Tony S

I believe it remains to be seen if the public is over reacting to it. And the news media is supposed to report things like this. Right now, it's not the total number of cases that is alarming. It's the mortality rate. It's tempting to say "people in rural China probably don't have good health care". But in Italy - which does have first world, modern health care 29 people have died with 1100 confirmed cases. That more than a 2.5% mortality rate. Versus the flu where the mortality rate is about 14 people out of ever y100,000 cases. We are talking about a mortality rate that might be 100X more higer than the flu. Put in perspective. - 2.5% is relatively small. But if there was a 2.5% chance of your commercial airline flight crashing, NO ONE would fly commercial. Everyone - including the pilots and attendants - would find some other job or another way to get where they were going. If there was a 2.5% chance that getting a dental filling would kill you, you'd live with a cavity or get the tooth pulled. So yes, this is potentially alarming. Now it's possible - even likely - that the mortality rate is artificially high. Some people - but we don't know how many or what percentage - have mild symptoms from coronavirus and never seek medical attention, never go to the doctor. So getting to the point - I believe CGC made the right call in skipping sending staff to a huge event where it's likely infected individuals are attending and spreading the virus. An overabundance of caution is better than regret.

Chicago gets this much undeserved reputation all the time. While Chicago has a higher violent crime rate that Seattle (but nothing like 10x higher. ) , you are actually much more likely to be the victim of a crime in Seattle. The FBI publishes crime rate statistics annually. A couple of different websites summarize them nicely. I find neighborhood scout very easy to use. Chicago is at 7%. Safer than 7% of US cities. Seattle is at 2%. Safer than 2% of US cities. https://www.neighborhoodscout.com/wa/seattle/crime https://www.neighborhoodscout.com/il/chicago/crime

Aww, thanks. You'll make me blush!

I've had that done too at 55. The prep was horrible but after the injection of Versed I don't remember anything except being told to roll over. Next I know I wake up with my wife standing by my side. She says to me "you were really chatting it up with that nurse". My reply was "what nurse?" Now I know how date rape drugs work. I remember nothing.... Now they have a very reliable poop in a can / ship it to a lab test called Cologuard. Costs substantially less and skips that intrusive thing of having a nurse run 20 foot of tubing up your arse and then inflating it with a pump. I had to tell my doctor about Cologuard. So 10 years from now when they want to do the colonoscopy test again ask for Cologuard instead. Unless you prefer that more intimate, human touch thing. And geez - the packages that are on a UPS truck.... And this thread is freaking gold, baby. I've laughed until tears in my eyes.

Children, you can call yourself old when you get your Medicare card...... I was buying and selling comic books long before ASM 300 was published.

Which is why smart investors buy during the dips. Google shouldn't be taking a hit. Neither should say Facebook. if people limit travel and going out then they spend more time Googling and Facebooking. And these companies have no exposure to China. The stock market was overheated - perhaps in "bubble" territory. Lots of investors have been dancing close to the exits for months now and were/are looking for any excuse to sell and take profits. As for comic books - for the past 45 years better books (vintage) have proven to be very resilient. We'll have to see a real recession - not just a stock market dip - to see any affect on collectible comic book prices.

The .4 is clearly a labeling error. Labeling errors are not common - and not rare. Getting the numeric grade wrong is I believe a rare mistake though. CGC had a special deal going with Wizard long ago where they did some 9.5's of their books. It was some sort of (dumb IMHO) promotion. Those are not mistakes. Just oddities. Here is a quote from Wikipedia from the CGC entry Wizard First (red and white) No longer in use, originally used by CGC/Wizard magazine as a new type of slabbed collectible. Only three grades were given to comics submitted by Wizard directly to CGC: 9.0, 9.5, and 10.0. This is the only time CGC has ever used the grade "9.5".

This Only unwitnessed signatures on the cover get a green, Qualified label. If signed elsewhere -like the first page - then the book is universal grade. Supposedly the unwitnessed signature on the interior is treated as a defect when grading. It isn't much of a defect however, as I personally have sent in half a dozen TMNT 1's with signatures/sketches on the inside of the front cover and one copy graded 9.8. Several 9.4/9.6 The seller is of course "cheating" with the listing. He/she does not know and CGC has not verified that the book is "signed" by Jack Kirby. The label says "Jack Kirby written on bottom of first page in pen" . That is NOT the same thing as "signed by Jack Kirby".

So as general guidelines Yes, split the difference for "split grades". Split grades being gd/vg, vg/fn, fn/vf For + and - (like say VG-) there is no real guideline. Many including myself add or subtract 10% If a book only has a listing in the price guide at the 9.2 price, what that means is it rarely has value as a collectible in lesser grades. When books are cheap in NM, no collector really wants a less than NM copy. So the book that is $4 is in OPG at 9.2 and lists no other price is essentially a reading copy in any lower grade. Books that comic book stores typically have in their .50 cent or one dollar boxes. So yes, list such books as no more than a buck. Collectinsure doesn't really require anything except you keep a list. OPG is probably the best overall guide for raw books to estimate value for insurance purposes. For slabbed books GPA would be better. The only requirement I'm aware of is that you have to provide to GPA a list of any single book valued above a certain threshold. When I first signed up years ago that threshold was $5,000. I believe it is now $25,000. You can do this online under "scheduled items".

