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"Buy the book, not the grade"
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37 posts in this topic

16 hours ago, AwesomeSauce said:

You're kidding, right?

I actually think that he posed a valid question.

Possible valid answers:

  • "I have X-Ray vision."
  • "I don't know how to read."
  • "I'm legally blind in the sense that I cannot read newsprint or modern paper but I can read cardstock covers."
  • "Comics aren't printed to be read. They're just a liquid substitute for $$$$$."
  • "What's a plastic prison? Is that where all the recycling goes!?"
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17 hours ago, AwesomeSauce said:

You're kidding, right?

People seem to buy a number in the right hand corner, taking away the validity of the book and the effort put into it by the writers and artists involved in the process. I think it's insulting to the tasks at hand. It's similar to drywallers and coming into a recently framed house and covering it with their cheap plaster of Paris or whatever drywall is made of. Buying the book means you bought it because of the effort put forth by people like Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.

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when I sold my collection, 4 of the 950 were in slabs. One rather valuable one is one we would periodically read but when it came time to sell, I needed to come to an agreed monetized value so it got graded and slabbed. Without the slab, it's the subject of arguments enhanced by five figures. With the slab, it has had a monetary reference placed on it. . Don't slab stuff that doesn't meet the criteria. Bagged and boarded is fine unless you are getting ready to sell. Buying unslabbed is trickier and goes back to "Buy the book, not the grade.". I still have all my JIM and Thor, all unslabbed. I like reading mine still. 

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Chasing the 9.8 is a weird obsession I will never truly understand...that being said, I get that it exists and hey, I get going to fit especially to see if you have a 9.8 or are thinking of flipping/selling a book and want the best possible grade for selling purposes. 

But to be mad that your copy comes back 9.2 to the point where that factor would prevent you from keeping it seems silly. You clearly liked it when it was raw, but now the reality of its grade has you changing your mind? Silly. 

Love the book. I love every book. If they came back lower than what I thought, I still love them and treat it as a lesson in grading. 

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There are people on here with way more money then taste (IMO) and the only criteria they seem to have for buying books is the grade and page color.
They will proudly post high grade mis-wrapped nightmares (think arvel omics roup) and books that have half shrunken covers from being pressed a thousand times, but hey, WP and 9.8. 
To each his own though, if that's what makes them happy, then more power to them.
I don't have a single currently graded comic in my collection, but I have 100's that used to be graded, and I cracked them all out. That right there might irritate people as much as buying only the number/PQ irritates me. 
As you can see I'm well on my way to becoming a complete curmudgeon in my advancing age. 

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On 12/2/2020 at 9:26 PM, AwesomeSauce said:

Can someone who knows please explain to me the exact meaning of this quote?

I've talked about this before, but this is one of my personal examples embodying this quote - it's Batman 244, one of my all-time favorite covers and one of my favorite Bat-eras. This is a 6.5 that looks better than a lot of higher-graded books out there, because the back cover has some sun shadowing going on that likely brought the grade down. It looks gorgeous from the front and I only paid 6.5 level money for it:

IMG_4970.thumb.JPG.eb2c11f4ffa297ef31287aa2435d2357.JPG

IMG_6264.thumb.JPG.f8063709785d64cc6c2247701e48df6f.JPG

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The way I interpret the quote is, enjoy what you buy, and you'll always be happy with your purchase.

 

Everything everyone said here is right, but sadly, a higher graded book will fetch a higher investment dollar. 

 

 

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@Jesse-Lee provided an excellent example of a book that presents better than the assigned graded. 
 

Here’s a possible example of the opposite end: a book that (IMO) doesn’t present as well as one would expect for the assigned graded. 
 

Here’s the scan from Clink.  Looks like a decent 9.6. 
 

C06EEA09-3C11-4235-9D99-2965139790E6.jpeg.6d367f61a91e9b7c79e84698cf100b2c.jpeg

But in hand, here’s a closer look at the top staple. (there’s a sizable depression/indent that accompanies the stresses). If I had the opportunity to examine the book in hand before purchase, I wouldn’t have bought it. 
 

B496D1B6-4153-4810-A79A-D09D003D8EED.thumb.jpeg.a777ef647fc724c6ebb38476c2ccd624.jpeg

E34B8887-E776-4BB4-8249-939059BBC196.thumb.jpeg.c53f93407d779453a51d98a17d673f5d.jpeg

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