Bomber-Bob

I understand what you are trying to accomplish with this method and it works for me ! You should store them upright. Since they all have boards you do not need any extra boards between them. Do pad them out in the box so they don't slide and have something at the front and back of the box by the handles.

Better than a sneeze !

Fingerprints have oil in them, transferred from your skin. Normal dry cleaning is simply light rubbing with an erasure product. The fingerprints need to be dabbed out and even then it may not work. Ever get a tiny drop of salad oil on your shirt ? Not easy to get out.

I have no strong opinion as to the better of the two books. However, I would like to offer some advice from personal experience. Never sell a book, with the intent on upgrading, until you actually have made the upgrade purchase. Waiting for the 'right' ASM 129 White to come around will probably cost you more money.

Your questions are much too vague to allow us to give you serious answers. In general, as with all things, some will try and take advantage of you. Tell us what you are trying to accomplish, get books graded, sell a collection, and you will be surprised at the good advice coming forward. Otherwise, from the title of your thread to the vague question you asked, it appears you are not on the level to us. Sorry.

DId you get these from OLDROVER ? He's been showing similar books,old label PLOD's, asking questions here on the Boards.

I will....................

AS with all defects, it depends on the condition of the rest of the book. You really need to show us detailed pics for us to give a better answer but I concur with the above comment. A book in 7.5 - 8.5 would be in the 5.5 - 6.5 range with a detached staple. You must realize, at the site of the detachment, is a tear at least as long as the staple. IMO, this book is not worth grading.

Probably, it may have hurt the staples the most. If it dried inside the bag, you are lucky it did not acquire mold. BTW, the background story you told got me mad. I can understand why you simply wanted it out of your sight.

I really want to grade this book higher but those tide lines are just too big, extending nearly book length both horizontally and vertically. The staple rust has migrated. I'm at 4.5, maybe 5.0 tops. Sorry.

Yes, the PCS announcement was met with disdain by the Boards. Many did not approve of pressing and most saw it as a conflict of interest for CGC. IMO, the scale tipped when Borock starting actively selling pressed books here . Soon, pressing was not only accepted by the Boards, it was advocated. Later, when CGC hired Matt Nelson in house, there was some grumbling but no real resistance.

I agree, it is shady. However, not much you can do about it.

Agreed !

Hence my point, the Showcase did not deserve the grade. It was an 8.5 that had the spine shifted to move some creases onto the vertex/back cover and given a 9.2 . It was immediately up for sale as advertised as the single highest graded, best copy in existence. Realizing that the single highest graded of a major key is very valuable, perhaps a double check using some comparison grading, or some extra eyes to insure it actually deserved the grade would be in order. There were a number of these books that hit the market at the same time and I believe CGC acknowledged they were wrong and would look for this in the future. I am not arguing against your point that a book should be given the grade it deserves but in the case of a single highest key, I am suggesting a little more scrutiny.

The only way to ascertain value on stuff like this is to put them in auction. Trying to sell these with a BIN is not a smart move.

Lion, I may have asked this before, not sure. Are the graders aware when they assign a highest graded to a specific issue ? While I understand the graders cannot possibly do comparison grading, I do think it would be the right thing to do when assigning a new highest graded. I remember when a Showcase 22 got a 9.2, single highest graded. It was highly manipulated, previously an 8.5, that I think, had a spine realignment. I remember feeling very disgusted with that. The highest graded means this is the best copy they have ever seen and the Showcase did not deserve it.

I'd like to throw in my copy into the ASM #4 8.0 club going on here !

Per the CGC site, replaced staples are considered restoration. If you have a Green Label, I would not send it in, leave it alone. It was just discussed here last month......................

Thanks for keeping us updated ! This is good news, congrats. How about the Page Quality ? A bump there would definitely be a Win.

Tunes, your comments seem to imply I am against the labeling, I am not. BTW, I am very familiar with RMA, actually a big fan but I don't read much in the Moderns setcion. I actually seek out and collect DCU UPC variants and I do pick up Newstand copies when I find them. In fact, I just found a couple Venom Lethal Protector #1's Newsstand hidden away in my crawl space. All that being said, I was not aware of any desire to get these things labeled. As a collector, it doesn't matter to me that's it on the label or not, especially since I can plainly sees it. Apparently, per Tony S., it would help with the statistics. Other than that, is there something else I am missing ?

Thanks. I agree, it's plain as day but if that's what collectors want, I've got nothing against it. From the looks of these sales, they are still selling for big premiums without any label notation. Would label notation really increase the premium ? If anything, I suspect the notation, and possible census numbers, would show they are not as rare as everyone surmises.

Okay, this is a very strange thread for me. Maybe things are going over my head but I am trying to figure out why this is a useful thing to have on the label and nobody wants to give me a straight up answer. The other company does a lot of things differently than CGC. Do we now want CGC to copy everything they do ?

Okay, that was funny. While I admire and acknowledge your wit, I think you have it channeled in the wrong direction. Making fun of guys like me doesn't accomplish anything. If you really want this information on the label, try presenting a good argument.

Very good points. I really like the idea of an inhouse quality check on their grading. While I agree with your comments about the system working and most are generally in the same ballpark for grade, we both know the problem is the premium the marketplace puts on these differences. I absolutely hate stories like your Wolvie #1 experience.