>User Profile > micasacomics > All-About-Me

Love Pop Culture,Retro and Vintage.I Sell and Specialize in:

Comic Books and Art (Overstreet Grading Guidlines,Mixed with CGC Policy): Golden Age,Silver Age of course.But Esoteric Books like Underground Comix,Rare Fanzines and Mini Comics is the stuff Geeks Dream of.

Movie Posters(Auction House Grading Guidlines): All Original Only is what I sell no Repro Zone is my policy.

Vinyl Records (Goldmine Grading):Love the Sound of it,many times can be better than CD,that said I Price mine right,so grab it up quick.

Books and Paper (Standard Book Grading): Dealing Rare and First Edition since 1979.

Erotica: 1920's - 70's,Pin Ups,Vintage Mens Mags,Highbrow,Only If it's legal.

RECORD GRADES: NEAR MINT or NM: Sometimes dealers use M- (Mint Minus)grade. You may need to ask the dealer if he/she uses the M- grade the same way as NM. They should mean the same thing however many people have had used several confusing grades all based around the Mint status. We define NM and or M- as being almost mint. This grade should be, for the most part, the most widely used grade for records that appear virtually flawless. Virtually flawless records are not perfect. A very minor scuff and very little else can appear on the vinyl. This will most likely have occurred during packaging, or removing the record from the inner sleeve but had been handled with extreme care. It should play without any noise over the flaw. The flaw should be very hard to see. If a scuff covers more than a few tracks yet can be seen, it will not be NM, however it may come very close. Use strong judgment when evaluating the vinyls condition. NEAR MINT COVERS: The cover should look as close to perfect with only minor signs of wear and or age. Minor impressions to the cover (due to the outer edge of the vinyl resting inside) may be acceptable, however the artwork should be as close to perfect as can be. -------------------------------------------------------------- EXCELLENT or EX or VG++: This is truly NOT Goldmine defined grade, however it is becoming more and more mainstream among collectors and sellers. It is also a very conservative grade for those who don't want to grade NM, for fear they may over grade the record and cover. In which case it is very acceptable yet should not command the highest price based on NM value. Only NM records or better are considered collectable and WILL command top dollar. Anything less, the prices drop dramatically. However many very rare (collectable) items can command very close to NM value, simply because NM copies may not even exist. This will be explained under a different topic... ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- EX VINYL: An excellent (EX or VG++) condition for vinyl will allow minor scuffs which are visible but only slightly. There may be more than a few, so be careful not call a record that has wear to more than 15% of the surface. The wear should be minimal and of course should play mint! Any scratches that can be felt with your fingernail can NOT be called scuffs. Scuffs lay on top of the grooves. If any break in the grooves are felt, they ARE scratches. And most often, they will be heard when played (soft clicks or even loud pops). Once again, no scratches can make this grade! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- EX COVER: Artwork should still be as close to perfect as can be. Some impression to the cover (minor outer ring wear) but no ink wear! Some slight creases to the corners, but not wrinkled and obtrusive to the eye. The corners can show white (where the artwork pasted slick was) meaning, slight wear. No seam splits or writing on the cover or taped repairs can make this grade. If you don't think a cover is NM than call it EX or less. There will be obvious reactions to the EX grade. But if you use a EX grade and price a bit lower, your risk of over grade will be reduced dramatically. You will also make more people happy, rather than trying to call it NM. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VERY GOOD PLUS or VG+: What does this mean? Some people will call a less than NM record VG+ and skip the EX grade. Goldmine defines it as Excellent (EX), yet commands only 50% of the value (for most records). It can easily be defined as 2 ways. VG+ should be the next grade below a NM value when grading 45 singles. EX can be used for EP's. 45 singles have only 2 songs and EP's (7" by the way) can have anywhere from 3, 4, 6 and 8 (rarely found) songs on the record. With 45 singles one side may be NM and the other side may not. If the flip side is not NM but still plays well (or great, no noise), VG+ is a conservative grade. Very few 45's should be called EX unless they are of rarities. Use careful judgment when buying and selling them with this grade! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VG+ VINYL: Now for LP's (the big ones ). VG+ will show wear, surface scuffs,(or spiral scuffs that came from turn table platters or jukeboxes for 45 singles) and some very light scratches. Surface scuffs are caused from blunt (not sharp) objects. Often the minor scuffs are caused from inner sleeves. The vinyl should still have a great luster, but the flaws will be noticeable to the naked eye. Sometimes holding the record up to a very bright light, you will see many tiny lines across the surface. If the flaws don't cause any surface noise, the vinyl can make the VG+ grade. Most (but not all) VG+ records should still play like a NM record. But because the vinyl has more than 15% (yet less than 30%) wear to the surface, it can make this grade. Remember, the record still should look as though it was handled with extreme care. Sometimes people find records that have no scuffs that are visible, yet a careless needle scratch causes a break in the grooves. Play the record. If there is any obtrusive clicks or pops, which cause the the song to be less than enjoyable, it may not even be VG+! Scratches are not acceptable to a serious collector in any way. If you call a record 95% NM but note the record as having 1 track with a bad scratch, many will only consider it as VG (explained next). You should seldom call a record "A Strong VG, plays mostly VG+". It does not explain the overall condition well enough. Use this very cautiously when grading. