The STL Comics GRADING CONTEST Starts Thursday At Midnight!!

[iron maniac]

I hope this is the right spot for this sort of thing. :?

Anyhow, I Just wanted to let everyone know that my new grading contest starts next Thursday, September 14th.

It will be run the same way as always, a new round every 4 days(roughly 2 a week). I will post deadlines at the beginning of each round as always and I will include Graders Notes when available like I always have.

So get ready, I have some great slabs this time around that I'm real excited about putting in the contest.

I will be sending out a Mass E-mail to all STL forum members before the beginning of the first round only to remind everyone and to bring people back that participated in the past.

Everyone is invited to play, NO SIGN-UP NEEDED, just open a user account at STL Comics so you can play.

So tell your friends and see you next Thursday!!!

If you have any questions about the contest drop me a PM here or at STL Comics.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v420/ironmaniac/Grading%20Contest/new2gc.jpg (http://forum.stlcomics.com/index.php)

:cool:

[Hoss]

Hi Iron Maniac,

Thanks for the update! See you at STL!

Hoss

[iron maniac]

UPDATED PRIZE LIST:

1st Prize:
$150 to spend at the STL Comics store
3 month Gold subscription to GPAnalysis valued $60
Avengers Vol.1 Marvel Masterworks HC worth $49.99
Batman, Power Records with comic in VF/NM worth $47


2nd Prize:
$100 to spend at the STL Comics store
3 month Power subscription to GPAnalysis valued at $30
Avengers Vol.1 Marvel Masterworks TPB worth $15.95
Thor: Ballad of Beta Ray Bill TPB worth $9.95
Star Trek, Power Records with comic in VF/NM worth $31


3rd Prize:
$50 to spend at the STL Comics store
1 month Power subscription to GPAnalysis valued at $10
Avengers Vol.1 Marvel Masterworks TPB worth $15.95
Star Trek, Power Records with comic in VF/NM worth $31


Prizes at over $600.00 now!!!




See you guys on Thursday! :wink:

[Hoss]

Any one from the Ol Corral gonna play? I think I'll give it a whirl!

+

[iron maniac]

Any one from the Ol Corral gonna play? I think I'll give it a whirl!

+
Sounds good Hoss, everyone is invited to play. The main objective is to have fun!

The first round is up:
Grading Contest ROUND 1 (http://forum.stlcomics.com/viewtopic.php?t=3386)

[SatansProdigy]

Yep! I'll try again. See if I can do better than last time LOL

[jaeldubyoo]

Yeah, I signed up too. It'll be challenging, judging from the first comic.

[The Charlton Guy]

What do you think on that one? I thought the grading notes lacking, in that they only note the obvious flaws to the front cover. No notes for interior condition.

It seems typical for CGC (and many graders) to grade based 80% on front cover condition alone. I can be as guilty of this as anyone. Eye appeal, ya know?

I'll be interested to see the grade on this one.

I called it a 3.0 (as the CGC grade). Nice back cover, but that doesn't seem to count for much. And I would have to see the interior to know, but that grade could be pulled upward based on a sharp interior.

What was your call?

[jaeldubyoo]

This one is tricky. As you mentioned the back cover is nice. I think it will grade higher than a 3.0 based on the tendency for CGC to give higher grades for older books. Remember, you're trying to guess what CGC gave it. I'm trying not to let my bias get in the way. Otherwise, I would give it a lower grade. #dunno#

[The Charlton Guy]

Good point. Admittedly, I did let my personal bias get in the way on this one. The edge wear, overall front cover wear and corner crease just put it out of VG territory for me, but looking back, or forward, or whatever...I can see CGC giving this a 5.0 on a good day...or an upcoming lunch hour...or after the grader got laid the night before.

[Hoss]

:shock: I gave it a 3.5, but it came it at 4.5! Yikes!

The next round is posted up! Hopefully I can get on the board with this next one!


