• 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.

No Graders Notes on a 9.6
1 1

88 posts in this topic

38 minutes ago, Autry-Man said:

Please forgive my ignorance, but you mentioned "a power 10 loop." What is it?

3d165c88-098a-40ec-98ae-fd0935f6a048.jpg

You can find them on eBay for $5-$10 shipped. Look for "Jeweler's Loupe."

They come in better magnification, but 10x is good enough for comics (I have 10, 20, and 30.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

31 minutes ago, RockMyAmadeus said:

3d165c88-098a-40ec-98ae-fd0935f6a048.jpg

You can find them on eBay for $5-$10 shipped. Look for "Jeweler's Loupe."

They come in better magnification, but 10x is good enough for comics (I have 10, 20, and 30.)

Thanks. I know I have veered off-topic a bit.  Do you know what tools CGC inspectors use? Do they use the naked eye or do they use magnifier? Do they use certain lighting or inspection boards? I'd also like to know why type of training and testing a qualified inspector has to have. How many books can they inspect in one day? Is the process performed by a written procedure that keeps them on track with checking everything and performing certain tasks; e.g. entering grader notes. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, TwoPiece said:

I don't see the point in grader notes on 9.4 and higher, considering that 9.4 is "NM". An unpopular opinion, I'm sure.

Not unpopular with me. Grader notes are both vastly over estimated in importance and in accuracy. 

Grader notes are nothing except what the graders took the time to write down. They are not an exhaustive list of every single defect on a book.  Graders notes on NM and better books I believe can be a double edged sword, sometimes depressing the value of the book. You take a 9.4-9.6 where the graders list several tiny defects. But people see that and then they see another 9.4-9.6 of the same book with no graders notes (and thus no defects listed) . And assume that the one listing defects is sub par. 

it is also worth noting it takes time to list grader notes. Maybe we'd be better off with graders grading books, not writing about the books. Everyone thinks TAT is important. 

I personally am only interested in grading notes that describe defects that are extremely  hard or impossible to see once the book is encapsulated. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

40 minutes ago, Tony S said:

Not unpopular with me. Grader notes are both vastly over estimated in importance and in accuracy. 

Grader notes are nothing except what the graders took the time to write down. They are not an exhaustive list of every single defect on a book.  Graders notes on NM and better books I believe can be a double edged sword, sometimes depressing the value of the book. You take a 9.4-9.6 where the graders list several tiny defects. But people see that and then they see another 9.4-9.6 of the same book with no graders notes (and thus no defects listed) . And assume that the one listing defects is sub par. 

it is also worth noting it takes time to list grader notes. Maybe we'd be better off with graders grading books, not writing about the books. Everyone thinks TAT is important. 

I personally am only interested in grading notes that describe defects that are extremely  hard or impossible to see once the book is encapsulated. 

By the way...I completely agree with you, when it comes to sub-9.0 books. 

I look at the notes for a 5.5 and think "ok, but I don't really need all this information, as it's almost all obvious to the viewer." 

Books that I sub that are sub-9.0, for the most part, I don't even look at the notes. When I get a grade I don't expect...in either direction...I do, but mostly no. It only matters to me at 9.0 and up.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, Autry-Man said:

Thanks. I know I have veered off-topic a bit.  Do you know what tools CGC inspectors use? Do they use the naked eye or do they use magnifier? Do they use certain lighting or inspection boards? I'd also like to know why type of training and testing a qualified inspector has to have. How many books can they inspect in one day? Is the process performed by a written procedure that keeps them on track with checking everything and performing certain tasks; e.g. entering grader notes. 

I'll try to answer these questions in the order you asked them:  1) CGC "inspectors" (commonly known as graders) generally examine books with the naked eye. If they see something suspicious, they may use a loop to help identify whether the flaw they see is restoration or something else. When grading, it's important to keep the lighting the same all the time; this helps keep the grading consistent. As far as I know, the graders still sit at desks to do the grading.  2) The type of training a grader has can be varied. Some folks at CGC have been grading most of their lives; some folks may only have a few years of grading experience. When I worked there, each potential grader was given a grading test as part of their job interview. The test consisted of a variety of comics in different grades; your job was to attempt to guess what grade each book had received. If you passed the test, it was a good sign. It also helps to have as much experience as possible with comics in general; the more you know, the more valuable you are to everyone else. This includes how to handle comics, how to take them out of the bag without damaging them, etc.  3) The amount of books a grader can grade in a day depends a lot upon the type of material they're grading. For instance, vintage books usually take longer and are more difficult to grade because they have more flaws. Moderns, on the other hand, are much easier because you're usually just trying to decide if they're better than Near Mint. Also, vintage material is much more likely to have odd page counts, pages missing, puzzles filled in, etc. All those things have to be noted, and in many cases put onto the label, so it takes longer. All the information is kept track of by computer (of course). I hope this helps shed some light on the subject, and if you're interested in a career in comics, I see they're still looking for good people...  hm

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, The Lions Den said:

