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What matters most!!!!

Started by sfilosa,

What matters most  

192 members have voted

  1. 1. What matters most

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16 posts in this topic

sfilosa

sfilosa

Posted
Posted

Excluding the actual content and art of a comic book, what is the most important aspect of a comic book to you.

 

Said another way, if you can get an issue you want, what do you look for the most in the book.

 

1) Lack of Structural Defects means book has little to no wear, but could have manufacturing / distributing defects.

 

2) Great Eye Appeal means book might have some wear that isn't easily seen (non-color breaking creases), but has excellent QP and colors and gloss.

 

3) Great Preservation means book has been stored in an excellent climate, but could have some corner dings and manufacturing defects. Would have much better page quality for its age, than average.

 

4) Pedigree, but could have defects

 

5) Label Grade. Who cares what the book looks like, I need a 9.4, and this is a 9.4 (even if it looks worse).

 

6) Purchased Below Market Value. Don't care what the book looks like or its grade as long as I got good value for my money.

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THE_BEYONDER

THE_BEYONDER

Posted
Posted

At 1st glance I check out the QP.

 

If the book passes this initial pre-screen...I look over the front cover for structural defects.

 

If it looks clean, I open it up and check out the PQ.

 

Just before I return it to the Mylar, I look over the back cover.

 

 

Rinse & repeat wink.gif

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divad

divad

Posted
Posted

Obviously, I am speaking for myself but, for those of us who collect early SA and older, I think the most important quality is:

 

3) Great Preservation means book has been stored in an excellent climate, but could have some corner dings and manufacturing defects. Would have much better page quality for its age, than average.

 

The older a book is, the tougher this is to find, and when you do (buy 'em all) it's pure heaven.

 

cloud9.gif

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FFB

FFB

Posted
Posted
Obviously, I am speaking for myself but, for those of us who collect early SA and older, I think the most important quality is:

 

3) Great Preservation means book has been stored in an excellent climate, but could have some corner dings and manufacturing defects. Would have much better page quality for its age, than average.

 

The older a book is, the tougher this is to find, and when you do (buy 'em all) it's pure heaven.

 

cloud9.gif

 

I agree 100%. PQ is the most important. Structure, QP, etc. won't make a damned bit of difference if the book is brittle in 30 years. Give me white pages and a couple of spine stresses and a small miswrap over a perfect QP pedigree book with cream pages anyday.

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sfilosa

sfilosa

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Gee, nobody buys the label?

 

You mean no one is willing to admit it. tongue.gif

 

I know a few (and I might be falling into this trap myself) people who want runs in say CGC 9.4. They own a beautiful 9.2, and will resubmit for the 9.4, and if it still doesn't get a 9.4, then sell it, and get an actual 9.4.

 

That means the label is the most important thing.

 

I myself went for Eye Appeal, but actually, I look for different things depend on what the book is and why I am buying it.

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sfilosa

sfilosa

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Amazing how many have voted for EYE APPEAL.

 

There was a real motive behind asking this poll question, but I want to get more responses if possible.

 

And feel free to expand on why you chose one over the other.

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tth2

tth2

Posted
Posted

How about eye appeal AND the label? Even if it's the sharpest looking book I've ever seen, I won't buy it if it's in a 9.2 slab. I don't have the time or patience to play the crack-out game. Conversely, if it's a total POS, I won't buy it even if it's in a 9.4 slab.

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sfilosa

sfilosa

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How about eye appeal AND the label? Even if it's the sharpest looking book I've ever seen, I won't buy it if it's in a 9.2 slab. I don't have the time or patience to play the crack-out game. Conversely, if it's a total POS, I won't buy it even if it's in a 9.4 slab.

 

I know exactly what you are saying, and I have a tendency to do the same thing. We set minimum grade levels and even if the book is a true beauty, if CGC was slightly harsh on it that day, we DISCARD it. blush.gif

 

It actually sad to say. I know that I have runs of books in 9.4, and have a few straglers in 9.2. I'm looking to upgrade to a 9.4 even if the book really doesn't look better (but not interested in a POS like you said). I'm clearly willing to pay additional money for BASICALLY the same looking book just so the label says 9.4 instead of 9.2.

 

That's the world we live in.

confused.gif

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blazingbob

blazingbob

Posted
Posted

It is sad that there are so many "It must be 9.4" or I won't buy it (MLOVEST, are you reading this) vs buying a nicely graded 9.0/9.2 for 1/2 the price. Being that I've had thousands of books graded and having assembled and sold my personal collection that was filled with those 9.0's and 9.2's I can only say stop focusing on the grade.

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sfilosa

sfilosa

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It is sad that there are so many "It must be 9.4" or I won't buy it (MLOVEST, are you reading this) vs buying a nicely graded 9.0/9.2 for 1/2 the price. Being that I've had thousands of books graded and having assembled and sold my personal collection that was filled with those 9.0's and 9.2's I can only say stop focusing on the grade.

 

I KNOW, I KNOW.... Christo_pull_hair.gif

 

But it's so hard.

devil.gif

Actually, I buy many books below 9.4. It's just if you have say 10 issues in a row, and all but two are 9.4's (or higher), the two 9.2's just look lost. confused.gif

 

But everyone should be proud of me as I purchased my frist CGC 5.0 book (that's a VG/FN, for those higher grade collectors that don't know). My lowest grade before that was two lowly 7.5 (VF-) that looked like 9.0's.

 

cloud9.gif

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tth2

tth2

Posted
Posted
Being that I've had thousands of books graded and having assembled and sold my personal collection that was filled with those 9.0's and 9.2's I can only say stop focusing on the grade.

 

And I would say start focusing on finding some 9.4 SA DCs for me! My dollar, my right to choose what to spend it on.

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sfilosa

sfilosa

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OK, here's why I wanted to do this poll.

 

As you can see so far, a lot more people think EYE APPEAL matters the most (which is what I expected).

 

The ironic thing is THAT'S NOT HOW CGC GRADES BOOKS. Basically, they grade heavily on LACK OF STRUCTURAL DEFECTS.

 

Now I know this unscientific poll is not going to change things, but wouldn't you think that a third party (i.e. CGC) should grade books the way it matters the most to collectors as oppose to collectors following CGC's lead.

 

While I don't believe another grading company is going to rival CGC, if another company did start, they SHOULDN'T just try to grade like CGC (or stricter).

 

They SHOULD grade DIFFERENTLY (i.e. based on EYE APPEAL).

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