Hoss

[iron maniac]

Round 2 is up! Here's a link:
GRADING CONTEST ROUND 2 (http://forum.stlcomics.com/viewtopic.php?t=3402)

:cool:

[jaeldubyoo]

Looks like I got lucky on this first one. I was ready to change it to a 3.5. I changed my mind at the last minute. Here’s my reasoning for the CGC grade. While the front cover is pretty ragged and scuffed up, the back cover is much better than average. Combined with the page quality (OW-W) this seemed like a solid Golden Age book overall. I resisted the temptation to grade lower based on the FC appearance. This is a good example of why some comics shouldn’t be slabbed. You can’t see how good the interior is. The grade I guessed is based on the assumption that the rest of the book is much better than the FC. I hate to say this but it must have “looked good for its age.” Hence the GA bump up in grade.
Personally I would have given it a lower grade. Which is contrary to the object of this game, guessing what CGC gave it.

The Marvel Family #1 is also tricky in that there's tape that you can't see. I had a hard time deciding how CGC will consider the tape. Have they ever published their position on tape?

[The Charlton Guy]

CGC considers the application of cellophane tape to be "Amateur Resoration" and therefore doesn't give it a purple label.

Sometimes they do and sometimes they don't note it as such on the slab.

From what IM describes, it was applied to reinforce a blown-out bottom staple.

Likely a 1 or 2 point deduction on the tape alone, let alone the blown-out staple.

[iron maniac]

Just a real quick note to everyone the score-sheet is up and the Prize Pack just got substantially BIGGER:

UPDATED PRIZE LIST:

1st Prize:
$150 to spend at the STL Comics store
3 month Gold subscription to GPAnalysis valued $60
Avengers Vol.1 Marvel Masterworks HC worth $49.99
Legends Comics and Cards t-shirt
Batman, Power Records with comic in VF/NM worth $47
50% off anything from Tony's Toy Chest
E-BIGS On-line Grading Service Gold (full service) for 1 year
Comic Collectorz Software PRO EDITION



2nd Prize:
$100 to spend at the STL Comics store
3 month Power subscription to GPAnalysis valued at $30
Avengers Vol.1 Marvel Masterworks TPB worth $15.95
Thor: Ballad of Beta Ray Bill TPB worth $9.95
Legends Comics and Cards t-shirt
Star Trek, Power Records with comic in VF/NM worth $31
25% off anything from Tony's Toy Chest
E-BIGS On-line Grading Service Gold (full service) for 1 year
Comic Collectorz Software PRO EDITION



3rd Prize:
$50 to spend at the STL Comics store
1 month Power subscription to GPAnalysis valued at $10
Avengers Vol.1 Marvel Masterworks TPB worth $15.95
Legends Comics and Cards t-shirt
Star Trek, Power Records with comic in VF/NM worth $31
10% off anything from Tony's Toy Chest
E-BIGS On-line Grading Service Gold (full service) for 1 year
Comic Collectorz Software PRO EDITION



Prizes at over $900.00 now!!! :shock:

REMEMBER, it's NEVER too late to join in on the fun!!


I noticed a lot of you guys over here are at the top of the scoring sheet, KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK! :cool:

[StlComics]

Just over here taking a look around. Thanks for playing the contest, doods. Hope someone over here wins some goodies!

[Hoss]

Welcome to the Corral, StlComics!

Have fun and thanks for letting us play over at STL Forums!

[The Charlton Guy]

Hey James! #hello#

Welcome!

And folks, James has given the heads up for us to add to the Contest Booty over there.

From The Comics Corral Booty!

That's right, we're offering up some prizes of our own to the Contest, so make sure to check in, sign up, and PLAY!

Like IM says, it's never too late (at least, I hope so, I am running way behind right now myself).

Thanks again James and IM, you have an awesome Contest going!

[The Charlton Guy]

SP SCORES A 1.0 IN THE LATEST ROUND!!!

Watch out folks, he's catchin' up to me...(that ain't so hard)....

