Is a 9.6 so bad?

WebSlinger · June 25, 2013

I crack a lot of copper/early modern books for SS, and I buy a lot of 9.6s for a deal for this purpose. I get a lot of beautiful 9.6s that bump, in fact I'd say somewhere around 30-40% of them go up to 9.8 on resubmit after getting signed. An average 9.6 tends to hold, but those books that look the part do often go up. Same with the weak 9.8s that find their true level and drop on resub. I'm to the point where I am happier cracking 9.6, because I've never had one drop and nice success on upgrades. 9.8s hold their grade as a best case scenario, so the upside is less and the risk higher.

ItsJustRyan · June 25, 2013

Yay.... I started a thread that got to page seven

valiantman · June 25, 2013

as for moderns, when 9.6's are 50+% cheaper then their 9.8 counterparts, time to think about picking up the 9.6

Here's how you work the math...

When 9.6 is half the price of 9.8, buy two 9.6.

Then, examine both 9.6s closely and tell yourself that the better one will be a 9.8 when you resub it someday.

Presto! You've got a 9.6 AND a (strong potential) 9.8 for the price of one 9.8.

(Plus slab fees someday... which you never have to pay if you don't want to.)

HarveySwick · June 25, 2013

as for moderns, when 9.6's are 50+% cheaper then their 9.8 counterparts, time to think about picking up the 9.6

Here's how you work the math...

When 9.6 is half the price of 9.8, buy two 9.6.

Then, examine both 9.6s closely and tell yourself that the better one will be a 9.8 when you resub it someday.

Presto! You've got a 9.6 AND a (strong potential) 9.8 for the price of one 9.8.

(Plus slab fees someday... which you never have to pay if you don't want to.)

... :idea: ...

valiantman · June 25, 2013

Here's a good example of when a 9.6 modern is the better option...

In 2008, CGC 9.8 Harbinger #1 sold multiple times for $2,000+.

At the same time, you could purchase CGC 9.6 Harbinger #1 for about $200.

(Or, you could purchase 10 of the CGC 9.6 for $2,000.)

Today, the CGC 9.8 Harbinger #1 is selling around $450.

The CGC 9.6 Harbinger #1 sells for $100 to $120.

If you put $2,000 into CGC 9.8, you'd have $450.

If you put $2,000 into CGC 9.6, you'd have $1,000 to $1,200.

Yes, both are a loss... sometimes books go down... but you'd be MUCH better off with a small stack of 9.6s.

Not to mention the fact that SOME of the 9.6s might be 9.8s on a re-sub today.

If that doesn't make you double-check your math, you might want to note that CGC 9.4 Harbinger #1 was $70 in 2008.

Today, the CGC 9.4 Harbinger #1 average for the past 12 months is $70, so you'd still have all your money,

even though the CGC 9.8 fell over 75%.

Unless someone can name another, I believe that Harbinger #1 at $450 is STILL the highest valued

CGC 9.8 average for a REGULAR issue for any publisher from the whole year of 1992.

(No variants, just a regular comic.)

cbaileypacker · June 25, 2013

I notice most everyone considers 9.6 good candidates for higher grade re-sub, but nobody buys a 9.8 with hopes of a 9.9 /10 re-sub.

Also seems 9.8 should drop if the perception is that most 9.6 are worth a re-sub, or are great prices for 9.8 candidates to collect....

ItsJustRyan · June 25, 2013

Bravo valliantman - I dig your vibe :golfclap:

CallMeSang · June 25, 2013

Great assessment, Valiantman!

Unless a book is in HIGH demands, I am happy to settle with a 9.6 modern. Although I haven't tried, I am always tempted to resubbed my 9.2-9.4 copper and bronze. Some of them may get a 9.6.

jreezy · June 25, 2013

I don't mind 9.6 and below. You get alot of bang for your buck with 9.6 because they can be had far cheaper than 9.8s. However, there have been times I have upgraded or have been looking to upgrade my non 9.8 books. At least for moderns... I actually just picked up a 9.6 SS of Ex Machina for dirt cheap. I pulled the trigger because I rarely see one on Ebay.

As far as silver age books and older I'll take low grades all day because buying high grades will put me in the poor house.

Beige · June 25, 2013

When I do play the speculation game, one of my biggest indicators is the performance of the 9.6.

