Have you ever felt like you can't catch a break and get a 9.8 from CGC? I sure have! I've submitted hundreds of books to CGC (and CBCS) over the years. I feel like these grading companies must have very stingy graders.
But is that opinion backed up with any actual evidence? Let's see what the data says. As always a big "thank you" to Greg Holland for providing the data below through his website, CGCData.com!
40% of all blue labels graded by CGC received a 9.8.
While it may seem like it's very difficult to receive a 9.8 (for me, it's been a cause for celebration since I rarely receive them), 40% of ALL universal blue labels that CGC has ever graded have received a 9.8. More specifically, CGC has graded a whopping 3,536,305 9.8 blue labels. So it's not as difficult as you might think to receive a 9.8 from CGC.
Interestingly, it's actually easier to receive a 9.8 than it is to receive a 9.6 (I feel like I've received so many 9.6s!). CGC has graded 1,391,089 9.6 blue labels or about 16% of all CGC blue labels have received a 9.6 grade.
As you might expect, it's extremely difficult to receive a 9.9 or 10 (in spite of what several YouTubers have been saying recently). Only an eleventh of 1% (i.e., 0.11%) of all blue labels have received a 10.0 (or 9,816 10.0s). About four tenths of 1% (i.e., 0.4%) of all blue labels have received a 9.9 from CGC (or 34,552 9.9s).
Roughly 1% of most Silver Age books received a 9.8 from CGC.
Not surprisingly, the likelihood of receiving a 9.8 from CGC generally depends on how old the submitted comic book is. If you're submitting books from the Silver Age (basically books from the late 1950s and through all of the 1960s), you have about a 1% chance of receiving a 9.8. Specifically, CGC has graded 12,958 blue label 9.8s for comics published during the 1960s or about 1.2% of all 1960s books graded by CGC. The average grade for a 1960s blue label book was a 6.65 (which is surprisingly high to me).
About 9% of most Bronze Age books receive a 9.8 from CGC.
As you might expect, you have a better shot of receiving a 9.8 if you're submitting a book from the Bronze Age as opposed to the Silver Age. If you're submitting books from the 1970s (which encompasses most of the Bronze Age), you have about a 9% chance of receiving a 9.8. Specifically, CGC has graded 119,861 blue label 9.8s for comics published during the 1970s. In other words, 9.4% of all 1970s books graded by CGC have received a 9.8. The average grade for a 1970s blue label book was a 8.39.
About 86% of the books published from 2020-2024 receive a 9.8 from CGC.
And the trend continues as we approach the Copper, Modern (and what some may call the Ultra-Modern) Ages. If you're submitting books from the 1980s (which encompasses a majority of the Copper Age), you have about a 26.5% chance of receiving a 9.8. Specifically, CGC has graded 392,941 blue label 9.8s for comics published during the 1980s. In other words, more than one in four of all 1980s books graded by CGC received a 9.8. The probability jumps to 42.4% for books published in the 1990s and 57% for books published during the first decade of the 21st century.
When you reach the first three and a half years of the 2020s, the likelihood of receiving a 9.8 from CGC jumps to a whopping 86%! In just three and a half years, CGC has already provided a 9.8 blue label to 1,109,824 comics published from 2020 to 2024. If the vast majority of the books published during the past few years receive a 9.8, it begs the question as to whether it's worth grading them at all (unless you're hoping for an elusive 9.9 or 10.0).
Did anything in this data from CGCData.com surprise you? Do you have any other questions or insights about CGC grades its comics? Please let us know what your opinions are in the comments section below!
