Proliferation of CBCS Slabs

[nycjadie]

Having personally submitted and graded several thousand slabs, and purchased many more, I have learned a lot over the years about grading and consistency. I've also learned a lot about the differences between CBCS and CGC. Personally, I find CGC more consistent and I have found noticeable defects in CBCS slabs that give me the impression of grade inflation (i.e. a 9.8 should really be a 9.6 or 9.4, or a 9.9 should really be a 9.8). That experience influences my buying decisions and the perceived grades by CBCS and CGC.

All this gets to the prevalence of CBCS slabs on the secondary market. I've bought a few because I had to if I wanted a specific book in a grade. I've asked people why they use CBCS and the answer comes down to turnaround time and the ridiculously long backlog at CGC. Shops for example are fine knowingly making less on a book graded by CBCS rather than tie up that capital in a book that will take a year to grade.

What this means is a lot more books are being graded by CBCS (frankly, I think a lot more books are being graded altogether). I wonder if this shift (possibly necessary) will mean among collectors. Will they be more apt to collect a CBCS slab? Will they be more apt to submit to CBCS?

[possumgrease]

I am not exactly brand loyal to CGC, but I do tend to buy way more (90%+) CGC than CBCS.

It’s sort of stupid too because I just prefer the CGC label. I’ve not handled enough books to know whether the grading is equivalent so I’ve got to rely on curb appeal.

I’m finally getting ready to submit a stack of my own books, and I’m going with CGC for this first round.

[ckb]

I am not sure CBCS can ever overcome the advantage CGC has with their long established registry and competitive set building - putting all other factors aside.

Your intel seems dead-on to me about why CBCS is being used a lot right now. Really it can only help CBCS, but I still think they perpetually stay a minority share. If the problems CGC has had over the last 2 years with expanding and training new people, and their own inconsistency, hasn't lost them customers, almost nothing will.

[lobo]

I have not submitted to CBCS yet but have submitted many hundreds to CGC. I also own MANY slabs (thousands) and they are 99% CGC.

One service that intrigues me about CBCS that I'll eventually take advantage of is Signature verification though I wonder if its really worth the money. I have some Spidey books with combinations of Stan Lee and McFarlane signatures that really need to be properly graded. Other than that I see no other benefit to 'go with' CBCS.

Also the CBCS label also does not spark joy for me though the CGC label isn't exactly perfect either.

Does CBCS have a collector registry like CGC? Because I rely heavily on the CGC registry to keep track of which books I own and in what grades. Checking one source for my collection inventory tends to keep me loyal to CGC book collecting if not loyal to their grading services.