Mordenkainen wrote in CGC Grading Etc...:Apologies if this is covered elsewhere, but which CGC category does TSR/D&D content belong to? Comics or magazines? Something else?
To answer your question, almost all D&D items are bigger than comic book size and are considered magazines. The original small rulebooks go in comic book holders. Comics and magazines are submitted under the same vertical, though you cannot submit them together.
I'm going to give you a breakdown and some news that is supposed to hit this week, but I sort of spoiled a couple of months ago with some questions I had on sealed items.
1.
RPGs in general are all magazines, with the one exception already mentioned. Saying that, there may be other items in the future that may be sent in that may be put in as a comic, but that would probably be rare.
2. Since I'm the person entering all info in the database for
RPGs, I'm trying to keep everything consistent on the label as in artist info, content info, and format. That being said, you may see some earlier submissions from 1+ years ago that the label has different (usually more or better) information on the item.
3. Only softcover items are slabbed. We will do
DM screens, which is a heavier card stock, but no hardcover rulebooks will be graded.
4. As for grading, I can tell you that we look at the item as a whole. Something like rusty staples cannot be seen outside modules that the outer covers are not attached, but is factored in the grading. Also tears/writing/missing pieces on the interior pages are also a factor. Defect notes are available, so if you think something looks good from the outside, check the website to see what "hidden" defects may affect a lower grade.
5. Any provenance is not graded. There may be some exceptions in the future where we will slab inserts or other paperwork, but if so, these items will receive either a "no grade" or if they are authentic, the company is working on an "authentic" label. I'm unsure if this has been officially done or not with other items say for comic related pieces.
6. The only time a special note is put on a label about a collection is if it's usually from a well-known person related to the creation of the material or famous person/collector. That is a management final decision though. So some random person working for TSR probably would not be noted, but if there were a hundred items from the personal collection of Gary Gygax, that probably would be noted on the label.
7. People send in low grade items across all verticals. Sometimes the graders will question why so-and-so submitted a low grade Spawn #1 that is probably worth $2. We can only assume they have no knowledge or they have some personal attachment to said item. Maybe it was dad's 1st comic, or it was their own personal copy from when they were 5 years old. We expect D&D submissions to be the same.
8. I broke the news about the sealed items a couple of months ago when I had specific questions about particular items. Myself and others were instructed by our CGC video game/VHS/DVD department on how to grade shrink-wrapped items. The news will officially be released supposedly this coming week that we are grading shrink-wrapped
RPG items. Like video games, there will be a seal grade for the shrink-wrap itself based on the condition in place of the page quality. It will also receive a numerical grade based on the condition of what we see of the cover. Typical flaws will be spine creases and corner wear, but may include some staining if water or other liquid seeped through gaps in the shrink-wrap.
9. IMPORTANT: My suggestion is if you submit any shrink-wrapped items, do so in its own invoice. All departments of the process from those opening packages to those doing the final encapsulation have been instructed to be careful with these items and not to open any. Just to be safe, you may want to include a post it (maybe on each item) stating "shrink-wrapped, do not open".
10. ALSO IMPORTANT: only shrink-wrapped items will be graded sealed. I know there are some pieces and magazines that were poly-bagged, most of the time with extras like trading cards and such. Poly-bags are and have always been opened and extra contents have been returned to the customer.
11. So wait for the offical release on sending any shrink-wrapped items. I'm unsure if there will be choices on the submission form for clicking that an item is sealed. Also, if your specific printing of a module is unavailable or you cannot find it, please choose the closest thing to what you own. To give you an idea of how to look up said items, regular D&D items will have a format that says "Dungeons & Dragons" to start the title "Dungeons & Dragons: Module" is a bit more specific. If the module has a letter/number like
B1,
B2, X1, etc, that would be the issue number. If it doesn't have an assigned number, we use "nn" and the title itself will be more specific. I'm trying to keep formats consistent. "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons" is used for the title with "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Module" if it has letter/number. Again with no number "nn" we will try and write out the name of the module. I also tried keeping a format for specific lines like "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Module Dragonlance", "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Module Greyhawk" etc. We only have so many characters to use in the title, so we may abbreviate to "Advanced D&D: Module" or if "nn", and the title of the module is too long, we try and use the keywords of the title, especially for maybe some of the Ravenloft series. If the name of the module is not fully written in the label title, it will be written on the label where artists and keynotes will be.
If you have any specific questions, contact the customer service and if they can't answer it directly, it will usually be passed off to someone (most likely graders) who can answer. For D&D, that should be me. If you want, just
PM me here and I'll try to help. I may have a few questions of my own as more and more D&D and
RPG items are submitted. Though I played during the 1980s, I never got into anything past 2nd edition. Thanks and I hope this info helps.
Phil
