Standards Used for Grading Items

In an effort to be consistent with most of the major collectibles books that have been published,  What a Character!   uses a condition-based grading system when evaluating the condition of the items that we sell.  One thing to bear in mind as you look through our inventory listings and descriptions, and as you read through the grading explanations/criteria below, is that condition grades are NOT based on an item's age.  That is, an item described as being in mint condition is NOT said to be in mint condition for its age; it is in mint condition, period.  In this manner, you as a buyer can know that a 1930s-era item described as being in mint condition is in the exact same condition as a 1980s-era item that is described as being in mint condition.

Sometimes, condition grading can be subjective, especially when there is something "unusual" or "noteworthy" about an item's condition.   For example, suppose there is a ceramic item in our inventory.  The paint on it is flawless, the original label is intact, and the item has no chips.  This item has one major problem, though:  It was broken in half and then very neatly reglued.   Clearly, with the break, the item does not qualify for "mint" condition, even though it would easily meet this standard were it not for the break.  Just how far down the grading continuum this item should be graded condition-wise is open to debate.  The authors of the published collectibles books do not agree on how to grade this item.  Some would argue that an item that was broken automatically qualifies for no grading better than FAIR, no matter how neat the repair is and no matter how nicely the item displays.  Others would argue that the item could still be graded as highly as EXCELLENT, so long as the repair is not obvious when the item is displayed, except upon close inspection.

For this reason, we recommend that you ask any/all questions you have about an item's condition before making the decision to purchase it.  We always do our very best to describe all of our items accurately, and provide the most accurate pictures of them that we possibly can.  But in order to make sure that you know everything you need to know about an item's condition, we urge you to make any specific inquiries you want/need, in order to know everything you need to know about the item before buying it.   That way, when you get it in the mail, you will be pleased with your purchase, since it will have been described accurately and all of your questions had been answered accurately.

Here are the basic definitions and criteria we at  What a Character!  use when grading items in our inventory:

• MINT (C-10): The item is flawless.   It has no chips, no scratches, no scrapes, no damage, and no imperfections of any kind.  Items in this condition are very rare and often come at a substantially-higher price than even near-mint condition items due to their pristine nature.

• NEAR MINT (C-9):  The item is not perfect, but is close to it.  It may have a few very small surface scratches or a few very small areas of minor paint wear or paint loss.  Soiling, if present, is only minimal.  Large items may meet this criterion if they have a very small chip in them in an inconspicuous place.  If the item consists of several pieces or parts, either all parts/pieces are present OR one minor part/piece is missing.  This is the condition of most collectors' BEST pieces--the condition to which most collectors like to be able to upgrade their most beloved pieces.

• EXCELLENT (C-8):  The item has some imperfections, but generally is in very nice condition.  This grading usually indicates that there are a number of minor scratches in the paint, or perhaps one larger scratch in the paint of an otherwise-really-nice item.  Fabric may be soiled; it may even have a small hole or tear in an inconspicuous place.  Paint wear might be present, but would not be very significant, especially in the areas where the item would be seen most easily when it is displayed.  There may be a few very small chips in ceramic, plaster, papier mache, or composition items meeting this grade, so long as they are few in number and not located in  places where they detract from the item's display quality.  If the item in question is one that operates or moves, in order to be in EXCELLENT condition, it must be in proper working/operating condition.   EXCELLENT condition typifies the overall condition of the majority of the items in most collectors' collections.

• VERY GOOD (C-7): Items in this condition have general overall wear and obviously have been used BUT they are still generally in nice, displayable, collectible condition.  Paint wear would be described as light to moderate.  Scratches in the paint or in the item's surface might be fairly numerous, but even with them, the large majority of the paint remains intact.   Fabric parts might be torn in a few small places or lightly to moderately soiled.   Items consisting of many parts or pieces may have more than one piece/part missing OR whatever part/piece is missing may be a major one.  If the item is something that moves or operates, if it is in VERY GOOD condition, it either does not work but looks very nice OR it works but has superficial, outer wear or minor damage.  Items made of ceramic, composition, plaster, or papier mache that are in VERY GOOD condition probably have a number of small "dings" or chips in them, and one or two of them may be in conspicuous places that affect the display quality of the item.

