Finally a 9.8! Care to guess the price?

[LordRahl]

The criteria I'm using would be the dictionary definition of mint, not the comic book grading definition. I've always thought the grading system was nuts. CGC grades, as far as I can tell, only on how flat, straight the edges, and undinged the book is. The color (whether the book is faded or dingy or it's pages are tanned all to ****) means nothing grade-wise. The wrap of the book (how off-center the cover is) means nothing grade-wise. They ignore date stamps (warts) and distributor ink (tumors).

 

As someone once said to me, it's like judging how beautiful a woman is by looking at how well her hair is done and the quality of the manicure on her fingers and toes.

 

I've always thought books should be graded more like diamonds: 1) color, 2) cut [the wrap], and clarity [how many dings, etc.]. I'm not sure what to do with the fourth C [Carat].

 

I've always thought that, if a company really wanted to compete with CGC, they would grade based on this. Every collector I know already subconsciously does it.

 

As for the Avengers 58. It's a beautiful copy: perfect wrap, undinged, but its color is not good on the cover (dingy) and it has a defect (ugly date stamp). I've seen copies I think should be graded higher in a perfect world.

 

Just FYI.... this statement is just flat WRONG.

[TempusFugitivus]

Just curious but........

The color (whether the book is faded or dingy or it's pages are tanned all to ****) means nothing grade-wise.

How is this statement wrong?

 

If the pages are tanned but the book is structurally a 9.4, it gets a 9.4.

The tanning of the pages does not effect the grade.

 

If the color is all faded on the cover, it also doesn't effect the grade.

I've seen different 9.8s (i.e. the structure is basically not effecting the grade at all) with enormous differences in the color strike and saturation.

 

 

[seanfingh]

Likely, he is referring to the PQ not affecting grade. To illustrate, there is an infamous book around here, I think it was Christian's (BlowUptheMoon). It graded structurally at 9.6 and it was a double cover, but because of tan pages it got an 8.5.

[LordRahl]

Just curious but........

The color (whether the book is faded or dingy or it's pages are tanned all to ****) means nothing grade-wise.

How is this statement wrong?

 

If the pages are tanned but the book is structurally a 9.4, it gets a 9.4.

The tanning of the pages does not effect the grade.

 

If the color is all faded on the cover, it also doesn't effect the grade.

I've seen different 9.8s (i.e. the structure is basically not effecting the grade at all) with enormous differences in the color strike and saturation.

 

 

A book that is structurally a 9.4 with Tan pages will NOT get a 9.4. Cream pages is the worst page quality I've seen on 9.4s. There were a lot of Light Tan and Tan paged books in the Manarino collection that were downgraded because of the page quality. Same goes for fading covers. There is a difference between a faded cover and a cover that doesn't have great color to begin with.

[namisgr]

I've seen different 9.8s (i.e. the structure is basically not effecting the grade at all) with enormous differences in the color strike and saturation.

 

Color strike and fading are two completely different issues, with the latter having a potentially pronounced effect on CGC grade. Differences in color strike occur during printing and cause variations in color palate and intensity. Fading, on the other hand, is a sign of wear. On an otherwise ultra high grade book, fading can dramatically reduce grade. Examples are the small handful of Gaines File copies that are structurally perfect but have areas of cover color fade, and grade deductions of several units.

[TempusFugitivus]

I did not know this.

You learn something new every day.