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New member and comic grading tool

Started by IvIark-migration,

20 posts in this topic

IvIark-migration

IvIark-migration

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Hi

 

I'm a new member who has recently returned to comic collecting after a decade or so off as I originally started in the early 80s. I collect all things related to Spider-man and have full runs of all the main collections (Peter Parker, Web, Ultimate etc) and am trying to put the finishing touches to a full run of ASM (got most of the keys and only about 100 to go so should be completed reasonably soon). I also love horror comics and get whatever I find in any series that catches my eye, and I have a real passion for Golden Age although could never see myself attempting any full GA runs!

 

The main reason for this post is that I've developed a tool to assist with the objective side of grading comics but could really do with a few experienced people giving it a try to see how accurate it is. I realise that this is an almost impossible task but I've based it on the rules that are mentioned in the Overstreet Comic Book Grading Guide and so should give you a good ballpark figure. I've tested it on a number of comics and believe it is fairly accurate but I could do with other points of view to see how it can be tweaked or improved.

 

The tool is Excel based and was developed using Excel 2002, so could anyone interested (and with this version of Excel or later installed on their machine) please give it a try and give me any constructive feedback. It is zipped to about 2.5MB in size as it includes images for all the different grades as a cross reference and can be downloaded from here:

 

http://members.lycos.co.uk/mejf/

 

Many thanks for any input you can offer.

 

Mark

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IvIark-migration

IvIark-migration

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I wish an accurate grading tool was possible. I like the idea of one, but grading is just so subjective. Maybe if CGC actually developed a program.

 

Hi,

 

Yes I know it's always going to be impossible to produce any tool that can guarantee 100% success as long as we the community accept subjective elements of the grading process. But the only intention here is getting you in the right area, and although there could still be elements or opinions that affect a final grade, at least the objective arguments are taken care of leaving the final decision down to the users own experience.

 

You're probably a perfect candidate to try it out as you have doubts about the possibility of automating the grading process so it'd be interesting to see just how far away it is for you.

 

Cheers! thumbsup2.gif

Mark

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Hobgoblin

Hobgoblin

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I've gotta say, I checked it out and it's a pretty cool macro. The only problem with it is having to decifer the extent of the defects on our own. I'm not great at it myself. So I tried with a book of mine that was graded 6.5 and the macros gave it a 5.0. Still pretty close for a grading program if you ask me. Nicely done thumbsup2.gif

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IvIark-migration

IvIark-migration

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How do you initiate the questionnaire? I couldn't find anyway to start, so I went into tools, macros and initiated the macro grade and I got a run time error 1004.

confused-smiley-013.gif

 

 

The workbook has 4 tabs. Info , Comic Grading Assistant , Archive and Chart . It starts on the Info tab and this is where the explanation is and all examples. The Comic Grading Assistant tab is where you put in the comic series, issue number and issue date and contains all the sections on defects for you to select from. The Archive stores every comic you've graded (the workbook is read only so you can keep a master copy - so when you first start using it you will need to save a working version somewhere else on your hard drive or under a different name). The Chart tab just shows the maximum number of defects per grade in a chart format.

 

I think that covers everything. Sorry I didn't give this explanation before.

 

Mark

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IvIark-migration

IvIark-migration

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I've gotta say, I checked it out and it's a pretty cool macro. The only problem with it is having to decifer the extent of the defects on our own. I'm not great at it myself. So I tried with a book of mine that was graded 6.5 and the macros gave it a 5.0. Still pretty close for a grading program if you ask me. Nicely done thumbsup2.gif

 

Thanks for the comments. You've hit upon probably the biggest problem with anything like this and that is how different people interpret different defects. That's why I've tried to push the Overstreet Grading Guide strongly because it has good examples of most of the defects within its pages. Ideally and to make this more useful for more people it needs a full catalogue of images showing what the different defects look like and that is a possibility if I can find enough example pics. The table on the Info page which shows the range of defect measurements covers a lot of what's contained within it, but admittedly doesn't go into great depth.

 

Three grades out is a more than I've experienced so far but that information is great as I can look at the reasoning behind it. Looking at the Comic Grading Assistant tab, can you see which section took you down to a 5.0? If I've been a little overly harsh on a particular defect then I can rectify that if the concensus of opinion believes it to be wrong.

