Just Received two copies of the exact same book from CGC one 9.6 one 9.8. Can you spot the 9.8? 3 3

[comicginger1789]

10-15?

[Glassman10]

I couldn't tell the difference at all. I really hate photos in slabs.  Somehow the whole notion feels alien to me. If I was a kid and I'd just gotten a brand new Lionel Train for xmas in 1954 and then my dad said I couldn't open the box or ever touch it until 65 years later and I'd thank him, I'd be sad and confused. Anytime I offer a grade on a book, it's a book I've owned as a raw copy. The only ones I still own are all raw and some days, at 70, I like to go up in the loft and crack a few from their backer boards and just read them carefully. I'll never slab another book after the A15.  This character doesn't even look like Bruce Wayne. 

Edited October 30, 2020 by Glassman10

[comicginger1789]

17! 

Imagine what a little research could have done for me haha! So the theory of getting a lenient grader seems unlikely as I am sure 17 guys and gals are trained pretty well and for some it seems, in respective areas towards certain books. Either way, CGC still can't lose. They aren't required to give ya notes to differentiate the upper grades so its their expert eyes against your seasoned ones. 

 

[Funnybooks]

2 minutes ago, comicdonna said:

https://www.cgccomics.com/grading/cgc-graders/

Bingo!

[Funnybooks]

3 minutes ago, comicginger1789 said:

17! 

Imagine what a little research could have done for me haha! So the theory of getting a lenient grader seems unlikely as I am sure 17 guys and gals are trained pretty well and for some it seems, in respective areas towards certain books. Either way, CGC still can't lose. They aren't required to give ya notes to differentiate the upper grades so its their expert eyes against your seasoned ones. 

 

[The Lions Den]

14 minutes ago, comicginger1789 said:

How many graders does CGC have? Suppose they have 100. Or maybe its only 50, I don't know. Are you telling me that 50 guys would grade every book the same? Nope. You are gambling whether you get the guy who grades oh so slightly more harsher or the guy who grades oh so slightly more lenient. 

The real geniuses are CGC who decided to monopolize on the fact that comics are graded on a scale that is so minute at the top end. And the result is people willing to send in anything close for the hope of a 9.8 or heaven forbid, 9.9 or 10.0. You are trusting them to all equally see things the way you see them. CGC doesn't have to worry about being accountable, aside from making sure at any point they have your book, they don't damage it. That is it (and maybe making sure a grader doesn't grade a VG book VF and vice versa). The rest, they can justify.

You can press that 9.6 book again and submit and maybe it comes back 9.6. And so you try again. And again. And maybe, just maybe, it gets a grader on an off-day or a rushed day or the lenient grader or whatever and he says "yeah this looks perfect" and you get the 9.8. Is CGC going to refund you the hassle it took to get there? Nope. They can't lose. 

 

 

1 minute ago, comicginger1789 said:

So it is much smaller? 20? 25?

I honestly have no idea. Obviously the smaller it is, the better chance of having them all be consistent on most books. I feel like 20-25 would be the prime number range for getting a group of men/women to agree on something. Much more than that and I feel like you are gonna have issues getting consensus grades from everyone. 

I would ask you to consider how the grading room is organized. For instance, each specific group of graders would likely sit closely together (wearing masks, of course) to facilitate speed and the ease of passing books back and forth. So a consensus could be arrived at quickly and consistently...

[Funnybooks]

1 minute ago, The Lions Den said:

 

I would ask you to consider how the grading room is organized. For instance, each specific group of graders would likely sit closely together (wearing masks, of course) to facilitate speed and the ease of passing books back and forth. So a consensus could be arrived at quickly and consistently...

From the CGC website...

 

[comicginger1789]

I watched a couple videos that CGC released about grading a book. Assuming it was filmed in the same area they do the grading, the background appears like they each have a desk type situation happening with maybe a couple graders side by side. This I like, because it suggests that you could ask a colleague and quickly come to a consensus on a book. If three-five graders agree, its probably the right grade. 

So I think that while our eyes (generally) seem to have seen the first book as the 9.6 and the second as the 9.8, we are grading off cover alone. And if the original poster did that, they did not properly grade the comic. 

[The Lions Den]

31 minutes ago, comicginger1789 said:

I watched a couple videos that CGC released about grading a book. Assuming it was filmed in the same area they do the grading, the background appears like they each have a desk type situation happening with maybe a couple graders side by side. This I like, because it suggests that you could ask a colleague and quickly come to a consensus on a book. If three-five graders agree, its probably the right grade. 

So I think that while our eyes (generally) seem to have seen the first book as the 9.6 and the second as the 9.8, we are grading off cover alone. And if the original poster did that, they did not properly grade the comic. 

There are times when another grader will ask for an opinion, but since so many modern comics fall into the 9.4 - 9.8 range, it's usually not necessary. The modern graders see hundreds of comics like this every day...  

[OJ Pimpson]

Do we think it’s likely the same person graded these two books? If so, I can’t really understand why this person wouldn’t feel the need to leave a grade note. They are grading identical books in very similar condition, it seems to me like this might be a scenario that would warrant a  note that would explain the grading difference

Edited October 30, 2020 by Dimez

[Deadpoolica]

21 hours ago, Funnybooks said:

[The Lions Den]

3 hours ago, Dimez said:

Do we think it’s likely the same person graded these two books? If so, I can’t really understand why this person wouldn’t feel the need to leave a grade note. They are grading identical books in very similar condition, it seems to me like this might be a scenario that would warrant a  note that would explain the grading difference

If the books are in the same invoice it's very likely they were graded by the same person. But notes on modern books? Not so likely...

[Randall Ries]

On 10/29/2020 at 7:29 PM, Deadpoolica said:

1st is 9.6

2nd is 9.8

 

This

[RhialtoTheMarvellous]

Darn, I got here late. At first I thought the second was the 9.8 as well, but then I saw the back upper spine corner has a slight chip. I’m betting that’s why they dinged it.