Latest / Ultimate Rewinds Podcast / The Death of CBCS! 💎 A Cautionary Tale of FAILURE! 💎 Ep #31

Transcript

The Death of CBCS! 💎 A Cautionary Tale of FAILURE! 💎 Ep #31 · Ultimate Rewinds Podcast

0:15
What is going on everybody? Welcome back
0:17
to the podcast. Today's topic of course
0:20
is the death of CBCS. Now, I wasn't sure
0:24
if I was actually going to talk about
0:25
this or not, but I will say this. This
0:27
is not a shock to any of us, right? Uh,
0:30
if you've been around comics for a
0:32
really long time, you kind of know what
0:34
has been going on with this company and
0:36
slabbing comics in general. I will say
0:38
that. So, when we got the news that, you
0:41
know, CBCS was closing its doors, not
0:43
taking any more submissions, I don't
0:44
think it was a surprise to many people.
0:46
But with that said, I think this podcast
0:50
today is going to be about why did they
0:52
fail. Of course, we'll talk about the
0:54
inception of CBCS. We'll talk about
0:56
what's going on, you know, up until
0:58
present day and them closing their
0:59
doors. But, uh, today is really about
1:01
the why and it's about what could have
1:04
stopped this from happening. How could
1:06
they have marketed themselves better?
1:08
How could they have had better customer
1:11
service? how could they have really
1:12
taken care of collectors in a space that
1:14
was actually looking for other companies
1:16
to kind of come in and give them what
1:18
they want. So that's what we're talking
1:19
about here today. So again, I'll remind
1:21
you guys if you have not subbed up to
1:23
the podcast, you listen on either
1:25
YouTube,
1:26
Spotify, Apple Podcasts, so on and so
1:29
forth. Make sure you guys are uh
1:31
clicking that button so you guys know
1:32
when I put out an episode. And we're
1:34
trying to get more episodes on the
1:35
podcast. So make sure you stay tuned.
1:37
But of course, we got the press release
1:39
the other day saying that, you know,
1:41
CBCS is no longer taking submissions as
1:43
of April 17th, 2026. That will be the
1:47
new deadline for or I should say cut off
1:50
for all submissions that are coming in.
1:51
If you do have books there, they're
1:53
going to go ahead and grade them as
1:54
usual, get them back to you. But, uh, if
1:56
you don't know, Beckett, the parent
1:59
company of course of CBCS, was acquired
2:02
by PSA not too long ago, only a few
2:05
months ago. And there were a lot of
2:06
people out there talking about how they
2:08
thought it was going to take a couple of
2:09
years for them to kind of uh dissolute
2:12
CBCS and Beckett, but here we are a
2:15
couple of months later and CBCS is
2:17
shutting its doors. So, we got the date
2:19
of April 17th. We talked about existing
2:21
orders being processed, no issue. But
2:24
the other big thing, or I should say
2:26
nonfactor in my opinion, is that the
2:29
CBCS database or population report,
2:31
however you guys refer to it, is going
2:33
to remain active. And the first thing
2:34
I'm going to say is why. Not only is
2:37
their population report irrelevant,
2:40
obviously in my opinion, especially over
2:43
the past few years. But I'll even start
2:45
to say that the CGC population report is
2:48
kind of irrelevant at this point. You
2:50
can use it as a guide, but to take it as
2:52
gospel, I think is incredibly ridiculous
2:54
considering all the people who crack up
2:56
books, resend stuff in. People who crack
2:58
up books, keep raw books in their
3:00
collection and said like this guy right
3:01
here. I don't do it often, but I do do
3:03
it. So until that mess is cleaned up and
3:05
we get an actual true population report,
3:08
it doesn't really matter if they if they
3:09
keep it open, if they don't, I don't
3:11
think collectors care one way or the
3:14
other. But just to give you a brief
3:16
overview of where CBC BCS started, where
3:20
they've gone. They were opened in 2014.
