Aloha CHUniverse, Alana here, and welcome to my second PGX unboxing. I was happy with my first 20 books sent to PGX so I sent another 20. Just like last time there’s good and bad, let’s see how I did.
Superman/Batman #8 SDCC Turner Virgin Variant.
I love this cover and I love all Turner Supergirl. I took a hint from my first attempt with PGX and sent a lot of store variants this time because they all came back last time as 9.8s.
Avenging Spider-Man #9 Double Signed.
This should be a 9.8. Looks like another back cover killed it with a small crease. Looks pressable, I asked all my books to be scanned for pressing looks like this slipped through the cracks. ? Regardless paid $9 free shipping on it.
Alias #1 Signed.
Just like the book above this should be a 9.8 so more back cover BS. This is one of those stupid overpriced Dynamic Forces Signed books. Shame on you DF for giving damaged books. Bought on eBay before season 1 for $28. Have another 9.8 candidate to send of this book.
Marvel Premiere #15
This sucks was never advertised as missing value stamp when I purchased it. Was about 7 years ago I didn’t pay much for it like $25, but still a little heartbreaking. I was thinking 8.0 complete.
Hulk #181
This one really sucks! It was advertised as having its value stamp when I bought it about 7 years ago. It was so beat I sent it for grading to preserve what’s left was hoping for 1.5-2.0 complete. Paid $100 for it so still didn’t do too bad, but maybe I’ll upgrade my copy in the future.
Fantastic Four #52
Happy with a 4.0 on this paid $12 in auction about 7 years ago. I should of only been buying this book back then I would of been rich today.
Edge of Venomverse #1 Natali Sanders Signed
Most beautiful cover ever definitely needs to be encased and put on the wall!
Edge of Venomverse #1 Greg Horn
Going to notice a theme with all these E of V #1 9.8s. These are all going on the same shelf displayed in the open. Would be very sad for these to sit in boxes never to see the light of day.
Edge of Venomverse #1 Greg Horn
My favorite of the Horn renditions of Gwenom.
Edge of Venomverse #1 Greg Horn SDCC
Cha Ching 9.8 3 cover virgin set!
Edge of Venomverse #1 Mattina 1:50
And the cherry on top.
Iron Man #55
This is a win for me. I bought it advertised as a 2.5 for $165 came back 4.5 winner winner chicken dinner.
Star Wars #1
Was hoping 9.0-9.2, nope but still great considering I paid $10 in 2010 for it.
Luke Cage Hero for Hire #1
Was hoping for a 7.0 was close. Paid $30 a few years ago. You can tell I binged Defenders before packing this order up, I sent all my Defenders firsts off minus my Daredevil #1 because it hole punched.
Tales of Suspense #57
This came back as a nice surprise. Picked this up in a live auction with a stack of other old books including 1st Mr. Freeze for $40 back when there was a live auction house here.
Harbinger #1
Boo! I thought this was a 9.8- 9.9 with how sharp all the corners were. I guess the back cover has some tanning or staining Boo!! Paid $40 at the LCS when they first opened a couple years back.
Amazing Spider-Man #569 1:10 Variant
Should be a 9.8 no reason that it’s not. Dear PGX, I don’t think the comic market would come crashing down if you gave this a 9.8 instead of a 9.6. You did the same thing to me last order with my Gwenpool Howard the Duck variant.
Edge of Spiderverse #2
My copy I felt was perfect, came back that way. I know you love it Poyo ❤️
Wonder Woman #26 SDCC Foil Variant.
Happy to get a 9.8 it has some of those imperfections that people say are reflections, they are not they are creases that you can only see when viewing from one direction. Going to send off my other Wonder Woman foil from NYCC Anthony got me it’s absolutely flawless (because Anthony does rock).
All New Wolverine #2 1:25 Variant
Kinda mad they didn’t put fist Gabby on the label. Paid $40 for this because Mel talked up Gabby one day.
