Redbeard

Those abrasions are significant. One should bear in mind in the SA, there are a population of 9.4 and above on almost all SA books. This is not true for GA books. I strongly agree with CGC assessment of this book.

Sorry to say, but that CGC grading descriptions are very, very loose. Your 9.4 sounds like a solid 7.0, not a 9.4. You're 9.6 sounds like what we consider a 9.2. After making many, many purchases of raw books on eBay, I find that if I buy a 9.4 graded book, I'm happy if it is actually a 8.0. Just got one in graded 8.5 that would be a 7.0 except that it has residual glue on the front cover over the cover price. Overall grade given this is a 4.0.

https://www.cgccomics.com/comic-grading/grading-scale/ They do not go into large detail. Bob's grading standards guide goes into much more detail.

A few additional tips. We always state the book is complete, fully readable with both covers attached. We used to get a ton of questions such as is this 9.0 copy complete!?! That eliminates these type of silly questions. In addition we state the amount of cover gloss (some, good, high or very high cover gloss if the book does have cover gloss. We also state the condition of the spine if there are no spine splits, etc. (good, tight and very tight spine). It seems to help.

We rarely have any complaints on any of the orders we send out on grading. The one to two we get per year is usually on something we missed. Curious if you have ever read the grader's notes on a CGC book. If I listed all the defects listed on many, many of the higher grade books, it would scare the heck out of any potential buyers. I have even done an experiment while talking on the phone to a perspective buyer on a book. Instead of pulling the book the party was interested in, I pulled a Mile High copy and started telling the person any defect no matter how tiny. When I finished the person said no thank you not realizing I was describing the best copy of a book known to exist. I did tell the party the truth that it was a MH copy of a tough GA book I was describing. That is why I grade the books, and only list major defects. I find those that are looking for all that information are looking for a reason to NOT buy the book.

Another thing I would like to add as a long time dealer, we stand behind everything we sell no matter how long ago your purchase. No excuses. If we sell you a book as unrestored, and it turns out to be restored, we will return your money. You will never get any other response from us. We always stand behind everything we sell. We never try to pass the buck as many might saying we did not know, and so and so sold it to us without telling us. We feel all sellers should have that attitude. It would certainly make it a lot safer for buyers if all adopted that attitude.

It has been a long time habit of mine to under grade books since I am a longtime dealer. It pays off in the long run since you will have so many returning customers. I long ago stopped grading any raw books higher than 9.2. I don't want to squabble with collectors on whether a book is 9.4 or 9.6 or 9.8. If a buyer seems to ask too many questions of us, such as asking things such as are there any very tiny spine stress lines and how many (we will only allow up to 4 for a 9.2 grade) I tell them to buy a certified copy. It seems that kind of buyer is hoping to receive a book that will slab 9.6 while paying a much lesser price. When I buy collections from sellers that have a graded list, but with no real experience grading books, I ask them to send me a two or three examples of some of the inexpensive books from their list. I can then know the difference that should occur on each of the books I plan on buying. With this in mind, I recommend buying an inexpensive book or two from a seller to get a feel on how they grade. Then you can approach any future purchase with confidence on what you will receive. Don't start out buying a ASM #1 if you're unsure unless you have a margin that allows for any overgrading.

Hi Joshua, based on your post, I assume you wish to keep these books and not sell them in the future. If that is the case, you may do as you wish. But, if you plan to sell them, do not restore them, it will greatly reduce the value/marketability of the book(s).

Not necessarily. For awhile, CGC was putting that book in a blue label with the note on the label. Then they changed due to CGC trying to make their signature series books sell at a premium. They started putting all unwitnessed signed books in a green label - Qualified holder. My last batch of books I got back from them had those same type of signatures back again in blue label with the label note. If feel a blue label is the proper approach. Otherwise, it is similar to CGC stating that unwitnessed signed books have been defaced!

For awhile CGC was offering a discount on CBCS submissions to them if the book were to receive a lower grade from them. I'm not sure this program is still running. BTW, if the back cover shadow is from the person that took the image versus on the book, I would say this book is a solid 3.0. If the shadow is present on the back cover, I would grade between 2.5 to 3.0.

We would grade this 5.5 at best since it is a large crease that breaks color. I guess, one just needs to know how the seller grades versus just the use of images or a subjective grade assigned to the book. My recommendation is buy a cheap book first before getting serious with a seller to learn how they grade. Of course sometimes one can get a handle on the situation by looking at the images posted if the seller obviously over grades books. Per my prior comment posted, there are many minor flaws that will not appear in any images. On the other side of the coin, a perceived flaw can appear where there is none. I have a CGC-7.0 Wonder Woman 45. The potential customer felt there was a very small discoloration on the front cover. I told the person there is no discoloration on the book. To support my position, I have the CGC grader's notes on this book, and there is no mention of this perceived flaw. Believe me, if there were a discoloration mark on the front cover, CGC would have put it in the grader notes!

I see so many methods of sellers grading their books. It varies greatly from those that are professional to those that have no clue. The inspiration for this is some saying they don't grade, just look at the images. I would say these are sellers with little to no experience grading books asks the buyer to do all the work. The big, big problem with just using images to make a buy decision is there are a lot of flaws that will not appear on any image (i.e. interior damage to a book, very light creases or pressure areas that do not appear in an image, loose centerfold, etc.). Anyone that is a seller that tells you to just use images, a note of caution should be taken. Of late I have been getting questions that I never had before from collector's that have ben burned by using the buy-by-the-images method. These newer buyers ask all sorts of questions that one never received previously. I understand it can take years to learn to grade properly. I know this from the time it took to train someone with no prior knowledge. It is difficult. We have always attempted to grade to a minimum of CGC standards. When you buy a book from us in 4.0, VG, you will get a book that CGC will grade in 4.0, but in most cases will grade higher.

Want to start a thread on the subject of grading comics on eBay done may the many sellers. Anyone interested?

Yes, I knew about the Lev Gleason copies that Robert Bell had. Bob Overstreet told me that Bruce Hamilton had some of those probably from Robert. A west coast dealer had several copies of Police Comics 1. All of those copies have long ago been absorbed into collector's hands. Richie (Halegua) remembers George with a stack of each issue of all the Fiction House books. Where are all those now? Ditto with all those Poughkeepsie copies.

Should have added the title - Sky Bums and Space Gypsies by Kris Jackson. Very tough to find, and it is not for sale. After all I still collect!