The guy who graded my comic at a convention made me question my whole collection

I was at the Pittsburgh Comic Con last Sunday and brought a Detective Comics #880 I thought was a solid 9.6. The grader at the CGC booth took one look and said, "That spine stress is a 9.0 on a good day." I stood there for like five minutes just staring at the edges with a loupe he handed me, and he was right, there was a tiny color break I never even noticed. I ended up buying his loupe off him for $15 just so I could go home and re-check all my key issues. Has anyone else had a pro point out something obvious that made you feel blind?

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fiona_clark4d ago

Got a 9.4 on my Amazing Spider-Man #300 back in 2018, thought it was perfect until the grader pointed out a faint crease right along the top edge that I'd missed for years. After that I bought a cheap $10 LED loupe off Amazon and now I check every book under direct light at three different angles before I even think about slabbing. Once you start looking for those breaks, you'll see them everywhere, it's like a curse but it saves you money in the long run on grading fees.