Telling the difference in HG

[Old Fashion PB and J]

What are the differences in say a 9.4, 9.6, 9.8... etc. This is something I have been trying to figure out. Figured someone here could answer.

[cd4ever]

What are the differences in say a 9.4, 9.6, 9.8... etc. This is something I have been trying to figure out. Figured someone here could answer.

 

Depends on the book but it could be upwards of tens of thousands of dollars.

 

 

[He11blazer]

I haven't had too much experience yet (waiting for my first big batch to come back from grading), but I say to myself that a 9.8 should be absolutely mint to my eyes under close inspection. If I find a single, tiny, non colour breaking dent on the rear of the spine, I knock it down to 9.6.

 

9.4 could have 1 or even 2 very small spine ticks, and/or very slight rounding of the corners.

 

That's the criteria I'm using anyway. We'll see if I'm right when my books come back!

[Old Fashion PB and J]

I haven't had too much experience yet (waiting for my first big batch to come back from grading), but I say to myself that a 9.8 should be absolutely mint to my eyes under close inspection. If I find a single, tiny, non colour breaking dent on the rear of the spine, I knock it down to 9.6.

 

9.4 could have 1 or even 2 very small spine ticks, and/or very slight rounding of the corners.

 

That's the criteria I'm using anyway. We'll see if I'm right when my books come back!

 

Sounds reasonable. Im still trying to figure this stuff out.

[joe_collector]

You can usually figure out the difference at that level, but once you hit 9.8-9.9-10, it's just a crapshoot lottery.

[Timmay]

What are the differences in say a 9.4, 9.6, 9.8... etc. This is something I have been trying to figure out. Figured someone here could answer.

 

Depends on the book but it could be upwards of tens of thousands of dollars.

 

 

 

Obviously you're not talking about your books...

 

[Old Fashion PB and J]

What are the differences in say a 9.4, 9.6, 9.8... etc. This is something I have been trying to figure out. Figured someone here could answer.

 

Depends on the book but it could be upwards of tens of thousands of dollars.

 

 

 

Obviously you're not talking about your books...

 

 

Ouch..

[divad]

What are the differences in say a 9.4, 9.6, 9.8... etc. This is something I have been trying to figure out. Figured someone here could answer.

 

Depends on the book but it could be upwards of tens of thousands of dollars.

 

 

 

Obviously you're not talking about your books...

 

 

 

Amend that to OUR books . . .

[cd4ever]

What are the differences in say a 9.4, 9.6, 9.8... etc. This is something I have been trying to figure out. Figured someone here could answer.

 

Depends on the book but it could be upwards of tens of thousands of dollars.

 

 

 

Obviously you're not talking about your books...

 

[steveout22]

I deal in modern books and so grade a lot of high grade material. This seemed like the right thread to ask this question on. How micro does a defect have to be before it becomes so insignificant that it doesn't count against the book? You can have something along the spine for example that is so small and thin that it looks like a couple of dots connected together. Does that mean that an otherwise perfect book is only a 9.6? Or, say one color dot off, as in a speck of whiteness near the top or bottom corner on the edge(which is very common), so that its not visible by looking at the front or back of the book, only by looking at the book sideways-is that enough to reduce an otherwise perfect book to a 9.6? It doesn't seem like it should be. I've been counting stuff like that as one tenth of a point. But maybe I'm just ignorant

[DrWatson]

A lot of times you can tell a 9.6 from a 9.8. When you get in to 9.8s, 9.9s and 10s, it's just a matter of what way the wind is blowing that day.

 

To further complicate the issue, I have seen some defects in a CGC graded 9.8 that I would not have allowed in a 9.8 book, such as those little ticks at the top and bottom of spines presumably from production.

 

I joke around with a couple of buddies that perfection is easy to grade. It's the other stuff I suck at grading.

[nik]

It really depends on the era.

 

SA, BA, CA and above are all graded slightly different. There is also a slight difference when grading DCs as opposed to Marvels from the SA and BA era.

[divad]

It really depends on the era.

 

SA, BA, CA and above are all graded slightly different. There is also a slight difference when grading DCs as opposed to Marvels from the SA and BA era.

 

Agreed. And the fact remains . . . It is what they say it is.

[djpinkpanther67]

I've seen 9.6's with large NCB "V" creases on the spine and one or two with staple stress which I disagree on both counts of the book getting that grade. JMI of course :shrug:

[TeenTitans]

I deal in modern books and so grade a lot of high grade material. This seemed like the right thread to ask this question on. How micro does a defect have to be before it becomes so insignificant that it doesn't count against the book? You can have something along the spine for example that is so small and thin that it looks like a couple of dots connected together. Does that mean that an otherwise perfect book is only a 9.6? Or, say one color dot off, as in a speck of whiteness near the top or bottom corner on the edge(which is very common), so that its not visible by looking at the front or back of the book, only by looking at the book sideways-is that enough to reduce an otherwise perfect book to a 9.6? It doesn't seem like it should be. I've been counting stuff like that as one tenth of a point. But maybe I'm just ignorant

 

personally anything that the eye can see on the spine of a comic book would to me take it right out of the near mint range, it would be at best a 9.2.

