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Comic Verification Authority (CVA) ?!?!?!
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219 posts in this topic

1 hour ago, Marwood & I said:

Make sure you notify The Big Comic Oversight Central Knowledge Service if you do, so we can keep our records up straight.

You guys should team up with my new collector’s support group - People Excessively Needing Inspection Services.

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1 hour ago, mattn792 said:

You guys should team up with my new collector’s support group - People Excessively Needing Inspection Services.

Heh heh. I had some much ruder ones planned, but given my track record with the mods.....

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For those who are willing to pay a premium for what someone decides is a 9.61 vs. a 9.62.  Or a 7.6 vs. a 7.7.  

Ridiculous...IMHO.  Essentially this is putting comics on a 1000 point grading scale...

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Grading can be difficult.  Submitting a book to CGC protects the seller from undergrading and the buyer from overgrading -- at least to an extent.  Most importantly, it eliminates debate over grades.  Thus, CGC adds value when you are in a transaction (I don't see a need if you are just holding comics).

Looking at a comic in a CGC case and deciding whether it looks good is not difficult.  Anyone should be able to do that.  I see no value to a CVA sticker.  But, if you do, then use the service.  It doesn't hurt the holder and some buyers might like it.

Anyone know CVA's position on Newton rings?  Automatic DQ for the sticker?

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29 minutes ago, RockMyAmadeus said:

:popcorn:

It's interesting how many people are naysaying the concept. We'll see how it plays out. 

It works just fine for coins. Grading companies don't always get things right, and it's a professional...in theory...second set of eyes.

Perhaps you’re right. However when is enough enough? Three sets of eyes are better than two, four better than three, etc. 

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2 minutes ago, NoMan said:

Perhaps you’re right. However when is enough enough? Three sets of eyes are better than two, four better than three, etc. 

Oh, without a doubt, eventually no one will want to buy a slab until 47,948 other pairs of eyes have looked at it first. You nailed it.

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57 minutes ago, RockMyAmadeus said:

:popcorn:

It's interesting how many people are naysaying the concept. We'll see how it plays out. 

It works just fine for coins. Grading companies don't always get things right, and it's a professional...in theory...second set of eyes.

People seem to go totally ape s**t with this little sticker! Its like a negative emotional trigger for some reason?!

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I've already said earlier in this thread that I think the service is fairly silly, but does attempt to fill an unfortunate void left by CGC for not acknowledging superior presentation along with the technical grade. Having said that, the last round of CLink auctions I put in bids on two ASM 252's. Both were Direct Sales copies, both had decent enough wraps from what I could tell, both had White Pages. One was in an older case that diminished the colors, one was in a new case where the colors popped. One ended at $600, the other ended for $801. One had a CVA sticker, the other, not so much....

ASM252comp.thumb.jpg.a29f185bb91af8aaa896d11cd1cd4153.jpg

The CVA stickered copy was the winner. It's difficult to say from the scan, but I would actually guess that the CVA one has some color fade at the top right corner (which is common on this book, from the copies I've seen), so I would even argue that it's not so exceptional (although the other copy has what looks like a slight bit of the back cover poking around the corner at the bottom of the spine). Whether the sticker itself actually influenced the winning bidder we don't really know, but when I saw that one closed for $201 more than the other, I had to check each out to see if it was PQ or newsstand. When I saw the sticker I just :facepalm:

 

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9 minutes ago, Martin Sinescu said:

I've already said earlier in this thread that I think the service is fairly silly, but does attempt to fill an unfortunate void left by CGC for not acknowledging superior presentation along with the technical grade. Having said that, the last round of CLink auctions I put in bids on two ASM 252's. Both were Direct Sales copies, both had decent enough wraps from what I could tell, both had White Pages. One was in an older case that diminished the colors, one was in a new case where the colors popped. One ended at $600, the other ended for $801. One had a CVA sticker, the other, not so much....