3:24
I am not sure by who. I know I heard
3:26
stories way back when that they were
3:27
founded by people who left CGC. they
3:30
went over wanted to form a different
3:31
grading company and that turned into
3:33
CBCS and you know for all points and
3:36
matter here like everything was really
3:38
the same right the one big thing that
3:40
CBCS did have over that time frame was
3:43
signature verication which obviously now
3:45
CGC had purchased JSA so now they do
3:48
signature ver verification as well so
3:51
that went away a few years back when
3:53
that started for CGC that was the one
3:55
like area that whoever submitted to CBCS
3:58
if you were the content submitter, you
4:00
wanted that yellow label that CBCS was
4:03
giving those books. You know, that that
4:04
dreaded green label that CGC gave their
4:06
customers for, you know, having a
4:08
signature on a book that wasn't verified
4:10
was just absolutely ridiculous from the
4:12
get-go. I I'll even go as far to say
4:14
that all these different colored labels
4:17
uh from CGC when they started wasn't a
4:20
great idea. And I think they've admitted
4:21
to that as well because it's kind of
4:23
turned people off to certain books like
4:25
restored books or books with you know
4:27
things that are missing out of them. So
4:29
that dreaded green label and purple
4:30
label for that m for that matter you
4:33
know really kind of uh push collectors
4:35
towards CBCS when we're talking about
4:38
those books. Even restored books for
4:39
CBCS they weren't purple labels they
4:41
were the the regular labels with you
4:43
know annotations on them. So with that
4:45
said, that were those were the only two
4:47
reasons to really use CBCS in the first
4:49
place for the entire time in my opinion.
4:52
Uh before PSA launched, CBCS was the
4:55
number two comic grading company. There
4:57
are a few, you know, real small
4:59
independent grading companies when we're
5:00
talking about comics, but uh again, I
5:02
think most collectors, and I'm going to
5:04
throw a number out there that is not a
5:05
proven number, but I think 95% of
5:07
collectors were using CBCS or CGC for
5:11
the most part. Okay? And that was until
5:13
they were uh PSA came on the scene. Now
5:16
obviously PSA jumps to that number two
5:18
spot automatically after buying CBCS,
5:21
but how many people out there are
5:22
shocked that it took only a couple of
5:25
months after buying the company they
5:27
were going to shut CBCS down? I said
5:29
this, you know, on an earlier podcast I
5:31
did when when they acquired CBCS, there
5:33
was no way in my opinion. There was no
5:35
benefit, I should say, for PSA holding
5:37
on to them, uh, as long as they people
5:40
thought they were going to hang on to
5:41
them. It was different with Beckett and
5:43
the card space, right? There is some
5:44
little value there with Beckett. There
5:46
are a lot of card collectors out there
5:48
who prefer what Becket has to offer. So,
5:51
you know, PSA jumped on that. They're
5:53
going to try to monetize that as best
5:54
they can, and I think it's smart by
5:55
them. It's a really good move. I'm not
5:57
too sure of why PSA would buy CBCS in
6:02
the first place. I could understand it
6:04
from the the Becket aspect obviously,
6:05
but uh I I I got to imagine they got an
6:08
incredible deal for buying this company.
6:10
But again, that that's just my opinion.
6:12
So, the meat of this podcast is going to
6:14
be what we're going to talk about next,
6:16
and that is why CBCS failed. And I want
6:19
to tell a few stories that I have from
6:20
my personal experience. And I'm sure a
6:23
lot of collectors out there have had
6:24
similar experiences, but I want to take
6:27
it back to when I first got pick back
6:31
into comic collecting. Okay? And this
6:33
was, you know, 2017, maybe late 2016,
6:36
and it was, you know, dipping my toes in
6:38
the water at that point. But, you know,
6:40
I had started buying books um at
6:43
relatively good prices for where they
6:45
are now. I would go to once a month. I
6:47
would go to a local show in my area
6:48
where they they host local shows at like
6:50
three different venues. So they'll
6:52
rotate the venues every month. So I
6:54
would go there every month, buy books or
6:56
what I thought were really good prices.
