How low do you go? posted by Best2u

[CSJournals-migration]

Is there a bottom grade that you never go below with your CGC slabs?

 

I recently decided to start collecting more of the GHOSTS series other than the first 15 which have a different design to thier covers than the ones after issue #15. Now, its a long series with 112 issues and a few specials listed in other series. I decided to collect the first 15 issue because they are so hard to find well centered. After issue 15 they becomes a bit easier to find well centered. I've decided to still only buy well centered issues with no design elements cut off, but where as on the first 15 issues grade wasn't that important, on the next 97 issues I had to set some kind of rule as to how low a grade I would buy. I decide on the following. Issues 16 to 49 would have to be CGC's 9.4 with OW/W pages or better and issues 50 to 112 would have to be 9.6 with white pages or better. I'd love to have gone with 9.8 but the price gets to high at that grade, around $90 compared to $35 for 9.6's.

Where is this long rant going? What's the bottom grade that you accept? GHOSTS is a 1970s-80s series so there seem to be plenty of copies out there in high grade, with I'm sure, many more to be graded. Should low grades be lowered as the issues get older? Series from the 60's are around in high grade but not that often placed in the marketplace. Do you lower you grade so that you can own one soon or just wait till a high grade comes along? I've kind of set my low grade for silver age stuff at 8.0. That all leads to the golden age. Some of these issues just never come up for sale so do you just buy them no matter what the grade is? I do. They still have to be good looking for the grade and come at a price that the grade dictates but if you don't think you're ever going to see one again, I buy it. Would you? Let me know what you concider the lowest grade you would buy for a modern, silver, and golden age comic. (See one of my lower graded comics below. I have one graded lower but can't find the picture of it. It's a SHOWCASE #20 in CGC-4.0)

 

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[mysterio]

For me it has a lot to do with price and rarity. For Bronze under $100 per book I will look for 9.6 to 9.8 if they are available, but in Silver I tend to stay between 8.0 to 9.2. You can get a pretty book in those grades for the money, and when you try to go 9.4 or higher the prices get too crazy for what is a relatively small improvement in eye appeal (and, frankly, I think we all have 9.4s that should have gotten a 9.0 or 9.2 and vice versa). It is all about the deal. For some keys and nemesis books I do get a minimum grade in my head that I will not go below regardless of the deal, however.

[Ozark Comics]

I think your question is only valid for 'common' series. If you collect comics where there are hundreds graded per issue then you can afford to say, "Hey, there's a 9.0 listed on ebay, but I know that there are 82 in 9.2s, 194 9.4s, 260 9.6s, and 12 9.8s. I think I'll pass and wait until a higher grade comes out". Most of the stuff that I collect have total populations in all grades of less than 20.

 

Now ask yourself, what would you do if a Star Trek #35 in CGC 9.0 came up for sale? Total Population --- 6. 1 in 9.0 with none higher. I'd rather have a low grade now to fill the hole in my collection and hope to be able to upgrade it sometime in the next decade.

 

[oakman29]

8.0-9.4 Is the sweet spot for Bronze and Silver Keys,for the major keys I get what I can afford.AF #15,Incredible Hulk #1,ToS #39,Avengers#1 etc.My threshold that I wont go below is 3.5 (thumbs u