2022 CGC Grading Contest Season 1 Spring Edition (#2) Round 4 13 13

[CGC Mike]

Here's the results!

 

[CGC Mike]

I have closed the results thread until I discuss this with CGC sigh...

[Galen130]

On 5/12/2022 at 10:37 AM, CGC Mike said:

I have closed the results thread until I discuss this with CGC sigh...

 

[apocalypse76]

I haven't read all the posts in this thread so this may have already been commented on but did anyone notice that the X-Men 101 and the Howard the Duck 1 were very similar in condition but one was 9.0 and the other 9.6? My guess is the grader missed the corner crease in the bottom right corner of the 9.6 but it's funny because it is the exact same defect that brought the X-men 101 down to 9.0 which is the grade that I think most people think Howard the Duck 1 should have gotten.

Out of the 20 books presented the one that still confuses me the most and I still haven't read anything that clarifies it much is the 4.0 on the Marvel Spotlight 5. I have looked at that book multiple times trying to justify that grade and I still can't do it. I realize it is an "ugly" copy but that usually isn't as significant a factor in determining grade. I have seen many "ugly" books in much higher grades including 9.8. How many times have you seen 9.8's with multiple spine ticks, bad centering, and color rub? There are always plenty of gorgeous examples as well as ugly ones for every grade but they still get the same grade. People made reference to the amount of foxing on the book but I have seen excessive foxing on books that get 6-6.5 grades with similar structure. Look at the War Action 2 from the 4th round, it has what I would consider to be a major amount of foxing and is in a lesser condition structurally than the Marvel Spotlight 5 but it got a reasonable grade. I actually think the War Action 2 is a 5.5 but 6.0 is reasonable. To me anything below 5.0 is not reasonable for the Marvel Spotlight 5 book. With a defect like foxing once you have more than a moderate amount it shouldn't cause the grade to drop any further and with the structure of the book being mid-grade I think grading the book at the bottom of that range to account for it's overall lack of eye appeal would put it no lower than a 5.0.

Those are my thoughts, I would love to hear what other people think as long as it is something more in depth than just how ugly the book looks because we can all see that for ourselves.  

[CJ Design]

On 5/12/2022 at 11:42 AM, Galen130 said:

 

 

[Comicshows]

On 5/12/2022 at 12:48 PM, apocalypse76 said:

I haven't read all the posts in this thread so this may have already been commented on but did anyone notice that the X-Men 101 and the Howard the Duck 1 were very similar in condition but one was 9.0 and the other 9.6? My guess is the grader missed the corner crease in the bottom right corner of the 9.6 but it's funny because it is the exact same defect that brought the X-men 101 down to 9.0 which is the grade that I think most people think Howard the Duck 1 should have gotten.

Out of the 20 books presented the one that still confuses me the most and I still haven't read anything that clarifies it much is the 4.0 on the Marvel Spotlight 5. I have looked at that book multiple times trying to justify that grade and I still can't do it. I realize it is an "ugly" copy but that usually isn't as significant a factor in determining grade. I have seen many "ugly" books in much higher grades including 9.8. How many times have you seen 9.8's with multiple spine ticks, bad centering, and color rub? There are always plenty of gorgeous examples as well as ugly ones for every grade but they still get the same grade. People made reference to the amount of foxing on the book but I have seen excessive foxing on books that get 6-6.5 grades with similar structure. Look at the War Action 2 from the 4th round, it has what I would consider to be a major amount of foxing and is in a lesser condition structurally than the Marvel Spotlight 5 but it got a reasonable grade. I actually think the War Action 2 is a 5.5 but 6.0 is reasonable. To me anything below 5.0 is not reasonable for the Marvel Spotlight 5 book. With a defect like foxing once you have more than a moderate amount it shouldn't cause the grade to drop any further and with the structure of the book being mid-grade I think grading the book at the bottom of that range to account for it's overall lack of eye appeal would put it no lower than a 5.0.

Those are my thoughts, I would love to hear what other people think as long as it is something more in depth than just how ugly the book looks because we can all see that for ourselves.  

Well I agree with you and I am consistent as I submitted 9.4 on the X-men and HTD. MS 5 at a 4.0 was harsh and should have been higher. My biggest swing and a miss was the strange tales. Don’t think it is my imagination but saw all sorts of little things with it along with the bottom staple which others mentioned. I put it at a 7.0. 

[Skunkboy]

Missed the results, but it sounds like the XM 101 was a 9.0? That seems...a bit harsh.  Upon further examination, I see a smudge on the "N" in X-Men that could be either a thumb print or Newton rings.  If it's a print, I could see it coming way down, but man, 9.0 seems tough.  I have (as Im sure everyone has) seen 9.0s that aren't in the same conversation as this book (judging by the pics, of course).

