How did you decide on the grades you are happy with? 1 1

[Bick0]

I'm relatively new to collecting (5 years) with about 3 years of collecting graded books and I've mostly been collecting modern and late bronze but want to go for some silver age books (maybe even gold). I mostly collect 1st appearances and covers I really like, I know with more recent books its "easier" and more common to get 9.8's and 9.6's but I always go for the 9.8's because why not get the best grade possible?

I know with silver age books, the cost and availability of the higher grades can get into the thousands and hard to come by, especially when it comes to key issues and iconic covers. So I wanted to ask the community how did you come up with the grade you were happy with? I know there's a lot of factors like price, rarity, importance/significance to you etc. And of course everyone wants the highest grades possible but cant always get the highest so I was wondering what grade did you decide you were happy with and how did you get that conclusion?

Some factors I've thought of are the obvious ones, price, rarity/availability etc but also the re-saleability to fund other books or upgrade to a higher grade and visually  how the books look, I've heard cases of a 4.5 can sometimes look better than a 5 or even  5.5 on rare occasions.

I really want to get the 1st appearances of Spiderman and batman villains, few iconic covers and a few other 1st appearances which I've noticed have a large range of price to grade scale.

Thank you for reading, any advice is really appreciated. Happy collecting.

[Get Marwood & I]

Lots of things to consider here BickO, and money and availability will of course play a part.

Some people like uniformity in their slab collections. By that I mean the OCD type of need for, say, every book to be an 8.5. Some people prefer to get the highest possible grade they can afford, regardless of how it looks. Some go for eye appeal over grade. It's up to you really - there are no right answers. 

When I was putting a Spidey run together, having completed the raws, I went for 9.4WP for 100-200, 8.5 for 50-99, 7.0 for 20-49 and so on. I couldn't afford 9.4s for the early books but the 8.5 run especially looked lovely.

 

Lets face it, a properly graded 8.5 looks more or less brand new anyway so why pay those enormous, disproportionate increases for each successive grade increment?

If you hold it in your hands, and it gives you satisfaction, you've done good. Do what gives you satisfaction. Unless you're Mick Jagger of course in which case you won't get none.

 

[Bick0]

On 8/3/2023 at 7:32 PM, Get Marwood & I said:

Lots of things to consider here BickO, and money and availability will of course play a part.

Some people like uniformity in their slab collections. By that I mean the OCD type of need for, say, every book to be an 8.5. Some people prefer to get the highest possible grade they can afford, regardless of how it looks. Some go for eye appeal over grade. It's up to you really - there are no right answers. 

When I was putting a Spidey run together, having completed the raws, I went for 9.4WP for 100-200, 8.5 for 50-99, 7.0 for 20-49 and so on. I couldn't afford 9.4s for the early books but the 8.5 run especially looked lovely.

 

Lets face it, a properly graded 8.5 looks more or less brand new anyway so why pay those enormous, disproportionate increases for each successive grade increment?

If you hold it in your hands, and it gives you satisfaction, you've done good. Do what gives you satisfaction. Unless you're Mick Jagger of course in which case you won't get none.

 

Thanks for the advice and what an amazing collection!, I do like the idea of having all the grades being the same like you've done. Like you said an 8.5 is pretty much brand new and a really great grade to have. If the price difference was reasonably marginal, for example 8.5 at £1000 and there's an 9 for £1100/1300 i'd be more than tempted to splash out the extra £100/200 to get a 9. I know that price difference probably wont happen but we can dream XD.

Thank you again.

[Get Marwood & I]

On 8/3/2023 at 7:59 PM, Bick0 said:

Thanks for the advice and what an amazing collection!,

Ta. I never finished the <100 run in the end but the 100 x 9.4s looked a treat. Wish I'd kept them now. 

On 8/3/2023 at 7:59 PM, Bick0 said:

I do like the idea of having all the grades being the same like you've done. Like you said an 8.5 is pretty much brand new and a really great grade to have. If the price difference was reasonably marginal, for example 8.5 at £1000 and there's an 9 for £1100/1300 i'd be more than tempted to splash out the extra £100/200 to get a 9. I know that price difference probably wont happen but we can dream XD.

Thank you again.

Indeed. Study each book carefully, Bick. I won quite a few 9.4s from Comiclink and other sites back in the day that looked worse than some of my 8.5s when they arrived. And CGC can't grade for toffees nowadays, so make sure the book in the case makes you happy. It's a hobby, albeit an increasingly expensive one, but it should always be fun. Good luck! 

[Bick0]

On 8/3/2023 at 8:05 PM, Get Marwood &amp; I said:

Ta. I never finished the <100 run in the end but the 100 x 9.4s looked a treat. Wish I'd kept them now. 