6:58
And this is just when like things really
7:00
started to kick off. So I was buying
7:02
great books for great prices and
7:04
sometimes I would get them slabs. So
7:06
like my first initiation into the
7:09
slabbing. Now, I should say like back in
7:11
2000 when CGC just came about, I did
7:14
send a few books to them. So, I'm
7:16
talking about when I got back in, but I
7:19
wanted to try something else out. I had
7:20
used CGC in the past and my experience
7:23
was okay, but I I I do understand like
7:25
back then it was totally, you know, a
7:27
different situation. So, I wanted to try
7:29
something new. So, what I did was I did
7:31
some research and I I researched CGC, I
7:34
researched CBCS, and I actually
7:36
researched PGX, believe it or not. So, I
7:39
ended up choosing CBCS and instead of me
7:42
mailing the books in, which I was
7:43
really, really leery about, they were
7:45
they're going to be at a local show in
7:46
my area. And I ended up dropping off
7:48
like 10 to 15 books uh at the show. And
7:53
and I spoke to the uh gentleman at the
7:54
show, and we had a a good conversation
7:56
about like, you know, the time frame it
7:59
would take for these books to come back,
8:00
which, you know, for my reference was
8:02
about 3 months. They said, um, you know,
8:04
they gave me the process of how it gets
8:06
in. I kind of put into the system when
8:08
I'd get like contact back. And like I
8:10
said, keep this in mind, this is like
8:11
2017, you know, time frame. So, not like
8:14
what it is now. So, we had a good
8:16
conversation. I felt very comfortable
8:17
dropping the books off. Um, they said
8:19
they were in good hands. It one of them
8:20
was one of the biggest books I had ever
8:22
purchased at that time. A Fantastic 4
8:24
number one. So, dropped the books off,
8:27
got my receipt, so on and so forth. Now,
8:31
3 months go by. I don't even have
8:33
confirmation that they've put these
8:35
books into the system. So, I don't know
8:36
if you guys remember, but around that
8:38
time frame, they actually ended up
8:39
moving their headquarters to Texas. They
8:42
told nobody. Nobody had inclination that
8:45
was going on. Just kind of moved
8:47
overnight. And right around when I
8:49
dropped my books off is when it
8:50
happened. So, again, I end up putting in
8:54
several emails, several phone calls,
8:56
heard nothing after 3 months. So, at
8:58
this point, I'm like really getting
8:59
nervous. I'm like, "Shit, you know, what
9:01
happened on my books?" So, nobody could
9:03
kind of tell me anything when I spoke to
9:04
somebody on the phone. Basically, a year
9:07
goes by, I hear nothing, and I finally
9:09
get something in my email saying that
9:12
they they've graded one of the books,
9:13
the Fantastic 4. Mind you, this was a,
9:16
you know, that book was probably like a
9:18
a walkthrough book nowadays, so it
9:20
shouldn't have taken this long.
9:22
Regardless, a year goes by and they have
9:24
my book, and I finally get it back. I
9:27
wasn't happy with the grade regardless.
9:29
It has nothing to do with this point of
9:30
the conversation. But the fact that
9:32
there was no communication, the fact
9:34
that it took a year when it said it was
9:37
going to take up to 3 months for most of
9:38
my books to be graded was something that
9:41
was an extreme turnoff right then and
9:43
there. So, right then I had other books
9:45
that I wanted to grade and CBCS was done
9:47
for me. You know, I'll go further into
9:50
the story. I decided to go ahead and try
9:52
PGX when they just announced that they
9:55
were changing their label. So they the
9:56
label that they use now that wasn't
9:58
always the case which I'm sure some of
9:59
you guys know. So once once they got
10:01
that new label I sent a few books over
10:04
to PGX to kind of test out their
10:06
service. So again I had a similar
10:09
situation. This is again 2017 2018 maybe
10:12
at that point and it was ridiculous
10:16
because PGX also same thing. They could
10:18
not find my submission when I sent
10:20
submitted it. And again this is a long
10:21
time ago but they could not find my
10:22
submission. They ended up I ended up
10:24
reaching out to them and he ended up
10:25
finding it whatever and then getting the
10:27
books graded and and sent back to me.
10:29
Not a as big a situation as CBCS, but
10:32
still I was not happy with their
10:33
service. So then on I started using CGC.
10:37
At that point as well I became a lot
10:38
more familiar with you know what CGC was
10:41
doing. Their turnaround times were also
10:43
a lot better. People were more
10:44
interested in buying CGC books as well.
10:46
So I stuck with them going forward. And
10:49
for the most part with CGC, I have been,
10:51
you know, uh, you know, pretty happy
10:54
with their service, but I haven't
10:56
submitted a book in a really, really
10:57
long time, but that's a whole different
10:59
story. Okay. So, we're talking about why
11:01
CBCS failed. And the biggest thing that
11:03
we can talk about is the fact that from
11:06
what I've known about CBCS, and we're
11:08
going back to 2017 here, they have not
11:11
given customers what they've wanted. And
11:13
again, I'm going to get into another
11:15
story here. So
11:18
I reached out to them probably around
11:20
that 2018 2019 time frame like many
11:23
people were at that point about their
11:25
labels about other things going on with
11:26
their company. I guess you know this is
11:29
really where CGC had kind of like really
11:31
dominantly taken over and I had talked
11:33
to someone. We actually even arranged a
11:35
phone call and you know we had about an
11:37
hour's worth of conversation talking
11:39
about what could the company do to
11:41
better serve its customers. And
11:43
obviously everybody's going to
11:44
everybody's going to get caught up in
11:45
the label just like I was, you know,
11:47
back then. And the person I spoke to
11:49
basically flat out said that they don't
11:52
want to be like CGC. They didn't want to
11:54
compare themselves to CGC at all. They
11:57
didn't want a CGC label. Uh they didn't
11:59
want their label to actually be like a
12:01
CGC label. They wanted to keep it
12:03
entirely separate. And that was it. They
12:06
wanted to do what they were doing and
12:07
and just stay away from everything that
12:09
was com likely compared to CGC, which I
12:12
thought was a little bit ridiculous
12:13
considering that most collectors at that
12:15
time were using CGC and were happy with
12:18
what was going on for the most part,
12:19
right? So that that's the biggest
12:21
underlying factor. The conversation when
12:23
I had with this person, I don't remember
12:24
the person's name, nor would I I give
12:26
their name here on the podcast, but the
12:29
I came away from that conversation
12:31
incredibly disappointed and befuddled.
