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Since when did Near Mint become a dirty word?

Started by Par2ch,

23 posts in this topic

Par2ch

Par2ch

Posted
Posted

I have been submitting books to CGC since early 2002. I remember sending in my first 20 somthing books and thinking I cant wait to see how many 10.0s I was going to get.

 

First group came back and grades were not what I was expecting. 8.0s, 8.5, 9.0, plenty of 9.2s and two or three 9.6s. (All modern books by the way)

I start thinking WOW I thought these books were all NM and those two 9.6s were my Gems.

 

Fast forward to early 2007. I was learning more and more about Signature series opportunites and began collecting yellow lables. MegaCon 2007 was the first show that I submitted books to. When that submission came back (about 20 books) most were 9.6s, a few 9.8s and some 9.4s. (Most of which I have begun selling on ebay)

 

At this early point in collecting I was thrilled to get anything 9.0 and above because the book was signed and authenticated and the grade was really icing on the cake.

 

Well here I am late 2008, almost 2 years after being bit by the SS bug, and I find myself begining to liquidate anything 9.6 and under. What has caused this change?

 

Why do I , the person less then 7 years ago who saw his 9.6, 9.4, and 9.2s as gems in his collection, now look at them as second class comics.

 

This also may be due to recieving two 9.9s.

 

Who knows, does anyone else feel like this?

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MedicAR

MedicAR

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Posted

HGSS High Grade Snob Syndrome Once a collector really begins to understand the tiny differences in high end grades, they want better and better books. The only real cure is to send all 9.8 and better books to Arkansas for safe keeping while you "detox" and purify your system with some real beaters.

:grin:

 

Seriously, I'm the same way. 9.6 just isn't what it used to be, which is really a bit weird since CGC seems to have tightened their standards the last few months...in my opinion anyway. If you're looking at new books, 9.8 is really the only way to go. I allow exceptions for tiny print runs and for multiple signatures or really hard to get signatures, but that's it.

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SignatureSelect

SignatureSelect

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Posted

I used to care about grade. I still do if it is a book I intend to sell. If it is for me. I don't really care about grade unless it is a brand new book graded 9.0 or below. With that said my X-men book signed by Bryan Singer is an 8.5 and I would never sell it. My Sam Raimi SS book is a 9.0 and I would never sell it. My Nightmare on elm street Signed by the cast of Nightmare and wes craven is only a 9.4 and I love it just like it were a 9.8. Sometimes grade really doesn't matter.

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gcstomp

gcstomp

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Posted

Thats a little disappointing Daniel, as I thought you were more about the work than the grade. I am referring to sketch covers, which is your big thing. The M Wolfe you just added to your gallery, that book is a gem, regardless of grade.

 

To me, if you have a serious piece like that, inked and colored, it does not matter if it is a 9.0 or 9.8, to me at least. The Rocket Racoon piece you have up on ebay, cute piece, 9.8 grade. If it was colored/inked with nice detail, to me it would be way more valuable, even if it was then lowered to an 8.5.

 

I assume you are just talking about straight signed pieces with no sketches regarding your waivering interest in the lower grades.

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Raphael

Raphael

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Posted

Daniel, I think alot of us slab collectors can probably resonate with what you're saying.

 

I think big time though, our satisfaction with the grade of the book largely depends on - the book itself, who signed/sketched on the book. There was a post saying that for sketch books, it should be more about the sketch than it is about the grade (which I agree with), but I don't think there's any denying that it's always nicer to have the 9.8 grade WITH the great sketch.

 

Furthermore, for modern books, I think any modern collector would always prefer the 9.8 grade for a simple reason - 9.8 or NM+/M books should be in abundant supply (especially upon release), so that 9.8 raw copy should be out there waiting for one of us to get signed and graded.

 

Moderns aside, for older books (anything not in the Modern Age), 9.8's always yield the highest turnover if they ever need to be flipped, and usually adding a signature from a creator associated with the book only adds to the value. 9.6's, 9.4's and so on are still nice, but we all know the premiums that 9.8's fetch.

 

So when did Near Mint become a dirty word? I think it became a dirty word as soon as we started using number grades to identify what Near Mint is, versus Near Mint minus, Near Mint Plus, Near Mint Plus/Mint, Mint and Gem Mint.

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Mephisto

Mephisto

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I never really looked for 9.8's when I had books signed. The more expensive or rarer the comic the less likely I was to get it signed. I was fine with 9.0-9.6 on more modern issues, as I view a sig as a defect. If I wanted a truly high grade run of books I wouldn't have sig. series for any even though it means more points on the registry. But most who collect sig. series do seem to only want 9.8. That's why I didn't even bother offering up my ASM 293 and 294 CGC 9.4 and 9.6 signature series copies signed by JM Dematteis for the Zeck signing.

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CollectingStanLee

CollectingStanLee

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Ok, I know I'm going blind with age, but I find it really hard to predict a 9.8 versus a 9.6 before getting it slabbed. Overall I have to say I have a winning percentage, but sometimes the difference between the two are so microscopic, it doesn't make sense to get hung up on it.

 

For modern books, a 9.8 with or without sig/sketch puts the book in the most highly desired class by collectors and that means something if you go to resell the book. Doesn't mean a whole lot if you're just looking at it through the slab. Since the price difference between the two is often huge, I can live with a few 9.6s in my collection as well as a couple of 9.4s and 9.2s.

 

I'm probably in the minority, since I collect almost exclusively Stan Lee sigs and I really value that more than the book itself, so especially for silver age, I prefer mid to low grade. That helps me build out the collection and I have more fun with it that way. Bronze age and newer I try to stay at 9.0 and above, but I'm not going to throw out my 7.5 Iron Man 128 signed by Stan. I still love how he signed it.

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