Happy and sad all at the same time, I love the anticipation of unboxing freshly graded books. I ask that you please share your grading service experiences for Anthony to post. I would love to see what other people are sending for encasing and grades they are receiving back. I can’t be the only one doing Show and Tell.
38 thoughts on “Alana's Grading Service Unboxing: PGX Round 2”
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Total price for the 20 Graded books 3 with signature verifications, and some older books which get charged more. $390, lil bit more then the first time because I got a first timers discount and had no signatures to verify on that order. But still less then $20 a book avg!
$390 That’s with shipping both ways.
Nice set of books! Too bad about those missing stamps! In the early days of Ebay that would happen all the time. Now I go over all bronze and silver with a fine tooth comb…even the cheapo ones. I am still surprised at how many I find missing coupons or value stamps that aren’t listed as such. Thank goodness Ebay has a really good return policy.
Those Value Stamps are a killer. Just acquired that Marvel Premiere recently in a trade with a friend. 1st thing I asked “Is the MVS intact?” It was gone. He’d had the book for 20 years and had no idea.
Y’know, since it is pretty beat up you might want to think of displaying the Hulk 181. Would still look awesome hanging on a wall!
I agree.. I want a Hulk 181.
Very nice books. I have the same Greg horn and Natali Sanders variants displayed
Edge of Spiderverse #2.. you should sell those.. I should sell mine. I still have 2 copies myself, been holding out long term on them since I sold 2 when they first peaked as the prices seemed to have dropped on them.
The funny thing is, I sold one probably in 9.4 or 9.6 for about $80. The other one I had was damaged from midtown order. At the time I didn’t bother sending back (was already sold out anyways) so I gave to the 7 year old at the time to read and have. It got tossed around her room for months and that’s when I decided to list it. I still sold that beat up copy for $65, I’d imagined it ended up a good 4.0 or 5.0 if they went and got it graded.
I think you should sell your other copy.
I should.. I’m trying to sell a bunch lately. I hauled off a long box to half price last week of the ones that wouldn’t sell.
You have some nice books there.
That All-New Wolverine 2
Very very nice comics ,, but your part of a community that only talks comics?! How does someone not know or not check a Bronze Age comic for a value stamp before (asking) or after (flipping through the pages) when purchasing?!! This website is SO informative!!!!
To be honest I have been guilty of that as well. Although I check all the time now, there was a time not all that long ago, especially before grading companies became mainstream where the vast majority of Bronze age books, even some keys were not all that valuable so people checked for missing stamps a lot less.
I’ve bought some bronze age books I’m scared to touch or open, just to prevent myself from damaging. So I could see someone doing the same with their books.
Whoa Richard G lol may have to go back to using my full first name Richard Sean so I don’t get confused lol. I’m like huh, I didn’t make that comment
Shame the market wants CGC, you get laughed at for PGX books
PGX has had a bit of a rocky history. I do believe they have corrected much of what people had issues with. Seems so anyway. They will probably be looked at as the red headed step child of grading services for a while at least. However, they do offer a good price and return time table for grading and to be fair their overall grading seems to be on par with other services. Personally, I have grown fond of CBCS. To each their own. One thing is for sure, at the very least, encapsulating books from any grading service offers a lot more protection than not having them encapsulated..and they display very well!
CGC has some rocky history as well. None of them are perfect.. just collectors put CGC on the highest pedestal and give none of the others the time of day or chance. I swear it’s like talking to kids with their ears plugged, them yelling.. na na na na.. na na na.. na na.. I can’t hear you when the topic even comes up.
I like my comics raw.. RAW! To each their own though. I don’t shame those with PGX books.. if you’re so one sided and just follow all the other cows in the pasture, you deserve to get slaughtered. 😉
I do agree, but until the market recognizes them I’ll stick to CGC and CBCS just to be safe, being from the UK anyway its a pain in the bum to get books graded anywhere without ridiculous costs
Also Poyo I wasn’t shaming anyone just to be clear.
