CGC Comic Census Population Scraper

Refresh CGC comic census issue and variant populations for scarcity research. Select a comic series by keyword, an exact publisher name, or reusable CGC group IDs. Each saved row includes the issue identity, variant, total population and a map of grade counts from the official CGC Population Report.

Who is it for?

Built for comic dealers reviewing inventory, collectors comparing graded supply, and researchers building recurring snapshots. This Actor does not return card populations, prices, ownership records or historical census data.

Why use this Actor?

• Export issue and variant counts without manually copying census tables.
• Reuse groupId values in recurring workflows to keep your series selection stable.
• Keep every grade in the same issue row instead of paying separately for grade rows.
• Retain source URLs and collection timestamps for audit and comparison.

This is an independent automation-lab tool, not affiliated with, endorsed by, or certified by CGC. CGC names are used only to identify the data source.

Getting started

1. Leave the example series keyword as Amazing Spider-Man or choose your own title.
2. Set maxItems to the number of issue/variant rows you need.
3. Optionally set publisher to an exact source name, such as Marvel Comics.
4. Run the Actor and inspect the default dataset.
5. Export JSON, CSV or Excel using Apify's dataset tools. Nested grade maps are easiest to preserve in JSON; flatten them downstream for spreadsheet columns.

Input parameters

At least one of seriesKeyword, publisher, or groupIds is required. Empty input fails clearly; it does not silently scan the entire census.

Field	Meaning
seriesKeyword	Trimmed, case-insensitive contiguous substring of a series title. The source search index supplies candidates; matching is also enforced locally.
publisher	Exact publisher name after trimming and case folding, e.g. Marvel Comics. Unknown names return no rows.
groupIds	1–100 positive comic research group IDs. Supplied IDs replace discovery, but publisher and title filters still apply. Duplicate IDs are removed in input order.
maxItems	Global saved-row limit, default 100, range 1–10000. Not a limit per grade or series. Zero is invalid.
maxSeries	Global matching-series cap, default 10, range 1–100. Applies to discovery and explicit IDs; can stop collection before maxItems.

Title and publisher filters combine with AND. For example, Spider-Man matches Amazing Spider-Man, but Spider Man does not match the hyphenated text. There is no word-boundary or linguistic matching. Discovery follows source search order; explicit IDs follow your input order.

{"seriesKeyword":"Amazing Spider-Man","maxItems":10,"maxSeries":1}

Refresh a known comic series

For a stable series refresh:

{"groupIds":[40000],"publisher":"Marvel Comics","maxItems":100,"maxSeries":1}

Extracted data

Field	Description
populationId	Stable source population record identifier.
groupId	Reusable research-series identifier.
publisher, series	Publisher and comic title from the source.
issueNumber, issueDate, year	Issue identity; date remains source text, year may be null.
variant	Variant name, or an empty string for the base record.
totalPopulation	Source total for this issue/variant population record.
gradePopulations	Numeric-grade count map, including zero counts and source special buckets CVR, PG and NG.
sourceModifiedAt	Source modification timestamp when available; not a historical observation date.
sourceUrl	Official Population Report link for the record.
scrapedAt	UTC collection timestamp.

The Actor does not infer Universal/Signature/Restored label breakdowns. Grade counts are the aggregate fields returned by the source for this population record. Do not interpret total graded as the number of unique surviving copies or currently available inventory.

Output example

A representative source record, with the grade map shortened here for readability:

{
  "populationId":193428804,
  "groupId":40000,
  "publisher":"Marvel Comics",
  "series":"Amazing Spider-Man",
  "issueNumber":"1",
  "issueDate":"3/63",
  "year":1963,
  "variant":"",
  "totalPopulation":5443,
  "gradePopulations":{"9.4":15,"9.6":5,"9.8":2,"9.9":0,"10.0":0,"CVR":3,"PG":243,"NG":71},
  "sourceModifiedAt":"2026-10-23T05:50:11.71",
  "sourceUrl":"https://www.cgccomics.com/population-report/comics/comics/1/marvel-comics/5304/amazing-spider-man/40000/?populationID=193428804",
  "scrapedAt":"2026-10-24T06:00:00.000Z"
}

Live results include every grade field supplied by CGC, not just the example's subset. Counts can change between runs.

How much does it cost to export CGC comic census populations?

A run has a $0.005 start event, plus one item event per saved issue/variant row. Grade entries have no separate event charge. Spend tiers follow your qualifying monthly Apify Store spend, not a private per-Actor volume discount.

At the BRONZE tier the rate is $0.00916 per row:

Saved rows	Calculated total including start
1	$0.01416
10	$0.0966
100	$0.921

These examples exclude any additional Apify platform charges under your plan. The pricing panel is authoritative for your active tier. Empty valid searches incur only the start event. Input validation occurs before the start charge. Duplicate/rejected records are not charged. A failed run may retain partial results and their charges; do not treat it as a complete export.

Limits and reliability

The Actor uses the anonymous JSON service linked by CGC's public frontend. No source login, paid data subscription, browser or residential proxy is required. It visits pages sequentially and retries transient network, HTTP 429 and server failures at most twice after the first attempt. Permanent HTTP errors and malformed responses fail rather than returning misleading empty success.

