CGC label changes through the years - a visual guide 3 3

[Superman2006]

On 9/19/2018 at 9:06 AM, lizards2 said:

How come no brief "creep-engine" slab?  Or do we figure all those got cracked out?  I know all mine were, but I did just receive one from a board purchase this last year.  It was all creeped up, but sprang back to flat after liberation.

I think the OP was just showing the different labels, and the creep-engine slabs have the same label as the post-creep engine slabs.

[NP_Gresham]

You forgot the “Wizard First” , but then again who would not want to forget that fiasco

Are there any “9.5” labels left out there?

[oakman29]

On 9/18/2018 at 7:21 AM, Mr.Mcknowitall said:

Fixed

what do you know.....

[The Lions Den]

On ‎9‎/‎19‎/‎2018 at 10:06 AM, lizards2 said:

The new slabs are a biatch to crack, even using the long slim screw-driver method.

That's no kidding...I just cracked one out last week...wow  

[lizards2]

58 minutes ago, The Lions Den said:

On ‎9‎/‎19‎/‎2018 at 7:06 AM, lizards2 said:

The new slabs are a biatch to crack, even using the long slim screw-driver method.

That's no kidding...I just cracked one out last week...wow  

Yeah  - don't skimp on the eye-protection for the flying shards of plastic!  

[valiantman]

On 9/22/2018 at 5:04 AM, NP_Gresham said:

You forgot the “Wizard First” , but then again who would not want to forget that fiasco

Are there any “9.5” labels left out there?

Sure... but they never had Wizard First for Magnus #1. 

 

Might as well add them to this topic for reference. 

 

Wizard First was a 2004 program that "re-purposed" the red label, but it represented brand new books which were sent directly from the printer to CGC for cursory (glance) grading in the Wizard First program. Grades were primarily "Wizard First 9.5" which actually indicated a range of possible grades from CGC 9.2 (or CGC 9.1, if it existed) to CGC 9.9, but because the amount of time spent grading was very low, the "9.5" was used with a +/- 0.4 implied.  It is likely that Wizard (Magazine) hoped for many Wizard First 10 grades to sell at a significant premium, since a Wizard First 10 would be equal to a CGC 10, but (unless I am mistaken) the program only produced 7 books that earned a Wizard First 10.  Books which were not up to at least CGC 9.2 standards could receive "Wizard First 9.0" which indicated "CGC 9.0 or lower" (but basically meant "exactly CGC 9.0").  The only books added to the CGC Census were the Wizard First 10 and 9.0, which were added as regular CGC 10 and 9.0.  Most books were Wizard First 9.5 books and they were not added to the CGC Census. All books in the Wizard First program were added to the individual CGC lookup tool for the serial number on the label.

The two books below show how many copies were used in typical Wizard First Program issues, with the first being one of 55 copies, and the second being one of 250 copies.

For probably a variety of reasons, the Wizard First Program only lasted about a year.

These are the Wizard First books.  (If anyone knows of any others, let me know.) 

Astonishing X-Men 1

Astonishing X-Men 1 Director's Cut Edition

Avengers 500

Black Widow 1

Daredevil: Father 1

Daredevil: Father 1 Wizard World Philadelphia Edition (5 copies of Wizard First 10 grade)

Marvel Knights Spider-Man 1

New Avengers 1

Secret War 1 Commemorative Edition

Strange 1

Ultimate X-Men 50 Wizard World Chicago Edition (2 copies of Wizard First 10 grade)

Wolverine v3 #20 Wizard World Texas Edition

X-23 1

Young Avengers 1 Wizard World VIP Edition

Edited September 24, 2018 by valiantman

[valiantman]

Summary about CGC red labels:

A CGC red label with the tiny grade number is from 1999 to August 2001, it's a 1975 to 2001 comic book, and the CGC grade is the same as a blue label universal.

A CGC red label with the big left corner box grade is from the 2004-2005 Wizard First program.  The book was fresh from the printer when graded, and the grade is most often a Wizard First 9.5 which means anything from CGC 9.2 to CGC 9.9. The CGC census counts do not include Wizard First grades unless it's a Wizard First 9.0 or Wizard First 10.

 

[lizards2]

On 9/23/2018 at 9:17 AM, lizards2 said:

On 9/23/2018 at 8:17 AM, The Lions Den said:

On 9/19/2018 at 7:06 AM, lizards2 said:

The new slabs are a biatch to crack, even using the long slim screw-driver method.

That's no kidding...I just cracked one out last week...wow  

Yeah  - don't skimp on the eye-protection for the flying shards of plastic!  

And gloves too...., 

[The Lions Den]

2 hours ago, lizards2 said:

And gloves too...., 

OUCH

[lizards2]

12 minutes ago, The Lions Den said:

OUCH

bastiche pulled a knife on me...,  

[90sChild]

On 9/19/2018 at 2:52 PM, valiantman said:

I believe it was about two months, so roughly April 2016 to June 2016.

I have one book like this, 

Grade Date:	05/19/2016

The cases were blamed for causing a "wavy-ness" to the book that some said required pressing to fix, others said it just required re-holding if it wasn't severe.  I was under the impression CGC was not reholding these at their expense, so I never sent it back.  It also would not have been worth $20+ in shipping expense to me on a book worth ~$40-50.  I'd be curious if I am incorrect and they would cover this at their expense. 
I can see a wavy-ness here at the top edge, but with pressure applied it seems to go away.  You can tell the cases by the lack of interior well, and there's no protective corners in the well obviously.

 

Edited February 9, 2020 by 90sChild

[picon3]

9 hours ago, The Lions Den said:

OUCH

I use these in my shop.  https://venomsteel.com/

Paul~

[The Lions Den]

7 hours ago, 90sChild said:

I have one book like this, 

Grade Date:	05/19/2016

The cases were blamed for causing a "wavy-ness" to the book that some said required pressing to fix, others said it just required re-holding if it wasn't severe.  I was under the impression CGC was not reholding these at their expense, so I never sent it back.  It also would not have been worth $20+ in shipping expense to me on a book worth ~$40-50.  I'd be curious if I am incorrect and they would cover this at their expense. 
I can see a wavy-ness here at the top edge, but with pressure applied it seems to go away.  You can tell the cases by the lack of interior well, and there's no protective corners in the well obviously.

 

Lid to lid...

[lizards2]

2 hours ago, picon3 said:

I use these in my shop.  https://venomsteel.com/

Paul~

When you are doing what?  

[picon3]

16 hours ago, lizards2 said:

When you are doing what?  

[Get Marwood & I]

On 2/9/2020 at 12:43 PM, lizards2 said:

And gloves too...., 

That's a lot of blood for a fine minus plus.  

[lizards2]

1 minute ago, Get Marwood & I said:

That's a lot of blood for a fine minus plus a bit.  

You should have seen me making chili last week.  While deveining a green pepper I whipped the knife around and stuck my left index finger, which I had to seal up, because it would not stop.  Then I managed to rip open my right index finger on a can lid, in the same place as that photo.  And, I had to seal that up as well.  I'm usually not that klutzy. Speaking of klutzs, does anyone remember Captain Klutz by Don Martin?

[lizards2]

3 hours ago, KryptoSpidey said:

LOIS left you with a bloody finger huh? 

I was taught never to kiss and tell. 

[herc2000]

I still prefer the originals.

[lizards2]

5 hours ago, herc2000 said:

I still prefer the originals.

Interestingly, I received three old label slabs last week, and they were pretty much falling apart.  The glue had hardened or whatever, and the inner wells were pretty much falling out the bottom of the outer wells.  I did some careful examination, but no tampering.  And they were purchased from a dealer of high repute.