Somebody likes it RAW

When you collect comics or you just decide to buy some comics as investment, you will at a point wonder if it will be better to own "raw" comics or "graded" comics.

"RAW" is the term to refer to comics as these are published by companies and sold by comic shop. It is an obvious synonymous of "UNGRADED".

"GRADED" is the term to refer to comics which are submitted to a "grading company" and, after being examined by professional grader employed by the company, receive a "grading point" and get encapsulated.

Especially for newbies who are not expert graded, buying and selling graded comics it's an obvious advantage because it is the only possible way to be absolutely sure about the real state of conservation of the comic, indicated by the "grading point".

Another important aspect of the graded comics is the "holder" which helps to preserve the actual state of conservation of the comic.
We are going to take a look to the plastic holder used by CGC, the worldwide leading "grading company", based in Florida, USA.

The following, is a picture of an empty CGC holder!

A comic book was inside the holder but we have opened it and removed the comic. It is made using a resistant and thick plastic and has fixing point on each corner and a long welding on the side.

As you can clearly see, it is very depth and there is absolutely enough space for the comic. It was not easy to open it!

It is not enough! At CGC really care about the safety of your comics, and every single comic get sealed inside a rigid plastic bag where it is conserved in vacuum.

This is an important precaution to preserve the comic from the corrosive action of oxigen, from the dust and, if you are a smoker, to avoid that the paper absorb the smell of cigarettes. Anyway it is ever better to keep your comic in a safe place, away from direct source of smoke, light and humidity, because if the CGC holder cannot protect from these two last menaces...

Take a look at the empty plastic bag.

The bag is made using a really thin, elastic but hard plastic, and it is the exact size of the comic. In this way the comic will be kept clean and pressed and, if one day it will be pulled off, it will absolutely be in the same state of the day in which it was graded.

So, we have seen that there are different reason to decide to preserve the comics graded. It is not just about authenticity and grading but mainly it is all about conservation, and a comic perfectly conserved is a comic which increase in value!

You wonder how to get you own comics graded by CGC if you live in UK? It is very simple! Just contact us!