It’s not like that anymore golden age books get away with married pages and covers, frankensteined books, and trimming without counting towards restoration now, silver age mid grade would be equivalent to looking like VG/G in Bronze Age now. Even missing marvel stamp Bronze Age books don’t get qualified green labels anymore it just knocks the grade down a full 2-3 points. They are always changing the rules. Buy the book even if it’s restored or incomplete because one day it may not be.
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Overstreet is one guide to grading a comic, but that isn’t followed by CGC. Too many grading companies are following whatever they feel is appropriate, and then add in human error on top of that. I will agree that it will never be perfect, but all grading companies are not following the same, single standard.
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Can raise my hand and say I have. I have passed on a few slabs that were 9.8 but had visible color breaks on them and I said sorry to me this is not a 9.8 I understand that the grade assigned by CGC is a 9.8 and the database has captured this but to me this goes against what I know to be a 9.8 standard. I’d rather buy a better looking 9.6 than waste money on a book where it is clearly not the grade assigned.
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My buddy submitted a Captain Marvel 17 second print. 9.0 at best… Color breaks creases… etc. Came back a 9.8. He’s scared to sell it. When looking at the book we know there’s no way it’s a 9.8. I have 9.4 and 9.6 that look way better and that passed through 2 people to get that. So I personally try to look at the book as much as possible, but in the end it got the grade.
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Those are the books you take to a con/comic show and sell or trade off. It’s not shady and that’s not what I’m implying…the buyer can see, hold, the book and examine it. It’s graded and you’re not hiding a thing if they get to examine it and make the decision to purchase.
That’s the way I’ve dealt with books I’m not entirely satisfied with the grade on.
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For real? Because I have an otherwise nice Marvel Premiere 15 I’ve never had graded because it’s missing the MVS…
So you’re saying if CGC put a squished turd in a slab on top of the comic and it had a 9.8 slapped on the label, you’re saying that comic is still a 9.8 and it should be sold as such? Cause that’s what you’re implying with your statements… because what you’re saying is, that label is the final stamp and nothing can override it despite the actual condition of the comic in the slab. 
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At some point, we’re gonna have so many 9.8s on the market it’s literally going to have zero meaning at one point.
It’s like sitting at a talent show and all the contestants are all getting 9 out of 10 from every judge on the panels…
This is what I’m afraid of, and it actually hurts their model in the long run…if everyone has a 9.8, then nobody will want one… so there will be fewer submissions to CGC. Also, it could trigger an opposite affect, where people want nice raw copies vs a slab, because they will theoretically pay less and have a nicer looking copy than someone with a slab that says 9.8, which is really a 9.0.
These are just theories…
The problem with that is that Overstreet doesn’t provide a grading service. And the 3 grading companies that do exist, dont use Overstreet. Some Overstreets definitions could also be seen as subjective.
Industry set standards would entail a detailed methodology that every grading co. used uniformly.
We won’t have industry standards until computers or precise instruments are used to measure, and grade, comic book defects. Until that time, all grading is a subjective opinion, or a concensus of subjective opinions.
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Don’t you hate that? You have this book in high grade and it’s obvious that there are issues not warranting the grade… and so it paralyzed you from trying to sell it given the inevitable “not as described” return request.
I have two ASM 365s CGC 9.6s I bought for pennies on the dollar a few years ago when someone was dumping a whole slew of them on eBay. Now they’re approaching $200, but the foil has visible scratches and weird defects clearly visible and should not have warranted the grade…
Best I can do is post the slab with very detailed pictures and hope someone doesn’t care what the book looks like and only cares about the label…likely have to discount it relative to the same book/grade to get it to move.
I’ll post some pics later.
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When I’ve encounters this on eBay I’ve at least offered to pay the difference in shipping back and forth as it’s really “my opinion” the book did not meet the grade and doesn’t cost the seller anything out of pocket. Usually makes the return process uneventful.
The funny thing is people would buy it if it’s CGC. But if CBCS added a squished turd they’d be like “Hell Nah, I ain’t touchin’ that! It’s CBCS!! It’s not a real 9.8!”
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The same people also exist in the coin world. They snub some slabs over the others. I just don’t get it. Even in the coin world, I told most, buy the coin, not the slab. The grade is subjective and an opinion by a 3rd party. Buying it slabbed has other benefits, encapsulating to protect the item, verifying authenticity, etc… but grades are so subjective. That’s why you buy the item inside, not the label.
This sort of goes to the whole Tommy Boy scene line of thinking, you buying a warranty slapped on the box or are you buying the quality item in the box?
Same goes for coins, comics, trading cards… you buying a effin label or are you buying a coin, comic or trading card? I can print up labels that say 9.8 all day long, you wanna just send me cash for such things? Fine by me… I’ll share my Paypal to anyone who wants all their books to come back 9.8… AgentPoyo’s Grading Service here we come!!! 
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When you sign up for CGC’s elite program, they send you a comic shipping box, and inside are a pen and a 9.8 sticker…you just need more of those stickers 
Are “CHU 9.8s” worth good money in secondary market? 
Yes, because they come with a AP Stamp of Authenticity… I’m gonna make a hologram of my Chicken Head on them…
Do you stamp the comic or the slab?
Either way, Let me know when APGS is up for public trading and I’ll invest in some stock.
Unfortunately, the phrase “Buy the book; not the grade” seems to mean more than ever “beware, the book may not be accurately graded”; instead of 2 books accurately graded in which you prefer one book over the other.
There’s a pretty big difference in both those scenarios.
I lick them… every comic comes with authentic poyo DNA…