Nostomania's Grading Guide for Magazines

As long-time users of Nostomania know, the value of a magazine depends strongly on grade. A copy in pristine MT 10.0 condition can sell for over 1,000 times the price of a ratty copy in PR 0.5. Therefore being able to correctly determine the grade of a magazine is an important skill for buyers and sellers alike. Grading magazines is an art, and it takes many years of practice to become an accomplished grader. Luckily, alternatives exist for those who don't wish to undertake the effort to become an accomplished grader. At present, there is only one third-party grading service that will grade and encapsulate magazines for you: Comics Guaranty, LLC, aka CGC.

Absolutely perfect in every way to the naked eye. Overall look is as if it had never been handled or released for sale. Corners are sharp and square, cover inks are bright and reflective, spine is tight and flat, staples are centered, pages are white and supple. No soiling, no wear. This is the most misunderstood grade by far. If you think you have a MT 10.0 book, think again, you probably do not. This term is frequently misused.

Before assigning your magazine this grade, think again. We are not aware of any professionally graded MT 10.0 magazines.

Nearly perfect. Overall look is as if it had just been hand-selected as the best copy from the newsstand and never read. Only subtle bindery or printing flaws allowed. Corners are sharp and square, cover inks are bright and reflective, spine is tight and flat, staples are centered, pages are white and supple. No cover soiling, creasing, tearing, pieces missing, or wear.

This magazine will have at most a few very, very minor flaws. Perhaps a slightly blunted corner. Or a spine corner showing a tiny hint of wear. Or a very tiny spine stress mark. subtle bindery or printing flaws, such as slightly off-center registration, are allowed. Corners are sharp and square, cover inks are bright and reflective, spine is tight and flat, staples are centered, pages are white and supple. No cover soiling, creasing, tearing, or pieces missing.

Nearly perfect with only minor imperfections. Overall look is as if it had just been purchased from the newstand and probably not even read. Subtle bindery or printing flaws allowed, including a 1/16" bindery tear. Corners are sharp and either square or with ever-so-slight blunting, cover inks are bright and reflective, spine is tight and flat, staples are generally centered, pages are at worst off-white and supple. No cover soiling, creasing, tearing, pieces missing, or wear.

Nearly perfect with only minor imperfections. Overall look is as if it had just been purchased from the newstand and carefully read once or twice. Subtle bindery or printing flaws allowed, including a 1/16" bindery tear. Corners are sharp and either square or with ever-so-slight blunting, cover inks are bright and reflective, spine is tight and flat, staples are generally centered, pages range from white to cream and are supple. No cover soiling, creasing, tearing, pieces missing, or wear.

Nearly perfect with some minor imperfections. Overall look is still as if it had carefully read a few times. Subtle bindery or printing flaws allowed. Corners are sharp and either square or with ever-so-slight blunting, cover inks are bright and reflective, spine is tight and flat, staples are generally centered, pages may be off-white to cream. No cover soiling, tearing, or pieces missing. One minor crease allowed in this grade.

Outstanding with excellent eye appeal. Overall look is as if it had been read a few times and carefully handled. Limited number of bindery or printing flaws allowed. Corners may have very minor wear, cover inks are bright and moderate to highly reflective, spine is almost completely flat with a possible minor color break, staples may have slight discoloration, pages can be at worst cream but still supple. Very minor cover soiling or foxing is allowed. No tearing or pieces missing. Cover may have minimal surface wear with a possible 1/4" or smaller bend that doesn't break color.

Outstanding with excellent eye appeal. Overall look is as if it had been read a few times and carefully handled. Limited number of bindery or printing flaws allowed. Corners may have minute wear, cover inks are bright and moderate to highly reflective, spine is almost completely flat with a possible minor color break, staples may have slight discoloration, pages may be cream to light tan and supple. Very minor cover soiling allowed. A small tear is allowed, but no pieces missing. Cover may have minimal surface wear with a possible 1/4" or smaller bend and color break.

This grade still has excellent eye appeal. Overall look is as if it had been read a few times and accrued minor handling wear. Limited number of bindery or printing flaws allowed. Corners may have minute wear, cover inks are still moderate to highly reflective, spine is almost completely flat with a few possible stress marks, staples may have slight discoloration, pages can be cream to very light tan. Minor cover soiling or a small tear allowed. A small piece may be missing only if it is a printing/bindery defect. Covers may have minimal surface wear with a possible small crease or two.