The 100-series and 10000-row caps are finite collection limits, not promises of complete publisher coverage. Source search indexing and availability can change. The Actor only covers comics, not magazines, pulps, cards, posters or lobby cards. It does not provide historical snapshots, alerts, label enrichment, prices, valuations or certification verification.

Integrations and recurring research

Schedule this Actor in Apify with stable groupIds, then retain each dataset outside the run. Compare records by populationId and timestamp in your warehouse to calculate changes between your own snapshots. A source correction or reclassification can change a count; a delta is not necessarily newly graded supply.

Send dataset exports to Google Sheets through your automation workflow, or load JSON into a warehouse. Use Make, Zapier or Apify webhooks to react to completion and fetch the dataset. These downstream workflows are configured separately; the Actor itself does not send alerts or maintain a historical database.

API usage

Start a run once and retain its run ID:

curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/automation-lab~cgc-comic-census-population/runs" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $APIFY_TOKEN" -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"groupIds":[40000],"maxItems":10,"maxSeries":1}'

JavaScript with the Apify client:

import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';
const client = new ApifyClient({ token: process.env.APIFY_TOKEN });
const run = await client.actor('automation-lab/cgc-comic-census-population')
  .call({ groupIds: [40000], maxItems: 10, maxSeries: 1 });
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems({ limit: 10 });
console.log(items);

Python:

import os
from apify_client import ApifyClient
client = ApifyClient(os.environ['APIFY_TOKEN'])
run = client.actor('automation-lab/cgc-comic-census-population').call(
    run_input={'groupIds': [40000], 'maxItems': 10, 'maxSeries': 1})
print(client.dataset(run['defaultDatasetId']).list_items(limit=10).items)

MCP: Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor and VS Code

Use the Actor-specific hosted endpoint, then discover actual names and input schemas with read-only tools/list:

claude mcp add --transport http apify \
  "https://mcp.apify.com?tools=automation-lab/cgc-comic-census-population"

Equivalent HTTP configuration for Claude Desktop, Cursor and VS Code clients that support remote MCP (adapt the outer configuration key for your client):

{"mcpServers":{"apify":{"url":"https://mcp.apify.com?tools=automation-lab/cgc-comic-census-population"}}}

Authenticate with your Apify account through your client's supported secure configuration. Never put credentials in prompts. The selected Actor also exposes run/data helpers; the endpoint is not exactly one tool.

Example prompt: “Run CGC Comic Census Population Scraper for group 40000, at most 10 rows, and show issue numbers and 9.8 populations.” Execution requires your authorization and can incur charges.

Start once and retain the run ID and storage IDs. The hosted call can return before completion; IDs are metadata, not rows. Follow that same run with bounded 2/4/8/10-second backoff and a 120-second total deadline. On a client timeout, check the known run rather than restarting. Report pending at the deadline or failure honestly; partial rows are not a complete successful export.

After success, fetch the returned default dataset in pages of 20 rows, explicitly selecting needed fields and offsets. Limit model context to at most 100 source rows and 64 KiB of serialized UTF-8 content, whichever comes first. Enforce bytes host-side before injection, disclose oversized omissions, and report the next source offset when truncated. If your client cannot intercept responses, do not claim a hard byte guarantee. Full exports belong in storage or downstream processing, not model context. No universal token-saving claim is made.

Legality and data handling

Use the data in accordance with applicable law, source rights and Apify's standard terms. You are responsible for your downstream use; population counts are research inputs, not financial advice. This Actor processes public comic bibliographic and population data, not personal profiles. It does not use AI at runtime or send census data to a model provider.

Datasets and logs remain in your Apify storage subject to your account's retention and deletion controls. The Actor does not keep a separate census database or cross-run cache. Delete runs and storage through Apify when no longer needed.

Failure diagnostics and retention

Failed operations send sanitized diagnostic input, exceptions and Actor/build/run IDs to our private GlitchTip service for repair. Secret fields and URL query strings are removed; reports are retained for 30 days. Apify provides execution/storage; CGC receives source requests; our private diagnostic service receives sanitized failure details. No undisclosed paid supplier is required.

FAQ and troubleshooting

Why are there no rows? Check the exact publisher spelling and title substring. A valid unknown publisher or no-match search returns an empty dataset. Filters also apply to supplied IDs.

Why fewer rows than maxItems? You may have reached source exhaustion or maxSeries. Increase the appropriate cap within its supported range, or target specific group IDs. No unlimited option is offered.

Can I compare historical census values? Only by retaining snapshots you collect yourself. The Actor does not expose an existing historical database.

Are variants included? Yes, source population records distinguish variants and each is a separately saved row. Label categories and signer details are not enriched.

A run failed after saving rows—what should I do? Inspect the error and keep the partial dataset separate from complete snapshots. Repeated 403s or malformed responses indicate a source change; open an issue rather than assuming the census is empty.

Related workflows and support

This is a standalone official-comics census tool; no related portfolio Actor is required. Dataset exports work with your existing research stack. For assistance, use this Actor's Apify Issues tab and include a run link and non-sensitive input. Do not include tokens or source account credentials.