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Submit directly to CGC courtesy Quasar Comics:


New Edition:

Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide (32nd Ed)

.SPAM? Someone most likely in the far east is forging my e-mail address!

Draft grading standards now on-line for Fine and above. Please let us know your comments. Draft standards for lower grades coming soon!

Note that as long as the standards are labeled "draft" they are subject to revision and enhancement. your feedback invited!

 Your source for clear and consistent comic book grading standards that you can use on-line!

COMICGRADERTM

On-line comic book grading standards...

Purpose:

A highly consistent, descriptive and illustrated (extensively) grading guide on the web which will be a FREE service to the collecting community. That way, anyone can compare their "raw" or "slabbed" books to consistent grading standards. Dealers and collectors who agree with and adhere to these standards (to the best of their honest ability) will get a free link to their home page and/or e-mail) on this site. Collectors will have an added tool to use when evaluating books for purchase.

I invite everyone to contribute. All contributors will receive a free link to their home page and/or e-mail address. I am especially interested in receiving written definitions for all the nomenclature grade possibilities that are used by dealers and collectors and will be used by CGC (Mint, NMM, NM+, NM, NM-, VFNM, VF+, VF, VF-, etc etc all the way down). I will combine the definitions as appropriate and recirculate these to all participants to arrive at a general consensus. This will then become the standard to be illustrated on the web site.

News Flash!  June 15, 1999
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There appears to be the start of a ground swell of collector and dealer support for a numerical standard that will not be perceived as biased in favor of any particular group.  I will let you know here and at the editorial area of any new developments and opinions in that area.  The current proposal (details to be provided as soon as they are available) calls for an official American Association of Comicbook Collectors (AACC) recognized grading scale and accompanying code of ethics. The numerical values on the scale will probably be the widely recognized 100 point system that is currently well established.  

ComicGrader.com will be here to document the various scales and provide the equivalent nomenclature grade, so you will be able to compare apples to apples and ascertain whether any given individual is adhering to well defined, conservative yet reasonable grading standards.

Remember - you are invited to participate in the process!  Please let us know if you are interested in providing your guidelines for the nomenclature grades (to which the various numerical scales are assigned).  If so, they will be considered when arriving at a final technical grading standard that, once defined, will not be swayed by market pressures!

News Flash!  June 11, 1999
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We now know what the new Overstreet standards for numerical grading will be. This is based on Bob Overstreet's decision regarding numerically assigned values. CGC has stated that they will go along with Bob's decision. Bob arrived at his decision with the feedback of many dealers and collectors.  There is considerable controversy over how this decision was made.  Stay tuned for updates.  In any event, here are the numerical and nomenclature equivalents as decided by Overstreet:

10.0 Mint

9.9 Mint -

9.8 Near Mint/Mint

9.6 Near Mint +

9.4 Near Mint

9.2 Near Mint -

9.0 Very Fine/Near Mint

8.5 Very Fine +

8.0 Very Fine

7.5 Very Fine -

7.0 Fine/Very Fine

6.5 Fine +

6.0 Fine

5.5 Fine -

5.0 Very Good/Fine

4.5 Very Good +

4.0 Very Good

3.5 Very Good -

3.0 Good/Very Good

2.5 Good +

2.0 Good

1.5 Fair/Good

1.0 Fair

.5 Poor

Note:  The above numerical grading system is not the only one to be assigned to a nomenclature grade.  It appears that interest warrants the use of the equivalent
100 point numerical grade so you can rest assured that all grading scales in common use will be assigned to the appropriate nomenclature grade. Thus, a quick and easy conversion between various numerical grading scales can be achieved.

While you will all know, by reading below, that I personally hoped for a different nomenclature standard for the numerical value of 9.0, that is now "water under the bridge".  The purpose of this site is to provide accurate consistent unchanging grading standards for all to use as a solid benchmarking tool.  I invite you all to participate in the process.

Thank you!

Bruce Edwards
June 11, 1999

Background:
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Hello everyone!

This is to let you know my rationale behind my recommendation to Bob Overstreet and to outline a proposal I feel will be beneficial to the entire collecting community:

I was working within the constraints he set in his e-mail and my primary concern was that 9.0 SHOULD NOT be VFNM. I think my proposal meets that criteria very well. During recent discussions with other AACC members, it was agreed that an even more accurate grade for 9.0 would be a full NM.

