Royardee

That's true, we just have never seen them to this day is what I mean. All our encounters with fake cards have been very obviously fake. Maybe one day this will be a problem in TCGs, it's just not yet.

I see. Also, I’d like to apologize for the many grammar issues my last reply had, was in a rush 😅. I’ve been reading your replies as well as others and it has got me thinking a bit more. I’m going to have to think on this.

Yes, the census has been pretty helpful! I am also aware of the price of the highest grades. Just for reference, I am pretty well accustomed to 6 figure collectibles. No 7 figure collectibles in my collection, and I doubt I ever will (besides one very particular item), so that’s about where my budget is 😂. That’s the collectible battle for sure. Buy the lower grade and save money, or go for the top. I am a very hardcore collector (if I feel it’s justified, as I’ve explained in my original post). Grading for me, is a tough one to collect. Most of the items I collect, are limited to less than 10 copies ever produced with a few being limited to 2 total. I’d classify myself as a rare hunter generally. With comics and regular cards, there were many produced. Even the lowest produced items can still have thousands of copies. So for me, the only way to make it stand out, is to aim for the top. Sometimes I do think I should be more lenient with grading though. Just grab a nice copy, but maybe not the NICEST copy. Then spend more money on the rare items. Every so often I teeter back and forth on this and you’ve incited that thought process in me again haha.

It’s true that everyone is human, and that’s why I look for consistency. Has there ever been a case for comics having it’s grade way off the mark? Something like a 9.8 that was in 7.0 condition? Genuinely curious. I also disagree that something such as expert card grader exists. Sports cards, from what I’ve been told, have more waxing and adhesive issues than TCG cards. So I could see needing a more trained eye there. Not sure because I don’t collect them. However, Pokémon, Yugioh, or MTG? Doesn’t exist. Anyone can grade these cards. Fake cards are extremely obvious (wrong card stock, wrong color entirely, etc. it doesn’t look like a card). Graders are given a loupe to gloss over the card for less than a minute at times front and back. This is the Reason for massive inconsistencies in trading cards. That’s why I’m genuinely curious, have you heard of situations where comics have been as inconsistent as graded TCG cards? For TCG, it’s a well know problem that has been going on for many years now.

It's a little more complicated than that though isn't it? Your 9.4 that looks better than your 9.8 could just be the front and back right? Couldn't the insides on the other pages be better than your 9.4? Then the 9.8 would still be a better conditioned copy in that case right? In the card world yeah, we just buy the card and not the grade, but seems more complicated in the comic world.

Basically, an investor only buys something because it may make them money in the future. If the item wouldn’t make them money, they would not buy it. Collectors will buy something because they actually want it. In this case, I will buy high grades if I think the condition is actually changing from grade to grade. In card grading, it’s hard to buy high grades because there’s no real set of standards. So the conditions vary wildly. From what I’ve seen, that’s not the case in comics. It comes down to trusting the grading authority or not and that’s what I’ve decided to do with CGC. So as someone who chases condition, it makes sense to buy a 9.8. As a collector, not an investor.

Oh wow, that’s a good point. I’m thinking of going a similar route to cards then. Buy a high grade, but inspect multiple different copies if I can, and choose the best one. The 9.6 you showed has the black portion of the cover way in to the right. Is that just bad centering? You’re right, the 9.4 looks better in this scenario. This doesn’t affect the grade at all?

Thank you for your insight! I have come to the conclusion that the best course of action is to buy a 9.8 of a book that I have deemed to have a solid front and back, then trust CGC to do their job since I will never see the inside pages. From what most collectors have told me, CGC is pretty consistent with their grades. Most of the stories I've heard of people not getting grades they've felt they deserved are within 0.2 of each other. It looks like 9.8w it is then, as I wouldn't be interested in ow pages tbh with you. Thank you for telling me about the rarer publishers to come by. I am still a comic noob, and just a guy that has read comics. Much like Yu-gi-oh! players that have no knowledge of the collecting side of the hobby. Is there any other advice you may have for me as a new collector in the space? Many of the titles I like are very costly and challenging (Marvel Spotlight #5!), so any other information you may have would be much appreciated!

I see. So the inside is also an issue. Is it possible that the only defects the book has were on the outside, but the inside pages were perfect and that's why it's still a 9.8? I'm starting to think the best you can do is look on the outside and then trust the grading authority to have done their job on the inside. If that is the case, logically a 9.8 would be the best copies based on the information we are given to work with no?

That's a great point! The are more than 20 pages we can't see that are also graded. So generally, it would come down to how much you trust the grading authority. Many collectors I have talked to say that the community has generally accepted CGC. They have also told me that they have never seen something crazy like a 9.8 getting cracked and re-subbed, then coming back a 7.0. This has happened many times in the card world. PSA 10s getting cracked and returning as PSA 6s or PSA 7s. I think the reason comics have more consistent grades is because you actually need real training to grade them. What do you think about that? I have seen that there are near a dozen ways to restore a comic for example, and some can be very very subtle. I think anyone can grade cards, and they hardly train their graders. Some of my close friends work as graders and they aren't really trained much at all. That seems to be why there are so many inconsistencies with grades. Would you say you see that less in comics because it requires a more trained individual to grade them, or just more professionalism from the company overall?

Hello everyone! I'm a high end Yu-gi-oh! collector (mostly world championship cards), but I have also collected 100s of graded cards. I recently have been wanting to cross over into graded comics. Mostly keys of comics that I've enjoyed over the years (majority being bronze age). I'd also like to note that even though I spend large amounts of money on these items, I am not an investor of any kind. My goal is not to make money, so I'd appreciate if the advice was not revolved around doing so. I'm wondering what grades would be considered worth collecting for actual condition? To give an example, I'd like to use trading cards. Simply put, a PSA 10 sells for less than a BGS 10 a BGS 10 will sell for even less than a BGS Black Label. Generally, BGS 10s and Black Labels are pretty rare to come buy but are a complete sham. There are no real visual signs of a BGS or black label being better than a PSA 10. I could give a dozen reasons for why this is, but essentially it's a grade for investors. I'm wondering if that exists in comics. At what grade does condition reach its absolute peak? The difference between a 2.0 and a 9.0 is obviously large, but is there a difference at all between a 9.6 and a 9.8 for example? If you can visually see an improvement in condition I am all for paying the extra money, but an imaginary improvement for the sake of money is not for me. I would like to note, that I believe even the smallest upgrades in condition are worth paying for. If it turns out that a 10.0 is even slightly less damaged than a 9.9, I support the price increase. However, if those two are identical in reality, it's not worth it for someone who's not investing in the comic since you are buying the grade and not the comic at that point. Interested to hear what the veteran collectors think about this, and I appreciate the advice!