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The difference between a 9.8 and a 9.9 or 10
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21 posts in this topic

Can somebody please tell me the difference?

I have many 9.8s,two in particular that are from the 70s and 80s,and they have what I would consider noticeable damage.

I recently sent in a New Mutants 98 and a Edge of the spiderverse 002 that in my opinion should come back at least 9.8 and when I say that I mean the Edge of Spiderverse is immaculate, the new mutants as well.

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10.0 GEM MINT (GM):  Back to Top
An exceptional example of a given book - the best ever seen. Only the slightest bindery or printing defects are allowed. Cover is flat with no surface wear. Inks are bright with high reflectivity. Corners are cut square and sharp. Spine is tight and flat. Staples must be original, centered and clean with no rust. Paper is white, supple and fresh. No interior autographs or owner signatures.

 

9.9 MINT (MT):  Back to Top
Near perfect in every way. Only subtle bindery or printing defects are allowed. Cover is flat with no surface wear. Inks are bright with high reflectivity and minimal fading. Corners are cut square and sharp. Small, inconspicuous, lightly penciled, stamped or inked arrival dates are acceptable as long as they are in an unobtrusive location. Spine is tight and flat. Staples must be original, generally centered and clean with no rust. Paper is white, supple and fresh.

9.8 NEAR MINT/MINT (NM/MT):  Back to Top
Nearly perfect in every way with only minor imperfections that keep it from the next higher grade. Only subtle bindery or printing defects are allowed. Cover is flat with no surface wear. Inks are bright with high reflectivity and minimal fading. Corners are cut square and sharp. Small, inconspicuous, lightly penciled, stamped or inked arrival dates are acceptable as long as they are in an unobtrusive location. Spine is tight and flat. Staples must be original, generally centered and clean with no rust. Paper is white, supple and fresh. Only the slightest interior tears are allowed.

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4 minutes ago, marvelmaniac said:

10.0 GEM MINT (GM):  Back to Top
An exceptional example of a given book - the best ever seen. Only the slightest bindery or printing defects are allowed. Cover is flat with no surface wear. Inks are bright with high reflectivity. Corners are cut square and sharp. Spine is tight and flat. Staples must be original, centered and clean with no rust. Paper is white, supple and fresh. No interior autographs or owner signatures.

 

9.9 MINT (MT):  Back to Top
Near perfect in every way. Only subtle bindery or printing defects are allowed. Cover is flat with no surface wear. Inks are bright with high reflectivity and minimal fading. Corners are cut square and sharp. Small, inconspicuous, lightly penciled, stamped or inked arrival dates are acceptable as long as they are in an unobtrusive location. Spine is tight and flat. Staples must be original, generally centered and clean with no rust. Paper is white, supple and fresh.

9.8 NEAR MINT/MINT (NM/MT):  Back to Top
Nearly perfect in every way with only minor imperfections that keep it from the next higher grade. Only subtle bindery or printing defects are allowed. Cover is flat with no surface wear. Inks are bright with high reflectivity and minimal fading. Corners are cut square and sharp. Small, inconspicuous, lightly penciled, stamped or inked arrival dates are acceptable as long as they are in an unobtrusive location. Spine is tight and flat. Staples must be original, generally centered and clean with no rust. Paper is white, supple and fresh. Only the slightest interior tears are allowed.

Thank you.

By this perfect description I fully expect my New Mutants 98 and Edge of the spiderverse to come back 9.8.

20190222_195817.jpg

20190217_171303.jpg

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1 hour ago, Hollywood1892 said:

Thank you.

By this perfect description I fully expect my New Mutants 98 and Edge of the spiderverse to come back 9.8.

20190222_195817.jpg

20190217_171303.jpg

if you have a scanner scan front and back and post them in the "Please Grade My.." thread.

 

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Going by those grading descriptions, the only differences are a 9.9 can have a discreet arrival date and/or very minimal fading, a 10.0 presumably not. A 9.8 can have small edge tears on interior pages, a 9.9 presumably not. 

If such flaws aren't evident, I suppose it's up to the grader what constitutes "slightest" vs. "subtle", and what else is a "minor imperfection" that keeps a book a 9.8 vs. a 9.6 or 9.9. 

I'll never understand paying a premium for a 9.9/10 over a 9.8, beyond bragging rights, or ease of sale to someone who wants bragging rights. At that point one is considering such minute flaws, that there is no guarantee that perfect or near-perfect grade would stand up over review or wasn't somehow lost in the handling process once it had been graded.