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VG+ COVERS: Now that we defined the EX grade, a few extra flaws will make this grade. A virtually clean cover, but may have small writing on it. (Magic marker in big letters will not cut it. They are an eye soar, so be weary of over grading). The artwork should look clean with slightly more aging. The back of the cover usually gives away the age of the cover. Flat white paper will be somewhat yellow yet no stains or mildew from water damage. Some minor wear to the seams or spine, but no tears or holes popping through. The corners will be slightly dog eared yet no crackly bends, defacing the artwork. In essence, a VG+ cover should have no more than 3 flaws mentioned. If all apply, it is less than VG+. (see next grade below) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ VERY GOOD or VG: The Very Good Grade does not mean Very good at all. At least not in the visual sense. A Very Good (VG) record will appear well played but still have some luster. The vinyl may be faded, slightly grayish, yet appears to have been handled as carefully as it could have been helped. Records that get continuous playing time will start to deteriorate. More and more surface scuffs and scratches, and audible sound defects WILL be heard. They should not overpower the dynamics of the music. With VG records, the surface noise will be minor crackle or a slight hiss, but should only be heard in between tracks or in low musical passages. ------------------------------------------------------------------ VG COVERS: VG covers will look worn, used. There may be some seam splitting (but not completely separated!). There will be some ring wear, where the ink has begun to wear off. Giving the cover a look of snow falling. If the artwork looks snowy all over, it is less than VG condition. There may be some writing on the cover (still not LARGE letters in Magic Marker). It will look aged, and more yellowish due to contaminations in the air (sometimes looking like cigarette smoke). Still it should be decent. If damaged beyond any formable beauty, it will not make this grade. VG should at least still have some attractive life to it, and not have taped seams or water damage to it. If you decide to tape repair a cover, to prevent further damage, use clear scotch tape and place it on so that it is not obtrusive to the eye. If only a small split, only tape the split. Don't run tape across the entire spine or seams. Too much tape means too little interest. Use as little as possible. If the split is minor, it is best to just leave it alone. Note the flaw and go from there with the grade. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ GOOD or G (including the G+ and VG- grades): A good record will look very well played, dull, grayish and possibly abused. However a Good record should still play. It will have distracting surface noise. Such as crackle that is continuous or some hiss. Will also have some loss of dynamics caused from grooves being worn. It should play without any skips or any obtrusively loud pops or repeated clicks, caused by deep scratches. If you can't enjoy the record, it is not no longer even good. Good means that it will play with some form of decency, so one can still enjoy the music even though you can still hear noise caused from the wear. -------------------------------------------------------------------- GOOD COVER: a Good cover will have just about everything wrong with it. It will have seam splits (possibly taped repaired, but only with scotch tape. No duct tape or masking tape repairs. these are big turn offs. May have magic marker writing on the cover but still if they are in huge letters, it is a big turn off. In essence, the cover will looked trashed, but some artwork will still be noticed. If the artwork is worn, it is POOR and the cover is worthless. Huge tears or gouges in the cover will also make the cover POOR. Be careful about sealed records, that have been water damaged. Mildew still can get inside and cause great damage to the cover, and the disc. Use common sense and you will save yourself from an over grade. NOTE:Sealed records that have water damage should be opened. Otherwise you will be in trouble later on when the cardboard starts to deteriorate inside the shrinkwrap. Attempt to dry the covers using a hair dryer (be sure to remove the record first!) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- G+ and VG-: This is separate from the above. Many records that appear in VG condition often play less than very good. Goldmine defines them as better than Good, but less than Very Good. The value should not increase more than the value of a Good record. Meaning they all should be priced somewhere within the same guideline (most often it is 10 to 15% for Good, and only 15% for Good Plus (G+) and Very Good Minus (VG-). With a G+ record, it will look just as the described condition for Good, yet may play better than it looks. Dynamics for are usually good enough to overpower the surface noise. Same for VG-, However VG- and G+ are of the same value. It is more of a visually and audible combined grade. There should be no large price increase for these records. Price them like G records and you should not have a problem. --------------------------------------------------------------------- FAIR, & POOR: The easiest way to define this is if does not meet the lowest grade above (GOOD), it is trash. It is worthless. Unless it is so rare, it won't sale worthy at all. It is ok to throw them away or give them to someone who just wants to have them. It won't be playable for the most part, and so they are not much good hanging onto them. Very few poor records are collectable. Some rare colored vinyl or picture discs are ok, and can still be nice to have, but they won't be good enough to play again. __________________________________________________________