Indeed. Study each book carefully, Bick. I won quite a few 9.4s from Comiclink and other sites back in the day that looked worse than some of my 8.5s when they arrived. And CGC can't grade for toffees nowadays, so make sure the book in the case makes you happy. It's a hobby, albeit an increasingly expensive one, but it should always be fun. Good luck! 

Thank you!, hopefully you can get back those 9.4s. Yeah my only real options in terms of buying comics are pretty much eBay, there's a con coming up soon I think in London so hopefully there's some books there that I can take a look at in person. Now I just got to figure out which book I want first, I'm thinking either Amazing Spider-Man #20 (1st Scorpion) or Batman #121 (Mr Freeze) but that book is reaching 8k in high grades.

[MattTheDuck]

I started collecting comics as a kid in the early 70s.  While I knew at the time there were things like "mint" or "fine" I paid almost no attention to condition as my goal was to "have" all these books I wanted.  I rarely even saw high-grade books.  So, by 1978 I ended with lots of spine ticks and creases and stains and etc in my little 1200 book collection.  Fast forward to 2021 and I'm back in the hobby after a 43-year hiatus.  I decided I was not going to spend any more money on spine ticks and creases.  For purposes of slabs, I set 8.5 as a floor, with hopes to get higher-graded books.  Now, I will also say the books I "need" - which are basically contained within the first 30 issues of the big Silver Age Marvel titles - are probably not all going to be affordable to me in that grade or higher.  So I'm compromising on these books to the extent necessary.  I will also say that the vast, vast majority of my collection is raw and I've pretty much decided I like raw better because I love to read these stories. They have the added benefit of being quite a bit less expensive than the same book slabbed.  

I'm fortunate that I don't have any OCD related to grades or look, my obsession is having a complete run of a title up to the point I don't want any more of that title (for example #363 is the last ASM I want to have, although I don't rule out picking up some key or other that's a higher number).  God knows what will happen if I ever actually complete one.

[zzutak]

If you take a look at Overstreet, you'll notice that guide value is always linear in condition grade up to 6.0 FN.  At that point, the relation becomes parabolic -- as you move beyond 6.0, you'll be getting ever-decreasing increments of bang for ever-increasing increments of buck.  As an Atomic Age collector, I've always viewed the 7.0 FN/VF level as offering the most bang for your buck, while still being findable (many Atomic Age issues simply don't exist in conditions higher than FN/VF).  A strictly graded 7.0 is a beautiful thing! 

Edited August 4, 2023 by zzutak

[wiparker824]

My wallet.

Unless you have unlimited funds this is almost always going to be the primary factor in your question. Would I prefer to have bought the ASM 1 in a 9.6 instead of a 1.8? Of course. Only problem is I didn’t have an extra 515k laying around. 

That question often takes care of itself with your budget, the more interesting thing I think is what defects actually matter to you within the grade you’re buying. Let’s say you’re set on buying a book in a 3.0. All 3.0’s are different. Are you okay with writing on the cover? Slightly brittle pages? Tan pages? Marvel chipping? What type of 3.0 do you really want. Especially with SA where you typically have enough selection as opposed to golden age where you may not be able to be as picky.

[Jaylam]

On 8/3/2023 at 2:32 PM, Get Marwood &amp; I said:

Lots of things to consider here BickO, and money and availability will of course play a part.

Some people like uniformity in their slab collections. By that I mean the OCD type of need for, say, every book to be an 8.5. Some people prefer to get the highest possible grade they can afford, regardless of how it looks. Some go for eye appeal over grade. It's up to you really - there are no right answers. 

When I was putting a Spidey run together, having completed the raws, I went for 9.4WP for 100-200, 8.5 for 50-99, 7.0 for 20-49 and so on. I couldn't afford 9.4s for the early books but the 8.5 run especially looked lovely.

 

Lets face it, a properly graded 8.5 looks more or less brand new anyway so why pay those enormous, disproportionate increases for each successive grade increment?

If you hold it in your hands, and it gives you satisfaction, you've done good. Do what gives you satisfaction. Unless you're Mick Jagger of course in which case you won't get none.

 

I have to agree with you, I have a hard time telling the difference in visual appeal between an 8.5 and up to a 9.4. I have an Iron man #9 in 8.5 and 9.4 and in hand, the 8.5 seems to have more pop to the colors; the white background is whiter and the colors seem deeper and more vibrant. The only detraction the 8.5 has is a color breaking crease or rub just inside the middle right edge of the cover (just above the top of Iron Man's head). Both have the "White Pages" page quality designation. Part of the difference could also be the 9.4 is in the old-style holder in which the plastic is not as clear as what's used in the newer slabs.

 

 

 

[Bick0]

On 8/4/2023 at 2:21 PM, wiparker824 said:

My wallet.

