My local comic shop had a 'mint condition' back issue sale... I learned what that really means

So I went to this shop downtown, Comic Kingdom, for their big back issue sale last Saturday. They had a stack of old X-Men #266s from 1990 marked as 'near mint' for $40 each. I grabbed one, took it home, and noticed the spine had this weird crease I missed in the store. Turns out 'near mint' to them means 'looks okay from three feet away in bad lighting.' I went back the next day to complain and the guy behind the counter just shrugged and said 'that's how we grade 'em, pal.' So I learned to bring a magnifying glass and a bright flashlight to any sale now. Has anyone else dealt with shops that have their own weird grading system that doesn't match the official scale?

3 comments

3 Comments

max_cooper2110d agoTop Commenter

Laughed out loud at the "three feet away in bad lighting" line because I've totally been there. Bought what I thought was a flawless Secret Wars #8 only to find a dog-eared corner under my lamp at home. Now I literally bring a jeweler's loupe with me to every back issue bin I dig through.

beth_park10d ago

Mine's not a loupe, it's my reading glasses I keep forgetting I'm wearing on my head.

thea60210d ago

Oh man, I do the same thing but with these cheap readers from the drugstore. I'll be digging through a bin and realize I'm squinting like crazy... then I touch my face and yep, there they are, right on top of my head. Last week I actually put them on over my sunglasses by accident, walked around the shop for ten minutes looking like a total dork before a vendor pointed it out. The worst is when I buy a stack of books, get home all excited, and realize I can't even read the price tags I was looking at because I left the glasses in the car. I swear I need a loupe just to find my reading glasses at this point.