Newbie Grading Questions, Thanks

[bonesy-migration]

I'm new to this board and somewhat new to comic collecting. A few quick questions for someone in the know.

 

1) When you are attempting to buy a comic of significant value. Do you go through all the pages to make sure there aren't pages missing, things cut out, tears, etc.?

 

2) Is all grading equal? Is a Golden Age 2.5 the same as a Silver Age 2.5 in appearance or is there more leniency given to the older comics where grading is concerned.

 

3) I'm looking at a Superman #11 in pretty good condition but it has a pencil mark on it that isn't too large. I've noticed a lot of Golden Age comics have some sort of writing on them. I know there is no definitive answer but how detrimental can these things be? And what about those date stamps that I always see on them?

 

Thanks a lot everyone,

 

Bonesy

[murph0]

1.) If you buy a CGC graded book, than you won't have to cause it'd be noted on the label if there's a problem like that. Otherwise, yes you should check the book but very carefully

2.) It depends on who you ask, CGC seems to get looser as the book gets older. Some people don't agree with this, a few do. I think the G.A. collectors are used to the looser grading CGC uses on their G.A. so.. as I said, depends on who you ask.

3.) The pencil mark isn't a big deal, not much of a defect on a G.A. book b/c it's so common to see. Given the choice between one without a pencil mark or one with a pencil mark, most people will choose without.. but with G.A. it's likely you won't find one without a pencil mark

Date stamps are placed on their by the store to show when it's time to alternate stock.

 

Brian

[Foolkiller]

1) Absolutely, unless, as previously noted, you buy a CGC book, then it's been done for you... Any book over $50 I go through fairly carefully unless I know the dealer well and know that if I find something wrong with it, I can bring it back later.

It's important that you carefully examine any book, because even the best dealer can miss things especially since they deal with thousands of books. They're only human.

 

2) Ideally, Yes... but the reality is that there appears to be several more forgivenesses given to the Golden Age books because of their age. i don't collect Gold, so I don't know a whole lot about it, but that seems to be my impression.

 

3) Depends on who you ask, but there are pedigree collections with pencil and date stamps on them. However, in lower grade, it doesn't seem to affect the grade at all.