Grade of 6, the best ratio price quality? 2 2

[BA773]

After looked many and many graded books i have the feeling that the grade of 6 is the the best ratio.

With a 6 you get a book who look already really nice with not terrible defect and the price is really cheap and most of the time you dont really see a big difference of price with a copy graded 4 or 5. At contrary you look higher grade and the price crazily increase, sometimes until x2 for a 7.0 and x3 for a 8 or even more for a book that not really look so much better. 

What do you think? Whats the grade range you think to get the best deal generally?

Edited December 23, 2023 by BA773

[ADAMANTIUM]

It might be a 6.0 now, if that is what you mean... due to market and or copies available.

It used to be 7.5 was the median that was well enough, at least for us lower echelon people.

I'm sure many still view it as 9.0 or better, I'm happy with 7.5 on older things  

On 12/23/2023 at 7:17 AM, BA773 said:

After looked many and many graded books i have the feeling that the grade of 6 is the the best ratio.

With a 6 you get a book who look already really nice with not terrible defect and the price is really cheap and most of the time you dont really see a big difference of price with a copy graded 4 or 5. At contrary you look higher grade and the price crazily increase, sometimes until x2 for a 7.0 and x3 for a 8 or even more for a book that not really look so much better. 

What do you think? Whats the grade range you think to get the best deal generally?

 

[Silver Surfer]

What era? I’m assuming you mean Silver age?

[Stefan_W]

On 12/23/2023 at 8:17 AM, BA773 said:

After looked many and many graded books i have the feeling that the grade of 6 is the the best ratio.

With a 6 you get a book who look already really nice with not terrible defect and the price is really cheap and most of the time you dont really see a big difference of price with a copy graded 4 or 5. At contrary you look higher grade and the price crazily increase, sometimes until x2 for a 7.0 and x3 for a 8 or even more for a book that not really look so much better. 

What do you think? Whats the grade range you think to get the best deal generally?

For me it roughly breaks down this way:

For Silver Age keys I go for about 6 or above, although there are nice 5.0 copies I will gladly take

For Silver Age non-keys I go for 9.0 and above

For Bronze Age keys I go 9.4 and above

For moderns it is typically 9.8 or bust unless it is a really valuable book that is unaffordable in that grade.  

[zzutak]

On 12/23/2023 at 5:17 AM, BA773 said:

After looked many and many graded books i have the feeling that the grade of 6 is the the best ratio.  What do you think?

One can make this determination without looking at a single raw or certified book. 

The relation between Overstreet Price Guide (OPG) value and numerical grade is linear for grades less than or equal to 6.0 FN.  Hence, for grades ≤ 6.0, the "value per point" ratio is constant (at $x/point, with x varying from issue to issue).  At a grade of 6.0, the relation becomes parabolic (with a continuously increasing "value per point" ratio).

The largest bang for the smallest buck/bang ratio always occurs at 6.0 FN.  There is no subjectivity to the math.  

[grendelbo]

On 12/23/2023 at 11:01 AM, zzutak said:

The largest bang for the smallest buck/bang ratio always occurs at 6.0 FN.  There is no subjectivity to the math.  

Also, they're the perfect condition to handle raw. Usually they present real nice and you can read them without really any worry about worsening their condition.

[alexgross.com]

you are probably right in terms of value, but i find that 6.0 books often look bad. for some reason, i have seen better 5.0s than 6.0s. i always prefer to get a 7.0-7.5 if i can afford it, or a 5.0-5.5. 6.0 and 6.5 have always bugged me- it's neither mid grade nor upper grade, and as i said, the few books i have had in that range always looked pretty lousy. 

[pickycollector]

Some 6.0’s look better than others. I don’t think I will ever get a better 6.0 than this one, it looks more attractive than most 6.5, 7.0 and even 7.5 copies of that issue that I have seen over the years. 

[shadroch]

I find 6.0 to be a tough grade to move. 

It isn't high enough for the picky collectors and is too much money for people who like readers. 

[Jaylam]

I've found a few graded at Universal 6.5 that have a "cover detached at one staple". Dealbreaker for me. I've never come across a 7.0 or higher with a detached cover staple that didn't convert to a Qualified grade. Is this some official stance by CGC or is even this fluid depending on other defects a book might have. Anyone have any better info this?

