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Which dealers do the best job of grading their Raw book?

Started by BleekerBob,

40 posts in this topic

ComicBookGuy

ComicBookGuy

Posted
Posted
If someone sells you a raw 9.0 book and it comes back 8.5 or 8.0 is it buyer beware?

 

Guys, let's not fool ourselves: There's not ONE dealer out there or collector who can say for sure EVER what a book sent in to CGC will come back as. Why else would there be pre-screening? Yes, we've all seen the 8.5 that should have been a 9.4 and a 9.4 that should have been an 8.5. I've sent in books expecting 9.4 and got 8.0. I've sent in books expecting 8.5 and got 9.6.

WHO AMONG US HAS NEVER BEEN UPSET TO PURCHASE AN OVERGRADED BOOK OR PLEASED TO PURCHASE AN UNDERGRADED BOOK? Example: Look at the Spider-man 13 Captains of Industry was showing on his thread. smile.gif

To realistically expect any dealer's books to come back the exact grade it was sold as raw is completely impossible. If you want a certain book in a certain cgc grade, the only guaranteed way you can get it is to buy it already slabbed!

I find it true that dealers who do a lot of cgc submissions generally know how to grade. (Yes, I know there are exceptions! mad.gif) They have to. Otherwise they will go bankrupt sending in bronze or silver age books for $29 expecting to get 9.4's, only to have them come back 7.5 and having to sell them at below the cost of the slab.

My opinion: A realistic scale for a good grader should be a range of - give and take - about .4 above 9.0 and a full point for grades below. If someone is in that range, I consider the person a decent and fair grader. The dealers that get my business are the ones that lean towards the low side of that scale to give the customer the benefit of the doubt AND they are the ones that accept returns considering all the facts and opinions and speculations about grading that abound.

Joe

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sfilosa

sfilosa

Posted
Posted

You said exactly what I always say on these boards.

 

If you want a CGC 9.4 grade, you have to buy it slabbed.

 

I still think that there is some value to buying raw books, but the search is time consuming, going through boxes and boxes at shows. Obvioulsy, if the dealer just picked up a new collection, there is a better shot, then a dealer who seems to have the same stuff over and over.

 

Also, it still amazes me how bad the pricing is at shows. Sometime I'll see a small dealer and see a half way decent book (say an early Silver-Age book in VF). Then you see they have a sticker that says VF/NM and have it priced at FULL GUIDE. Yippee if they'll take 10% off, you still lose BIG TIME.

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ComicBookGuy

ComicBookGuy

Posted
Posted
You said exactly what I always say on these boards.

 

If you want a CGC 9.4 grade, you have to buy it slabbed.

 

I still think that there is some value to buying raw books, but the search is time consuming, going through boxes and boxes at shows. Obvioulsy, if the dealer just picked up a new collection, there is a better shot, then a dealer who seems to have the same stuff over and over.

 

Also, it still amazes me how bad the pricing is at shows. Sometime I'll see a small dealer and see a half way decent book (say an early Silver-Age book in VF). Then you see they have a sticker that says VF/NM and have it priced at FULL GUIDE. Yippee if they'll take 10% off, you still lose BIG TIME.

 

893applaud-thumb.gif

 

Our thoughts are so alike I'm wondering if I have a long-lost brother!

 

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comicparadox

comicparadox

Posted
Posted

I purchased 2 non-CGC books from Metro, graded as 8.7 and 9.0 respectively - both had been "pressed", and didn't meet my standards for VF++ and VF/NM. I returned both, paid shipping both ways though. What could have been an $800 mistake was only a $20 mistake. I've been leery of higher grade non-CGC purchases from them unless I see the book at a convention. Vincent, Stephen, and Ed have always been polite, to their credit.

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FFB

FFB

Posted
Posted

Re: Doug Sulipa, I agree 100%. He is the best grader I know. I trust his grading more than I trust CGC's, and that is saying something. Metro is also good, although once in a while you'll get a slightly overgraded or undergraded book. You can't beat their selection though and Vincent is a good dude.

 

Which dealers do the best job of grading their Raw book?

 

I would say the best by far is Doug Supila of Doug Supila's Comic World.

Other dealers I buy raw from without hesitation are

Metropolis

JS Comics

Superworld

 

Three ebay sellers I've bought raw books from in the past year that I was happy with were

 

drbanner

the_mighty_queesht!

shiverbones

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FFB

FFB

Posted
Posted
Foolkiller is correct. Bob Storms is the best (toughest) grader of all the big dealers.