12:34
That's the the word I probably should be
12:35
using is just in awe of how they didn't
12:39
care about what the customer wanted at
12:41
this point.
12:44
The next thing that we can talk about is
12:46
that there was a stigma around CBCS
12:50
about grading too harshly, right? Uh
12:53
CGC, I don't think they graded too
12:55
harshly. I didn't think they graded too
12:56
easily. You know, over their time frame,
12:58
it's kind of rotated, right? there at
13:01
some points they were grading, you know,
13:02
very beneficially towards collectors and
13:05
there at some point they've gone where
13:06
they were being a little bit harsh. So I
13:08
think they've they've kind of acclimated
13:10
to themselves to what was going on in
13:12
the industry which you know whether you
13:14
want to complain about that or not,
13:15
whether you think that's good or not,
13:16
you know, we can have that in a separate
13:18
conversation. But CBCS grading too
13:21
harshly really doesn't benefit the
13:22
collector. I'm not saying the grade
13:24
shouldn't be accurate. It should. No
13:25
matter what company you use, the grading
13:28
should be accurate, right? it should be
13:30
an a an accurate representation of what
13:32
you think that grade should be. But I've
13:34
heard stories from other people saying
13:36
that they they were purposely being
13:38
harsh because they didn't want too many
13:39
9.8s out there uh in the census on their
13:43
census. So which I think is incredibly
13:46
ridiculous. Like you want to hear here
13:47
to please you customer. You want return
13:49
customers. You want people to use your
13:51
service. You want to give them the
13:53
benefit of the doubt. So if it's really
13:55
iffy, if something's a 9.6 or a 9.8, 8.
13:58
Maybe you say, you know what, this is a
13:59
really good customer. Let's give him
14:00
that 9.8. It's really marginal here.
14:03
Now, if something is obviously, you
14:06
know, really wrong with a book where it
14:07
it warrants that discrepancy of a 9.8 or
14:10
9.6, then so be it. But if if it's
14:12
something's on the fence and you're
14:13
trying to break into this industry and
14:15
you're trying to better your company and
14:17
get more people to use your service,
14:19
grading harshly is one of the dumbest
14:21
things that I have ever heard a company
14:23
do.
14:25
Next up, we have to talk about customer
14:27
service, right? You guys heard my story
14:29
about customer service. There was no
14:31
communication. Not only about them
14:32
moving, right? Because if I had known
14:34
they were going to move, I probably
14:35
would have held off uh making that
14:37
submission over at that show, but
14:38
because we got no communication, I
14:41
submitted and end up waiting a year when
14:42
I shouldn't had to. Obviously, trying to
14:45
call them got me nowhere. Nobody had any
14:47
type of information. This is way back
14:49
when. I' I've heard, you know, up until
14:50
recently, there was still no customer
14:52
service left to be had. when you call
14:54
them if something was missing or
14:55
something was not right or maybe your
14:57
books weren't in the system yet and
14:59
things were taking a lot longer than
15:00
they should have. No help whatsoever. So
15:04
again, we've touched on wanting to make
15:08
the customers happy. We've touched on
15:10
grading too harshly, which ties into
15:11
that. And we're also talking about
15:12
customer service, which again ties into
15:14
that as well. One of the biggest flaws
15:16
that CBCS did have was that the fact
15:19
that they had no marketing team
15:20
whatsoever. I I hadn't heard anything
15:22
from this company in the eight years
15:25
that I have been recollecting comics or
15:27
more. It's probably closer to nine years
15:28
at this point. How many times have you
15:30
saw an ad? How many times have you seen
15:34
them capitalize on better pricing? How
15:37
many times have you seen them, you know,
15:40
talk about books, put out like a real,
15:42
put out like a YouTube, put out
15:43
something anywhere to kind of promote
15:45
their service? I I don't ever remember
15:47
them ever doing that. The only time I
15:48
saw them put out something is when CGC
15:51
was going through through their Banagate
15:53
scandal, which is, you know, partially
15:54
still going on right now, but that's a
15:56
whole different conversation. We're
15:57
talking about a company trying to, I
16:00
said before, please the customer base
16:03
and there is no marketing whatsoever.