[BA773]

On 12/26/2023 at 3:53 PM, shadroch said:

I find 6.0 to be a tough grade to move. 

It isn't high enough for the picky collectors and is too much money for people who like readers. 

Mmmh i doesnt saw the reselling aspect, i agree with you on this point

[comicstock]

On 12/26/2023 at 10:05 AM, Jaylam said:

I've found a few graded at Universal 6.5 that have a "cover detached at one staple". Dealbreaker for me. I've never come across a 7.0 or higher with a detached cover staple that didn't convert to a Qualified grade. Is this some official stance by CGC or is even this fluid depending on other defects a book might have. Anyone have any better info this?

Official CGC Guide to Grading Comics does allow a 6.5 to have a cover detached at one staple.  

Overstreet Comic Book Grading Guide (2nd edition) allows a cover detached at one staple at best a 3.5 grade.

[bc]

On 12/26/2023 at 9:09 AM, pickycollector said:

Some 6.0’s look better than others. I don’t think I will ever get a better 6.0 than this one, it looks more attractive than most 6.5, 7.0 and even 7.5 copies of that issue that I have seen over the years. 

Gorgeous copy

Got this as a placeholder a while back. In hand, the inks and gloss are superb so I haven't really tried too hard to find an upgrade.

-bc

[1Cool]

My vote is for 8.0 copies.  A lot of them look darn near perfect but cost a pittance compared to the 9.2 - 9.8 copies.  Most casual buyers think most CGC 8.0s look brand new and they don't last long when you get them in.  The price difference between a 8.0 and a 6.0 isn't enough to counterbalance the increased demand for the 8.0 copies. 

[namisgr]

Same here.  When I began collecting Silver Age comics in decent shape a decade before the advent of CGC, I found that VF and VF+ books hit my sweet spot.  Really nice looking books for the most part, and much, much better preserved than the majority of Silver Age comics on the market in general, these books were also pretty affordable for a run collector to accumulate.  Nowadays, a collector might be better off buying Silver Age VF and VF+ non-keys raw, as the encapsulation process adds significantly to the cost.  For bronze age non-keys, I prefer raw books in slightly nicer state of preservation, with VF/NM and NM- commonly being a good trade-off between appearance and cost.  But as one goes down the line to books of lower and lower grades for either era, the cost hit from slabbing becomes more and more acute.

Of course for those able to afford higher grades than 8.5, their budgets and their collecting esthetic probably determine their 'ideal' grade.

Edited December 28, 2023 by namisgr

[LowGradeBronze]

On 12/26/2023 at 8:49 PM, comicstock said:

Official CGC Guide to Grading Comics does allow a 6.5 to have a cover detached at one staple.  

Overstreet Comic Book Grading Guide (2nd edition) allows a cover detached at one staple at best a 3.5 grade.

If I bought a 6.5 without knowing one staple was detached I'd be horribly disappointed.  I would never feel it was truly a 6.5

Edited December 28, 2023 by LowGradeBronze

[LowGradeBronze]

6.0 is certainly a gateway grade, making it vital that the criteria for 6.0 isn't watered down. I know what I expect to see in a 6.0 (and more importantly, what I do not expect to see in a 6.0 in terms of defects.)

[Telegan]

It depends on whether or not you're looking at it for an investment, want a really nice-looking book, or just want something to read.  Different books have different supplies, demands, grade populations, etc. that affect what grade I want to buy a book.  If it's a Golden Age book with 3 slabbed copies above 6.0 in grade that I really wanted, I'd probably be ecstatic just getting a chance at a 6.0 (or in many cases even a 4.0 - lol).  If I'm looking at something like ROM #1 with 600 or so slabbed books in just 9.8, I'd ask myself why the heck would I want "just" a 9.6 as I watch 9.8's crash in price to below $200 since they're "always" up for sale, and I'm always going to get another shot at one.  A lot of people who were just happy to get a 5.0 of some Silver Age comic a few months ago are probably saying "I'll just wait for the 7's and 8's to come down just a bit more in price" with the way those prices have crashed (I know I am).  In other words, there is no magical ratio/formula for me that applies ubiquitously across eras, genres, individual comics, etc.

Edited December 29, 2023 by Telegan