 

grading is all subjective!

 

[Old Fashion PB and J]

I deal in modern books and so grade a lot of high grade material. This seemed like the right thread to ask this question on. How micro does a defect have to be before it becomes so insignificant that it doesn't count against the book? You can have something along the spine for example that is so small and thin that it looks like a couple of dots connected together. Does that mean that an otherwise perfect book is only a 9.6? Or, say one color dot off, as in a speck of whiteness near the top or bottom corner on the edge(which is very common), so that its not visible by looking at the front or back of the book, only by looking at the book sideways-is that enough to reduce an otherwise perfect book to a 9.6? It doesn't seem like it should be. I've been counting stuff like that as one tenth of a point. But maybe I'm just ignorant

 

personally anything that the eye can see on the spine of a comic book would to me take it right out of the near mint range, it would be at best a 9.2.

 

grading is all subjective!

 

 

 

No..

[rjpb]

It is important to remember that the "grading is subjective" rule applies to CGC as well.

 

Overall they've done a great job of helping tighten grading standards - but even their own graders don't always initially agree on a given comic's grade.

 

I'm another one who thinks the 9.8-10.0 grades are largely interchangeable - and any one who pays a large premium for a 9.9 or 10.0 is truely buying the label. Are there any cases of even the most conservative trusted dealers selling a raw book they consider a 9.9 or 10.0 at a superpremium over what they would ask for a raw 9.8?

[grandz-migration]

I deal in modern books and so grade a lot of high grade material. This seemed like the right thread to ask this question on. How micro does a defect have to be before it becomes so insignificant that it doesn't count against the book? You can have something along the spine for example that is so small and thin that it looks like a couple of dots connected together. Does that mean that an otherwise perfect book is only a 9.6? Or, say one color dot off, as in a speck of whiteness near the top or bottom corner on the edge(which is very common), so that its not visible by looking at the front or back of the book, only by looking at the book sideways-is that enough to reduce an otherwise perfect book to a 9.6? It doesn't seem like it should be. I've been counting stuff like that as one tenth of a point. But maybe I'm just ignorant

 

personally anything that the eye can see on the spine of a comic book would to me take it right out of the near mint range, it would be at best a 9.2.

 

grading is all subjective!

 

 

I agree. There are far too many CGC 9.4's with spine ticks then I believe there should be.

 

I have a bronze age CGC 9.4 with four spine ticks, and the classic rope bundle stress mark across the front cover. Even though otherwise it appears 9.4 those marks should not be present on that book.

 

A modern with a few spine stress marks should not garner a 9.8: which is present on a few

CGC books I've seen.

[cd4ever]

I deal in modern books and so grade a lot of high grade material. This seemed like the right thread to ask this question on. How micro does a defect have to be before it becomes so insignificant that it doesn't count against the book? You can have something along the spine for example that is so small and thin that it looks like a couple of dots connected together. Does that mean that an otherwise perfect book is only a 9.6? Or, say one color dot off, as in a speck of whiteness near the top or bottom corner on the edge(which is very common), so that its not visible by looking at the front or back of the book, only by looking at the book sideways-is that enough to reduce an otherwise perfect book to a 9.6? It doesn't seem like it should be. I've been counting stuff like that as one tenth of a point. But maybe I'm just ignorant

 

personally anything that the eye can see on the spine of a comic book would to me take it right out of the near mint range, it would be at best a 9.2.

 

grading is all subjective!

 

 

the classic rope bundle stress mark

Is that what I'm seeing when I see those sort of crescent shaped indentations, usually a few in a row, on comics?

 

For years I've been wonderring what they were.

[grandz-migration]

I deal in modern books and so grade a lot of high grade material. This seemed like the right thread to ask this question on. How micro does a defect have to be before it becomes so insignificant that it doesn't count against the book? You can have something along the spine for example that is so small and thin that it looks like a couple of dots connected together. Does that mean that an otherwise perfect book is only a 9.6? Or, say one color dot off, as in a speck of whiteness near the top or bottom corner on the edge(which is very common), so that its not visible by looking at the front or back of the book, only by looking at the book sideways-is that enough to reduce an otherwise perfect book to a 9.6? It doesn't seem like it should be. I've been counting stuff like that as one tenth of a point. But maybe I'm just ignorant

 

personally anything that the eye can see on the spine of a comic book would to me take it right out of the near mint range, it would be at best a 9.2.

 

grading is all subjective!

 

the classic rope bundle stress mark

Is that what I'm seeing when I see those sort of crescent shaped indentations, usually a few in a row, on comics?

 

For years I've been wonderring what they were.

That might be the same thing. It has been rare that I see 2 rows of these bundle marks on a comic cover.

I am unable to have them show on a scan because the comic is encapsulated.