Metropolis Raw Grading

[sterlingcomics]

It's been a while since I bought from Metropolis; probably about 2 years ago. I received a raw 8.5 that looked more like 7.0. There's a couple of books up there I'd like to get but because it's not within the "$500" requirement, I can't see a scan.

 

Anybody bought raw from them lately or have recent experience to impart? I'm looking for a current grading assessment.

 

Thanks!

[dam60]

I haven't bought anything raw from them, but they do have a 7 day retun policy on their raw books . . .

[murph0]

I got an ASM 89 NM from them. I even got a scan on it. Anyways, I received it and thought it to be a 9.0 with a very outside shot at 9.2. I emailed them asking about a return. They immediately replied and I sent it back. I would not hesitate to order from them again.

 

Brian

[currincomics]

I bought once from then, back in '99, and kept the book, but my opinion is that they over grade by at least 1.5. So, I did business once, but then again thought about their collection apprasail service, and if they would over grade my books as well-making my collection worth more than it is???

[shiverbones]

i have orderd about 7 books in the last 2 years, and kept 2. Grading is dicey, but they accept returns with no hassles.

[Tomega]

I just received a X-men 48 that was listed as 9.4 and it was everything a 9.4 should be.

[buttock]

I probably return about 1/2 of the books I buy from them, but they always accept returns with no problems.

[CentaurMan]

I think that without question they tend to overgrade, but at least they haven't yet sold me a restored book without disclosing that there was work done. That's worth a lot.

 

They recently sent me 2 books "on spec", allowing me to pay once I decided that they were satisfactory. I'm a semi-regular customer, so that probably isn't standard policy. But it was certainly appreciated, and I ended up keeping both books, calling Ed at their store to pay for them the day after I received them. That certainly built up goodwill with me, as I don't know many dealers who would ship books away before receiving payment.

 

Plusses:

• 
  Unparalled inventory
  Good disclosure of restoration
  Outstanding want list service
  Easy return policy
  Pretty decent web site (getting better every month)
  Vince is a good guy

 

Minuses:

• 
  Raw grading is high
  No haggling on price for website-listed books, even a token 5%
  No scans under $500, which can be pretty annoying
  Prices tend towards the high side (on the stuff I want, at least)
  Is Stephen a good guy? Jury still out.

 

Overall, given some of the dealers out there, I think Metropolis is one of the better places to shop. There are deals to be had in their inventory if you look hard enough. And if you just MUST have an unrestored Action Comics #4, for example, they're about the only place you can turn. If they don't have it, they'll find it. And you'll pay for it. But it all works out.

[Timely]

Minuses:

Raw grading is high

No haggling on price for website-listed books, even a token 5%

No scans under $500, which can be pretty annoying

Prices tend towards the high side (on the stuff I want, at least)

Is Stephen a good guy? Jury still out.

 

Actually, I believe that jury is in, and it's not going well for the defense!

 

Timely

[Rip]

If the site says 9.4 you'll get a 9.2-9.0 most of the time. Maybe 1 in 4 books are correctly graded. Great inventory, many times the prices are good too. Still love ordering from them.

[BEAUMONTS]

Ordered a couple of NM Jungle Action from Blazingbob "highgradecomics.com" and Motor City Comics, all were NM to NM+. Excellent grading and fantastic service.

[Rickdogg]

I received overgraded raw books that were cheapies compared to what books they do have in ther posession. However, their emails were courteous and the professionalism over the telephone speaks volume

[Aman619]

I heard they tried to screw over some Limey out of a rare GA book and set some wheels in motion or something like that. Just a rumor I heard from a guy that I tried to research on the internet but couldnt find a word about it!!

[jbud73]

[Hensley300]

bought a modern x-men 171 and 201 from metropolis, both came back cgc 9.8 with white pages

[sterlingcomics]

Ordered a couple of NM Jungle Action from Blazingbob "highgradecomics.com" and Motor City Comics, all were NM to NM+. Excellent grading and fantastic service.

 

The Blazing One has my highest regards...

I recently got the House of Mystery 186 CGC 9.6 from Motor City...so far so good...(so what?)

 

 

[minutekev@50]

Ordered a couple of NM Jungle Action from Blazingbob "highgradecomics.com" and Motor City Comics, all were NM to NM+. Excellent grading and fantastic service.

 

The Blazing One has my highest regards...

I recently got the House of Mystery 186 CGC 9.6 from Motor City...so far so good...(so what?)

 

 

Just remember....it's all fun and games until Bob wants to buy a house.

[metropoliscomics]

Hello- I was replying to this a few nights ago and inadvertently shut off my browser before sending-sorry for the long overdue reply. May I first say that Bob Storms is a great guy- you all have it right. Secondly, Mike Goldman and his crew at Motor City are also very reputable, honest, straight forward guys. Mike's dad Artie is a very cool dude. Now, onto the crux of the matter.

