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Are standards lowering?

Started by seank,

2 posts in this topic

seank

seank

Posted
Posted

I usually buy mid-grade raw books from Heritage. Last year I bought a F ShockSuspenstories that was beautiful -- nice corners, spine wear but nothing significant, no split spine, glossy cover, you get the picture. Last month I bought two F/VF range Frontline Combats. One had a small tear on the cover and the start of a spine split (granted, ECs suffer from this defect) and the other is most likely pressed. I paid about $30 each for these books, so I don't feel too ripped-off, but I am a bit ticked at what I perceive to be over-grading from Heritage based on some very satisfactory previous purchases. I wouldn't grade either above F and could be tempted to go towards VG/F.

 

I've also noticed that books at my LCS that would be graded F+ last year are now being graded VF or VF-.

 

Are we seeing a grading correction from the recent high-grade/strict-grading mania of the last few years? I ask because I have found the grading of both Heritage and my LCS to be much more reliable in the past than eBay or other sources.

 

(In Heritage's defense, I did get a Batman 160 in the last auction that was accurately graded and I'm very happy with it.)

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Mr. Zipper

Mr. Zipper

Posted
Posted

Heritage is fairly inconsistant in their raw grading IMO, but probably no more so than most dealers... look for a .5 to 1.0 variance...

 

I've also noticed that books at my LCS that would be graded F+ last year are now being graded VF or VF-.

 

Are we seeing a grading correction from the recent high-grade/strict-grading mania of the last few years?

 

27_laughing.gif27_laughing.gif

 

What we are seeing is wishful thinking on the dealers' part to milk more $$ out of their books. The grading is stricter than ever... thus the price variance between grade levels is greater than ever. So much so that it must be very tempting for some dealers to squeeze an extra point whenever they can. Let's face it... when the difference between a 6.0 and a 7.5 is $10, there is not as much temptation to "round up." When the difference between a 6.0 and a 7.5 can be a hundred bucks or more... 893naughty-thumb.gif

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