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OS Grading Guide

Started by chrisco37,

48 posts in this topic

chrisco37

chrisco37

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I picked up the OS Grading Guide yesterday for my little cousin's Xmas gift. So, I got to preview it before I get my own. Anybody else check it out yet? What did you think? I had to mail it out today, so I didn't get a chance to really get into it, but from what I saw, I thought it was outstanding. Very well done. Awesome pictures. Great Job, Arnold!

 

Chris

 

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fantastic_four

fantastic_four

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Here's a partial review of the book I posted in the "Comics General" thread that is better suited to be here:

 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

I've read all the articles now, but I'll be poring over the pictorial examples for weeks to come. Just finished reading the "Using the 10 Point Grading Scale" article; this article is the biggest (published) advance to grading over the last 10 years. It was the lack of an article like this one that was the biggest weakness of the old grading guide. This article and the first page of each set of photographs that have the descriptions of what types of defects are allowed in every grade are the most important and most improved sections of the book.

 

Here are the strengths and weaknesses I've noticed so far with the grading guide:

 

Strengths

  • [*]The chart on page 127 showing the minimum and maximum number of defects allowed in each grade. Kudos to Bob and Arnold for giving us a more exact set of quantitative criteria for each grade! I'm sure we'll all argue about the numbers, but it's a start. smile.gif There is definitely a lot more specificity to be attained with comic book grading; we've made a few other suggestions in these forums for needed specificity that we'll hopefully see in a future revision. [*]The table at the bottom of page 128 which provides quantitative values to be directly associated with the qualitative descriptions used in the descriptions of defects allowable in each grade. For example, how minor is minor? The Guide defines "minor" to mean 3 to 5 defects ranging from 1/8" to 1/4" in length. This specificity has been sorely lacking both in the Overstreet's grading definitions and in defect descriptions given by dealers and collectors around the world. [*]A standard set of grading categories applied consistently to each grade. Overstreet's previous definitions for the grades were incomplete. For example, the 1992 Guide mentions that Very Fine comics can have yellowish/tannish pages, but the Near Mint and Mint descriptions didn't mention page whiteness at all. The new Guide has a set of 21 quality descriptions for which severities are consistently provided for every grade which appears in the book. The categories are:
    • [*]Bindery/Printing [*]Cover Inks/Gloss [*]Cover Wear [*]Cover Creases [*]Soiling, Staining [*]Dates/Stamps [*]Spine Roll [*]Spine Split [*]Staples [*]Staple Tears [*]Rust Migration [*]Stress Lines [*]Corners [*]Centerfold [*]Interior Tears [*]Paper Quality/Color [*]Acid Odor [*]Missing Pieces [*]Amateur Repairs [*]Coupon Cut [*]Readability

[*]The full-color glossy photos!