Still nice eye appeal. Overall look is as if it had been read a few times and carefully handled. Limited number of bindery or printing flaws allowed. Corners may have some wear, cover inks are moderate to highly reflective, spine is almost completely flat with possible minor color breaks, staples may have slight discoloration, pages are cream to light tan and still fairly supple. Some cover soiling or minor tearing. Still no pieces missing. Covers may have minor surface wear with possible minor creasing.

Above-average copy that shows minor wear but is flat and clean with good eye appeal. Overall look is as if read a few times and handled with moderate care. Some accumulaton of bindery or printing flaws allowed. Corners may have blunting, cover inks may be less bright or have reduced reflectivity, spine may have a minor roll with a possible 1/4" split or color break, staples may have minor discoloration, and pages can be tannish but fairly supple. Minor cover soiling and staple tears allowed. No pieces missing. Cover may have minor surface wear with minor to moderate cover creases.

Above-average copy that shows minor wear but is fairly flat and clean with good eye appeal. Overall look is as if read a few times and handled with moderate care. Some accumulaton of bindery or printing flaws allowed. Corners may have blunting, cover inks may be less bright or have reduced reflectivity, spine may have a minor roll with a possible 1/4" split and minor color breaks, staples may have minor discoloration, and pages can be tannish but fairly supple. Minor cover soiling and small staple tears allowed. A very tiny piece may be missing. Cover may have minor surface wear with minor to moderate cover creases.

Above-average copy that shows minor wear but is fairly flat and clean with decent eye appeal. Overall look is as if read a few times and handled with moderate care. Some accumulaton of bindery or printing flaws allowed. Corners may have blunting, cover inks may be less bright or have reduced reflectivity, spine may have a minor roll with a possible 1/4" split and minor color breaks, staples may have minor discoloration, and pages can be tannish but fairly supple. Minor cover soiling and staple tears allowed. A very tiny piece can be missing. Cover may have minor surface wear with minor to moderate cover creases. Centerfold may be a little loose.

Above-average copy that shows minor wear but is fairly flat and clean with decent eye appeal. Overall look is as if read a several times and handled with moderate care. An accumulaton of bindery or printing flaws allowed. Corners typically have blunting, cover inks may be less bright or have reduced reflectivity, spine may have a minor roll with a possible 3/4" split and minor color breaks, staples may have minor discoloration, and pages can be tannish and somewhat supple. Minor cover soiling and staple tears allowed. A very small piece may be missing. Cover may have minor surface wear with minor to moderate cover creases.

Average used copy with moderate wear. Overall look is as if read many times and handled with some care. Corners may have blunting, cover may have low reflectivity, spine may have a moderate roll or up to a 1" split, staples may have discoloration, and pages can be tan but not brittle. Cover soiling and minor to moderate staple tears allowed. Up to 1/4" triangle may be missing on corner or edge. Cover may have moderate to significant surface wear with moderate cover creases. Cover and centerfold may be loose, but may not be detached.

Average used copy with significant moderate wear. Overall look is as if read many times. Corners may be blunted and worn, cover may have low reflectivity, spine may have a moderate roll or up to a 1" split, staples may have discoloration, and pages can be tan but not brittle. Cover soiling and minor to moderate staple tears allowed. Up to 1/4" triangle may be missing on corner or edge. Cover may have moderate to significant surface wear with moderate cover creases. Cover may have a full-length subscription crease. Small piece of tape allowed. Cover and centerfold may be loose, but may not be detached.

Key Note: This is the highest grade that can be assigned to any magazine with tape.

Average used copy with significant moderate wear. Overall look is as if read many times. Corners are probably blunted and worn, cover likely has low reflectivity, spine may have a moderate roll or up to a 1" split, staples may have discoloration, and pages can be tan but not brittle. Minor cover soiling and minor to moderate staple tears allowed. Up to 5/8" piece may be missing on corner or edge. Cover may have moderate to significant surface wear with moderate cover creases. Cover and centerfold may be loose, and centerfold may be detached at one staple.

