Grader notes for 9.6 or less 0

[mergebow1]

Hi All,

My first set of 25 books have made it through to Finalized / Imaged / Shipped stage and I can see the grades for each book online. I won't go into the grades being a bit lower than expected, that post has been made a million times, I'm sure. What struck me was that very few of the books had grader's notes. Out of 25 books, only 4 had notes. Assuming that 9.8 is the gold standard (as 10/9.9 are rare), is it unreasonable to expect that anything below a 9.8 should have some sort of note indictating why the book was graded they way it was. Here's a good example of book I was expecting a 9.8 for and got a 9.2; "small crease right center of front cover breaks color". At least for this book I know what to look for when I get it back. I didn't see the crease, my presser never mentioned it and we looked over each book before and after. I sent in two of these books, both from in PC since I bought them off the shelf in 1987, and the other one came back 9.8. 

What are your thoughts? 

 

 

 

 

 

[William-James88]

On 7/19/2021 at 6:39 PM, mergebow1 said:

is it unreasonable to expect that anything below a 9.8 should have some sort of note indictating why the book was graded they way it was.

I don't think it's reasonable to expect CGC to offer an extra service that we didn't pay for. CGC already has in place a pre screen service where if you want to make sure you get a 9.8, you can select it. The grader notes are just a bonus and often very incomplete. It leads to a lot of woes from people who wonder why a 3.0 has less notes than a 6.0, for instance. Notes are written by graders and the biggest complaint on these boards is how long the wait times are. If the graders gave detailed notes for every grade below 9.8 the wait times would just go up. Honestly, i'd rather we just get rid of notes all together if that meant quicker TATs, seeing as they are not complete and rather arbitrary.

[mergebow1]

On 7/19/2021 at 3:56 PM, William-James88 said:

I don't think it's reasonable to expect CGC to offer an extra service that we didn't pay for. CGC already has in place a pre screen service where if you want to make sure you get a 9.8, you can select it. The grader notes are just a bonus and often very incomplete. It leads to a lot of woes from people who wonder why a 3.0 has less notes than a 6.0, for instance. Notes are written by graders and the biggest complaint on these boards is how long the wait times are. If the graders gave detailed notes for every grade below 9.8 the wait times would just go up. Honestly, i'd rather we just get rid of notes all together if that meant quicker TATs, seeing as they are not complete and rather arbitrary.

That's a fair opinion. And I agree for the most part. The TAT's are already way to long, that's for sure. Especially when the difference is so large in grades, 3.0 to 6.0 as you point out. This is my first time submitting, so a learning expereince for sure. The notes would be nice, just to help with knowing what to look for the next time I submit. It's hard to gain experience when you are guessing why something was graded the way it was. If you had the notes you would know and be better at spotting things. They don't have to tell us their "seceret" process or anything, that's not what I am suggesting. Anyway, maybe when I get them back it will be obvious. 

Edited July 19, 2021 by mergebow1

[The Lions Den]

On 7/19/2021 at 7:18 PM, mergebow1 said:

That's a fair opinion. And I agree for the most part. The TAT's are already way to long, that's for sure. Especially when the difference is so large in grades, 3.0 to 6.0 as you point out. This is my first time submitting, so a learning expereince for sure. The notes would be nice, just to help with knowing what to look for the next time I submit. It's hard to gain experience when you are guessing why something was graded the way it was. If you had the notes you would know and be better at spotting things. They don't have to tell us their "seceret" process or anything, that's not what I am suggesting. Anyway, maybe when I get them back it will be obvious. 

Perhaps I can help explain a couple of things for you...

When grading high grade books, it's important to remember that the flaws are generally pretty minor. So the difference between a 9.8 and a 9.6 or 9.4 usually boils down to a couple of small flaws such as a couple of finger bends or a light spine stress line or two.

Modern books are generally moved through the system quickly, so it's not surprising that most of your books don't have notes. Please bear in mind that graders often like modern books because they usually have less problems than vintage books and they can grade them faster. Be advised that CGC is ultimately a production oriented facility. 

So my advice would be to either do a pre-screen for a specific grade or look your books over very carefully before submitting them. Examine every detail of the books, starting with the spine and staples, and don't forget to examine the very edge of the spine. Look at the cover from different angles and you'll often see things you didn't see at first. Examine all four corners of the book for any wear or rounding. Even though the flaws may seem exceedingly minor, those are the things that determine the difference between the higher grades.

I hope this helps and good luck...  

[William-James88]

On 7/19/2021 at 7:18 PM, mergebow1 said:

That's a fair opinion. And I agree for the most part. The TAT's are already way to long, that's for sure. Especially when the difference is so large in grades, 3.0 to 6.0 as you point out. This is my first time submitting, so a learning expereince for sure. The notes would be nice, just to help with knowing what to look for the next time I submit. It's hard to gain experience when you are guessing why something was graded the way it was. If you had the notes you would know and be better at spotting things. They don't have to tell us their "seceret" process or anything, that's not what I am suggesting. Anyway, maybe when I get them back it will be obvious. 

Ultimately, CGC uses the Overstreet grading standards as a basis with their own idiosyncrasies.  If you stick to the Overstreet grading guide, which distinguishes all the grades, you should be fine. You can also post some if your comics in the Spare a Grade forum so thstvoeople can guide you into seeing if it is a 9.8 comic or  not.

[theCapraAegagrus]

On 7/19/2021 at 6:39 PM, mergebow1 said:

...is it unreasonable to expect that anything below a 9.8 should have some sort of note indictating why the book was graded they way it was?...

Fixed punctuation.

Yes, that is an unreasonable expectation.

[flugazi]

really an obsessive collector and I really want to start collecting cgc certified .

found some low grades slabs on the internet , their really bad azz but idk  the Pile of comics owned and attained, collected and not opened ,, those are worth a ton and with the grading I can keep collecting and in a way I’m investing Ton not only comics but professionally graded comic books in tamper evident holders that I collect.  I just wish i could submit every week , once I catch up and grade mine I will be able to . But I have more then 40 issues I want to restore or grade ,