Tom789

Here are some more pictures:

On 4/9/2023 at 7:26 AM, timfinz said:

8.5

Some spine tics, blunted corner, and there is something on the RH side along the blue in Spidey's arm. But honestly it's very difficult to grade from the pictures provided due to distortion and glare.

That something is a reader's crease.  Will show up better in later pictures.

On 4/8/2023 at 10:37 PM, SolidShredder said:

It's very hard to grade slabbed books but I'll try... I see spine ticks, blunted corners, a corner crease?, and overspray (shouldn't affect grade). That could be color rub, can't say for sure. I'm guessing this book got a much lower grade than you thought? The reason I guess that is because I can see a curvature to the middle of the book, it goes from the top to the bottom. That's a telltale sign of a sub crease or something similar. It's probably invisible in the slab but under close inspection breaks the fibers all the way down the book. That would be enough to drop a book like this from an apparent high grade to a 5 or 6 depending on if the crease breaks the fibers on both sides of the cover. If it's only on the back it would be incredibly hard to see on all that white, especially behind the slab. Looks like that's the direction of the "fold" too. That's my guess anyway. 

EDIT : Now that I look at it some more, it's awefully wavy in general. Could also have moisture or water damage that has been cleaned up. 

The curvature is from the camera and I think most of what you're describing isn't actually there, due to the low resolution and also some reflection off the slab.  There's no waviness, sub crease or water damage. I'll post some more images later today at a 2x setting on my smartphone.

This is a CGC-graded book.  I am a bit puzzled with the grade.  What do you think?  I will reveal the grade after some answers.  The back top left corner looks like it has a piece missing but that is a 1/8" crease not mentioned in the grader's notes and is white, so much better than the photo depicts.  What looks like color rub on the front cover to the right of the balloon "or am I going mad?" is a reflection off the case.

P.S. The resolution always looks better on my computer than on the forum.  I don't know of a way to improve it here.

On 4/3/2023 at 7:17 PM, Lightning55 said:

Can't you check directly from your dashboard on the submission grading report?

Why, yes, indeed you can!  I always wait to see the results upon unboxing, so wasn't aware of that feature.

Just got 25 books in from CGC and the first two I looked up for grader's notes, I got an error saying they weren't in the database.  I haven't gotten this error for freshly graded books before.  Is this common?

(Yes, I double checked the numbers).

The teflon sheets I've seen pictures of have small lines that might leave impressions on the covers.  I use silicone parchment paper as the item touching the comic book cover during a heat press.  When I was starting, I saw lots of recommendations to use silicone release paper but my limited search abilities couldn't find any in a size large enough to cover a comic book, although I'm sure they're out there.  The silicone paper (do NOT use baking parchment paper) is reusable many, many times and works well for me.

Silicone parchment paper on eBay

On 3/24/2023 at 5:02 AM, XiiX said:

Check the post right above yours.

Ok, I thought that only worked for strikethroughs.

One thing I noticed in Buy It Now auctions is if I put one on a watchlist, get a discount offer from the seller, and accept, the sold listing will show only the original price with no strikethrough.  Not sure how to detect when those are sold at a discount.

I have one 9.8 I got back that has a grader note.  Paraphrasing - "very light spine stress lines".

On 3/14/2023 at 2:26 PM, WolverineX said:

sit back, relax.  It takes a while.  

I got the shipping notice about 3 hours after I posted.  Surely, my post was the trigger 

I just won my first auction at ComicLink and I paid with a check.  The check cleared 5 days ago, but I've received no communication from them that I've paid in full or that the item has shipped.  Is this normal?

On 3/10/2023 at 7:10 AM, marvelmaniac said:

I am assuming that your original pic is highly magnified, looking at your new pic, my old eyes cannot spot the ticks, even enlarging the photo.

Yes, the original is 4x on my smartphone.  I can barely see them in the newer photo, but I know where to look.

On 3/9/2023 at 10:50 AM, marvelmaniac said:

Is this the book you are referring to?

