Overstreet Grading Scale

The Overstreet Comic Book Grading Guide is known in the comic book industry as the source for grading comic books.  The Overstreet Grading Scale has become the industry standard used for most staple-bound and perfect-bound paper products.  In my auctions, I use the scale below to grade my magazines and comic books.  I have graded all of my products myself following the guidelines below and have listed the respective symbol in my auction listings.  I offer no warranty other than my honest judgment and assessment.

MINT (MT - 9.9-10.0): Near perfect in every way.  Only the most subtle bindery or printing defects are allowed.  Cover is flat with no surface wear.  Cover inks are bright with high reflectivity and minimal fading.  Corners are cut square and sharp.  Stapes are generally centered and clean with no rust.  Cover is generally well-centered and firmly secured to interior pages.  Paper is supple and fresh.  Spine is tight and flat.

NEAR MINT/MINT (NM/MT - 9.8):  Has enough positive qualities to make it better than a NM+, but has enough detracting qualities to keep it from being a MINT 9.9.  In most cases, the product has a better appearance than a NM+.

NEAR MINT (NM - 9.2-9.7):  Nearly perfect with only minor imperfections allowed.  This grade should have no corner or impact creases, stress marks should be almost invisible, and bindery tears must be less than 1/16".  A couple of very tiny color flecks, or a combination of the above that keeps the product from being perfect, where the overall eye appeal is less than MINT drops the product into this grade.  Only the most subtle binding and/or printing defects are allowed.  Cover is flat with no surface wear.  Cover inks are bright with high reflectivity and minimum of fading.  Corners are cut square and sharp with ever so slight blunting permitted.  Staples are generally centered and clean with no rust.  Cover is well-centered and firmly secured to interior pages.  Paper is supple and like new.  Spine is tight and flat.

VERY FINE/NEAR MINT (VF/NM - 9.0):  Has enough positive qualities to make it a better than a VF+, but has enough detracting qualities to keep it from being a NM-.  In most cases, the product has a better appearance than a VF+.

VERY FINE (VF - 7.5-8.5):  An excellent copy with outstanding eye appeal.  Sharp, bright, and clean with supple pages.  Cover is relatively flat with almost no surface wear.  Cover inks are generally bright with moderate to high reflectibility.  Staples may show some discolaration.  Spine may have a couple of almost insignificant transverse stress lines and is almost completely flat.  A barely unnoticeable 1/4" crease is acceptable, if color is not broken.  Pages and covers can be yellowish/tannish at the very least, but not brown and preferable off-white to white.

FINE/VERY FINE (FN/VF - 7.0):  Has enough positive qualities to make it better than a FN+, but has enough detracting qualities to keep it from being a VF-.  In most cases, the product has a better appearance than a FN+.

FINE (FN - 5.5-6.5):  An above-average copy that shows minor wear but is still relatively flat and clean with no significant creasing or other serious defects.  Eye appeal is somewhat reduced because of slight surface wear and possibly a small defect such as a few slight cross stress marks on spine or very slight spine split (<1/4").  A FINE condition product appears to have been read a few times and has been handled with moderate care.  Compared to a VF, cover inks are beginning to show a significant reduction in reflectivity, but is still a highly collectible and desirable product.  Pages and interior covers may be tan, but pages must still be fairly supple with no signs of brittleness.

VERY GOOD/FINE (VG/FN - 5.0):  Has enough positive qualities to make it better than a VG+, but has enough detracting qualities to keep it from being a FN-.  In most cases, the product has a better appearance than a VG+.

VERY GOOD (VG - 3.5-4.5):  The average used comic book or magazine.  A product in this grade shows some wear, can have a reading or center crease, or a moderately rolled spine, but has not accumulated enough total defects to reduce eye appeal to the point that it is not a desirable copy.  Some discoloration, fading, and even minor soiling is allowed.  As much as a 1/4" triangle can be missing out of the corner or edge.  A missing square piece (1/8" x 1/8") is also acceptable.  Store stamps, name stamps, arrival dates, initials, etc. have no effect on this grade.  Cover and interior pages can have some minor tears and folds and the centerfold may be detached at one staple.  The cover may also be loose, but not completely detached.  Common bindery and printing defects do not affect grade.  Pages and inside covers may be brown but not brittle.  Tape should never be used for repair; however, many products in VG condition may have minor tape repair.

GOOD/VERY GOOD (GD/VG - 3.0):  Has enough positive qualities to keep it better than a GD+, but has enough detracting qualities to keep it from being a VG-.  In most cases, the product has a better appearance than a GD+.

GOOD (GD - 1.8-2.5):  A copy in this grade has all pages and covers, although there may be small pieces missing inside; the largest piece allows from front or back ocver is a 1/2" triangle or square 1/4" x 1/4".  Products in this grade are commonly creased, scuffed, abraded, soiled, and may have as much as a 2" spine split, but are still completely readable.  Often, paper quality is low but not brittle.  Cover reflectivity is low, and in some cases, completely absent.  This grade can have a moderate accumulation of defects, but still maintains its basic structural integrity.

FAIR/GOOD (FR/GD - 1.5):  Has enough positive qualities to keep it better than a FR+, but has enough detracting qualities to keep it from being a GD-.  In most cases, the product has a better appearance than a FR+.

FAIR (FR - 1.0):  A copy int his grade is usually soiled, ragged, and possibly unattractive.  Creases, tears, and/or folds are prevalent.  Spine may be split up to two-thirds its entire length.  Staples may be gone.  Up to one-tenth of the front cover may be missing.  These products are readable, although soiling, staining, tears, markings, or chunks missing may moderately interfere with reading the complete story/article.  Some collectors consider this this lowest collectible grade because products in lesser conditions are usually defaced and/or brittle.  Very often paper quality is low and may have slight brittleness around the edges, but not the central portions of the pages.  Products in this grade may have a clipped coupon, so long as it is noted along side of the listing, i.e., FAIR (1.0) - Coupon Clipped.  Valued as 50-70% of GOOD.

POOR (PR - 0.5):  Most products in this grade have been sufficiently degraded to the point that copies may have extremely severe stains, missing staples, brittleness, mildew, or moder to heavy cover abrasion to the point that some cover inks are indistinct/absent.  Products in this grade can have small chunks missing and pieces out of pages.  They may be been defaced with paints, varnishes, glues, oil, indelible markers, or dyes.  Covers may be split the entire length of the item, but both halves must be present and basically still there with some chunks missing.  A page or pages may be missing as long as it is noted along side the listing, i.e., POOR (0.5) X Page Missing.  Value depends on extent of defects, but would average about one-third of GOOD.