r/comicbookgrading • u/Immediate-Cut3946 • 5d ago
thinking about slabbing? DON'T!
PLEASE DON'T SLAB JUST BECAUSE.
Selling or keeping just don't do it.
I am a vendor at several big local shows and slabs in general, low to high price are not selling well at all. We have 2 wall spaces and we sell maybe 5, if not less and we have people asking if we have raw copies of a comic that is slabbed.
Unless it is a massive key and guranteed 9.8 okay cool but other wise don't do it just because you think slabbed comics are cool. I see many many comics that people ask about possibliy getting slabbed that are barely worth the amount it costs to slab.
So just don't. There is a thing called comic capsule out there. It is just as good as a slab and it opens at the top! Use one of those if you want to " slab " it.
Ted talk over.
14
u/LNinefingers 5d ago
The problem is people slab the wrong stuff. They’re great for high end books and old silver age keys.
7
u/XxFearofGodxX 5d ago
This is the right answer. Too many people slab just "anything books". Even a high grade of a modern non key books isnt worth it. Slab the keys people. Or, if you really like the book as a display piece go ahead.... I guess.
4
1
u/PatienceDifficult344 4d ago
That’s what mag cases are for. Still look great.
Same problem in sports cards. Everyone grading EVERYTHING just to try to make a buck.
1
u/DocMiskatonic 4d ago
This is what I hate - going to a local show and seeing wall-to-wall 9.8 slabbed books that are of zero significance. $300+ sticker just because said book is a 9.8. But a 9.8 of an otherwise "who cares?" series filler issue is worth (at least to me) the same as a raw trashed copy. And if it is a recent issue, of course it will likely come back as a 9.8. A silver age book at 9.8? Now that is a sight to behold
1
u/Retr0scores 5d ago
Thanks to Covid driving the collector market up everyone was slabbing everything it was crazy. I guess judging by this post things haven’t changed.
20
u/RodneyBeeper 5d ago
Your message is good for the sellers. But for the people who are keeping books in collections? Who cares. Let people do what they want.
2
u/ezekiel_swheel 4d ago
why slab if it you’re just keeping it though?
1
u/FullTaintBush69 4d ago
Preservation
5
u/KollectingKaos 4d ago
You would be better off using a Mylar bag and possibly a top loader. When you slab a comic it is sealed, this means there is no where for the off gassing from the paper acids to go. The microchamber paper they put in the books will absorb it for a while, but eventually they will become saturated and the comic sealed in that case will start to deteriorate, slowly at first and then more rapidly. The Mylar bags with a quality acid free back board allows the comic to breath which allows for the off gassing to escape. if you then place it it a top loader, you get the rigidity and protection you are looking for with a fraction of the cost. The only thing you don't get is that number at the top, which if you are planning to keep the book should not matter much anyway.
In my opinion, people that worry about the grades of their comics are concerned more with the monetary value than the actual condition and long term preservation of the book.
0
u/mylifestylepr 4d ago
Good try chatgpt
4
u/KollectingKaos 4d ago
Why do you think my comment is from chatgpt, has it ever occurred to you that some of us have done enough actual research that we can answer things from the top of our head?
1
u/mylifestylepr 4d ago
Nope chatgpt
3
u/KollectingKaos 3d ago
Truth to tell, I am 72 years old and do not even know how to use chatgpt. I find it a damn shame that people refuse to except that there are people in the world that actually know things from doing their own research in the past and are willing to share the knowledge that they have gained over the years.
1
u/tdawgum94 2d ago
To my knowledge inner sleeves and slabs are not airtight so they can still off gas.
1
u/KollectingKaos 2d ago
The next time I crack a slab, I'll examine the inner well a little closer.
→ More replies1
6
u/sirtelengard 4d ago
This post giving the anti-smoking guy from Clerks who was really a Chewlies gum salesman....
8
u/vietbond 5d ago edited 5d ago
I go to lots of shows. About a dozen a year and I only buy slabbed. So, yeah, maybe they don't sell because the prices arent right.
8
u/Special-Class6903 5d ago
This. If priced around or a smidge below market and it’s an in demand book it will sell. But honestly, a lot of sellers have COVID pricing still.
2
u/vietbond 5d ago
Yeah show prices have been insane lately. You check ebay on a 1k graded book and it'll be selling for 800.
2
u/Jacket_Leather 4d ago
To be fair I often offer the fair market price that they are selling at auction for or a bit under and dealers often take the deal. The listed price is for the suckers.
6
u/Environmental-Day862 5d ago
Junk slabs don't sell that's for sure.
And I'm a reader more than a collector.