Average used copy with significant moderate wear. Overall look is as if read many times. Corners are probably blunted and worn, cover may have low reflectivity, spine may have a moderate roll or up to a 1 1/2" split, staples may have discoloration, and pages can be tan but not brittle. Cover soiling and minor to moderate staple tears allowed. Up to 5/8" triangle may be missing on corner or edge. Cover may have moderate to significant surface wear with moderate cover creases. Cover may be loose, and centerfold may be detached.

Used copy with substantial wear. Overall look is as if read many times, but is still complete. Corners may have rounding, cover may have low or no reflectivity, spine may have a roll or up to a 2" split, staples may have discoloration or some rust, and pages can be tan but not brittle. Moderate cover soiling and moderate staple tears allowed. Up to 1/2" piece may be missing on corner or edge. Cover may have significant surface wear with mag-length cover creases. Cover may be detached at one staple, centerfold may be completely detached.

Used copy with substantial wear. Overall look is as if read many times, but is still complete. Corners are likely rounded and worn, cover may have low or no reflectivity, spine may have a roll or up to a 2" split, staples may have discoloration or rust, and pages can be tan but not brittle. Moderate cover soiling and significant staple tears allowed. Up to 1/2" piece may be missing on corner or edge. Cover may have significant surface wear with mag-length cover creases. Cover may be detached at one staple, centerfold may be completely detached.

Used copy with substantial wear. Overall look is as if read many times, but is still complete. Corners are likely rounded and worn, cover may have low or no reflectivity, spine may have a roll or up to a 2" split, staples may have discoloration or rust, and pages can be tan or even brown but not brittle. Moderate cover soiling and moderate staple tears allowed. Up to 5/8" piece may be missing on corner, edge, or interior page. Cover may have significant surface wear with mag-length cover creases. Cover and centerfold may be detached.

Overall look is very rough, but is still complete. Corners may be very worn, cover may have low or no reflectivity, spine may have a roll or up to a 3" split, staples may have discoloration or rust, and pages can be tan or brown but not brittle. Heavy cover soiling and staple tears allowed. Up to 3/4" triangle may be missing on corner, edge, or interior page. Cover may have significant surface wear with mag-length cover creases. Cover and centerfold may be loose or detached.

Used copy with heavy wear. Overall look is as if read many times with little care, but is still complete. Corners likely very worn, cover may have no reflectivity, spine may have a roll or up to 2/3rds split, staples may have discoloration or rust, pages can be tan or brown, and edges may show some brittleness. Cover soiling and staple tears are common. Small pieces of front or back cover or interior pages may be missing, but nothing affecting the stories. Cover may have considerable surface wear with mag-length cover creases, significant tears and folds. Cover and centerfold may be loose or detached.

Key Note: A magazine graded this low can still be very valuable. Our example image book for a comic book in this grade, a FR/GD 1.5 Detective Comics 27, sold for $83,650.00 through Heritage Galleries!

Very heavy wear. Often the only thing separating a FR 1.0 magazine from PR 0.5 is the fact that a cover in some form is present. The cover may be detached or have chunks missing from the front and/or back, but it is there. The spine may be completely split. Cover soiling and staple tears are common. May have many tears and folds. Centerfold may be loose or detached.

Heavily used copy, may be incomplete. Overall look is not good, but hey, at least the thing's still around. Although in some cases, maybe it's best if it's not. If it's for example a Modern Age Rob Liefeld book, do us a favor and just toss it on the fire.

Key Note: The two grades lower than this are relatively new additions, a result of extremely high prices being paid for very low grade key Golden Age items. We actually needed some differentiation here, Nosto was seeing too much variance on our PR 0.5 pricing.

This is an incomplete magazine. We will follow the CBCS definitions for this grade, which distills down to this: the only magazine that can get this grade is a coverless but otherwise complete mag, or a lone cover. Yes, we find that definition a little odd too but at least it's clear.

Key Note: Any coverless but otherwise complete mag automatically gets assigned this grade. While most magazines in this grade will have almost no value, a coverless copy of a key mag may command very high prices. One reason: a collector may have a cover for that mag, and will "marry" the cover to the coverless copy. Example sale: a CBCS INC 0.3 copy of Action Comics 1 sold for $65,725.00 in late 2016.

This comic book is coverless as well as having an incomplete interior. In fact, it may be only a single page from a book. Why would anybody care? See Key Note from INC 0.3.