buttock

Every now and then you come across a decent copy...

I've seen chips that big get a 6.5 and stains that big get 7.0. But adding the two together I think the highest you could hope for would be 6.0, and that might be a stretch. Sure presents better though.

Even though it's been the same quality of stuff being offered for years?

Veni

Absolute smokin deal. If I didn't already have one...

Don't question it Andy. It's in much better shape. You were told.

I think the more accurate way to phrase this is that the prior sales were unrealistic. I mean it's an 8.5 SA book.

I'm a pillar of moral integrity.

I remember selling my VF copy for something like $190 because I was disappointed it wasn't a VFNM as advertised when I bought it. I thought that since it was a Harvey I'd pick up a better copy down the line. Oops.

"much better shape"

Seeing it like this, it was likely damage that occurred during printing and thus not counted against the grade.

Very consistent with cosmic aeroplane. Congrats!

All with reduced cost and faster TATs.

The solution is to slab the slab with a seal on both, laser etched numbers, and holographic QR codes on everything. And put one of those blue dye packets in that explodes when you open it.

I'm not sure where the boundaries end. The code until FF1 is reasonable, but there's definitely overlap on both sides. Regardless, they're cool books, and some of my favorites.

If the corners are rounded, the grade will be pounded

If the corners aren't square, it's from wear.

There's a lot of truth to this. CGC, as many predicted, has made comics a commodity. At least moreso than before. You don't hear coin collectors complaining that nobody can spend the coins once they're certified, although that's not a 100% apples to apples comparison. But most people just want to have the book for the sake of having it. What that means is that collecting will trend more toward the qualities that can be appreciated just by owning the book; whether that's the cover alone, or the historic significance of the content.