Or Something Upsetting

I am fully aware a book won't necessarily be the same grade after cracking it open. I had a 9.8 drop to a 9.4 which makes me wonder, should it have even been a 9.8 to begin with? I cracked the universal label to get a signature added. I was decimated when it returned.

At the time, I was still learning everything I know today. Although intellectually I knew it could happen, rationally I couldn't believe such a drop could exist. At least it came back to me during a time I wanted to learn about pressing. I turned it over to Matt Nelson and had him press it before sending it to CGC. The desired results made it's way back home, a 9.8 universal finally became a 9.8 SS. Was a catastrophe averted?

Years later, my New Mutants 9.8 annual #1 had me tremble while cracking it. I vowed if I could ever have it triple signed I would, but as I prepared for the NYCC for this to happen, I couldn't find any of my raw copies to pre-prep a bag. The obvious choice was to crack my universal 9.4, the same book I bought from ComiCards, my first LCS.

Three invoices this week recently changed to shipped/safe and me being me, I checked my grades. As patient as I am, I am not privy to wait until my packages arrive. I expected a change in grade, whether it was up or down didn't matter, just that I expected it. What shocked me is that it didn't move a little, it moved a lot. I would be just as shocked as if it jumped to a 9.9, which has me equally appalled as its fall to an 8.5.

So now I'm curious as to what the notes say. How does the 9.4 differ with the 8.5. What did they find? Or what did they miss? And how bad will my 9.8 fall, especially since I was so worried to crack it the first time.

Thanks for Reading

Tnerb

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