Bomber-Bob

I recall an experience shared to me by a first time submitter who was handling the liquidation of an estate, which included comic books. They decided to personally travel to Sarasota, submit the books with a walkthrough, spend the night, pick up the books the next day and go home with the books. Seems like a reasonable approach and probably happens frequently. Upon picking up the books, they were not happy with/didn't understand the grades, who knows. They wanted more information, wanted to talk to the graders. They were told this cannot be arranged, upon which they started making demands, etc. etc. to no avail. The person took the books and left, vowing never to deal with CGC again. Rather than being sympathetic with the submitter, I remember feeling sorry for CGC. I thought this kind of situation probably happens a lot. It's one thing to have people calling in with complaints about their grades but to have them in the waiting room is another story. Again, I remember thinking, why does CGC put themselves in this position ? In summary, I can understand why CGC is doing this. If people would just pick up their books and leave, that's cool. However, I suspect the experience shared to me happens a lot, probably daily. Maybe something extreme happened that prompted this response. Anyway, I trust they made their decision for a good reason. Let's see how it plays out.

Waste of money AND time .

I may be wrong but your new slab looks to be of the '1st generation' type of the new slab design, the one with the so called 'creep engine' that slowly squeezes the book to death. I am saying this because I do not see an inner well. If so, you do not want to keep it in that slab. Get it reslabbed as soon as possible. Don't worry about the Newton rings as they are harmless compared to this slab design.

Sorry, this is real common stuff mostly just worth a buck or two, many are 50 cent box fodder. Definitely not worth slabbing. The Spawns may have been worth slabbing but, unfortunately, the signatures would result in a Qualified label because they were not witnessed. As suggested by someone else above, sell them as a lot but don't expect much.

Okay, I said it was graded in the 2011 timeframe. It was actually graded in February 2012. So you are calling me out on this ? To my knowledge, timeframe is a loose reference. We both know there is no way to specify an exact date range for something like this. Also, I made my statements before James Johnson provided evidence of tampering. Afterward, I agree it was probably tampered with. As you've done before with me, you pick out something I said early in the conversation to criticize late in the conversation.

Makes sense ! As opposed to a blunted corner on the cover only. If all 4 corners are blunted, through the whole book, and there are spine ticks it would appear that 8.5 is about right. I really think the waviness was not mentioned because it was not there when the graders saw it. Press the book to get rid of the waves and I still think you have an 8.5 ?

If you give it to a good presser, he should be able to help straighten/align that spine. I see Rusty staples, many small tears (I don't know how you stated no tears?) including the staple area, and lots of general wear. As is, I see about a 3.5, maybe the proper press can bump it up as high as 4.5. I am not sure if a 1 point point bump is worth the expenses but it would present better. If this was a #1, it would definitely be worth it but a #3 is not really a 'key'.

With regard to the waviness, since it's not mentioned in the notes, I suspect that happened post grading while in the slab. It may be that the book spent too much time in a humid environment. Obviously a press will NOT help the 'spine stress lines that break color'. Not sure how to interpret the 'whole book wear all corners'. You inferred that you only partly referenced the notes. You should present them here whole, EXACTLY as stated, so we can give a better opinion. Pics would help also. To be honest, with only the info you presented, it sounds like 8.5 is a generous grade.

Great detective work. Wow.

It depends on the flaws of the comic book. Think about it, a press is simply flattening out the book. Would it help a tear ? Of course not. Would it remove a stain ? Of course not. If you see a crease that breaks the color of the comic, a press will not help. It will only help where there is a bend or fold or a light crease that does not break any color. BTW, the cleaning is simply using a a dry eraser to the white sections, usually on the Back Cover, to the comic. It does not actually 'clean' the comic.

If you look at this 5.0, there are no missing pieces, no writing, no obvious stains other than the tape residue on the BC. Also, at the time of grading, it was probably freshly pressed and flat, flat, flat. CGC loves flat. IN 2011, this may have met the criteria for a 5.0 .

I concur with your comment that the book should have been submitted Express or Walkthru. One would think a 5.0 in these Tiers would require notes ? However, since this was years ago with lower valuation and the submitter probably expected a 3.0, it may have been submitted in a Standard tier.

No notes availabe !

I can tell by the cert number that this JIM 83 '5.0' was graded during the 2011 timeframe, a ridiculously soft CGC period. I've seen some real clunkers coming from this period. While I would hope this is an error situation, I'm not convinced.

Even if CGC knows about it, there is nothing they can do. I once alerted CGC to a situation where a book I once owned was manipulated to cover up a tear. CGC gave the manipulated book a 9.8, key Bronze book. CGC responded, and acknolwedged, they probably got fooled. However, they said once the book is out of their hands, it's a done deal.

I've been aware of this for a long while. Upon receiving a new slab, I always inspect it for problems inside the well. If I see a situation like Valiantman describes, I store that book flat, horizontal. I've bought some smaller boxes from the Container Store that can hold 4 or 5 slabs to put them in. I then stack these boxes. As the Lion pointed out, most books either have a wedge or are laying at the bottom edge. These are store vertically. I also try to gently tap them to the bottom but if they don't move, I don't force the situation. In general, I don't see this situation often but I do see it. If there is noticable damage, usually a staple tear, I will either send the book back to CGC or return to the seller. IMO, it's all under the SCS(Shaken Comic Syndrome) umbrella.

Dude, you really need to change those bags. They are all wrinkled ? Trust me, those wrinkles can leave imprints on the comic.

Depending on the location of the staple, I would be concerned about pressing as it may make the staple tear worse. That's the bad thing about a tear, it can only get bigger. Without a pic, I am assuming the staple is not on the vertex. Personally, I would not risk it but you really didn't give us much info here. A pic would help.

Why use glue when you have saliva ? Works well on those corner 'chads' !

But I don't think the insurance will cover the books after arrival at an auction house ? They will only be covered while in his possession and probably during shipping to the auction house. It's still good advice, having insurance cannot hurt but I don't think it covers all the trips to CGC via an auction house. He should be able to get a cash advance on this stuff. That would at least mitigate any potential loss.

In all fairness, CGC has there share of mistakes also. I do think typos can happen on the grade. Look at this book.............

To be honest, I don't see anything unusual here. It's a normal challenge to keep books upright in a partially filled box. The handle problem is also normal, just keep a buffer between the handle and the comics. The one thing you mentioned I do not like is the new Boards having a bow. I would not use them.

I just don't see how that bottom left BC corner impact crease will come out. It will flatten out with a press but the crease will remain. The press may bump the grade from 9.0 to 9.2 at best. Sorry.

On occasion, I have dropped a mylar on the floor and have seen these type of scratches. It has the same look. Hopefully it was a bad batch that got scratched. I can't imagine this will be a permanent feature.