My60sComics

Thanks guys/gals! (Kinda late getting back to this.

Trying to improve my comic grading skills once again. Any grades and comments greatly appreciated! The first two photos are scans of the front and back cover. The rest of the photos are taken with an iPhone. The last two photos are of the front and back cover, also taken with an iPhone. The biggest flaw I can see in this book is a crease that runs through the "s" in "Secrets", from about 1/3 down the right hand side, through the "f" of the "of" in the title. It shows up best in the scan, but is harder to see in the photos. There are two horizontal lines that run just below the girl's head, and just below the roof of the house that look more like printing flaws, not creases. How much would this affect the grade, in your opinion? Thanks in advance to all!

And this thread too:

Found this through a Google search, not a search on the forum. Seems Google is better. So, I think I have my answer: "Acid Odor" is vinegar, acetic acid or pickles.

I first graded my comic collection using the 20th edition of the Overstreet Guide in 1990. I just picked up the 50th edition - how time flies! - and, obviously, the grading has become much more detailed and refined. I also got a copy of the Overstreet Guide to Grading Comics at the same time. For "Acid Odour", every grade from 10 to 5.5 specifies "none" for Acid Odor. Grade 5.0 specifies "Has the faintest odor". My question - and I don't see anything in the guide or on this forum that answers this question - is what is the difference between "Acid Odor" and just the smell that all old books or newspapers tend to have? Or is this smell of old books and newspapers considered to be "Acid Odor"? I would expect an "Acid Odor" to be similar to vinegar. My books smell like, well, comic books.

This is the oldest Jimmy Olsen comic I have, so it got read probably the most. I always took a big pile of comic books with me to read in the car on family road trip vacations. Thanks everyone for the grades!

Many thanks, CG1789!

oops!

Hello, all, I'm once again trying to test my comic book grading. Grades for this Jimmy Olson No. 80, that I have owned since it was new and read and re-read many times, are greatly appreciated!

The lower left corner looks like it has a stain in the pics, but it's actually a shadow caused by the corner having two barely perceptible creases. When looked at with the eye, there appears to be no stain. You really have to look at it at all angles to see it. I took two more pictures with my iPhone, outside of the back cover and inside of the back cover, and these pics don't show the "stain" as much, but make it look like there's a huge wrinkle in the back page, but once again it's something that only the iPhone high-resolution pictures show as a shadow. There is some downside to using digital cameras. Your comments and grade are well-taken. Thanks!

Thanks, I might finally be getting better at grading!

Once again trying to hone my grading skills. All comments/grades greatly appreciated!

I'm still trying to hone my comic grading skills. Could you all please have a look at my copy of Superman No. 199 and provide a grade? The first two photos are scans of the front and back, the other pictures are taken with an iPhone. Thanks!

Has anyone shipped comics to CGC for grading from Canada? If so, are there any customs issues to be concerned about, either going from Canada to the U.S., or from the U.S. back into Canada? For example, if you quote a value of $US 200 on your shipment to CGC on the customs form (e.g. because you want to insure your shipment) will you have to pay duty on the shipment when it comes back to you, assuming that CGC assigns a $US 200 value to the shipment? Are there any differences between using Canada Post vs. Fedex or UPS? Alternatively, I could ship the books from the U.S. (I live 45 minutes from the border) and receive them in the U.S. and deal with the customs issues myself. Thanks in advance for any advice!

Thank, guys, for the feedback. This is good information. See my post in the "Newbie" forum under "Example based grading tool" if you're interested in seeing what grade the tool gave the book. I tried to be honest in completing the 37-point grading questions. I might've been too optimistic on a question or two.

Thanks, guys, for the feedback. I came up with a 4.5 for my copy of the Amazing Spider-Man No. 28 using the Example Based Grading Tool (see my post in the "Buddy can you spare a grade" forum where I posted ASM #28 for other grades). It looks like I will have to be more critical in my grading. I'll search out etanick on YouTube too.

I put one of the comics I graded on the PGM forum, to test out my use of the Example Based Grading Tool. The comic I graded is Amazing Spider-Man No. 28, Sept. 1965, a book I read many, many times as a kid.

This issue of the Amazing Spider-Man is from my childhood comic collection. As can be seen from the photos, I read it many, many times. Who would have guessed back then it might be worth something some day? I've tried grading it using the example based grading tool (see the thread in the Newbie Comics Collecting Questions forum I submitted on this topic). I'd like to see if I'm way off the mark or not. The first two pictures are scans, the rest are pictures taken with an iPhone. I originally took these photos for another purpose and I used a white background, not a coloured background. Sorry about that. The small white marks on the front look like dried salt-water marks. I haven't tried removing them yet. All the inside pages are complete without rips or tears. The spine is tight. There are no pen or pencil marks anywhere in the book. You can see there's a crease that runs vertically on the cover. In the fifth photo I tried to capture the condition of the spine, and keep it out of the shadows. Comments and grades much appreciated! I will try to hone my grading skills with this feedback.

Thanks, guys, for the comments. I'll try using the three tools (Heritage Auctions site, Overstreet and the Example based grading) to see if I can merge them into a consistent grade. On the whole, I don't mind a strict grade resulting from the Examples based tool if I can apply some judgement afterwards to assess (or modify) the grade it comes up with.

Does anyone use the example based comic book grading tool? I've tried grading several books using it and I'm wondering what people think of it: https://www.comicbookgradingtool.com/ (Background: I have a 855 book collection from my childhood, with issues ranging from 1964 - 1976. I first graded some of them in 1990 using the Overstreet Guide, No. 20, but I'm wondering if the grading tool will result in a more thorough grade.) Any suggestions or thoughts will be greatly appreciated!