CGC Slab Issue. Comics confirmed resealed. Cards can be resealed too

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This story just came out about CGC certified comics being reholdered to committ fraud by upselling the comics.

And this is CGCs response:

https://www.cgccomics.com/news/article/12454/

ChatGPT summary of scam

The CGC Reholder Scam involved replacing high-grade comics in CGC slabs with lower-grade ones, then having them reholdered by CGC. This exploited a loophole where CGC’s reholdering process didn’t reassess the grade of the comic. The scammer would then sell these comics, falsely representing them as high-grade due to the CGC certification. This led to the sale of numerous fraudulent comics, misleading buyers who relied on CGC’s grading for authenticity and value.

If the “tamper proof” slabs for comics are this easily broken into and swapped, the immediate question that comes to my mind is: How easy could this be done to card holders; and has this already happened?

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Meta discussion about CGC slabs/recasing
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This used to be possible with CGC’s original TCG slab, which is why they made the design change. To my knowledge, the issue was fixed with their blue/white second generation label and black third generation label.

I remember seeing this video three years ago: https://www.reddit.com/r/mtgfinance/comments/jzpfnu/so_it_appears_that_cgc_graded_card_slabs_are_easy/

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It’s a long article so I used GPT4 to summarize the main scam:

The CGC Reholder Scam involved replacing high-grade comics in CGC slabs with lower-grade ones, then having them reholdered by CGC. This exploited a loophole where CGC’s reholdering process didn’t reassess the grade of the comic. The scammer would then sell these comics, falsely representing them as high-grade due to the CGC certification. This led to the sale of numerous fraudulent comics, misleading buyers who relied on CGC’s grading for authenticity and value.

Added to OP

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Some Chinese collectors were already tampering with PSA holders before this CGC fisaco happened.

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If you’re referring to Xiao, they didn’t tamper with them so much as make a fake copy case with a real label and a real (lesser quality) card. The copy-cases are extremely similar to, but not identical to the PSA ones. AFAIK there is no way to do this with a PSA case.

Every now and then there’s a slab that’s poorly welded that will practically fall apart on it’s own, so to an extent this can happen to any grading company, but never to this extent.

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Thanks, appreciate it!

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CGC confirms 350 comics affected by this issue (so far). Estimated ~$1,000,000 in value.

Basically, CGC slabs can be separated cleanly with no evidence of being tampered with. Including trading card slabs.

“You dumb PSA shill, they fixed this! It’s only the old slabs that can be opened cleanly! The new ones are fine!”

That problem is solved by buying one of the countless unsold $5 slabs on PWCC.

Step 1. Buy 1st edition charizard CGC 10 new label, recently slabbed. Crack slab in a manner which preserves the label, preserves the card, but probably damages the slab.

Step 2. Buy $5 old blue label off PWCC (tons of unsold slabs that don’t meet minimum bid requirement), that can be separated cleanly. Separate slab in a manner that potentially ruins card and label, but preserves case with no evidence of being tampered with.

Step 3. Buy clean PSA 6 1st edition charizard with an indent. Crack and place into your clean CGC slab with your CGC gem mint 10 label.

Step 4. Buy equipment to reseal slab (~$800) or glue back together.

Step 5. Sell psa 6 charizard in CGC 10 case to the people that still buy CGC cards.

Now, this is all assuming the new labels fit in the blue label case. If they do, R.I.P.

And just like that, CGC will have to make another drastic change 6 months after their last change. I own 4 CGC slabs which is a small % of my PC. I’m glad I don’t own more. The best thing about CGC is their case, which actually turns out to be their greatest weakness.

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Here is a video that explains how to easily recognize cracked CGC cases. The video is from three years ago, so this includes the old blue label cases.

How to spot TAMPERED CGC Trading Cards Cases.

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Here’s two videos of someone who was able to separate with no indication of the case being tampered with like shown in your video. He also did a PSA case, but there was a slight fogging at some areas of separation.

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Every cgc card has high res scans when you search the cert. If you are buying a $30,000 Charizard you should probably be looking at the scans against what you are being sold.

