A break down on how to...Grade a book?

[Amazing_Bag_man]

I wondering if anyone on the board can direct me on what make a grade of 8.0 or any number for that matter a comicbook's final number. What I mean is how many stress lines on a spine does it take to knock it down to an 8.0 or 7.5. How about the quality of the pages or supple cover. Is there is refernce book that tell me or any Joe Lunch-Box what these graders at CGC go by as standard protocals.

 

If this question as been discuss before or not is there refernce material out there to read up on....

 

 

[BachelorOfComix]

Overstreet Grading Guide can be a useful tool. You can order one from the CGC website at a discount.

 

Cheers,

 

Bachelor of Comics

[Amazing_Bag_man]

But would you say that CGC use the OverStreet Price Guide to grade the comicbook? Maybe they have a total different way of grading, so that's why I'm asking if they(CGC) are more or less strict??

[BachelorOfComix]

The CGC grading standards are unknown by all except CGC. Inferences can be made based upon slabbed examples, but these can be contradictory at times. However, CGC does endorse the OS Grading Guide, but I don't think CGC uses it exclusively for their grading.

 

Cheers,

 

Bachelor of Comics

[COI]

No one knows for certain because CGC does not publish its guidlines or make any mention of what criteria it goes on.

 

The best way to gauge CGC's grading is through experience with the slabs themselves. Even then, determining the precise grade can sometimes be a [!@#%^&^] shoot.

 

Your best bet is to buy the grading guide, and stick with that.

[COI]

Damn BOC, you read my mind.

[BachelorOfComix]

Damn Andrew, you read mine too.

 

Cheers,

 

Bachelor of Comics

[Aman619]

the grading guides can help you recognize what flaws matter and roughly how they rate in seriousness. BUT--for all the numbers and science regarding grading, much of it is a feel that you learn over time. You cant just count spine cracks for instance all by themselves. Except for 2 otherwise identical books where one has 4 cracks and the other 2. The one with 2 is higher grade than the one with 4.

 

Try to look at as many CGC slabbed books as you can and you will get the idea until you can guess the grade pretty well. After that, you will understand CGCs grading. All you need to do next is understand that they are just one opinion, although the current grading standard for resale pricing, and to fit their preferences int the mainstream opinions on grading.

 

hope thats not confusing.

[ninanina]

I've seen comics that have had a small corner "ding" on the right corner along with a small impact "crunch" on one of the corners along the spine and only 2 stress cracks that break color get an 8.0 from CGC. That's about what it would take. You get much more than that and you get into the 7.0 - 7.5 range. This is very general and certainly not a hard and fast rule. Is this what you were looking for?

 

 

[Aman619]

I recently saw a DC from 1956 with about 20 long spine cracks get an 8.0. I mean a LOT of cracks some longer than 3/8th" !! The rest of the book was tight and flat and even shiny, but not flawless. I think that was a way generous grade. Perhaps a whole lot of one kind of flaw doesnt knock it down more than one grade?? Hard to believe.

[Amazing_Bag_man]

Here's my situation, I figure if there was a slabbed copy of ASM 50 at a grade 8.5 unrestored and someone happens to crack it open, down the road sort of speak. He submit it again without the container. Would he or she get a higher or lower rating ??

[ninanina]

Something like this has been going on and it's gone both ways. You just never know. I have heard of guys on these threads re-submitting 8.5's or 9.0's and having them come back 9.2's or 9.4's. There is that much diversity in the grading. One of the reasons you should never buy the "label" when buying hi-grade, as a 9.4 could conceivably have been graded lower in the past.

 

I'm sure they'll come along and tell you all about it.

 

 

[Bugaboo-migration]

Would he or she get a higher or lower rating ??

Yes.......it has the posibility of getting a higher, lower, or identical grade.

[Amazing_Bag_man]

One of the reasons you should never buy the "label" when buying hi-grade, as a 9.4 could conceivably have been graded lower in the past.

 

 

What do you mean the "Label"???

[ninanina]

I am thinking, and would be interested in other views on this, that original cover gloss or lack there-of is one of the most important things CGC considers in the over-all grade. You mentioned the '56 comic was "shiny". Perhaps this could explain the 8.0. Also, it's an older comic and CGC has been known not to be as strict on these older collectables. But, on the surface your right - 8.0 does sound generous for a comic with that many stress cracks.

 

But it is shiny and old. Maybe that's why.

[ninanina]

Re: the Label

 

I don't have much experience buying CGC myself, but have read on several occasions that some buyers make the mistake of paying premium for a 9.4 CGC graded comic even though there's a 9.0 that looks better. This is what's called buying the label instead of the better copy. Buyers naturally assume the 9.4 is the better copy, simply because of the "9.4" on the label.

 

Hope this explains it.

[Bugaboo-migration]

What do you mean the "Label"???

He means......don't just buy the book because CGC says it's this grade. This becomes especially important with ultra high grade huge dollar books where the difference can be big money.

 

For example......someone may spend $2,000 on a CGC 9.8 book when they could have got the same book in CGC 9.6 for only $150.

 

Because.....there is a possibility that if you cracked both books from their slabs and resubmitted them......they might both come back as 9.6's.....or even lower. (this isn't always the case....but it has been known to happen)

 

In that case......two people got essentially the same quality of book......but one paid much more for his by buying the label.

 

However, some people just like to have the highest CGC graded copy they can find. It just depends on the person.

[Amazing_Bag_man]

If that's the case then what do you really "look" for the actually eye appeal of the comic or the label. It's kind of like the chicken and the egg story...

[ninanina]

Thanks Bug, couldn't have said it better myself.

[Aman619]

Something like this has been going on and it's gone both ways. You just never know.

 

You just never know is right. And this affects the census. Some people have been known to send a book back 3 and 4 times getting 9.0s and 9.2s hoping for 9.4s, An dthey dont send in the grade certificate each time, so the census hsows 4 books when they are all the same copy.