16:05
You know, it's funny because I've been
16:07
going to New York Comic-Con for the past
16:09
seven years or so, and when I first
16:12
started going there, CBCS had a bigger
16:15
booth, right? They were in a different
16:17
spot than CGC was, no question, than
16:20
than PSA was. And back then PSA was just
16:22
cards. It was a lot, you know, a lot
16:24
smaller booth than it is now. But again,
16:25
totally separate from the other comic
16:28
grading. And even away from comics.
16:29
There was actually no comics around
16:32
where I saw them at New York Comic-Con
16:34
way back when. And last year when I went
16:37
there, they didn't even go. The year
16:39
prior to that, they had an incredibly
16:41
small booth. not again not near the
16:44
comics, not near anything related to
16:47
grading whatsoever. So again, another
16:49
sign and this is right when they put out
16:51
their I think manga grading or some of
16:54
the other like um I forget what they're
16:56
called, but those those those um
16:58
paperback books. I'm I'm losing my mind
17:00
here today, so again I apologize, but
17:02
like where they were the first ones to
17:03
kind of grade those those certain books
17:05
and they were nowhere to be found near
17:07
the comics or the grading companies or
17:09
the manga, you know, collectors. So to
17:12
me, like I don't know if it's just they
17:15
wanted to be cheap, they didn't want to
17:16
market themselves, they didn't want to
17:18
be around the other grading companies
17:20
that was there, Allah CGC, or maybe they
17:23
didn't want to be seen. Regardless, when
17:26
we're talking about marketing and we're
17:27
talking about putting your company out
17:30
there and try to promote yourself, it
17:32
was never there. In the entire time,
17:34
almost nine years that I've been doing
17:35
this, they have never come out and said,
17:37
"You know what? Let me approach a
17:40
collector. let me approach uh a dealer.
17:42
Let me approach, you know, a YouTuber or
17:45
somebody who has a little bit of
17:46
influence in the community and say, "You
17:48
know what? Let's get together and try to
17:50
promote each other and kind of put both
17:52
of our products forward. Do you like our
17:54
product? Let's talk about it." You know,
17:57
I hate to say this, but a couple of guys
17:58
in our community who are are friends of
18:00
mine, you know, they talked to PSA about
18:04
PSA coming to the market for comics, and
18:06
they had input and what was going on.
18:08
Whether you agree with that or not,
18:09
that's a smart decision, right? You want
18:11
to come to market with the best possible
18:14
product you can. That's just business.
18:16
Um, from someone who's worked in the
18:17
retail space uh throughout their entire
18:19
professional career, retail, healthcare,
18:21
I understand both aspects of it. So, to
18:25
not want to put a product out there that
18:27
your customer wants, I think was one of
18:31
the the biggest flops, that's the word I
18:34
want to use, that I've ever seen from a
18:36
company that I could have possibly used.
18:38
And and that's all I'm going to say. Um,
18:41
no marketing team whatsoever. And if if
18:43
there was, they should all have been
18:44
fired years and years ago. So, you want
18:46
to add all these things up. What
18:48
incentive do comic collectors have to
18:50
send their items to you? Again, we could
18:52
talk in the beginning, like I mentioned
18:53
before, you had signature verication.
18:55
Okay, you had signatur signature
18:56
verication, but your labels were
18:58
terrible and collectors were clamoring
19:00
years ago saying, "Hey, you got to
19:02
change your label." No, we don't want to
19:03
change our label because we don't want
19:04
to be like CGC want us to do our own
19:06
thing. Okay, but that's not what
19:08
collectors want. We talked about PSA,
19:11
how a lot of collectors don't like their
19:12
red labels. Fine. PSA decided to change
19:15
the label a little bit from what we saw
19:17
in the beginning, but outside of that,
19:18
they want to stick to their red labels.
19:20
But again, I I'll talk to PSA right
19:22
here. Do what the customer base wants
19:25
because if you don't, you're never going
19:26
to grow. Now PSA, different giant name.