Just answering your question, if you marry pages or a cover - and no other qualifying or restoration work is done - you are going to get a green, Qualified label. BTW - if you send the book in missing the centerfold you will also get a Green, Qualified label. You can ask for a blue, universal label. But in both cases - married or missing the centerfold - the book is incomplete and you are going to get .5. There are no other options. You CANNOT get from CGC a 2.0'ish BLUE LABEL grade with a book missing the centerfold or married with a centerfold from another comic. From that place that moved to Texas, you could get a 2.0'ish blue label grade if you married the centerfold. Because Voldy doesn't have a "Qualified" label. It will just be noted on the label text that the book has a married centerfold. But the label color will be blue.

Married pages/covers get a green, Qualified label. There might not be a reason to ask "why". This was the decision made long ago. I can see the logic of a restored grade. But I can see the logic of a Qualified grade. With the assumption of married page/cover being the ONLY thing done to the book, maybe it's the difference between recreating the missing page/cover or using an original page/cover. Sort of like using original factory parts when restoring a car versus reproduction parts. The first is more desirable - closer to "original"

Restored books get an "apparent" grade. How they look. There is no "grade drop" for restoration itself. The book gets the numeric grade it's appearance warrants and the restoration itself is "graded" on professional quality (A, B or C) and how extensive the restoration is (1, 2 , 3) C-1 is a small amount of amateur restoration. A-3 is a lot of professional restoration. Of your questions>>>> 3) is a restored grade. There is no "drop" of grade because it is restored, just the purple label 2) IF NOTHING ELSE WAS DONE EXCEPT the page being reattached, this would be a Conserved grade. A blue label with a grey bar across it. Conserved is still an "apparent" grade, so no numeric grade drop. Just the blue/gray label. HOWEVER, if any other work that counts as restoration is done, it gets the purple label. 1) IF ONLY MISSING 1/3 of an interior page, the book would get a Green, Qualified label. No numeric grade drop. Just the Green label with label stating 1/3 of page xxx is missing. IF the book has other work done that counts as restoration, you will get a very low grade - but not a NG. Most likely a .5 maybe 1.0 RESTORED and the book will be noted as incomplete on the label. NG's are given for coverless books, covers only and interior pages only. If you have a book that is missing 1/3 of a page AND the book already has some restoration done to it, you might as well have the missing page/piece married, recreated or reattached. Because otherwise you will have both a restored grade and a very low, incomplete grade.

If nothing else has been done to a comic, CGC gives books with married covers/interior pages a green, qualified label. As far as value goes, there is a reason Green labels have a nickname of GLOD. Green Label Of Death (as far as value goes) Though most of us wish there was, there is no "formula" for determining the value of purple and green labels compared to blue. It depends on what was done to earn the purple and green, It depends on how high the condition is. It depends on just how valuable and how much in demand the book is. There are some general guidelines. But only general. Generally, green and purple labels have a lesser impact on value compared to universal blue labels in lower grades. Assuming the book is expensive otherwise and there is demand. If a book is otherwise cheap in low grade, there is going to be next to no demand for a restored or qualified copy. So if your book - let's say an Amazing Fantasty 15 - is a 2.0 green label then you may well get 60-65% of blue label price. But if your book is 9.6 green label, you may well end up getting 10% of blue label. Why is easy to understand. AF 15 in 9.6 is over a million bucks. For 50% of that price - over half a million - which would you rather own? A green label 9.6 or a blue label 9.2? The answer is obvious. So then it becomes a matter of sliding the grade down and "now which would you prefer?" Even $100,000 gets a 6.5-7.0 blue label. So there is no formula and thus no easy answer. Depends on the book, the demand, the grade and the price of an equivalent blue label.

I think either choice has merit. If you believe you will be reselling it at some point in the future, I'd keep it as is and sell as the seller has sold it - but mention and show that the corner is present, comes with the book but is detached. If you reattach the corner with archival tape, I would use a very small piece in the middle. This way in a bag and board the corner is attached and won't move around. But if you use a very small piece of tape it will be possible for a future owner to gently work the tape off if they wish to do so. If you were planning on keeping the book in your collection for a very long time, I would be inclined as faster friends is. It's not an expensive book so might as well have it present better. Do it neatly and in a bag and board you will be only one that knows it has been repaired with tape.

Pictures would help. But I believe you are describing finger bends. They are about dime size and half moon in shape. It is literally what it says. Someone put their finger on the cover - often times while opening the book - and left a light bend shaped like the edge of a finger. Finger bends are defects, CGC notes them in the grading notes of books they grade. As for grading itself, it doesn't actually start at 10 and subtract points for each defect. I've seen 9.4's with one or two finger bends noted. And like all defects it's a matter of degree. Some finger bends are very light. Others deep and even break color.