I'll try to answer these questions in the order you asked them:  1) CGC "inspectors" (commonly known as graders) generally examine books with the naked eye. If they see something suspicious, they may use a loop to help identify whether the flaw they see is restoration or something else. When grading, it's important to keep the lighting the same all the time; this helps keep the grading consistent. As far as I know, the graders still sit at desks to do the grading.  2) The type of training a grader has can be varied. Some folks at CGC have been grading most of their lives; some folks may only have a few years of grading experience. When I worked there, each potential grader was given a grading test as part of their job interview. The test consisted of a variety of comics in different grades; your job was to attempt to guess what grade each book had received. If you passed the test, it was a good sign. It also helps to have as much experience as possible with comics in general; the more you know, the more valuable you are to everyone else. This includes how to handle comics, how to take them out of the bag without damaging them, etc.  3) The amount of books a grader can grade in a day depends a lot upon the type of material they're grading. For instance, vintage books usually take longer and are more difficult to grade because they have more flaws. Moderns, on the other hand, are much easier because you're usually just trying to decide if they're better than Near Mint. Also, vintage material is much more likely to have odd page counts, pages missing, puzzles filled in, etc. All those things have to be noted, and in many cases put onto the label, so it takes longer. All the information is kept track of by computer (of course). I hope this helps shed some light on the subject, and if you're interested in a career in comics, I see they're still looking for good people...  hm

Thank you very much. Super interesting. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Autry-Man said:

Thank you very much. Super interesting. 

Extremely.

My stupid question added would be, how do you do a page count, and look for missing etc. and still end up with a 9.9?

Can you really be that meticulous?

I'm thinking you open a book, do all of that, you have to damage the book in some way.

Of course, I'm wrong, it's just hard for me to picture.

hm

Link to comment
Share on other sites

27 minutes ago, sledgehammer said:

Extremely.

My stupid question added would be, how do you do a page count, and look for missing etc. and still end up with a 9.9?

Can you really be that meticulous?

I'm thinking you open a book, do all of that, you have to damage the book in some way.

Of course, I'm wrong, it's just hard for me to picture.

hm

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

39 minutes ago, sledgehammer said:

Extremely.

My stupid question added would be, how do you do a page count, and look for missing etc. and still end up with a 9.9?

Can you really be that meticulous?

I'm thinking you open a book, do all of that, you have to damage the book in some way.

Of course, I'm wrong, it's just hard for me to picture.

hm

That's why it's important to know how to handle books and not be freaked out by the value or condition. A 9.9 or 10.0 is no different than any other book, except that after you look at it for 5 minutes you realize it doesn't have any real flaws...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, The Lions Den said:

That's why it's important to know how to handle books and not be freaked out by the value or condition. A 9.9 or 10.0 is no different than any other book, except that after you look at it for 5 minutes you realize it doesn't have any real flaws...

5 minutes??

lol

No wonder TATs were so slow.

;)

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you guys were in school and received a test back with a 96/100, would you want to know what questions you got wrong? Or would you be satisfied if the teacher said "you just missed a few questions, don't worry about it?"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 hours ago, SBRobin said:

If you guys were in school and received a test back with a 96/100, would you want to know what questions you got wrong? Or would you be satisfied if the teacher said "you just missed a few questions, don't worry about it?"

Completely different argument you're making. Makes no sense.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, TwoPiece said:

Completely different argument you're making. Makes no sense.

Grading is subjective. A school "test" would have to be based on objective facts.

The school test equivalent would be a Basic Music test, with questions like:

"Which guitarist is better: James Hetfield or Jimmy Hendrix?"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On ‎4‎/‎18‎/‎2019 at 12:00 PM, TwoPiece said:

"An unpopular opinion, I'm sure."

You see the point. I don't. I'm not gonna hammer on CGC's subjective opinion. I find it easy to identify whatever flaw makes a book 9.4-9.8.

If I want 9.8's for my collecting focus and I send in 25-50 books for pre-screen and only 5 books make the grade it would help to know how they grade. Bdcause

A. Save me time in sending books in

and

B. Save me money based on the $5 rejection fee per book and shipping. CGC clearly does not adhere to Overstreet Grading standards which everyone else uses so it would be nice to learn what CGC considers a 9.8.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On ‎4‎/‎18‎/‎2019 at 1:23 PM, comicdonna said:

I believe it's a form of (fancy name for) a magnifying glass.  

I still have mine from my pre-press days where it was used to examine the film used to make printing plates. They are handy to see the spine and corners or to catch color touch if you know what to look for.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, WoWitHurts said:

B. Save me money based on the $5 rejection fee per book and shipping. CGC clearly does not adhere to Overstreet Grading standards which everyone else uses so it would be nice to learn what CGC considers a 9.8.

I don't.

It's not up to us to decide how CGC grades, or for them to disclose "how" they grade. They have a Grading Scale available on the main website that you can reference for how defects add up.

If you want CGC to disclose their methods of grading, then ask Coca-Cola for their beverage formulas while you're at it. LMK how it goes...

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