Redhook Opens His Mini-Vault ...... please offer your grades.

[Red Hook]

Thanks very much Cal. I'd be very happy to receive those grades.

[sfilosa]

Absolutely.

 

FF- None of my remaining comments are directly related to you.

 

If anything, we should almost always OVERGRADE a book, based on a scan. If you are consistently undergrading it means that you:

 

1) are assuming defects that aren't there (i.e. that book can't be a 9.4 or it would already be slabbed, and it's not my book and I don't like the fact that others have really nice books).

 

2) you haven't figured out how much a defect(s) factor into the downgrading of a book (which means you just don't know how to grade yet).

 

Lastly, one MUST ASSUME a BOOK is GEM MINT 10.0 and work down from there. Don't start at 9.4 (Near MInt), see one tiny spine stress line and then say the book is NM- (9.2). Doesn't work that way.

[RS]

Very nice cover I love battle covers 9.2

[Red Hook]

Well, be assured when I send these in I will share the grades with you.

 

How about these grades from my daughter Dayna she just got today:

 

SAT-2's (what we old farts used to call the achievement tests).

 

Writing - 700 out of 800

Literature - 710 out of 800

American History - 650 out of 800

 

[fantastic_four]

.. F.F. all you had to do was ask Red for a detailed list of defects before you could pass along your thoughts, as it is had to judge/grade from just a scan alone

 

No need really for your long description of "The 2 major Steps in Grading"

 

But thnx for the lesson.. and you are right in your statment.

 

Just seemed a bit overkill.

 

The first two or three dozen times I did that in the threads in this forum I was happy to simply ask for the inventories. What I found was that the person would then just slap up another scan without the inventories the next time they wanted a book graded. So I would argue there is a need to verbosely communicate an understanding of the limitations of grading via message forums.

 

I wasn't trying to rip on Redhook specifically...the only reason I even bothered to click the thread to begin with was because Redhook helps so many other people that I thought I'd try to help out with an opinion, but I found he was falling into the same bad habits everyone else does.

 

My grandma doesn't know rip about comics, but if she's in a good mood, she can FIND defects given a book in hand. All it takes is concentration and an eye for detail. The challenge and controversy in grading is attempting to assign a grade to a given set of defects, and to do that with any real accuracy around here, the set of defects needs to be constant and defined by the poster.

[gozer]

>> But be tough in your grading

 

Ok.

 

Hmmmm. I'm sorry, Mr Hook, but I have bad news. Very bad news.

 

There's no easy way to say this, so I'll just come right out with it.

Your books are [!@#%^&^]. We're looking at 1.5 or 1.8 at best.

 

For your psychological health, it's probably best to get rid of them,

move on, and just forget about this whole sordid mess.

 

Of course you won't want to sell them, because that would just foist

your problems on to some other unfortunate schmoe.

 

LUCKILY for you, I operate Gozer's [!@#%^&^] Comic Disposal Service!

 

Just send me your books, plus a $10 handling fee (per book), and I'll

see that they're interred in a government certified landfill, there to join

their molecules with the mother earth, thereby contributing to the

survival or all mankind. I know, it brings a tear to my eye too!

 

No ... no need to thank me. I'm just trying to do my part to fleece, uh,

I mean, HELP everyone out there with their comic disposal needs!

 

Looking forward to receiving your books,

gozer

[Red Hook]

Hmmm, from the tone of your post, it must mean I have something you really want!

 

BTW just for the record, I appreciate Zeman watching out for my sensitivities, but I really didn't take FF's exposition on grading personally. Ok, I admit, I have a few bad habits.....I clip my toenails in bed, um, I eat too fast, ...etc. but really, as I told him in a PM, better to deal with reality now, than to deal with reality when the slabs get back.

 

As a 12-stepper would say...."I am not my books, or their grades."

 

With that said I am posting a new one today.....a bigger scan as FFB requested.

 

Looking over these books, I realize that 22 years ago when I was picking these up at conventions, I was definitely looking for "clean" looking books, and not necessarily paying attention to small dings, etc. the structural things. So I'd say my collection is a good 8.5 to 9.0 collection of very clean books with good gloss and very fine eye appeal, that would suffer from deductions in the stucture department.

 

Amazing Spider-man 35.......Good color, bright, edges sharp, corners on bottom a bit dinged, and light spine stress that doesn't break color. Back cover less white than some of my others. Page quality is OW.

 

Don't say I didn't warn ya!

 

Big MOFO Scan!

[divad]

Nice copy - 9.0

 

Is that color fleck at Spidey's knee on all of these?

[uclapeterg]

Redhook: A solid 8.5/9.0.

[Red Hook]

Nice copy - 9.0

 

Is that color fleck at Spidey's knee on all of these?

 

It's the way the art is, I believe.

[supapimp]

nice pic! 9.0-9.2 don't let the haters fool you.

[Murph]

I've owned a 9.0 and 9.4 of this book. I resubmitted the 9.0 to see if I can pull off a 9.2, it didn't happen. That book was a much cleaner copy than yours (no offense to yours, just using it for comparison sake). This is an 8.5

 

Brian

[Aces]

9.0

 

After waiting forever for my dial-up to load it...

 

Use a link to the pics dude.

 

ASM35

[supapimp]

After waiting forever for my dial-up to load it...

 

 

dial up? what's that? blame bono and others, they said they couldn't grade a scan that small. i'm thinking, just open your eyes.

[Red Hook]

Hi Aces. You are hereby relieved of duty! Just avoid the thread. Can't keep everyone happy. Sorry.

[FFB]

ASM#35: 8.5. I would have gone 9.0 if not for that thumb crease about an inch to the left of the right edge about a third of the way up from the bottom of the book. It's a real beauty though Brad.

[supapimp]

if you grade that an 8.5 then your ASM ANNUAL 2 is an 8.5.

[FFB]

if you grade that an 8.5 then your ASM ANNUAL 2 is an 8.5.

 

My ASM Annual #2 does not have a single spine stress, no thumb crease, relatively sharp corners, and white pages. It also has two tiny 1/16th inch tears at the top of the edge of the back cover and a crease joining the two of them (where the flap of paper created by the tears folded over long ago). That and the slight dust shadow on the back cover are the only real defects. It's probably a 9.0. I'll post some scans of front and back this weekend.

[Red Hook]

Thanks FFB. Here is the last one for today....... a MB smaller. Nice gloss, victimized by ink transfer, obviously. A little wear at the lower left spine. Staples shot through the front. Something tells me this is also a tough book. Rough bottom edge on front and bottom. I think it's maybe a 7.0 or an 8.0?

 

The thing is, because these books have been with me so long, these are the ones that will get slabbed and stay with me. Call me sentimental. When I add new books to my collection, I'll probably go for the best I can afford. Thanks to everyone for their input.

 

Classic Ink Transfer!

[supapimp]

that scan is HUGE! go bid some more on my DD 168.