Comic book grades examples

Thanks for the response batman007, if i understand you, you are saying spine roll is a function of use as in reader wear and tear and not a manufacturing issue. Tight, flat and clean with only extremely light wear around an edge or a staple. This is an exceptional example of a given book the best ever seen. Any amount of wear to the cover of the book must be factored into the condition and grading of the comic.

The higher the grade of a comic book the higher the value. This can include abrasions, tears, creases, bent corners, spine splits, chips, tape, glue, as well as a multitude of other types of wear we will cover in the grades noted below. We will continue to refine the tool, please make feature requests for changes wished to use the tool click on the image most closely resembling what you see in your comic and it will be logged as you are taken to the next step. The overstreet guide to grading comics 2016 edition. A guide to grading the comic book price guide for great. Have students identify the characters, setting, and plot in each one. A copy of a comic in this grade has all pages and most of the covers. You can think of the grade of a comic book like a grade on a report card. While there are many examples of mint american comics, there are far less british comics that would qualify for this grade.

The grade or condition of a comic book is the most important determination of value outside of the actual title and issue number. Comic book, marvel comic, cgc comics, crippen collection. A comic book in fr condition may have nonstory elements such as coupons, ad pages, or marvel value stamps cut or torn out of the book. Blumberg, has set the standard for grading the condition of comic books. Comicbookrealms example based grading tool is based loosely on a tool previously provided by a now defunct website. Comic book certification service cbcs was started by professional comic book hobbyists with the intent of protecting our fellow hobbyists when buying and selling comic books. There are grades in between these basic grades such as finevery fine, but we want this to be a general easytofollow comic grading guide for the novice. The overstreet guide to grading comics includes the 10point grading system including new grades 0. Comic book grading has evolved over the past several decades from a much looser interpretation of standards in the beginning to the very tight professional scrutiny in use by the market today. An example would be, you have a book that is without doubt a nm 9.

Cracking a pgx slab and submitting to cgc certified comic. The two main methods of describing an overall grade are numerical, and symbol. Grading comics in this way is perhaps more applicable to american comics as they have the distinct advantage of all being more or less the same size. Additionally, some comics are slabbed by cgc, cbcs, or pgx. A high grade, like an a or mint, is good, while a low grade. Though comic book grading has been around for decades, it wasnt until 2000 that a new thirdparty grading service, cgc, burst onto the scene and revolutionized the comic book collecting industry.

A comic must be relatively complete to be successfully restored. In this first grade reading and writing lesson plan, budding writers will be introduced to the genre writing category of comic books, as well as related terms such as dialogue and speech bubbles. Near mint nm almost perfect, almost as new, with white or offwhite pages. A fr copy will have virtually no eye appeal and will display major damage. Preventative restoration, widely used and accepted by collectors, consists of nonadditive restoration on a book with one or two major defects. This is intended to be a basic guide so that you have a general idea of the grade of your books for pricing purposes. The ultimate authority delivers the right grade every time grading comic books is the key to successful comic book collecting, and now the leading expert on comic books, robert m.

Just remember that grading is the overall condition of the book. What are the comic book grades sparkle city comics. Aaron albert, a collector of and an expert on comic books, has studied, taught, and written about the comic book genre for more than 20 years. Obviously these are rigged tests, probably meant to criticize cbcs grading, as statistically there is almost 0% chance of a higher grade and the only possibility is lower grade, which could come from many factors. Comic book grades are given to a book reflecting the quality of printing, storage, and upkeep of a particular book. But as a rule of thumb, as im deciding which comics to submit for grading i always estimate the true cost of. In recent years, grading criteria have become even tighter, especially in silver and bronze age books, due to their higher survival rate.

Therefore being able to correctly determine the grade of a comic is an important skill for buyers and sellers alike. The slightest bindery defects andor printing flaws may be seen only upon very close inspection. Furthermore, every cgccertified comic book undergoes a thorough restoration check by leading professionals during the certification process. Some people will not grade a comic missing its cover, but some give incomplete comics a score between 0. In these rare cases, a check mark will be placed on the label by the numerical grade. A fr is the lowest grade a comic book can receive as long as the story and art are complete.

