We grade our comics consistently, the important thing to remember with our grading is that it is only our opinion, the same as any grader is only giving their opinion, this may or may not coincide with your opinion. But if you have purchased comics graded from us then there will be consistency in how we grade all of them.
We use the following grades (We generally do not to use Amazon as a sales outlet due to their immoral employment and tax avoidance practises and their unfriendly marketplace service policies)
Proper Grade Amazon Equivalent
Near Mint Like New
Very Fine Very Good
Fine Good
Very Fine Very Good
Fine Good
Very Good Good
Good Acceptable
Fair Acceptable
CGC "Professional" Grading
Our experience has been that CGC grading can vary dramatically from day to day and is very much dependent on the people doing the grading and their mood on the day of grading.
For those of you who send older books in to CGC for professional grading, we only guarantee that our NM graded books will come back with CGC grades ranging anywhere from 8.5 (VF+) to 10.0 (Gem Mint). Comics in Very Fine grade can be expected to grade out with CGC at 6.5 (Fine+) - 9.4 (Near Mint)
100% Satisfaction Guaranteed
CGC "Professional" Grading
Our experience has been that CGC grading can vary dramatically from day to day and is very much dependent on the people doing the grading and their mood on the day of grading.
For those of you who send older books in to CGC for professional grading, we only guarantee that our NM graded books will come back with CGC grades ranging anywhere from 8.5 (VF+) to 10.0 (Gem Mint). Comics in Very Fine grade can be expected to grade out with CGC at 6.5 (Fine+) - 9.4 (Near Mint)
100% Satisfaction Guaranteed
We offer a no quibble return policy on all comics purchased from us where you have not had the opportunity to physically examine the comic book first.
We do not offer to sell comics in "Mint" condition. Many of the comics we sell as "Near Mint/Mint" would qualify as "Mint," but we will not try to separate them as a category. Why? Because "Mint" is a standard that is too difficult to define. All comics have some flaws. They are produced in factories, by indifferent workers, in huge production runs. The odds of a "perfect mint" comic getting through that process are infinitesimally small. From our perspective, that makes trying to identify them and market them an impossible task. Collectors of "Mint" comics all have their own personal standards of what defines "Mint" and what reduces a comic to "Near Mint." An almost unnoticeable flaw will pass the standards of some "Mint" collectors and not others. It's just not commercially viable for us to try and second-guess people who go over their comics with a magnifying glass. So we do not even try to sell comics to that audience. If you desire "Mint" comics only, we strongly encourage you to seek out another source for your back issue needs.
How we grade
We look for the worst of the following flaws/imperfections and start from the associated grade, an accumulation of flaws may drive the grade down even further
VERY FINE Rounded Corners
VERY FINE Spine stess lines which break the colour
VERY FINE Off Centre Printing
VERY FINE Interior paper colour off white
FINE Spine Roll
FINE Loose or rusting staples
FINE Rubber Stamps (date stamps or UK price stamps)
FINE Writing (for example very common on 2000AD early issues)
VERY GOOD Folds, Tears, Tape, Fingerprints, Waterstains, Cover scuffs
GOOD Missing pieces
We do not offer to sell comics in "Mint" condition. Many of the comics we sell as "Near Mint/Mint" would qualify as "Mint," but we will not try to separate them as a category. Why? Because "Mint" is a standard that is too difficult to define. All comics have some flaws. They are produced in factories, by indifferent workers, in huge production runs. The odds of a "perfect mint" comic getting through that process are infinitesimally small. From our perspective, that makes trying to identify them and market them an impossible task. Collectors of "Mint" comics all have their own personal standards of what defines "Mint" and what reduces a comic to "Near Mint." An almost unnoticeable flaw will pass the standards of some "Mint" collectors and not others. It's just not commercially viable for us to try and second-guess people who go over their comics with a magnifying glass. So we do not even try to sell comics to that audience. If you desire "Mint" comics only, we strongly encourage you to seek out another source for your back issue needs.
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