ASM252comp.thumb.jpg.a29f185bb91af8aaa896d11cd1cd4153.jpg

The CVA stickered copy was the winner. It's difficult to say from the scan, but I would actually guess that the CVA one has some color fade at the top right corner (which is common on this book, from the copies I've seen), so I would even argue that it's not so exceptional (although the other copy has what looks like a slight bit of the back cover poking around the corner at the bottom of the spine). Whether the sticker itself actually influenced the winning bidder we don't really know, but when I saw that one closed for $201 more than the other, I had to check each out to see if it was PQ or newsstand. When I saw the sticker I just :facepalm:

 

CVAs have auctioned for twice as high as the average GPA in the past. 

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3 minutes ago, MGsimba77 said:

CVAs have auctioned for twice as high as the average GPA in the past. 

PT Barnum said ...

But, I prefer the wise men on these boards who say: Buy the book, not the sticker.

My own advice:  Buy the book, but feel free to get a sticker.  How hard can it be?  

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2 hours ago, mattn792 said:
3 hours ago, MGsimba77 said:

People seem to go totally ape s**t with this little sticker! Its like a negative emotional trigger for some reason?!

It’s kinda like PGX - both offer no value to the hobby, yet they somehow continue to stay in business.

It's nothing like PGX, and it does not offer "no value to the hobby."

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1 hour ago, thunsicker said:

I’m not bothering to read the whole thread because I’m really lazy, but my main concern is that CVA is grading the cover while CGC grades the whole book.  So a book that grades at 6.0 with significant inner page tears but a nice cover gets a CVA sticker?

I don't know what CVA calls what they do, but of course, the point isn't about grading. It's about presentation for the grade given. There are...obviously...books that are strong for the grade, and books that are weak for the grade. We see them all the time. I've had slabs returned to me...graded perfectly fine, mind you...because the buyer saw something in person that they didn't like. I've seen books that have no business being in a slab with that high a number, and I've had books that look stunning, and I'm left wondering what the grader thought they saw (and these are on books I personally submitted, mind, so I know exactly what the graders saw, too.)

The service is only "this book APPEARS really nice for the grade." That's it. I don't think they're purporting to be "grading" the book...just looking at it for what it is, and saying that it looks a little nicer..or a lot nicer..than the grade given.

People say about coins "well, you can SEE the entire coin!"....no, you cannot. In the olden days, you couldn't see the rim at all, and even still, you can't see the rim that is under the prongs. You also can't see fine issues that the plastic tends to hide. So CAC (the coin service) is the same thing: a comment on how nice the coin APPEARS for the assigned grade.

It may work in comics...it may not...but it IS a legitimate service, and, if I had enough experience with them, personally, and knew they were serious and respectable, I'd pay more for a CVA stickered book over a non-one any day.

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2 hours ago, sfcityduck said:

 

PT Barnum said ...

But, I prefer the wise men on these boards who say: Buy the book, not the sticker.

My own advice:  Buy the book, but feel free to get a sticker.  How hard can it be?  

Looking at their prices for submitting books it looks like a pile of horsefeathers.

I'm sure there are n00bs somewhere that will fall prey to this obvious cash grab.

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1 hour ago, RockMyAmadeus said:

There are...obviously...books that are strong for the grade, and books that are weak for the grade. We see them all the time. I've had slabs returned to me...graded perfectly fine, mind you...because the buyer saw something in person that they didn't like. I've seen books that have no business being in a slab with that high a number, and I've had books that look stunning, and I'm left wondering what the grader thought they saw (and these are on books I personally submitted, mind, so I know exactly what the graders saw, too.)

The service is only "this book APPEARS really nice for the grade." That's it. I don't think they're purporting to be "grading" the book...just looking at it for what it is, and saying that it looks a little nicer..or a lot nicer..than the grade given.

Good point. I once bought an iron man 5 in 9.6 that I thought from the images just had just a bit of transparency on the front cover (which this specific book often has). Turned out it was so bad I could make out the words on the 1st page through the cover when seen in person. But it was still graded 9.6 by CGC so there you go.

Thankfully the seller accepted returns and I sent it back so all's well but i could have easily been stuck with that awful book! So yeah I agree with you. They do fill in holes in grading & they're not without purpose

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