GCG grading for Detatched cover 2 2

[Pukie]

Hi - Overstreet grade description for 2.0 says a book may have a detached cover.

Does CGC use this same grading guidance for detached covers?

If not, what is the best grade GCG will assign to a book with a detached cover?

And as a separate question, what if the detached cover is not otherwise perfect?  Will other defects like a partial spine split and moderate edge chipping affect the grade here?

Thank you for your help.

 

[Funnybooks]

I’ve seen completely detached covers that are not split and otherwise present very well grade as high as 3.0.

[Funnybooks]

On 8/8/2021 at 11:30 AM, JZQX said:

Of course. Why wouldn't it?

Absolutely. All detached covers are not the same. assuming at a 3.0 fully detached cover...add the following: partial split..drop a grade or two...complete split...drop two or three grades...missing a wrap...drop four or five grades...etc...my opinion...

Edited August 8, 2021 by Funnybooks

[grendelbo]

My understanding has been that the max a book will grade with a completely detached cover is 4.0.

Looking today I could find a couple of examples, but nothing higher than this grade. 

You'd think the book would have to be otherwise flawless, but this Jr would perhaps suggest otherwise.

How this USA received a 4.0 with both the cover and centerfold detached is somewhat baffling.

[Pukie]

Thank you for your help and insight!

 

On 8/8/2021 at 2:36 PM, grendelbo said:

My understanding has been that the max a book will grade with a completely detached cover is 4.0.

Looking today I could find a couple of examples, but nothing higher than this grade. 

You'd think the book would have to be otherwise flawless, but this Jr would perhaps suggest otherwise.

How this USA received a 4.0 with both the cover and centerfold detached is somewhat baffling.

 

[Funnybooks]

Thanks for the info @grendelbo . I stand corrected and educated. 

[theCapraAegagrus]

On 8/8/2021 at 5:45 PM, Funnybooks said:

Thanks for the info @grendelbo . I stand corrected and educated. 

It's outstandingly rare.

[Finhead]

And I have only ever seen that high of a grade (4.0) with detached cover on Golden age stuff.

Move to Silver and 3.0 is as high as I have seen. They might be out there higher but I haven't seen one.

[grendelbo]

On 8/8/2021 at 9:50 AM, Funnybooks said:

All detached covers are not the same.

 

On 8/8/2021 at 12:36 PM, grendelbo said:

My understanding has been that the max a book will grade with a completely detached cover is 4.0.

 

On 8/9/2021 at 5:07 AM, theCapraAegagrus said:

It's outstandingly rare.

 

On 8/9/2021 at 8:50 AM, Finhead said:

And I have only ever seen that high of a grade (4.0) with detached cover on Golden age stuff.

Move to Silver and 3.0 is as high as I have seen. They might be out there higher but I haven't seen one.

So this is what's going in my Grader's Notebook. I'll be happy to hear other feedback.

I did a little informal, unquantified, call it Green Label Qualified perusal of Heritage. About 1000 books or so because I love this stuff.

Comicbooks with detached covers will generally grade 3.0 (including other defects). This holds true for both Golden Age and Silver Age. Bronze and Modern Age books are more likely to be Qualified.

CGC 3.5 is not uncommon for this flaw and I found well over two dozen CGC 4.0 books with detached covers. How rare that makes it or how it correlates to overall VG books I won't speculate on.

These are the "real" unicorns.

I couldn't find anything higher.

Silver Age books will generally grade 3.0 with this flaw but there's quite a few issues out there graded 3.5.

Some examples -

And if you're wondering about the Silver Age cap for detached covers, its really the same as Golden Age - 4.0.

What I see in these examples is that the book doesn't have to be otherwise flawless to receive a grade of 3.5-4.0 if the cover is detached. Some look great; others look average. The flaws would, of course, have to fall into the accepted-at VG range.

I also see books graded at different times in CGC's history. Standards and perceptions change.

Edited August 10, 2021 by grendelbo

[theCapraAegagrus]

I think that it's worth noting the 4.5s were graded during a 'loose' era in CGC's history.

[djzombi]

I'm honestly shocked to see comics with detached covers get a 4.0 grade.  I've been grading per Overstreet standards for decades and detached cover would automatically be 2.0; 4.0 may be detached at ONE staple.  
Just another way in which CGC's grading standards are different from Overstreet.  

[grendelbo]

On 8/10/2021 at 11:48 AM, djzombi said:

I'm honestly shocked to see comics with detached covers get a 4.0 grade.  I've been grading per Overstreet standards for decades and detached cover would automatically be 2.0; 4.0 may be detached at ONE staple.  
Just another way in which CGC's grading standards are different from Overstreet.  

Yeah.

I've been thinking more and more about this.

Overstreet is a great place to begin learning at how to grade. Other resources such as those specific to certain sellers (ie, Mile High, mycomicshop, Heritage) can help hone skills as will online tutorials and our very own PGM.

But CGC is clearly the hobby's leader at grading and increasingly the standard by which many of us use to judge our own books - those that we keep, sell or buy.

When I play in PGM I'm increasingly less likely to grade a book according to my own standards and beliefs (which are an amalgamation from a lot of sources and I have my own pet peeves, defects I detest and others I can live with) but more according to what I think CGC will use.

It gets hard though since CGC is not public about their standards and criteria. It takes looking at a lot of slabs which hopefully don't have hidden flaws to figure out any steadfast "rules." And it seems pretty evident these rules change and are sometimes loosey-goosey.

[B2D327]

Are we only talking universal grades because I recall seeing green labels as high as 9.0 with a detached cover. I believe it was a DD 158 from about a year ago

[grendelbo]

On 8/11/2021 at 2:23 PM, B2D327 said:

Are we only talking universal grades because I recall seeing green labels as high as 9.0 with a detached cover. I believe it was a DD 158 from about a year ago

Yes.

I think most books are receiving Qualified labels for this defect if they are Bronze or younger.

[buttock]

On 8/10/2021 at 5:02 AM, theCapraAegagrus said:

I think that it's worth noting the 4.5s were graded during a 'loose' era in CGC's history.

Also one is a squarebound, so no staple tears.  That's kind of a different thing than detached from staples.  The other is a single staple book, so maybe they consider detached from 1 staple less of a defect than detached from two? 

[grendelbo]

On 8/11/2021 at 3:10 PM, buttock said:

Also one is a squarebound, so no staple tears.  That's kind of a different thing than detached from staples.  The other is a single staple book, so maybe they consider detached from 1 staple less of a defect than detached from two? 

Most excellent observation of these books and a very valid reason for the 4.5 grades! Thanks for the input.

[The Lions Den]

I think the main thing we can learn from this is that books with detached covers will still be downgraded pretty severely by CGC unless they're higher grade Qualified examples...  

[theCapraAegagrus]

On 8/11/2021 at 5:10 PM, buttock said:

Also one is a squarebound, so no staple tears.  That's kind of a different thing than detached from staples.  The other is a single staple book, so maybe they consider detached from 1 staple less of a defect than detached from two? 

Great information, and I think you're correct on both inferences.