Alternate Grading Scales

[zuulioso]

I am always amused when I am reviewing a list of someone's collection when they use non-standard grading descriptions for their books.

 

The most recent I read included the following with no indication as to rank:

 

"Fine"

"Very Good"

"Good"

 

Ok, so far so good, but then I find:

 

"Not Rubbish"

"Acceptable"

 

?? How do these relate to each other?

 

I have also seen "Very Nice". Anyone else have any alternate grading descriptions they have run into?

[Comicopolis]

Reader copy.

[JazzMan]

Pristine, still in the original bag

[InvstmntComcSuply]

Good>Very Good>Fine is still very common among used book sellers

[DiceX]

Pristine, still in the original bag

 

Ahh...Craigslist...

"Vintage comics from 1980. In MINT condition because they're still sealed in their original bag."

 

 

[zuulioso]

Yeah, but how about "Not Rubbish"? Is that better than "Acceptable"?

[Shaven Kev-migration]

reader means its less than NM and I dont feel like its worth grading cause its only costing you a buck or less per issue

[rjpb]

40 years ago, when the price differential wasn't so great, more than a few sellers used the blanket grade VG-NM for much of their inventory.

 

More recently there was the infamous ebay seller - "grassrootscomics" or something along those lines , with their unfathomable "nickel grade" system - made even more confusing in that they did things like marry photocopied covers with interiors taken out of a reprint.

 

I see that Metro, along with some other dealers still use the double + grade ( often with an equivalent 2 decimal place number grade (i.e VG++ = 4.75), curiously nothing ever seems to warrant a double minus grade. Other sellers seem to randomly add plus or minuses to their split grades ( FN/VF+).

 

There's the ebay favorite "looks great for a 60 year old comic" which seems to translate into "well read, but not actually falling apart".

 

I've also noticed that even major dealers will resort to less specific grades when a book is tough to accurately assess and likely subject to a broad range of grading opinion; high grade, mid grade and low grade - which is like a throwback to the old three tier system of Good, Fine and Mint. when the price spread form Good to Mint was 2:1 and slicing up the middle into 18 separate grades would have been considered ridiculous.

[Maccai3]

i use rock types as a grading scale, i have a few sedimentary Hulk 181's up for grabs

[Jeffro.]

Near Fine is one of my favorites. I think that's a book grading term

[Davenport]

... slicing up the middle into 18 separate grades would have been considered ridiculous.

[lizards2]

Near Fine is one of my favorites. I think that's a book grading term

 

And where did Extra Fine come from? :shrug: I think it was a Canadian or East Coast grade.

[Dr. Balls]

I prefer:

 

"Bltchin'"

"Hammered"

"Tlts"

and "Beat to Plss"

[the blob]

"Mid-grade" is one i use when I can't make up my mind.

 

"Nice sharp" copy too.

 

"Low grade reader"

[DrWatson]

... slicing up the middle into 18 separate grades would have been considered ridiculous.

The same scale can be used when evaluating prostitutes.

[Dr. Balls]

... slicing up the middle into 18 separate grades would have been considered ridiculous.

The same scale can be used when evaluating prostitutes.

 

 

They just need to make it into an OWL-style card that can be handed out to Vegas tourists.

[A-DONIS]

I am always amused when I am reviewing a list of someone's collection when they use non-standard grading descriptions for their books.

 

The most recent I read included the following with no indication as to rank:

 

"Fine"

"Very Good"

"Good"

 

Ok, so far so good, but then I find:

 

"Not Rubbish"

"Acceptable"

 

?? How do these relate to each other?

 

I have also seen "Very Nice". Anyone else have any alternate grading descriptions they have run into?

 

How about:

 

"Junk"

"More Junk"

"Holy mess, you call that a comic?"

[Anfield Fox]

I see a lot of "excellent condition" used by people not savy with comics, especially in the UK.

 

The same people will use "mint" on anything from fine and up.

 

Then again whoever coined the original terms "good" and "very good" weren't exactly an accurate reflection of the books were they?

[gyro-1]

some seem to just say -- Condition Used --

nothing more fun than paying $300 for a used comic book

[Demo-migration]

Near Fine is one of my favorites. I think that's a book grading term

 

And where did Extra Fine come from? :shrug: I think it was a Canadian or East Coast grade.

 

XF (Extremely Fine) comes from coin collecting, where I think all of our grading terms came from?