Lost Posted September 8, 2023 Share Posted September 8, 2023 Just FYI, it seems 9.4 is the new 9.6/9.8....literally submitted perfect copies with no visible markings on the cover, great spines, cleaned and pressed, sharp corners...Looking at the scans, I'm still in awe about what exactly the graders saw...all 9.4's. The notes say unavailable. I've taken a long break from submissions so this was my first submission of a modern book in good long while. I normally collect golden age. I compared these scans with other 9.8's on the big auction sites and my books literally look better. When did the standards for modern books crank up to all time highs? Is this with the hiring of new graders? Help me understand and cope from this big time disappointment... RockMyAmadeus and WDBill 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galen130 Posted September 8, 2023 Share Posted September 8, 2023 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAR1979 Posted September 8, 2023 Share Posted September 8, 2023 (edited) On 9/8/2023 at 7:28 PM, Lost said: Just FYI, it seems 9.4 is the new 9.6/9.8....literally submitted perfect copies with no visible markings on the cover, great spines, cleaned and pressed, sharp corners...Looking at the scans, I'm still in awe about what exactly the graders saw...all 9.4's. The notes say unavailable. I've taken a long break from submissions so this was my first submission of a modern book in good long while. I normally collect golden age. I compared these scans with other 9.8's on the big auction sites and my books literally look better. When did the standards for modern books crank up to all time highs? Is this with the hiring of new graders? Help me understand and cope from this big time disappointment... CGC is super harsh on any color loss/rub especially on Modern's. With Mid or lower grade books, like most Golden Age, that type defect if small wont really affect grade but can easily be difference between a 9.4 and 9.6 or 9.8. Not saying that was situation with your books - no pics were posted, only that from my experiences its the case more times than not with Copper and Newer Edited September 8, 2023 by MAR1979 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lost Posted September 9, 2023 Author Share Posted September 9, 2023 After some calming down I think I spotted where this 9.8 candidate was dropped down to 9.4. I still am $^%&*$ off, but maybe more at myself... I thought I had a good eye...and then you question was that there before you submitted...and then that leads you further down the rabbit hole....but lets play a game and see if you can spot it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom789 Posted September 10, 2023 Share Posted September 10, 2023 Tough to say. Possibly a small corner crunch on the bottom right back cover. Or a small stain on the back cover just right of the left eye in the Spidey mask? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flanders82 Posted September 10, 2023 Share Posted September 10, 2023 (edited) On 9/9/2023 at 11:52 AM, Lost said: but lets play a game and see if you can spot it Hard to tell on a photo but there may be a stain (or possible newton ring) to the left of Wolverine's right elbow. I feel that all of the comics I won at auction recently were either accurately graded or even undergraded. It's rare that this actually happens, especially at Comiclink, where they don't post photos of the back cover. Edited September 10, 2023 by Flanders82 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAR1979 Posted September 10, 2023 Share Posted September 10, 2023 (edited) Larger pics: Front, Back Not a CGC or PSA supplied pic fan. They are always very bright to the point it obscures detail. I can see the reasons it's not a 9.8 and I'd be very very upset if I purchased the book in a 9.8 slab. Book looks like a somewhat weak 9.6 from pics though not seeing why it's a 9.4 (yet) Edited September 10, 2023 by MAR1979 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lost Posted September 11, 2023 Author Share Posted September 11, 2023 On 9/10/2023 at 2:12 PM, MAR1979 said: Larger pics: Front, Back Not a CGC or PSA supplied pic fan. They are always very bright to the point it obscures detail. I can see the reasons it's not a 9.8 and I'd be very very upset if I purchased the book in a 9.8 slab. Book looks like a somewhat weak 9.6 from pics though not seeing why it's a 9.4 (yet) The epitomy of comic book snobbery. I literally just posted the reason why I agree it's not a 9.8 and you have to come across like I never said it and still agree it's a 9.8. That IS the cgc supplied pictures, so WRONG on that account too. The most hilarious part is you can't name exactly why...so list the defects smart man...show off your grading prowess to the boards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAR1979 Posted September 11, 2023 Share Posted September 11, 2023 (edited) On 9/10/2023 at 9:23 PM, Lost said: The epitomy of comic book snobbery. I literally just posted the reason why I agree it's not a 9.8 and you have to come across like I never said it and still agree it's a 9.8. That IS the cgc supplied pictures, so WRONG on that account too. The most hilarious part is you can't name exactly why...so list the defects smart man...show off your grading prowess to the boards. Yes obvious the pics came from CGC which is precisely why i stated I was "Not a CGC or PSA supplied pic fan. They are always very bright to the point it obscures detail." You first post mentioned "Help me understand and cope from this big time disappointment... " Do you feel better now? best of luck pre-screening your future submissions. Edited September 11, 2023 by MAR1979 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lost Posted September 11, 2023 Author Share Posted September 11, 2023 On 9/10/2023 at 9:45 PM, MAR1979 said: Yes obvious the pics came from CGC which is precisely why i stated I was "Not a CGC or PSA supplied pic fan. They are always very bright to the point it obscures detail." You first post mentioned "Help me understand and cope from this big time disappointment... " Do you feel better now? best of luck pre-screening your future submissions. "Fan" is urban slang for adressing someone. Your sentence could have used "i'm" at the beginning to make your post clearer. So you're helping me cope by pointing out how bad the comic is? I think I missed the humor in all this? Waiting for your grading notes. I'm sure others are too. Cog and RockMyAmadeus 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAR1979 Posted September 11, 2023 Share Posted September 11, 2023 (edited) On 9/10/2023 at 10:54 