Way to go SP!!!!

[SatansProdigy]

I got one right! #woohoo#

[iron maniac]

The server should be back up later today from what James tells me but I'll post the scans and notes below so you guys can take a look at the current book:

Marvel Presents #5 30 cent price variant
June 1976
WHITE Pages
CGC Graded Blue Label(NEW label)

GRADING NOTES:
Water mark, lower right of the front cover, goes through to the back cover.
Spine stress, breaks color.
Slight bend on bottom left of back cover and top left of back cover.

FRONT
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v420/ironmaniac/Grading%20Contest/mp5f.jpg



BACK
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v420/ironmaniac/Grading%20Contest/mp5b.jpg

I'll obviously extend the current round a day or 2 when we get things back up and running again.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

[mordo]

No inconvenience, Iron Maniac. You run a smooth grading contest.

[The Charlton Guy]

Marvelguy scores a 1.0 on Round 10!!!

Congratulations! (Even though this one was UNBELIEVABLY overgraded...hmph...)

Mordo, Jaeldubyoo and Marvelguy are consistently heading up the Corral ladder to the STL winner's board...good luck!

(I seem to be stuck at a pitiful 2.5 ranking, despite having some of the most influencial and intimidating backers ever...go figger.)

[marvelguy]

Whoo-hoo!!!!!! :smile:

Finally, I hit the bullseye after some half-points scores. It is seriously overgraded, for that grade I took a wild guess after so many inconsisenties in the past few scans on the STL game. It goes to show how bad CGC is and people that pay thru their noses to get slabbed books.

[oxbladder]

It goes to show how bad CGC is and people that pay thru their noses to get slabbed books.

And pay through the nose to buy slabbed books. I do believe in certification but there is no existing model that is working the way it should or serving the community as a whole.

[SatansProdigy]

It's good to know I'm consistantly wrong! #creep#

[StlComics]

Make sure you all remember that the key to this contest is not to grade the book as you would grade your own stuff. You are guessing what CGC graded the book, and taking into consideration whether or not it is an old label CGC slab. #professor#

[oxbladder]

That works most of the time but IM has been selecting books that appear to be graded well outside their normal rules ... exceptions if you may. Given that you can use any manner to grade the book you like and you may be wrong. I have done far worse this time around than in the last contest and even the ones before. I have tried:

Comparing to archived rounds of old contests, using the grading guide, finding representative samples elsewhere online, etc. For this last round I even looked at several price variants in the Heritage auctions and EVERY SINGLE slabbed and non-slabbed book in the 4.5-7.0 range looked better than the last two books in the GC. My guess would be that most of the heritage graded 4.5's would get 8.0's going by the last two GC examples.

[StlComics]

Well, you didn't think we'd make it easy for y'all did ya? #joker#

[oxbladder]

No but throwing in so many exceptions can give people the wrong idea about grading. I was under the impression that the contest was as much for learning about CGC and grading as it was for prizes. With what has been used so far I could see some people getting a skewed idea of grading. I a personally learning nothing from the contest except that CGC is actually wildly inconsistent with books with very little or no structural damage but with overspray getting 6.5's while book that are soiled, chewed and creased are getting 6.0's and 7.x just because they are rarer price variants. Having a balance of normal graded books and exceptions is, in my opinion, a better way to go about it.

But what do I know I just try and figure out how CGC's mystical grading scale will slide according to the age of the book, scarcity, and what they think a book should get despite having serious defects.

[SatansProdigy]

I just ask my wife to think of a number between 1 and 10 and use that! :P

[StlComics]

I just ask my wife to think of a number between 1 and 10 and use that! :P

LOL :lol:

[oxbladder]

I am just assuming they overgraded from now on. That seems to be the trend of the books in the contest so far.

[stupidman]

I just ask my wife to think of a number between 1 and 10 and use that! :P

You mean you don't use the CGC Census to help you? You know right away not to guess between 7.5 - 5.5 on that FF# 173 variant (unless it's freshly graded and not in the census :-D )

[The Charlton Guy]

ATTENTION ALL CORRAL MEMBERS!!!