If you look at a few examples of comics that rose rather quickly over a short period of time (2-3 years) such as any TWD key (1,2,19,27), the Saga Retailer Variant, PP #1, New Mutants 98, YTLM 1, etc-- a big indicator for me to get in (or get out) was the frequency of 9.6 sales being offered and completed. You know you've got something worth while when even grade snobs are so infatuated with a book, that even something below a 9.8 gets play.

That said, when a hit starts to sink fast, if you don't have anything other than a 9.8, good luck getting rid of it.

Whist I agree with most of the above - the one exception is Y-The Last Man.

This book is nowhere near its peak.

God-forbid that anyone should actually make a series based on this wonderful, wonderful story - then I cannot imagine where a 9.8 would settle at.

This, for me, is the book waiting to get its praise/just desserts/kudos or whatever you want to call it.

I just sold (4 weeks ago?) a 9.2 for $155.

This book, is the only one in the modern age that could knock off The Walking Dead and TMNT, as great as they are.

Do it right, and Y-The last man could be the greatest TV series ever.

A 9.8 - well its $500 already - goodness knows what a great series on TV could push it to.

A 9.6 would not be that far behind.

ItsJustRyan · June 25, 2013

All hail, YTLM!

rjpb · June 25, 2013

Most modern collectors, let alone readers, don't slab their books and perfectly content with 9.4/9.6 raw copies ( and sometimes even lower). Sure they may wish they had a raw 9.8 when a book breaks out and they think about slabbing it for resale, and a seller that has a reputation for having a keen eye for grading, can get premiums for raw 9.8s of popular books, but overall they are not obsessed with grade and have no desire to entomb their books in plastic. Most of them have probably never bothered looking over a modern comic thoroughly enough to tell with any precision what 9.x grade it actually is.

Slab collectors are looking for premium copies of their favorite books, and it makes perfect sense that they would want 9.8s or better, especially if the book isn't otherwise worth much more than cover ( at best) in raw "NM". Even if a case can be made that cherry picking slabbed 9.6 copies for resub potential can be more lucrative than buying slabbed 9.8s, that's a flipping rather than collecting argument, and we all know that paying a super premium for "highest graded copy" is a perilous investment at best, but slab collectors are naturally going to be grade chasers when it comes to moderns, otherwise what's the point of slabbing books that are abundantly available in NM grades?

valiantman · June 25, 2013

Most [modern collectors] have probably never bothered looking over a modern comic thoroughly enough to tell with any precision what 9.x grade it actually is.

This is definitely true.

Ebay "near mint" and "mint" for raw books aren't often VF/NM (9.0) because the sellers are all crooks.

Ebay "near mint" and "mint" are often VF/NM because most raw books themselves are VF/NM.

Most (raw) collectors just don't know enough about grading to know the difference.

rjpb · June 25, 2013

Most [modern collectors] have probably never bothered looking over a modern comic thoroughly enough to tell with any precision what 9.x grade it actually is.

This is definitely true.

Ebay "near mint" and "mint" for raw books aren't often VF/NM (9.0) because the sellers are all crooks.

Ebay "near mint" and "mint" are often VF/NM because most raw books themselves are VF/NM.

Most (raw) collectors just don't know enough about grading to know the difference.

While there are some dishonest sellers on ebay, my guess is the lack of grading skills is the bigger culprit. When it comes to buying reader lots on ebay, I frequently see vf/nm listed as the grade, though that usually means vf to nm. But even among those that can grade with any accuracy, the interest isn't there for precision grading, even if for resale, if the raw value is cover or less. When I'm selling raw lots of low-value moderns, I will usually list them as generically "NM" on ebay and minimum 9.2 on the boards unless they're lower than that. Given that boardies are somewhat pickier than ebay buyers, I'll give specific grades if asked, but even then I'm probably not going to claim anything better than a 9.6, even if it looks flawless. Anybody specifically looking for raw 9.8s, should be doing it in person, or expect to pay a premium from a trusted seller online.

mschmidt · June 25, 2013

for SA book, 8.0 is fantastic, but they must have white pages

Ok, taking notes...

So, maybe even take a slightly lower grade WP than a higher grade OWW?

For a SA book, unless it's a key, an 8.0 wouldn't be worth slabbing.

And nobody in their right mind would take an 8.0 WP book over an 8.5 OW/W one if they were priced the same.

Jaded Savage · June 25, 2013