 

Thanks again

Mark

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Nefaria

Nefaria

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How do you initiate the questionnaire? I couldn't find anyway to start, so I went into tools, macros and initiated the macro grade and I got a run time error 1004.

confused-smiley-013.gif

 

 

The workbook has 4 tabs. Info , Comic Grading Assistant , Archive and Chart . It starts on the Info tab and this is where the explanation is and all examples. The Comic Grading Assistant tab is where you put in the comic series, issue number and issue date and contains all the sections on defects for you to select from. The Archive stores every comic you've graded (the workbook is read only so you can keep a master copy - so when you first start using it you will need to save a working version somewhere else on your hard drive or under a different name). The Chart tab just shows the maximum number of defects per grade in a chart format.

 

I think that covers everything. Sorry I didn't give this explanation before.

 

Mark

 

foreheadslap.gif never looked at the page tabs.

 

I find that this does like most I've seen. As soon as you enter a piece missing it immediately down grades to 4.5. flamed.gif I used the AVENGERS #2 I just got and is posted on the forum as "Just picked up this Avengers #2" on the back cover there is a small piece missing and I don't think this should down grade all the way to 4.5. Seems to me that certain defects on the BC shouldn't be looked at in the same respect as the FC. After all FC defects definitely harm eye appeal more that BC defects. IMO

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IvIark-migration

IvIark-migration

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foreheadslap.gif never looked at the page tabs.

 

I find that this does like most I've seen. As soon as you enter a piece missing it immediately down grades to 4.5. flamed.gif I used the AVENGERS #2 I just got and is posted on the forum as "Just picked up this Avengers #2" on the back cover there is a small piece missing and I don't think this should down grade all the way to 4.5. Seems to me that certain defects on the BC shouldn't be looked at in the same respect as the FC. After all FC defects definitely harm eye appeal more that BC defects. IMO

 

Yes I agree with you - I would definitely pay a higher percentage of guide for a comic with a piece missing from the back than the front. The only reason that no differentiation has been made is because none is mentioned in Overstreet.

 

It would be easy to add another section and so deal with the front and back separately, with back defects treated less severely. Do you know how CGC would regard it?

 

Mark

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IvIark-migration

IvIark-migration

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First look to me would say a definite FN or FN+ but it all depends on how the pros would treat it and that is what I'm trying to replicate (whether I agree with them or not is another matter! smile.gif)

 

I've got a Cap 100 that looks near mint except for a small piece missing out of the FCLR and I would be equally gutted if that got a 4.5.

 

If you look in the Overstreet guide there's a VF Select Comics #1 that seems to have a bigger piece missing from the FCUL but it's described as a "corner chip". So does anyone know when a piece missing becomes a corner chip or is this a bit of leniency that you see sometimes when GA key issues are professionally graded?

 

Mark

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bodezeffas-migration

bodezeffas-migration

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I would also like to see some differences between front and back cover defects. I have about 5 CGC graded books with back cover defects and they are all in the 9.0 -9.4 range. If those same defects were in the front they would be more like 7.0-8.0 range.

 

I would also like to see more on rips and tears.

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IvIark-migration

IvIark-migration

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The defects for cover creases that it uses is as follows:

 

None 10.0

Almost imperceptible indentations 9.6

1/16" bend with no colour break 9.4

1/16" - 1/8" bend with no colour break 9.2

1/4" bend with no colour break 8.5

Minor (3-5) creasing (1/4" max) 7.0

Minor to moderate (4-8) creasing (1/4" to 1" max) 6.5

Minor to moderate (4-8) creasing and dimples (1/4" to 1" max) 5.0

Moderate creases or dimples 4.5

Book length creases, dimples 3.0

Creases, tears and folds 1.5

Extreme creases, ragged edges 0.5

 

So assuming this is based on the front cover, how do you think the same defects on the back should rate?

 

I did another section for cover tears but haven't included it yet. I'd based it on:

 

No Tears 10.0

Single tear 5mm 9.2

Multiple 3mm tears 7.0

Several 3-5mm Tears 5.5

5-10mm Tear 5.0

10-30 mm Tear 3.5

Larger than 30mm Tear 3.0

 

So again, how do you think the same defect should rate for back covers?

 

Thanks for your input

Mark

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