KirbyTown

I've gotta see this, please post pics!

In this case, this book received a Qualified label because it was marked under circumstances that CGC doesn't recognize as official. Other unofficial scenarios with other marks may have had different results, but this is what happened here. All that's certain regarding marks is that CGC will treat them however they decide to. The book is graded a Qualified 9.8 because without consideration of the unauthorized mark it is otherwise in NearMint/Mint condition. The situation appears to have gone how it was supposed to. For the desired result, the path would have been: 1. Registered creator follows official protocol required to create official marks 2. Officially marked book is transferred by official means to CGC for slabbing 3. CGC slabs book 4. Slab attends CGC Witnessed Signing 5. Book is officially removed from slab at Witnessed Signing 6. Book is officially signed at Witnessed Signing 7. Signed book is transferred by official means to CGC for slabbing 8. CGC slabs book Sorry it didn't go the way you both had hoped.

... Have you contacted the person/place about the fact that you didn't receive NMs? Unless the package had tire marks or similar then I don't think this was the shippers fault; this looks like inadequate packaging.

You're right, it's a square-bound! On square-bounds the manufacturer would use stacks of wraps, glue, and the cover around it all: That's a 68-page Giant-Size Defenders #4 in the screen-cap. In this video, we witness the mad scientist introducing a belt sander to the spine's residual glue after cover removal. (video property of Rick Morgan, ImmaculateComics.com )

And he pulled a 9.9 out of that raw 316 (of which there are only twelve 9.9s out of 8,069 total slabs)

Thanks for posting these pics; notes don't have to mention anything at all and manufacturing errors don't need to be either. This book got a blue label, so it was not a qualified label and the manufacturing defect didn't bring this down to a 9.4. Without a true hi-res scan of the slab (similar to mycomicshop) there's no way to easily examine the comic for upper-nine style defects. I marked a little of what I see as potential defects (Joey's possible tear would be enough!) Also, the comic seems to have amateur pressing ripples/wavies, which CGC doesn't care about but I'm just mentioning.

If you have the books in front of you, type in their barcodes here: https://www.cgccomics.com/certlookup/ If there are notes on any books they will be at the bottom of the page. Post those notes here and the odds of fruitful discussion will also improve! 😜

Thanks for sharing!

Oh, I thought he was looking for examples from people who had the fingerbends 🤷‍♂️

Really sorry this happened to you. If the spots on the books are on notes from after you sent them to the presser, then it's obvious to me that they'd likely be responsible. There's only one point at which water would have anything to do with your comic books and it would be at the presser.

Just to clarify for OP, the term wrap refers to the entire page of paper before it's stapled and folded. For example, on a standard saddle-stitched comic the first interior wrap has pages 1/2 and 31/32. On a folded comic book, If you tear out the first page of the comic, then you've torn out pages 1 and 2. If you left enough paper behind, then the other half of the wrap (pages 31 and 32) is still stapled in and can be found at the back of the folded book.

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Please know that mycomicshop is THE place that you want to buy; there is truly no "somewhere like". You can trust their grading because they grade for buyers' benefit, so they are HARSH in comparison to CGC, which is great for you! I have consigned with them for a decade and they have the strictest and most consistent grading system out there. Consignors are initially surprised by it, but they get over it quickly because it is such a great place. The level of customer service is incomparable, even via that online auction site: A VF at mycomicshop is going to be a great looking comic. Their grading is so tight that people will sometimes spend more there for raws than they would on equivalently graded slabs. To get an idea of their grading and the lowest grade you'll be happy with, just find any comic listing with a bunch of boxes on the listing and click through on any of them. You'll get to a page with a list of all the boxes you just saw but as one long page. Before you click a pic, make sure it's labeled "actual scan" and not "generic image". That's an easy way to get a grip on what you'll be ok with. For example, on this Spawn #1 list, scroll all the way to the bottom to get past the CGCs to their raws: https://www.mycomicshop.com/search?ivitems=8631381 Hope this helps,

I recall it being less apparent on the desktop version, but it's much easier on mobile, thanks

Unless you really need to have the grade on there, there are definitely more affordable ways to display raw comic books.

If you message @CGC Mike he may be able to give you more information. Hope you can get it worked out!

Can you upload a pic of the label?

The physical page count of the book is what's considered. Story art can be numbered in myriad ways, and most people have no idea about the story content and page numbers anyway.

You can try posting this again in the "Hey buddy, can you spare a grade" forum. Be sure to read the guidelines there first. Good luck!

edit: nevermind, the reference was deleted

Me neither, it would seem like a key piece of info not to hide!

Just a writer whose thing was writing short stories with twists. An oft assigned reading in schools was "The Gift of the Magi". The plot wasn't particularly exciting, but it was tangentially similar to the situation you described.

It's really cool how you've put so much effort into these contests. This is not criticism, just wondering if you might work with Matt or IT types to upload higher resolution scans this time around? I would think that the scans themselves are very high resolution when being made, but that they just don't get uploaded as such. I do know about the triple-click, but even afterwards the images were still very pixelated when trying to zoom in to details. I think it would even the playing field, especially for older eyes. Thanks for considering it!

I don't agree with this at all, I think their intent is self-serving nonsense. But yes, this thread was intended for something else and please forgive my contributions to the tangent 🥳

I'll put in my cents: CGC is the loosest, most inconsistent, and most unpredictable grading system available. This is absolutely by design and there is zero accountability for it. It appears to be some kind of arbitrary points deduction system rather than a true comic evaluation system. CGC will always err upwards because it's in the company's best interest to do so. You should always slab at CGC to maximize value. xxxx is without a doubt stricter and more consistent than CGC. There is at least some accountability present since it's their policy to publish comprehensive notes on every book that isn't a 9.8 (and they've done so from the beginning.) Studying their system can provide a solid foundation, but it's not easily transferrable/translatable. Overstreet's 2nd Edition is so strict as to be non-functional. I don't think it's even relevant at this point. Lone Star's grading system is the one I consider closest to perfection. Many sellers poo-poo it because the scale essentially cuts out the CGC fantasy grades, forcing the less-high high grades to really justify themselves. Lone Star provides what 2e should have: extreme consistency and basic letter divisions that are sturdy and easily discernible. These traits make the system easy to learn too.