Website with clear grading requirements

[PovertyRow]

I have had the below website saved for a long time, but I'm not sure it is what you are talking about:

 

http://www.e-bigs.net/freetool.php

 

this is awesome... thanks.

 

I first tried E-BIGS some years ago out of curiosity. I thought it was one of the better online grading resources, not for its accuracy but because it showed a wide range of defects the newer grader could overlook. But to actually depend on it to come up with a grade I feel is a mistake. They have the concept down but can't properly interpret the results. Below are a few tests I did a while back:

 

I chose only "Abrasion: Just noticeable abrasion" and got a 9.4

 

Next I chose only "Stamps & Ink: Small date stamp" and got a 9.4

 

I then chose an accumulation of all of the defects below and still got a 9.4

Abrasion/Cover Wear: Just noticeable cover abrasion

Miswrap: Noticeable miswrap

Color Spots: Several flecks/large donuts

Corner Creases: Blunting

Corner Rounding: Blunted

Cover Gloss: Moderate gloss remaining

Cover Whiteness: Off-White

Edge Wear: Slight abrasion to extreme edge

Ink Density (Printing Defect: Areas of fading

Interior Page Colour: Cream/Off-White

Lying Flat: Slight page lifting

Spine Stress Marks: Just perciptible <3mm

Spine Creases: Single perceptible crease

Stamps & Ink: Small Date Stamp

Staples: Matte appearance

Staples: 1-3mm off staples

Staple Wear: Percptible staple wear

Sun Shadow: Just perceptible

Writing: Unobtrusive writing pencil BC

 

I just can't see a book with a single defect getting a 9.4 and a book with 18 accumulated defects (including the single one) also getting the same 9.4.

 

This is the area where handling and grading thousands or tens of thousands of comics really comes into play.

 

Not being a high grade collector, I'm not up on what is found acceptable in these grades, but I am curious - in your opinion, would the book with that one defect be overgraded at 9.4, or would you consider the book with those 18 defects overgraded at 9.4? Or what exactly?

 

I ask because I know at the grades I generally buy, there could be one really big defect that would cause most people to downgrade rather severely for just that one thing, so there could be any number of other defects that really wouldn't move the needle if they were added. But I don't know if folks have the same sort of perception on the sort of thing that distinguishes the 9.2/9.4/9.6/9.8 type grades.

 

To me these are good questions that also demonstrate the subjective/objective nature of grading. I definitely feel the 9.4 with only a small date stamp is undergraded. No reason such a book could not hit 9.8 or even 9.9.

 

With that said, while some of the defects listed are extremely minor, the combination of all of them would definitely require looking at the book and coming up with a determination. Yes, it is possible such a book could get a 9.4. It is equally possible it could get a 9.0, depending on the actual severity or lack of severity.

 

As I mentioned, I think it is a good site for showing various defects and pointing out things people relatively new to grading should look for. But I don't think its ability to combine the defects into a single grade is accurate.

[ttfitz]

To me these are good questions that also demonstrate the subjective/objective nature of grading. I definitely feel the 9.4 with only a small date stamp is undergraded. No reason such a book could not hit 9.8 or even 9.9.

 

With that said, while some of the defects listed are extremely minor, the combination of all of them would definitely require looking at the book and coming up with a determination. Yes, it is possible such a book could get a 9.4. It is equally possible it could get a 9.0, depending on the actual severity or lack of severity.

 

As I mentioned, I think it is a good site for showing various defects and pointing out things people relatively new to grading should look for. But I don't think its ability to combine the defects into a single grade is accurate.

 

Thanks, I appreciate the explanation. I missed that one of your examples was a single date stamp, I agree, that seems undergraded - pretty much everyone seems to agree on that not effecting the grade much if at all (although that seems to be a personal taste thing, too; I'd rather not have such things on my books where others seem to like it).

 

I'd largely agree with your assessment of the site, although I think it works much better for books like those I tend to seek out (2.0-6.0). I mostly find it useful for the kind of "what's the highest grade a book with THIS defect can get" sort of thing, where I pick just that one big thing and see what it says.