Bomber-Bob

More kitten pics, always good !

Yes, the recap is everyone's friend. There was a sales thread recently where the seller specifically asked that you only quote the book if you were buying it. Apparently, in the past, potential buyers would see the book quoted and assume it was sold. Of course, the bantering crowd ignored his request and quoted anyway. Often, the 'nice book', 'nice price' comments seem tongue in cheek, giving pause to buyers. I think bantering is fine, after the book has sold. Otherwise, it's just 'krap'. Sorry.

Historically, the Boards have not been forgiving on even a hint of a 'krap'. Interesting to see the above comment about grade did not receive a reaction in the seller's thread. Are we softening up around here ?

Mylar is good. Just make sure to buy an oversized bag and Board. Books in tight bags and boards are prone to mishaps. I don't like the closet as a storage location. It's best to have a static temperature and humidity level. Closets tend to get hot in the summer.

I really want to agree with you but a comment about grade usually brings out the pitchfork crowd on the Boards. As I keep saying, when it comes to threadkrapping and what is allowed/not allowed, I am confused.

Yes, that is krapping, however I agree that the book is not 8.5 .

Thanks for the reply. Good points. Regarding the banter, I don't think it helps the seller. Some of these sales threads get so large that a potential buyer can lose interest in paging through the whole thread. If the thread is additionally packed with banter, it really gets annoying. I have often left a thread without completion because I was annoyed with all the fluff. But, as you said, if the seller doesn't care then so be it.

This is a true statement. A package may be abused without evidence of actual impact.

I can respect that. If that method works for you, so be it. However, it does not work for me. BTW, I'm not a dealer, not even a flipper, just a collector.

Keep in mind, in all probability, that 9.9 was not pressed. They really were stored under perfect conditions. Here's a pic I found of 3, still raw, Curator books in my collection. Silly books, not really worth slabbing, just fun to hold and look at.

If this is your intention, to hold for value in the long run, I would buy slabbed books. Another comment, I think it is irresponsible to put a value on a raw book by taking an estimated slabbed price and subtracting out the CGC costs. This method is prone to overpaying, too many variables. Buy high grade raw books at 9.2 Overstreet guide, maybe doubling it if you think it's a slam dunk minimum 9.4 . The most I would have paid for the 361 is 150.00 . With the addition of the other two books, it was not a terrible deal, but not a 'good' deal either. I think you paid full retail FMV.

Since nobody wants to come forward and answer the Swami, I would NOT have paid that much, over 200.00, for raws. Especially without seeing them in hand. I would have bought slabbed 9.6's for that kind of money. I hope the Boards don't turn into a financial advisory site.

HaHa, yes, I hope not either but it sure appears something is wrong. It could be new people in the encapsulation room. It could be there is no more QC. As crazy at that sounds, maybe they pulled the QC employees to grade or encapsulate. I think they are trying hard to meet their TAT and it is affecting the product produced. The marketplace wants detailed notes on every book and faster TAT's. I was never a fan of simply hiring more employees as s solution as I feel the quality of the grading will suffer. I think the current staff is just pulled in too many directions. I do think the Boards should ease up on things like Newton Rings. In hindsight, that was a minor problem, annoying but minor. These examples of SCS are much more serious.

For the record, I think your comments above are spot on. I agree with you. However, since you are looking at the big picture, I suspect most will disagree you as they are only concerned with their personal submissions.

Agreed but when you are paying 10X Overstreet for a graded 9.8 you want it to 'look' perfect. CGC will knock a book with a hint of a Back cover fingerprint out of 9.8 but yet allow a dangling, in your face, corner chip to keep a 9.8 . It's crazy !

I agree. I just proposed my theory and the same conclusion above.

Here's my take on maybe why this is happening more of late. The design of the original new slab used tremendous pressure to hold the book in place. There was no inner well for the book to move around in with the thought that would solve some SCS problems. It turned out the longer term effect of this pressure caused the 'creep engine' effect with the comics sustaining damage. So, CGC brings back the inner well in the new slab design. This worked BUT, we now had the Newton Ring effect from the inner well pressing against slab. Never bothered me but most balked at this effect. So now, it appears, they have fixed the Newton Ring problem by having the inner well more loose in the slab. Now, the inner well is swimming and SCS is back.

It's pretty obvious to me. I don't think the book was manufactured this way. The cover is sticking to the inner well while the insides are moving down. I have seen it and experienced it. Not a good candidate for tapping it back into place either. I would send it back to CGC. in the meantime, store the book flat.

Yes, they will . However, not sure about compensation if there is damage when you did not submit it. This thread is scary.

I said the staple pull probably happened, post grading, in the slab also. No matter what either of us finds acceptable in a 9.8, the Boards see many of these same questions from Newbies. The general buying public expects a 9.8 to pretty much look perfect. That's why they are paying a premium price. I don't blame them.

I agree. I suspect the Secret Wars chip may have been laying flat when it was graded. I can tell by the cert number the book was pressed by Matt Nelson the Texan. All one needs to do is to apply some spit and press it down. It will stay down but not forever.