19:29
Obviously, they grade cards, the biggest
19:31
card grader in the space. They're now
19:34
grading comics. They grade video games
19:36
now after purchasing Wat. So again,
19:38
they're inviting other collectors into
19:40
their space which say, "Hey, maybe those
19:42
collectors collect comics, too. So maybe
19:44
they could they're happy with our, you
19:46
know, video game grading or our card
19:47
grading. Maybe they're going to come
19:48
over to comics." So I get it from their
19:50
aspect. They want to be uniform. CBCS
19:53
again another big thing that that they
19:55
didn't do. They never expanded. You can
19:56
go back and say all right they had
19:58
Beckett, right? They had Beckett which
20:00
was a you know a prominent card grader
20:02
in the industry for a really long time
20:03
but then what happened? Co hit and then
20:06
PSA exploded and and Becket has kindly
20:09
gone gone downhill from there. They do
20:11
have value still or PSA wouldn't have
20:12
purchased them. And you're starting to
20:14
see that now again where where Becket
20:15
has kind of picked up a little bit. So,
20:17
you know, kudos to PSA for for buying
20:19
that brand and kudos to Becket for kind
20:21
of realizing that as well. But CBCS,
20:24
there was no other expansion. They just
20:26
did what they're did and just kind of
20:28
flatlined after that. I've said this
20:30
before on a podcast and on other shows
20:33
that we talk about CGC, we talk about
20:36
PSA, and they grade the same things now.
20:39
Cards, comics, VHS, video games, they do
20:42
it all. I believe some of them even do
20:44
posters now, which we'll get into.
20:45
Magazines as well. There's another one.
20:48
But um which one of these companies is
20:50
going to be the first one to get into
20:52
toy grading.
20:54
You know, CGC
20:56
I think should probably take a look at
20:58
that. We have AFA and we also have CAS
21:01
now. And that's a whole another
21:02
conversation and a probably a whole
21:04
another podcast which I will talk about
21:06
in just toy grading. But one of these
21:08
companies needs to capitalize on that
21:11
area of collecting, right? Because we're
21:12
all cross collectors. That's what I call
21:14
us. But back to CBCS, why didn't they
21:17
expand into other collectibles? You had
21:19
cards, you had comics. All right, if the
21:21
comics weren't too great, why not bring
21:23
in another avenue of collecting just
21:24
like PSA did by bringing the Becket
21:26
brand over cuz now you're getting an
21:28
other another avenue for them. Same with
21:30
the water. They brought another avenue
21:32
in connect in collecting where they can
21:34
all house under one roof now under one
21:36
brand. That's the problem is CBCS didn't
21:39
have a brand. their brand that they had
21:41
was not good, not wellreceived, not
21:44
well-run, not well marketed, so on and
21:46
so forth. Everything that I've said so
21:48
far. So, not expanding into other parts
21:50
of collecting because collectors collect
21:53
multiple things is another death toll
21:55
for this company and I think push them
21:57
over the edge. But again, no incentive
22:00
for customers to send you their comics
22:01
or anything else for that matter. So,
22:03
with that said, I think I've given you a
22:05
good explanation and a kind of a good
22:07
why into why CBCS did fail. But what
22:12
happens now? Hey everyone, this message
22:14
is for brands, companies, publishers,
22:17
and fellow creators. If you've got a
22:19
product you'd like featured, reviewed,
22:22
or showcased, I'd love to connect. Here
22:24
at Mighty Comics and Collectibles, we
22:26
are passionate about all types of
22:28
collectibles from comics to toy reveals,
22:31
statues, and even event coverage,
22:33
including content from places like
22:35
Toyfare. I'm always looking to spotlight
22:38
cool, nostalgic, and innovative products
22:40
that fit the collectible culture. I
22:43
offer honest reviews, highquality
22:45
visuals, engaging thumbnails, and
22:47
authentic reactions that collectors
22:49
trust. Whether it's action figures,
22:52
limited editions, exclusives, or new
22:54
launches, I can create a dedicated
22:57
review, unboxing, hype video, or event
23:00
style coverage. If you're a brand or
23:02
independent creator and want your
23:04
product in front of a passionate
23:05
collector audience, reach out to me
23:07
directly. Let's collaborate and create
23:09
something awesome. So, what happens now?
23:11
We have CGC and we have PSA, two
23:14
dominant companies in the space. And
23:17
there are a lot of people out there who
23:18
use CGC for comics. I think CGC is
23:21
expanding their cards uh collector base.
23:24
Like a lot of people now are starting to
23:25
submit to CGC. They're starting to
23:27
realize that you know what PSA
23:29
themselves, it's a long turnaround time.
23:31
Uh the values are still there, but CGC's
23:34
values are also creeping up as well. So
23:35
you have CGC and you have PSA. And I'm
23:38
not sure where this is going to go for
23:40
comics, but I could tell you both
23:42
companies have a really good foundation.
23:45
There's a lot of comic collectors who
23:47
will not use CGC anymore. There is no
23:50
question about it. They don't like CGC.
23:54
They don't like all the scandals between
23:55
people swapping books out. They don't
23:57
like the case anymore because they're
23:58
too easy to open. Although they've tried
24:00
to rectify that situation. The grading
24:02
hasn't been, you know, accurate at
24:04
times. I I will say that there are
24:07
people out there who just there's too
24:09
much going on for them to submit books.