 

I offer customers a 10 day return policy. 10 days from the day they receive the books they have ordered from me. The books must be returned in the same way they were shipped to them.

 

I guarantee that any book I sell as unrestored is unrestored. If you find out a book is restored I will give you a 100% refund within the first 30 days. After that period I offer a store credit.

 

In regards to CGC grading a book differently than my company here is my policy: I will offer a return on a book graded differently by CGC only when it is restored or if a book has a missing page or clipped coupon (something of that nature). In which case will result in a refund or credit depending on how long ago a purchase was made (30 days being the differentiating point). In the same way I do not expect a customer to call me to offer me extra money if he/she gets an upgrade on a book I also do not expect to be called if a book gets a lower grade. You as the collector must make your decision when you receive the book. If you liked a book when you first purchased it from me and then feel dissatisfied with it because CGC gives it a lower grade simply crack the book out and put it back into the Metropolis mylar. CGCs opinion, while highly respected, is only an opinion. Another option is to wait a few months and resubmit the comic in hopes of getting the grade you originally hoped for. I will state this for the record, I do not sell my raw books based on what CGC will grade them I sell them based on what I grade them. And if somewhere down the line you want to sell/consign that book to me I will honor that grade.

For those of you who do not have the ability to grade a comic accurately on your own I do offer the largest selection of CGC graded comics in the business. To view these books simply click on http://cgi.tias.com/cgi-bin/sqlsearch.fcgi?store=%2Fstores%2Fmetropolis&sortFields=subCategory%2Cpublisher%2CseqNo%2CsubTitle%2Cedition%2Ccondition+DESC&resultPageTemplate=ResultPage.html&resultTableTemplate=ResultTable.txt&resultItemTemplate=ResultItem.txt&noResultPageTemplate=NoResultPage.html&max=100&subCategory=&edition=&type=&publisher=&desc=cgc&search=Search

 

Or you can simply call and ask me what I think a book will grade out at-while I can not guarantee the result from CGC I can give you my opinion. There are certain types of defects that I know CGC may have a pet peeve about and I will not recommend sending those books to them. This is not to say I am right and they are wrong it is simply one of the peculiarities of grading opinions. Remember, my goal is not to sell you one book one time, it is to create a longstanding relationship in which you can complete your collecting goals in a satisfactory manner.

 

I realize many of you wish we offered scans of lower priced books. It would be extremely beneficial if I had all of my books scanned, it would help sell them in a more expeditious manner I agree. Unfortunately due to time and budgetary constraints I simply can not do this or accomodate all of the requests. It simply is not feasible with an inventory as large as mine (approximately 100,000 comics) and the number of daily requests for scans. That is the reason for the $500 cut off. To make up for this I do offer to have a book/books pulled from inventory and give a description of it over the phone. Serious buyers can feel free to call 800-229-6387 and ask for Ed or myself if you are interested in utilizing this service. This process can sometimes take a 1-3 days. Of course there is another option, you can always simply order the book and take advantage of our return policy if you are not satisfied.

 

Another way I have attempted to alleivate this challenge is by creating a Gallery Feature in which hundreds of actual scans are shown on my site. Each month the number of books will increase. And we do not just show expensive or high grade books here, the prices and conditions do range. You can view the Gallery at http://pages.metropoliscomics.com/365/InventoryPage/1662332/1.html

 

I am very conscientious about my grading but realize there will be differences in opinion on the condition of books. I do my best to disclose all restoration on comics I grade. It means a great deal to me to satisfy my customers with the books they are looking for. It is one of the aspects of my business I enjoy the most. I try to do my best not to argue grades with customers as it hardly ever ends in a fruitful discussion. Not to say I will not listen to reasons for the return or disagreement of grade. Surely I am not perfect and when I grade so many books I am bound to make a mistake. I want my customers to be happy with the books they are buying and that is why I offer the 10 day return policy. I also examine returned books with comments and explanations about their return to make sure I did not miss something. These types of errors are far and few in between otherwise I would be typing this from underneath a stack of returns and that simply does not occur.

 

I thank you all for your interest in my company and our policies. I hope I have answered many of your questions and concerns with this post. If you have any other questions please contact me by email, forum, PM, phone or visit with me at an upcoming convention (next one being Wizard World L.A. (really in Long Beach, CA) in late March.

 

Sincerely,

 

Vincent Zurzolo

COO

Metropolis Collectibles, Inc.

http://www.metropoliscomics.com

 

 

[Darthdiesel]

Hello- I was replying to this a few nights ago and inadvertently shut off my browser before sending-sorry for the long overdue reply. May I first say that Bob Storms is a great guy- you all have it right. Secondly, Mike Goldman and his crew at Motor City are also very reputable, honest, straight forward guys. Mike's dad Artie is a very cool dude. Now, onto the crux of the matter.