PM, Lost said: "Fan" is urban slang for adressing someone. Your sentence could have used "i'm" at the beginning to make your post clearer. So you're helping me cope by pointing out how bad the comic is? I think I missed the humor in all this? Waiting for your grading notes. I'm sure others are too. Nicking me on grammer... I'm in a Multi National Fortune 20 firm, EQ not IQ is best path to success. Due to English being 2nd, 3rd or 4th language for many on our video conferences, calling out bad grammer is actually a path to dismissal. Not to mention highly insulting in some cultures. BTW; Hope you dont have same lack of tolerance, lack of diversity, and quick temper with your students. Edited September 11, 2023 by MAR1979 Cog 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lost Posted September 11, 2023 Author Share Posted September 11, 2023 On 9/11/2023 at 12:27 PM, MAR1979 said: Nicking me on grammer... I'm in a Multi National Fortune 20 firm, EQ not IQ is best path to success. Due to English being 2nd, 3rd or 4th language for many on our video conferences, calling out bad grammer is actually a path to dismissal. Not to mention highly insulting in some cultures. BTW; Hope you dont have same lack of tolerance, lack of diversity, and quick temper with your students. And I hope your "funny" responses in work emails are not as insulting and mean spirited as they are here. RockMyAmadeus 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WDBill Posted September 24, 2023 Share Posted September 24, 2023 Ok, I must have missed it. What is the reason we think it was downgraded from a 9.8? I can only see maybe the ink or smudge marks on back bottom left and middle left. I would give you a 9.8. I have a few I sent to CGC that was disappointed in the outcome also. Mostly I felt maybe they were not pressed. A few I looked back at my high res photos and saw the problem and it was me. I wish anything less than a 9.8 had at least one note to help explain. Tedsaid 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nschenks Posted October 2, 2023 Share Posted October 2, 2023 9.4 seems pretty harsh to me. The back corners look a little blunted, but technically that alone shouldn't be enough to ding down to 9.4 based on my own experiences. It's gotta be the red dot to the right of Spidey's left eye, as someone else mentioned. Could be printing error (when in doubt just scan a bunch of other sales on GoCollect or some other site), but if it's a pen mark or something that may be enough as it would be considered a stain probably. In which you're fortunate to get 9.4 lol. It's also possible it's a common printing defect that the graders just don't know about--even with excellent graders, there are so many books out there with such a wide variety of common (and uncommon) printing defects, that some are surely missed occasionally. I'd be curious to see the grading notes if there are any. Realistically though: Sometimes it's just luck of the draw. In one of my more recent subs I had a Thor 337 come back 9.2 WP and I thought it was a lock for 9.4 bare minimum. All the other books were within the ranges I thought, but that one continues to baffle me (a couple of very small ticks on the front were all I could find, which shouldn't be enough to ding down that low). End of the day, though, graders are human and prone to variation like anyone else. They're under a lot of pressure and time constraints, so it's easy to see why they possibly could, say, mistake a light artifact for a stain or a printing defect for a handling defect every now and then. All things considered, it's pretty amazing just how consistent they are with the volume they do--if I had to grade so many books in a day on those time constraints, I'd be missing stuff left and right and CGC would likely be burning to the ground under complaints about my grading. One thing you can do (though it may not be cost effective), is if you really trust your instincts and think it was under-graded..just send it it again and have them crack and regrade it. I don't really like playing the crack and re-grade game, but every once in a while it might make sense. You likely won't have to press it again, and it'll be a bit safer sent back in the slab. I just sent back a 9.6 because I'm fairly confident it could have gotten 9.8 considering the other books in the same sub (I had another book come back the same grade with multiple spine ticks that I thought was 9.2 max lol)--though it does help that the book in question in my case is worth substantially more in 9.8, so the cost is mitigated a bit. But maybe it's worth it for you if you really want that 9.6/9.8! Anyway, hope this helps (sorry for the long-winded post lol). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Lions Den Posted October 10, 2023 Share Posted October 10, 2023 On 10/2/2023 at 3:15 PM, Nsschenks said: All things considered, it's pretty amazing just how consistent they are with the volume they do--if I had to grade so many books in a day on those time constraints, I'd be missing stuff left and right and CGC would likely be burning to the ground under complaints about my grading. Very true. On 10/2/2023 at 3:15 PM, Nsschenks said: It's gotta be the red dot to the right of Spidey's left eye, as someone else mentioned. Probably not. On 9/8/2023 at 7:28 PM, Lost said: Just FYI, it seems 9.4 is the new 9.6/9.8....literally submitted perfect copies with no visible markings on the cover, great spines, cleaned and pressed, sharp corners...Looking at the scans, I'm still in awe about what exactly the graders saw...all 9.4's. The notes say unavailable. I've taken a long break from submissions so this was my first submission of a modern book in good long while. I normally collect golden age. I compared these scans with other 9.8's on the big auction sites and my books literally look better. When did the standards for modern books crank up to all time highs? Is this with the hiring of new graders? Help me understand and cope from this big time disappointment... The difference between a 9.4, a 9.6 and a 9.8 usually boils down to a couple of less noticeable defects that often can't be seen through the holder. But it could be something simple, such as a light bend or a small corner bump... sckao and Nschenks 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sckao Posted October 12, 2023 Share Posted October 12, 2023 Lower right corner on the BC looks like there is a bend of some type. Slight rolling/wavy-type bend. You can see the copyright statement is not horizontal and the lower edge seems to be scalloped in shape. The Lions Den 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