Weaknesses

  • [*]No change at all to Susan Cicconi's guidelines on detecting restoration. Restoration detection will continue to be the most glaringly important absent skill amongst collectors; buying CGC comics is still the only way to protect yourself. The article in both Grading Guides is a bare-minimum introduction to restoration detection; there's nothing there on detecting professional color touch via visual inspection, nothing about using or purchasing a black light (you'd never know those are used in restoration detection from reading either Grading Guide, unless you noticed the black light in CGC's advertisement in the beginning of the new revision), or detecting trimming with any consistency. You can't go to a national convention without seeing comics for sale that don't have these features; the majority of national dealers can't detect restoration themselves, so buying unslabbed vintage books is still a shoot. PovertyRow's descriptions for detecting restoration in the "Golden Age Comics" forum on this web site are more comprehensive than the ones in the grading guide. shocked.gifThe lack of information about restoration detection is still the biggest informational gap in literature available to dealers and collectors of high-cost comics.[*]The quantitative defect lengths assigned to the qualitative descriptors on page 128 is restrictively one-dimensional. Many defects, such as a stain, should be measured by area (two dimensions), not by length (one dimension). Even the most common defect on a comic--creasing--is really two-dimensional, not one-dimensional. A crease has both length AND width; some creases break color not at all, some break it a little, some a moderate amount, and some heavily.[*]No resolution of high grade comics with one fatal flaw, such as a cut-out coupon. CGC gives books like this the "Qualified" grade. The new Grading Guide makes grading this type of comic just as unclear as the previous Guide did. The chart on page 127 says that a Fair comic has between 15 and 24 defects; the description of allowable defects for Fair on page 315 notes that coupons may be cut. Fair is the highest grade that mentions coupons can be cut out. So is a comic that is otherwise Near Mint with a cut-out coupon a Fair or a Qualified Near Mint? The new Guide doesn't clear this up, and even confuses it further by indicating that Fair comics typically have at least 15 defects. [*]No replacement for the OWL scale. The new Guide mentions on page 89 that the old OWL scale is out of date, but it doesn't give any us anything to replace it. In the grade descriptions they now use the word "cream" which I didn't see in the previous Grading Guide. I'd also like to see a complete list of all the possible page whiteness descriptions; distilling them from this new Guide, they appear to be white, off-white, cream, tan, brown, and brittle. I won't give specifics, but I can also say that CGC's downgrading for page whiteness is still at major odds with the standards in the new Overstreet Grading Guide. [*]No pedigree reference. The only way to learn about pedigrees is still by reading Matt Nelson's CBM article on Golden Age pedigrees on his web site or by chatting with a large number of dealers/collectors and remembering what they said ooo.gif . [*]The pictures are too small to see some of the defects. I know, I know...we all complained the previous Grading Guide was tough to use because the pictures were in black and white. So they now gave us what we wanted--full-color photos! They're a definite improvement. However, they're too small. They're very resolute, but they need to be blown up. I doubt large pictures will ever be economically viable in a printed book on comic book grading due to the cost of paper and printing for a book with large pages which has the limited audience this one does. I definitely think they did an outstanding job with the photos given the constraints they faced.

The whole new level of specificity for the grading descriptions alone makes the new Grading Guide a worthwhile purchase. Everybody go buy one and read it so we can have something new to fight about. laugh.gif

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MonumentalCo

MonumentalCo

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I could not agree enough with Steve regarding the new edition of the grading guide. Calling this book awesome is to put it mildly. This book is a great benefit to the hobby and we have everyone at Gemstone and those involved to thank for it. One of the greatest things about this guide is that it is all in color!

 

Tom

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chrisco37

chrisco37

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Thanks for all the kind words this early on, everyone.

 

We were just bein' nice, Arnold. OK everyone....SLAM HIM! lol!

 

Seriously, when I get mine and a chance to really review, I'll post what I think (although I'm afraid it won't be near as thorough as FF was.)

 

Chris

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ericc123

ericc123

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I can't seem to find the guide either. The bookstore in my mall says it doesn't come out till January and my piece of local comic shop never has anything related to old comics in it.

 

Have a good weekend,

Ericc123

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lighthouse

lighthouse

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It has not yet been released through Diamond...

 

I ordered lots... and lots... and lots...

 

According to Diamond's website as of five minutes ago, they show that it has been pulled for my account, which means it will be shipping in next week's shipment...

 

So visit your local shop on Thursday, December 26th... smile.gif

 

And if you have no decent shop, drop me a PM, and I will be happy to sell you a copy at 10% off with free UPS Ground shipping. I would prefer you support your local retailer, but I know a lot of people don't have that option...

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lighthouse

lighthouse

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The book was out this week at comic book stores.

 

It may have been out in certain parts of the country... but not on the West Coast... and several of my friends around the country have not received theirs either...

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ArnoldTBlumberg

ArnoldTBlumberg

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Some of the confusion may stem from the fact that, like the Price Guide, we go through Random House for bookstores distribution, which results in a different on-sale date for their edition, as well as a completely different cover. The Random House edition of the Grading Guide hits regular bookstores in January, but right now the Gemstone edition (same exact book, just diff. covers) is hitting comic shops.

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The_Man_Of_Steel

The_Man_Of_Steel

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arnoldt, I ordered the Grading Guide last night from Amazon.com (along with The Standard Catalog of Comic Books) . I'm looking forward to learning more about grading through reading the OGG, and looking at all the purty pictures. grin.giftongue.gif

 

Comparing the new guide with the old guide, what would you say the BIGGEST and most IMPORTANT changes?

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