I just looked at four CGC NM/MT 9.8 books and some 9.6/9.4's on eBay and none have those ticks, chances are they are not production flaws.

Exactly where are these ticks located?

Can we get a clear pic of the entire front cover?

Here it is.  The defect is on the right edge below the yellow text.

I didn't mean to imply that this was a defect unique to this cover.  It doesn't look to me like a handling defect, so I was just curious how it would be treated.  It probably wouldn't get a 9.8 anyway due to the lower right corner damage.

On 3/9/2023 at 10:50 AM, marvelmaniac said:

Is this the book you are referring to?

I just looked at four CGC NM/MT 9.8 books and some 9.6/9.4's on eBay and none have those ticks, chances are they are not production flaws.

Exactly where are these ticks located?

Can we get a clear pic of the entire front cover?

It's under press right now, so I will post a full picture later tonight.

This is from the right edge of a Fantastic Four #254, so late Bronze Age Marvel.

I assume this series of small tears is a production issue, so wouldn't count against a potential 9.8?

Also, I posted another possible production issue in the pinned production issue thread, but no one has responded yet.  If anyone would like to take a look, I'd appreciate it! 

I apologize if this has been covered already, but I don't have time to wade through all 34 pages!  (I did look at the first few).

I've come across several Marvel books now that have a line of raised ridges on the cover.  I assume this is an impression from a roller to move the book along the production line, and thus wouldn't count against a potential 9.8.  Is this a known production issue?

On 3/3/2023 at 7:35 PM, BuscemasAvengers said:

Do the stains on the bc bleed through to any interior pages? 

No, just to the inner back cover.

Thanks everyone for your grade estimates, a clear consensus 3.0.  I need to get better at estimating low grades!

I don't know why it wants to post these pictures sideways.  Haven't had this problem before and can't seem to fix it.

- 1" curved tear on front top edge

- 1" strip of color lift front top edge near spine

- multiple reader creases and spine stress lines

- 1/4" spine split at bottom

- staples firmly attached, interior complete

- multiple stains/foxing on back cover

I'm thinking 3.5/4.0?

On 3/1/2023 at 8:06 AM, marvelmaniac said:

I assume this book received a Blue label?

If you are referring to the piece missing on the outer edge then Yes, IMO, that should prevent the book from being a NM+ 9.6.

The question then becomes was that piece missing when the book was graded or did it happen after encapsulation?

IMO, a book that may otherwise be a NM+ 9.6 with an 1/8" piece missing is not going to be graded any higher than a VF/NM 9.0.

GD 2.0 - The largest piece allowed missing from the front or back cover is usually a 1/2" triangle or a 1/4" square, although some Silver Age books such as 1960s Marvels have had the price corner box clipped from the top left front cover and may be considered Good if they would otherwise have graded higher. 

GD/VG 3.0 -  A triangle from 1/4" to 1/2" can be missing out of the corner or edge; a missing 1/8" to 1/4" square is also acceptable. 

VG 4.0 - As much as a 1/4" triangle can be missing out of the corner or edge; a missing 1/8" square is also acceptable. 

VG/FN 5.0 and up - There is no mention of missing pieces.

The CGC grading guidebook appears to disagree significantly with this, although perhaps I am misinterpreting your post:

p. 284 describing a 9.0 - "a small 1/4" missing piece is allowed".

p. 288 describing an 8.0 - 1/2" x 1/2".

p. 296 describing a 6.0 - Accumulation of 1" x 1".

p. 302 describing a 4.5 - Accumulation of 2" x 2".

p. 308 describing a 3.0 - Accumulation of 3" x 3".

25x Modern Slow

Delivered to CGC 2/27

Shipped from CGC 3/2

4 business days

A couple look like they might be fiber-breaking - possibly the one near the top of the S in "Series" and more likely the one across from the top of "even a".  Although you can probably press out the 3D aspect of those ticks, the fiber breaks will still be there.

The second to last photo shows some small bumps/protrusions along the right (long) edge that appear to be present on all pages including the front and back covers.  I've seen this in some of the Silver Age Marvels I have, so I don't think it's trimmed on that edge.