• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

2019 March Madness - Round of 12
1 1

60 posts in this topic

4 hours ago, RockMyAmadeus said:

:gossip: This has a HUGE element of chance in it, because "grading from a scan is not reliable." 

You can discount for what you CAN see...but not for what you can't. No one should feel like they can't grade if they were eliminated, and likewise, no one should say "I'm the greatest grader in the world!!!" if they win. :cloud9:

Like that Aquaman 2. I looked at that darn thing for 15 minutes straight, trying to determine if that top staple was popped. Turns out it wasn't. In hand, it would have taken me 5 seconds or so to determine.

It's a fun, fun game, though, regardless. Or regradeless...?

(thumbsu  I really agree with this. Plus, as I mention every year when we do Andy's contest, the overall scores are skewed because they are tightly bunched together -- everyone here is a good grader. In this particular contest, the lower scores 'look' low but they still roughly mean you're in the ballpark with CGC's grading on 3 (or 4!) out of the 4 books. For the average collector, that is pretty f'n hard to do.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, spidermanbeyond said:

Got a 65 playing at home and was happy after the last round.  I guess it is easier when there is nothing on the line.

Congrats to all the winners.  Coming down to the final 6.

One round too late for me in my play at home round. 

I had 77:

ALF - 9.0
SGT - 7.5
TOMA - 2.5
X-MEN - 7.0

Went up on the Alf because of that dang Action 8.0 in the last round.  :tonofbricks:

 

Congrats to all the winners!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 3/25/2019 at 9:13 PM, RockMyAmadeus said:

I don't think it's possible to overstate this. It gets to the very heart of why third party grading is so important. For those of you who weren't collecting before the advent of CGC, it was really, really, reaaaaallllly, really the bad old days. I had a good solid decade to deal with the rampant and horrific overgrading and undisclosed restoration, and I'm incredibly thankful that I didn't have a lot of money to buy "big books." 

There are people that, to this very day, have not recovered the value of what they paid in, say, the mid 90s for a super key book that ended up being restored. One can be grateful that comics weren't *that* expensive in the 70s and 80s, but things were ramping up pretty hard in the 90s...$50,000 sales for key GA books were not uncommon, and five figure sales for Silver Keys were becoming common, too.

And just because you bought from a "nationally known and respected dealer" didn't make you immune. The guys with impeccable credentials...well deserved, I might add...occasionally got stung themselves, unknowingly, and unknowingly passed those on to their customers. And there were (and still are) a LOT of frauds and cheats out there, like Gerry Ross, Danny Dupcak, and Daniel Patterson (the "esteemed" owner of PGX.)

We are so very, very spoiled to have had a third party grading service...CGC...that has taken their job seriously, and their consistence over time has made the entire industry a far, FAR safer place to spend your money. Not only are there direct benefits in properly graded and restoration checked books, but indirect benefits, such that it's made everyone tighten up their own grading to a degree that we now quibble over QUARTER grades ("I think this is a 9.0." "Nah, that's no better than an 8.5!") You should see the brawls I used to get into with eBay sellers who sold me "mint" books that wouldn't grade higher than 6.0, or my Batman #11 (yes, THAT one) that was graded "VG/F" only to show up with every single page detached from every other page, with every page crumbling to pieces they were so brittle.

We no longer have to have 10,000 separate grading systems, like in the past, and sellers are much less likely to play the "well, *I* think it's Near Mint!" game on 7.0 books. Everyone has a reasonable standard by which to judge, a benchmark, a foundation from which to start. "CGC says this is an 8.0. Ok, I see how they arrived at that." You don't necessarily have to agree...that's the important part...but at least you have a third party, unrelated to the buying or selling of the book, without a "horse in this race", that gives their unbiased opinion as to what the book you've got in front of you is...and that it is either complete, or does, or does not, have restoration. And you're not likely to hear the once common "NM?? You're nuts, that thing's no better than a Fine!", and vice versa, ringing through the halls of your local convention.

It's forced everyone...willingly or not, happily or not...to become better graders, whether you're dealing with slabs, or raws, or both. And those who have refused, those who completely poo-poo CGC and third party grading in general, have been, rightfully I think, left behind.

No, we are so far beyond the bad old days, it's like we went from living in caves to Metropolis, all in the span of 20 years. And for that, I am very, VERY grateful...and maybe everyone who buys or sells comics as collectibles should be, too.

:cloud9:

 

(You can send my PR commission to my Paypal account, @Brittany M.)

:whistle:

 

 

 

 

 

(I'm kidding, I'm KIDDING! Don't beat me up!!)

Thanks for the reminder. Coming from that era I remember  trying to argue with dealers. Some, a few were fair with grading. Others well would take advantage. They had the final say. I remember having to sell a book once where the dealer cut my book down to 'good' offered me less than 1/2 of that price, 2 weeks later displayed as VF. A real racket back then:preach:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
1 1