Is This a Grading Anomaly ? 3 3

[The Lions Den]

On 3/13/2024 at 12:25 AM, grendelbo said:

I'll put it this way: A 9.6 is the average new book that you'll see---a 9.8 should be better than that.  

[Gaard]

Without consistency, ANY grading scale, regardless of how well defined it is, is completely useless.

[Gaard]

On 3/12/2024 at 9:13 PM, The Lions Den said:

Trust me, there is a difference...but very few people know what it is. 

I've resubmitted many 9.6s (w/o pressing/cleaning, just straight resubmitting) with them coming back 9.8. Many.

[Ahsoka Tano Jedi Apprentice]

  I'm probably wrong but I'm guessing this book was somewhat recently slabbed.......If it was slabbed 5 or 10 years ago or it would have got a 3.0 or 3.5   but it seems to me CGC has  eased the grading and now it comes back a 4.5   There has never been a better time to slab your books then right now but what the heck do I know.

[Mr. Zipper]

On 3/12/2024 at 5:10 PM, JK2022 said:

How about the difference between a 9.6 and a 9.8? I defy anyone to tell the difference, I know modern books are rarely "Grails" (which shouldn't matter anyway and how do you even have the balls to grade a paper comic book a 10!) but come-on! from 9.0 to 10 they are all over the place....

tell me I'm wrong.

You're wrong.   I've been about 90% accurate on 9.6 vs 9.8 in my submissions. In the simplest terms, a 9.8 "looks" perfect at arms' length (even though it will have a subtle flaw on close exam). At arm's length, you can see a tiny flaw on a 9.6 such as a spine tick, a tiny touch to a corner, etc. 

Edited March 17 by Mr. Zipper

[Mr. Zipper]

It's a mistake to think that grading is a derived from a mathematical formula or there are flaws that absolutely limit grade, e.g., if it has a piece out over x size, it can't grade higher than y.

Grading is a science AND an art, and overall eye appeal weighs heavily.

Granted, the X-Men 1 CGC 4.5 is not a strong 4.5, but I also think it's not unrealistic. Overall eye appeal is decent, no significant creasing and it's fairly bright. And I do think major keys are sometimes graded on a slight curve. 

[The Lions Den]

On 3/17/2024 at 1:35 PM, Mr. Zipper said:

It's a mistake to think that grading is a derived from a mathematical formula or there are flaws that absolutely limit grade, e.g., if it has a piece out over x size, it can't grade higher than y.

Grading is a science AND an art, and overall eye appeal weighs heavily.

Granted, the X-Men 1 CGC 4.5 is not a strong 4.5, but I also think it's not unrealistic. Overall eye appeal is decent, no significant creasing and it's fairly bright. And I do think major keys are sometimes graded on a slight curve. 

For me, the 4.5 seems generous due to the variety of different flaws in the notes...but that's just my opinion.  

[shadroch]

Going only by the FC and judging from the top down, with the rest unseen until I got there, I was hovering between a 6.0 and 6.5.  Looking at the last half inch, I have no issue with it being a 4.5.

Edited March 23 by shadroch