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

[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.

You are right, I got the 8.5 first and then was able to pick up the 9.4 for what I thought was a reasonable price, but after comparing them side by side... well it makes it difficult to decide which one I like better. I do have duplicates of other books as well, some for sentimental reasons, some just because I like the presentation and visual appeal of one over the other like in the case of these Iron Man #9's. In most cases though, eventually I will sell off one and set my sights on something else.

[Panda2]

Love this question!  For me, I like having nice looking things, so I set my floor around 8.0 for most issues (SA) and around 7.5 for some of the keys.  The wallet dictates, but as I have come back to the hobby with some disposable funds, I find that I have become a little more picky. I love the look of a minty comic that is 75 years old. The history, the travels it must have gone through, and how it must have looked fresh on the newsstand….and I always figure it might make resale easier at a later date, though I have no intention of selling.

[Drummy]

Hey all --

Thanks to the OP for this thread and for all the responses...so fun to hear how everyone organizes their collections.

I have focused in on about 22 of the Marvel SA keys for my permanent collection, which means that I can't go HG on most of them.  So I ignore the number in the corner and look instead for three things:  white pages, clean covers, and quality of production (centering, registration, brightness, staple placement, etc.).  So my collection ranges from 4.0 to 9.4 right now with a lot of 6.0's and the like in between.  A few examples are below.

Thanks again and good luck figuring out what works for you!

Dan

 

[Morganmi]

I look for books like these with great color, gloss and presention that have some flaw, often on the back cover, that the grader decides to slam the book down for. 

Not so great when they are books you sent in though.