Mint • Collecting General • The Acaeum

The Acaeum Forums • Collecting General

Mint
	Page 1 of 1

Author

chokensmoke
Collector

Posts: 6
Joined: Oct 02, 2005
Last Visit: Oct 06, 2005

Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2005 8:05 pm

Ok this is to prove I am not the numbstick Maxwell as it seems he would not be smart enough to pose even this basic question. Would you say a book was mint if it had ever been removed from its packing box for any reason once it had been sealed?

Thanks

peace unto you even if wrong.

GraysonAC
Prolific Collector

Posts: 752
Joined: Jun 29, 2005
Last Visit: Aug 09, 2020
Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada, eh?

Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2005 8:23 pm

Mint means flawless, not shrinkwrapped.

chokensmoke
Collector

Posts: 6
Joined: Oct 02, 2005
Last Visit: Oct 06, 2005

Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2005 9:01 pm

Great answer! My gosh that can't be it.

Love to a great modron

Blackmoor
Long-Winded Collector
Acaeum Donor

Posts: 3590
Joined: Dec 20, 2003
Last Visit: Jan 16, 2021
Location: Canada

Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2005 10:12 pm

GraysonAC wrote:Mint means flawless, not shrinkwrapped.

MINT is MINT! When I buy something shrinwrapped I am always afraid to open it up in case it was actually re-shrunk and crap inside

Games can get you through times of no money but money can not get you through times of no games!!

GraysonAC
Prolific Collector

Posts: 752
Joined: Jun 29, 2005
Last Visit: Aug 09, 2020
Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada, eh?

Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2005 10:40 pm

Blackmoor wrote:
GraysonAC wrote:Mint means flawless, not shrinkwrapped.

MINT is MINT! When I buy something shrinwrapped I am always afraid to open it up in case it was actually re-shrunk and crap inside

Or the staples have rusted all over the interior.

Winterwords
Prolific Collector

Posts: 226
Joined: Jun 29, 2005
Last Visit: Sep 02, 2014

Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2005 12:50 am

GraysonAC wrote:
Blackmoor wrote:

MINT is MINT! When I buy something shrinwrapped I am always afraid to open it up in case it was actually re-shrunk and crap inside

Or the staples have rusted all over the interior.

Or the glue has gone & it falls apart.

Mount Celestia doesn't want me and Baator's afraid I'll take over.

Ninty-eight Blue and Green Slaad at the door, Ninty-eight Blue and Green Slaad, Take one down, they gate in two more, Ninty-nine Blue and Green Slaad at the door...

Deadlord
Grandstanding Collector

Posts: 5613
Joined: Jun 30, 2003
Last Visit: Jan 15, 2021
Location: New Hampsha

Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2005 1:46 am

Or someone deshrinked it, disemboweled a deaf albino gerbil, and spread the small intestine along the inside pages, then reshrinked it.

Common sense answer. Mint is mint.

If you hit a Rowsdower, you get to keep it.

beyerun
Active Collector
Acaeum Donor

Posts: 68
Joined: Sep 05, 2003
Last Visit: Feb 08, 2008

Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2005 2:05 am

Show me something you say is mint and I'll find a flaw. Best you can ever find is Near Mint.

Mint is perfect. Staples razor straight. Everything centered. Perfectly cut. Lays flat. Perfect gloss. Not a frayed fiber on any edge. No printing imperfections at all.

Impossible. :D

harami2000
Sage Collector

Posts: 2639
Joined: Jan 23, 2003
Last Visit: Jan 11, 2006

Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2005 3:33 am

beyerun wrote:Mint is perfect. Staples razor straight. Everything centered. Perfectly cut. Lays flat. Perfect gloss. Not a frayed fiber on any edge. No printing imperfections at all.

"Mint" never used to mean all that... "Perfect" did, perhaps, and only then, by the viewer's own definition of "perfection".

A 600 year old hammered coin may be off-centre, have flange breaks, die breaks, inclusions in the metal, etc. and still be as minted.