Unless you have unlimited funds this is almost always going to be the primary factor in your question. Would I prefer to have bought the ASM 1 in a 9.6 instead of a 1.8? Of course. Only problem is I didn’t have an extra 515k laying around. 

That question often takes care of itself with your budget, the more interesting thing I think is what defects actually matter to you within the grade you’re buying. Let’s say you’re set on buying a book in a 3.0. All 3.0’s are different. Are you okay with writing on the cover? Slightly brittle pages? Tan pages? Marvel chipping? What type of 3.0 do you really want. Especially with SA where you typically have enough selection as opposed to golden age where you may not be able to be as picky.

I never really thought about defects. I guess in terms of defects it depends on the book its self. For example, ASM 20 I know I can find copies that have consistent page quality (off-white to white) and better page quality than others with minor/less defects. However like you said an ASM 1 in a 1.8, I have to expect more defects such as brittle pages, writing on the cover, tan/cream pages etc, unless I want to spend 500k+. Like you said with golden age books, I cant be too picky with the quality/defects without spending an arm and a leg.

For you personally, do any defects put you off from buying? To add to that, would defects put you off from getting a higher grade copy of a comic if it had more/worse defects than a lower grade copy?

Thank you for the reply.

[Bick0]

On 8/4/2023 at 3:11 PM, Jaylam said:

I have to agree with you, I have a hard time telling the difference in visual appeal between an 8.5 and up to a 9.4. I have an Iron man #9 in 8.5 and 9.4 and in hand, the 8.5 seems to have more pop to the colors; the white background is whiter and the colors seem deeper and more vibrant. The only detraction the 8.5 has is a color breaking crease or rub just inside the middle right edge of the cover (just above the top of Iron Man's head). Both have the "White Pages" page quality designation. Part of the difference could also be the 9.4 is in the old-style holder in which the plastic is not as clear as what's used in the newer slabs.

 

 

 

I see what you mean, the 8.5 does look more vibrant compared to the 9.4. I guess the colour breaking, crease and rub on the 8.5 hurts the grade more than the colours not being as bright and popping on the 9.4. But, if you have to be close up to see the defects then its not too bad. I have a few of the older slabs like you have and there is a slight difference in clarity with the plastic. The only real way of knowing is cracking it open or get it re-slabbed but no sense spending the money if the slab isn't damaged.

Amazing books by the way, can I ask why you have two copies? I'm guessing you brought the 8.5 first then found the 9.4 later? I never really thought about having multiple copies of a book unless I'm upgrading to a nicer copy then selling the lower grade, finding a great deal or I really like a book.

Thanks for the reply.

[wiparker824]

On 8/4/2023 at 11:29 AM, Bick0 said:

I never really thought about defects. I guess in terms of defects it depends on the book its self. For example, ASM 20 I know I can find copies that have consistent page quality (off-white to white) and better page quality than others with minor/less defects. However like you said an ASM 1 in a 1.8, I have to expect more defects such as brittle pages, writing on the cover, tan/cream pages etc, unless I want to spend 500k+. Like you said with golden age books, I cant be too picky with the quality/defects without spending an arm and a leg.

For you personally, do any defects put you off from buying? To add to that, would defects put you off from getting a higher grade copy of a comic if it had more/worse defects than a lower grade copy?

Thank you for the reply.

In low grade I just like to find a clean complete book free of things that will not age well like rust, mold, brittle pages, etc.

In mid grade I tend to gravitate towards nicest presenting cover and page quality. 

[Bick0]

On 8/4/2023 at 1:34 AM, MattTheDuck said:

I started collecting comics as a kid in the early 70s.  While I knew at the time there were things like "mint" or "fine" I paid almost no attention to condition as my goal was to "have" all these books I wanted.  I rarely even saw high-grade books.  So, by 1978 I ended with lots of spine ticks and creases and stains and etc in my little 1200 book collection.  Fast forward to 2021 and I'm back in the hobby after a 43-year hiatus.  I decided I was not going to spend any more money on spine ticks and creases.  For purposes of slabs, I set 8.5 as a floor, with hopes to get higher-graded books.  Now, I will also say the books I "need" - which are basically contained within the first 30 issues of the big Silver Age Marvel titles - are probably not all going to be affordable to me in that grade or higher.  So I'm compromising on these books to the extent necessary.  I will also say that the vast, vast majority of my collection is raw and I've pretty much decided I like raw better because I love to read these stories. They have the added benefit of being quite a bit less expensive than the same book slabbed.  

I'm fortunate that I don't have any OCD related to grades or look, my obsession is having a complete run of a title up to the point I don't want any more of that title (for example #363 is the last ASM I want to have, although I don't rule out picking up some key or other that's a higher number).  God knows what will happen if I ever actually complete one.

