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

[Bugaboo-migration]

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...

I'd say both.

 

I don't have that many CGC books. But I always try to make sure the ones I buy are well centered, have nice cover gloss, etc.

 

If possible.....before bidding on a book......ask the seller to email you a high resolution scan so you can judge the grade of the book yourself. The cgc case is nice and their grade is a great guideline.......but you should also make an effort to access if it's accurately graded yourself if you can. Usually CGC won't be off by very much on the grade if they are at all......but they are human and mistake can happen.

 

One thing I have learned though (some may disagree)........your odds of getting an accurately graded book from CGC are far better than getting an accurately graded book from some Joe Shmoe seller on eBay.

[Amazing_Bag_man]

Some people have been known to send a book back 3 and 4 times getting 9.0s and 9.2s hoping for 9.4s

 

 

That's cha-ching for CGC , more grave for them...

[Bugaboo-migration]

[ninanina]

Eye appeal is very important. It's something you will develop over time if you have not already. And it's not hard. You look for things like centering, straight cuts, pages lining up with the cover, the back cover over-lapping onto the front. Some of these defects would be certainly more important to the collector than to CGC.

 

For example:

 

I've noticed in the new Overstreet grading guide that "foxing" is allowed in Hi-grade comics. To me, I would automatically downgrade a comic with foxing to a VG. But, that's just me. And there may even be a few things that turn you off more than it does CGC.

 

And that's ok.

[Aman619]

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

 

Im old and pretty shiny too, but my wife grades me no higher than 7.0.

Seriously this was a key also, which may have had an effect....but cmon-- CGC is blind to these details. right? Ive bought some 8.0s from same period that had a few too many very MINOR issues. I think mine were overgraded and the other was generous to a fault. Either way, our grading gods du jour (and hosts here "hi Steve!") are pretty inconsistent arent they?

[Amazing_Bag_man]

How about this situation, where the cover is prodomiantly a red cover but the spine is rolled a bit showing a straight white line veritcally, very even through out. Not even a 1/16 of inch.

[Aman619]

ut the spine is rolled a bit showing a straight white line veritcally,

 

I personally like it because the white shows less wear and cracks, as long as the white is a 1/16" no more. Some books show 1/8" which is almost a miswrap printing error in my mind.. Others here have expressed less enthusiasm for it and prefer th eblack line right on the spine between the staples.

[Amazing_Bag_man]

sometime it pretty hard for those older bronze or silverage comics??

[Aman619]

ummm, yeah!

[doyle033]

depends on what book it is as well, In my opinion. I have a few CGC books and it appears to me that CGC seems to grade books that they see alot of closer than those they dont.

ie. a hulk 181 with some common flaw to that issue will get noticed a lot more than an incredible hulk 384 with a flaw common to that issue as they see a LOT more of the 181's and the more you see of them the better you are at knowing where to look for the flaws. again that is only my opinion

[ninanina]

About that white stripe thing you asked about, I can't give an opinion because I don't have enough information. Are you talking about a 1/16" strip showing from the back cover, which would mean to the left of the staples? If so, this comic must have more than just a slight curl.

 

If you're talking about a 1/16" strip to the right of the staples, which would make it part of the front cover, that wouldn't bother me a whole lot if it was straight. Although I would personally feel eye appeal for a book without any stripe increases its desirability.

[Amazing_Bag_man]

What do you think of this cover?? Does the white stripe bring down the worth....

[ninanina]

On this book it looks good. Nice "eye appeal". Comics where the stripe would not be perpendicular to the "edge" of the comic, would have "less" eye appeal. And I'm not sure if using the term "less worth" is appropriate here. Less eye appeal would be a better way to describe a crooked stripe rather than less worth.

 

 

[Amazing_Bag_man]

Thank you for your honest opinion.....