FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

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CGC is the world's largest third-party grading service for comics; accurate, consistent and impartial grading from CGC has made the hobby safer, more transparent and more vibrant. Collectors and dealers trust that any collectible graded by CGC has been authenticated, checked for restoration and graded according to widely accepted standards by multiple professionals. They also know that it has been encapsulated in a tamper-evident holder designed for long-term preservation. This added confidence and protection has made it easier and safer to buy, sell and collect comic books. Every CGC-certified collectible is backed by the industry-leading CGC Guarantee, which provides greater protection for both buyers and sellers. 

Yes, CGC has recently acquired James Spence Authentication (JSA), and offer industry leading expertise to allow the verification of signatures that have not been witnessed at the time by an authorised CGC signature witness.  

We hope to be able to offer CGC witnessing of signatures and sketches to our list of services in the future.

CGC accept Golden to Current Age comic books including Magazine sizes. Please note that magazine size submissions may take longer to be submitted whilst a sufficient number of similar items have been received.  

Once the submission is sent from the UK, we expect the service to take around 12-16 weeks to be returned to us.

Submissions through Bear Maximum are based on a community approach, in order to try and save money on postage, so a particular submission will only be sent once a sufficient number of books are ready to be shipped. However, if other members of your particular submission delay sending payment or items, this may result in your books taking longer to return to you than expected.

Customers who cause delays may cause their submission to be postponed until later a later date and in certain circumstances may mean that their books are returned and a refund issued.

At this time, we do not currently offer the cleaning and pressing services of CGC, but we do offer this service through our preferred partner Comic Press starting at just £19.50 per book which includes onward shipping to Bear Maximum.

Cleaning and pressing of your book can give your prized possession the opportunity for higher grades, so may well be worth the investment, although you are not obliged to utilise this service and there are no guarantees of any outcome.

Yes, please get in contact through the contact form or email info@bearmaximum.co.uk if you have a particular signing you are interested in.

Custom labels are not offered as standard due to additional costs incurred. If a customer wishes to add a customer label this can be done on a case by case basis. At this time there would be a £17.80 charge which could decline if other labels are requested as part of the same submission. Click this link to see the current labels on offer and send us a message through the contact form or email info@bearmaximum.co.uk if you wish to add this to your order.

Not to worry, just send us a message through the contact form or email info@bearmaximum.co.uk and we can offer a bespoke service.

The official word from CGC is that at this time, they will not verify a sketch or remarque as part of the JSA signature authentication process. Submitting books with either will likely result in a lower grade being awarded or a qualified (green) label. If you have a blank sketch cover book, anything other than the signature will be noted as" sketch" or "writing/pen" on the book.

However, we have seen evidence from our own submissions that the grade being impacted or the award of a green is by no means certainty and so far have only seen anything other than a signature being referred to as a "sketch". 

Collectorz.com is a subscription based service which allows your to catalogue your collection and find out key information about a huge range of comic books. Leagueofcomicgeeks.com offers much of the same services as Collectorz and is FREE.

Please note: Bear Maximum nor Comic Press have any affiliation with either site and other comic book resources are available.

CGC provide guidance on value through this link. To help determine value you can use resources such as ebay (remember to set the filter to SOLD LISTINGS so you can see the current sales rather than the unsold listings), GoCollect or Overstreet Access (this has paid features).

Please note: Bear Maximum nor Comic Press have any affiliation with these sites and other comic book sales resources are available. We are also unable make suggestions on the value of your books due to any issue this may cause through providing an under or over valuation. 

Priority services are available through CGC but at this time, to keep costs as low as possible, we are not offering this. 

 Please click on this link to submit a query