I guess that's one of my "future regrets" when it comes to setting a minimum grade I want for a book, in case I find a higher copy in the future that I didn't mind spending the extra money on. But if that were the case then I'd never be happy with the books unless they were the highest and I wouldn't have any in my collection.

I started out collecting raw copies of modern books but the space needed to keep them was starting to get less and less, so I found a good balance of buying the key/important comics I want graded and reading comics on comiXology (although the app has gone down hill thanks to Amazon but I wont go there )

Thank you for the reply

[Bick0]

On 8/4/2023 at 7:50 PM, wiparker824 said:

In low grade I just like to find a clean complete book free of things that will not age well like rust, mold, brittle pages, etc.

In mid grade I tend to gravitate towards nicest presenting cover and page quality. 

Makes sense, no point spending a lot of money on a book that'll deteriorate due to defects like rush, mold and pages falling apart.

I'll have to remember that when it comes to the lower grade copies.

[Bick0]

On 8/4/2023 at 3:06 AM, zzutak said:

If you take a look at Overstreet, you'll notice that guide value is always linear in condition grade up to 6.0 FN.  At that point, the relation becomes parabolic -- as you move beyond 6.0, you'll be getting ever-decreasing increments of bang for ever-increasing increments of buck.  As an Atomic Age collector, I've always viewed the 7.0 FN/VF level as offering the most bang for your buck, while still being findable (many Atomic Age issues simply don't exist in conditions higher than FN/VF).  A strictly graded 7.0 is a beautiful thing! 

I'll have to look at Overstreet when buying from now on. All I can find is the last sales on eBay but that's so unreliable that I can never be sure what the Fair Market Value is, especially with the hype of new shows and movies being announced with a lot of people speculating who/what will be in them.

So far from searching the cost of a 8.5 copy of most books I want are minimum £1k - £2k so ill have to be patience and not get to impatience and buy them when there's hype/speculation.

Thank you for the reply.

[Jaylam]

On 8/4/2023 at 2:42 PM, Bick0 said:

I see what you mean, the 8.5 does look more vibrant compared to the 9.4. I guess the colour breaking, crease and rub on the 8.5 hurts the grade more than the colours not being as bright and popping on the 9.4. But, if you have to be close up to see the defects then its not too bad. I have a few of the older slabs like you have and there is a slight difference in clarity with the plastic. The only real way of knowing is cracking it open or get it re-slabbed but no sense spending the money if the slab isn't damaged.

Amazing books by the way, can I ask why you have two copies? I'm guessing you brought the 8.5 first then found the 9.4 later? I never really thought about having multiple copies of a book unless I'm upgrading to a nicer copy then selling the lower grade, finding a great deal or I really like a book.

Thanks for the reply.

As the way books were manufactured in the old days, the color strike could vary through the print run. As the ink begins to run low, the strength of the ink can wane. Also, depending on how the book was stored over the years, that can also affect the ink colors and page quality. I have seen CGC take off on grade because of color fading, like if the book had been exposed to too much light for too long. It is not wise to display your books in the light too much as it will cause the colors to fade, reds usually being affected and fading the worst.

[MattTheDuck]

It seems strange to me that something you could set up a system to objectively measure - how much the color of a cover diverges from the original - is not really even part of grading while the page color (vs "white") is listed at least if not directly part of the grade.

[The lips]

My wallet is ultimately the deciding factor. 
 

it’s my major collecting goal to complete an ASM run of 1-375 of which I’m around three quarters done. 
I’ve sort of worked in stages. 300-375 I mostly bought on release so are all at least a 9.0. 
Buying back issues I set myself a rough target of issue..

200 to 300 - 8 or above. 
150 - 200 - 7 or above. 
100- 150 - 6 or above but gladly go lower on likes of 121,122,129. 
50-100 - 5 or above ( my issue 50 is more a 4 )

sub 50 and moving into the big keys it’s just about actually owning them. To me these are pieces of history so I don’t work on grade just a criteria. Firstly has to be complete and no loose pages ( though I don’t mind a cut out advert if it didn’t spoil story ).

Mostly I’d gladly take anything on the big first appearances in single figures and 14. 

[Gaard]

I have a magic wallet. It actually talks to me. It tells me what grade will make me happy. So weird.

[frozentundraguy]

If you happen to delve into 50's issues whether it be Atlas, DC, or Marvel, these books tend to have quite fragile cover paper, not too mention many are quite scarce in high grade. With that in mind I have found that grades of 5.0 to 6.5 are acceptable. For example Comic Connect has a copy of Strange Adventures #18 in 9.4 for $1400. Don't see it now but on Ebay there was a 9.2 or so listed for $1200 for a long time. After a search lasting several years I was able to locate a raw copy that graded out as a 6.5 that I'm quite happy with.