apocalypse76

On 9/10/2023 at 2:19 PM, mstrange said:

Tower of Shadows #8 Wrightson and Wood art 9.2/9.4 $65

 

On 9/10/2023 at 2:17 PM, mstrange said:

Tower of Shadows #7 9.4 $55

 

On 9/10/2023 at 2:16 PM, mstrange said:

Tower of Shadows #6 9.4 $55

 

On 8/12/2023 at 7:13 PM, BuscemasAvengers said:

Avengers 87, 9.2 and improvable; crinkle on bc is pressable; lovely copy; $90.00

On 8/12/2023 at 2:14 PM, BuscemasAvengers said:

MTU 3, 8.5; non cbc br of fc; $40.00

On 8/4/2023 at 7:14 PM, drbanner said:

Thor 225 VF+ 1st appearance Firelord, looks NM in the bag but OW/CR pages and light edge wear back cover $115.00

Take 

On 8/2/2023 at 7:45 AM, drbanner said:

Amazing Adventures 8 NM  Neal Adams cover/art $60.00

On 7/26/2023 at 10:10 AM, Mike Bromberg said:

Flash #47. CGC 8.5 (Top 3 in census!) OW/W. 1943. $2,750 OBO.

Fantastic Four #52. CGC 8.0 OW/W. 1st Black Panther. Beautiful copy. 1966. $2,350 OBO.

Paypal G&S. Shipping included in US. All offers considered - DM me. No returns on graded books.

Take FF 52 pending more pictures

On 7/25/2023 at 4:11 PM, ADAMANTIUM said:

I have a similar that got 3.5, boardie I bought it from had it pressed and crossed fingers for 4.0. He got a similar grade on another book, but I would have figured the 4.0 was tops.

That book looks like a 5.0 to me from the front but I'm guessing there are some issues on the back, otherwise it's probably a CPR candidate.

On 7/25/2023 at 11:56 AM, zzutak said:

According to Mike's grade distribution table, 121 players completed Round 1 (down from 128 at sign-up).  Here are the key measures of central tendency for this round (Mean = the average grade; Median = the middle grade in a numerically rank-ordered list; Mode = the most common grade):

Book	CGC	Grade Distribution Statistics
#	Grade	Mean	Median	Mode
1	4.5	4.5	4.5	4.5
2	7.0	7.0	7.0	7.0
3	5.0	4.0	4.0	4.0
4	1.5	1.7	1.8	1.5
5	8.0	8.3	8.5	8.5

The Board scored 141 bulls-eyes in Round 1 (23% of all grades submitted, compared to an average of 21% in CGC Grading Contests #1 thru 6).  Here are a few other notable observations based on the data reported above:

• Book #01 (Popular Comics #66):  A challenging book for many contestants, with only 18% at the same grade as CGC and only 50% within one grade increment of CGC.  However, collectively, the Board agreed with CGC (4.5 vs 4.5). 
• Book #02 (Archie Comics #39):  An easy book for the Board as a whole, with 31% of the contestants at the same grade as CGC and 68% within one grade increment of CGC.  Collectively, the Board once again agreed with CGC (7.0 vs 7.0). 
• Book #03 (Thing #15):  The most difficult book for the Board as a whole, with only 12% of the contestants at the same grade as CGC and only 38% within one grade increment of CGC.    Collectively, the Board was two grade increments more critical than CGC (4.0 vs 5.0).    It could be argued that the CGC grader was the party who whiffed on this one! 
• Book #04 (Hulk #5):  Another easy book for the Board as a whole, with 32% of the contestants at the same grade as CGC and 68% within one grade increment of CGC.  Collectively, the Board was nearly one grade increment more lenient than CGC (1.7 vs 1.5).
• Book #05 (Marvel Spotlight #10):  An average difficulty book for the Board as a whole, with 23% of the contestants at the same grade as CGC and 61% within one grade increment of CGC.  Collectively, the Board was about one-half grade increment more lenient than CGC (8.3 vs 8.0).

A strong start for the Board as a whole.   

I agree with your assessment of # 3. I can see 4.5 on that one but 5.0 was surprising to me. It looks to be about a Quarter sized piece missing and I feel like those books have graded in the 4 range in the past. Does anyone have any type of helpful reference for grading pieces missing other than just past examples they've seen?

On 7/25/2023 at 9:23 AM, mstrange said:

Chilling Adventures in Sorcery #3 NM $30

 

On 7/25/2023 at 9:25 AM, mstrange said:

Red Circle Sorcery #6 NM- 9.2 $25

 

Count me in thank you

On 6/8/2023 at 6:34 PM, mstrange said:

Punisher Return to Big Nothing HC $8

 

On 6/8/2023 at 6:22 PM, mstrange said:

Tick #6 NM $10

 

The point that people are making about defects being imperceptible or not is a very important one, especially when you are trying to assess 9.8 grades. Several years ago I feel like minor defects that could be considered imperceptible were recognized in the grading but not assigned a significant weight. The fact that insignificant defects were being "acknowledged" resulted in less 9.8's. Very nice clean looking books were more likely to get 9.6 back then. These days CGC seems to "perceive" a lot fewer defects and 9.8's are a lot more plentiful. 