The book pretty much summarizes all the checking points in determining the value of a comic book, and provides extensive comic book grading scale and descriptions for each grading level. The grade can literally mean a gain or loss of hundreds of thousands of dollars for a particular issue. The standard comic book grading system that is widely used today is the one developed in the official overstreet comic book grading guide. Comic book writing is a great way to engage young learners in the writing and storytelling process. These comic grading services will grade a comic and then seal the comic in a hard plastic case that displays the. Sgs grades are comparable to the third party grading companies such as cgc, cbcs, etc. A book in this condition is worn, ragged and unattractive. It should have full, bright colors and gloss and no wear of any kind.

Cbcs team members all share in the love of our hobby and the medium. As longtime users of nostomania know, the value of a comic depends strongly on grade. Sell my comic books this or that pt2 buying low grade megakey comics duration. The term grade is used to describe what condition a comic book is in. To grade a comic, you need to take in to consideration a number of factors before being able to assess the correct grade. The overall look is as if it has never been handled or released for purchase. The accepted grades of condition for comics are listed below. Cerebus, for example, is a comic that often has fingerprint marks due to the heavy inks used in printing the covers. Finally, we gather supportive information about the individual sale including when and where it was sold, how the sale can be identified at the remote venue, the format of the sale. In some cases the grades came back slightly lower 9. The value of your comic book is heavily dependent on its condition. This book has seen much better days and tends to be heavily worn and tattered. The best possible existing condition of that comic book.

Comic book grading comic books marvel comics comic strips comic book comic cartoon graphic novels comic books grading tutorial lesson 22 9. While there is a standard industryrecognized grading system in place, it is ultimately a qualitative process. Too many noticeable fingerprints downgrade a comic to very good. The best way to understand why a specific comic book received a check mark designation is to refer to the graders notes. Pepper is offered everything shed ever wished for by a genie. For instance, take a look at a recently featured comic book, action comics. As with grading all collectibles, there is a degree of subjectivity as there are many factors to consider and all of them must be weighed to determine an overall grade. Working with one comic strip at a time, analyze with students how the comic strip creator combined text, quotes, and images to tell a story or event or convey a message. The overstreet guide to grading comics latest edition. Distribute the sample comic strips to small groups or project them for the whole class to see. The primary reason to grade a comic is that there is a direct correlation between the condition of the comic and the value of the book. The comic may be brittle and defaced by other materials such as paint and glue. A high grade, like an a or mint, is good, while a low grade, like an f or poor, is bad.

In it, i walk you step by step through 27 comics at every grade level from 0. While most comics in this grade will have almost no value, a coverless copy of a key book may command very high prices. Comic book grading part 1 certified guaranty company duration. You can easily identify a slabbed comic because the grades will include the name of the grading service, such as cgc 9. For cheaper comics graded on the basic grading scale, we show you a stock image of what that issues cover looks like, but we dont scan the exact book being offered. This collectibles shop page has the standard 10 point grading scale and definitions, as used in the overstreet guide. Every comic book certified by cgc is graded by the hobbys most experienced and trusted team, according to wellestablished grading standards.

Comic book grading learn the scale and how to apply it. Near mint nm a near mint book is near perfect almost like new. In rare cases, a comic book will look much better than the given grade. The learn to grade comic books course is the most comprehensive course of its kind. Spoton grading systems, or sgs, is a series of short, multiple choice questions enabling you to grade your comic books onthespot and accurately, within seconds. Episode one of the original comic book series pepper and carrot.

As we match the sale we record the comic grading company, holderlabel type and the assigned grade. The 2 reputable thirdparty professional grading services both begin with c use the same scale, but not exactly the same criteria, but overstreet has collaborated with them for their newest grading guide. A comic that has not been slabbed is sometimes referred to as a raw comic, which means a regular comic not encased in a plastic slab. Pepper really wants a christmas tree and disregards the instructions in her magic book to get one. Newly updated, the overstreet guide to grading comics includes the 10point grading system, as well as exhaustive descriptions of primary and split grades, examples of each grade with more than 200 fullcolor images in all, articles on storage, preservation, and restoration, a look at the independent, thirdparty grading companies, and much more. These include the later 10 cent issues and all 12 cent issues. Due to the nature of paper, discoloration is expected over time. Comic book grading is the process of determining the grade or condition of a book, which directly influences its value. It becomes more difficult when you have a higher grade book with only one significant defect that would lower the grade, lower to what is the question. Demand because restored books serve as a cheaper alternative to high grade unrestored books, it only makes sense that fewer unrestored copies of a book in existence will increase demand for restored copies of that same book.