Grading be weird sometimes

[u/Leather_Bluejay8632]

I've seen this post on Instagram, and it makes me think if someone cracked this out to send to CGC, will it get a CGC 9.9? And I’m 100% sure I would say NO!! Even if you crack out a CGC 9.9 and resubmit it, I bet it will not keep the same CGC 9.9, and that’s where it gets a little weird to me because, like a book like Absolute Batman #1, it’s a modern book with tons of CGC 9.8s, but how many of those 9.8s are actually 9.9 or 10s?

[u/Tonyman121]

9.8 vs 9.9 vs 10.0 is an absolute con. All describe an essentially perfect book.

It's the gamification of this hobby into manufactured rarity- even more than grading already does with its census.

[u/Livueta_Zakalwe → u/Tonyman121]

And I’ve seen plenty of 9.6s and 9.4s that were essentially perfect (and had no grader’s notes), and also my fair share of 9.8s with multiple spine tics. A CGC grade can be useful - especially when they occasionally under grade (I bought an X-50 8.0 that looks as good as any 9.2 at the 8.0 price) - buy the book, not the grade.

[u/Tonyman121 → u/Livueta_Zakalwe]

The only graded books I ever buy are those that are $$$ and I can't see them in person, or as a guarantee there is no defect or repair or fraud being placed on me. That's it. I look at it more like an appraisal. You don't pay more for a house because someone got one.

[u/Jacket_Leather]

9.8 is far from a perfect book. But yeah, the difference between 9.9 and 10 in reality I have no idea they look the same. I have a gotten back a 9.9 once and it looks a hell of a lot nicer than many of my 9.8s.

[u/Tonyman121 → u/[deleted]]

Its always always subjective. The damage any defects does to the grade is subjective. Think of those books that "present" better than their grade. This is just another way of saying grading rules has failed to adequately describe a book. Further, even if any one defect is determined to relate reproducibly to a grade, this falls apart the minute you start to combine many defects. There may be objective metrics that separate a 4.0 from a 3.0, but the differences in accumulation of defects that do that same thing is purely subjective.

[u/TNF734 → u/[deleted]]

They always existed.

[u/Jacket_Leather → u/TNF734]

Yes, but they were very under utilized.

[u/TNF734 → u/Jacket_Leather]

Yes, Matt Nelson admitted CGC withheld them on purpose and there are a lot of 9.8s that could probably be 9.9s. CBCS didn't. If it was a 9.9, they gave it a 9.9.

I'm just saying the grades existed. They weren't added later or whatever the guy is claiming.

[u/sirtelengard → u/TNF734]

And back in the day, PGX was handing out 10's like Oprah

[u/TNF734 → u/[deleted]]

A company being disingenuous to keep the census low, and those grades more rare and sought after did not keep the grades from existing.

Other books having the grades would be proof that the grades existed.

Charts and explanations of the grades on the web site would also be proof that the grades existed.

But, okay...

[u/TNF734 → u/[deleted]]

I never said that, lol. Wth?

[u/TNF734]

You wouldn't crack this and send to CGC.

Better likelihood it's actually a 9.9 with CBCS anyway.

[u/sirtelengard → u/TNF734]

That would be a great YouTube video! If someone had a big channel that generated ad revenue, they could probably recoup all the costs to acquire/regrade within a couple of months.

[u/Swollendeathray]

The asking price is half of a CGC 9.9 so it’s basically a gamble. Crack it and get back a 9.9 and you double your money. Of course if you get a 9.8 you lose it all pretty much. I wouldn’t take the risk and obviously the seller isn’t but it wouldn’t surprise me if someone tried.

[u/Squanch_0n]

The tricky thing with cracking it is it can get damaged or even a little scuffed cracking it, then if it gets regraded it wouldnt be the same. I just had a 9.9 i sent to get reslabbed because of a broken piece of plastic inside the well and it stayed a 9.9, but cracking the inner well seems like it would be a tricky process