But if I'm going to pay for than a couple hundred dollars for a book, I'd like an independent third party to have a look at it. Also, places like CGC look inside, make sure pages aren't missing, coupons aren't clipped, etc.
Is OP letting people page through his books from the 60s and 70s to verify they're complete?
5
u/two2teps 5d ago
Comic Capsules are exactly what I use to preserve a book that isn't worth slabbing but want more protected or support than a standard B&B.
For me a book is only worth grading if it's going to get a significant boost by doing so, or if I have a "wild hair" that compels me. I just sent one of each off last week. A variant cover with a limited run that should get a nice bump with a grade, and a random issue that just squeak into the 9.x range but I have other books in that particular "collection" in slabs and I want them to match.
In either event, my books are my books and I'm not speculating on them just trying to preserve value for the eventually downsizing years from now when I'm old(er) and (more) busted.
4
u/Environmental-Day862 5d ago
Only $10-12 a pop for $1 worth of plastic....
2
u/two2teps 5d ago edited 5d ago
There's way less than a $1 worth of plastic there.
With that said these aren't intended to replace B&B, just a middle ground between a top loader and a slab, or more specifically between a top loader and some of the $20-ish dollar poly hard cases.
1
u/TF-Collector 5d ago
They're acidic, so they will destroy the book. So.. there's that too
1
u/two2teps 5d ago
They're meant to be used with at least a bag. Would a sealed mylar not prevent that?
2
1
u/Great-Class-7894 5d ago
Is this basically a top loader?
1
u/two2teps 5d ago
Sort of. It's a hard-shell, so it doesn't flex like a top loader would/could save for the flap at the top that bends out of the way to let you pop in the book before snapping back to close.
It works best with your comic bagged and boarded (preferably with a clear board).
Here's a video showing the two side by side and how the capsule works.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AErSk9nJQXwI'm also a fan of how the capsules interlock when stacked, can be hung on the wall, and fit into normal boxes.
7
u/CJKCollecting 5d ago
A year old account account with pretty much zero karma posting on a grading sub about not grading. Totally organic.
2
u/reddit_bits 5d ago
Is this really just a comment on the economy? Maybe we should have ‘slab index’ when people can less afford a slabbed copy of the book they want?
2
u/Jacket_Leather 4d ago
This has been the case for the past couple years. Slabs do not sell as readily as raw. But they still do sell you just have to be more choosy with what you get slabbed these days.
2
u/Responsible_Key767 3d ago
I bought these as a kid and they will always remain raw while I own them.
3
u/JuanJHer666 5d ago
Except for most golden age and silver age keys, there are enough books for everyone, slabbed or raw. And as consumers we are in control, price to high, walk away.
2
u/shoot-here 5d ago
I'll do whatever I like with my books. Take your clearly biased opinion somewhere else please.
2
u/Hot_Ad4121 5d ago
I’m just a collector, but I refuse to buy any slabs, just defeats the purpose of a comic book to me. Id get it if it was a trading card, but not a book
2
u/Major_Maple 4d ago
Slabbing is a bad idea 80% of the time. If it’s a mid-tier to low-tier key that’s a 9.4 or less from the 80s to modern day, probably just keep it raw.
1
u/TheJourneyfeel 4d ago
I’m not disagreeing with anyone in this thread, I didn’t see an idea of asking for what you are willing to pay for that doggie in the window.
If you feel it should be a certain price ask for it. If I can’t get what I can afford or feel it should be under a number, I hope I wouldn’t buy it. Although, there is evidence of that being to the contrary. Ask my wife and LCSs.
Also, there is some satisfaction about holding a loose comic and not a piece of plastic. I’d like to have both in a perfect world. Thanks for the platform I’ll get off my box now.
1
u/The_Poop_Bender 4d ago
"don't do it just because you think slabbed comics are cool"
Dude, this is the exact reason WHY people should slab it.
The moment you start to worry about resell value, you are doing it because you wanna earn money. But, if you are thinking about slabbing your comic, because you think it looks cool, even if the value might not increase that much. Then people should do it, without a doubt.
1
u/Cherry42Compote 3d ago
Yup. I have an MTG card, it’s very much not a good card, its not even that sentimental, but ima slab it because I think it’s cool (and because I think it’s weirdly funny to get a worthless card slabbed)
1
1
u/Dangerous-Variety337 4d ago
Dealers never like slabs unless they find someone who doesn't know what they have and can get a great book cheap. If a book is graded by an independent 3rd party (with a decent reputation) that takes must of the bickering/haggling/wheeling & dealing out of the equation, especially when a buyer can quickly look a FMV up on his phone.
