Comic Book Certification Service has announced there was a problem with one batch of their comic book holders or “slabs.” I received the following e-mail today from Steve Borock of CBCS:

I have some unfortunate and important news about CBCS.

It has come to our attention that a very small percentage of our inner sleeves are cracking during shipment. Being collectors and hobbyists ourselves, this is completely unacceptable to us and we are taking the necessary steps to prevent this from happening in the future.

After doing much research, testing, and then finally talking with our plastics people since these occurrences, we have identified that the second batch of plastic in which the fractures are occurring were partially “recycled” PETG and not “virgin” PETG. It seems our plastics company thought they were being environmentally friendly by switching to the recycled PETG. That’s great. I love helping our planet and our children’s future, but since they did not understand certification and our process, that was a choice they should have asked us about before changing the PETG.

Because of this, we have halted the use of the recycled PETG and will now have to wait a month or even more before we can get the new virgin PETG molded and in our facilities. At that time, we will test and re-test our plastic before resuming certifiying your comic books.

Just to be clear, comics encapsulated in the unaffected first batch of PETG should be perfectly fine. In the meantime, we will be reviewing our records to determine which comics were affected by the inferior batch of plastics and contacting the owners of those comic books and their clients individually to coordinate free re-holders and free return shipping.

CBCS will still be taking submissions during this transition period and will be offering heavy discounts for any books submitted that are still at our offices or submitted from now until we get the properly encapsulated books out the door. For any submitter who would like their books returned, CBCS will do this free of any charge.

Please remember that I, along with the rest of theCBCS crew, have been life long hobbyists and care more about your comic books than the hundred thousand dollars (or more) that we will lose. All new companies go though some “growing pains,” but we promised a very transparent and honest company from the very beginning, and that’s what CBCS will continue to be as long as I am at the helm.

CBCS has the most experienced graders and the most friendly and helpful customer service people in our hobby, so please rest assured that we will continue to look out for each and every one of you and to keep finding ways to improve our services and the product we provide for collectors. I believe wholeheartedly, that it means as much to us, as it does to you, to keep our hobby healthy and moving forward.

Please feel free to contact us with any questions or comments that you may have by emailing us at: customerservice@CBCScomics.com or call us toll free at 844-870-CBCS (2227).

As always, we want to thank you for all your continued support,
-Steve Borock and the CBCS crew

If you are willing to wait, this may be a good time to send some comics to CBCS for a discounted rate.