24:12
The Bengate we talked about. So, there's
24:14
just a lot out there for comic grading.
24:16
What really kills me, and it's none of
24:18
that, and and I may be the only person
24:20
who says that, you ever submit a book to
24:23
CGC and you get it back and you notice
24:26
that the label, the number, the grade on
24:28
the label is not centered in the [ __ ]
24:31
center of the the block, right? They
24:33
have a big, you know, square where they
24:35
put the number. It's not centered. That
24:38
drives me insane. And it's just a little
24:40
thing, but it's about quality control.
24:41
And that's where CGC has kind of really
24:44
deteriorated over the past five or 6
24:47
years. Their quality control has been
24:50
abysmal. And the little things like that
24:52
are the reason that collectors have
24:54
flocked from CGC and possibly have given
24:57
CBCS a chance or now are giving PSA a
24:59
chance or all in all just not grading
25:01
your books like like me, right? I for me
25:03
it's more about the money and the cost
25:05
of things which I think is another topic
25:07
as well. But um I think PSA has a
25:10
chance. But I want to tell them here if
25:13
you ever listen to this podcast, maybe
25:15
somebody will and share it with them.
25:17
You got to be on board and helping your
25:19
collector base. The people who use your
25:22
service, you have to listen to them. You
25:24
don't listen to everything, don't get me
25:25
wrong, but when you didn't listen about
25:27
the label, when you obviously you're
25:30
raising prices. We we've seen you raise
25:32
card prices now. We've seen you about to
25:34
raise comic book prices because you got
25:36
that introductory rate which is now
25:37
going to go bye-bye. Same with CGC, you
25:40
know, you know, raising prices like
25:41
three times over the past year or
25:42
whatever it was, which I called, by the
25:44
way. I will say that. What are you doing
25:47
for your customer base? Now, there are a
25:49
lot of collectors out there who submit
25:51
books no matter what. They don't care.
25:53
They're there to make money. They're
25:54
there to get a definitive grade on what
25:56
their comic should sell for. And I've
25:58
said that for a really long time. And I
25:59
do think that the grading is here to
26:02
stay. And there is a benefit to it
26:03
because there are. I do think that
26:05
having a third-party graded item is
26:07
going to give you peace of mind when you
26:09
go ahead and sell a book. And I think a
26:10
lot of collectors out there still when
26:11
you're buying a book, it gives you peace
26:13
of mind. But are they always right? You
26:15
guys know they're not. I've seen
26:16
instances where golden age books have
26:18
been graded that are not restored and
26:20
all of a sudden, you know, people get
26:22
them relabed or regraded and now they're
26:24
coming back different grades, pieces are
26:26
missing, found restoration, so on and so
26:29
forth. So, it's never a 100% guarantee,
26:33
but what it is, a peace of mind for a
26:35
short period of time frame if you want
26:37
to sell a book. Now, we could talk about
26:39
moderns about submitting moderns and
26:41
trying to get those 98s. People are
26:42
doing that obviously because they want
26:43
to make money. They want to flip those
26:45
books and try to cash in their pocket to
26:47
kind of buy more books and do it again
26:49
because it's a business for a lot of
26:50
people. And that's really what the
26:52
collector space has become, not just in
26:54
comics, but in everything. I don't hear
26:56
about a lot of people talking about I
26:57
want to own this because it means
26:58
something to me. It's still out there
27:00
for people like me. I know a couple
27:02
people that I'm friendly with. They talk
27:04
about the same thing. They want it
27:05
because they have sentimental value to
27:06
it. But I'm talking to you guys out
27:08
there right now. CGC and PSA. For the
27:11
majority of collectors who do this as a
27:13
business, what is the incentive for them
27:15
to send you their books? And more
27:17
importantly, who is going to be the
27:19
first to capitalize on CBCS's departure?
