Daaaamn that’s really worrying. I think I may have to stick to just grading with them tbh, not really sure if I feel too safe buying after seeing that. I’ll definitely have to stick to reputable seller when buying. Still plan on sending 50ish cards though
Just tried cracking open 4 cgc slabs with a flat head. Wont even budge.
Someone seriously tell me this doesn’t look fishy…
total of 10 posts, over half of them singing CGC’s praises or bashing PSA
2 month-old account
some examples of previous posts (emphasis mine)
first post:
“Hey everyone. This is my first post on the boards.
Here are my 2 graded errors with cgc.”
another:
“Hey everyone!
So far I’m loving cgc. I keep praising them everyday.
I’ve submitted 119 cards so far in one sub. Took 3 weeks from them receiving to getting back in my hands.
I’ve since submitted about another 90 cards. The day they got the order in their P.O. Box they emailed me letting me know so.
Customer service is top notch as well.
As far as grading standards, they are strict. Their centering standards are very high, at times leaving me a bit shocked. I would certainly say stricter than psa and, if not as strict , or stricter than bgs. I like that. I believe down the road that will add value to these cards”
another:
“I have a few 9.5s that would easily be psa10s”
ON THE THREAD ABOUT ASTROTURFING:
“CGC as a whole isnt to blame for a few employees acting out on their own behalf. Of course it looks bad, but i really doubt they would encourage employees to go on boards and act as collectors so they can talk down about the comp.I simply dont see it.
with that being said, i will continue to utilize them for grading, i love their slabs, and their approach to grading.”
another:
“I submitted about 40 cards to psa in June , they have been in phase 3 for 2 months now. It’s a joke.
I understand how busy they are, but I give up.
I’ve since submitted over 400 cards to cgc and I couldn’t be happier.
It’s so true though , not only subbing to cgc would change things , collectors need to buy cgc graded cards on the market more often and respect their grading harshness.
There is so much pre determined irrational though toward cgc because they are new but they are very consistent
I don’t think I’ll ever choose psa as a go to again, either bgs or Cgc all day.”
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Yeaahhhh I like cgc a lot but this… this seems kinda off. Every single post has been about cgc. And multiple people have reported easy to crack cases. @pokemoncollectoramy you own and like cgc cards, how easy to crack would you say their cases are?
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@connorc, If we question the motives of anyone who attacks/defends a grading company, we will get nowhere. It’s perfectly acceptable for someone to come on the forum and like a grading company, just as it’s fine to come on here and not like them, as long as you aren’t employed by said company or one of their competitors. Preference of grading company doesn’t need to be and shouldn’t be a religion.
I highly doubt that all CGC cases can be cracked like this. So it’s good to hear some dissenting views. However, I will say that if even 2-5% of CGC cases have a sealing problem like this, that’s a serious issue that should be addressed by the company. As Scott said previously, the problem isn’t so much that it cracks easily, it’s that it can be resealed and still appear uncompromised.
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Yes this hurts cgc’s reputation, but just the facts of an ugly label and value depreciation is enough reason for me to steer clear…for now.
Let them get their act together, grow a sense of design, and get a little positive rep under their belt then I could feel differently.
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Lol
PSA started grading in 1991
BGS 1999
CGC 2000
CGC Grading Pokemon cards recently? Yes.
I’ve personally never graded with either. I buy mine already graded. But I do know that CGC is the benchmark for comic book grading and millions and millions of dollars worth of comics has gone through their grading system. Their standard with comics is by far top notch compared to anyone else. I believe they have and will carry over their strict guidelines and standards to the Pokemon card world if they haven’t already.
So I’d consider CGC to be up there with the “big boys” in my opinion.
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I’m surprised to hear you say this, as someone who mods the site and understands the seriousness of the astroturfing event (which involved the same company being discussed here.) There’s a big difference between a member who’s active on the forum with varying opinions on all sorts of issues, some of which have to do with grading processes and grading companies, and a member whose posts are almost all unabashedly positive and uncritical of one company. Plenty of members here are fans of CGC, BGS, and PSA, (most likely a mix of the three for varying reasons), but a post history like that should obviously raise eyebrows, imo.
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So I’m looking up videos on cracking CGC slabs for comics and I have to wonder if the card slabs and the comic slabs are slightly different?
Most of the videos I’m watching the comic slabs are showing significant signs of tampering, more than what I’m seeing on the card slabs being posted here.
Bud, they worked extremely hard matching IPs and navigating that original situation. Are you saying you do not trust their judgement now? What’s the other option, to accuse with loose evidence of preference. I trust the mod team, if it’s something fishy they will find it and act when they have proof
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As I mentioned, people are free to say what they like about a company. CGC has its fans and detractors just as any other grading company does, and if someone really likes CGC then they’re free to come here and post about it. They aren’t required to post in other threads just so their opinions on grading companies are valid.
The moderation team has lots of information on the back-end of the site that isn’t public. If there is rule breaking, multi-accounting or astroturfing we find it. Chances are if you’re concerned about someone’s post history the mods have already taken a look behind the scenes.
Let’s try to keep this thread on topic, we’ve had these discussions before.
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No, bud, of course I’m not saying that I don’t trust their judgment. I’m literally just pointing out something concerning to other readers of the thread. If the mod team cares to investigate further (or not), that’s their prerogative.
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OK, thanks for clarifying that.
They need to address some of their cases being extremely easy to open as well as the opened cases showing little signs of tampering. All the other ‘ugly label’ BS is so irrelevant lol.
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I might have found something!
So this I believe was CGC old case for comics, pretty intresting how you’re able to “crack it” with minimal signs of tampering right? Kind of like what we’re seeing with the pictures posted
EDIT: Found an older video showing how to break a slab minor damage in the corner but aside from that, if put back together it might look okay
Now here’s a recent video of a CGC comic case getting cracked notice the amount of damage being done to the case
My hypothesis is CGC is using their old case design for trading cards…for now? …Maybe? Why? I don’t know. But the videos I have been watching are pretty intresting.
Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.
Honestly man I’m not willing to try (I like my current cards in their cases lol) but I trust that Sherb and Moo’s posts and videos here are accurate on the subject. I’m positive the company will take the feedback and will work on improving it in time.
My only experience with cracking is on the comic side and their current generation slabs look wrecked when cracked. Older generation slabs were a bit easier and older generation CBCS slabs (BGS) were much easier.
You are correct, the sunlight glare does make it an unfair comparison, but I also want you to know that 1. I didn’t try to reduce damage and 2. That is the ONLY visible frosting. That could theoretically be chalked up to pressure damage or factory error. You are correct though and we should take that into account when we decide how we feel.
Rare CGC error PSA/BGS 10? vintage No Charizard first edition:fire:
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This is hypocritical. The psa card you referenced being damaged is scanned on the Psa database without visible damage. Yet you have mentioned countless times how it was damaged by PSA. So per your statements, the scanned database at psa is meaningless, yet cgc’s is somehow foolproof. Clearly a scanned database entry isn’t comprehensive for either company.
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Gary, It’s hard to give anything or anyone a chance if most of the collectors are going feel this way about them. How can they grow competitively if we have this notation?
I say yea they are new, mistakes are going to happen at first, but they will clean it up I believe. They have to or they won’t be around long.
When new technology comes out ie; playstations, iPhones etc…there are usually some kinks within them upon initial release. My thought is this, wait until the first wave or so gets put out because by then all the issues should be addressed. That’s how I’ve always thought about it anyways.
These debates can go on forever I know. It’s all personal preference at the end of the day.
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