ATTENTION ALL CORRAL MEMBERS!!!

ATTENTION ALL CORRAL MEMBERS!!!

Here's a little Corral Bonus for the top three placed Corral Members in the STL Grading Contest.

The following are the top Corral Members who participated in the STL Grading Contest:

Oxbladder...(7.5)

Jaeldubyoo...(7.0)

Marvelguy...(4.0)

(Well, yours truly scored a 5.0, but I can' very well give myself a prize, can I? Well...maybe I can...)

Anyways, here's the deal. The three Corral Members listed above, having gone above and beyond in their Grading Contest predictions and resulting results, resulting in a spectacular showing for Corral Members in the resulting results of the final tally of STL Grading Contest winners, so this results in the resulting unexpected windfall, the results of these results being the following resulting results:

You three send me your name and shipping address via PM and you will each be receiving a VERY COOL free book for your efforts in the STL Contest and your much appreciated contributions here in the Ol' Corral!

That's right!

Forget the top three winners at STL...

You three will also get to rake in some booty!

(And everybody needs a little booty from time to time).

So send me a PM, be accurate and succinct and complete with your name and address (yeah, I know, I should have MG's and JBW's info, but I'm an admitted ditz...), and I will have a VERY COOL book winging your way!

(Any chance it'll be a Charlton book? Hmmmm...)

[The Charlton Guy]

And THANKS to IM and James!

That was one hell of a gig!

I look forward to the next Contest (as.....THE CHARLTON R.!)

[The Charlton Guy]

OH CARP!!!

I forgot MORDO!

With a 5.0!

No worries bud, send me a PM, you're in too...

[mordo]

Hey, Charlton Guy, you forgot about me! I held up the Corral banner for over half the contest before faltering in the end.

Iron Maniac-- thanks again for running a great contest. Sometimes it was nerve-wracking, but for the most part it was a load of fun.

:)

[mordo]

thanks man! just missed your post!

[The Charlton Guy]

You da man.

I spent half the Contest trying to keep up with you.

The other half Googling George W. photographs...

Great job! That was a lot of fun...though if anything was learned, it's the fact that CGC has a HEAVY bias towards variants. Some of those variants were just plain out of the park.

[The Charlton Guy]

And SP?

Remind me again to pick up some of your seriously undergraded books...

[jaeldubyoo]

Thanks, CG.

Wow, that was some grading contest. Thanks to IM and James, who did a great job putting on the contest. I enjoyed myself (I must be a masochist). Although I didn't place I think I did okay for a first-timer. I know I second-guessed myself a lot and talked myself out of a couple of points. My goal was to at least average a half a point per round, which I did. I under-graded on some and to compensate over-graded on a couple. As I have never owned a CGC-graded comic, it was an eye-opening experience for me as to the vagaries of CGC grading.

Johnny

[SatansProdigy]

That rocked! I think I got more points this second time. Hell I dunno, but I do know that I had fun! Thanks IM and James.

[StlComics]

Glad y'all had fun. I do have to say though all the work put in on the contest is really Erik (Iron Maniac). All I did was host it, and find a few slabs to scan for use in the contest. Erik did everything else. #clap#

Also, thanks to CG for the comic relief. I really got a kick out of all the "W" posts, and hope that you'll be back next time with more mirth and merryment. #hello#

[The Charlton Guy]

Thank you James!

I had a blast. Hope I didn't scare off to many left-wing panty-bunchers.

Next time? I promise. I'll stick to Democrat-bashing. That a quick and easy laugh too.

But NOBODY is a quicker or easier joke than the Big W.!

And Erik: GREAT JOB!

That was one heck of a fun time.

I look forward to seeing the final results and spreading some SA and Charlton wealth c/o The Corral.

Thanks again to both of you and best regards,

CG