Axe Elf

I'm sorry if you thought I was being hostile or critical of your assessment. I wasn't trying to be. I understand that grading is subjective, and yes, I think it's difficult to distinguish between an 8.5 and a 9.0 with this book--that's why I posted it. While I know I won't get any guarantee of a CGC assessment on the forums, I was hoping maybe someone with more experience could see things that I don't which would sway the grade up or down. I don't plan on submitting my books for officlal grading or preservation anyway; I'm just wanting to assign grades to them for my own personal satisfaction. In essence, I was agreeing with you, that I was also stuck between the two grades--but don't for a minute think that I don't appreciate your input (or anyone else's).

You know, after spending the past month collecting almost full runs of EERIEs and CREEPYs, it was pretty hard to start lifting up those staples myself. But trust me, these sacred texts are already pretty desecrated, or I wouldn't even be considering it. I'm sure nobody's scouring eBay for a 1.5 copy of CREEPY #104, so like I said, it's pretty much either throw them away, or recycle them as art. The surgery may be harsh, but without it, their life comes to an end. I choose to prolong their life, existing in pieces, rather than resting in peace.

Okay, okay... I'd estimate it's about a 15.0/2, with all those indentations and mystery spots.

That doesn't look to be more than 1/8" square, so it would probably still be acceptable in the "Fine" grades. Given how nice the rest of the book looks, I would think that "Fine +" (6.5) would be a slam dunk, and as my predecessors have assessed, perhaps even a "Fine/Very Fine" (7.0) tag could be applied.

Me too, but these were like 1.5, 2.0 issues (and worse) that I had from my youth and never took care of--some of them are already incomplete. I wouldn't feel right selling them to anyone for a dollar. So I can throw them away, or I can try to rebrand some of the inner pages as art. I dunno, worth a shot I guess. As George Carlin once said, "If you nail two things together that have never been nailed together before, some schmuck will buy it from you." Here's hoping his business model works for taping a bagged 0.1 graded comic to a frame.

Since there are some grading scales that recognize the "0.1" ("one-tenth") grade for as little as a single page of a book, I was thinking about maybe selling some of my crappier Warren magazines "in tenths"; as comic-based art. The product would be an actual 0.1 graded Warren comic, packaged in an industry-standard polyurethane bag and acid-free board, displayed in an attractive black bevel-cut frame, with a sticker at the bottom showing a miniature pic of the issue's cover and information about the issue and artist, etc. The overall size, including frame, is 11"x14". Here's my first prototype... So the bag/board/comic could be removed from the frame if desired, but it's also mounted so that the comic could be removed from the bag/board for reading or inspection without removing the bag itself from the frame. EDIT: To add that I am also planning to stick a little adhesive hanger at the top of the back to make it easy to hang from a nail/tack. If nothing else, I have a cool logo... So whaddya think, would people be interested in something like this?

Great, now I just have to learn the difference between 1/8" and 2/16"...

I guess I'm not experienced enough to tell the difference between a 1/4" indentation and a 2/8" indentation.

It must not be a HUGE issue, as this is the only thread that has been started in this forum for over a year.

They certainly didn't overrepresent, but I wonder if they didn't underrepresent a bit--especially now that he's advertising another copy (which looks worse) as a "VF/NM" (which would equate to a 9.0). I guess since you included two grades you're kind of stuck between them too... Thanks for weighing in, though.

The worst features I'm seeing are the deeply impacted top left corner (front; top right back) and the two 1/4" tears. It's got a slight miswrap/spine roll, light spine ticking, and a little edge soiling. I think you'd see books like this advertised as "F/VF" pretty frequently; I don't think anyone could be mad at you if you called it a 6.5.

Yeah, opinions on water stains seem to be all over the ballpark. I still think that strictly graded, it should be hard to grade over 5.0 with any kind of visible water damage, but as far as desirability goes, it also seems to be one of the least offensive of the major defects (unless the water damage is really severe), but I bet the range of responses you get will cover at least 3 full grades.

If it IS a printing defect, CGC doesn't seem to mind those as much as say, a water stain, so it probably wouldn't affect the grade any more than the other defects, particularly the spine stress and blunting at the bottom. I think it could still be called an 8.0 pretty easily; probly even an 8.5.

Tape? We can remove that, no problem... Here you go sir, as good as new.

Now I'm curious. You don't see a lot of dudes in an Armani suit wearing a Spartan helmet.

Encasing valuable comics in a shell of transparent adamantium.

Found this lil beeotch on eBay, described as part of "a recent warehouse find of uncirculated copies of warren magazines." It was listed as "VF+," but I think it might be a Niner--it is definitely the best raw comic I have bought online since I started collecting EERIEs a little over a month ago. The copy I had originally was bought as part of a lot, and it was more like a 2.0, so I was really happy to find this upgrade for $16. Parenthetically, I see the same seller now has another copy listed as "VF/NM" for $30, but I don't think it looks as good as my copy. The description is now "from a recent Warehouse find in Baltimore Maryland of around 600 Magazines that were still in the original shipping warehouse." It's just about perfectly flat and smooth, just a little yellowing ("sun shadow"?) along the page edge on an otherwise shockingly white back cover, and a little blunting to the corners (lower right back cover is the worst). No spine stress ticks, no abrasions, no scratches, no corner folds, no creases... What say you?

Welp, according to this CGC video, small rust stains can appear on a book graded as high as 9.2 (around the 2:00 mark)! So I dunno...

I think you're still at an 8.0.

He's the Punisher. He punishes. You, as his fans, are not exempt from punishment. Consider yourselves punished by... ...the Punisher.

Which the seller accidentally sent to someone else... Weirdest thing is that the tracking information says it was delivered to a front porch in New Jersey on March 2. I placed the order on March 3. So I guess it went back in time. Maybe it will be new and in Gem Mint condition again by the time it gets to me. Fortunately the 3rd party has apparently agreed to re-label the package and ship it directly to me. Fingers crossed...

Indeed. The crown jewel.

Maybe @CGC Mike should give us a nice clean book with a big fat water stain on the back cover in the next Grading Contest, and see if we can't pump up those standard deviations a notch or two.

Is it? I agreed that it is, when it comes to preferences. But when it comes to grading, in the end, isn't there an objective standard?

I agree with all that, and yes, I'm HAPPY with the book, it will read just fine... But, this is a thread in a forum about grading, not preferring. It seems that CGC would esteem the ugly distributor overspray on the front cover a couple of grades higher than the unobtrusive water stain on the back cover.