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15 hours ago, rjpb said:

...I'll never understand paying a premium for a 9.9/10 over a 9.8, beyond bragging rights, or ease of sale to someone who wants bragging rights. At that point one is considering such minute flaws, that there is no guarantee that perfect or near-perfect grade would stand up over review or wasn't somehow lost in the handling process once it had been graded.

I had my eyes on some 9.9s in the past that I was considering "overpaying" for. I ditched that, thankfully before committing to any, because the difference is close-to negligible next to a 9.8.

A 10 Gem Mint, on the other hand, is allegedly flawless. There are some instances where I'd be interested in shelling out for a seemingly perfect comic book. I haven't seen any in person, and I hold CGC to a high standard, so I'd expect it to be perfect. I'm told that I would not be disappointed.

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4 hours ago, TwoPiece said:

I had my eyes on some 9.9s in the past that I was considering "overpaying" for. I ditched that, thankfully before committing to any, because the difference is close-to negligible next to a 9.8.

A 10 Gem Mint, on the other hand, is allegedly flawless. There are some instances where I'd be interested in shelling out for a seemingly perfect comic book. I haven't seen any in person, and I hold CGC to a high standard, so I'd expect it to be perfect. I'm told that I would not be disappointed.

There is a Frank Miller Wolverine #1 10.0 that has Off-White pages so caution is also in order for "Gem-Mint".  

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13 minutes ago, crazyhips said:

There is a Frank Miller Wolverine #1 10.0 that has Off-White pages so caution is also in order for "Gem-Mint".  

Page color/quality at that designation shouldn't affect the grade.

A book can be genuinely Gem with OW/W PQ. It aged without losing its perfect condition.

I'm a PQ snob, though, so I personally wouldn't go for it.

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On 5/31/2019 at 12:32 PM, TwoPiece said:

Page color/quality at that designation shouldn't affect the grade.

A book can be genuinely Gem with OW/W PQ. It aged without losing its perfect condition.

I'm a PQ snob, though, so I personally wouldn't go for it.

I've passed up 9.9s for just this reason.  I'd rather own a 9.8 with perfect centering and wrap on the front and back covers and White pages than a "structural" 9.9 with a 1/8" miswrap to the front cover and off-white to white pages.  Even among the single highest 9.9 and 10's out there, there are those that have "production" defects like a bad wrap or off-center that would drive me nuts.  Likewise, I would rather own a more perfectly presenting CGC 9.6 in White pages than any of the 3 CGC 9.8's in existence with printing creases, bad misraps or off-white to white pages.  Why would I pay a premium for that?

 

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1 minute ago, justafan said:

I've passed up 9.9s for just this reason.  I'd rather own a 9.8 with perfect centering and wrap on the front and back covers and White pages than a "structural" 9.9 with a 1/8" miswrap to the front cover and off-white to white pages.  Even among the single highest 9.9 and 10's out there, there are those that have "production" defects like a bad wrap or off-center that would drive me nuts.  Likewise, I would rather own a more perfectly presenting CGC 9.6 in White pages than any of the 3 CGC 9.8's in existence with printing creases, bad misraps or off-white to white pages.  Why would I pay a premium for that?

My understanding is that CGC will not give a 10 Gem Mint grade without perfect centering, just FYI.

They didn't tell me this, but I personally haven't seen (pictures of) a Gem Mint that didn't appear perfectly-centered.

I agree with pretty much everything you've said, though.

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1 hour ago, TwoPiece said:

My understanding is that CGC will not give a 10 Gem Mint grade without perfect centering, just FYI.

They didn't tell me this, but I personally haven't seen (pictures of) a Gem Mint that didn't appear perfectly-centered.

I agree with pretty much everything you've said, though.

We would expect that but sorry to inform this is false.  CGC appears to apply the 10 and 9.9 grades to structural perfection not presentation.  I've seen enough 10's with miswraps and off-centered wraps that made me realize I'd rather own something that presents as perfection even if structurally it has 1 or 2 flaws that are imperceptible.  Direct your attention to the CGC 10's of ASM 362 in Exhibit A, & Exhibit B vs the CGC 9.8 copies in Exhibit C.  How about a single highest graded ASM 216 CGC 10 in Exhibit D vs a better presenting copy in 9.8 in Exhibit E.

