Bomber-Bob

Am I the ONLY person collecting this stuff ? A few more picked up today...

If the work was well done and the staples period, I agree with your statement that CGC won't be able to tell just by looking at the staples themselves. However, If CGC sees some residual evidence that the staples were replaced, ie the work was poorly done, they will catch it, period or not.

Ouch for Illinois Residents. Comiclink will now, October 2018, start to collect state sales tax on purchases. I just called to get the details. It is in play on the Exchange and going forward on future auctions, after the current Focused auction. It will probably be global as it's now a state law. Ebay

Your book looks much better than this 9.2 example !

Well, in that case, any opinions offered would be speculation. I see enough spine creases that makes me think, for a 9.2, they gave the staples a pass.

Though I don't agree with them, CGC is usually pretty lenient on recessed staples. You really need to get the notes to see if they downgraded for it. Personally, I hate the look of recessed staples. I think it sometimes can be bindery, not sure if this book is famous for it ? In this case, that top staple is pretty severe. I suspect damage.

And your brother is named 'Bob', correct ? I heard the conversation and, as a fellow Bob, shook hands with your brother.

I don't think they 'grade' per se . Just take a glance at E-Bay or whatever they use and maybe adjust the price if it's an obvious beater. Otherwise a VF is equivalent to a NM . While I do like to stop in occasionally, there's a lot of flippers hitting these stores and it's usually picked.

I believe this issue had some weird variations. I also seem to remember some second printings without the II on the cover = you had to look at the inside. Maybe some collectors with more knowledge about this issue can offer some help here. Since you can't open the book to see, it may truly be a 2nd print. Also, though CGC would correct it for free if there is an error, the shipping would probably be on you since you are not the customer/submitter .

Recently, I've noticed that Half Priced Books have been increasing their pricing. The drek is still cheap but even the slightly better stuff is often overpriced. They are also more educated on variants . I think the game may be over.

This is strange. I would call CGC about it. They are much better at answering the phone than answering an E-Mail.

I wonder if the owner is just saying he is afraid of the light to deter the use. At conventions, I will sometimes see flippers take a video of all the edges of a book, even in a slab. They then study the video to look for pressable defects. I sense the big dealers don't like this, I know I wouldn't like it.

I was pleasantly surprised as I concur it was a good show. I'm not a dollar bin diver and sometimes have trouble finding stuff but there was a lot of quality material in the room. I will be back for the next show !

Try approaching his books with a heat iron and see what he thinks.

It's fine to bring books to sell to the dealers. What's frowned upon, is trying to sell to customers. I wouldn't expect much for the books you are offering. Dealers generally like wall book candidates.

I don't think he genuinely admitted anything. If you read his comments in context, his reply was in anger after someone suggested maybe he did it.

Interesting question on can a 9.8 have CR/OW pages. Though I've seen examples of this, they were old labeled or graded early on. I thought someone had a graph and there were like only 10 or so in existence, 9.8 with CR/OW that is. Years ago, before grader's notes, you could call and actually talk to the graders about the grade of a book. I learned a lot from those phone calls and I was once told the 'guidleines' called for at least OW in 9.8 .

If you store the book vertically, over time, it will probably slide down. If you are anxious, give it a slight tap at the bottom and it may slide down, emphasis on 'slight'. The book needs to have a little wiggle room to move to prevent damage. This book looks fine and this is very common.

This. Worth repeating.

Great slabbed copy of this book, love it ! Any chance you have an undercopy ?

Very cool. I was watching it in auction last night and I was close to chasing it but I decided to save you some money LOL ! Bethlehem is one of my favorite Peds. This is a very sharp looking book. I hope you do not press it and chance smearing that beautiful date stamp. I think it would great in mylar though. Congrats on the pickup.

Wow, surprised nobody responded to you. First off, no, this is not normal and should be fixed. It looks to me like it is a piece of plastic between the inner well and the slab. If possible, lightly tap the slab and see if you can notice it moving. I honestly have never seen a crack on the inner well but I suppose it's possible. Unfortunately, this needs to be sent back to CGC. You mentioned your buddy has several copies so I would definitely ask him to exchange this. If he is truly your buddy, I have to mention I'm surprised he handed this off to you. It's quite noticeable. Since it was submitted through your LCS, they will have to make the arrangements with CGC. So, bottom line, give it back to your buddy for either an exchange or reholder. Good Luck.