NEW SEPTEMBER 2015

"DAN'S VINTAGE GIJOE GRADING SCALE #4 FOR LOOSE EQUIPMENT AND ACCESSORIES"

Each item graded must stand on it's own, regardless of what is previously considered normal, usual, common hobby thinking or even how items were made in the 1960's and 1970's. The grade any item gets is simply adding up all of the details of any particular piece. ANY item must meet ALL of the criteria for each grade listed below. For the present there will be no use of middle grades. The lack of a knowledge base in the hobby has always made GIJoe a very difficult hobby to pursue. These grading scales are an attempt at reducing the amount of confusion in the vintage GIJoe hobby. Having specific condition grades will make it easier for everyone to put a value on their collectables and hopefully allow collectors to enjoy the hobby more.

C10 MINT CONDITION:
Overall shiny and brand new appearance; perfectly smooth and unmarred plastic; painted lettering perfectly clear; elastic original length, soft and stretchy attached with original factory thread on shiny hooks; perfect vinyl with no tears; no holes on anything except where item was sewn to the original backing card; has no evidence of ever being used and is in the original pristine condition it was inside the package; no melt marks, rust, stains or any flaws of any kind; nothing restored or repaired

C9 NEAR MINT CONDITION:
Overall shiny and brand new appearance; perfectly smooth plastic but may be minutely scuffed from the packaging cellophane; painted lettering perfectly clear; elastic might be longer than normal but is still soft and stretchy attached with original factory thread on shiny hooks; perfect vinyl with no tears; no holes on anything except where item was sewn to the original backing card; if ever used was handled with extreme care and shows no play wear of any kind; no melt marks, rust, stains or flaws other than might have been caused by being inside a sealed package for a long time where the cellophane slightly scuffed the item; nothing restored or repaired

C8 EXCELLENT CONDITION:
Overall clean and new appearance; smooth and clean plastic but may be slightly scuffed from being handled and stored; clean crisp lettering but may have a few imperfections; elastic slightly stretched but still soft and stretchy attached with original factory thread on shiny hooks; clean vinyl but may have a very slight corner flaw; no holes on anything except where the item was sewn to the original backing card; was handled very gently and stored with care but may have very slight scuffs to plastic and/or painted surfaces; no melt marks, rust, stains, cracks or flaws in the plastic molding; nothing restored or repaired

C7 GOOD CONDITION:
Overall nice appearance but may not be perfectly clean; overall smooth plastic but may have a couple of slight gouges and/or melt marks; painted lettering might have been scratched off slightly; elastic is stretched and may be slightly hardened but still attached with original factory thread on original hooks which may be slightly tarnished; clean vinyl but may have a slight imperfection like an ink mark, slight melt mark or crack or tear; no holes on anything except where the item was sewn to the original backing card; is in played with condition but still handled gently and overall exhibits scuffs to the plastic and/or painted surfaces; some slight melt marks, tarnish but not rust, slight imperfections in the surface color but no cracks or flaws in the plastic molding; nothing restored or repaired

LOW GRADE FAIR CONDITION:
Basic materials look completely played with and are barely usable; exhibits many scratches, melt marks, crispy hardened elastic, ink or paint marks, scuffed off and worn painted details, cracks or splits; has very little value except as a collection filler unless the item is exceedingly scarce; anything lower grade than a C7 is not gradable!

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NEW SEPTEMBER 2015