Exhibit A: Amazing Spider-man #362 CGC 10.0

Copy A Cert #0790583005.  Notice the 1/8" miswrap tapering from the mid spine to bottom rotating the wrap to just off-center alignment front cover.

1890793711_ASM362CGC10badmiswrapandcenteringFC.thumb.jpg.79329cc6789ffe5b000bbbb31e9c5344.jpg

 

Exhibit B: Amazing Spider-man #362 CGC 10.0 Copy B Cert #0790583003. Notice the 1/8" miswrap that runs all along the front cover spine.  But it is centered.

1738630132_ASM362CGC101-8thmiswraptoFC.thumb.jpg.cb607af1f8422c2db6e5594603f3032a.jpg

 

Now take a look at this copy in 9.8 with a nearly perfect wrap Cert #0701640020 on both the front and back covers.

1504937151_ASM262perfectwrapandcenteringonFC.thumb.jpg.8b91f0e7ecf1823e1a22827e2de733ac.jpg1926780691_ASM362CGC10perfectwrapBC.thumb.jpg.97bb9d02e2cd1436a2dfaad018de7587.jpg

And for those of you that like the framing of the dark black border visible on the FC spine there's this example:

391344673_ASM362CGC9_8perfectwrapandcenteringtoFC.thumb.jpg.b5a2e5d591b0222c2d658151e3fba9ae.jpg

 

Ok, now for a single highest graded alone at the top of the census Amazing Spider-man #216 CGC 10.0 Cert#0790587007.  Just slightly off centered as the wrap is more towards the back cover at the top and shows white down at the bottom.  The banner does look fairly well aligned so I'll give you the centering looks good but the wrap bugs me.

1944784198_ASM215CGC10banneratangleandmiswrapatBFCspine.thumb.jpg.e08b0f0d2d140ccf6a14064e183174df.jpg

Not as bad as the examples above but what about the back cover?  Is that Front cover wrap peeking over to say hello?  That back cover doesn't look very well centered.

823414736_ASM215CGC10miswraptoTBCspine.thumb.jpg.4492ff241ec0a3ee4ba9e338ba6353df.jpg

 

How about Marvel Secret Wars #8 CGC 10 with the miswrap to FC:  The centering on this one is debatable but the presence of the BC wrap at the bottom gives it the appearance of not being perfectly centered and it may well be off by that 1/8".

1332133178_SecretWars8CGC10miswraptoFC.thumb.jpg.15e60f2c6e66e3c14c0541efbcc033df.jpg #1

Or worse yet the UXM #160 CGC 10 with a full spine length miswrap to FC AND Off-white to white pages:  This one while vertically well centered is not horizontally well centered as the comics code and title is pushed to the edge.  I give you this one has decent centering but the wrap and PQ are an eyesore.

1762186272_UXM160CGC10miswrapOW-Wpages.thumb.jpg.15b1ac463cad471943e0b375512d5cf6.jpg

Oh they just let all kinds of miswraps in 10.0s folks.  And those are only the ones I could find on Heritage.  Would I like to own, them, sure, but I'm not going to pay as much of a premium if I can find a 9.8 or even a 9.9 with a better wrap, centering, and white pages. 

 

Edited by justafan
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44 minutes ago, justafan said:

We would expect that but sorry to inform this is false.  CGC appears to apply the 10 and 9.9 grades to structural perfection not presentation.  I've seen enough 10's with miswraps and off-centered wraps that made me realize I'd rather own something that presents as perfection even if structurally it has 1 or 2 flaws that are imperceptible.  Direct your attention to the CGC 10's of ASM 362 in Exhibit A, & Exhibit B vs the CGC 9.8 copies in Exhibit C.  How about a single highest graded ASM 216 CGC 10 in Exhibit D vs a better presenting copy in 9.8 in Exhibit E.

Exhibit A: Amazing Spider-man #362 CGC 10.0

Copy A Cert #0790583005.  Notice the 1/8" miswrap tapering from the mid spine to bottom rotating the wrap to just off-center alignment front cover.

1890793711_ASM362CGC10badmiswrapandcenteringFC.thumb.jpg.79329cc6789ffe5b000bbbb31e9c5344.jpg

 

Exhibit B: Amazing Spider-man #362 CGC 10.0 Copy B Cert #0790583003. Notice the 1/8" miswrap that runs all along the front cover spine.  But it is centered.

