CGC vs CBCS
CGC vs CBCS who's better?
So I'm going to talk about my experience with both companies. I have submitted comic books to both companies. I've bought books that were already graded by them. And I have cracked open cases from both as well.
I'm going to start with CGC. I was buying CGC slabs long before I ever submitted anything to them myself. For the longest time they have been considered the "Gold Standard" when it comes to grading. And that seemed to be true for years. I never owned any of the "original label" slabs when most people claim CGC was much more strict with their grades. I have quite a few of the, let's call it second series, which are by far the majority of the CGC slabs out there. The label looks good and the case itself is ok. I was never a fan of the blueish purple tint to the plastic but it was ok. And the case is very easy to crack open, maybe too easy.
I never submitted anything to CGC until they switched to the new cases.
So let me tell you my experience.
I submitted about 12 books, all moderns. Now I submitted these right before the start of the new case controversy. My submission took about 6 weeks longer than it should have because of that. They were "in grading" for over a month when they usually should be done in a week. So I wasn't happy with that. I thought the grades on the majority of the books were extremely strict. Out of the 12 only 1 came back a 9.8 with the majority coming back at 9.6. I even sent 2 copies of the same book, Zatanna Everyday Magic which is a prestige format book with very thick cover stock. To me both were in the exact same condition. Now I'm not a "professional" grader but I've been doing this a long time. I thought for sure both would be 9.8's but one came back a 9.8 and the other a 9.6. Now I don't know if that's me not catching a flaw or CGC being to strict.
One book came back way lower than expected, I sent a J Scott Campell variant to JLA 0, I was thinking a 9.8 but would have been ok with a 9.6, but it came back an 8.0. Now again I'm not sure if that me missing the flaws or CGC being too strict. When the grade is that far off from what you thought you start to question it.
Now as far as the cases are concerned they all seem to have Newton Rings, which do not cause any damage to the books but looks like an oily residue. Honestly not that big a deal to me. The cases seem very sturdy, much more so than the previous version. But in this case maybe even too sturdy. I cracked the JLA 0 out and it was very hard to do. And the book seemed to be way to tight inside the slab. Now did it cause any damage to the book? I can't say for sure so I won't say yes or no. But I wouldn't want to have an older book put in a slab like that. I would be way to nervous that it would be damaged. Also there was no micro chamber paper. But I don't know if they even use that anymore or if they would even use it with a modern book.
So my evaluation on CGC, I personally won't be sending them any more books. And I wouldn't buy any of there new slabs until I can see what the books look like inside them years from now.
But you guys can make your own decision I'm just telling you my experience.
Ok now on to CBCS.
I've made about 6 submissions with CBCS so far and they have all been good experiences. Their turn around times seem to be pretty spot on. I've sent out books from rapid tier to modern and they have all seemed to come back on schedule. CBCS seems to be grading a little more strict as well. My last submission there were a few books that I thought should have been better but I was happy with the vast majority of the grades.
As for the label I liked the original better than the new one that was just released but it's not bad.
As for the cases I really like them. Very clear and the present the book very well. Very sturdy construction but not difficult to crack open if you know what you're doing.
I've also had great customer service with CBCS at cons and when I've called them up with questions.
I don't have a whole lot to say about CBCS other than I've enjoyed their service and will continue to use them for the foreseeable future.
So as a side by side comparison of the two I'd say CGC has the better label it that's about it. CBCS has a better case, which to me is much more important than a label and a much better service overall.
Let me know what you guys think, which company do you prefer and why?
So I'm going to talk about my experience with both companies. I have submitted comic books to both companies. I've bought books that were already graded by them. And I have cracked open cases from both as well.
I'm going to start with CGC. I was buying CGC slabs long before I ever submitted anything to them myself. For the longest time they have been considered the "Gold Standard" when it comes to grading. And that seemed to be true for years. I never owned any of the "original label" slabs when most people claim CGC was much more strict with their grades. I have quite a few of the, let's call it second series, which are by far the majority of the CGC slabs out there. The label looks good and the case itself is ok. I was never a fan of the blueish purple tint to the plastic but it was ok. And the case is very easy to crack open, maybe too easy.
I never submitted anything to CGC until they switched to the new cases.
So let me tell you my experience.
I submitted about 12 books, all moderns. Now I submitted these right before the start of the new case controversy. My submission took about 6 weeks longer than it should have because of that. They were "in grading" for over a month when they usually should be done in a week. So I wasn't happy with that. I thought the grades on the majority of the books were extremely strict. Out of the 12 only 1 came back a 9.8 with the majority coming back at 9.6. I even sent 2 copies of the same book, Zatanna Everyday Magic which is a prestige format book with very thick cover stock. To me both were in the exact same condition. Now I'm not a "professional" grader but I've been doing this a long time. I thought for sure both would be 9.8's but one came back a 9.8 and the other a 9.6. Now I don't know if that's me not catching a flaw or CGC being to strict.
One book came back way lower than expected, I sent a J Scott Campell variant to JLA 0, I was thinking a 9.8 but would have been ok with a 9.6, but it came back an 8.0. Now again I'm not sure if that me missing the flaws or CGC being too strict. When the grade is that far off from what you thought you start to question it.
Now as far as the cases are concerned they all seem to have Newton Rings, which do not cause any damage to the books but looks like an oily residue. Honestly not that big a deal to me. The cases seem very sturdy, much more so than the previous version. But in this case maybe even too sturdy. I cracked the JLA 0 out and it was very hard to do. And the book seemed to be way to tight inside the slab. Now did it cause any damage to the book? I can't say for sure so I won't say yes or no. But I wouldn't want to have an older book put in a slab like that. I would be way to nervous that it would be damaged. Also there was no micro chamber paper. But I don't know if they even use that anymore or if they would even use it with a modern book.
So my evaluation on CGC, I personally won't be sending them any more books. And I wouldn't buy any of there new slabs until I can see what the books look like inside them years from now.
But you guys can make your own decision I'm just telling you my experience.
Ok now on to CBCS.
I've made about 6 submissions with CBCS so far and they have all been good experiences. Their turn around times seem to be pretty spot on. I've sent out books from rapid tier to modern and they have all seemed to come back on schedule. CBCS seems to be grading a little more strict as well. My last submission there were a few books that I thought should have been better but I was happy with the vast majority of the grades.
As for the label I liked the original better than the new one that was just released but it's not bad.
As for the cases I really like them. Very clear and the present the book very well. Very sturdy construction but not difficult to crack open if you know what you're doing.
I've also had great customer service with CBCS at cons and when I've called them up with questions.
I don't have a whole lot to say about CBCS other than I've enjoyed their service and will continue to use them for the foreseeable future.
So as a side by side comparison of the two I'd say CGC has the better label it that's about it. CBCS has a better case, which to me is much more important than a label and a much better service overall.
Let me know what you guys think, which company do you prefer and why?
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