• GOOD (C-6):  Items in this condition have a moderate amount of overall wear and obviously have been used (maybe even abused a little).  Paint wear would be described as moderate.  Scratches in the paint or in the item's surface will be fairly numerous; perhaps as much as 10-20% of the item's surface area has been affected by scratches, scrapes, paint rubs, etc.  Fabric parts might be torn in a few places or moderately soiled; small pieces of fabric or articles of clothing may be missing.  Items consisting of many parts or pieces probably have more than one part/piece missing AND/OR they are missing more than one key part/piece.  If the item is something that moves or operates, if it is in GOOD condition, it either does not work but still displays fairly nicely (say, C-7.5 or better display quality) OR it works but has a moderate amount of outer wear and/or damage.   Items made of ceramic, composition, plaster, or papier mache that are in GOOD condition suffer from such problems as:  having numerous "dings" or chips, hairline fractures, multiple "dings" or chips in conspicuous places that affect the display quality of the item, and/or larger areas of damage.  This grade is regarded by most collectors as the lowest grade that they will consider for their own collections, and usually GOOD condition items will be upgraded at a later time by the serious collector.  Oftentimes, collectors purchase GOOD condition items as fillers, when they are missing a particular item for which they have been searching for a long time or when the item is very rare and they wish to have an affordable example of the item in their collection.

• FAIR (C-4 and C-5):  Items in this condition have a moderate to heavy amount of overall wear and obviously have been used (probably abused, more than a little).  Paint wear would be described as moderate to heavy.  Scratches in the paint or in the item's surface will be numerous; perhaps as much as 20-50% of the item's surface area has been affected by scratches, scrapes, paint rubs, etc.  Fabric parts might be torn;  pieces are probably missing; overall soiling is moderate to heavy.  Items consisting of many parts or pieces will have more than one part/piece missing and they are probably missing more than one key part/piece.  If the item is something that moves or operates, if it is in FAIR condition, it probably does not work but still retains a reasonable amount of display quality (say, C-6.5 or better).  If the item does still work, then there is probably a moderate to heavy amount of  display quality) OR it works but has a moderate amount of outer wear and/or damage.  Items made of ceramic, composition, plaster, or papier mache that are in FAIR condition suffer from such problems as:  having numerous "dings" or chips, hairline fractures, multiple "dings" or chips in conspicuous places that affect the display quality of the item, and/or larger areas of damage.  This grade is regarded by most collectors as being substandard--one that they will only rarely consider for items in their collections.   Since we at    What a Character!   try to cater to the collector, we have very little merchandise in this condition in stock!

• POOR (C-1, C-2, C-3):  Items in this condition have a large amount of overall wear and have been abused by their previous owners.  Paint wear would be described as heavy or substantial.  Scratches in the paint or in the item's surface will be numerous; more than 50% of the item's surface area has been affected by scratches, scrapes, paint rubs, etc.  Fabric parts might be torn; pieces are probably missing; overall soiling is heavy.  Items consisting of many parts or pieces will have more than numerous parts/pieces missing and they are probably missing more than one key part/piece.  If the item is something that moves or operates, if it is in POOR condition, it probably does not work and has only a so-so display quality (say, in the C-4.5 to C-5.5 range).  If the item does still work, then there is a lot of surface wear and damage that affect the display quality significantly.  Items made of ceramic, composition, plaster, or papier mache that are in POOR condition suffer from such problems as:  having numerous "dings" or chips, hairline fractures, multiple "dings" or chips in conspicuous places that affect the display quality of the item, larger areas of damage, and/or conspicuous pieces/parts missing.  This grade is regarded by most collectors as being wholly unacceptable.  When serious collectors purchase a POOR condition item, they usually do so because it has some part(s) that can be taken from the item and put with one already in their collection, to help upgrade it.   What a Character!   never has ANY merchandise in this condition in stock!

SOME OTHER GRADING-RELATED TERMINOLOGY WE USE

• MOC / NMOC: This means Mint On Card or Near Mint On Card.  Items described in this manner usually come mounted on cardboard mounting cards, contained inside of clear-plastic blisterpack.   The MOC or NMOC notation means that the item is in perfect condition; the cardboard mounting card is in perfect (or near perfect) condition; and the blisterpack is in perfect (or near perfect) condition.

• MIP:  This means Mint In Package.  Items described in this manner come in some type of bag or plastic wrapping, and are being sold with that bag or wrapping.   The items themselves are in perfect condition; the packaging may or may not be in comparable condition.  If the condition of the packaging is of great importance to you, please read our descriptions carefully when items are described as being in MIP.   Oftentimes, MIP items come in packaging that is NOT in mint (or even close to mint) condition.

• MIB / NMIB:  This means Mint In Box or Near Mint In Box.  Items described in this manner are being sold in their original manufacturer's box, and the items themselves are in perfect condition (or near perfect condition).  If the condition of the box is of great importance to you, please read our descriptions carefully when items are described as being in MIB or NMIB.  Oftentimes, MIB or NMIB items come in packaging that is NOT in mint (or even close to mint) condition.

• NRFP / NRFB:  This means Never Removed From Package or Never Removed From Box.   The item itself is likely to be in mint condition, since it has never been taken out of its original packaging.  Occasionally, however, due to jostling over the years, items described in this manner are NOT in mint condition.  Our descriptions always indicate this particular situation on the rare occasion that an item is found like that.

09/20/14 04:23 PM