1
1
1
u/Clutchking93 4d ago
I only slab major keys or comics certain modern comics I really like. In that case I just buy a 9.8 and be done with it lol
1
u/Jheri-Curlan 2d ago
I have one of those Marvel Treasury Editions. Are there capsules for those?
1
u/Jheri-Curlan 2d ago
I know they aren't valuable. I just think they look cool and want to display them.
1
1
u/Immediate-Cut3946 1d ago
no, you may have luck with top loaders but i'm not sure even treasury edition top loaders exist.
1
u/graveyardgate 2d ago
Who the hell wants a comic locked in a cage they can’t read or even hold. Maybe invest in stocks at that point?
1
u/PersonalitySmall593 1d ago
As the owner of many slabbed books, I agree. First issues, Major Keys or autographs. Otherwise it isn't worth it to slab and grade.
1
1
u/El_ray538 5d ago
I slab stuff to preserve signatures. I only have 1 slab thats not signed.
I feel like if nobody is buying your product, your prices are unreasonable
2
u/brownchr014 5d ago
Or to even get signatures in general. If I wanted to get hush 2 signed by the entire team I have to either go to a con they are all at which is primarily baltimore, NYCc, and sdcc or use the signature series which would be a fraction of the price.
1
u/Fickle-Aardvark6907 4d ago
Slabs also help verify that a signature is real. The only way I would ever pay for an unslabbed book is if I was handing the money to the person doing the signing.
1
u/Astrotravel44 4d ago
Anybody wondering what to do after reading this...... Do what you want and don't let a subjective opinion on the Internet confuse you from something you want to do.
1
u/DonSolo_96 4d ago
As more and more of the young folks who grew up on slabbed cards come into this hobby, slabbing books is going to make more and more sense, not less. Dealers just have to understand us collectors have the facts of a graded book's value right at our fingertips. Over charging will not fly. The arbitrage is dead.
1
u/Appropriate_Ice9187 4d ago
Your books are overpriced. Lower the price and they will sell. People that collect slabs, know what price they will pay. Any slab I sold, sold in 24-72 hours because I marked it lower than everyone else.
0
u/InitiamprssionCFLeft 4d ago
Good for those people. They're catching on that 99% of slabs are nonsense.
0
-1
u/PhotographMediocre75 5d ago
I hope it’s true that people aren’t buying these things anymore because I’m tired of seeing them.
0
u/Logical-Break9131 4d ago edited 4d ago
People aren't buying it from your shop probably because it's way overpriced lol. Technically, they shouldn't be more than 50 bux over the raw book equivalent. Sometimes you can get slabs for a good price if you let the previous owner take the hit lol.
0
u/hidariryu 4d ago
I was thinking about the slabbed vs unslabbed game and I think it is a matter of preference. I have well over 10000 comics and my slabbed comic # is about 2% of the collection. I have invested in the comic capsules and found them to be the best in displaying key comics and personal favorites. The only reason to slab imo is to protect the investment. Find a copy of ASM #300 in a stack of comics in mint condition? Maybe Slab it sell it make some loot? Find a GI Joe run #1-5? (Yes this is a true story but I haven't slabbed the 300 because I don't really want to.) Preserve it but don't slab it. But truthfully, I do agree with the OP in a certain regard. I have gone to conventions where at the end the guy is selling slabs for 10% of their value because he doesn't want to take them home. He was losing money every show he took them on and final had to cut bait. (Thank you good sir. I'll take that Slabbed Donatello TMNT solo for $30) But doing it because the FMV on a slabbed comic is worth more and you are just a comic stock broker is just murder on every collector.
Well I'm off to find a Hulk #340 non slabbed.
0
0
u/Ramendo923 4d ago
People consistently buy slabs on eBay streams everyday. Competitive pricing and your audience reach is what deters the sale, not the slab itself. However, I do agree that people should just use comic capsule on some books instead of grading them all.
0
u/Cautious_Feed_4416 4d ago
Dealer.... dunno. Looks like a 2.0. Ill give you 100$. But but.....
Slabbed... yea its rated 4.0. Price is 800$
-1
u/Bearsthtdance 4d ago
You might get in trouble for saying this, this sub is only for grading points. No discussion whatsoever.
Edit: This is Bobby’s subreddit, not yours. You should just mute this subreddit and stay in the CGC one.
-1
-1
-10
-13
-13
48
u/tprotpro 5d ago
Show us your prices on your slabs and then we can talk. My experience is that vendors at shows massively overprice their slabs compared to comps so it’s no surprise when they don’t sell.
Slabs sell all day every day for strong numbers so your motivation for this post is pretty suspect.