World Famous Comics: The Official Overstreet Comic Book Grading Guide
The Official Overstreet Comic Book Grading Guide
By: Robert M Overstreet Publisher: House of Collectibles Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: House of Collectibles Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 400 Publication Date: January 14, 2003 Release Date: January 14, 2003
Book Description: 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. Overstreet, together with co-author Arnold T. Blumberg, has set the standard for grading the condition of comic books. With The Official Overstreet Comic Book Grading Guide, you will learn all the information you'll ever need to accurately grade your comic books.
Find The Right Grade
* A new 10-point grading system helps you determine the grade of all your comic books. * Exhaustive descriptions of primary and split grades give you the right grade quickly. * Over 200 full-color photographs of every major comic book defect to help you easily find which grade reflects your own comic books.
Choose The Right Grade
* A new, suggested restoration scale helps you evaluate comic books that have been restored. * An essay on "How to Grade" gives you tremendous insight about the grading process.
Use The Right Grade
* Overstreet's expert guidance in grading makes evaluating all your comic books easier than ever before. * Charts of allowable defects and terminology take some of the guessword out of grading.
PLUS
* A guide to grading Platinum Age comics. * An essay on certified grading from Comics Guaranty, LLC (CGC) * Articles on grading history and nomenclature, comic book restoration, and "odd format" grading. * And much more!
The Best BUT... The problem I find with this book, as with all books on the subject of grading, is that it is getting too complex. As a collector of coins and stamps, along with comics, I understand the importance of grading when it comes to the determining the value of your collection; however, when I look at a book, I now find myself trying to determine what this stress line or that OWL interior really does to the grade. How many points deducted? Added? Of course, Overstreet is the definiitve book on the subject but there comes a time when a decision has to be made as far as trying to figure out what grade to give it, i.e., VF- or F+, for example, and sometimes there is not enough details on exactly what it is that makes that determination. This is particularly true when it comes to Golden Age or early Silver Age. A Goldie is much harder to grade because, given its age, and scarcity, one must decide how much a particular defect will compromise a grade in relation to a modern book. A Goldie with spine stress lines should not be held to the same standards as a modern with the same defect. if you take away one point for that, you then should have the option of adding one point due to its rarity. Overstreet, while mentioning this problem, does not give enough information on it to make it clear and decisive. The bottom line is that the Overstreet Guide is the 'Bible' of comic collecting and is highly recommended as the definiitve guide to grading BUT......it is still the old axiom of 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder.'
So close to being great, but ends up merely average. Sometimes I wonder how major glaring issues get published with something that purports to be a definitive guide. Of course i'm talking about the size of the photos, many labelled flaws are simply undectable and pressing ones face right up to the book to see flaws is well silly and unnecessary. Its sad to see a total compromise of someones product presumably to sell more copies to WaldenBooks or whomever, it shows a lack of integrity and a lack of dedication to ones customers. Other than that major disappointment, I'd have to say the only other problem with the book are that the written articles are a bit muddled, the basics of grading seem a bit sparse while some aspects of minutae seem to be overemphasised. All the information you need to make grading judgements in todays CGC environment is here though. Most probably wont be too happy to learn that most comics they bought as NM/VF in the 80's/early 90's are probably a 7.5 at best in today's market. But thats not Overstreets fault. The part of the book where they take an Atom comic through the grades is very informative and probably the best visual representation of grading to date. Theres promise here and the information is factual but presented in a flawed manner, if you need a handy reference guide for comic grading this is it. Surely they cant help but address the basic flaws with their product in later editions?
Invaluable tool for collectors and vendors! This 2nd edition is an improvement over the 1992 edition and bolsters the viewpoint that Overstreet standards must be recognized as the primary source for grading decisions. While this guide does not provide specific CGC guidelines - which CGC refuses to publish - there is an overview of CGC by CGC Primary Grader Steve Borock and there are several examples of CGC-graded comics in various grades pictured. This, of course, merely provides examples of CGC grading and does not address the issue of CGC's well-documented inconsistencies. ***UPDATE: August, 2003 - CGC has announced that it will has adopted Overstreet grading standards as its own! This is a shrewd move by CGC and will help unify overall grading standards.***
In this guide, you will find advertising by some of the largest retailers in the nation, along with several interesting articles whose topics range from comic book history to restoration to shipping comics. Each grade has a fairly comprehensive one-page description of necessary qualities inherent to the grade, along with a full checklist of 21 grading considerations like spine roll, cover creases and staples. The pages following are filled with clear and illustrative examples of covers of books fitting the grade, with appropriate annotation of defects.
While there is still room for improvement in future editions, such as addressing the topic of grade "qualifiers" - a defect impacting the grade of a comic whose appearance would suggest a better grade if not for the defect - it is the premier guide to comic book grading and is a must-have for any serious collector or dealer.
Helpful info, difficult subject matter, don't expect miracle Bottom line: Comic book grading is THE most difficult component of the comics collecting business side of the equation. Subjective interpretation lends disparity between any 2 people's grades, but the more experience that you have, the better equiped that you are to make qualified decisions about a book's grade. This book was much-updated from its previous version, so is an improvement. Bashing the book for not giving a "Cliff-notes" version of how to wave a magic wand, and "poof!" get a grade is a poor position to take. Yes, the book needs work in terms of pictures of defects and corresponding adjustments. One should also keep in mind that there is a functional aspect of grading that allows for a given defect to be (somewhat) offset by a strong characteristic in another are (e.g. stress marks bring book to FN, but stunning colors and/or supple white pages might boost it back to VF-, as a potential example). Given that there is NOT a lot of documented information on this subject, this book is helpful as a reference ONLY, and should be used in conjunction with other references (ComicBase, Wizard, Overstreet Guide), to make a good determination of a grade. Certainly times are better now than they were, say, 10 years ago, when only pros in the business for years could make an accurate estimate. Be thankful for that. CGC info, by design, is not going to be released - it's a Trade Secret for their business model, and if they gave it all away, they would not be in business. Does Proctor and Gamble give away its recipe for its products, or DuPont? - of course not. The discerning investigative researcher uses multiple sources. One such source (if you had bothered to read the Overstreet 33rd Edition) is that Metropolis Comics helped CGC develop the standards that they use. Also, many of the MAJOR comic dealers contribute heavily to the Advisory Board for CGC, so if you look at the sources, you could glean more information as well. Stop whining, and start learning ! This book is a valuable tool to be used with the other resources available to comics collectors, but it is not the de facto "guide" for grading. There will never be such a guide, so get over it.
Invaluable Comicbook Tool!! If you sell on EBAY or just want to track the condition/current value of your personal collection, this is the quintisential book to have.Every major player in the world of comics bases their grading on this book.A wonderful guide with picture representation to ensure accurate grading of individual comics.From the beginners to the experts,a true comic collectors "Must Have!"
Anything Goes Trivia
Trevor
Megaton Man