 

I offer customers a 10 day return policy. 10 days from the day they receive the books they have ordered from me. The books must be returned in the same way they were shipped to them.

 

I guarantee that any book I sell as unrestored is unrestored. If you find out a book is restored I will give you a 100% refund within the first 30 days. After that period I offer a store credit.

 

In regards to CGC grading a book differently than my company here is my policy: I will offer a return on a book graded differently by CGC only when it is restored or if a book has a missing page or clipped coupon (something of that nature). In which case will result in a refund or credit depending on how long ago a purchase was made (30 days being the differentiating point). In the same way I do not expect a customer to call me to offer me extra money if he/she gets an upgrade on a book I also do not expect to be called if a book gets a lower grade. You as the collector must make your decision when you receive the book. If you liked a book when you first purchased it from me and then feel dissatisfied with it because CGC gives it a lower grade simply crack the book out and put it back into the Metropolis mylar. CGCs opinion, while highly respected, is only an opinion. Another option is to wait a few months and resubmit the comic in hopes of getting the grade you originally hoped for. I will state this for the record, I do not sell my raw books based on what CGC will grade them I sell them based on what I grade them. And if somewhere down the line you want to sell/consign that book to me I will honor that grade.

For those of you who do not have the ability to grade a comic accurately on your own I do offer the largest selection of CGC graded comics in the business. To view these books simply click on http://cgi.tias.com/cgi-bin/sqlsearch.fcgi?store=%2Fstores%2Fmetropolis&sortFields=subCategory%2Cpublisher%2CseqNo%2CsubTitle%2Cedition%2Ccondition+DESC&resultPageTemplate=ResultPage.html&resultTableTemplate=ResultTable.txt&resultItemTemplate=ResultItem.txt&noResultPageTemplate=NoResultPage.html&max=100&subCategory=&edition=&type=&publisher=&desc=cgc&search=Search

 

Or you can simply call and ask me what I think a book will grade out at-while I can not guarantee the result from CGC I can give you my opinion. There are certain types of defects that I know CGC may have a pet peeve about and I will not recommend sending those books to them. This is not to say I am right and they are wrong it is simply one of the peculiarities of grading opinions. Remember, my goal is not to sell you one book one time, it is to create a longstanding relationship in which you can complete your collecting goals in a satisfactory manner.

 

I realize many of you wish we offered scans of lower priced books. It would be extremely beneficial if I had all of my books scanned, it would help sell them in a more expeditious manner I agree. Unfortunately due to time and budgetary constraints I simply can not do this or accomodate all of the requests. It simply is not feasible with an inventory as large as mine (approximately 100,000 comics) and the number of daily requests for scans. That is the reason for the $500 cut off. To make up for this I do offer to have a book/books pulled from inventory and give a description of it over the phone. Serious buyers can feel free to call 800-229-6387 and ask for Ed or myself if you are interested in utilizing this service. This process can sometimes take a 1-3 days. Of course there is another option, you can always simply order the book and take advantage of our return policy if you are not satisfied.

 

Another way I have attempted to alleivate this challenge is by creating a Gallery Feature in which hundreds of actual scans are shown on my site. Each month the number of books will increase. And we do not just show expensive or high grade books here, the prices and conditions do range. You can view the Gallery at http://pages.metropoliscomics.com/365/InventoryPage/1662332/1.html

 

I am very conscientious about my grading but realize there will be differences in opinion on the condition of books. I do my best to disclose all restoration on comics I grade. It means a great deal to me to satisfy my customers with the books they are looking for. It is one of the aspects of my business I enjoy the most. I try to do my best not to argue grades with customers as it hardly ever ends in a fruitful discussion. Not to say I will not listen to reasons for the return or disagreement of grade. Surely I am not perfect and when I grade so many books I am bound to make a mistake. I want my customers to be happy with the books they are buying and that is why I offer the 10 day return policy. I also examine returned books with comments and explanations about their return to make sure I did not miss something. These types of errors are far and few in between otherwise I would be typing this from underneath a stack of returns and that simply does not occur.

 

I thank you all for your interest in my company and our policies. I hope I have answered many of your questions and concerns with this post. If you have any other questions please contact me by email, forum, PM, phone or visit with me at an upcoming convention (next one being Wizard World L.A. (really in Long Beach, CA) in late March.

 

Sincerely,

 

Vincent Zurzolo

COO

Metropolis Collectibles, Inc.

http://www.metropoliscomics.com

 

 

 

You had me at "Hello"

[Mr. Zipper]

I've purchased a number of books from them recently... silver and bronze in the in the 8.0 - 9.2 range. Actually, I walked down to their office last week and made my most recent acquisition, JIM 83 They had 5 to choose from in the grade range I wanted.

 

I think their grading is accurate the majority of the time and I've never gotten a book from them that I would consider more than half a grade off. When I shop from dealer sites, Metropolis and Superworld are the first 2 places I go.