Maybe the heat trick works, maybe it doesn’t (I refuse to watch PK’s videos) but this post sounds like all the comic collectors (I am primarily one) who are crying and will forget about this scandal in 6 months.

People like you, PK, etc would never buy cgc slabs so why do you even care? Why do people love monopolies in the hobby? Everybody’s hatred for any company that isn’t psa is so fuckin weird to me

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to me this CGC reslab drama thing is just PK clout chasing like u know its been addressed for older certs but why bring it out from the grave again. oh wait maybe its to validate PSA again. it’s not like PSA has been in some hot water recently too :joy:

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CGC has really nice scans of all their cards so this is a non-issue to me. I always check scans to make sure that I agree with the assigned grade.

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I find it odd that we can just matter-of-fact talk about PSA problems like the recent autograph issues and it has nothing to do with CGC. But when it’s a story about CGC, for some reason it inevitably becomes about PSA.

What does PSA have to do with whether or not CGC cards can be resealed? Absolutely nothing.

What does some youtuber’s opinion of PSA have to do with whether you can cleanly separate CGC slabs and reassemble them? If there is a clear bias to the point where what he is saying is wrong, demonstrate that.

What’s the desired outcome here? Are we not allowed to comment on CGC issues unless some arbitrary percentage of our collection is in CGC slabs? Should people overlook the weekly CGC news story? Half of which are manufactured by the company themselves because they intentionally do provocative things? Should the story just be buried because it’s somehow “pro-monopoly” for PSA?

You don’t even need to be a “CGC collector” for this story to affect you. You could just be buying slabs to cross-grade, in which case it might be worth knowing “hey, maybe I should check the hi-res scan before buying this item”.

Either CGC cards can be recased to scam people or they can’t. If they can’t then demonstrate why. If they can, I think it’s good for people to know. And for the record you can also do this with PSA slabs. I have a few that had a weak seal and cleanly fell apart, but as far as I know this is a pretty exceptional senario and there’s no way to systematically reproduce it.

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13 posts were split to a new topic: Meta discussion about CGC slabs/recasing

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And for the record you can also do this with PSA slabs. I have a few that had a weak seal and cleanly fell apart, but as far as I know this is a pretty exceptional senario and there’s no way to systematically reproduce it.

I think this is exactly why.

When a news story or new thread targets a single company’s slabs, it gives a misleading feeling of safety when it comes to other companies. This is a disservice to everyone, not just those who support CGC, because it creates a false sense of security.

I have slabs from CGC, PSA, and BGS. I like grading with all of them, and I enjoy the variety. What this puts to light for me—and it’s something I’ve considered before—is that perhaps the entire industry needs new slabbing standards or innovations to prevent this.

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It’s not the same. I have held thousands of slabs and had this happen 1 time. It’s a random QA fail. You can’t systematically and intentionally replicate it or scale it. But I still think it’s worth knowing it can happen.

Here’s the other difference. The day someone finds a way to systematically reassemble PSA slabs that thread should also instantly go up. I won’t say it’s pro-CGG propaganda. I won’t care if the biggest CGC submitter is the one to demonstrate it. I won’t try to pretend like it isn’t a problem.

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Nowadays, I tend to check the scans of every PSA (if available) or CGC slab before purchasing. If I disagree with the grade or the card doesn’t match the scan, I don’t buy it.

Regarding PSA vs. CGC drama, I wish people would stop simping over these companies. Any company can make a mistake, and when they do, they should be criticized. Similarly, each company can make improvements and should be applauded for doing so.

There is no reason to stand unwavering by a company - they don’t care about you or your collection. People can and should enjoy different things in this world without chronically needing to justify it to others.

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Perhaps grading companies could start laser engraving their slabs with identifiable information and include that same information on the flips. If it doesn’t match, then it’s fraudulent.

I agree with you @Dyl. I really wish there wasn’t such animosity between proponents of different grading companies.

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Why isn’t there the technology of when the 2 slab pieces separate, then the outer edge releases a dye or something to show the seal is broken

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Imagine accidentally dropping your PSA 10 1st Ed Charizard in excitement and having dye spray onto the card. :drop_of_blood: :headstone:

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