Are there any grading/slab services more low rent than PGX! 1 1

[comicdiablo]

8 hours ago, toro said:

I have done very well over the years when I send old PGX books into CGC.   The first time they all came back higher.  One from 8.5 to a 9.6, one from a 9.0 to a 9.6.  The last batch I sent in out of 10 I think 4 dropped 1/2 to 1 grade.  2 went up and 4 stayed the same.  I was real happy when the FF48 stayed the same.  I thought it would drop a full grade. 

Of course, I do cherry pick my PGX books, I only select the ones I think are good candidates to improve.

I've had some similar experiences. In fact, I did use PGX in the past and thought that their grading was satisfactory, at least for high-grade moderns. However, PGX really screwed up an order of mine in 2019 (e.g., consistently undergraded, many particles stuck in the cases), and they did not respond to my email about it, which prompted me to become a CGC member. Though I initially focused on getting some of my PGX-graded comics graded with CGC instead (several of which graded higher), I since have submitted ungraded comics that I would like to get graded exclusively to CGC. It is more costly, and there have been some kinks with CGC on occasion; but I have been altogether pleased with their grading and service. I have never used CBCS but have no qualms with the company and generally respect their grading (and have a number of treasured examples), although I did buy a CBCS 9.8 once that I could not stand the sight of a color breaking crease any longer and sold it to effectively buy a CGC 9.6 of the same comic.

Edited April 23, 2021 by comicdiablo
Noticed a typo

[BrooksR]

2 hours ago, LoST Ups said:

Because they suck! 

[William-James88]

On 4/8/2021 at 8:38 PM, AJD said:

https://halocertificationptyltd.com/index.html

I was gonna mention them

[Doctor Dositheus]

10 hours ago, Qalyar said:

Wasn't there a service that advertised that they would only grade individual comic book pages? I have to assume they've gone away, right? Right??

Still chopping them books up.
https://www.ebay.com/str/emeraldimports

[Qalyar]

10 minutes ago, Doctor Dositheus said:

Still chopping them books up.
https://www.ebay.com/str/emeraldimports

My fragile little mind is unable to comprehend this horror.

[toro]

On 4/22/2021 at 2:57 PM, Qalyar said:

PGX is nowhere near the bottom shelf, anymore at least, although I don't believe I'd ever forgive them for some of their prior decisions. Also, seriously, (almost the) ugliest labels you can find on a slab. As for their competition, although several of the real shady graders are now out of business:

• CBGC was shut down by CGC's lawyers, although I'm not sure precisely why (guessing trademark confusion, but who knows?). I'm not sure they ever graded more than a handful of books.
• 6DGrading / 60 Day Grading was a basically Canada-only grading service that stuck a sticker over the flap of a bagged and boarded comic then slipped it in a Mylar. As with many of these companies, the owner used his own service. Quietly went out of business somewhere around 2016-17.
• Vault did put books in slabs, to their credit. On the other hand, a lot of those books belonged to the company's owner. Also bit the dust in the 2016-17 period.
• Midwest Comic Grading is still around with their ... unusual grading scale that includes hundredths-of-points of grade. See an 8.55 on ebay now!
• Expert Grading Service is also still around, and still using Comic Skin kit-cases (although they no longer seem to advertise the value of having easily-opened cases, so I think they may be getting a better quality product from Comic Skin these days). They now have a rainbow variety of label color choices, and allow for custom art labels, thus allowing them to beat out PGX for ugliest labels possible on a currently-available slab.

I have no real opinion on the two very much non-North American graders (Halo in Australia and EGS -- but not the EGS above! -- in Europe). Both of them have been in business for quite awhile now, so they probably serve a niche market for regional collectors.

Wasn't there a service that advertised that they would only grade individual comic book pages? I have to assume they've gone away, right? Right??

 

Found this on another website, some of it seems old as it doesn't have CBCS.

Active Companies
CGC - Comics Guaranty, LLC
PGX - Professional Grading eXperts LLC (aka PGA, aka CGG)
AACC - The Authenticity, Certification & Grading Committee of the American Association of Comicbook Collectors
PCE - Pacific Comic Exchange
PMC - Paper Mountain Comics grading service


Defunct Companies
ACE - Accurate Comic Evaluators LLC
PCC - Pop Culture Certified
3PG - 3rd Party Grading LLC

Edited April 26, 2021 by toro

[Tec-Tac-Toe]

Defunct Companies
ACE - Accurate Comic Evaluators LLC

 

So that is what happened to my Acting Comics 1.

[Qalyar]

2 hours ago, toro said:

AACC - The Authenticity, Certification & Grading Committee of the American Association of Comicbook Collectors
3PG - 3rd Party Grading LLC

I'm not sure the AACC ever did much if any grading for the general public, but I do know their grading committee was outsourced for grade determinations by Sotheby's for a number of years. In general, the AACC and its successor orgs were an effort to create an American Philatelic Society equivalent for comic collecting. But the effort to build that sort of decades-long establishment by hand on the quick never materialized for lack of effort and funds, and eventually the whole idea of a dues-paying collectors' organization for comics proved financially implausible. Which is something of a shame, because I think we'd benefit from a fully-formed APS equivalent; I just don't see any way to get from here to there without a magic wand.

As for 3PG...

On 4/22/2021 at 10:16 AM, the blob said:

I knew the guy who started one in New Jersey around 2000 or so. I forget the name of it. They didn't last long. That really was out of his basement or garage or something. Anyone remember?

This was apparently 3PG, which I didn't ever know existed until it showed up in the list up there and made me Google.. As far as I can tell from the fading echoes of their web presence, they were more or less the personal project of Donald Garofalo (formerly of Don's Comics and Cards in New Jersey, but at least he apparently wasn't running a store and a grading company at the same time like half these guys did). They graded only 1975-current books, but unlike several of these tiny grading companies, did actually put books in slabs, with graders notes on the back of the label. Which was kind of cool. Although I guess there were some concerns about the potential for SCS from their well design and a possibility that their label might be able to be removed without visible slab damage. Which is kind of not cool.

Also, they seemed to me to be fairly loose graders, based on surviving image examples. But they tried harder than a lot of the small companies did.

[the blob]

2 hours ago, Qalyar said:

I'm not sure the AACC ever did much if any grading for the general public, but I do know their grading committee was outsourced for grade determinations by Sotheby's for a number of years. In general, the AACC and its successor orgs were an effort to create an American Philatelic Society equivalent for comic collecting. But the effort to build that sort of decades-long establishment by hand on the quick never materialized for lack of effort and funds, and eventually the whole idea of a dues-paying collectors' organization for comics proved financially implausible. Which is something of a shame, because I think we'd benefit from a fully-formed APS equivalent; I just don't see any way to get from here to there without a magic wand.

As for 3PG...

This was apparently 3PG, which I didn't ever know existed until it showed up in the list up there and made me Google.. As far as I can tell from the fading echoes of their web presence, they were more or less the personal project of Donald Garofalo (formerly of Don's Comics and Cards in New Jersey, but at least he apparently wasn't running a store and a grading company at the same time like half these guys did). They graded only 1975-current books, but unlike several of these tiny grading companies, did actually put books in slabs, with graders notes on the back of the label. Which was kind of cool. Although I guess there were some concerns about the potential for SCS from their well design and a possibility that their label might be able to be removed without visible slab damage. Which is kind of not cool.

Also, they seemed to me to be fairly loose graders, based on surviving image examples. But they tried harder than a lot of the small companies did.

yes, 3PG is the guy I knew. he was a friend of a friend.