[Mr. Zipper]

On 5/12/2022 at 1:13 PM, Skunkboy said:

Missed the results, but it sounds like the XM 101 was a 9.0? That seems...a bit harsh.  Upon further examination, I see a smudge on the "N" in X-Men that could be either a thumb print or Newton rings.  If it's a print, I could see it coming way down, but man, 9.0 seems tough.  I have (as Im sure everyone has) seen 9.0s that aren't in the same conversation as this book (judging by the pics, of course).

I don't know what people are not seeing, but the X-Men crease is about 1.5 inches long. You can't see it as well in the green area, but it goes up into the black area above "Cockrum." Measure it relative to the UPC box. 9.6s and 9.4s don't have creases that long. 

Here's the Howard the Duck that was referenced. This crease barely breaks color and is less than a half inch long.

 

[CJ Design]

On 5/12/2022 at 12:51 PM, Mr. Zipper said:

I don't know what people are not seeing, but the X-Men crease is about 1.5 inches long. You can't see it as well in the green area, but it goes up into the black area above "Cockrum." Measure it relative to the UPC box. 9.6s and 9.4s don't have creases that long. 

Here's the Howard the Duck that was referenced. This crease barely breaks color and is less than a half inch long.

 

Exactly what I thought, hence the 7.5..I thought it may be 1.5-2

[apocalypse76]

On 5/12/2022 at 12:01 PM, Comicshows said:

Well I agree with you and I am consistent as I submitted 9.4 on the X-men and HTD. MS 5 at a 4.0 was harsh and should have been higher. My biggest swing and a miss was the strange tales. Don’t think it is my imagination but saw all sorts of little things with it along with the bottom staple which others mentioned. I put it at a 7.0. 

Incidentally I would have graded X-Men 101 & Howard the Duck 1 9.4 also if not for the extent of that bottom right corner crease on both books. But I believe from reading comments that a lot of people didn't notice the  corner creases which are kind of faint I would say so a 9.4 is totally reasonable but even without the corner crease I still don't know where CGC got 9.6 on that Howard the Duck 1. Aside from the Marvel Spotlight 5 that one is probably the second most confusing grade to me. Can anyone imagine the luck of that submitter? You start out with a book that is borderline even worth grading and end up with a $350 book! 

[kav]

On 5/12/2022 at 1:57 AM, JollyComics said:

Congrats to you. I am behind you by two points.  I doubt we make it.  Last contest, we were under 24 points, mine was 19 and didn't make the cut.

so youre saying our grading skills are deteriorating?

[WilliamLunt]

I saw the crease that reached the black area above the Cockrum. I considered it as one continuous crease. (made sense from the placement of both ends of the crease) But because I couldn't see it break colour on the the green areas. I judged it as two smaller creases. @Mr. ZipperKudos to you to have the foresight to judge it as one crease.

[Skunkboy]

On 5/12/2022 at 1:51 PM, Mr. Zipper said:

I don't know what people are not seeing, but the X-Men crease is about 1.5 inches long. You can't see it as well in the green area, but it goes up into the black area above "Cockrum." Measure it relative to the UPC box. 9.6s and 9.4s don't have creases that long. 

Here's the Howard the Duck that was referenced. This crease barely breaks color and is less than a half inch long.

 

So this is really interesting - even with your red circle, there's nothing that appears on my screen above the black in the lowest area of the corner (the areas I've circled).

But! when I used the snipping tool to take the screen shot, everything whites out, and not only does the crease you mentioned appear clear as day, but frankly the whole corner looks a bit dog eared.  Looks like it's time for a new monitor on my end lol.

[flashlites]

Ahhhhhhh the old color breaking crease on the X-Men 101 is still being hotly debated I see.   Yes I too counted that non color breaking part of the crease---still I gave it a 9.4? 

[flashlites]

[onlyweaknesskryptonite]

Here this will make it easier for most to see.  (I know I missed it.)

[apoptosis]

On 5/12/2022 at 11:37 AM, CGC Mike said:

I have closed the results thread until I discuss this with CGC sigh...

This is my first grading contest, are they always so eventful?  Also does anyone know what happened?

[Doctor Dositheus]

I saw the bottom part but I didn't see the top part. Still kind of looks like 2 separate creases. Is this the book holding up the results?

[Flammenwerfer]

someone was using PEDs

[apoptosis]

On 5/12/2022 at 1:59 PM, Flammenwerfer said:

someone was using PEDs

Ummm, I will bite what is a PED?   Is it short for pedigree?  If so how would one use it, and why is that a problem?