So a little while back i missshifted from 3rd to second.

and before i took my cylinder head basically all the way off. i have the cams and what not out. and now i can see the valves and it doesn't look like i bent a valve.

now the question is would i be able to tell if the valves were bent without takin off the springs.

and what else could have gone wrong if the valves aren't bent. the car cranked and fired through the cylinders but just didn't ever stay cranked up.

You could have done a leak down test.

with the head off put gasoline into the intake and exhaust tracts and see if it leaks past the valves

do a leak down test you will still be able to do this. Actually it would be easier since all the valves are closed now due to the fact that the cams are out.

The only way to tell if a valve is bent from the top of the motor is to measure the height of them. Even then it would be hard to say. A valve bends somewhere between the head of the valve and where it goes into the guide. It may not even look like it when he head is taken off, it doesn't take much for it to not seat properly against the valve seat.