Inside the Vault.

Vault Grades is being built around CGC grading standards and the familiar 0.5–10.0 scale. Planned assessments will focus on visible condition factors including the spine, corners, surface, centering and color-breaking defects observable in submitted evidence. The remote-assessment model will evaluate photographs rather than physically handle the book, with supporting findings and confidence information where appropriate. Assessment services are coming soon.

The planned service is designed to report a grade band and confidence level, rather than a single accuracy percentage. If uncertainty could change the submission decision, the report should say so. The goal is structured information for a better decision, not a guaranteed grade or financial return. The assessment engine is not publicly available yet.

Professional grading costs real money and can keep a book out of your hands for several weeks or longer. Between grading fees, handling and shipping, a book can cost more to submit than grading ultimately adds to its value. Vault Grades is being designed to help you understand that decision before the book leaves your hands.

Your Vault collection is free. When paid services launch, you will pay for the decision or service you need, when you need it. No subscription. Nothing to cancel. The prices shown are planned launch prices; assessment services and physical fulfillment are not currently for sale.

Yes. Building and maintaining your Vault collection does not require an assessment purchase. Every comic can keep its Vault Record and permanent Vault ID whether or not you ever purchase a paid assessment.

The planned Vault Grade Certificate will be the official physical record of a Vault Grade assessment issued by Vault Grades. It can show the comic’s Vault ID, the Assessment Serial, the issued grade and other report information. It does not establish comic-book authenticity. Certificates and physical fulfillment are coming soon.

A Vault ID identifies the comic’s permanent Vault Record. A planned Assessment Serial will identify one specific Vault Grade assessment. The same comic can retain its Vault ID while receiving different Assessment Serials if it is assessed again later. The serial is intended to match across the digital report, printed report, certificate and serialized hologram. Assessment Serials are not issued in the current collection beta.

No. The planned Vault Grade Display Package is a collector-installed presentation package for a remote Vault Grade assessment. Physical examination and encapsulation by Vault Grades are not included. A future physical inspection or encapsulation service would be a separate product with its own custody and examination process.

No. Vault Grades is an independent service.

Use the Forgot password link on the sign-in page to request a reset email. Open the secure link in that email to choose a new password. Password recovery does not replace email confirmation for a new account.

Vault Grades is a private digital archive for your comics, with future photo-based condition assessment services in development. Today you can create a free collection account, catalog books and preserve original photographs.

A Vault Record brings together the details of one comic in your collection: title, issue, publication date, variant, printing, private notes and collection images. It is a collection record, not a grade or appraisal.

Each comic receives a permanent Vault ID when its record is created. The ID stays with that record for its lifetime. If you delete the record, that ID is retired and never reused.

The current collection beta is free. You do not need to purchase an assessment to create records or upload collection photographs. Assessment services are in development and are not currently for sale.

The current image record has ten slots: Front 1–5 and Back 1–5. A record with all ten stored images is Complete; a record with fewer is a Draft. Complete refers to the image record. It does not mean assessed or certified.

Assessment Ready is a planned future state indicating that the required photographic evidence is complete. It does not mean assessed. The current beta uses Draft and Complete collection record statuses.

No. A future Vault Assessment is planned as photo-based condition analysis. Photographs cannot establish everything that physical custody and inspection can. Photo assessment is distinct from physical inspection and tamper-evident certification; it is not authentication, an appraisal or a guaranteed grade.

Modern technology supports collection records and secure image handling today. Future analysis methods, including AI-assisted tools, are in development. AI grading is not available in the current beta. Human expertise and structured evidence guide the approach.

Original photographs are stored privately on Vault Grades’ own server. They are retrieved through authenticated requests and are not published as public website assets. Your collection photographs are not used as marketing imagery.

No. Collection access is tied to your signed-in account. Other collectors cannot retrieve your records or photographs by changing a Vault ID or image URL. Authorized Vault staff have protected administrative access.

Yes. Sign in to the same account on another device to access your private collection and stored images.

The Replace control updates that front or back slot with the new original. It does not create a new Vault ID. The current collection beta does not provide customer-facing image version history or immutable assessment reports.

Each of the ten slots accepts JPEG, PNG or WebP images up to 25 MiB. Use clear photographs, good lighting and minimal glare, with the full comic visible. Spine slots and a separate assessment evidence workflow are not part of the current beta.

Expert-reviewed Assessment is a planned future service involving professional human review of photographic evidence. It is in development and is not currently available to purchase.

Vault Grades is its own brand. Professional experience behind the project does not imply endorsement, partnership or affiliation with another grading company.