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Rinkya's condition grading standard for books and manga: first editions, tankōbon, art books, magazines, and dōjinshi. Graded in the language of the rare book trade, extended for Japanese books. Published for transparency and collector reference.
We grade books in the standard language of the antiquarian book trade: the condition terminology established by AB Bookman's Weekly and used by ABAA and ILAB booksellers worldwide. A book is never "Mint"; the ceiling word is Fine. An optional plus or minus refines a grade (VG+, NF-).
Two rules govern every grade we assign. First, every defect is stated explicitly, whatever the grade: an unstated defect is an absent defect. Second, the overall grade is capped by the condition of the book itself and is never an average: a Fine book in a Poor jacket is described exactly that way, not blended into "Good".
Exactly as published. No visible wear of any kind. Rare for vintage material by definition.
Clean, sharp, and bright. No toning beyond the faintest hint, no creases, no chips or tears. Approaches As New but shows it has existed.
Approaches Fine, with one or two small flaws, each noted: light shelf rub at the extremities, a faint spine lean.
Visible light wear but no major defects: light even toning, minor edgewear, small closed tears to the jacket edges. The workhorse grade; most collectible vintage manga honestly lives here.
An average, complete, worn copy: noticeable sunning or soil, creases, chips to the jacket, an ownership stamp. Every defect listed.
Heavily worn but complete: large chips or tears, tape, heavy fade. Still displays.
Severely degraded. A reading or reference copy, graded for completeness of the record.
The trade grades a book and its dust jacket separately ("VG/VG+" reads book, then jacket). Japanese books add a third element no Western scale captures: the obi (帯), the publisher's promotional band, whose presence (帯付き) is a first-class market fact. We therefore grade three exterior components, written Covers / Jacket / Obi, for example: VG+ / NF / VG.
The boards or wrappers and the spine of the book itself. Always graded.
Recorded as Present, Absent, or Not issued; graded when present. A missing issued jacket is a completeness fact, not a Covers defect.
Recorded as Present, Absent, or Not issued; graded when present. Obi presence is stated on every record because the market prices it.
The interior (text block, pages, binding integrity) is inspected and every defect is noted, but it does not receive a letter grade. Assigning interior grades invites repeated deep handling of fragile bindings, and plain condition language ("binding tight, pages clean and unmarked") tells a collector more than a letter would. This mirrors the physical Rinkya obi band, which carries exterior grade lines only.
Defects are recorded in a shared English/Japanese vocabulary so a certificate reads consistently in both languages:
A tankōbon is a book (square-bound, jacketed, with a colophon 奥付) and it grades as one. Four rules keep the standard honest for manga specifically:
We grade in writing, in the language of the rare book trade, and we never seal a book in a slab: our enclosure is a breathable, acid-free obi band designed for conservation. For collectors who know numeric comic scales: our Fine sits at the top of those scales.
Every book is examined by a specialist under raking light, exterior components are graded on this scale, the interior is inspected and described, edition points are verified against the colophon, and the full assessment (grades, defects, and photographs) is recorded on the certificate and anchored permanently. Grades are assigned by a human, in writing, and the writing controls.
Terminology follows the condition definitions established by AB Bookman's Weekly, as adopted across the ABAA and ILAB antiquarian trade, extended with the obi component and the manga rules above for Japanese books.
This grading standard covers books and manga assessed under the Rinkya certification program: first editions, tankōbon, art books, magazines, and dōjinshi. Questions about a specific record or grade: authentic@rinkya.com.
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