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CGC grading "soft" lately?

Started by clarkkentdds,

71 posts in this topic

Yannis

Yannis

Posted
Posted

I had a conversation recently with another collector who believe that CGC (or certain people at cgc) would give a gift grade to a personal friend submitting books. If this is true or not I am not to say but I found the thread question to be untrue in my case. When it came to some books I submitted recently the were crushed to my surprise. Even when I showed them to some major dealers (don't want to name them in public) they agreed that the grades given were unfair.

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G.A.tor

G.A.tor

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Posted
Yes..but (as mentioned) if the cover is so bad, that it warrants nothing higher than an 8.0 grade...it doesn't matter how pristine the rest of the book is (it's interior). What we can see (easily) without seeing the interior is that it is no better than an 8.0. Then how could a book then become 9.0 or 9.2?????????? Hmmmmmm!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

If the book looks 9.4 on the exterior (the cover)...but has defects such as Gator mentioned (on the interior) and the book receives a grade of 9.0, then that's OK...

I hear what you are saying, but the grade of the book should encompass the entire book... not just the cover...

 

say the cover is a 8.0 but the interior is perfect 10.0... then the book averages to a 9.0 :baiting:

 

I really don't think it works that way.

the way it works is that cgc starts at a 10 and deducts points per defect (no idea what their formula is or how it is weighted)...they then take 10 and subtract the total points for the cumulative defects and that is how they arrive at a grade (or so I have been told )...

 

so, in an indirect way, that is exactly how it works and why it is possible for folks that just cover grade, to sometimes dissagree with cgc (or anyone else's, for that matter , grade) ...

 

we each grade to our own set of standards, and if you are going to pay cgc to give their opinion (by multiple folks), then it "is, what it is" (thumbs u

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G.A.tor

G.A.tor

Posted
Posted
Yes..but (as mentioned) if the cover is so bad, that it warrants nothing higher than an 8.0 grade...it doesn't matter how pristine the rest of the book is (it's interior). What we can see (easily) without seeing the interior is that it is no better than an 8.0. Then how could a book then become 9.0 or 9.2?????????? Hmmmmmm!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

If the book looks 9.4 on the exterior (the cover)...but has defects such as Gator mentioned (on the interior) and the book receives a grade of 9.0, then that's OK...

I hear what you are saying, but the grade of the book should encompass the entire book... not just the cover...

 

say the cover is a 8.0 but the interior is perfect 10.0... then the book averages to a 9.0 :baiting:

 

So what percentage do you place on the cover vs interior when arriving at the overall grade? To most it is almost always cover centric unless interior PQ is very bad, or other unseen physical interior defects.

 

I would argue that an 8.0 cover around a 10.0 interior would not get a 9.0

 

Too many 8.0 type cover flaws to overlook. :baiting:

 

That said I do agree with you, the WHOLE book should be taken into account when grading, just not to the degree you laid out.

you might be right about 8.0 and 10.0 not averaging to a 9.0, I was, obviously being exaggerated...

 

but it is certainly possible for it to get an 8.5... or a 7.0 cover to have a 7.5 book grade, etc... we have all seen it upteem times... why does it suprise anyone anymore...that is how cgc grades, and that is what folks pay them for (well, in some folks case, it is for the resto check, too) (shrug)

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JohnT

JohnT

Posted
Posted
Yes..but (as mentioned) if the cover is so bad, that it warrants nothing higher than an 8.0 grade...it doesn't matter how pristine the rest of the book is (it's interior). What we can see (easily) without seeing the interior is that it is no better than an 8.0. Then how could a book then become 9.0 or 9.2?????????? Hmmmmmm!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

If the book looks 9.4 on the exterior (the cover)...but has defects such as Gator mentioned (on the interior) and the book receives a grade of 9.0, then that's OK...

I hear what you are saying, but the grade of the book should encompass the entire book... not just the cover...

 

say the cover is a 8.0 but the interior is perfect 10.0... then the book averages to a 9.0 :baiting:

 

I really don't think it works that way.

the way it works is that cgc starts at a 10 and deducts points per defect (no idea what their formula is or how it is weighted)...they then take 10 and subtract the total points for the cumulative defects and that is how they arrive at a grade (or so I have been told )...

 

so, in an indirect way, that is exactly how it works and why it is possible for folks that just cover grade, to sometimes dissagree with cgc (or anyone else's, for that matter , grade) ...

 

we each grade to our own set of standards, and if you are going to pay cgc to give their opinion (by multiple folks), then it "is, what it is" (thumbs u

 

I just can't imagine it's that simple of a grading method. We also know (or suspect, because they don't tell us how they grade) that certain defects are significant enough that they eliminate a book from certain grades regardless of the condition of the rest of the book: a tear, for example, or rusty staples. On the book that started this thread, I would have thought that 2 largish staple stresses would eliminate the book from being a 9.2. Therefore, I think the grading was "soft."

 

Also, we suspect that certain defects don't affect books in certain grades. For example, date stamps or written names. So in those cases they don't even deduct points for those particular defects. Again, not a simple, straightforward point system.

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JohnT

JohnT

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Yep!

 

In my limited experience (I don't submit and if I buy slabs I crack them) CGC seems consistent and predictable. But it's easier to justify grades when no one but you knows what the grading system is! So ultimately it's just their opinion, and....buy the book not the grade. :sumo:

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EJR

EJR

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Posted

From my experience CGC grades alot tougher than any dealers I have ever dealt with in more than 30 years of collecting. Almost every book I have submitted to them has come back with a lower grade from what the dealers said the grade was. So its much better to just buy CGCed books especially if its for investment, definitely!! Otherwise its too easy to get ripped off! E

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JohnT

JohnT

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Posted
From my experience CGC grades alot tougher than any dealers I have ever dealt with in more than 30 years of collecting. Almost every book I have submitted to them has come back with a lower grade from what the dealers said the grade was. So its much better to just buy CGCed books especially if its for investment, definitely!! Otherwise its too easy to get ripped off! E

 

I'm surprised to hear that you think they're tougher than every dealer. know plenty of dealers who I think grade as tough...at least now. I don't know if they've adapted to CGC standards or if they always graded that way. But CGC standards--at least as much of them as we can guess--are now industry standards, imo. There are plenty of dealers who balk at that, but the price they pay is that collectors now see them as overgraders.

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