27:21
Now, you're going to say, "Well, PSA
27:23
bought CBCS, so everything's going to go
27:24
over there." That is not the case. There
27:26
are people who only use CBCS because
27:28
they didn't like did not like CGC. And
27:30
there are people out there who haven't
27:32
yet used PSA because they were okay with
27:34
CBCS. What happens now? Are those people
27:38
going to say, you know what, I'd rather
27:39
go back to CGC and deal with their
27:40
nonsense, or am I going to try PSA for
27:43
the first time? And I think you're
27:44
probably going to have a little bit of
27:45
both, but which company is going to
27:47
capitalize on it first, right? We offer
27:50
crossover grading. Who's going to be the
27:52
first to say we're going to offer
27:53
crossover grading for any CBCS graded
27:56
book at a 50% discount? I know CGC used
27:58
to do crossover grading years ago. I am
28:00
not too sure if they do it still or not,
28:02
but having to get all those CBCS books
28:07
off their shelves because obviously
28:09
dealers a lot of times have trouble
28:10
selling CBCS books. they sell for an
28:13
80%, you know, CGC grade on the same
28:16
book, which, you know, is another thing
28:18
we probably should have talked about
28:19
earlier, but that's another reason they
28:21
didn't do them themselves any favor by
28:22
not listening to the customer base. So,
28:25
which company's going to do their due
28:27
diligence first and offer that 50%
28:30
crossover grading service? That's who I
28:32
think is going to get the bulk of the
28:34
service. Now, with that said, they still
28:36
have to do a good job, right? I haven't
28:38
heard any complaints about PSA about
28:41
their customer service. I haven't heard
28:43
any complaints about PSA regarding the
28:45
grading as of yet. Some people may not
28:47
agree with certain things here or there.
28:49
I have heard complaints that they
28:50
haven't put certain things on the label.
28:52
I'll tell you another quick story here
28:53
is like I have submitted two books to
28:55
PSA. One was a mini comic from the
28:57
Masters of Universe original toy line
28:59
which you know they graded, came back to
29:01
me, no issue. I like the case. The
29:02
label's okay to me, but there were a few
29:04
things that I would like to have seen on
29:06
that label that were not included. Uh, I
29:08
did submit a magazine to them as well
29:11
that I dropped off at New York Comic-Con
29:13
this past year. It definitely took them
29:15
a little bit longer to get that book
29:16
back to me, but I also think they they
29:18
kind of let it known that magazines
29:20
style and size books submissions were
29:22
going to take a little bit longer, so I
29:24
was okay with waiting. Not a big deal.
29:25
But again, not a lot of information
29:28
given on the label that I thought should
29:30
have been on the label, even for a
29:32
magazine. So, that's something I think
29:33
they really have to get corrected. But,
29:36
I want to hear from everybody out there
29:37
in the comments. Were you a CBCS
29:39
customer? Did you use them recently?
29:41
What do you think about them closing? Is
29:43
it going to affect the market at all? Or
29:45
do you think just people are going to go
29:47
over to CGC or PSA? You have used CBCS
29:50
in the past. You have a preference now
29:51
on who you'll be using. going back to
29:54
CGC if you've used them before or
29:56
heading over to PSA to try something
29:58
new. PSA offers a service for cards,
30:00
obviously the vault where you can kind
30:02
of get something graded and then enlist
30:03
it automatically without the book coming
30:05
to you, which is a huge deal that I
30:08
think CGC should probably look into
30:10
because that is a big one. And if and if
30:12
PSA Comics ever takes off, I think that
30:14
is the one big factor that will kind of
30:17
kind of put PSA over the top. But again,
30:20
they have to get big books into their
30:23
slabs. And the one big book that I did
30:25
see, someone ended up cracking it out.
30:27
It was AF NF-15 and getting it regraded
30:30
by CGC. So that that's it, right? If
30:34
you're a customer though, I want to hear
30:36
from you. I want to see what you're
30:37
willing to do. I've told you guys this,
30:39
my stance. I've never really had an
30:41
issue with CGC with them grading books.
30:43
It's all about quality control. Give me
30:46
that grade in the center of the label.
30:48
And if it's not in the center of the
30:49
label, [ __ ] fix it, right? Fix it. I
30:53
want to make sure that my slab looks
30:55
good. I want to make sure that my comic
30:57
is protected. Again, PSA has a superior
31:00
case. There's no question in my mind. It
31:02
looks good. It feels good. Is it a
31:03
little heavy? Sure. Um, obviously, the
31:06
big issue is the label. People have an
31:08
issue with that. But again, customer
31:10
wants what the customer wants. And it's
31:12
we're going to find out which of these
31:13
big companies is going to give the
31:15
customer what they want. And until
31:17
somebody does, I think you're going to
31:19
go back and forth. At the end of the
31:21
day, whoever makes the biggest misstep
31:23
is going to falter. That's what I think.
31:25
Just like CBCS, you have to adapt. I
31:28
think certain certain companies will,
31:30
certain won't, but you have to give the
31:32
customer what they want. Again, I want
31:33
to remind you guys to do your due
31:36
diligence when you're using a grading
31:37
company. If you like grading comic
31:38
books, if you don't, you don't have to
31:40
grade your stuff either. Keep that in
31:42
mind. It does give you a definitive
31:43
value on what your collectible is worth.
31:46
If you'd like to become a sponsor here
31:47
on the Mighty Rewind podcast, make sure
31:49
you reach out at the mighty rewind
31:51
podcast atgmail.com.