TIL a casual chat with a guy at my local shop made me rethink comic grading

Honestly, I was at Comic Kingdom in Denver last week and started talking to this older collector who was buying raw copies of X-Men #266. He said he stopped sending books to CGC because he felt the grade culture was ruining the fun of reading. He told me, 'I just want to flip through them without worrying about a 9.8.' It hit different because I've spent the last year chasing high grades and probably sunk $400 into slabbing fees. Now I'm torn between treating comics as investments or just enjoying them as stories. How do you all balance the two sides, the monetary value against the actual reading experience? Has anyone else had a similar moment where a random conversation made you question the whole grading game?

3 comments

3 Comments

rose_reed29d ago

Actually X-Men #266 key value is mostly driven by Deadpool's first appearance, not the grading bubble. I slabbed a copy last year and it came back a 9.6, but I still cracked it open to read because that Broderick art deserves a flip-through.

bennett.evan29d ago

Whoa YOU actually cracked open a 9.6 slab? That is INSANE.

ellis.faith29d ago

Dude I did the same thing with my 9.6 Web of Spider-Man #1 last year. That cover is just too good to leave locked up in plastic so I cracked it open and read the whole thing on a Sunday afternoon. Totally worth it man.