Captain Collector vs. CGC Grading
Thomas Sr. (Captain Collector)Last updated: 29 December 2022 approx. 2 min read
Last summer I submitted 11 Marvel comics from the Silver Age to the grading company CGC. Now the issues have finally arrived.
Certifying to increase value
As we know, certified comics sell better (and at higher prices!) than so-called raw copies. For these base monetary reasons I wanted to run the experiment and have a series of issues graded and sealed. I did it once before a few years ago and got my copy of Tomb of Dracula #10 back with a 9.4.
The comparison
Before the comics went on their journey, I graded them by my usual criteria and recorded that grading in a table. Now that the issues are back with me, I can enter the CGC grades they received and compare them with my own gradings.
| Comic | Year | My grade | CGC grade | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Captain America #100 | 1968 | 3.0 | 3.0 | none |
| Doctor Strange #169 | 1968 | 5.5 | 7.0 | +1.5 |
| Fantastic Four #48 | 1966 | 4.0 | 4.5 | +0.5 |
| Iron Man #1 | 1968 | 2.5 | 3.0 | +0.5 |
| Strange Tales #109 | 1963 | 5.5 | 6.5 | +1.0 |
| Strange Tales #116 | 1964 | 6.0 | 8.0 | +2.0 |
| Tales of Suspense #37 | 1963 | 6.5 | 6.5 | none |
| Tales of Suspense #53 | 1964 | 6.5 | 6.5 | none |
| Tales of Suspense #59 | 1964 | 5.0 | 4.5 | -0.5 |
| Tales to Astonish #45 | 1963 | 7.0 | 6.0 | -1.0 |
| Tales to Astonish #52 | 1964 | 6.0 | 7.0 | +1.0 |
In 6 cases I was more critical than CGC, in part clearly so!, for 3 comics CGC awarded the same grade as I did and only 2 of the issues were graded more critically than I had done.
What does that tell me? As we know, condition grading is not a science, more of an art. No matter how objective you want to be, a fair amount of subjectivity always creeps in. Even so, you can calibrate yourself and try to aim for a certain standard, a particular norm. And the grading process matures with the number of comics you have behind you.
Apparently my condition grading is as a rule somewhat stricter than the one at CGC. That merely means that I have to adjust my calibration a little towards CGC, if I want to. But I can also leave it and keep my standard, so that I go on experiencing pleasant surprises at CGC in future as well.
Some months have passed since this article was written, and since then I have submitted another pile of issues to CGC, which are already back again. Needless to say, the results were in a similar range. Captain Collector Rules!
Captain Collector’s notes
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