I should have left well enough alone posted by richard8158

[CSJournals-migration]

My latest pressing experience

 

Several months back I purchased a G.I. Combat #93 (1962) from a seller on eBay. He had advertised it as a NM with a fairly large price tag. We bargained for a bit and finally came to a suitable price. This deal came with the stipulation that if it did not grade at 9.0 or better, a portion of my purchase price would be refunded. When the book arrived, it appeared to be a solid 8.5, perhaps even a 9.0. With no significant flaws, only a couple of minor indents in the cover, I was thrilled! I thought that with a press it would easily achieve a 9.0. Even at 8.5 it would be the highest graded copy. Having heard so many great thing about Matt at CCS, I forwarded it to them as a fast track. After a month and a half of anxiously waiting for it to arrive at CGC, I called CCS. They had missed the fast track part. Okay, things happen. The lady was nice and said she would get it in with the other fast tracks and only charge me the standard price. In a matter of days it was at CGC. It was marked shipped the other day and of course I had to look at the grade. I felt crushed when I saw the 6.0. So I checked the graders notes. Only 2 notes were present: cover detached at top staple and cover detached at bottom staple. WHAT? It was tight and secure when I sent it in. I contacted CCS and asked what happened. After a day of investigation, they acknowledged it happened in their possession. At first they offered about half what I had invested in the book. I ended up with roughly 80% of what I put into the book. In the end I have a disappointing and overpriced 6.0, and I can't recover anything from the seller, after all it's not his fault CCS ruined the book. It's not about the money anyway, I treasure my comics.

 

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[Antpark]

Yikes!

 

Sorry to hear about that.

I haven't been impressed (no pun intended) with what I've heard about them lately.

Quality seems to have fallen off.

I use joeypost and haven't had any issue yet.

Might be something to consider when presented with a pressing situation in the future...

[stens1]

Why only 80%? Did they go on GPA? Surely they have insurance for these kinds of mishaps. I know you said it's not the money part but it would ease the pain a little.

[richard8158]

I'm just going to chalk up the loss to live and learn. They weren't willing to refund any more. I have heard of joeypost, so maybe I will try him next. I doubt that I will use CCS again. Some folks swear by Matt Nelson but I wonder if he actually does all the pressing.

[stens1]

I feel for you, you are taking it well but I suppose getting too stressed or angry as it doesn't get you anywhere. I'm the same as you in the sense that if I have a bad experience with a company I wouldn't use again.

[buttock]

Dang. GIC 93 is probably the toughest issue to get in 9.0 or better. That's awful.

[Harveyfanatic]

I use Avery pressing for all my books/ have tried others but have been the happiest with Josh Avery he is excellent and does a fantastic job. Easy to work with and reasonable.

[Rockblazer]

Sorry to hear about your book. My question is, Would they have told you they damaged your book if you had'nt questioned them about it? That really disturbs me if they just noted the damage they did as if it arrived to them in that condition.

That alone would keep me from using them in the future. They should have told you as soon as it happened.

[richard8158]

Several weeks has passed between times that it was pressed by CCS and marked shipped/safe by CGC. They had ample time, if they had wanted to tell me. I don't know much about the pressing process, but shouldn't the person performing the operation have noticed that the cover was attached when they started and not when completed?

I can say that the customer service folks were nice and easy to deal with. I guess the service manager had the last say on how much I got back. I still have the Paypal receipt showing how much I paid. But knowing how many companies do business nowadays, I'm pleased that they acknowledged their responsibility at all.

I'm still not sure about the whole blue/green label thing either. I know the green label screams out that it has issues, but, for this comic, a 6.0 blue sucks too. If you look in the registry points for this book, you see that a 9.0 green label gets more than 300 points as opposed to a blue label 6.0 which earns 60. If they are equivalent, why the difference? When is a green label given? Where is the line drawn? I have quite a few graded books but no green labels so I really don't understand. If registry points are any indication, the green label in the higher grade should be considered more valuable. Help me out here.

[Rockblazer]

I have a number of green label books and I am not afraid to add one to my collection if it's something I want. They really don't ding you much for it's defect. I have a Hulk 181 green label 8.5 because the Marvel value stamp has been cut out but it still gets a lot of points.

I have a few with one staple missing or a name written on it but still nice books.

One of my books has a Jack Kirby signature which is qualified because Cgc could not have seen it signed. Cgc has a small list on their website which shows some of the criteria for qualified grade.