Comic Guaranty LLC
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| Private | |
| Industry | Collectibles |
| Founded |
January 4, 2000 Parsippany, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Headquarters | Sarasota, Florida, U.S. |
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Area served
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Worldwide |
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Key people
|
Mark Haspel (President) |
| Services | Comic book grading |
| Parent | Certified Collectibles Group |
| Website | www.cgccomics.com |
Certified Guaranty Company, also known as CGC, is a Sarasota, Florida comic book grading service. CGC is an independent member of the Certified Collectibles Group of companies. It is the first independent and impartial third party grading service for comic books.
The company was launched in early 2000 and has since gone on to become a notable part of the comic book collecting community. CGC's current President, Mark Haspel (as of July 2008), is also the company's primary grader.
Comic books are sent to CGC for grading and encapsulation either directly by the owner through CGC's website or through an authorized dealer. People sending in comics themselves can get a 10% discount from CGC by using the "Internet Partners" links on their submission page. Comics may also be submitted to the company from an individual who signs up for one of their two membership options, associate or premium, and pays an annual membership fee. A person does not need to be a member of anything CGC-related to send books in, nor is a comic dealer middleman required to submit books. The company also accepts submissions in person by sending representatives to several comic book conventions. Upon receipt, the comics are inspected by 1 pre-grader for obvious defects (missing pages, etc.) and are then graded by 3 graders in a temperature- and humidity-controlled environment. The grades are not averaged together, the Head Grader determines the final grade. So for example, if 2 graders rated a book at 7.0 and the Head Grader decided it was a 7.5, the book is a 7.5. The graders look for damage and signs of restoration. The comic books are then graded on a scale from 0.5 to 10. These numbers correspond with more traditional descriptive grades such as "very fine", "near mint", and "mint", with the higher numbers indicating a better grade.
In addition to the numeric grade, CGC also uses color-coded labels to categorize comics:
For example, an otherwise "near mint" condition book with a 4-inch back cover tear would be given a Qualified grade of "9.0, back cover 4-inch tear."
After grading, the comics are placed in an inner well - a sealed sleeve of Barex, a highly gas-impermeable plastic polymer. Then, the comics are sonically sealed in a hard plastic, tamper-evident holder. This process is often referred to in comics jargon as "slabbing". A label is affixed at the top indicating the title, date, grade, page quality, and any notes, such as notable creators. Books which would be damaged by encapsulation are returned without this process.
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Wikipedia