Similarly books "as printed" can have numerous flaws greater than a "frayed fiber" as part of that process. (I like the idea of paper that doesn't have frayed fibers )

IMO, the quest for perfection to such a degree (reflected in tail-wagging-dog price biases) is largely pointless and irrational when there's no level playing field in the first place.

A 3rd OD&D book set and brand new DMG can both be in the condition they were "as printed"/"as issued" yet are somehow judged not against that, but against an idealised state of "perfection".

What is everyone actually collecting, first-and-foremost; a list of grade conditions or actual content?

deimos3428
Long-Winded Collector
Acaeum Donor

Posts: 3066
Joined: Jul 09, 2004
Last Visit: Apr 30, 2015

Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2005 8:18 am

harami2000 wrote:
beyerun wrote:Mint is perfect. Staples razor straight. Everything centered. Perfectly cut. Lays flat. Perfect gloss. Not a frayed fiber on any edge. No printing imperfections at all.

"Mint" never used to mean all that... "Perfect" did, perhaps, and only then, by the viewer's own definition of "perfection".

A 600 year old hammered coin may be off-centre, have flange breaks, die breaks, inclusions in the metal, etc. and still be as minted.

Similarly books "as printed" can have numerous flaws greater than a "frayed fiber" as part of that process. (I like the idea of paper that doesn't have frayed fibers )

IMO, the quest for perfection to such a degree (reflected in tail-wagging-dog price biases) is largely pointless and irrational when there's no level playing field in the first place.

A 3rd OD&D book set and brand new DMG can both be in the condition they were "as printed"/"as issued" yet are somehow judged not against that, but against an idealised state of "perfection".

What is everyone actually collecting, first-and-foremost; a list of grade conditions or actual content?

Very well stated. I think you know my answer to that question:

Anything above "SF" grade* is generally fine with me, and as a bonus, more likely to fall into my price range. :wink:

*Revised Grading system:

Code - Explanation

----------------------

DC - Decent: No major flaws, not ripped in half.

ND - Not Decent: Often confused with Near Mint. Possibly ripped in half.

SF - Set on Fire - Avoid. Includes the previous "TX" (toxic) grade.

johnhuck
Verbose Collector
Acaeum Donor

Posts: 1043
Joined: Jan 06, 2004
Last Visit: Jul 01, 2020
Location: Leicester, UK

Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2005 8:46 am

deimos3428 wrote:*Revised Grading system:

Code - Explanation

----------------------

DC - Decent: No major flaws, not ripped in half.

ND - Not Decent: Often confused with Near Mint. Possibly ripped in half.

SF - Set on Fire - Avoid. Includes the previous "TX" (toxic) grade.

But generally how I think when buying.

bclarkie
Grandstanding Collector
Acaeum Donor

Posts: 6463
Joined: Dec 13, 2004
Last Visit: Dec 25, 2019

Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2005 8:49 am

beyerun wrote:Show me something you say is mint and I'll find a flaw. Best you can ever find is Near Mint.

Mint is perfect. Staples razor straight. Everything centered. Perfectly cut. Lays flat. Perfect gloss. Not a frayed fiber on any edge. No printing imperfections at all.

Impossible.

This is actually a very strict interpretation of what card collectors(baseball, football, MTG, etc.) use. *<fact>*

It is far to hard to use this scale when grading books/booklets as for obvious reasons a book is substantially larger and has multiple pages, which be an impossible standard to use effectively. *<opinion>*

"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." -Neitzche

Deadlord
Grandstanding Collector

Posts: 5613
Joined: Jun 30, 2003
Last Visit: Jan 15, 2021
Location: New Hampsha

Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2005 11:55 am

Actually, a completely unflawed and unused book would be either "gem mint" or "pristine mint". Most items are mint when they are printed.

If you hit a Rowsdower, you get to keep it.

The Acaeum Forums • Collecting General

Page 1 of 1