Yes, can be pressed and will be flat. Not sure about that ball bearing or pool ball thing. I seriously doubt that CCS has a supply of either in their tool kit. But while flat is likely, it looks like the paper shows the effects of getting wet with the gloss to the pages. It looks more matte than glossy. If you turn the page at an angle you'll easily see it. Nothing to be done about that and if sent to be graded CGC would note the moisture damage and grade the book down for it - even if pressed flat and smooth.

What James said. The signs to look for on a "fake" double cover book don't include staples that have a slight color variation. The holes around the staples - both cover and centerfold - look natural. The folding of the prongs looks nice and tight and the same both staples. It's not unusual for staples to have a some color variation on old books. The metal has had 70 years to oxidize and sometimes one staple tarnishes more than the other. I believe you are good here.

It seems equally unlikely that the YELLOW cover issue number, the cover price, the tracing around the "LOVE" in the title, the women's gauntlet, belt and jewelry all faded to WHITE AS BONE. It's unlikely ONLY the yellow in the Caucasian and Brown flesh tones completely disappeared from light fading, leaving behind pink and purple. After seeing the back cover and looking at the Red gloves, I think both things have gone on. The yellow ink ran out or was not applied in places during the printing of the cover. And there is some fading. As for the idea that somehow the yellow ink could not just have ran out during the printing of that cover, that's incorrect. Am I the only one here with an inkjet printer that ran out of a color half way through a picture or graphic? When the ink runs out, it's run out. It's not like the ink cares that only 1/2 of the image is done and somehow stretches a bit further.

It is one tiny spot of yellow. The rest of the yellow isn't faded, it's just flat out not there. It's white instead of yellow. Look at the issue number, cover price or even the boarder around the title LOVE. It is white. Not faded yellow. Also you look at the pictures and you can see where the missing yellow has affected other areas - like flesh tones on the Caucasian and brown skinned women. Which are pink'ish (Caucasian) and purple (Brown) in hue. Yellow is NEEDED to make the correct colors. The Yellow is missing - not fading. Finally, Red is a color that fades pretty quickly with exposure to light. There might be some very minor fading to the reds (gloves, woman's dress) but it is pretty minor. So IDK why one tiny spot got some yellow while every other yellow area of the book got none and clearly some areas where yellow would go into the mix got none. It's an odd printing error. Maybe it ran out of yellow that exact issue. Maybe something wrong with the printing plate. But it Ain't fading for certain. If the book were mine I'd email customer service with the pics, these comments and ask that a grader review. If all that is otherwise wrong with the book is a few "lite spine stresses" the book should be graded higher along with the printing defect (printed without yellow ink/ran out of yellow ink) noted.

Yes, thank you for the clarification. The "blue label" conserved has a grey bar across the top that says "conserved". So far, the market appears to pay more for conserved books than restored - at least on expensive key issues. But conserved is still worth far less than Universal blue label. If you have an unrestored, unconserved blue label eligible book and then clean it and get a conserved label, you have lost lots of financial value to have a cleaner looking book.

Golden Age is no more likely to be damaged by pressing than by other age books. What matters is if each individual book regardless of age is book is safe to press. That can only be determined for certain by inspecting the book. You mention it is wavy which would likely be from getting wet, which can weaken paper. On your book, the biggest concern is the bottom right corner. It is very brown and looks it might be brittle. That bottom corner looks like it might be torn and barely hanging on. So your book may well be a risky press that could get damaged, with that bottom corner flaking off. Deacidification of your book if detected by CGC would earn a purple, restored label. So NO to that.

This is completely missing yellow. It is not color fade.

I email George when I see likely mistakes. Just a few days ago I emailed him that they had recorded a sale of Inc Hulk 181 in 9.4 for $11. (eleven dollars). He removed it. I believe on eBay some corrections get done as a routine matter of the data being sent. But it does fall on those of us using the service to point out any questionable listed results. There is a "contact us" link at the bottom of the home page or you can email George at info@gpaanalysis.com.

It's true that it's hard to "prove" one point or another. But right now - at this moment - there are over five million listings on eBay in the Comic book category. 201,634 of those come up on a search for CGC. Not every book that comes up with a CGC search is actually graded, many a seller will list "CGC it" in the title. Just take the time to look at listings of MCS. Metropolis. and Mile High Comics. The overwhelming majority of their books are raw. Walk through a comic convention. What percentage of the books are raw vs slabbed?. What are buyers walking away with? The slabs on the display are flashy, but there is box after box after box of raws. Finally there are LCS. Two out of three stores here in Evansville have virtually NO slabbed comics. The oldest and largest store has at least half a million comics - and no slabs. EVERYTHING they sell is raw. A lot of old school dealers are of the opinion that slabbing books is at a minimum a waste of money - they know how to grade. And at worst a travesty because comic books were MEANT to be read. I cannot truly prove it, but I believe the evidence is overwhelming that slabbed books make headlines, but raw books keep stores open and are the overwhelming bulk of the market. $$$ and volume.

I've been known to be a bit slow on picking up on such . Thanks for clarification.