 

Except for Doug Sulipa, you mean. I haven't done as much business with Bob, so I can't say whether I put his grading on the same level as Doug's, but Bob is one of the best.

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arexcrooke

arexcrooke

Posted
Posted
Yes but it's almost completely worthless. You pretty much just need to email him, cworld@mb.sympatico.ca

 

I would agree that Doug is a very good grader. I got some books from him that were outstanding.

Murph is correct that dougs site is not the best. However, if you send him a wantlist (he asks that it be kept under 50 books) he will usually get back to you in a very short amount of time. Also, very nice and professional when chatting via email.

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FFB

FFB

Posted
Posted
Does Doug have a website?

 

www.dougcomicworld.com

 

Check and see if he has what you're looking for in stock, then as Murph suggested, call Doug and ask him to send you an email with grades/prices of what you're looking for. Doug has excellent service and can usually get you a response to your want list in a day or so. His grading is very tight and his prices are reasonable.

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ComicBookGuy

ComicBookGuy

Posted
Posted
Does Doug have a website?

 

www.dougcomicworld.com

 

Check and see if he has what you're looking for in stock, then as Murph suggested, call Doug and ask him to send you an email with grades/prices of what you're looking for. Doug has excellent service and can usually get you a response to your want list in a day or so. His grading is very tight and his prices are reasonable.

 

Another great point about Doug I'd like to add since this is becoming a Doug Is The Best thread is that he carries stuff nobody else carries. When collectors and dealers were dumping bronze horror, westerns, reprints, Archies, Harveys, etc., in quarter bins, he was carefully stocking them and ALL comics. He stocks Little Dot and Kid Colt just as loyally as Batman and Spider-man. When I was putting my Dennis the Menace collection together, I have to say he was the ONLY dealer in the world that had any sizable stock to speak of. And I mean the ONLY. His knowledge of comics and the comic book market is second to none, and you can see this in the Overstreet market reports in the guide each year. I cannot recommend this guy highly enough!!!

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Joe

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FFB

FFB

Posted
Posted
Does Doug have a website?

 

www.dougcomicworld.com

 

Check and see if he has what you're looking for in stock, then as Murph suggested, call Doug and ask him to send you an email with grades/prices of what you're looking for. Doug has excellent service and can usually get you a response to your want list in a day or so. His grading is very tight and his prices are reasonable.

 

Another great point about Doug I'd like to add since this is becoming a Doug Is The Best thread is that he carries stuff nobody else carries. When collectors and dealers were dumping bronze horror, westerns, reprints, Archies, Harveys, etc., in quarter bins, he was carefully stocking them and ALL comics. He stocks Little Dot and Kid Colt just as loyally as Batman and Spider-man. When I was putting my Dennis the Menace collection together, I have to say he was the ONLY dealer in the world that had any sizable stock to speak of. And I mean the ONLY. His knowledge of comics and the comic book market is second to none, and you can see this in the Overstreet market reports in the guide each year. I cannot recommend this guy highly enough!!!

hail.gif

Joe

 

893applaud-thumb.gif Doug loves the hobby like nobody I know. He is just a great guy to talk to on the phone, too. One of the few dealers where you never feel like he's in a hurry to get you off the phone, even when you've been jawing with him for half an hour. Top notch all the way! thumbsup2.gif

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sfilosa

sfilosa

Posted
Posted

Thanks for the email address I just shot him my want list. Has anyone purchased raw books from comiclink? Does comiclink grade them or does the sell?

 

Some sellers grade their own book, but when they are sent to Josh (to send to the buyer), he is suppose to review them also. From what I have heard, a lot of his books are dead on with CGC's grading.

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Dr_Neff

Dr_Neff

Posted
Posted

Harley Yee

Robert Roter (Pacific Coast)

Mark Wilson (PGC MINT)

Matt Nelson

Ed Jaster (HCA)

Doug Sulipa

Gary Dolgoff

Jason Ewert

Tom Brulato

Bill at Comic Book Ink (Tacoma, Washington state)

John Slater (before CGC was it called "Lion's Den?)

Al Stoltz of Basement Comics

Vinnie Jr. or Ed Sanchez at Metropolis Comics

Bruce Ellsworth

Michael Tierney

Bill Hughes

 

 

are dealers I would buy from without even seeing the book(s)

I had always made bucks deluxe from their books. Especially Harley Yee, Mark Wilson and Robert Roter.

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