Does the pre-screening grade influence in any way? 1 1

[William-James88]

This is something I always wonder, going both ways. Say you have a bunch of books you would only grade if they were 9.0 or higher. Would paying for a 9.0 pre-screen be interpreted as the buyer simply wanting a 9.0? So limiting your chances of getting better than a 9.0 if the pre screen grade wasn't suggested? And at the same time, could it influence it the other way where a book that might be less than a 9.0 (say an 8.5) squeeze by? Or is there a double blind between the person screening and the grader who doesn't know it was screened?

[The Lions Den]

A very good question, my friend. I'll do my best to answer it...

If you send in a group of books with a desired grade of 9.0 (or better) what used to happen is that one of the graders would be assigned the task of looking at each book (they didn't have to actually grade the book at that point, they just had to decide if it was a 9.0 or better). This could be accomplished pretty quickly because the books that weren't 9.0 would often be eliminated pretty quickly. For instance, if you saw a big crease on the front cover, you didn't need to look at the rest of the book...

Once the chosen few made it through the initial prescreen, they were placed in smaller boxes and prepared for grading. In those days, the boxes would be marked "9.0 pre-screen" right on the box, so the next grader would know they'd already been looked at and determined to be worthy of a 9.0 (that's not to say they would all make the 9.0---there were occasional rejects for one reason or another). And there were some books that would make it through the initial prescreen because they looked nice enough to possibly make the 9.0---usually about a third of those books would make it to the 9.0 threshold. 

Please keep in mind that some folks would send in three or four long boxes filled with unbagged and unboarded comics that had to be carefully sorted through for purposes of the prescreen. I remember 9.8 prescreens where only about 20 books made it through out of hundreds of candidates.

But you're right, the person doing the initial prescreen may not be the person giving the final grade, or even the pregrade...that's the way the cookie crumbles.   

 

Edited January 20, 2022 by The Lions Den

[William-James88]

On 1/20/2022 at 5:12 PM, The Lions Den said:

A very good question, my friend. I'll do my best to answer it...

If you send in a group of books with a desired grade of 9.0 (or better) what used to happen is that one of the graders would be assigned the task of looking at each book (they didn't have to actually grade the book at that point, they just had to decide if it was a 9.0 or better). This could be accomplished pretty quickly because the books that weren't 9.0 would often be eliminated pretty quickly. For instance, if you saw a big crease on the front cover, you didn't need to look at the rest of the book...

Once the chosen few made it through the initial prescreen, they were placed in smaller boxes and prepared for grading. In those days, the boxes would be marked "9.0 pre-screen" right on the box, so the next grader would know they'd already been looked at and determined to be worthy of a 9.0 (that's not to say they would all make the 9.0---there were occasional rejects for one reason or another). And there were some books that would make it through the initial prescreen because they looked nice enough to possibly make the 9.0---usually about a third of those books would make it to the 9.0 threshold. 

Please keep in mind that some folks would send in three or four long boxes filled with unbagged and unboarded comics that had to be carefully sorted through for purposes of the prescreen. I remember 9.8 prescreens where only about 20 books made it through out of hundreds of candidates.

But you're right, the person doing the initial prescreen may not be the person giving the final grade, or even the pregrade...that's the way the cookie crumbles.   

 

I'm wondering about the "or better part". If the box is marked 9.0 pre screen, is it just as possible for something to then be rejected as it is for it to be graded higher than a 9.0? 

[The Lions Den]

On 1/20/2022 at 5:29 PM, William-James88 said:

I'm wondering about the "or better part". If the box is marked 9.0 pre screen, is it just as possible for something to then be rejected as it is for it to be graded higher than a 9.0? 

If the person doing the initial prescreen did their job correctly there should be very few rejects...

[William-James88]

On 1/20/2022 at 5:59 PM, The Lions Den said:

If the person doing the initial prescreen did their job correctly there should be very few rejects...

ok, but what about my other question. Does a comic being in the 9.0 pre screen box further cement its faith as a 9.0 comic even if it is potentially a higher grade?

[joeypost]

On 1/20/2022 at 6:17 PM, William-James88 said:

ok, but what about my other question. Does a comic being in the 9.0 pre screen box further cement its faith as a 9.0 comic even if it is potentially a higher grade?

Do you mean “can it grade higher than a 9.0” ? 

[The Lions Den]

On 1/20/2022 at 6:17 PM, William-James88 said:

ok, but what about my other question. Does a comic being in the 9.0 pre screen box further cement its faith as a 9.0 comic even if it is potentially a higher grade?

The prescreen is designed to eliminate anything lower than the desired grade...  

[William-James88]

On 1/20/2022 at 6:32 PM, joeypost said:

Do you mean “can it grade higher than a 9.0” ? 

Yes but not just that, is it less likely to grade higher than 9.0 since only a 9.0 was necessary?

[joeypost]

On 1/20/2022 at 6:45 PM, William-James88 said:

Yes but not just that, is it less likely to grade higher than 9.0 since only a 9.0 was necessary?

I don’t think so. I remember years ago doing a 9.4 pre-screen for a customer. When he got his books back from CGC he was disappointed that they all weren’t 9.4 copies with white pages. Many were 9.6 and 9.8, but had OW/W pages. I sat there and scratched my head for awhile before it hit me. He wanted a pre-screen for only 9.4 white pagers as that was all he collected. I told him to sell the 9.6’s and 9.8’s and buy 9.4’s for himself. 
 

The short answer is that a book that is a 9.6 will come back a 9.6 even though you had a 9.0 pre-screen. 

[This is Who We Are]

At some point faith enters the picture—- that the folks who are grading have Integrity 👍🏻

Edited January 20, 2022 by This is Who We Are

[The Lions Den]

On 1/20/2022 at 6:52 PM, This is Who We Are said:

At some point faith enters the picture—- that the folks who are grading have Integrity 👍🏻

This emoji takes on a whole new meaning this time:  

[The Lions Den]

On 1/20/2022 at 6:51 PM, joeypost said:

I don’t think so. I remember years ago doing a 9.4 pre-screen for a customer. When he got his books back from CGC he was disappointed that they all weren’t 9.4 copies with white pages. Many were 9.6 and 9.8, but had OW/W pages. I sat there and scratched my head for awhile before it hit me. He wanted a pre-screen for only 9.4 white pagers as that was all he collected. I told him to sell the 9.6’s and 9.8’s and buy 9.4’s for himself. 
 

The short answer is that a book that is a 9.6 will come back a 9.6 even though you had a 9.0 pre-screen. 

I don't recall ever doing a prescreen for page quality...   

[grebal]

On 1/20/2022 at 6:03 PM, The Lions Den said:

On 1/20/2022 at 5:52 PM, This is Who We Are said:

At some point faith enters the picture—- that the folks who are grading have Integrity 👍🏻

This emoji takes on a whole new meaning this time:  

Just so long as they ain't smoking 'Tegridy while grading.

[theCapraAegagrus]

Pre-screen is simply the minimum threshold to meet.