1738630132_ASM362CGC101-8thmiswraptoFC.thumb.jpg.cb607af1f8422c2db6e5594603f3032a.jpg

 

Now take a look at this copy in 9.8 with a nearly perfect wrap Cert #0701640020 on both the front and back covers.

1504937151_ASM262perfectwrapandcenteringonFC.thumb.jpg.8b91f0e7ecf1823e1a22827e2de733ac.jpg1926780691_ASM362CGC10perfectwrapBC.thumb.jpg.97bb9d02e2cd1436a2dfaad018de7587.jpg

And for those of you that like the framing of the dark black border visible on the FC spine there's this example:

391344673_ASM362CGC9_8perfectwrapandcenteringtoFC.thumb.jpg.b5a2e5d591b0222c2d658151e3fba9ae.jpg

 

Ok, now for a single highest graded alone at the top of the census Amazing Spider-man #216 CGC 10.0 Cert#0790587007.  Just slightly off centered as the wrap is more towards the back cover at the top and shows white down at the bottom.  The banner does look fairly well aligned so I'll give you the centering looks good but the wrap bugs me.

1944784198_ASM215CGC10banneratangleandmiswrapatBFCspine.thumb.jpg.e08b0f0d2d140ccf6a14064e183174df.jpg

Not as bad as the examples above but what about the back cover?  Is that Front cover wrap peeking over to say hello?  That back cover doesn't look very well centered.

823414736_ASM215CGC10miswraptoTBCspine.thumb.jpg.4492ff241ec0a3ee4ba9e338ba6353df.jpg

 

How about Marvel Secret Wars #8 CGC 10 with the miswrap to FC:  The centering on this one is debatable but the presence of the BC wrap at the bottom gives it the appearance of not being perfectly centered and it may well be off by that 1/8".

1332133178_SecretWars8CGC10miswraptoFC.thumb.jpg.15e60f2c6e66e3c14c0541efbcc033df.jpg #1

Or worse yet the UXM #160 CGC 10 with a full spine length miswrap to FC AND Off-white to white pages:  This one while vertically well centered is not horizontally well centered as the comics code and title is pushed to the edge.  I give you this one has decent centering but the wrap and PQ are an eyesore.

1762186272_UXM160CGC10miswrapOW-Wpages.thumb.jpg.15b1ac463cad471943e0b375512d5cf6.jpg

Oh they just let all kinds of miswraps in 10.0s folks.  And those are only the ones I could find on Heritage.  Would I like to own, them, sure, but I'm not going to pay as much of a premium if I can find a 9.8 or even a 9.9 with a better wrap, centering, and white pages. 

 

I'm done collecting comics 

That's iiiiiiiit!

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On 5/18/2019 at 11:34 AM, marvelmaniac said:

10.0 GEM MINT (GM):  Back to Top
An exceptional example of a given book - the best ever seen. Only the slightest bindery or printing defects are allowed. Cover is flat with no surface wear. Inks are bright with high reflectivity. Corners are cut square and sharp. Spine is tight and flat. Staples must be original, centered and clean with no rust. Paper is white, supple and fresh. No interior autographs or owner signatures.

 

9.9 MINT (MT):  Back to Top
Near perfect in every way. Only subtle bindery or printing defects are allowed. Cover is flat with no surface wear. Inks are bright with high reflectivity and minimal fading. Corners are cut square and sharp. Small, inconspicuous, lightly penciled, stamped or inked arrival dates are acceptable as long as they are in an unobtrusive location. Spine is tight and flat. Staples must be original, generally centered and clean with no rust. Paper is white, supple and fresh.

9.8 NEAR MINT/MINT (NM/MT):  Back to Top
Nearly perfect in every way with only minor imperfections that keep it from the next higher grade. Only subtle bindery or printing defects are allowed. Cover is flat with no surface wear. Inks are bright with high reflectivity and minimal fading. Corners are cut square and sharp. Small, inconspicuous, lightly penciled, stamped or inked arrival dates are acceptable as long as they are in an unobtrusive location. Spine is tight and flat. Staples must be original, generally centered and clean with no rust. Paper is white, supple and fresh. Only the slightest interior tears are allowed.

Those above are from the HA site, I believe.  The CGC grading scale is below...quite a bit different.  Unless they fine tune it somewhere else.  HERE is the link to the page

image.thumb.png.13374e7f78c7d8ce4f178579339faf04.png

Edited by Spidey 62
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