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Draft Comic Grading Definitions - Your comments and suggestion welcome as we work to finalize the grading definitions
MINT minus (MT-) (back to top) General (wear, tears, creases, folds, color flaking, water stains, foxing, etc) A stunning book. Incredibly rare in all but the most recent comics. Not all that common even in recent books. If perfect in all other areas, could have one of the following (must be 1/16" in size or less), one small spine stress, one slight corner blunting, one miniscule tear. Spine: No evidence of abrasion (wear), still clean and sharp except for stress lines as noted above. No color flaking allowed. No creases of any size allowed. Water stains, foxing, or other signs of environmental damage are not allowed. Printing Defects If perfect in all other areas, could have a 1/16" bit of off center printing. Paper Quality (both cover and pages) If perfect in all other areas, the slightest detectable change of paper color is allowed (commonly called near white or off white at the worst) Writing/name and address stamps/pen/pencil Not allowed. Tape Not allowed. Restoration Not allowed.
Near Mint to Mint (NMM)
General (wear, tears, creases, folds, color flaking, water stains, foxing, etc) A stunning book. Very rare in all but the most recent comics. Not that common even in recent books. If perfect in all other areas, could have two of the following (must be 1/16" in size or less), one small spine stress, one slight corner blunting, one miniscule tear. Spine: No evidence of abrasion (wear), still clean and sharp except for stress lines as noted above. No color flaking allowed. No creases of any size allowed. Water stains, foxing, or other signs of environmental damage are not allowed. Printing Defects If near perfect in all other areas, could have a 1/8" bit of off center printing. Paper Quality (both cover and pages) If near perfect in all other areas, the slightest detectable change of paper color is allowed (commonly called near white or off white at the worst) Writing/name and address stamps/pen/pencil Not allowed. Tape Not allowed. Restoration Not allowed.
Near Mint Plus (NM+) General (wear, tears, creases, folds, color flaking, water stains, foxing, etc) A stunning book. Very rare in all but the most recent comics. Not that common even in recent books. If perfect in all other areas, could have three of the following (must be 1/16" in size or less), one small spine stress, one slight corner blunting, one miniscule tear. Could have a light crease on an interior page. No crease allowed on cover. No color flaking allowed. Spine: No evidence of abrasion (wear), still clean and sharp except for stress lines as noted above. Water stains, foxing, or other signs of environmental damage are not allowed. Printing Defects If near perfect in all other areas, could have a 1/8" bit of off center printing. Paper Quality (both cover and pages) If near perfect in all other areas, the slight detectable change of paper color is allowed (commonly called near white or off white at the worst). If perfect in all other areas, a book with nice light creamy pages may make this grade. Writing/name and address stamps/pen/pencil Not allowed. Tape Not allowed. Restoration Not allowed.
Near Mint (NM) General (wear, tears, creases, folds, color flaking, water stains, foxing, etc) A stunning book. Rare in all but the most recent comics. Not that easy to find even in recent books. If perfect in all other areas, could have four of the following (must be 1/16" in size or less), small spine stress, slight corner blunting, miniscule tear, miniscule color flake. Could have a light crease on an interior page. Could have a very light (no color cracking) crease on cover if 1/16" or less; this would be counted as one of the defects noted above. Spine: No evidence of abrasion (wear), still clean and sharp except for stress lines as noted above. Water stains, foxing, or other signs of environmental damage are not allowed. Printing Defects If near perfect in all other areas, could have a 1/4" bit of off center printing. Paper Quality (both cover and pages) If near perfect in all other areas, slight change of paper color is allowed (creamy paper at worst). If perfect in all other areas, a book with nice light yellowing pages may make this grade. Writing/name and address stamps/pen/pencil Very minor writing incurred as part of the distribution process is allowed. For example: light arrival dates or distributor marks are acceptable. The very lightest initial of somone in pencil is acceptable so long as there are no distributor marks. No heavy markings, no name or address stamps. Tape Not allowed. Restoration Not allowed.
Near Mint Minus (NM-) General (wear, tears, creases, folds, color flaking, water stains, foxing, etc) A stunning book. Very scarce in all but the most recent comics. Not as easy to find in recent books as one might think. If perfect in all other areas, could have five of the following (must be 1/16" in size or less), small spine stress, slight corner blunting, miniscule tear, miniscule color flake.. Could have a light crease on an interior page. Could have a very light (no color cracking) crease on cover if 1/16" or less; this would be counted as one of the defects noted above. Could have one miniscule "Marvel" type chip of 1/16" or less. This would be counted as one of the defects noted above. Spine: No evidence of abrasion (wear), still clean and sharp except for stress lines as noted above. Water stains, foxing, or other signs of environmental damage are not allowed. Printing Defects If near perfect in all other areas, could have a 1/4" bit of off center printing. Paper Quality (both cover and pages) If near perfect in all other areas, slight change of paper color is allowed (light yellowing paper at worst). If perfect in all other areas, a book with yellowing (not at all tanning) pages may make this grade. Writing/name and address stamps/pen/pencil Very minor writing incurred as part of the distribution process is allowed. For example: light arrival dates or distributor marks are acceptable. The very lightest initial of someone in pencil is acceptable so long as there are no distributor marks. No havey markings, no name or address stamps. Tape Not allowed. Restoration Not allowed.
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