Messages posted by: Hqdepot

I've already addressed this issue in two other forum listings, but the bottom line is: PGX grading is more stringent and I think more accurate than CGC, who tend to grade higher than what the book actually deserves. Having said that I should state for the record that I buy and use both. But my opinion stands.

Thanks Jballs. This CGC myth has got to be laid to rest! I have been buying, selling and collecting comics since 1966, when I learned how to grade and store comics by the man who opened the very first official "Comic Book Store" in NYC (I mean, these were the days when you could get "back issues" by sending a quarter to the publisher!). Anyway, over the years I have owned and examined literally hundred's of CGC graded books and I can say, without hesitation, that in more than half the cases the books were actually a good 1 grade point lower in quality than the grade they provided. Conversely I have found that PGX seems to grade books as much as a half point lower than what I would grade them myself. Recently I have even observed some CGC graded books (7's and 8's) that I would have given 5's and 6's while some 9.4's and 9.6's from PGX were clearly 9.8 or higher! I can only attribute this to the fact that CGC involves a paid membership in addition to their normal pricing, and I'm sure there is nothing more important to them than keeping their constituency happy. By the way, I buy and use them both, so I have no horse in this race. I just think that you're getting a more accurate grade from PGX.

I agree 100% with Starman. I have been buying, selling and collecting comics since 1966, when I learned how to grade and store books from the man who opened the first official "Comic Book Store" in NYC (I mean, these were the days when you could get "back-issues" by sending a quarter into the publisher). Over the years I have viewed multiple hundreds of CGC gradings and almost without exception I would say that the books were, on average, a full grade lower in quality than what CGC graded them. I've recently even seen CGC "7's and 8's" that I would have given 5's or 5.5's. Conversely, I have submitted and observed books graded by PGX which were almost always a half grade lower than where the comics should have actually been graded (a bunch of 9.8's that were given 9.4's and 9.6's by PGX). I can only attribute this to the fact that CGC is a paid, Membership community and what could be more important to them than keeping their constituency happy. Don't buy the claim that CGC is better than PGX. It's really just not true in any way.