Nerding 101: CGC Comics

Hello everyone! HUGE apologies for the lack of post last night, it was my birthday, so I took the evening off to have dinner in a castle with my friends! That's right, a castle. And it was awesome. :-)

Tonight we will be discussing the CGC. CGC (which stands for Certified Guarantee Comapany) is a comic book grading company who will help protect your super rare comics. Well, they'll give you a grade on comic, it just makes more sense to do it when the comic is worth a a lot. The comic book in question is rated on a scale from 1-10. 1 being the lowest grade, 10 being the highest. Most comic books that you pick up at a store, especially if they were freshly bagged and boarded and virtually untouched would be between a 9 and 9.5. The more scratches, folds, dents, tears and fingerprints are on the comic the lower the grade is.

Below the CGC describes the investment you'll make with them:

Professional comic book grading eliminates concerns about grade misrepresentations by providing an expert assessment of condition and quality. Every comic book certified by CGC is graded by the hobby’s most experienced and trusted team, according to well-established grading standards. Furthermore, every CGC-certified comic book undergoes a thorough restoration check by leading professionals during the certification process. When restoration is detected, it is fully noted on the certification label.

Once certified by CGC, a comic book is encapsulated in a state-of-the art, tamper-evident holder, providing superior protection and stability for long-term preservation.

CGC employees are prohibited from commercially buying or selling comic books, eliminating any potential conflicts of interest. CGC is the only expert, impartial, third-party certification service.

Over one hundred thousand comic books are submitted to CGC each year. Books are carefully handled and tracked through the grading process, and always fully insured while on our premises. You can explore comic book grading by tracing through the grading process.

After your comic book is carefully inspected by a number of different professional graders, the comic is then encapsulated in plastic, and the grade of the comic is encapsulated with the comic for all time. Once the comic is graded and encapsulated, you'd better hope you read it before it went in there, because there is no reading a comic once it had been CGC'd (unless you crack open the case that you just paid allll that money for).

If you have one of these laying around, congratulations, you're a millionaire!

So, if you have an Action Comics #1 or just a Walking Dead #1 laying around, it would probably be worth your while to contact the CGC!

For more information on CGC, check out their website here.