@ Ryan H…. Isn’t their a European comic grading service out there? Thought I have seen some of those books floating around.
@Ryan H, I know your comment wasn’t shaming PGX customers.. I was just talking in general.
Agreed. I sent a Tales of Suspense 41 (about a 2.0 tops) to cbcs for grading to keep the book from deteriorating
Alana. And not to speak for her, usually has not a lot of interest in selling as much as protecting and collecting.
CBCS just got bought by Beckett. I think that should help those in the UK because maybe they set up grading over there like they have for cards already. And it should give a huge boost to the CBCS name.
I live in Tampa FL so it’s only a 30 to 45 min. drive to CGC or CBCS to drop off books. All the local shops here have it made in terms of grading as cheap as possible!
Yeah. Makes me wish I live in Florida. I love cbcs but the shipping prices for one book are a killer. I always wait until I have multiple books I want or need graded
That’s not a good reason to live in Florida… Wait until you are retired and ready to die, that’s why everyone else moves to Florida.. at least from what I’ve heard. 😛
Some people just live there Poyo.
What? Really? 😉
I used to live there…waaaay back in the 70’s. Used to play hooky from school, climb a tree by the lake and see how many gators and water snakes I could count until it was found out I didn’t show for school.
First off great books!
I’m still trying to find someone who’s used their pressing service. I’ve got several books I could send off that probably need a light press to get from a 9.6 to 9.8 but i’ve seen no personal reviews of their pressing service yet.
I have a friend who just used their pressing service. I will see if he will come over and comment.
Here you go. Here is what he emailed me:
It was my 1st time using pgx so I sent some cheap comics, just to test the service.
The complete turnaround time was about a month. I sent two books to be pressed, awesome hulk 22 and nyx 4 both came back 9.8. the nyx 4 had a number of non-break creases. I think PGX pressing services are better than cgc or cfp services, unless pgx is overgrading books. I would stay away from cgc pressing, some of the books I sent in for pressing look like they never have been pressed.
The last three books were walking dead 171, 2 copies and venomverse variant. All came back 9.8.
I primarily use cgc but the turnaround time is close to three months for regular service.
I probably would never use pgx for an expensive book, just because it would be difficult to sell.
I have only used CGC pressing service once for my Avengers #1… I thought it was a 5.0 or 5.5 at best..came back a 6.0 so I wasn’t complaining. That’s really all the pressing experience I have with anyone.
Yes you need to look at the back covers of your books before you buy them as well as count pages and look for value stamps. Back covers can kill your books. New Marvel books have tons of light to medium scuffs on the back cover right side and you’ll be at a 9.6-9.2 before you know it. CGC’s pressing services are incredible these days. They have made a lot of changes to their pressing techniques and they can work wonders now on books but you have to do full press’. Don’t be cheap and do quick presses because you’ll be left wondering why your books aren’t grading higher and still have a finger bend or two. I just had a House of Secrets #92 silver reprint signed by Wrightson and Louise Simonson and it pressed from probably a 7.0 to a 9.2 and a Swamp Thing Annual signed by Wrightson and Adrienne Barbeau pressed from about an 8.5 to a 9.8. Pretty Awesome!!!
That’s pretty good results Rob!
I am starting a pile to send to PGX (this crap with the Dark Night NYCC Bulletproof variants is putting a hitch in the giddyup though! grrr). I have had no issues with CGC and they were highly regarded until it seemed CBCS wanted to market themselves by smearing CGC. My first and only batch I sent to CBCS went horribly. Missed my turnaround by over a month.
To my knowledge PGX has one issue that turned out to be a hoax. While Alana might a not like to hear it, the 9.6s she received are sort of a relief to me. I trust the professionals to discern those finer points. I want my 9.8s to be 9.8s, not “close enough”.
In closing, if those in the comic collecting/selling community can share their positive experiences, we can undo the possibly unfair damage to PGX’s reputation and in turn help the value of the books graded by them.
Just a thought.