However, I believe we all know that CGC and Bob would be unlikely to go along with this, that is why my proposal was sent as it was. To refresh, here it is again:

VF+ 8.5

VFNM 8.8

NM- 9.0

NM 9.2

NM+ 9.5

NMM 9.8

Mint 10.0

One thing I know we are all aware of (but I'll state anyway) is that: the lower the 9.0 threshold is set, the greater the population of books that will be in the 9.0 to 10.0 range. And, this assumes accurate grading, who knows what will happen if the standard is too loose for the grade.

With this increased population of books, there will be more opportunities to sell so called "Investment grade" books to potentially ignorant investors at what could be high prices relative to informed market demand. I think you all know where I believe that will leave the market in the long run (MUCH WORSE OFF).

I have an idea which I will implement, I hope with every one's support:

A highly consistent, descriptive and illustrated (extensively) grading guide on the web which will be a FREE service to the collecting community. That way, anyone can compare their "raw" or "slabbed" books to the "official?" AACC endorsed (!?) grading standards. Dealers and collectors who agree with and adhere to these standards (to the best of their honest ability) will get a free link to their home page) on this site. A logo will be provided for people to use on their web site, if they agree to abide by the ComicGrader.com standards. Everyone will have an added tool to use when evaluating books for purchase.

I invite you all to contribute. All contributors will receive a free link to their home  page and/or e-mail address. I am especially interested in receiving written definitions for all the nomenclature grade possibilities as are going to be used by CGC (Mint - which I never use, by the way, NMM, NM+, NM, NM-, VFNM, VF+, VF, VF-, etc etc all the way down). I will combine the definitions as appropriate and recirculate these to all participants to arrive at a general consensus. This will then become the standard to be illustrated on the web site.

I believe this will be a very useful tool to the whole collecting community. (A digression: With the increasingly liberal grading standards that seem to me to be employed in the slabbed coin market over the last 12 years or so, a term that has come into favor among the coin market is that the grading companies use MARKET GRADING. My observation of this is that this is simply assigning the maximum grade the market will bear. In deed, you can make a good argument that this is how it should be BUT: The market CHANGES. What is acceptable to the market now will not necessarily be acceptable to the market 15 years from now. Then what happens to all those overgraded items in slabs that investors bought at the then prevailing market grade?)

What I am calling for is CONSERVATIVE albeit REASONABLE technical grading standards that WILL NOT CHANGE over time, regardless of what the tolerance of the market is for a given grade. A NM 9.4 now should be a NM 9.4 - 5, 10 and 50 years from now (provided the item is maintained in the same condition, of course).

Now, you may ask, what am I getting out of this (other than the sense of satisfaction for helping the collecting community). I'll will maintain (“web master”) the site and provide web hosting, at my expense and will be planning on doing the following:

1. There will be a small blurb at the bottom of the site's pages stating that the site is sponsored by www.quasarcomics.com

2. Quasar Comics will be listed, in alphabetical order with all other charter member dealers/collectors who agree to abide by the standards set forth. Charter members will get a special section on the membership page. Once the standards are defined, I propose that anyone who agrees to abide by the standard within 60 days be considered a charter member. Charter members will also receive a charter member
logo to use on their web site.

3. I anticipate LIMITED use of banners, affiliates as potential fund raising tools. I am very sensitive to download times and usability of web sites. Some of the dealers who are more liberal in their criteria for grades will probably try to make the argument that since I do not derive all of my income from the comic collecting hobby / business I can afford to be more conservative and that I am out of touch with the marketplace, etc. Well, I believe you all feel the same as I do about that. We are not trying for irrationally tight grading standards but what is good for the hobby in the LONG TERM. What is good for the hobby in the LONG TERM is what, as a matter of course, will be good for the majority of collectors and dealers.)

I invite all of you to send me e-mail at info@ComicGrader.com.

I would like your feedback. Also, please check the editorial section of www.quasarcomics.com – it contains some editorials on grading by me. I invite all of you to respond to my editorials or write your own – I will be happy to post them there, even if you disagree with me – all I ask is that there be no name calling or “unprofessional behavior” within the editorial.

I thank you for reading and considering this proposal.  I hope for your support for what I see as a valuable comic collecting community tool. My intent is to provide a useful service to the collecting community, FREE of CHARGE.

Sincerely,

Bruce Edwards
Owner
Quasar Comics and Collectibles
P.O. Box 2227
Louisville, KY 40201

Ph: 502-451-4852

For further information or comments:  e-mail

For comic books and related collectibles consider www.quasarcomics.com