The point here is that if you want to grade accurately according to how CGC will grade, you need to figure out how defects are graded but also how CGC "perceives" defects. When CGC uses the word "imperceptible" I believe that is their way of saying that even though those defects are physically present they will pretend they are not.

Confirmed

On 4/25/2023 at 4:39 PM, divad said:

Your comments aren't going to "incentivise" CGC to do anything. CGC did not "badly mis grade[d]" the book. You have the severe disadvantage of grading a book from scans vs. grading it in hand, and yet for some reason you think your grade of 8.0 is correct. Scans can be tricky, and photos even worse. Good luck on the next round! 

I never said that my grade is the "correct grade". The fact that I am grading based on scans lends to some degree of inaccuracy, such as the creases mentioned maybe being less color breaking than they appear to me, or the grader not using the same overall aesthetic interpretation as me. My main point that is irrefutable to anyone who has good eyesight and experience in grading is that 9.6 for this book is ridiculous and the fact that so many people gave it a 9.6 is shocking to me. 

I have been on these boards for several years and you can tell by the number of posts I have made that not very much that happens on here inspires me to comment on it, 99% of my posts are transactional.  I couldn't hold it in on this one, I had to know what people had to say. 

On 4/25/2023 at 4:08 PM, cchunn3 said:

I would counter the era/age of a book should not factor into a grade. A fifty year old defect is the same as a 2 year old defect. You imply different era defects should be viewed through different lenses. A non-color-breaking bend is not a crease. It's not the majority "going along" with a grade, it's what the majority voted for before seeing the "grade".

So everyone else is wrong and we all badly mis-graded this book? c'mon

If you don't think that the age of a book effects the overall grade you haven't been in this hobby for very long. Representatives of CGC such as Matt Nelson have admitted to that in interviews long ago already, it's a well-established fact, regardless of whether anyone thinks it's right or wrong.

I agree that a bend and a crease are not the same thing, but I see those two defects in question as color breaking creases and someone else has posted in this thread that they also believe that the defect in the lower left corner of back cover is a color breaking crease. You have even admitted that the two creases exist without color break. To me we can't really argue over what each other can or can't see but I would call into question the grades that were given for what people have admitted they do see. For instance, just based on the defects you have stated in your first post that you did see, how could you give a 9.8?

Obviously, people submitted their grades before they saw the actual grade but I am just shocked that so few people saw those defects, and the people who have commented so far all seem to think the grade is reasonable even though they have all admitted to seeing some of the defects that I have pointed out. That's what I am referring to by people going along, not that there is some conspiracy of some kind. 

On 4/25/2023 at 3:58 PM, timfinz said:

I'll weigh in!

I don't see the 1/2" crease you are referring to. It may be an issue with the way the image appears on your screen. I see only one small spine tic non-colour breaking LRHS, slight blunted corners or bindery tears of the spine top and bottom and the small crease on the bottom LCBC (appears to be slight colour breaking). I had the book at 9.6 but what I thought was dirt or smudges on the front cover below the UPC code knocked it down a grade for me to 9.4. I know this caught the eye of some other board members as well.

I think the book presents beautifully.

I would say you over graded the book even if I agreed with your assessment of the defects that are present on it.

On 4/25/2023 at 3:25 PM, cchunn3 said:

Took another look at the Ver. There is some bending lower left BC w/o breaks. The top right BC does show evidence of an impact with a couple of bends but also not breaking. The tufting at the top and bottom of the spine is bindery. I think the camera flash makes these defects appear worse than they are. FWIW, I missed it HIGH at 9.8.

I appreciate someone making an insightful comment about this even though I don't agree with it. What appears to be slight color break on the creases mentioned being more pronounced due to the lighting / angle used is possible, but I would still say however, that creases like that even without color break, along with a few color - breaking ticks on the spine, and the overall poor presentation of a MODERN book from the 90's should have never gotten better than 9.2.

The significance of my point here has nothing to do with a CGC contest or just being a "sore loser". The point here is that because CGC badly mis graded this book some poor sap will probably pay hundreds of dollars for it when they could buy it in the same exact condition raw on EBAY for $25. Everyone seemingly going along with the grade like there's nothing wrong doesn't incentivize CGC to do a better job.

On 4/25/2023 at 2:40 PM, divad said:

Put away your electron microscope and just use your eyes . . . 

Thanks for the comment but I am still hoping for a serious response from someone on how they graded that book a NM+ when there is obviously some significant defects on it. CGC over grades comics routinely and it is understandable because their graders are grading tons and tons of books for profit and looking at them very quickly. I'm not surprised a book could get 9.6 from CGC when it isn't even close, what is shocking is that almost all of the non-partisan participants in this contest graded it the same when they had as much time as they wanted to look at it. 

I am assuming from your comment you are one of the people who graded the book 9.4 or 9.6. Can you tell us why you gave the book that grade? Are you asserting that the defects in my previous message don't exist?

Does anyone care to weigh in on the Veronica # 28? I can see by the statistics that most people graded the book 9.4 - 9.6. I can accept that I am way off in my grade of 8.0 if anyone can justify why a book that appears to have a 1/2" corner crease top right BC, 1/4" corner crease bottom left BC as well as a handful of color breaking spine ticks could acheive such superior grades?

Are people saying that because these defects only slightly break color they aren't actually there?

Sign me up please