Effect of common flaws on grading 1 1

[kcm54]

I've just retrieved a few thousand bagged and (partially) boarded comics from storage, where they've been since about 1990.  Some silver, mostly bronze age.  Mostly high quality.  I'm trying to grade them, at least roughly, so I know what to submit for grading and what to dump on eBay (with at least a sane claim as to grade).  Being retired now, it's time to start realizing the investment.

I have the two Overstreet books and some cataloging software, but I keep running into the same questions regarding a common flaw: spine stress (something that comes up a lot with books that were stored without backs*).

I assume that a bright book with White or White-to-Off-white pages is a 9.8 in the absence of any visible flaw other than a bindery tear or similar.  There usually are some.

My question what happens when you have spine stress or bends that break color?  What would one of the below spine flaws do to a grade?  What would 5 of them do?  I see a Walking Dead book listed in the OS Grading Guide listed as a 9.4 with "multiple spine bends which break color", which says that it is not terrible by itself.

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*yes, I know.

[csaag]

If you've read the OS grading Guide then you should've been introduced to terms like  'accumulation of minor defects' or 'minor accumulation' etc.

All those terms are explained in the book and the sections which give the guidelines for each grade level list the types of flaws seen at those levels.

It also includes a chart of how the number of defects lines up with various grades. They mention that none of that is absolute and a complete assessment of all the characteristics of the book need to be taken into account.

CGC grading isn't OS grading but they have said in interviews which I've heard that OS is a good guideline

I would suggest going over the Grading Guide again.  Then take a look at the "Buddy Can You Spare a Grade" forum where posters put up pics of their books from several angles and various members chime in with their opinions. Once you're comfortable with the terms associated with grading, look at some topics and come up with you own grade assessments.   Compare them to the ones put out by others on the thread and see how closely you line up (esp when there's a consensus around a grade level.  Some posters are quite good; some, like me, are amateurs)   Hopefully eventually you get the hang of it.

Of course you can put pics/scans of you own books up there at any time.  The sticky explains the rules. Good luck!

[theCapraAegagrus]

Lets pretend the pictured book is a 9.8 otherwise. I count 8 spine ticks? I'd give it a 9.0 grade.

[revat]

Its safe to say any book in/near that condition you have that is bronze, copper, or modern is not worth sending to CGC unless it is a MEGA KEY.  GSXM 1, TMNT 1, Hulk 181, ASM 300, that magnitude.

Also, there is a sub-forum here where you can post pictures of your books and ask people for their grading opinions.  Dig around a bit, its easy to find.  Or you can just see what other people posted and other's people's comments, and train yourself a bit that  way.

 

Good luck.

[kcm54]

On 10/9/2019 at 10:09 AM, revat said:

Its safe to say any book in/near that condition you have that is bronze, copper, or modern is not worth sending to CGC unless it is a MEGA KEY.  GSXM 1, TMNT 1, Hulk 181, ASM 300, that magnitude.

Also, there is a sub-forum here where you can post pictures of your books and ask people for their grading opinions.  Dig around a bit, its easy to find.  Or you can just see what other people posted and other's people's comments, and train yourself a bit that  way.

 

Good luck.

Thanks, guys.

Yes, I had assumed this (and I have at least 2 of those books (and probably 3 when I get to the H's).  The GSXM is somewhere between 7.0 and 8.5 -- that counting of defects thing is pretty slippery -- but what ever it is it pays for the slab.

And I graded that Warlord book as 9.2 despite the initial presentation as high 9.  Close enough to decide what to do with it.