This page will hopefully answer some questions you may have about the grading tool.

Firstly, a little about the development and usage of E-BIGS

E-BIGS was developed as a grade 'calculator' for those times when you have a book in your hand and for one reason or another it is difficult to fathom a grade on your own. Whether this is to do with specific defects which might drop the grade considerably, unusual defects that you have not come across on other books in your collection, or you need a fresh objective indication of the condition of your copy, E-BIGS was developed to suit those requirements.

E-BIGS should not be considered as a remedy to Professional third-party grading however, as it is difficult to assess the whole book from the sum of the parts. Many grades change as a result of 'eye appeal' and this is difficult to factor into a purely deductive scheme. As many have said, comic book grading is a mixture of art and science, and until there is a universally accepted definitive way to measure gloss, page colour and defects of that sort, there will still be subjectivity inherent in the grading process.

The format of the tool was set to allow maximum objectivity by listing individual defects in alphabetical order, as opposed to starting with large defects and moving on to small and less significant ones. In this way it may be easier to arrive at a more correct grade as it draws attention to some aspects of wear and degredation that you might otherwise overlook.

Using E-BIGS

Very simply, have the book you want to grade in front of you out of any protective bags or sleeves.

Follow the defect categories in the E-BIGS list one by one. Select the button beneath the example that most resembles the features of your book. When grading FROM SCANS, remember that scans can be enlarged, and the picture on the screen may appear larger than the real book. In these cases the defects tend to be overestimated, leading to a LOWER grade than is expected. It may be useful to resize a scanned image of your book, or hold your comic up to the screen to relate the size of the defects. Use the whole page scans (double click where available) to see the defect in context with the rest of the book.

Once you have clicked a button for each defect, click the 'GRADE' button on the control panel and the label will be displayed in a pop-up window (you may need to turn off any pop-up blockers you have installed). Close this window to return to the grading tool- if you leave it open the label will not change when you enter new details.

Entering Book Information

Use the entry boxes at the top of the page to include these items in your label:

  • Book Title
  • Issue Number
  • Variant name (the word 'Variant' will be added automatically)
  • Publisher (from dropdown list)
  • Date of publication

You can then add any further details you wish about the book in the Add Notes section at the bottom of the page (hint: use the QuickLink!). If you make a line return in the box, E-BIGS will create a new bullet point for the new line.

If you have made a selection for Interior Page Color, E-BIGS will add this to the label in larger print.
Hit 'Grade' to see your label!

Some FAQs

  • Do I have to have that annoying control box on the page?

    The page navigation is an issue because there are 36 categories to deal with. If you only want to fill in a few, and can't remember which way to scroll, I find the Control Panel is a useful tool. It also has the 'grade' and Reset buttons so you will need to open the panel up at some point after evaluation of the defect pictures. To minimise annoyance the panel can now be closed down to a small travelling graphic which will move with you up and down the page.

  • Why bother with Qualified grades?

    Qualified grades are a contentious issue in comic grading. There are those who say "the book is only as good as the worst defect, no matter how good the rest of it is" in which case they would be happy with a low grade for a great copy of a book with a moderately- sized tear on one page. The option that professional grading companies have adopted is to offer a qualified grade system, whereby the book is allocated a condition grade, qualified by the wosrt defect, ie., "it would be a 7.5 but the book has a coupon out, so the grade is 'a qualified 7.5 (Coupon Cut)'". E-BIGS has been developed to offer both- if there is a qualifying defect that would drop the book three grade points or more, then the book would be considered as eligible for a qualified grade. Click the checkbox in the control panel to see the fancy labels!

  • How about restoration?

    Restoration detection is a job best left to professionals. For one thing it would be almost impossible to see professional restoration in a small scan on a computer screen. The point of getting books professionally restored is to make the defects vanish, and in as natural way as possible. If you are concerned that your book has been restored, send it to one of the third-party professional grading companies for an evaluation.

  • Can I ask you a question?

    click here to send a message securely. We are building up a larger list of FAQs on this page..