I honestly don't know.

There are books out there that will show the flaws and defects page by page grade by grade. The one that I have is by Overstreet. The full title is ?The Official Overstreet Comic Book Grading Guide Third Edition?. I use this to help me with questionable nuances as I grade my own books. I am not an expert. I am an amateur who loves doing this, who absolutely has fun with my hobby and of course wants the best condition possible. Once in a while I get a book that I have purchased already graded by CGC and cannot fathom how they got the grade.

I have a copy of Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #12. The price I thought was pretty good for a 9.8. I would have looked at the picture closely online but figure, hey it is a 9.8 by CGC, and it must be near perfection. It wasn?t. By the Overstreet guide it says a 9.6 could have a partially blunted corner, maybe two. It shows a 9.8 could also have a partially blunted corner, ?one? partially blunted corner. This could and does also refer to corner chips. It shows it could have one corner chip, not two. The guide actually states ?corners are cut square and sharp?. It doesn't say it can have one but shows in the photos with little arrows and pointing to what is wrong. However the book in question I have has two rather obvious corner chips, two not one.

I have questioned a grade and wondered if a 9.8 was labeled as such just for the sake of a 9.8. I have wondered how a 9.8 could even have something other than white pages. So of course this all could be just my mindless meanderings and complaints. With so many appearances through the convention circuit I would love for CGC to host a panel on grading, to answer some questions for starters. I still believe that comic book guidelines should be stricter. I do love having my comics in a 9.8, but if I start to question the validity of the grade should I not settle for a 9.6 when they are just as nice, not to mention a 9.6 is so much cheaper.

Am I upset that I considered two books of mine to be a 9.8 and were graded a 9.6, not really, would I have liked a 9.8, yes of course I would. Am I upset that books I purchased as a 9.8 aren?t as crisp as those two 9.6 books, yes I am. Ok not so much upset as I am disappointed, and I wonder what would have happened if I sent those books in grouped in a 50 lot for a pre-screen, would the books have slid through. I like the fact that my Signature series book that I sent in is now coming back as a 9.4, what I don?t like is that it was a 9.2 and that means they either mistakenly graded it the first time or this time. I just wish I knew which.

Thanks for Reading

Tnerb