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MAGAZINES:
10/10: Absolutely pristine, off-the-rack, perfect. I've
never used this grade.
9/10: Mint. About as perfect as can be. The only
difference between this and a 10/10 is that it may have been read once or twice
before being put in plastic. I try to avoid this grade.
8/10: Near Mint. Clean and glossy. Tightly bound. No
mailing label. Not quite perfect, but almost. The grade I give to magazines many others would put at a 9
or 10.
7/10: Excellent-Mint. May have a mailing label if it's
still neatly affixed. May have one noticeable minor flaw, such as a
slightly curled up corner on one of the covers or a tiny crease on an inside
page.
 6/10: Excellent +. A copy that's been carefully read with
two or three minor flaws.
Still very nice.
 5/10: Excellent. Exactly what you'd think: Average.
A copy of a magazine that's seen it's time on the coffee table but has not
fallen prey to any mishaps.
 4.5/10: Very Good-Excellent. Just below average.
Read, not abused, with one flaw driving it below average. Maybe a crease
to one of the covers of an otherwise EX magazine, or an EX magazine that has
slightly yellowed. Light stress marks at the covers along the spine area. Not a minor flaw, but just one little bit of damage
that keeps it from being average on the eye.
 4/10: Very Good. A well-read copy of a magazine that
may have a somewhat substantial flaw (a heavy crease across the cover perhaps, yellowed pages inside,
a tiny tear on the edge) or a couple of minor flaws. Stress marks at the
covers near the spine area. Still nice, still
collectible.
 3.5/10: Good-Very Good. A couple of substantial flaws.
Still not terrible, but a copy that has enough warning signs that you'd pick up
to inspect carefully and look for more than obvious problems. Perhaps a
minor tear at the staples on the binding, or the beginnings of a split of the
covers at either the very top or very bottom of the spine.
 3/10. Good. Now the magazine is getting a little
beat up. May have some minor binding issues but the pages are all still
attached and present. May have some soiling on the covers. A stain.
Some minor tears but nothing torn off. A slightly heavier fray splitting
the top and/or bottom of the paper where the covers meet at the spine. Whatever it may be, something's
wrong.
 2/10: Fair. Beat. Binding may be starting to come
loose. Substantial tears in cover or inside pages, perhaps some small
missing pieces as long as it doesn't affect the text. Heavy creasing to
covers. Dirty.
 1/10: Poor. Torn pages. Pages torn out. Covers
missing. Heavy soiling and/or staining. Bad, actually the worse.
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PHOTOS:
10/10: MINT, No flaws whatsoever. Don't really expect to
use this one
9/10: Near Mint-Mint. One minor flaw: centering of image
slightly off, a single very minor printing defect (spots or line), the flaw should be a minor
issue of the print rather than actual damage inflicted upon the photo. Nearly perfect.
 8/10: Near Mint. One extremely minor bit of damage may
have been inflicted upon the photo; such as one of the following: Two or
three corners a little touched by wear. A slight spot of edge wear.
Just one flaw.
 7/10: Excellent-Mint. A couple of the minor flaws
of the NM photo allowed rather than just one.
 6/10: Excellent +. An orphan grade fitting between
the descriptions of the EX and the EX-MT photo.
 5/10: Excellent. All corners may be slightly fuzzy,
the edges may have some slight wear, perhaps even a minor notch. A single
light crease or wrinkle within the border (not extending into photo area) is
allowed.
 4.5/10: Very Good-Excellent. The corners may
show some more wear, one of them may even be rounded. Light
creasing/wrinkling within the borders, no more than two or three such creases is
allowed.
 4/10: Very Good. All corners may be rounded/wrinkled, edges may
be rough, light creasing/wrinkling as described for VG-EX is allowed, plus one
crease may reach slightly beyond the borders and into the photo image itself.
 3.5/10: Good-Very Good. Rounded corners, rough edges, printing defects, and slightly worse creasing than
the VG photo. No tears whatsoever at this point or better, however a very
minor notch or rip is allowed (we're talking a 1/4 of an inch or less here).
 3/10. Good.
Multiple creases are allowed, as is no more than one small (1/2" or less) tear
from the edge. Still, not an overwhelming amount of creasing or tearing.
A 3/10 can still actually be an eye pleaser.
 2.5/10. Fair to Good: This is a beat-up ugly photo
with multiple creasing, hard creases allowed, a few short (1/2" or less) tears
or a single longer (up to and inch) tear allowed from the edges.
2/10: Fair. Beat. More creasing, more
tearing, plus staining allowed. Figure tears from the edge up to a couple
of inches
if only a single tear, or a little shorter if two or three. If no tearing
the tip of a corner may be torn off--these often become bent back and over the
years of aging have chipped off.
 1.5/10: Poor to Fair. Noticeable writing on front
surface, multiple tears of up to an inch or a single long tear.
A small portion of one or two corners may be torn off, or a notch or two at the
edges which stay within the borders.
 1/10: Poor. The worst, since it's the lowest
possible grade absolutely anything goes here.
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TRADING CARDS:
MT (Mint): Right off the press and printed perfectly (including
centering).
No flaws whatsoever.
 NM-MT (Near Mint to Mint): One minor flaw: centering off
55-45 at worse, slight printing defect (spots or line), or a touch to one of the
corners. Nearly perfect.
 NM (Near Mint): 60-40 centering or better. A minor,
yet slightly worse defect than the NM-MT card; such as one of the following:
Slight stronger versions of the defects above (print spots or lines). Two
or three corners a little touched by wear. A slight spot of edge wear.
 EX-MT (Excellent to Mint):
70-30 centering or better.
A couple of the minor flaws of the NM card allowed rather than just one.
 EX+ (Excellent Plus):
A cop-out grade...you can't make up
your mind if the card places in the EX category below or the EX-MT category
above. Since there is quite a difference between the grades in value, this
is where the orphans fitting somewhere in between fall.
 EX (Excellent):
75-25 centering or better. All
corners may be slightly fuzzy, the edges may have some slight wear, perhaps even
a minor notch. Still NO creases whatsoever allowed.
 VG-EX (Very Good to Excellent):
All bets are off on
centering, though anything approaching 90-10 or worse should be mentioned after the grade.
The corners may show some more wear, one of them may even be rounded.
Similar to the EX grade above except for centering qualifications and the fact
that a SURFACE crease is allowed:
a surface crease only shows on one side of the
card/photo, not breaking the paper through to the other side. More of a
wrinkle than a crease.
 VG (Very Good): All corners may be rounded, all edges may
be rough, but still no true creases that break the paper. A multiple of
surface creases/wrinkles are allowed.
 G-VG (Good to Very Good): Now we're getting beat-up.
Rounded corners, rough edges, poor centering, printing defects, and a maximum of
one true crease in the card.
 G (Good): Same as G-VG above but now multiple true
creases (those which go through both sides of the card) are allowed.
Still, not an overwhelming amount of creasing, nothing that's seen time on the
bicycle spokes for instance.
 F-G (Fair to Good): Items that have seen time in the
bicycle spokes are allowed here. This is a beat-up ugly card only worth
having if you have to have it or are selecting it a a filler meant for
later upgrade.
F (Fair): Take a nice MINT card or photo, crumple it up
in you hand, use some sandpaper on the corners and edges, but allow it to come
out of this intact...that's fair (and please don't do that to any collectibles!)
P-F (Poor to Fair): About as bad as you can get just
falling short of missing pieces or other disfigurement such as deep scribbling.
P (Poor): Practically unrecognizable. Anything
goes! The worst you
can get.
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