had them answered before, but I also was able to find the answers to some questions I was thinking of asking.

With how long my most recent express order took to be processed, graded, and shipped back to me, I have decided to take a break from submitting to CGC for a while. However, there were no quality control issues this time, so I was happy about that. Just takin' a break and hoping for things to return to shorter time frames by sometime next year...

I about agree with this. I think that the seller should take responsibility if it's a flaw that was visible from looking into the case or if the damage occurred in transit (even inside the case), and then the seller should try to take it up with CGC or cut their losses. However, if there's a flaw in the comic that the seller had no way of detecting without opening the case, and the buyer opens the case and sees the flaw in the comic that CGC missed; then I think that the buyer should notify CGC about it and not blame or expect to return it to the seller (or get a refund). In both instances, it ultimately would be CGC's mistake, but I do think that the responsibility in dealing with the situation should depend in part on whether the comic remains encased or is removed from its case after in the buyer's possession.

Can we all at least agree that (regardless if the submitter knows about restoration or not), the onus is on CGC to detect whether restoration has occurred? And it may sound unlikely or crazy, but someone could mistakenly or even intentionally inform CGC of a history of restoration on a comic when there actually has been no restoration. Plus, I would think that some collectors may well know there's been restoration but would be happy to receive certain comics graded with no notation of restoration by CGC (and would keep hush hush about it and never to be graded again while in their possession).

I did not know Greg personally but did make some purchases on eBay from his store, including SA Aquaman #3 CGC 9.4 (WHITE). It sounds like he put his heart into his business and keeping customers happy and treated his coworkers like family. Anyone like that will be missed. I don't know how different things will be in his absence, but I did read that they plan to continue operating the comic store.

I did not know about that history with Buddy, but here is some of what I currently know: https://www.ebay.com/itm/313432380113?hash=item48fa0692d1:g:e88AAOSwURNgN6Uy https://www.ebay.com/itm/363289916270?hash=item5495c4336e:g:bTIAAOSwh8lgJWy~ https://www.ebay.com/itm/313415638623?hash=item48f9071e5f:g:ausAAOSwQTxgJW03 https://www.ebay.com/itm/133662405396?hash=item1f1ee67314:g:ntgAAOSw3ppgJW1N https://www.ebay.com/itm/133662405859?hash=item1f1ee674e3:g:uB8AAOSwl8pgJW1s If I tried to sell any of those comics on eBay outside of the Adult category, my listing would get shut down, and I would be threatened with account suspension. But MyComicShop? No problem. That's why I previously said that eBay does not even consistently enforce its current Adult comics policy. From my experience, a small-time seller (like myself) can possibly pay a heavy penalty for a few violations. However, a big-time seller apparently can have loads of such listings and be routinely overlooked. So whether it's on eBay or through the MyComicShop website, I suppose I will have to sell some of my select comics with Buddy in the future if eBay tightens its Adult comic policy (at least toward small-time sellers like me).

It's been bad enough that eBay does not consistently enforce the policy it already has in this area, to where small time sellers get threatened with account suspensions while the same items listed by big shops continue to revolve from month to month in non-Adult categories (e.g., Dejah Thoris and Zenescope variants). Now they want to make it to where such items cannot be sold in any category? Well, it looks like MyComicShop will be receiving more consignment business soon.

When I first encountered these changes, it really threw me off...but I seem to be getting the hang of it now. I prefer to provide my own details in the description instead of messing with all those additional options/boxes/drop-down menus.

I too have been active in selling on eBay in recent months and have used managed payments for the past few months. It is a slower payout process than PayPal, but it saves some fees and has worked out okay so far. One thing that happened which I still do not understand is why after I switched to managed payments, I received a PayPal payment for my biggest sale so far this year (Amazing Spider-Man #300 CGC 9.6 at approximately $2K). It was nice in the sense that my payment was more immediate through PayPal, but I was hit with both eBay and PayPal percentages/fees. Perhaps I am failing to understand something about this process but currently do not understand why that one big sale went through PayPal when all other sales since switching to eBay Managed Payments has been through eBay.

Thanks for the clarification. I honestly did not previously understand that the receiving time is being factored in to the time estimate now. So it's still a long wait, though not quite as extended as I was thinking.

If I had the time to do it beyond my full-time job, I would sell everything as quickly as I could right now. However, it's a process that's going to take at least a few years for me to accomplish, so I hope the market stays about as hot as it is now through 2023 or so...

I have never given eBid a try.

It's taking 5-6 weeks to open a box after receiving it. Then it's taking about 82 business days (or 58 business days "fast track") for modern comics and about 117 business days (or 71 business days "fast track") for economy service, which are the two services I use. So that's about 5-6 weeks + 12-24 weeks = a total of about 17-32 weeks (or about 4-7 months) from the time of arrival to the time of grading completion and return shipping. I'm going to have to be even more selective about which comics I submit. I upgraded my membership from Associate to Premium in early April, having in mind that I would submit a lot more comics for grading over the next year, but these extended wait times and accompanying fee increases are going to discourage me from submitting as much. Plus, the recent lapses in quality control are concerning too. Ah, well...I will sell more comics ungraded than I originally intended. I have one submission that was received during the week of April 12th but is still waiting to be officially "Received." I now wish I had not paid for "fast track" because the order likely will not reach me until mid-August, after I return from vacation, whereas the posted delays/turnaround times from just a little over a month ago suggested I would receive the order before I left for vacation in mid-July, which was part of the point of paying for "fast track"...

If it were a comic of my own for sale, I would advertise it as approximately Fine condition.

I wasn't looking forward to contributing to this thread, but I feel compelled to do so. Speaking of PGX, the main reason I stopped getting comics graded with PGX (besides the better reputation of CGC and higher prices of CGC-graded comics) is because of a lapse in PGX's quality control: I received multiple orders of graded comics that had particles stuck in the cases I could not remove, and my last order with PGX in particular was consistently undergraded, which I mostly have resubmitted to CGC and have gotten consistently higher grades (as I suspected). Returning to CGC, however, I recently received a comic with a particle stuck in the case, which looked like a hair. If it had been a particle other than a hair, I would have let it slide because the particle was not lodged on top of the view of the comic. However, given that a hair can be very off-putting to potential buyers, I decided to send the comic back in for a reholder. To give CGC credit, they did pay for the cost of shipping/handling and gave a free reholder. So they were responsible in trying to make up for their "mechanical error." I just received the reholdered comic today, and unfortunately it now has another particle stuck in the case, on top of the view of the comic. It is small and is not a hair and does not affect the condition of the comic, and thus I think I will let it slide this time. Still, to make the same mistake in quality control twice in a row with the same comic is not a good sign.