Age vs. True Condition

[Sal]

at the risk of being accused of baselessly speculating, i seem to recall words by Mr. Borock to the effect that books are graded against not just the .5 to 10 scale, but also against all other known copies of said book; and if a book is clearly the best known example of its kind, it will get a higher grade than "deserved" than if one were to look strictly at it on the basis of structural perfection.

 

 

i offer that the most important phrase of said paragraph above is "seem to recall," and throw myself on the mercies of the court when rendering judgement of same

[FFB]

at the risk of being accused of baselessly speculating, i seem to recall words by Mr. Borock to the effect that books are graded against not just the .5 to 10 scale, but also against all other known copies of said book; and if a book is clearly the best known example of its kind, it will get a higher grade than "deserved" than if one were to look strictly at it on the basis of structural perfection.

 

 

i offer that the most important phrase of said paragraph above is "seem to recall," and throw myself on the mercies of the court when rendering judgement of same

 

Really? I've never seen him say that.

[rjpb]

While I don't feel proficient at grading GA books, I've done enough trying to know that it is a far different beast than grading SA and BA books is

 

Having bought a couple of GA books from the good Dr., I would trust his GA grading more than most.

[s-man]

All this is facinating, and if it is a case where books are graded against the best in their Age than it still doesn't make much sense. Why would the condition of one book be allowed to affect the grade of another? There just is no logic to it. You would also have to have a catelog of the conditions for that same book and compare it everytime the identical book came in, instead of just grading it on its own merits. Why cant there be two perfect examples of the same GA book? There are several perfect 10.0 grades for the same modern book...why should older books be different?

[garthgantu]

This seems like an area in which calling CGC wouldn't really produce a lot more insight. They've given their rationale for why GA books are graded "less harshly" (my words, not theirs), and Dr. B summed up that rationale succinctly.

 

I don't grade my own books on a curve - or at least, I try not to. I try to start from a hypothetical 10.0 on any book and deduct from there, regardless of the book's age.

 

Yes, a Timely with one staple and a detached cover is arguably in "better shape" than a SA DC with two staples and a detached cover, but in terms of the deduction given for the cover being detached, it should be the same in both instances. If the SA DC has more damage to the cover because of two detached staples, then that additional damage is factored in and the SA DC gets a lower grade. But that should be separated out from the deduction given for a detached cover, IMO.

 

Basically, CGC grades on a curve, from all the examples I've seen.

 

At the same time, my personal definition of "high grade" is already subject to a curve, and I think this is true for most people. A FN/VF 7.0 Action 47 is a "high grade" GA book, while a FN/VF 7.0 Avengers 47 is not. A FN/VF 7.0 Bronze Age book is a reader copy (unless it's a major key), and a FN/VF 7.0 Modern is quarter bin fodder. Given this "built-in" curve that I believe most of us already apply, there's really no need for a CGC-based curve.

[rjpb]

At the same time, my personal definition of "high grade" is already subject to a curve, and I think this is true for most people. A FN/VF 7.0 Action 47 is a "high grade" GA book, while a FN/VF 7.0 Avengers 47 is not. A FN/VF 7.0 Bronze Age book is a reader copy (unless it's a major key), and a FN/VF 7.0 Modern is quarter bin fodder. Given this "built-in" curve that I believe most of us already apply, there's really no need for a CGC-based curve.

 

Well put

[s-man]

At the same time, my personal definition of "high grade" is already subject to a curve, and I think this is true for most people. A FN/VF 7.0 Action 47 is a "high grade" GA book, while a FN/VF 7.0 Avengers 47 is not. A FN/VF 7.0 Bronze Age book is a reader copy (unless it's a major key), and a FN/VF 7.0 Modern is quarter bin fodder. Given this "built-in" curve that I believe most of us already apply, there's really no need for a CGC-based curve.

 

Well put

 

Yes, well put...but it still goes back to "best or great example of that book" and not "true" condition.

[garthgantu]

Well, the whole 'best example' thing is insane. All that does is lead to madness... If the best existing copy of a particular Timely is only a 4.0 strictly (objectively) speaking, you can't bump that up because it's the best one! Suddenly you've got dozens or hundreds of GA books that are overgraded... oh, wait - that may be exactly what we've got...